Abstract:
The present invention relates to a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner, the visualization device includes a collecting unit mounted on one side of a pathway on which the suction force of a vacuum cleaner for sucking dust is transmitted, and moves at least some of the sucked dust in one direction, a dust collecting unit of transparent material coupled with the collecting unit and exposes a state of dust received by the collecting unit to the outside, a discharge unit which guides air and dust, which has passed through the dust collecting unit, to be discharged into the pathway that transmits the suction force of the vacuum cleaner, a foreign material separation unit provided in the dust collecting unit to generate cyclonic flow, and a foreign material discharge unit inserted into the inside of the foreign material separation unit by the manipulation of a user from one side of the dust collecting unit and allows the inflow of air from the outside into the inside thereof to discharge dust from the inside of the dust collecting unit while breaking the cyclonic flow. Accordingly the invention enables the user to check the status of the dust that is sucked and the convenient discharge of the dust collected in the inside of the collecting unit.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner for confirming the dust suction status 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Typically, the vacuum cleaner is a device in which dust and the foreign material together with air are sucked by using a suction motor mounted in the inside of the body to filter the sucked dust and the foreign material in the inside of the main body. 
     The vacuum cleaner as described above can be mainly classified as a canister type in which a suction nozzle unit is communicated with the main body through a connection tube and an upright type in which the main body is integrally formed with the suction nozzle unit. 
     In the vacuum cleaners as classified above, collecting devices of a bag filtering type or a cyclone dust collecting type, which filter dust and the foreign material among sucked air and store the filtered dust and the foreign material, may be used. Further, due to reasons such as ease of use and maintenance costs, the cyclone dust collecting type is mainly employed in recently released, most vacuum cleaners. 
     Meanwhile, in a case that the user performs the cleaning process using the vacuum cleaner, when the user checks whether the dust is sucked, confidence in the performance of the vacuum cleaner and the satisfaction of the cleaning process can be improved. 
     Thus, in order to meet the needs of the user as described above, there is a need for a visualization device that suction status of dust according to the cleaning process is displayed on the outside. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner in which some of sucked dust during the cleaning process is exposed to the outside and accordingly the user directly confirms suction status of dust. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner in which collected dust is effectively discharged in order to visualize the dust suction status. 
     According to the prevent invention, the visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner, comprising a collecting unit mounted on one side of a pathway on which the suction force of a vacuum cleaner for sucking dust is transmitted, and moves at least some of the sucked dust in one direction, a dust collecting unit, which is transparent material, coupled with the collecting unit and exposes a state of dust received by the collecting unit to the outside, a discharge unit which guides air and dust, which has passed through the dust collecting unit, to be discharged into the pathway that transmits the suction force of the vacuum cleaner, a foreign material separation unit provided in the dust collecting unit to generate cyclonic flow, and a foreign material discharge unit inserted into the inside of the foreign material separation unit by the manipulation of a user from one side of the dust collecting unit and allows the inflow of air from the outside into the inside thereof to discharge dust from the inside of the dust collecting unit while breaking the cyclonic flow. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a vacuum cleaner of an embodiment employed in the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating a status where a visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is mounted on one side of a suction nozzle according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  are diagrams illustrating configurations that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is mounted according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view taken along A-A of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit is pressurized in  FIG. 7 . 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit in  FIG. 9  is pressurized. 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that a visualization device for dust collection of a vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit in  FIG. 11  is rotated. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be concretely described with reference to drawings. The present invention is not limited to embodiments as proposed and various modified embodiments can be available by those skilled in the art without the scope of the present invention. In addition, these modified embodiments should not be appreciated separately from technical spirits or prospects. 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a vacuum cleaner of a embodiment employed in the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating a status where a visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is mounted on one side of a suction nozzle according to the embodiment of the present invention, and  FIGS. 3 and 4  are diagrams illustrating configurations that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is mounted according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in the drawings, the vacuum cleaner employed in the present invention includes a main body  1  which generates a suction force by using a suction motor, a connection unit  20  which transmits the generated suction force in the main body  1 , and a suction nozzle  100  which is provided to one side of the connection unit  20  to suck water scattered on a surface to be cleaned with air. 
     The connection unit  20  may include a length adjustable extension pipe  22  on which the suction nozzle  100  is mounted to the one end, and a connection pipe  24  of flexible material connecting the extension pipe  22  to the main body  1   
     The suction nozzle  100  is formed into an appearance by a case  120  and the case  120  is formed by the upper case  124  and the lower case  122  connected each other. 
     In addition, the upper case  124  and the rear end of the lower case  122  are provided with a connection unit  140  having the diameter corresponding to the diameter of the extension pipe  22  to be fittingly mounted on the extension pipe  22 . 
     Meanwhile, the one side of the case  120  is provided with the visualization device  200  of dust collection for outside visualizing the collection status of the foreign material on the one side of the pathway of the suction force generated from the main body  1 . 
     According to the one embodiment of the present invention, the visualization device  200  of dust collection is intended to receive air collected through the suction nozzle  100  and a portion of dust included in the air and to show the receiving status of the dust on the outside. Accordingly, the visualization device  200  is located on the front of the connection unit  140  to shield a portion of flow path of air moved to the main body  1   
     Therefore, a portion of air moved to the main body  1  may be introduced into the visualization device  200  of dust collection. 
     Meanwhile, the suction nozzle  100  is fittingly mounted to the extension pipe  22  to clean bedding such as covers or mattress or knitted goods having down and fluff such as blanket or carpeting and includes a turbine  160  which generates vibration to the inside of the case  120  and a vibration frame  180  which generates vibration by rotating the turbine  160 . 
     In addition, the upper case  124  is provided with an air intake hole  123  which introduces the outdoor air into the position corresponding to the mounted position of the turbine  160  to smoothly rotate the turbine  160 . 
     Accordingly, the turbine  160  rotates by using air introduced into the air intake hole  123  with air introduced into suction port (not shown) formed on the lower of the suction nozzle  100 . 
     In addition, since the turbine  160  and the vibration frame  180  are connected by using an eccentric cam each other, when the turbine  160  rotates, the vibration frame  180  connected to the turbine  160  is vibrated. 
     In addition, since the turbine  160  is disposed to the position of the front of the visualization device  200  of dust collection, air forced for flow by the turbine  160  and dust included in the air may be easily introduced into the inside of the visualization device  200  of dust collection. 
     Meanwhile, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the visualization device  200  of dust collection is largely configured to include the collecting unit  220  which guides air sucked through the suction nozzle  100  and dust introduced into the inside and the dust collecting unit  240  which collects dust introduced through the collecting unit  220  and outside exposes the collected dust. 
     The collecting unit  220  is formed by a cylindrical shape that the upper side is opened and the edge of the upper end is provided with the case  120  to maintain the fixed position. Further, the collecting unit  220  may include a mounting protrusion (not shown) formed by outwardly protruding so as to not leak air and dust sucked in the case  120  into the mounting portion of the visualization device  200  of dust collection. 
     In particular, the external surface of the collecting unit  220 , which is protruded for the portion forward the mounting location of the turbine  160 , and the protruded portion is formed with the suction inlet  222  that air and dust may be introduced into the collecting unit  220 . 
     The suction inlet  222  is formed to guide the flow of air into a tangential direction of the inside of the collecting unit  220 , and air introduced inside the collecting unit  220  is moved while rotating along the inner surface. 
     The upper side of the collecting unit  220  is mounted with the dust collecting unit  240  in which air transferred while rotating and dust through the suction inlet  222  included in the air are received. 
     The dust collecting unit  240  is formed by the transparent material which may be exposed to the outside of the dust reception status and the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  is further provided with a foreign material separation unit  270  which generates a cyclonic flow to separate dust and air. 
     In addition, the side portion of the dust collecting unit  240  is further provided with the foreign material discharge unit  400  which crushes the cyclonic flow of the foreign material separation unit  270  while introducing the outdoor air into the inside to discharge air collected in the inside of the dust collecting unit  240 . 
     The dust discharged to the outside by the foreign material discharge unit  400  may be discharged through a discharge unit  260  communicated with the dust collecting unit  240 . 
     Meanwhile,  FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 6  is a cross sectional view taken along A-A of  FIG. 5 . 
     Referring to the drawings, the foreign material separation unit  270  is lengthily foamed with a foreign material discharge slit  272  in the lateral direction of the side portion. 
     In addition, the foreign material discharge slit  272  formed as described above is provided with a end portion of a foreign material discharge button  420  which is a configuration of the foreign material discharge unit  400  to maintain the same plane as the inside surface of the foreign material separation unit  270 . In such a state, the cyclonic flow formed by the foreign material separation unit  270  may be smoothly accomplished. 
     The foreign material discharge unit  400  includes the foreign material discharge button  420  as described above, a button housing  460  which receives one side of the foreign material discharge button  420  to press the foreign material discharge button  420  by the external pressure and to guide to slidingly be moved the inside of the dust collecting unit  240 , and an elastic member  440  included between the foreign material discharge button  420  and the button housing  460 . 
     In detail, the upper portion of the foreign material discharge button  420  has the upper surface of flat-panel form to allow the user to facilitate the pressurization, and the lower side is formed by a narrower width than width of the upper potion to penetrate the one side of the dust collecting unit  240 . 
     To this end, the side portion of the dust collecting unit  240  is formed with a perforated portion by a size corresponding to the foreign material discharge button  420  and the perforated portion is mounded with the button housing  460 . 
     Accordingly, the button housing  460  is formed to correspond to perforated portion of the dust collecting unit  240  and the center portion is corresponded to the diameter and shape of the foreign material discharge button  420  so that the foreign material discharge button  420  may be passed. 
     In addition, the upper portion of the button housing  460  is provided with a chin rest  464  outwardly protruded by the predetermined length such that the chin rest  464  and the upper inside of the foreign material discharge button  420  are interfered each other and, the elastic member  440  are provided between the chin rest  464  and the upper inside of the foreign material discharge button  420  each other interfered as described above. 
     Meanwhile, the side portion of the button housing  460  is formed with a perforated portion and a by-pass hole  462  to introduce the outdoor air and the external surface of the foreign material discharge button  420  is further formed with an outdoor air intake unit  422  on which a recessed portion is formed in the inside side. 
     Herein, the outdoor air intake unit  422  is not formed from the lower end of the foreign material discharge button  420  to the dust collecting unit  240 , but formed from exposed portion from the outside of the side portion of the dust collecting unit  240  to the upper side, such that the outdoor air introduced through the by-pass hole  462  is not introduced into the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  at the initial position of the foreign material discharge button  420  (see  FIG. 6 ). 
     For a more detailed description,  FIG. 7  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to the embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 8  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit is pressurized in  FIG. 7 . 
     Referring to the drawings, as shown in  FIG. 7 , when the foreign material discharge unit  400  maintains the initial mounting position, the foreign material discharge button  420  shields the foreign material discharge slit  272  and the dust and air may be separated while smoothly accomplishing the cyclonic flow that occurs in the foreign material separation unit  270 . 
     That is, the end portion of the foreign material discharge button  420  is formed to have the same slope and curvature as the foreign material discharge slit  272  and accordingly the cyclonic flow is accomplished continually not without breaking, by shielding the foreign material discharge slit  272 . 
     Meanwhile, in the status as described above, when the user presses the foreign material discharge button  420 , as shown in  FIG. 8 , the foreign material discharge button  420  passes the foreign material discharge slit  272  to enter into the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270 . 
     Accordingly, the foreign material discharge button  420  entered into the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270  as described above crushes the cyclonic flow formed along the internal surface of the foreign material separation unit  270 , such that the outdoor air introduced through the by-pass hole  462  may be introduced into the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  through the outdoor air intake unit  422  and the collected dust in the dust collecting unit  240  may be scattered and discharged into the outside of the dust collecting unit  240 . 
     In the status, when the external pressure applied to the foreign material discharge button  420  is released, the foreign material discharge button  420  is returned to the initial position by the elastic member  440  and the outdoor air intake unit  422  is shielded by the dust collecting unit  240 . Further, the end portion of the foreign material discharge button  420  shields the foreign material discharge slit  272  and the cyclonic flow is smoothly maintained again such that the dust may be separated. 
     Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, the foreign material discharge unit  400  may consist of other types. 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit is pressurized in  FIG. 9 . 
     As shown in the drawings, in another embodiment of the present invention, the foreign material discharge unit  400  for discharging the collected dust in the dust collecting unit  240  is provided with a plug  450  formed by the size and shape corresponding to the foreign material discharge slit  272  to shield the foreign material discharge slit  272 . 
     In addition, the foreign material discharge button  420 , which performs the same functions as the above embodiment, is provided to the side portion of the dust collecting unit  240  to press the plug  450  by the external pressure and the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  is further provided with the button housing  460  which guides the pressing path of the foreign material discharge button  420 . 
     Further, as mentioned embodiments, when releasing the pressure of the foreign material discharge button  420 , the elastic member  440  is provided between the button housing  460  and the foreign material discharge button  420  such that the foreign material discharge button  420  may return to the initial position and the one side of the plug  450  is rotatably fixed to the button housing  460  by a hinge  470   
     In detail, the lower portion of the plug  450  is fixed by the hinge  470  in the lower portion of the button housing  460 , and the center portion is connected to the foreign material discharge button  420 . In this case, when the foreign material discharge button  420  is pressurized, the upper portion of the plug  450  is rotated to the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270  around the hinge  470 . 
     Therefore, the cyclonic flow formed in the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270  is broken by the rotation of the plug  450  as described above, and the dust collected in the dust collecting unit  240  is discharged while the outdoor air is introduced into the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  thorough a path as in the embodiment described above by the movement of the plug  450 . 
     In addition, in another embodiment of the present invention, when the external pressure applied to the foreign material discharge button  420  is released, the foreign material discharge button  420  is returned to the initial position by the elastic member  440  and the plug  450  shields the foreign material discharge slit  272  and the cyclonic flow may be smoothly maintained again. 
     Meanwhile, in another embodiment of the present invention, the foreign material discharge unit  400  may consist of other types. 
       FIG. 11  is a diagram illustrating an initial position that the visualization device for dust collection of the vacuum cleaner is provided with a foreign material discharge unit which is a main configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 12  is a diagram illustrating a status where the foreign material discharge unit is rotated in  FIG. 11 . 
     As shown in the drawings, in another embodiment of the present invention the foreign material discharge unit  400  includes a plug  450  formed with the size and shape corresponding to the foreign material discharge slit  272  to shield the foreign material discharge slit  272 , a foreign material discharge knob  410  rotatably provided to the side portion of the dust collecting unit  240  and connected to the plug  450  to transmit the rotation force to the plug  450 , and knob housing  430  provided to the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  to guide a rotation path of the foreign material discharge knob  410 . 
     In detail, the portion of the foreign material discharge knob  410  is outwardly protruded to be rotated by the user&#39; grip and fixed to the center portion of the plug  450  and when rotating after the user&#39; grip, the plug  450  may be rotated together with the foreign material discharge knob  410 . 
     In addition, although not shown in the drawings, the foreign material discharge knob  410  is formed with a perforated portion to introduce the outdoor air and the knob housing  430  is also formed with a predetermined size of hole selectively communicated with the perforated portion. 
     Accordingly, the hole formed into the knob housing  430  and the hole formed into the foreign material discharge knob  410  according to the rotation of the foreign material discharge knob  410  are communicated each other to guide the outdoor air into the inside of the dust collecting unit  240 . 
     When the plug  450  is initially mounted, the plug  450  is disposed to have the same slope direction and angle as the internal surface of the foreign material separation unit  270  and is connected with the foreign material discharge knob  410 , the one side of the plug  450  shielding the foreign material discharge slit  272  is formed to have the same type as an internal slope and curvature of the foreign material separation unit  270 , like the foreign material discharge button  420  (see  FIG. 6 ) of the above mentioned embodiment. 
     Accordingly, in such a state, the cyclonic flow of the foreign material separation unit  270  may be smoothly accomplished and the dust may be easily separated. 
     Meanwhile, in the status, when the foreign material discharge knob  410  is rotated by the user&#39; grip, as shown in  FIG. 12 , the slope direction of the plug  450  is changed while the plug  450  is rotated so that the portion of the plug  450  may be entered into the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270 . 
     As a result, the cyclone flow formed in the inside of the foreign material separation unit  270  is crushed and at the same time, the outdoor air is introduced into the internal side of the inside of the dust collecting unit  240  and the dust of the dust collecting unit  240  is discharged outside by passing the foreign material discharge knob  410  and the knob housing  430  through the foreign material discharge slit  272 . 
     The discharge of dust as above is performed until the foreign material discharge knob  410  is moved to the initial position by the user, and when the foreign material discharge knob  410  is moved to the initial position, the cyclonic flow of the foreign material separation unit  270  is smoothly accomplished while the foreign material discharge slit  272  is again shield. 
     Meanwhile, the elastic member  440  is further provided between the foreign material discharge knob  410  and the knob housing  430  so that when the applied force is released by the user to rotate the foreign material discharge knob  410 , the foreign material discharge knob  410  may return to the initial position by the elastic force at the same time. 
     To this end, the foreign material discharge knob  410  is further provided with the elastic member connection unit  412  to be connected with elastic member  440 , and the elastic member  440  is tensioned and the elastic force is stored according to the increasing rotation to be restored when the force used to take the rotation of the foreign material discharge knob  410  is released. 
     In the present invention, since a suction status of dust is exposed to the outside of the dust collecting unit, the user can easily confirm the dust suction status. 
     In addition, the dust collecting unit is provided with a foreign material discharge unit for forcibly discharging collected dust and the foreign material discharge unit crushes cyclonic flow of a foreign material separation unit while introducing outdoor air into the inside of the dust collecting unit through the user&#39; pressure operation or rotation operation. Therefore, dust collected in the dust collecting unit can be effectively discharged. 
     Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and various modified embodiments can be available by those skilled in the art without the scope of the appended claims of the present invention. In addition, these modified embodiments should not be appreciated separately from technical spirits or prospects.