Abstract:
Disclosed is an inlet unit of a vacuum cleaner. The inlet unit comprises an inlet body having a dust inlet port and removably coupled to an inlet pipe of the vacuum cleaner; and an auxiliary inlet body coupled extendably and contractibly to the inlet body so as to variably cope with a corner having a desired angle, and having an auxiliary inlet port communicated with the dust inlet port in an extending and contracting direction. Therefore, an suction area of the inlet unit can be properly increased or decreased so as to rapidly and simply perform a corner of a room. Further, the sucked foreign substance is not held or fixed with the inlet portion.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to an inlet unit for a vacuum cleaner, which is removably coupled to an inlet pipe of the vacuum cleaner.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    In a vacuum cleaner, for example, it is difficult to remove dust or foreign substance remaining at a corner of a chamber due to a structure of an inlet portion thereof. Recently, in order to solve the problem, there has been proposed a foldaway brush of the vacuum cleaner.  
           [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 to FIG. 4 shows a conventional foldaway brush of the vacuum cleaner. Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , the conventional foldaway brush for the vacuum cleaner is comprised of a center body  1  connected with an inlet pipe  105  (FIG. 5) of the vacuum cleaner, and a left and right body  2 ,  2 ′ rotatably disposed at both sides of the center body  1 , respectively. Between the center body  1  and the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′, there is provided a spring  3  for returning the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′ to its original position.  
           [0006]    As shown in FIG. 3, the center body  1  has an inlet port  11  that is opened downwardly. External dust and dirt (hereinafter, called ‘foreign substance’) is sucked through the inlet port  11 . At both sides of an outer circumferential surface of the center body  1 , there are formed guide grooves  12  for guiding each of the left and right bodies  2  and  2 ′. A spring guide hole  13  is formed at an upper side of the guide groove  12 , and a spring  3  connected with the left and right bodies  2  and  2 ′ is disposed in the spring guide hole  13 .  
           [0007]    At a lower surface of the center body  1 , there are formed a first, second and third protrusion  14 ,  14 ′,  14 ″. The second and third protrusions  14 ′ and  14 ″ respectively have a side parallel to an inlet groove  21 ,  21 ′. At a lower center side between the second protrusion  14 ′ and the third protrusion  14 ″, there is provided the first protrusion  14 . Further, at the lower surface of the center body  1 , there are formed a pair of block guide grooves  17  and  17 ′ formed at an outside of the protrusions  14 ,  14 ′ and  14 ″ in a circumferential direction.  
           [0008]    Meanwhile, the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′ is provided with a protruded guide  22 ,  22 ′ coupled to the guide groove  12 . At an upper side of the protruded guide  22 ,  22 ′, there is provided a spring connecting hole  24 ,  24 ′ in which the spring  3  is inserted. At a lower side of the protruded guide  22 ,  22 ′, there is form the inlet groove  21 ,  21 ′ for guiding the external foreign substance to the inlet port  11  of the center body  1 . And at the lower side of the protruded guide  22 ,  22 ′, there is disposed a block  23 ,  23 ′ for preventing loss of suction force between the center body  1  and the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′.  
           [0009]    And block guides  25 ,  25 ′ are formed on an upper surface of the block  23 ,  23 ′. The block guides  25 ,  25 ′ are coupled to a block guide groove  17 ,  17 ′ formed in the lower surface of the center body  1 . Herein, the block guide grooves  17  and  17 ′ respectively have a different diameter with respect to a center axis of the center body  1 . Thus, the blocks  23  and  23 ′ of the left and right bodies  2  and  2 ′ can be smoothly rotated without any contact with each other.  
           [0010]    Furthermore, the spring  3  is a torsion spring. One end of the spring  3  is fixed to the center body  1 , and the other end is inserted into the spring connecting hole  24 ,  24 ′ of the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′. For example, in case the left and right body  2 ,  2 ′ is rotated by furniture or a wall in a room, the spring  3  functions to provide a restoring force.  
           [0011]    The conventional brush of the vacuum cleaner can be coupled to the inlet pipe of the vacuum cleaner using a connector (not shown) which is proper to a shape of the center body  1 . For example, when cleaning a corner of the room, which has an angle of 90°, using the foldaway brush coupled to the vacuum cleaner, the brush can be moved forward as shown in FIG. 4. Then, the left and right bodies  2 ,  2 ′ are rotated with the center body in the center by an external force. Thus, the inlet port  11  of the center body  1  approaches the corner between a bottom  51  and a wall  44 . At this time, the foreign substance is sucked in an arrow direction. When the brush is moved backward after completion of the cleaning operation at a desired portion of the room, the external force applied to the left and right bodies  2 ,  2 ′ is removed. Therefore, the left and right bodies  2 ,  2 ′ are returned to the original position by the restoring force of the spring  3 .  
           [0012]    As described above, the conventional foldaway brush for the vacuum cleaner has an advantage that is capable of cleaning the corner of the room. However, since a length of the left and right body is limited, the cleaning operation can be performed at only a comparative narrow area. Therefore, there is an inconvenience that the user has to repeatedly move the brush when performing the cleaning operation. Further, in the conventional foldaway brush for the vacuum cleaner, due to its structure that the spring is disposed to be exposed to the inlet port through which the foreign substance is sucked, the foreign substance may be held between the spring  3  and the spring guide hole  13 , thereby causing an operation defect. Further, it is difficult to remove the foreign substance from the spring.  
         SUMMARY  
         [0013]    Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inlet unit of a vacuum cleaner, in which a suction area can be facilely expanded and contracted according to an included angle or a surface area of a corner of a room, thereby easily performing a cleaning operation.  
           [0014]    It is another object of the present invention to provide an inlet unit of a vacuum cleaner, in which a rotation of a left and right body can be smoothly rotated with a center body in the center, particularly, which can prevent many problems that may be generated by sucked foreign substance held or fixed therein.  
           [0015]    To achieve an object of the present invention, there is provided an inlet unit of a vacuum cleaner, comprising an inlet body having a dust inlet port and removably coupled to an inlet pipe of the vacuum cleaner; and an auxiliary inlet body coupled extendably and contractibly to the inlet body so as to variably cope with a corner having a desired angle, and having an auxiliary inlet port communicated with the dust inlet port in an extending and contracting direction.  
           [0016]    Preferably, the auxiliary inlet body comprises a pair of rotational brushes rotatably coupled to the dust inlet port of the inlet body, and an extension brush that is extendable and contractible in a length direction of the rotational brush, and the auxiliary inlet port is formed along both bottom surfaces of the rotational brush and the extension brush in a length direction thereof.  
           [0017]    Further, the inlet body comprises a center body formed with a dust inlet port that is opened downwardly and a dust outlet port directed to the inlet pipe and having a hinge rib extended downwardly from the dust inlet port so as to allow the rotational brush to be rotated left and right, and a main casing in which the center body and the inlet pipe are disposed, for rotatably supporting the rotational brush.  
           [0018]    Preferably, the main casing comprises a center portion having an air path between a body mounting portion in which the center body is mounted and a pipe coupling portion communicated with the inlet pipe; and a pair of wing portions respectively extended from the center portion to both sides and respectively having a rotation guiding portion for guiding a rotation of the rotational brush.  
           [0019]    Preferably, the inlet unit further comprises an elastic member for returning the rotational brush to an original position.  
           [0020]    Further, the rotational brush comprises a hinge portion rotatably coupled to the hinge rib of the center body, and a rotational body in which the extension brush is extendably and contractibly received and the auxiliary inlet port is protruded on a bottom surface thereof and which is rotated with the hinge portion in a center.  
           [0021]    Therefore, a suction area of the inlet unit can be facilely expanded and contracted according to an included angle or a surface area of a corner of a room, thereby easily performing a cleaning operation. Further, since a rotation of a left and right body can be smoothly rotated with a center body in the center, and particularly, the sucked foreign substance is not held with or fixed to the inlet portion, an operation detect is remarkably reduced. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0022]    The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional inlet unit;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 is a lower view of FIG. 1;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a center body of FIG. 1;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 4 is a view showing an operation of the conventional inlet unit;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner with an inlet unit according to the present invention;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5, showing the inlet unit according to the present invention;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 6;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 8 is a lower perspective view of FIG. 7;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 8, showing a center body, an auxiliary inlet body and a hinge cover;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 10 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 9;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a coupled state of the auxiliary inlet body of FIG. 7;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line I-I of FIG. 11;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II of FIG. 11; and  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an operation of the inlet unit in a status that an upper cover is removed. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0037]    Now, a height adjusting apparatus for a suction brush of an upright vacuum cleaner according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner with an inlet unit according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, a vacuum cleaner  100  is comprised of a cleaner body  101  in which a vacuum generating unit (not shown) is mounted, an inlet pipe assembly  102  coupled to the cleaner body  101  and an inlet unit  110  coupled to the inlet pipe assembly  102  so as to suck foreign substance from an outside. The inlet pipe assembly  102  comprises a flexible pipe  104  coupled to an inlet port  106  of the cleaner body  101 , an inlet pipe  105  coupled to a rear portion of the inlet unit  110  and an handle pipe  105  interposed between the flexible pipe  104  and the inlet pipe  105 .  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 5, showing the inlet unit according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a lower perspective view of FIG. 7. The inlet unit  110  includes an inlet main body  120  coupled to the inlet pipe  105  of the vacuum cleaner  100 , and an auxiliary inlet body  150  which is expandable/contractible and simultaneously rotatable with respect to the inlet main body  120 . The inlet main body  120  is connected via a first connecting pipe  116  and a second connecting pipe  117  to the inlet pipe  105 . The first and second connecting pipes  116  and  117  are connected with each other so as to be relatively rotated.  
         [0040]    The inlet main body  120  is provided with a main casing  121  and a center body  141  disposed in the main casing  121 . As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the center body  141  is provided with a hinge rib  143  forming a rotational shaft of the auxiliary inlet body  150 , and a dust outlet port  142  opened in a rear direction thereof. The hinge rib  143  is formed with a dust inlet port  146  opened downwardly. An air passing portion  145  is formed at an outer surface of the hinge rib  143 .  
         [0041]    The main casing  121  is comprised of a lower case  123  and an upper cover  122 . The lower case  123  is formed with a center portion  131  in which the center body  141  is disposed, and a pair of wing portions  124  and  124 ′ that are extended from both sides of the center portion  131 . In the center portion  131 , there is formed an air path  134  in a front-rear direction. At a front end of the air path  134 , there is formed a body mounting portion  132  in which the center body  141  is disposed, and at a rear end thereof, there is formed a pipe coupling portion  133  in which the second connecting pipe  117  is coupled. Therefore, the foreign substance discharged to the dust outlet portion  142  of the center body  141  is flowed along the air path  134 , and then introduced through the second connecting pipe  117  into the inlet pipe  105 .  
         [0042]    Inclined surfaces  126 ,  126 ′ that are inclined at a desired angle in a rear direction are formed at the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ of the lower case  123 . At a center area of a bottom surface of the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′, there are formed a guide groove  125 ,  125 ′ forming an arc with the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141  in the center. Guide protrusions  166 ,  166 ′ protruded upward on a rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′ of the auxiliary inlet body  150  are received in the guide groove  125 ,  125 ′. The guide protrusions  166 ,  166 ′ guide a rotation of the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′, while moving along the guide groove  125 ,  125 ′. At this time, the inclined surfaces  126 ,  126 ′ function to restrict an excessive rotation of the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′, when the rotational brushes  161 ,  161  ′ are contacted with, for example, a wall of a room or furniture, etc.  
         [0043]    Spring protrusions  127 ,  127 ′ are formed on the bottom surface of the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ of the lower case  123  to be protruded upward. Preferably, the spring protrusions  127 ,  127 ′ are formed between the guide groove  125 ,  125 ′ and the hinge rib  143 . Torsion springs  135 ,  135 ′ are inserted onto the spring protrusion  127 ,  127 ′. Each of the torsion springs  135 ,  135 ′ is fixed to the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ at one end, while fixed by the other end to each guide protrusion  166 ,  166 ′ formed on the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′. Therefore, the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′ rotatably supported by the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ can be returned to an original position thereof by an elastic force of the torsion spring  135 ,  135 ′, as described below.  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a coupled state of the auxiliary inlet body of FIG. 7, and FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line I-I of FIG. 11, and FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II of FIG. 11. The auxiliary inlet body  150  is provided with a pair of rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′ and a pair of extension brush  171 ,  171 ′ that is extendably and contractibly received in the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′. In the drawings, only the rotational brush  161  and the extension brush  171  are shown, and hereinafter, it will be described centering on them  
         [0045]    The rotational brush  161  is comprised of a hinge portion  163  coupled to the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141 , and a rotational body  162  extended from the hinge portion  163  in a radial direction. The rotational body  162  is in the form of a rectangular box, and has an opening  167  at an end opposite to the hinge portion  163 . In a bottom surface of the rotational body  162 , there is formed an auxiliary inlet port  168  that is protruded upward. The auxiliary inlet port  168  is extended along a length of the rotational body  162 , and one end of the auxiliary inlet port  168  is communicated with the dust inlet port  146  of the center body  141 . The guide protrusion  166  (referring to FIG. 7) is protruded upward on an upper surface of the rotational body  162  so as to be inserted into guide groove  125  formed in the wing portion  124  of the main casing  121 .  
         [0046]    Meanwhile, the hinge portion  163  is in the form of a ring, and rotatably coupled to an outer surface of the hinge rib  143 . The hinge portion  163  is formed at an upper portion of an end of the rotational body  162  so as to have a thickness corresponding to the half of a height of the rotational body  162 . And the hinge portion  163 ′ of another rotational brush  161 ′ is formed at a lower portion of an end of the corresponding rotational body  162 ′. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the hinge portions  163  and  163 ′ are overlapped on the outer surface of the hinge rib  143 .  
         [0047]    In addition, the hinge portion  163 ′ of the rotational brush  161 ′, which is disposed at a lower side of the other hinge portion  163 , is formed with a dust passing portion  165  on an outer surface thereof. The dust passing portion  165  serves to communicate the auxiliary inlet port  168  of the rotational brush  161  with the dust inlet port  146  of the center body  141 .  
         [0048]    As shown in FIG. 10, the hinge portions  163 ,  163 ′, which are overlapped with each other on the outer surface of the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141 , are supported by a hinge cover  181  coupled to the hinge rib  143  at a lower side thereof. A hook  182  is formed at an upper end of the hinge cover  181 , and a hook slot  144  in which the hook  182  is coupled is formed at the hinge rib  143 . And since an air passing portion  185  is also formed at an outer surface of the hinge cover  181 , the auxiliary inlet port  168 ,  168 ′ and the dust inlet port  146  are communicated with each other.  
         [0049]    Meanwhile, the extension brush  171  is also in the form of a rectangular box, and received in the opening  167  of the rotational brush  161 . In a bottom surface of the extension brush  171 , there is also an auxiliary inlet port  178 . The auxiliary inlet port  168  of the rotational brush  161   32  is engaged with the auxiliary inlet port  178  of the extension brush  171 . Therefore, the extension brush  171  can be slid in the length direction of the rotational brush  161  to be extended or contracted. The auxiliary inlet port  178  of the extension brush  171  is directly communicated with the dust inlet port  146  of the center body  141  in a contracted state, and communicated through the auxiliary inlet port  168  of the rotational brush  161  with the dust inlet port  146  in an extended state.  
         [0050]    A latching rib  177  that is protruded to the outside is formed at an outer end of the extension brush  171 . The latching rib  177  is contacted with an open surface of the rotational brush  161 , when the extension brush  171  is contracted in the rotational brush  161 . Therefore, it is prevented that the extension brush  171  is excessively contracted.  
         [0051]    As shown in FIG. 11, the extension brush  171  can be fixed to a desired position with respect to the rotational brush  161  by a leaf spring  191  and a plurality of latching jaws  192 . The leaf spring  191  is fixed to a spring groove  193  formed in an outer surface of the extension brush  171 . The plurality of latching jaws  192  are formed to be protruded inward along the length of the rotational brush  161 . The leaf spring  191  is engaged with the latching jaws  192  of the rotational brush  161 , when the extension brush  171  is extended or contracted. Herein, the leaf spring  191  may be provided at the rotational brush  161 , and the latching jaws  192  may be provide at the extension brush  171 .  
         [0052]    On the upper surface of the extension brush  171 , there is formed a moving protrusion  196 , and on the upper surface of the rotational brush  161 , there is formed a moving guide  195  in the length direction of the rotational brush  161 . The moving protrusion  196  is received in the moving guide  195  and moved in the length direction of the rotational brush  161 . Thus, the extension brush  171  can be smoothly slid to be extended or contracted with respect to the rotational brush  161 . Herein, the moving protrusion  196  may be provided on the rotational brush  161 , and the moving guide  195  may be formed on the extension brush  171 .  
         [0053]    In order to assemble the inlet unit  110  as described above, firstly, the center body  141  is disposed at the lower case  123  of the main casing  121 . Then, the hinge portions  163  and  163 ′ formed at the rotational brushes  161  and  161 ′ are coupled to the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141  in a status that the hinge portions  163  and  163 ′ are overlapped with each other. At this time, if an external force is applied upward from a lower side of the hinge portion  163 ,  163 ′, the guide protrusion  166 ,  166 ′ formed on the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′ can be received in the guide groove  125 ,  125 ′ formed at the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ of the lower case  123 .  
         [0054]    In this situation, the hinge cover  181  is coupled to the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141 . Then, the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′ are supported by the hinge cover  181  and the wing portion  124 ,  124 ′ of the lower case  123  so as to be rotatable in a left or right direction with the hinge rib  143  in the center. The torsion springs  135 ,  135 ′ are coupled to the spring protrusion  127 ,  127 ′ of the lower case  123 , and then, both ends of the torsion spring  135 ,  135 ′ are respectively fixed to the bottom surface of the lower case  123  and the guide protrusion  166 ,  166 ′ of the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′. At this time, both rotational brushes  161  and  161 ′ are disposed to be opposite to each other with the hinge rib  143  in the center by the elastic restoring force of the torsion spring  135 ,  135 ′.  
         [0055]    Then, the extension brushes  171 ,  171 ′ are coupled to the rotational brush  161 ,  161 ′. And at the same time or at another time, the second connecting pipe  117  connected with the first connecting pipe  116  is coupled to the pipe coupling portion  133  of the lower case  123 . If the upper cover  122  is coupled to an upper portion of the lower case  123 , the assembling process of the inlet unit  110  is completed.  
         [0056]    In this situation, the first connecting pipe  116  can be coupled to the inlet pipe  105  of the vacuum cleaner  100 . Then, the vacuum cleaner is turned on, and as shown in FIG. 14, the corner of the room can be cleaned. That is, if the inlet unit  110  is pressed forward in a status that is disposed to be adjacent to both sidewalls  55 , the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′ are rotated by the walls  55 . The extension brushes  171 ,  171 ′ received in the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′ can be properly extended so as to increase a cleaning area.  
         [0057]    Meanwhile, the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′ that are rotated with the hinge rib  143  of the center body  141  in the center are rotated no longer, when being contacted with a corner of both walls  55 . Then, if the external force applied to the rotational brushes  161 ,  161 ′, the rotational brushes  161 ,  161  ′ are returned to the original position by the elastic force of the torsion spring.  
         [0058]    While the present invention has been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.