Abstract:
A resilient support sustaining the upper terminus of a dirt collecting bag on the handle of an upright vacuum cleaner in which an extensible strap on the bag is fastened within a downwardly open recess on the handle maintaining the upper terminus of the bag completely within the handle recess.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to vacuum cleaners of the upright floor supported type and, more particularly, to a new and improved arrangement for suspending a fabric dirt collecting bag from the handle of an upright floor supported vacuum cleaner. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     It is known to suspend a fabric dirt collecting bag from the handle of an upright vacuum cleaner by a connection element such as a coil spring, extendable cord, or the like, which is exposed to the exterior of the cleaner, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,734, Apr. 8, 1958, of Brace. Such an exposed bag suspension arrangement not only detracts from the appearance of the cleaner, but is disadvantageous in that the exposed bag suspension elements are prone to become entangled with household objects such as tablecloths, drapes, electric cords, or the like, with consequent likelihood of injury not only to household objects but also to the bag suspension elements. 
     The U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,884, Jan. 28, 1986, of Jones et al. discloses a resilient bag suspension arrangement for an upright vacuum cleaner handle in which a coil spring provides resiliency to the bag support, and much of the bag supporting structure is arranged within the fabric bag and enclosed with a recessed cover. This patented construction, however, is bulky in size and relatively expensive. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a cost effective arrangement for resiliently suspending a fabric dirt collecting bag from the handle of an upright vacuum cleaner in which the entire bag top as well as the bag supporting structure is hidden from view and protected from outside interference. This object of this invention is attained by securing on the top of the bag a resilient supporting element formed with an eyelet and providing on the vacuum cleaner handle a downwardly open recess accommodating the entire top of the bag with an eyelet engaging pin arranged within the recess together with means for preventing accidental disengagement of the eyelet from the pin. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     With the above and additional objects and advantages in view, as will hereinafter appear, this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floor supported upright vacuum cleaner having the dirt bag supporting arrangement of this invention applied thereto; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of a portion of the handle of the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1 together with the top of the fabric bag with portions broken away; 
     FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along line 3--3 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the resilient strap used in this invention to suspend the fabric bag from the vacuum cleaner handle; and 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken substantially along line 5--5 of FIG. 1. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The dirt bag supporting arrangement of this invention may be applied to practically any floor supported upright vacuum cleaner. As illustrated in FIG. 1, such upright vacuum cleaners generally include a cleaning head 11 within which is housed a motor blower unit (not shown) for creating flow of air through a nozzle opening (not shown) beneath the cleaning head 11 and into a dirt collecting bag 12 connected at one end with the cleaning head. Typically, such upright vacuum cleaners include wheels 13 or equivalent swivels, rollers or the like on the cleaning head facilitating movement across a floor under operator influence exerted by way of a handle indicated generally at 14 pivotally connected to the cleaning head 11. 
     The dirt collecting bag 12 is conventionally a stitched fabric tube pleated at the sides and formed lengthwise with an opening 15 which may be closed by a zipper fastener 16. A flexible conduit 17 is usually provided within the fabric bag 12 to conduct dirt laden air from the motor blower unit in the cleaning head 11 upwardly through the dirt collecting bag to an adapter near the top of the bag onto which a disposable filter bag 19, usually made of paper or the like, may be secured as by a spring loop 20. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the fabric dirt collecting bag 12 at the top is formed with several pleats 30 at each side so that the bag narrows toward the upper terminus. The pleated top of the fabric bag is inverted so as to extend into the interior of the bag where, closely adjacent the upper terminus, the inverted bag segment is provided with two transversely extending parallel lines of stitches 31 extending transversely across the bag segment. The lines of stitches 31 form opposed pockets 32 in the pleats at each side of the inverted segment of the bag top, within which pockets a dowel 33 is constrained. In the space between the pleats 30 at each side of the inverted segment of the bag top the dowel 33 is exposed to the interior of the bag between the pockets 32 and, about this exposed portion of the dowel, a strip of resilient material 35 is secured. 
     The flexible conduit 17 for directing dirt laden air may also be supported within the fabric bag 12 near the top thereof as by stitching securing the conduit 17 to the inverted bag segment beneath the dowel pockets 32. 
     As shown in FIG. 4 the resilient material strip 35, which may be formed of synthetic rubber or the like, includes a wide extremity 36 and a narrow extremity 37. The wide extremity 36 is formed with a transverse slot 38 substantially as wide as the narrow extremity 37 and through which the narrow extremity 37 is passed to form a simple knot about the exposed portion of the dowel. The material strip 35 may be formed on each side with a projection 39 which, after being forced through the slot 38, deter loosening of the knot about the dowel. 
     After knotting the resilient strip about the dowel, the narrow extremity 37 of the strip is passed through a slit 50 in the fabric bag so as to extend externally above the top of the bag 12. A circular aperture 40 is formed in that portion of the narrow extremity of the resilient strip which is exposed above the top of the bag 12. 
     Referring particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the vacuum cleaner handle 14 adjacent a hand grip portion 60 at the upper extremity thereof is formed with a laterally enlarged segment 61 adapted to accommodate a similarly shaped cover 62 which, when secured to the handle segment 61 by screws 63, forms on the handle 12 a downwardly open recess 64. A pin 65 extending from the handle segment within the recess 64 is embraced at its free extremity within a cavity 66 formed on the interior of the cover 62. Lugs 67--67 formed on the cover 62 may be provided for engagement within notches 68--68 in the handle 14 to constrain the cavity 66 over the free extremity of the pin when the cover 62 is secured to the handle. 
     The aperture 40 in the narrow extremity 37 of the resilient strip 35 is constrained on the pin 65 by the cover cavity 66 thus resiliently supporting the top of the fabric bag 12 completely within the recess 64 in the handle 14. The dowel 33 not only provides for a particularly cost effective means for securing the resilient strip 35 to the fabric bag, but also aids in maintaining the shape of the bag top in conformity with that of the recess 64 so as not to impede free shift of the bag 12 as the weight of collected dirt increases within the bag.