Patent Publication Number: US-11375864-B2

Title: Vacuum cleaner

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a national stage of International Application No. PCT/CN2018/090329, filed on Jun. 8, 2018, which claims priority to CN Patent Application No. 201710437533.X, filed on Jun. 9, 2017. All of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relate to the field of cleaning, and more particularly to a vacuum cleaner. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Vacuum cleaners are widely used in the cleaning of various places. In general, a vacuum cleaner typically includes a head assembly, a filter assembly and a barrel assembly. The filter assembly is arranged in a closed space formed by the interlock of the head assembly and the barrel assembly. Generally, the outer edge of the head assembly, the outer edge of the filter assembly and the upper edge of the barrel assembly are overlapped and pressed in an axial direction, thereby effectively preventing dust from leaking out. 
     The existing dry or wet vacuum cleaners generally turn on or turn off a fan by a trigger switch. There are generally two types of switches: a push switch and a rotary switch. The push switch is generally arranged on the upper surface of a machine and close to the front of the machine, and the push switch has the risk of false triggering. There are also some vacuum cleaners with a rotatory switch, the rotatory switch being generally arranged in the front of the machine. The rotatory switch is not convenient to turn compared to the push switch, and the structure is relatively complex. 
     Therefore, it is necessary to provide an improved vacuum cleaner to solve the above problems. 
     SUMMARY 
     Technical Problem 
     An object of the disclosure is to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of effectively preventing the switch from false triggering. 
     Solutions 
     Technical Solutions 
     In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a vacuum cleaner, which comprises a head assembly, a dust storage barrel, and a filter assembly arranged below the head assembly. The dust storage barrel is detachably connected to the head assembly. The head assembly comprises a housing and a fan arranged in the housing. A switch for controlling the fan is provided in the housing. A recessed cavity is provided in the side wall of the housing. A switch trigger for turning on or turning off the switch is provided in the cavity, and any part of the switch trigger is hidden in the outer contour of the housing. The cavity comprises an opening opened in the side wall of the housing, and there is an angle between the direction in which the switch trigger is triggered to operate and the direction that the opening faces 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the housing comprises an upper cover covering the fan, and a middle cover connected between the upper cover and the dust storage barrel, and the cavity is provided between the upper cover and the middle cover. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the upper cover has an upper cover convex edge which is forwardly protruded, the middle cover has a middle cover convex edge which is forwardly protruded, and the cavity is formed between the upper cover convex edge and the middle cover convex edge. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the upper cover is provided with an air inlet, and the direction which the opening of the inlet faces is the same as the direction which the opening of the cavity faces. 
     As a further improvement of the prevent disclosure, the cavity has a bottom and a top opposite to the bottom, the bottom is provided with a switch seat, and the switch trigger is mounted in the switch seat. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the switch seat comprises a groove for receiving a part of the switch trigger, and the housing is provided with a drain hole which is communicated with the groove. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the switch seat is configured as a recess at the bottom of the cavity and includes an outer wall of the switch seat and an inner wall of the switch seat. The inner wall of the switch seat is configured as a through-hole of the switch seat, the switch is arranged in the through-hole, an annular gap is formed between the outer wall of the switch seat and the inner wall of the switch seat, and the side wall and end wall of the switch trigger are arranged in the annular gap. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the switch comprises a switch housing and a switch pin provided at the bottom of the switch housing, the switch housing is provided in the through-hole of the switch seat, the top of the switch housing is provided with an outwardly-protruding housing connection, and the housing connection is hermetically matched with the top of the inner wall of the switch seat. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the front side wall of the cavity is provided with a drain hole, which extends from the bottom of the cavity to the bottom of the outer wall of the switch seat and is communicated with the annular gap. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the dust storage barrel is provided with an air inlet, the direction which the opening of the inlet faces being the same as the direction the opening of the cavity faces. 
     As a further improvement of the present disclosure, the switch trigger is configured as a rocker button which is installed at the bottom of the cavity. 
     Beneficial Effects 
     The beneficial effects of the present disclosure are as follows. It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the present disclosure has many outstanding substantive technical features. After the implementation of the technical solutions of the present disclosure, significant technical progress is mainly embodied in: (1) the switch trigger is set in the recessed cavity, the operator can only operate the switch by active action, thereby avoiding the probability of false triggering of the machine, and the use of the vacuum cleaner is safer; (2) the drain hole is opened in the front side of the outer wall of the switch seat, so that the water entering the cavity can be discharged in time, and the outwardly-protruding housing connection is hermetically matched with the inner wall of the switch seat, thereby further preventing water from seeping into the electrical portion of the vacuum cleaner. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a three-dimensional schematic view of a vacuum cleaner in the first preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged schematic view of the portion A of the vacuum cleaner in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the vacuum cleaner in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a right side view of the vacuum cleaner in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is an enlarged schematic view of the portion b in  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a three-dimensional schematic view of the middle cover of the vacuum cleaner in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged schematic view of the portion c in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 9  is a three-dimensional schematic view of a vacuum cleaner in the second preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 10  is an enlarged schematic view of the portion d in  FIG. 9 . 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic view of the cavity in the first preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic view of the cavity in the third preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic view of the cavity in the fourth preferred embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     The present disclosure will be described in detail below in connection with the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, these embodiments are not intended to limit the disclosure. Structural or functional changes based on by those skilled in the art are within scope the present disclosure. 
     Embodiment 1 
     A preferred embodiment of the vacuum cleaner of the present disclosure is shown with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 8 . In the present embodiment, the vacuum cleaner comprises a head assembly, a dust storage barrel  30 , and a filter assembly (not shown) connected to the head assembly. The dust storage barrel  30  can be hermetically interlocked with the head assembly by a first clip  31 . In addition, a roller can be set under the dust storage barrel  30  to facilitate the movement of the dust storage barrel. The head assembly comprises a housing and a fan arranged in the housing. A hose (not shown) can be connected to the head assembly and an air inlet  14  is arranged in the head assembly. One end of the hose is connected with the air inlet  14  of the head assembly, and the other end of the hose has a suction port which is communicated with the external environment. Under the action of the fan, the external air can pass through the air inlet  14  and be vented after being filtered by the filter assembly, and the filtered dust can fall into the dust storage barrel  30 . 
     The housing comprises an upper cover  11 , the upper cover being arranged on the fan, and a middle cover  12 , the middle cover  12  being connected between the upper cover  11  and the dust storage barrel  30 , the upper cover  11  and the middle cover  12  are hermetically connected by a second clip  32 , and the upper cover  11  is also provided with a handle  12  for easy carrying. The middle cover  12  and the dust storage barrel  30  are interlocked to form the internal space of the vacuum cleaner. A lower fan cover  22  is arranged between the middle cover  12  and the dust storage barrel  30 , and the lower fan cover  22  and the dust storage barrel  30  are interlocked to form a dust storage space. An upper fan cover  21  is provided between the lower fan cover  22  and the middle cover  12 . The upper fan cover  21  and the lower fan cover  22  are interlocked to form an air duct. The fan is arranged in the air duct. The fan comprises a motor  23  and an impeller  24  driven by the motor  23 , and the filter assembly is provided at the upstream of the impeller  24 . In the present embodiment, the fan is powered by a battery pack  70 , and the battery pack  70  is installed between the upper cover  11  and the middle cover  12 . 
     A switch for controlling the fan is provided in the housing. A recessed cavity  40  is provided in the side wall of the housing. A switch trigger  50  for turning on or turning off the switch is provided in the cavity  40 . The switch trigger  50  is hidden in the outer contour of the housing and can be operated in the cavity  40 . The direction the opening of the cavity  40  faces is roughly the same as the direction the opening of the air inlet  14  faces. Thus, after the user assembles or disassembles the hose and the air inlet  14 , it is convenient to switch on or switch off, without the need to go to other sides of the vacuum cleaner. The set of switch trigger  50  to hidden mode greatly reduces the possibility of the false triggering of the switch, so that the use of the vacuum cleaner is safer. 
     Preferably, in the embodiment, the vacuum cleaner is configured as a toolbox type vacuum cleaner, that is, the overall structure of the vacuum cleaner is in the shape of a substantially rectangular body, he vacuum cleaner has an upper provided with the handle  13 , the lower disposed on the ground, the left side provided with the clip and the opposed right side, and the front side and the rear side with respect to the upper and the lower, and the left side and the right side, wherein the cavity  40  is arranged in the front side of the vacuum cleaner, that is, the switch trigger  50  is all shielded by the housing of the vacuum cleaner in the up, down, left, right, and rear directions, only the front side being partially opened. Any part of the switch trigger  50  does not protrude from the outer contour of the housing, and the operator can only actively extend his finger into the cavity  40  from the front to trigger the switch, that is, the cavity comprises an opening in the side wall of the housing, and the direction the opening faces determines that the operator&#39;s finger can only extend into the cavity  40  through the opening in the front side to trigger the switch trigger  50 , the switch trigger  50  cannot be triggered from the left side and the right side, neither from the upper side and lower side, and there is an angle between the direction in which the switch trigger  50  is triggered to operate and the direction the opening faces, preferably a substantially vertical direction. In the present embodiment, the triggering operation direction of the switch trigger  50  is substantially vertical direction, and the opening in the cavity  40  is in substantially horizontal direction. That is to say, the operator&#39;s finger extends from the opening and then applies force to another direction to trigger the switch trigger  50 , that is, one action of the extension cannot trigger the switch trigger  50 , thereby effectively avoiding false triggering. Furthermore, in a certain situation, for example, when the user needs to operate at a higher position, and there is no tool such as a pedal or a ladder around, the user can step on the toolbox type vacuum cleaner to operate. With the toolbox type vacuum cleaner of the present disclosure, the user does not have to worry about false triggering the switch of the vacuum cleaner when stepping on the toolbox type vacuum cleaner. 
     Further, the upper cover  11  has an upper cover convex edge  111  which is forwardly protruded, and the middle cover  12  has a middle cover convex edge  121  which is forwardly protruded, the recessed cavity is formed between the upper cover convex edge  111  and the middle cover convex edge  121 . The switch trigger  50  is configured as a rocker button, and the rocker button is installed in the cavity  40 . As shown in  FIG. 11 , the cavity  40  has a cavity bottom  1111  at the bottom thereof and a cavity top  1112  at the top thereof, the cavity top  1112  being opposed the cavity bottom  1111 . In the present embodiment, the extending direction of the cavity bottom  1111  is substantially parallel to the extending direction of the cavity top  1112 , thereby defining a cavity  40  with the same cross section shape and the same size of the opening part with those of the inner cavity. A switch seat  60  is provided in the cavity bottom  1111  in the middle cover convex edge  121 , and the rocker button is installed in the switch seat  60 . The switch seat  60  is configured as a recess on the upper surface of the middle cover convex edge  121 , comprises an outer wall  61  of the switch seat and an inner wall  62  of the switch seat, and the inner wall  62  of the switch seat is a through-hole  63  of the switch seat. An annular gap is provided between the outer wall  61  of the switch seat and the inner wall  62  of the switch seat. The side wall and the end wall of the rocker button are provided in the annular gap. The front side of the outer wall of the switch seat  61 , that is the front side wall, is provided with a drain hole  15 , the drain hole  15  is communicated with the annular gap, so that the water entering between the outer wall  61  of the switch seat and the inner wall  62  of the switch seat can be discharged from the drain hole  15 . The switch is disposed in the through-hole  63  of the switch seat, and comprises a switch housing  52  and a switch pin  53 , the switch pin  53  being provided at the bottom of the switch housing. The rocker button is disposed at the top of the switch housing  52 , the top of the switch housing  52  is provided with an outwardly-protruding housing connection  521 , and the housing connection  521  is hermetically matched with the top of the inner wall of the switch seat to prevent water from entering the through-hole  63  of the switch seat, and further to prevent water from seeping into the electric portion of the vacuum cleaner. Of course, the switch seat can also be configured to form a through-hole in the groove, the drain hole is communicated with the groove, and the switch housing and the through-hole are sealed, so as to realize the drainage of the switch seat and prevent the water from seeping into the electrical portion of the vacuum cleaner. 
     Embodiment 2 
     Another preferred embodiment of the vacuum cleaner of the present disclosure is shown with reference to  FIGS. 9 to 10 . In the present embodiment, the vacuum cleaner comprises a head assembly, a dust storage barrel  30 ′ and a filter assembly (not shown), the filter assembly being connected to the head assembly, wherein the dust storage barrel  30 ′ is hermetically and detachably connected with the head assembly, and a roller can be set under the dust storage barrel  30 ′ to facilitate the movement of the vacuum cleaner. The head assembly comprises a housing and a fan arranged in the housing. A hose (not shown) may be connected to the dust storage barrel, and an air inlet  14 ′ is arranged in the dust storage barrel  30 ′. One end of the hose is connected with the air inlet  14 ′ of the dust storage barrel  30 ′, and the other end of the hose has a suction port which is communicated with the external environment. Under the action of the fan, the external air can pass through the air inlet  14 ′ and be vented after being filtered by the filter assembly and the filtered dust can fall into the dust storage barrel  30 ′. In the present embodiment, the dust storage barrel  30 ′ is configured as a cylinder. 
     The housing comprises an upper cover  11 ′ covering the fan and a middle cover  12 ′ connected between the upper cover  11 ′ and the dust storage barrel  30 ′. The upper cover  11 ′ and the middle cover  12 ′ are hermetically connected, and the upper cover  11 ′ and the middle cover  12 ′ are also be configured as an annular matched with the dust storage barrel  30 ′. A recessed cavity  40 ′ is provided between the upper cover  11 ′ and the middle cover  12 ′. A switch trigger  50 ′ for turning on or turning off the switch is provided in the cavity  40 ′. The switch trigger  50 ′ is hidden in the outer contour of the housing and can be operated in the cavity  40 ′. The direction the opening of the cavity  40 ′ faces is roughly the same as the direction the opening of the air inlet  14 ′ faces. Unlike embodiment 1, the cavity  40 ′ is provided in the circumferential surface of the head assembly. The arrangement of the switch seat and the rocker button on the bottom of the cavity is substantially the same as that of embodiment 1. The middle cover  12  is provided with a drain hole  15 ′ which is communicated with the groove of the switch seat. The slightly difference is that the outer contour of the middle cover is continuous and smooth without obvious convex edge. The basic structure and principle of the vacuum cleaner in this embodiment are the same as those in embodiment 1, and are not described herein again. 
     Embodiment 3 
     Referring to  FIG. 12 , the difference between the present embodiment and embodiment 1 is that the direction in which the switch triggering  50  is triggered to operate inclines towards the opening of the cavity  40 . This arrangement not only enables the user to operate the switch trigger  50  more conveniently, but also allows the user to observe the state of the switch trigger  50  more conveniently. Other basic structures and principle of the vacuum cleaner in this embodiment are the same as those in embodiment 1, and will not described herein again. 
     Embodiment 4 
     Referring to  FIG. 13 , the difference between the present embodiment and the embodiment 1 is that the extending direction of the cavity top  1112  is not parallel to the extending direction of the cavity bottom  1111 . Specifically, the distance between the cavity top  1112  and the cavity bottom  1111  is larger near the opening of the cavity  40 , that is to say, the cavity top  1112  and the cavity bottom  1111  define a cavity  40  with a larger opening and a smaller inner cavity. This arrangement also achieves the technical effect of facilitating the user to operate and to observe the state of the switch trigger  50 . 
     It should be understood that the description is described as the embodiments, but not every embodiment only contains one independent technical solution. The description is only for the sake of clarity. A person skilled in the art should take the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in various embodiments can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art. 
     A series of detailed descriptions set forth above are merely the specific explanations of the practicable embodiments of the present disclosure, and they are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent embodiments or changes that were made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure shall be included within the scope of the invention.