Abstract:
A vacuum lint remover for removing lint and dust from clothing and fabric objects, comprises: a housing including a head portion with an inlet opening for taking air there-through, and a handle portion extending laterally from the head portion and configured to be held with a hand; an impeller received in the head portion of the housing to provide an air flow upon rotation; an actuator (e.g., an electric motor) disposed adjacent to the impeller and adapted to rotate the impeller; a battery compartment in the handle portion of the housing, the battery compartment configured to receive a battery therein to operate the actuator; and a dust container detachably attached to a bottom portion of the handle portion of the housing, the dust container having a front opening for receiving the air flow from the impeller, and at least one window to discharge the air there-from, the dust container having a filtering or screening member disposed at the window to filter dust and foreign materials while allowing the air discharge from the window.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to a hand-held vacuum lint remover for removing lint, dust, and foreign materials from the clothing or fabric objects to clean them. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A vacuum lint remover is a device known for severing and removing lint or foreign materials from the clothing. Examples include a lint removing device having an externally-powered electric motor employed or connected in the device, in which the electric motor rotates brushes and the vacuum generating fan as well to remove lint and dust from the object clothing while brushing the same to facilitate the removing of lint. However, such conventional lint removing devices are generally bulky and have a limited portability in use since an electric cord needs to be attached to the device. Moreover, the lint remover with such rotating brushes incorporate many machine elements such as gear trains and rotary shafts to make the brushes in appropriate speed, and thus, the manufacturing cost for the device becomes relatively high. 
         [0003]    For another example, another type of lint removers is known, which incorporates rotating scrapers (or cutting blades) positioned inside a stationary cover having holes on its surface for receiving the pilled materials there-through in order to sever the pilled materials by the rotating scrapers. In this device, the interior surface of the stationary cover functions as a stationary scraper to cut the lint or pilled materials in cooperation with the inwardly positioned rotating scrapers, in a manner generally similar to the conventional mechanism of electric savers. Accordingly, with this structure the pilled materials (e.., residual or matted fibers, wools, other fabrics, dust, etc.) can be stuck inside or tangled over the narrow space between the rotating scrapers and the stationary cover, and thus, hindering the severing operation of the rotating scrapers. Moreover, this type of lint removing device requires a higher machining accuracy in producing the rotating scrapers and corresponding stationary covers, thus, requiring a higher manufacturing cost. 
         [0004]    Moreover, conventional lint removers typically include a complex structure for storing the lint in the device, attaching and detaching the lint container to and from the lint remover after dumping or removing the stored lint from the container. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In order to solve the above described and other shortcomings or drawbacks known in the conventional vacuum lint removers, the present invention provides a vacuum lint remover with a compact and portable design to be conveniently held with a hand and also for easy operation by the user. The lint remover of the invention also provides an effective design for the dust container which is detachably attached onto the hand grip portion of the device, in which the grip portion is adapted to receive a rechargeable battery, thus, making the device more compact, while also enabling an easy operation of the device in use. Moreover, with the detachable dust container structure, the dust container of the lint remover is easily attached to and detached from the handle portion of the device to remove the stored dust from the container. Moreover, with the resilient dust escape prevention member (one-way valve), the lint remover of the invention can also be used without fearing the risks of the leakage or escape of the stored dust through the inlet opening. 
         [0006]    According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention, a vacuum lint remover comprises: a housing including a head portion with an inlet opening for taking air there-through, and a handle portion extending generally laterally from the head portion and configured to be held with a hand; an impeller received in the head portion of the housing to provide an air flow upon rotation; an actuator (e.g., an electric motor) disposed adjacent to the impeller and adapted to rotate the impeller; a battery compartment in the handle portion of the housing, the battery compartment configured to receive a battery therein to operate the actuator; and a dust container detachably attached to a bottom portion of the handle portion of the housing, the dust container having a front opening for receiving the air flow from the impeller, and at least one window to discharge the air there-from, the dust container having a filtering or screening member disposed at the window to filter dust and foreign materials while allowing the air discharge from the window. 
         [0007]    According to one preferred embodiment, the impeller is preferably of a radial flow type, and the actuator is placed above the impeller and has a rotation shaft coupled to the impeller. The head portion preferably has a vertically extending narrow tip portion, and the inlet opening can be provided at the narrow tip portion, with a brush is disposed at the font side of the inlet opening to facilitate removing of the foreign materials and dust from the object clothing. 
         [0008]    According to another preferred embodiment, the vacuum lint remover further includes a dust escape prevention member, preferably made of elastic rubber or other resilient and elastic materials, which is disposed at the front opening of the dust container and configured to prevent a reversal flow of the dust and foreign materials from the dust container. The dust escape prevention member can include one or more cuts formed therein such that a re-closable opening can be formed in the dust escape prevention member due to the cuts when the pressure of the air flow from the impeller reaches at a predetermined level, wherein the opening is to be re-closed when the impeller is stopped. 
         [0009]    The handle portion of the housing preferably includes an on-off switch electrically connected to the battery to turn on or off the operation of the actuator, the on-off switch positioned at a front side of the handle portion to facilitate the on-off operation with a thumb of the user as the user operates the vacuum lint remover while holding the handle portion of the housing with a hand. In addition, the handle portion of the housing can include a foldable plug, preferably at a rear portion of the handle portion, wherein the foldable plug is configured to connect an electric source when unfolded, in order to recharge the battery. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The above described and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the presently preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0011]      FIG. 1  is a partially cross-sectional side view of the vacuum lint remover according to one preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a partially cross-sectional bottom view of the vacuum lint remover as shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a partially taken, cross-section view taken along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a front perspective view of a one-way valve for the vacuum lint remover, according to one preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a front perspective view of a one-way valve for the vacuum lint remover, according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-5  of the drawings, the vacuum lint removers of the present invention are described herein in details with preferred embodiments thereof. However, the following descriptions of such embodiments are intended primarily for illustrating the principles and exemplary constructions of the vacuum lint removers of the present invention, and the present invention is not specifically limited to these exemplary embodiments. Thus, one skilled in the art can appreciate or recognize that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0017]    With reference to  FIGS. 1-2 , the vacuum lint remover  100  includes a housing  110  for retaining the components of the device therein which will be described below in details. The housing  110  consists generally of a front or head portion  110   a  and a rear or handle portion  110   b,  with the handle portion  110   b  extending generally laterally from the head portion  110   a  as shown. The head portion  110   a  includes impeller housing  112  for receiving an impeller  130  therein, and motor housing  114  for receiving an actuator (e.g., electric motor  140 ) therein. The impeller housing  112  preferably has a generally beak or bill-like shape with a narrow downward protrusion or tip portion  116  defining an inlet opening  118  which is shaped to facilitate the introduction of the external air and foreign materials (such as lint, residual fabrics, fibers, and dust) from the clothing to clean it. The inlet opening  118  is generally shaped to have a narrow but relatively wide opening, for example, a wide rectangular opening as shown in  FIG. 2 . The impeller housing  112  further defines therein an air passage channel  120  having a generally conical shape as shown in  FIG. 1 . However, the tip portion  116 , the inlet  118 , and the air passage channel  120  can have other shapes known in the art, other than the shapes as shown in the drawings, as long as they can facilitate the introduction of the air and lint mixture from the object clothing. 
         [0018]    In order to facilitate the removal of lint, dust, and other foreign objects from the clothing, a brush  124 , preferably formed with a plurality of bristles of suitable length, is provided in the tip portion  116 . As in the present embodiment as shown, the brush  124  is preferably provided on a front or distal side  117  of the tip portion  116 . Thus, the lint and dust on the clothing is easily gathered toward the inlet area  118  when the user pulls and scrub the device  100  (while holding the device in the orientation as shown in  FIG. 1 ) along the clothing placed below and toward the user. Accordingly, with the brush  124 , it can facilitate the intake of the removed foreign materials through the inlet opening  118 . 
         [0019]    Impeller  130  is rotatably connected to a rotating shaft  142  of motor  140  which is positioned inside the housing  114  and electrically connected to one or more batteries (not shown) placed inside a battery compartment  150 . The impeller  130  is a radial flow type configured to blow the air (with dust) “A” from the front axial side of the impeller toward the lateral or radial side of the impeller as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The battery to be received in the battery compartment  150  is preferably of rechargeable type having a suitable power to rotate the motor  140 . However, non-rechargeable type batteries can alternatively be used. When using the rechargeable type batteries, the rear end portion of the battery compartment  150  is adapted to connect to an electric source. For example, as shown in  FIG. 1 , an electric plug, preferably of foldable type plug  160 , is provided at the rear end of the battery compartment  150  to plug into an electric source after unfolding it in order to charge the rechargeable battery. An on-off switch  155  is provided at a front side end portion of the battery compartment  150  at a suitable location to reach with a thumb of the user as the user hold the handle portion (i.e., the battery compartment  150  and the dust container  170  to be described below) with a hand to operate the motor  140  with the switch  155 . 
         [0020]    Dust container  170  is provided at a bottom portion of the battery compartment  150  for storing lint, dust, and other foreign materials removed from the clothing by operation of the impeller  130 . The dust container  170  and the battery compartment  150  together have a generally rectangular box shape (working as a handle) with suitable size to be held with a hand. The left side end of the dust container  170  is open to enable the introduction of the air “A” from the impeller  130  and to store the dust in the dust container  170 . The air “A” flows within the dust container  170  and exits through holes or windows  172  provided at the wall of the dust container  170 . As shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the windows  172  are preferably provided at the rear side portion and the rear end portion of the dust container  170  to facilitate the air flow. Air filters or screen members  180  are attached to the inner side of the windows  172  in order to allow the air “A” to exit from the windows  172 , while preventing the dust and lint from escaping from the windows  172 . With this structure, lint and dust can effectively be stored and accumulated within the dust container  170 . The upper side of the generally rectangular shaped dust container  170  is preferably open (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) in order to facilitate discharging or dumping of the stored lint and dust from the dust container  170  after using the device. However, in another embodiment, the upper side of the dust container  170  can be closed with a thin wall portion. In this alternative embodiment, the discharging of the stored lint and dust can be accomplished through the opening at the left side end of the dust container  170 . 
         [0021]    The dust container  170  is detachably attached to the bottom portion of the battery compartment  150  as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . For realizing the detachable attachment, the bottom wall of the battery compartment, or its equivalent structural wall member of the housing  110 , includes at least a pair of protrusions  176 , and the dust container  170  has corresponding pairs of engagements  178  for releasably catching the protrusions  176 . With this or other known engagement structure, the dust container can be readily and securely attached to and detached from the bottom portion of the battery compartment  150 . 
         [0022]    According to one preferred embodiment, a one-way valve or dust escape prevention member  190  is provided between the outlet opening of the impeller housing  112  and the open side of the detachable dust container  170  as shown in  FIG. 1  (see also  FIG. 3 ). The dust escape prevention member  190  is preferably made of a resilient and elastic member (e.g., elastic rubber) into a thin plate shape to provide a resilient and tight sealing at the junction of the impeller housing  112  and the dust container  170 . The dust escape prevention member  190  has one or more cuts to provide an opening when the air flow from the impeller  130  exceeds a predetermined pressure, which is to be reclosed when the impeller is turned off by operation of the switch  155 . 
         [0023]    In one embodiment as shown in  FIG. 4 , the dust escape prevention member  190  includes two vertical cuts  192  and  194  located at two lateral sides, and one horizontal cut  193  located horizontally along the center area of the member  190 , and thus, defining a “H” shape with the cuts. With this structure, the dust escape prevention member  190  can provide a rectangular opening  195 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , when the air flow from the impeller  130  exceeds a predetermined air pressure to push open the flap portions  196  of the elastic member  190 , which opening will be reclosed by the returning force of the elastic member  190  when the impeller  130  is turned off. In another embodiment as shown in  FIG. 5 , the dust escape prevention member  190   a  includes diagonal or slanted cuts  197 , and thus, defining a cross (“X”) or star-like shape with the cuts. With this structure, the dust escape prevention member  190   a  can provide a four-pointed star-like opening (not shown) at the center when the air flow from the impeller  130  exceeds a predetermined air pressure to push open the four flap portions  198 , which opening will be reclosed by the returning force of the elastic member  190   a  when the impeller  130  is turned off. In this manner, the dust escape prevention members  190  and  190   a  function as a sealing member to prevent an escape or reverse flow of the lint and dust stored in the dust container  170 , and also as a one-way valve to provide a selective communicating channel or opening to the inlet side of the duct container  170  to transport the lint and dust into the dust container for retaining therein without an accidental discharge to the environment. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the narrow cuts preferably include round through-holes  199  (having a hole diameter slightly larger than the width of the cuts) at the starting points of the cuts adjacent to the four corners of the dust escape prevention members  190  and  190   a.  Having the round holes  199 , the resilient and elastic members  190  and  190   a  can endure the repetitive applications of flexing stresses upon repetitive operation of the impeller for long period of time, without developing cracks at the starting points of the cuts, and thus, extending the life time of the elastic members. 
         [0024]    It is also noted that the dust escape prevention member  190  can have various different shapes other than illustrated and described above as long as they can have the above-stated one-way valve and dust reverse-flow preventing functions. For example, the cuts in the dust escape prevention member  190  can have other shapes than the above-illustrated “H” shape or cross (“X”-like) shapes, for instance, a “U”-like shape (not shown) with one flap reclosably openable in operation. 
         [0025]    Accordingly, as described above, the vacuum lint remover of the present invention is provided with a compact structure and portable design to be conveniently held with a hand and also for easy operation by the user. The lint remover of the invention also provides an effective design for the dust container which is detachably attached onto the handle portion of the device, in which the handle portion is adapted to receive a rechargeable battery therein, thus, making the device more compact, while also enabling an easy handling of the device in use. Moreover, with the detachable dust container structure, the dust container of the lint remover is easily attached to and detached from the handle portion of the device to remove the stored dust from the container. Moreover, with the resilient one-way valve (dust escape prevention member), the lint remover of the invention can also be used without fearing the risk of the leakage or escape of the stored dust through the inlet opening. 
         [0026]    The above disclosed embodiments of the invention are representatives of a presently preferred form of the invention, and are intended to be illustrative rather than definitive thereof. Accordingly, those skilled in the art will appreciate or recognize that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.