Adaptor for a vacuum cleaner

An adaptor for a vacuum cleaner having a vacuum source (21) and an inlet tube (18) communicating with a nozzle opening (11) and ending in a chamber (15) which has an opening closed by a cover (17). A dust container (16) is normally placed in the chamber and is connected to the inlet tube. The adaptor is a separate unit (26) which, when the dust container (16) and cover (17) have been removed, can be fixed to the vacuum cleaner. The adaptor includes a cyclone separator (32) having an inlet side which is connected to the inlet tube (18) and an outlet side communicating with the inlet side of the vacuum source (21).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an adaptor for a vacuum cleaner wherein 
the vacuum cleaner has a vacuum source and an inlet tube or the like 
communicating with a nozzle opening and ending in a chamber which has an 
opening closed by a cover, and wherein a dust container is disposed in the 
chamber and normally connected to the inlet tube. 
Vacuum cleaners of the type mentioned above are known in the art, and can 
generally be classified as either upright vacuum cleaners or as canister 
vacuum cleaners. 
A vacuum cleaner of the upright-type usually comprises a lower 
wheel-supported part including a brush roll that is placed in the nozzle 
opening, and driving means for the brush. The lower part is, via a link 
arrangement, connected with an upper part having a chamber for the dust 
container. An upper portion of the upper part is shaped as a handle by 
means of which the vacuum cleaner is moved on the surface. The vacuum 
source, which usually is a fan driven by an electric motor, is, for 
upright vacuum cleaners, placed in either the upper or the lower part. 
Vacuum cleaners of the canister-type comprise a motor-fan unit and a 
housing surrounding a chamber in which the dust bag is inserted. The end 
of the inlet tube in the chamber is connected, via a hose, a tube handle, 
and a tube shaft, to the inlet opening of the nozzle, which is separated 
from the housing. 
It is also previously known to integrate cyclone separators into 
conventional vacuum cleaners of the canister-type, see for instance 
EP-A-489468. However, this arrangement has the disadvantage that the size 
of the vacuum cleaner increases since space for both the conventional 
filter container and the material separated by the cyclone separator is 
necessary. 
In recent years, vacuum cleaners of the upright-type which are provided 
with cyclone separators have been developed, see for instance EP-B-489565. 
In these vacuum cleaners, the upper part is shaped as a cyclone which 
forms an integrated unit together with the motor. Particles are separated 
from the air in the cyclone and fall down by gravity into a collecting 
container from which they are manually removed. Even if there are certain 
disadvantages with this type of vacuum cleaner, such as large flow 
resistance causing an increased demand of power from the electric motor of 
the vacuum source in order to obtain the same suction effect for the 
nozzle part as in a conventional vacuum cleaner, unhygienic emptying of 
the dust container, and high production costs, a cyclone separator can, 
for certain purposes, provide an advantage. Namely, in circumstances when 
there is a desire to remove or vacuum-up large volumes of easily separable 
material, such as coarse sand, and where the consumption of dust 
containers in a conventional vacuum cleaner would be large. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The purpose of the present invention is to achieve an accessory for a 
conventional vacuum cleaner by means of which the vacuum cleaner in a 
simple way can be converted to a cyclone vacuum cleaner in order to make 
it possible to choose a suitable or desired method for picking up the 
material from the surface. 
In accordance with the present invention, an adaptor for a vacuum cleaner 
is adapted to replace a conventional cover and filter bag, and includes a 
coarse separator and a cyclone separator which are serially connected. The 
coarse separator is provided in a first container and is connected, via a 
first channel, to an inlet tube, which is otherwise normally connected to 
a filter bag. Large or heavy particles are separated from the air stream 
in the coarse separator, and are deposited at the bottom of the first 
container. A first channel connects the first container with the cyclone 
separator. 
In further accordance with the present invention, a second channel has an 
inlet disposed at an upper part of the first container, and fluidly 
connects the first container with the cyclone separator. The cyclone 
separator has a frustoconical body which is open at a bottom, narrow end 
to permit particles to fall onto a bottom wall of a second container. A 
cylindrical tube is located in the cyclone separator and conducts 
generally particle-free air out of the cyclone separator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner comprises a lower part 10 having a 
nozzle opening 11 in which a brush roll 12 is rotatably mounted and 
driven, for instance by means of an electric motor (not shown). The lower 
part 10 is supported by rear wheels 13 and front wheels (not shown). 
The lower part 10 is, by means of a link mechanism, connected to an upper 
part 14. The upper part 14 comprises a chamber 15 that normally encloses a 
dust container 16 and that has an opening closed by a cover 17. The nozzle 
opening 11 in the lower part 10 communicates with an inlet tube 18 to 
which a collar 19 of the dust container can be connected. 
The lower portion of the upper part 14 is shaped as a motor housing 20 in 
which a motor-fan unit 21 is disposed. The inlet side of the fan unit 
communicates with the chamber 15 via an opening 22 whereas the outlet side 
of the fan unit is connected to an outlet part 23 whose opening is 
normally covered by the lower portion of the cover 17. The cover lower 
portion has several diffusor openings 24 through which exhaust air flows 
to atmosphere. The upper portion 25 of the upper part 14 is shaped as a 
shaft with a handle by means of which the vacuum cleaner is moved on the 
surface. 
The vacuum cleaner includes an adaptor 26. The adaptor 26 is a separate 
unit with a front wall 27 that replaces the cover 17 when the adaptor 26 
is fixed to the vacuum cleaner. Similar to the cover 17, the front wall 27 
has, at its lower part, several diffusor openings 28 through which the air 
escapes to atmosphere. The front wall 27 also has hooks 29 and a locking 
mechanism 30 by means of which the adaptor is fixed to the vacuum cleaner 
(FIG. 2). 
With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the adaptor 26 includes a coarse separator 
31 and a cyclone separator 32. When the adaptor 26 is arranged on the 
vacuum cleaner, the coarse separator 31 is connected to the inlet tube 18 
via a first channel or passageway 33 having an inlet opening 34. An end 35 
of the first channel 33 is arranged at the upper portion of a first 
container 36. The first container 36 has a bottom 37 on which the 
separated dirt is collected. At an upper part of the first container 36 
there is an inlet 38 to a second channel or passageway 39. In front of the 
inlet 38 there is a grating 39a preventing larger particles from entering 
the inlet. 
The second channel 39 has an outlet end 40 which is placed at the periphery 
of a mainly cylinder-shaped part 41 of the cyclone separator 32 so that 
the air flows tangentially into the cylinder-shaped part 41. The 
cylinder-shaped part 41 continues downwardly into a truncated hollow cone 
42 which is placed upside down and which, at its lower part, has an 
opening 43 through which the material separated by the cyclone can escape 
or fall into a second container 44. Separated material collects on the 
bottom 45 of the second container 44. 
The cyclone separator 32 also has a central outlet opening 46 which is at a 
lower end of a cylinder-shaped part 47 that extends down into the cyclone. 
The outlet opening 46 is generally co-axial with the opening 43. The 
cylinder-shaped part 47, via a space 48 and a passage 49, continues into a 
parallelepipedic space 50 forming a third channel or passageway for the 
air. One of the walls surrounding or defining the space 50 has an opening 
that is provided with a filter 51 facing the chamber 15. The filter 51 is 
fixed to the adaptor 26 by means of gratings 52 placed on opposite sides 
of the filter 51. 
A lower part of each container 36 and 44 has an opening 53 covered by a 
common lid 54. The lid 54 is kept in position by means of a locking 
mechanism 55 on the adaptor 26 and can be opened to empty the two 
containers. 
The device operates in the following manner. Under normal operating 
conditions, the collar 19 of the dust container 16 is connected to the 
inlet tube 18 so that the air flows through the dust container. The 
opening of the chamber 15 and the outlet part 23 is closed by the cover 
17. Air is drawn from the surface through the nozzle opening 11 and the 
air flows through the inlet tube 18 and through the dust container 16 
where the dirt particles are separated from the air flow. The air then 
flows through the chamber 15 and the opening 22 to the fan unit 21 from 
which it escapes to atmosphere via the outlet part 23 and the openings 24 
in the cover 17. In order to replace the dust container 16, the cover 17 
is removed which means that the dust container 16 becomes accessible and 
can be removed from the inlet tube 18. 
When the adaptor 26 is to be used, the cover 17 and the dust container 16 
are removed. Then the adaptor 26 is inserted into the chamber 15 so that 
the inlet tube 18 engages the inlet opening 34 while the adaptor front 
wall 27 closes the chamber 15 and the outlet part 23. When the fan unit is 
started, the air will flow from the nozzle opening 11, via the inlet tube 
18 and the first channel 33, into the coarse separator 31 in which heavier 
particles, by means of gravity, are separated from the air flow and are 
collected at the bottom of the container 36. 
The air then flows through the inlet 38 and the second channel 39 to the 
cylindrical part 41 of the cyclone separator 32. Particles, by means of 
centrifugal forces, are thrown outwardly towards the cylindrical surface 
and simultaneously fall down through the conical part 42 and collect at 
the bottom wall 45 of the container 44. The air in the central part of the 
separator which is cleaned from particles then flows through the outlet 
opening 46, the cylindrical part 47, the space 48, the passage 49, the 
space 50 and the filter 51 into the chamber 15. From the chamber 15 air 
flows, in the way described above, through the opening 22 to the fan unit 
21 and further to atmosphere via the outlet part 23 and the openings 28. 
In order to empty the two containers 36 and 44, the adaptor 26 is removed 
from the vacuum cleaner. Thereafter, the lid 54 is opened so that 
particles can be shaken out of the containers 36, 44. 
It should be mentioned that the adaptor according to the present invention 
can also be used on canister-type vacuum cleaners. It is, of course, also 
possible to use the adaptor according to the present invention with vacuum 
cleaners wherein the fan unit is placed before the chamber 15 as seen in 
the direction of air flow, which is often the case with upright vacuum 
cleaners where the unit is arranged close to the nozzle opening in the 
lower part 10 of the vacuum cleaner. The adaptor can also be used for so 
called wet/dry cleaners wherein dust and dirty water are alternatively 
collected. 
From the foregoing, it should be clear that the present invention is 
capable of numerous modifications, rearrangements of parts, and 
reconfiguration without departing from the scope and spirit of the present 
invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the 
preferred and illustrated embodiment, but rather will cover and include 
all device which fall within the purview of the claims appended hereto.