Conduit for a vacuum cleaner

A container construction for a vacuum cleaner includes a housing enclosing a dirt receptacle for the vacuum cleaner, the housing having a wall. A hole extends through the wall of the housing and a tubular conduit extends through the hole in the wall. The conduit has an inlet end located outside the housing and an outlet end located inside the housing. The conduit includes a flange extending radially outwardly from an outer periphery of the conduit, the flange being sized to contact the wall of the housing. The conduit also includes a rib extending radially outwardly from the conduit outer periphery in spaced relation to the flange. A clamp cooperates with the rib and the housing to secure the conduit to the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention pertains to vacuum cleaners. More particularly, the present 
invention relates to a means for securing a conduit to a housing of a 
vacuum cleaner. 
Vacuum cleaners use a motorized fan to draw dust laden air from a surface 
to be cleaned into a dust or dirt receptacle, usually held in a housing. 
The dirt receptacle holds the dust for disposal at a later time. Many 
vacuum cleaners make use of a tubular conduit between a nozzle of the 
vacuum cleaner and the dirt receptacle. Once such tubular conduit for an 
upright style hard shell vacuum cleaner is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
5,089,038. In this construction, a flexible tube extends from a nozzle of 
the vacuum cleaner and communicates with an inlet end of a rigid upper 
fill tube. The rigid upper fill tube extends through a wall of a rigid 
housing and an outlet of the fill tube communicates with a flexible dirt 
collecting bag held in the housing. 
While this design has performed adequately, one problem with the present 
fill tube design is that due to the dimensional tolerances of the blow 
molded plastic parts from which the fill tube and the housing are made, 
sometimes the fill tube wobbles in the housing. On rare occasions, it can 
become detached from the housing altogether. It would be beneficial to 
more securely support the fill tube in the housing of the vacuum cleaner 
in order to make sure that the fill tube cannot work loose while the 
vacuum cleaner is in use. 
Accordingly, it has been considered desirable to develop a new and improved 
conduit construction for a vacuum cleaner which would overcome the 
foregoing difficulties and others and meet the above-stated needs while 
providing better and more advantageous overall results. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, a new and improved container 
construction is provided for a vacuum cleaner. 
More particularly in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the 
construction comprises a housing enclosing a dirt receptacle for the 
vacuum cleaner, the housing including a wall. A hole extends through the 
wall of the housing and a tubular conduit extends through the hole in the 
wall. The conduit has an inlet end located outside the housing and an 
outlet end located inside the housing. The conduit comprises a flange 
extending radially outwardly from an outer periphery of the conduit, the 
flange being sized to contact the wall of the housing and a rib extending 
radially outwardly from the conduit outer periphery in spaced relation to 
the flange. A clamp cooperates with the rib and the housing to secure the 
conduit to the housing. 
Preferably, the container construction further comprises a support arm 
extending within the housing for supporting the conduit in the housing. If 
desired, the container construction can further comprise a support finger 
extending within the housing, a socket located in the support finger and a 
fastener extending through an aperture in the clamp and into the socket 
for fastening the clamp to the housing and thereby securing the conduit to 
the housing. Preferably, the rib and the clamp have mating tapered 
surfaces to tightly interengage the clamp with the conduit. If desired, 
the conduit flange can include a shoulder which abuts a wall section of 
the housing surrounding the hole. Preferably the conduit has an outer 
surface, including a flat which cooperates with a suitably shaped portion 
of the housing wall adjacent the aperture to prevent a rotation of the 
conduit in the housing. Preferably the inlet end of the conduit cooperates 
with and receives dust laden air from an associated tube and the outlet 
end cooperates with, and is selectively attached to, a bag located in the 
housing. 
One advantage of the present invention is the provision of a new and 
improved conduit for a vacuum cleaner. 
Another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a rigid 
tubular conduit which transfers dust laden air from a surface to be 
cleaned to a dust receptacle located in a housing of a vacuum cleaner. 
Still another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a 
tubular conduit which is rigidly secured to a housing of a vacuum cleaner 
so as to prevent any wobble or wiggle of the conduit during use of the 
vacuum cleaner and during the process of removing a filled dust receptacle 
from the vacuum cleaner and securing an empty one in its place. 
Yet another advantage of the present invention is the provision of a vacuum 
cleaner tubular conduit which has a higher level of reliability in use. 
A further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a vacuum 
cleaner tubular conduit which does not rotate in relation to the housing 
wall through which it extends. 
A still further advantage of the present invention is the provision of a 
tubular vacuum cleaner conduit which is easy to manufacture and can be 
readily installed during the assembly of the vacuum cleaner. 
Still other benefits and advantages of the invention will become apparent 
to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the 
following detailed specification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of 
illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for 
purposes of limiting same, FIG. 4 shows a conduit that is mounted in a 
vacuum cleaner housing via a clamp, according to the present invention. 
While the vacuum cleaner housing is shown to be a hard shell upright 
vacuum cleaner, it should be appreciated by those of average skill in the 
art that the invention can also be used in a canister-type vacuum cleaner, 
a tank-type wet/dry vacuum cleaner or the like. 
With reference now to FIG. 3, a vacuum cleaner housing 10 according to the 
present invention includes an exterior wall 12 having a raised section 14 
through which a hole 16 (FIG. 2) extends. The hole 16 is substantially 
circular, although it can have a pair of opposed flats 18 (FIG. 2). The 
housing is preferably made of a rigid, air impervious material and is 
shaped to form a tub-like chamber 20. The chamber 20 is defined in cross 
section by a first interior side wall 22, a base wall 24 and a second 
interior side wall 26. 
Extending through the hole 16 is a conduit or fill tube 30. With reference 
now also to FIG. 4, the conduit includes an inlet end 32 which cooperates 
with and receives dust laden air from an associated, preferably flexible, 
tube 33 and a central portion 34, which extends through the hole 16, as 
well as an outlet end 36. As shown in FIG. 6, the conduit has an inner 
periphery 38 and an outer periphery 40. Preferably the inner periphery of 
the conduit is of a substantially circular cross-section having 
substantially a single diameter along substantially its entire length. 
Extending radially outwardly from the outer periphery 40 of the conduit 30 
is a flange 42. As shown in FIG. 5, the flange extends circumferentially 
around the conduit 30 at an acute angle to the axis of the conduit. 
Extending circumferentially around the periphery of the flange is a 
shoulder 44. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the shoulder 44 abuts a wall 
section 46 surrounding the hole 16 in order to serve as a means for 
limiting the sliding movement of the conduit 30 into the housing 10. The 
flange 42 also serves as a sealing means for sealing the conduit 30 
against the housing 10 in order to prevent the suction of air through the 
hole 16 when a motorized fan (not illustrated) pulls a suction in the 
chamber 20. 
Extending radially outwardly from the conduit outer periphery 40 in a 
manner spaced from the flange 42 is a rib 50. The rib 50 extends over only 
about 180 degrees of the circumference of the conduit 30, as may best be 
seen in FIGS. 1 and 5. Also, the rib is of a substantially smaller 
diameter than the flange 42 so as to enable the conduit 30 to be slid via 
its outlet end 36 through the hole 16 and into the housing until the 
shoulder 44 of the flange contacts the wall section 46 surrounding the 
hole 16. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the rib 50 includes a first tapered 
slope 52 facing toward the outlet end 36 and a second tapered slope 54 
facing towards the inlet end 32 of the conduit 30. 
With reference now to FIG. 2, a support means is provided in the chamber 20 
of the housing 10 for supporting the conduit 30. More specifically, 
protruding from the base wall 24 into the chamber 20 is a support arm 60 
having a pair of spaced side walls 62 and 64 which are spanned by a 
bracing wall 66 having a concave top surface 68. Positioned adjacent the 
hole 16 through the housing side wall 22 and protruding from the base wall 
20 into the chamber 20 are first and second support fingers 70 and 72. 
Each of these includes a respective first and second socket 74 and 76. The 
support fingers each have a concave top surface 78. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the conduit is supported on the arm 60 near its outlet 
end 36 and is supported by the is fingers 70 and 72 at its central portion 
34 where the conduit extends through the hole 16. The rib 50 of the 
conduit is so located that it is immediately adjacent the support fingers 
70 and 72 and is located radially inwardly therefrom. Cooperating with the 
rib 50 and the support finger sockets 74 and 76 is a clamp 80. The clamp 
is somewhat U-shaped or semicircular and has apertures 82 extending 
through its ends 84. A respective fastener 86 (FIG. 4) extends through the 
apertures 82 and into a respective one of the sockets 74 and 76 to secure 
the clamp to the housing fingers 70, 72. It should be appreciated that the 
fastener can be a threaded member, such as a screw, with the sockets being 
suitably threaded in order to engage the threads of the screw. 
With reference now again to FIG. 3, the central portion of the clamp 80 
between its ends 84 is somewhat U-shaped in cross section. It comprises a 
tapered front face 90, a flat bottom face 92 and a flat back face 94. 
Preferably at least one reinforcing rib 96 extends between the front face 
90 and the back face 94 in order to stiffen the clamp. The front tapered 
face 90 is suitably tapered as to enable it to cooperate with the second 
tapered slope 54 of the rib 50 so that the clamp acts like a wedge to 
tighten the conduit or fill tube in place in the housing around about 180 
degrees of the circumference of the conduit. In other words, the slope 54 
and the face 90 have matching angles to allow for a good fit of these two 
elements with each other. At the same time, the remaining 180 degree 
circumference of the conduit is pulled tightly against the first and 
second support fingers 70 and 72 which are shown in FIG. 2. 
Simultaneously, the conduit is pulled against the support arm 60. With 
this construction, the conduit is tightly held in the housing 10. 
It should be appreciated that the vertical back face 94 of the clamp 80 is 
of a larger dimension than is the tapered front face 90 so that the clamp 
back face engages against both the flange 42 of the conduit and the wall 
section 46 of the housing surrounding the hole 16. This can be seen in 
FIG. 3 of the drawings. In this way, the clamp 80 serves as a means for 
preventing the conduit 30 from being withdrawn from the housing 10. 
With reference now again to FIG. 4, a mounting plate 100 is pivotally 
mounted via a pivot pin 102 rotatably held in a hinge barrel 104 located 
in the chamber 20 of the housing. The mounting plate holds a reinforced 
collar 106 of a dirt receiving bag 108. When the mounting plate is 
correctly positioned, the collar 106 of the bag 108 engages the outlet end 
36 of the conduit 30 so as to enable dust laden air which flows through 
the conduit to flow into the bag 108. In order to secure the mounting 
plate 100 in a stable position in the housing 10, a finger 110 of the 
mounting plate cooperates with an ear 112 extending into the chamber 20 of 
the housing. This construction is known from applicant's prior U.S. Pat. 
No. 5,089,038 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
In use, a front plate (not illustrated) covers the open front face of the 
housing 10 to form a sealed chamber for the bag 108. 
With reference now again to FIGS. 2 and 6, the flats 18 provided on the two 
sides of the hole 16 extending through the housing 10 are meant to 
cooperate with suitable flattened portions 120 and 122 located on opposed 
sides of the conduit 30 at the central portion 34 thereof where the 
conduit extends through the hole 16. The flattened portions 120, 122 
prevent the conduit 30 from rotating in relation to the housing 10. 
If desired, a keyway 124 can be provided in the hole 16 extending through 
the housing 10. The keyway cooperates with a suitable key 126 located on 
the outer surface 40 of the conduit 30 and extending from the flattened 
section 122 so as to further prevent any undesirable rotation of the 
conduit 30 in relation to the housing 10. 
The conduit, or fill tube 30, is preferably made from a suitable 
conventional plastic material such as high density polyethylene via a 
conventional means such as blow molding. In contrast, the housing 10 and 
the clamp 80 are preferably made from a different suitable conventional 
thermoplastic material, such as ABS, by conventional means. 
The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. 
Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon a 
reading and understanding of this specification. It is intended to include 
all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the 
scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.