A hand-held vacuum cleaner comprising a dust case having an upward opening and an air-permeable filter wall formed as at least a portion of its structural wall, the dust case being removably fitted in a dust collecting recess formed in the main body of the cleaner, a partitioning member having a suction opening and removably fitted over the opening of the dust case to cover the opening, and a closure pivoted to the cleaner main body and openably closing the opening of the recess except the suction opening of the partitioning member. A paper filter can be held between the dust case and the partitioning member.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a hand-held electric vacuum cleaner, and 
more particularly to such a cleaner which is suited to clean places of 
small space or a special place remote from wall outlets rather than 
entirely clean rooms or wide places. 
RELATED ART STATEMENT 
Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Publication SHO No. 58-160555, for 
example, discloses a cordless hand-held vacuum cleaner of the 
above-mentioned type which comprises a dust case attached to the front of 
its main body and having a specific filter device therein. The cleaner is 
inconvenient to handle since the filter device needs to be cleaned every 
time dirt is discarded, while the cleaner requires the filter device which 
is specifically designed therefor. 
Accordingly, one of the present inventors has already proposed a hand-held 
vacuum cleaner adapted for use with a paper filter, such as tissue paper 
or kitchen paper, which is inexpensive and readily available (see Japanese 
Utility Model Application SHO No. 59-168191). This cleaner is provided 
with a dust collecting recess formed in the front portion of its main body 
and having an upward opening. A paper filter is placed into the recess, 
which is then closed over the paper filter with a closure having a suction 
opening. Thus, dirt can be collected in the recess by the filter. The 
collected dirt can be discarded easily along with the filter by removing 
from the recess the paper filter with the accumulation of dirt thereon. 
Although the vacuum cleaner is thus made easy to handle, the cleaner still 
has the problem that the dirt once collected is liable to spill when it is 
to be discarded. Stated more specifically, the closure must be opened 
first before the paper filter is removed from the recess with the dirt 
collected thereon. However, when the closure is opened, the dirt 
collecting portion of the paper filter is exposed to readily permit 
spilling of the dirt, while the exposed dirt collecting portion is urged 
by the opening of the closure to release the dirt easily. 
Another problem is encountered with the hand-held vacuum cleaner for which 
a paper filter is usable. FIG. 6 shows such a cleaner which has a dust 
collecting recess 40 formed in the front portion of its main body, a 
closure 41 for the recess and a paper filter 42 provided between the 
recessed portion and the closure. The cleaner has the drawback that the 
margin 42a of the paper filter 42 fitted in place is left projecting from 
the closure 41, is therefore unsightly and is likely to become soiled or 
broken. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a hand-held vacuum cleaner comprising a main 
body provided with a dust collecting recess in its front portion, an air 
outlet communicating with the recess and a handle, the dust collecting 
recess having an upward opening; a dust case having an upward opening and 
an air-permeable filter wall formed as at least a portion of its 
structural wall, the dust case being removably fitted in the dust 
collecting recess; a partitioning member having a suction opening and 
removably fitted over the opening of the dust case to cover the opening; a 
closure pivoted to the main body and openably closing the opening of the 
dust collecting recess except the suction opening of the partitioning 
member; a fan motor housed in the main body for taking in outside air 
through the suction opening and discharging the air from the air outlet at 
least through the filter wall; and means for supplying electric power to 
the fan motor. 
According to the present invention, the partitioning member provided for 
removably covering the upward opening of the dust case makes it possible 
to remove the dust case first in a closed state from the dust collecting 
recess of the main body (irrespective of whether a paper filter is used or 
not), so that the collected dirt can be carried, as confined in the 
compacted case, to a location very close to the place of dirt disposal 
without being released from the case before approaching the place of 
disposal. Thus, the present invention precludes spilling of dirt when the 
cleaner is emptied of dirt and assures facilitated disposal of dirt. 
Further when the vacuum cleaner of the present invention has paper holding 
ribs formed on the partitioning member which is more specifically a filter 
holder, a paper filter can be held between the holder and the dust case, 
as extended over the inside surface of the dust case by the holder, 
especially by the paper holding ribs thereof, consequently affording a 
wide dust collecting space. Moreover, if the margin of the paper filter 
projects upward outside the filter holder, the margin is folded over, and 
the upward opening of the dust collecting recess is then closed with the 
closure. The margin of the filter is therefore covered with the closure 
without projecting out. The dust or dirt drawn in through the suction 
opening accumulates on the filter paper and can be discarded along with 
the filter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 first, the main body 1 of a hand-held 
electric vacuum cleaner has at its reverse portion a device accommodating 
portion 6 housing a fan motor 2, a power supply switch 3a, rechargeable 
batteries 4 and like electric devices and provided with a handle 5. The 
main body 1 is formed in its front portion with a dust collecting recess 9 
communicating with the device accommodating portion 6 through a suction 
opening 7 and having an upward opening 8. The recessed portion has a first 
opening 8a at its front end for a suction opening member to fit in. The 
recess 9 is defined by an upper side wall 10 and a lower side wall 11, the 
former being positioned inwardly of the latter toward the center of the 
recess 9. The junction between the upper and lower side walls 10 and 11 is 
stepped and formed with a groove 12 for a closure 13 to engage in. 
Indicated at 1a are air discharge ports, and at 3 is a power supply 
circuit including the switch 3a. 
The closure 13 for openably closing the upward opening 8 of the dust 
collecting recess 9 is pivotably attached by hinge means 14 to the wall of 
the main body 1 above the suction opening 7 in the main body 1. The 
closure 13 has opposite side plates 15 downwardly extending from its top 
plate for covering the uppwer side wall 10 with their lower ends engaged 
in the groove 12 when the closure 13 closes the upward opening 8. The 
closure 13 is provided with a generally inverted U-shaped latch member 18 
of synthetic resin engaging in latch holes 16 in the main body 1 at all 
times when the closure 13 is in its closed position to hold the closure 
closed. When a button 17 projecting outward from the side plate 15 is 
depressed, the latch member 18 is released from the hole 16 by being bent 
to make the closure 13 openable. 
A dust case 19, which is removably fitted in the recess 9, has an upward 
opening 20 and is formed at its front end with a second opening 20a for 
the suction opening member to fit in. The dust case 19 comprises a 
box-shaped mesh filter portion 21 accommodated in the recess 9 and spaced 
from the inner surface of the recessed portion, and a packing frame 24 of 
flexible synthetic resin generally identical in configuration with the 
upward opening edge 22 of the recessed portion 9. When the closure 13 is 
closed, the packing frame 24 is pressed on by a ridge 23 on the closure 13 
and held between the opening edge 22 and the closure 13. The packing frame 
24 has on its inner side a ring-like downward extension 25 extending into 
the recess 9 inside the opening edge 22 and having the opening edge of the 
mesh filter portion 21 attached thereto. Lugs 26, 26 are provided on the 
outer side of the packing frame 24 at opposite side portions thereof. When 
the dust case 19 is placed in the dust collecting recess 9, each of the 
lugs 26 is positioned outside the upward opening edge 22, held between the 
upper side wall 10 and the downward extension 18 of the closure 13 and 
covered with the closure 13. Accordingly, the lugs 26 hold the packing 
frame 24 accurately in position over the opening edge 22, consequently 
holding the dust case 19 in place within the recess 9 without allowing 
deformation of the case. Further the dust case 19 can be withdrawn from 
the recess 9 by pulling out the lugs 26 with fingers. 
The dust case 19 is provided with a filter holder 27 serving as a 
partitioning member. The filter holder 27 comprises a base plate 28 
covering the upward opening 20 of the dust case 19 and a pair of paper 
holding ribs 29, 29 extending from the reverse side of the base plate 28 
downward into the dust case 19 and also extending longitudinally of the 
cleaner. Each of the paper holding ribs 29 is formed with an upward cutout 
29a in the lower end of its midportion for passing suction air 
therethrough. Guide ribs 29b extend from the base plate 28 of the filter 
holder 27 and are integral with the paper holding ribs 29. The guide rib 
29b has an inclined outer surface and reinforces the junction between the 
paper holding rib 29 and the base plate 28. When the filter holder 27 is 
fitted into the dust case 19, the guide ribs 29 guide the holder 27 by the 
contact of their outer surfaces with the packing frame 24 of the dust case 
19, whereby the holder 27 can be placed in position within the dust case 
19. The base plate 28 extends forward beyond the first and second openings 
8a and 20a to provide at its forward end a tubular opening member having a 
suction opening 30 for admitting dust or dirt into the dust case 19. The 
outlet end of the suction opening member opposite to the opening 30 is 
covered with a flapper valve 30a of synthetic rubber. The suction opening 
member has a constricted portion 30b fitting in the first and second 
openings 8a, 20a. 
Commercial tissue paper or kitchen paper is utilized as it is as a paper 
filter 31. The paper filter 31 can be placed into the dust case 19 fitted 
in the recess 9 and held between the filter holder 27 and the case 19 by 
placing the central portion of the filter 31 over the upward opening 20 of 
the dust case 19 and then fitting the filter holder 27 into the dust case 
19. When thus set in place, the paper filter 31 has its central portion 
extended over the interior surface of the dust case 19 by the paper 
holding ribs 29 of the holder 27, providing a wide dust collecting space. 
The margin 31a of the paper filter 31 is folded over the surface of the 
base plate 28 of the filter holder 27, and the closure 13 is closed, 
whereby the margin 31a of the filter is held between the holder 27 and the 
closure 13 and hidden from view. 
When the power supply switch 3a is turned on with the handle 5 grasped by 
hand, the rechargeable power supply batteries 4 drive the fan motor 2. 
Accordingly, dirt is drawn into the dust case 19 through the suction 
opening 30 and collected by the paper filter 31. At this time, the paper 
filter 31 is held in intimate contact with the inner side of the dust case 
19, retained in shape by the case 19 and thereby protected from breaking. 
Because there is a space in the dust collecting recess 9 around the dust 
case 19, i.e., between the outer peripheral surface of the mesh filter 
portion 21 of the case 19 and the inner surface of the main body 1 
defining the recess 9, and further because the air drawn in flows also 
through the cutouts 29a in the paper holding ribs 29 and then through the 
side portions of the case 19, a wrde filtering area is available. Since 
the dirt drawn in passes through the air passing cutouts 29a and 
accumulates also on opposite side portions of the paper filter 31, dirt 
can be trapped efficiently by the paper filter 31 over the entire surface 
thereof. Accordingly, the cleaner gets a larger dirt-collecting capacity, 
so that this reduces the number of times dirt is to be discarded. 
For the discard of the dirt, the closure 13 is turned open, the margin 31a 
of the paper filter 31 is unfolded, the filter holder 27 is removed, the 
paper filter 31 is further removed with the dirt accumulated thereon by 
holding the marging 31a with hand, and the paper filter and dirt are 
discarded. 
The dust case 19 can be fitted into the recess 9 accurately in position, 
with the lugs 26 positioned outside the upper opening edge 22 of the 
recessed portion 9, merely by placing the dust case 19 into the recess 9. 
Further the packing frame 24 enables the closure 13 to close the dust case 
19 effectively. Because of these features, the present cleaner achieves a 
high dirt collecting efficiency. For the disposal of dirt, the dust case 
19 is readily removable from the dust collecting recess 9 by pulling out 
the lugs 26 with fingers. 
The present vacuum cleaner is operable for cleaning even when no paper 
filter is used. In this case, the dirt drawn in through the suction 
opening 30 can be trapped by the mesh filter portion 21 of the dust case 
19 serving as a filter wall. When a large amount of dirt has been 
collected in the dust case 19, the case 19 is removed from the main body 
1, carried to a suitable place of dirt disposal and emptied of the dirt as 
in the case where the paper filter 31 is used. Since the upward opening 20 
of the dust case 19 is held closed with the filter holder 27, the dust 
case 19 can be removed and carried without spilling the dirt. The dirt is 
therefore disposable with great ease. 
Also when the paper filter 31 is used, dirt can of course be discarded 
along with the filter by removing the dust case 19 from the main body 1 
first with the filter holder 27 attached to the case and thereafter 
removing the filter holder 27 therefrom at the place of dirt disposal. 
Thus, the dirt is readily disposable without spilling. 
FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) show another embodiment of the invention. Each of the 
parts corresponding to those of the first embodiment is designated by the 
same corresponding reference number plus 100.