Apparatus for supporting an electric blower of a vacuum cleaner

Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus for supporting an electric blower (14) of a vacuum cleaner, comprising a front (24) supporting member positioned between the front surface of the electric blower and a housing of the vacuum cleaner and a rear (25) supporting member positioned between the electric blower and the housing (12, 13) thereof. The rear supporting member is fixed to the electric blower and the housing to prevent the electric blower from being moved in its thrust direction. The rear supporting member is fixed thereto such that one end portion thereof is fixedly secured to the rear portion of the electric blower and a groove portion formed on the periphery of the rear supporting member is engaged with a fixing member (12a, 13a) protrudingly provided on the housing. The front supporting member is formed so that at least the cross section of a portion thereof positioned between the front surface of the electric blower and the housing of the vacuum cleaner has a wedge-like configuration (26).

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner apparatus according to the preamble of claim 1 wherein the electric blower is supported so as to provide vibration proofing operation. An important problem in vacuum cleaner apparatuses relates to the prevention of vibration. In order to avoid this problem it is known to support the front and rear surfaces of an electric blower with bumping members such as rubber members, as is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-43825. However, a front surface supporting member is compressed in the thrust direction of the electric blower because of the back pressure of the electric blower, resulting in the reduction of its resiliency and in decrease in vibration proof effect. DE-A 3 029 351 discloses a vacuum cleaner apparatus comprising an electric blower disposed within a housing. The known apparatus comprises two clamping arms abutting on the rear surface of the electric blower through an elastic damping member interposed therebetween, protrusions of the clamping arms being engaged with a groove provided in the damping member. Two ends of the clamping arms are fixed to the housing. The two clamping arms (which may have an essentially L-shaped side view and be interconnected on said ends with a transverse rod to form an integral clamping bracket), by being snapped under tensile stress, hold the electric blower against a bulkhead plate fixed to the housing and arranged near the front surface of the electric blower. An annular support of elastic material abuts on the bulkhead plate and on the periphery of the front surface of the electric blower. DE-U-1 850 128 discloses a rear supporting member for an electric blower in a vacuum cleaner, wherein the rear supporting member ist fixed to the electric blower and to the housing so as to prevent the electric blower form being moved in its thrust direction. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the object of the invention to provide a vacuum cleaner apparatus wherein a decrease in vibration proof effect during use is avoided. This object is achieved by the features indicated in the characterising portion of claim 1. The front supporting member is formed so that at least the cross section of a portion thereof positioned between the front surface of the electric blower and the housing has a wedge-like configuration. This enables preventing the exhaust circulation due to the production of a gap between the suction side and the exhaust side of the electric blower caused by the fixing of the electric blower to the housing, because the portion with the wedge-like cross section is further intruded between the front surface of the electric blower and the housing by the aid of the back pressure of the electric blower. The prevention of the exhaust circulation results in the prevention of thermal deformation of the housing made of a resin. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner apparatus according to the invention; Fig. 2 is an illustration of the vacuum cleaner apparatus; Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the vacuum cleaner apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention showing the supporting members in detail; Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the vacuum cleaner apparatus according to another embodiement of the invention showing the supporting members in detail; and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another structure of the front supporting member. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a vacuum cleaner apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner apparatus as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the supporting members in detail. In Figs. 1 to 3, the vacuum cleaner apparatus includes an electric blower 14 encased in a housing comprising an upper housing section 12 and a lower housing section 13. To the lower housing section 13 are coupled a pair of wheels 15 and a caster 23 for carrying the body of the vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner is arranged such that air and dust are intaken from a floor nozzle (not shown) through a suction port 21 to a dust chamber 16 defined at the suction side of the electric blower 14,and only dust is collected in a dust bag 18 provided in the dust chamber 16. The dust bag 18 acts as a filter for allowing only the passage of air. The air passes through the electric blower 14 and is discharged from an exhaust port 22. The dust chamber 16 has a cover 17, and a mouth plate 20 of the dust bag 18 is supported by a pair of supporting members 19 and 19'. The electric blower 14 is arranged to be supported by the upper and lower housing sections 12 and 13 through front and rear supporting members 24 and 25. That is, the front supporting member 24 is interposed between an annular rib 28 provided on a bulkhead plate 27 fixed on the inner surface of the lower housing section 13 and the front surface of a fan portion 14a of the electric blower 14, and the rear supporting member 25 is interposed between fixing members 12a, 13a protrudingly provided on the upper and lower housing sections 12, 13 and the rear surface of the electric blower 14. The front supporting member 24, for example, is made of rubber for acting as a bumping member and formed by tubing foam rubber. The rear supporting member 25 may be made of rubber. More specifically, the front supporting member 24 is formed to have an annular configuration and to have a substantially L-shaped cross-section. A portion 26 of the L-shaped front supporting member 24 extending to the center thereof has wedge-like cross-section and is provided between the annular rib 28 and the front surface of the fan section 14a of the electric blower 14. The other portion thereof is positioned on the periphery of the fan section 14a. With this arrangement of the front supporting member 24, the wedge-like portion 26 is further intruded therebetween with the other portion being under the back pressure of the electric blower 14 to always certainly ensure the airtightness between the annular rib 28 and the front surface of the fan section 14a and to prevent the thermal deformation due to exhaust circulation, irrespective of dispersion of the front supporting member 24 in dimension. It is also appropriate that the front supporting member 24 is hollow as shown in Fig. 5. The hollow supporting member will improve the vibration proofing effect. On the other hand, one end portion of the rear supporting member 25 is fixed to the rear surface of the electric blower 14, and a groove portion is formed on the periphery thereof, and one end portions of the fixing members 12a and 13a are engaged with the groove portion. That is, the electric blower 14 is fixedly supported through the rear supporting member 25 by the upper and lower housing sections 12 and 13. This prevents the electric blower 14 from being moved in the thrust direction by the back pressure of the electric blower 14, resulting in preventing the front supporting member 24 from being compressed and in ensuring the vibration proofing effect of the front supporting member 24 against the electric blower 14. It is also appropriate that the fixing of the electric blower 14 to the housing is performed as shown in Fig. 4. That is, the electric blower 14 is fixed through the rear supporting member 25 by screws 29. This more certainly prevents the movement of the electric blower 14 in the thrust direction.

Claims: A vacuum cleaner apparatus comprising an electric blower (14), a housing (12, 13), a front supporting member (24) positioned between the front surface of the electric blower (14) and a bulkhead plate (27) protrudingly fixed to the housing (12, 13), and a rear supporting member (25) positioned between the electric blower (14) and the housing (12, 13), characterized in that the front supporting member (24) is formed so that at least the cross section of a portion (26) thereof positioned between the front surface of the electric blower (14) and a rib (28) provided on the bulkhead plate (27) has a wedge-like configuration by an inclined surface facing the rib (28), and in that the rear supporting member (25) is fixed to the electric blower (14) and to the housing (12, 13) to prevent the electric blower (14) from being moved in its thrust direction. A vacuum cleaner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cross section of the front supporting member (24) has a substantially L-shaped configuration, a portion other than said portion (26) positioned between the front surface of the electric blower (14) and the housing (12, 13) being positioned on a periphery of the electric blower (14). A vacuum cleaner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the front supporting member (24) is hollow. A vacuum cleaner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the front supporting member (24) is made of rubber and is formed by tubing foam rubber material. A vacuum cleaner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rear supporting member (25) is fixed to the housing (12, 13) such that a groove portion formed on the periphery thereof is engaged with a fixing member (12a, 13a) protrudingly provided on the housing (12, 13). A vacuum cleaner apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electric blower (14) is fixedly secured to a fixing member (12a, 13a) protrudingly provided on the housing (12, 13) by a screw (29) with the rear supporting member (25) being interposed therebetween.

Inventors: HAYASHI SEIZO, KITAMURA HIDENORI, SHIMIZU YUICHI, HAYASHI, SEIZO, KITAMURA, HIDENORI, SHIMIZU, YUICHI
Applicants: MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IND CO LTD, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC INDUSTRIAL CO., LTD.
Application year: 1987
Main classification: A47L9
IPC codes: A47L9