Patent Publication Number: US-6991667-B2

Title: Attaching and detaching device for contaminant collecting receptacle of cyclone separator

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention generally relates to a releasably attaching and detaching device for a contaminant collecting receptacle of a cyclone separator. More specifically, the present invention relates to a releasably attaching and detaching device having a lever member that is vertically movable according to the movement of a guide member, formed at a motor cover, and surrounding a sealing member so that a contaminant collecting receptacle is releasably attached and detached to and from a cyclone separator. 
   2. Description of the Background Art 
   In general, a cyclone separator centrifugally separates contaminants from air drawn into a vacuum cleaner, in which dust, dirt and contaminants are entrained, and discharges cleaned air. The cyclone separator includes a contaminant collecting receptacle, which collects the separated contaminants, and which is detachably coupled to the cyclone separator. 
   In attaching the contaminant collecting receptacle to the cyclone separator, the contaminant collecting receptacle is latched to the cyclone separator and is detached by using a handle formed on the contaminant collecting receptacle, which may be in the form of a drawer handle. The receptacle may generally have a construction and operation similar to that of a drawer. 
     FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating the cyclone separator applying the conventional mechanism having a configuration of a drawer for attaching and detaching the contaminant colleting receptacle by means of a handle. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a vacuum cleaner, having the conventional cyclone separator and the contaminant collecting receptacle having the configuration of a drawer for attachment and detachment, includes a cleaner body  50 , shown by a broken line, and a brush  43  through which dust and dirt on a surface to be cleaned are drawn in with the air. 
   The cleaner body  50  includes a cyclone separator  30 , a contaminant collecting receptacle  40 , attachable to and detachable from the cyclone separator  30 , and a motor  41  that generates a suction force for drawing air into the vacuum cleaner. 
   The cyclone separator  30  includes a grill  37  disposed in a cyclone body  28  to provide a first means to filter the contaminants. 
   An air inlet  31  is formed adjacent a side of the cyclone body  28 , through which the dust-laden air is drawn in, and an air outlet  32  is formed adjacent the top or a side, through which the cleaned air is discharged. The air inlet  31  is in fluid communication with the brush  43  through a flexible hose  45 . The cyclone separator  30  is well known to those skilled in the art and thus a detailed description of the cyclone separator  30  will be omitted for the sake of brevity. 
   A filter  29  is interposed between the grill  37  and the air outlet  32 . 
   The contaminant collecting receptacle  40  is releasably latched to the cyclone body  28  by an appropriate latching member  34 . A knob  39  is formed at an outer side of the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 , so that once the collecting receptacle  40  is unlatched, it can be withdrawn from the cyclone body as if it were a drawer. 
   The air outlet  32  is in fluid communication with the motor  41  in the cleaner body  50  through a communication pipe  35 . 
   The operation of the vacuum cleaner having the conventional cyclone separator  30  and the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  as configured and shaped above is described below. 
   When the motor  41  in the cleaner body  50  is switched on,it generates a suction force, and air containing dust and dirt collected from the surface to be cleaned is drawn in through the brush  43 . The air flows into the cyclone body  28  via the flexible hose  45  and the inlet  31  directs the air into the cyclone body  28  in a direction tangential to the wall thereof. 
   The drawn in air thus forms a whirling air stream, and contaminants and dust are separated from the whirling air by centrifugal force and are collected into the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 . 
   The air, from which contaminants have been removed, is discharged to the air outlet  32 , first passing through the grill  37  and the filter  29 . The grill  37  additionally separates fine dust from the clean air to prevent the fine dust from discharging out of the outlet  32 . 
   The cleaned air discharged through the air outlet  32  flows to the motor  41  through the communication pipe  35  and is discharged to the outside environment through a discharging grill  55  formed at a wall of the cleaner body  50 . 
   When a predetermined amount of contaminants has been collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 , the vacuum cleaner user detaches the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  from the cyclone body  28  using the latching member  34 . By gripping the knob  39  connected to the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 , the user can detach the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  from the cyclone body  28  and from the cleaner body  50  as if sliding out a drawer. After disposing of the contaminants, the user re-attaches the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  to the cyclone body  28  and the cleaner body  50  for further cleaning operation. 
   In detaching the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  from the cyclone body  28  and the cleaner body  50  as if sliding out a drawer, several problems may occur, as described below. 
   After the contaminants are separated from the whirling air in the cyclone  28  and are collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  to exceed a predetermined threshold amount, it becomes difficult to attach to and detach the contaminant collecting receptacle  40  from the cyclone body  28  when only using the knob  39  formed at the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 . 
   While attaching or detaching the contaminant collecting receptacle  40 , the collected contaminants can spill over from the receptacle, thus to dirty the user&#39;s hand or clothes and to cause other sanitary problems. 
   In view of the air flow path, the suction force generated in the motor  41  is not directly transferred to the cyclone separator  30 , since the suction force is transferred from the motor  41  to the outlet  32  through the communication pipe  35 . Accordingly, fine dust may not be completely separated and filtered from the air stream, since the suction force is reduced and the reduced suction force is not completely transferred to the filter  29  at the cyclone body  28 . 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   An aspect of the present invention is to solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide an improved releasably attaching and detaching device for a contaminant collecting receptacle so that a user can easily attach to or detach the contaminant collecting receptacle from a cyclone separator and to provide a suction force generated by a motor that is directly transferred to the cyclone separator. 
   According to an embodiment of the present invention, the releasable attaching and detaching device for a cyclone body includes a sealing member having a central through hole for providing a fluid communication path, a lever member surrounding the sealing member, and a guide member to guide displacement of the lever member. The lever member is displaced upwardly and downwardly depending on the movement of the guide member. 
   The sealing member includes an annularly shaped sealing body having an inlet and an outlet, a first sealing part formed essentially around the inlet, a second sealing part formed essentially around the outlet, and a coupling rail formed around the sealing body to couple with the lever member and seal thereagainst. 
   The first and second sealing parts protrude radially outwardly from an outer surface of the sealing body. The lever member includes a lever body having a through hole for receiving the sealing member, and a rail projection formed around the through hole of the lever body to engage with the coupling rail of the sealing member. A grip is formed at an outer side of the lever body. 
   The lever member includes an inner wall formed around the through hole, an outer wall formed at an outer circumferential edge of the lever member, and a plurality of rails formed in the lever body. The rails include a plurality of first rails formed to extend in a circumferential direction adjacent the inner wall and a plurality of second rails formed between the first rails and the outer wall of the lever body. 
   The first and second rails are formed to slope upwardly along the extension in the circumferential direction and the second rails further include an internal slot defined by a first rail wall and a second rail wall where the second rail wall is formed between the first rail wall and the first rail. 
   The guide member includes a plurality of first guide projections formed at a side wall of the guide member, the first guide projections having a slope corresponding to the direction of the slope first rails, and a plurality of second guide projections formed and having a configuration and orientation so as to be able to be inserted into the space between the first and second rail walls. 
   The first guide projections are formed having a slope. A release prevention member is formed at a side of the second guide projections having a hook shape to prevent the second guide projection from disengaging from the second rails. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
     The above aspects and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by an understanding of the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawing figures, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view illustrating a cyclone separator using a conventional attaching and detaching mechanism for a contaminant collecting device; 
       FIG. 2  a cross-sectional view illustrating a cyclone separator having a releasably attaching and detaching device for a contaminant collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating main parts of the releasably attaching and detaching device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom perspective view illustrating a lever member of the attaching and detaching device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating a sealing member of the attaching and detaching device according to the present invention; and 
       FIG. 6  is a plan view in partial cross-section illustrating the contaminant collecting receptacle, which is detached from the cyclone separator by operation of the attaching and detaching device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT 
   A cyclone separator having an attaching and detaching device for a contaminant collecting receptacle will be described in greater detail with reference to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  illustrates that the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  is coupled to the cyclone separator  90  by the releasably attaching and detaching device  140  according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
   The cyclone separator  90  includes a cyclone body  100  and the contaminant collecting receptacle  110 . 
   The cyclone body  100  centrifugally separates and discharges contaminants from air drawn in to the cyclone separator  90 . An air inflow opening  99  is formed at a side of the wall defining the cyclone body  100 , through which the dirt-laden air is drawn in. A grill  113  is disposed in the cyclone body  100  to initially separate the contaminants from the air. 
   A contaminant backflow prevention member  115  is disposed under the grill  113  having a predetermined separation from an inner wall  117  of the cyclone body  100 . 
   The contaminant collecting receptacle  110  is detachably coupled to a lower part of the cyclone body  100  and includes an air discharging path  111  therein which provides direct fluid communication with the grill  113 . 
   A space is formed around the discharging path  111  of the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  for collecting the contaminants separated in the cyclone body  100 . A filter case  120  is detachably disposed under the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  and has a filter assembly  121  therein, as shown. The filter case  120  is securely coupled to contaminant collecting receptacle  110  by the attaching and detaching device  140 . 
   The filter assembly  121  provides for secondary separation of the fine dust which remains entrained in the air drawn in through the discharging path  111 . The filter assembly  121  is coaxially disposed about the discharging path  111 . 
   A motor (not shown) is installed within a motor cover  130  to generate a suction force for the cyclone body  110 . 
   The releasably attaching and detaching device  140  is interposed between the filter case  120  and the motor cover  130  and provides a guide for the air discharged from the filter case  120  and directs it into a motor chamber  131 . 
   The releasably attaching and detaching device  140  provides a fluid seal for air flowing between the filter case  120  and the motor chamber  131  and also moves the filter case  120  in the upward and downward directions. 
   Referring to  FIGS. 3 through 5 , the releasably attaching and detaching device  140  according to the embodiment of the present invention is described in greater detail. 
     FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view illustrating the main parts of the releasably attaching and detaching device  140 , including a lever member  160  and a sealing member  150 .  FIG. 4  is a bottom perspective view illustrating the lever member  160  of the attaching and detaching device  140 .  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view illustrating the sealing member  150  of the attaching and detaching device  140  in greater detail. 
   The releasably attaching and detaching device  140  includes the sealing member  150 , the lever member  160 , and a guide member  190 , which is formed on the motor cover  130 . 
   The sealing member  150  includes a sealing body  155 , a first sealing part  151 , a second sealing part  153 , and a coupling rail  157 . The sealing body  155  is in the shape of an annular cylinder and defines an internal aperture through which the drawn in air flows. 
   The sealing body  155  is a cylindrical shape and includes an inlet  152  at an upper part and an outlet  154  at a lower part, as shown in  FIG. 5 . The inlet  152  is connected to the filter case  120  and the outlet  154  is connected to the motor cover  130 . 
   The first sealing part  151  is formed around the inlet  152  to seal the air discharged from the filter case  120 . The second sealing part  153  is formed around the outlet  154  to seal the air discharged into motor chamber  131  defined by the motor cover  130 . 
   The first and second sealing parts  151  and  153  protrude in an axial direction away from an outer surface of the cylindrical sealing body  155 . The sealing member  150  is preferably made of a resilient material, such as rubber. 
   The coupling rail  157  is formed on the outer surface of the sealing body  155  and is configured to couple with a rail projection  163  ( FIG. 4 ), which is formed on the lever member  160 , while the lever member  160  surrounds the sealing member  150 . 
   Referring to  FIG. 4 , the lever member  160  includes a lever body  161 , the rail projection  163 , and a plurality of rails  171 . An annular through hole  162 , is defined by the lever body  161 , which is in cross-section circular, or substantially circular. The rail projection  163  protrudes along an inner wall  164 , which is formed around the through hole  162 , and extends radially inwardly from the inner wall  164  toward the through hole  162 , to couple with the coupling rail  157  of the sealing member  150  ( FIG. 5 ). 
   Inner walls  164  and an outer wall  173  of the lever body  161  are circular, or substantially circular in shape to define the annular lever body  161 . The rails  171  are formed between the inner wall  164  and the outer wall  173  of the lever body  161 , and include a plurality of first rails  167  and a plurality of second rails  169 . 
   A grip  179  is formed or attached to the lever body  161  to provide means for moving or rotating the lever member  160 . 
   The first rails  167  respectively are formed to slope upwardly as they extend in a circumferential direction adjacent the inner wall  164 . 
   The second rails  169  respectively are formed between the first rail  167  and the outer wall  173  of the lever body  161 , and slope in the same orientation and direction as they extend in a circumferential direction. Second rails  169  are defined by two upstanding walls, which have an opening between them, as shown. A second rail wall  165  is formed around the second rail  169 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the guide member  190  is formed on the motor cover  130  enclosing the motor (not shown), which generates the suction force for the air flow through the sealing member  150 . The guide member  190  guides the movement of the lever member  160 . 
   The guide member  190  includes first guide projections  191  and second guide projections  193 . 
   The first guide projections protrude upwardly from an end wall  192 , which extends cylindrically around a central aperture. The first guide projections  191  has a slope to correspond to the slope of the first rail  167  of the lever member  160 . 
   More than two first guide projections  191  can be formed along the circumference of the side wall  192 , as shown. 
   The second guide projection  193  is formed to be inserted into the opening between the two upstanding walls  165  of the second rail  169  of the lever member  160  ( FIG. 4 ). A release prevention member  197  is formed to extend outwardly at a side of the second guide projection  193  so as to prevent the second guide projection  193  from releasing the second rail  169  of the lever member  160  when they are engaged. 
   The release prevention member  197  is formed having a hook shape and may include a locking device to prevent the second guide projection  193  from releasing engagement of second rail  169 . 
   Referring to  FIGS. 2 through 6 , the operation of the releasably attaching and detaching device  140  are described below.  FIG. 6  illustrates the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  in a withdrawn position when it is detached from the cyclone separator  90  by the operation of the lever member  160  of the attaching and detaching device  140 . 
   When suction force is generated by the motor (not shown) in the motor chamber  131 , the air, in which contaminants are entrained, is drawn in through the inflow opening  99  of the cyclone body  100 . 
   The drawn in air forms a whirling air stream in the cyclone body  100  and the dust and contaminants are separated from the air by the centrifugal force of the cyclonic whirling air stream. 
   The contaminants, once separated from the whirling air cyclone, fall as a result of gravity, and are collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  110 . The clean air then flows through the grill  113  and the discharging path  111  in the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  and is discharged to the filter case  120 . 
   Fine dust which is separated by the filter assembly  121  of the filter case  120  is collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  120  and the cleaned air flows through the releasably attaching and detaching device  140 , as shown by the arrows in  FIG. 2 . 
   The cleaned air flows through the sealing member  150  of the attaching and detaching device  140  and is discharged to the outside by being directed through the motor cover  130  and out of a discharging grill (not shown). 
   When a predetermined threshold level of the contaminants is collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  or in the filter case  120 , the collected contaminants require disposal. Disposal is effected by detaching the filter case  120  or the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  from the cyclone body  100 . 
   When a user moves the grip  179 , formed at the lever member  160  of the attaching and detaching device  140 , to the right, the rails  171  formed at the lever member  160  of the attaching and detaching device  140  cause the rotation and displacement of the lever member body  160 , which is in close contact with the first and second guide projections  191  and  193  of the guide member  190 . 
   The first and second guide projections  191  and  193  of the guide member  190  are displaced upwardly ( FIG. 2 ) or downwardly ( FIG. 6 ) depending on the rotation direction when rotating the lever member  160  as it moves in close contact with the first and second rails  167  and  169  of the rails  171 , which are formed with the corresponding slopes. 
   The coupling rail  157  of the sealing member  150  is coupled with the rail projection  163  of the lever member  160  to guide the rotation of the lever member  160 . 
   When the lever member  160  moves to the right or left, the lever member  160  moves upwardly or downwardly, respectively, along the guide member  190  of the motor cover  130 . 
   When moving along the guide member  190 , the lever member  160  moves together with the sealing member  150 , that is, the lever member  160  rotates in a predetermined direction to causing the vertical displacement of the lever member  160  and the sealing member  150 . Accordingly, the sealing member  150  seals between the filter case  120  and the motor cover  130 , and between the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  and the filter case  120 , when in the operational upwardly vertical position. When disposing of collected contaminants, the lever member  160  and sealing member  150  are lowered by movement of grip  179  toward the left, so as to cause the downward displacement of the assembly thereby permitting the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  to be detached from the cyclone body  100 . 
   Since the filter case  120  is securely fixed to the attaching and detaching device  140 , the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  alone is detached from the cyclone body  100 . When replacing the containment collecting receptacle  110  within the cyclone body  100 , the grip  179  is displaced toward the right, thus vertically raising the assembly of the lever member  160  and sealing member  150  until it seals against the lower surface of the filter case  120 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 6 , when the grip  179  of the attaching and detaching device  140  is moved to the left, the filter case  120  moves downwardly and the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  becomes detachable from the cyclone body  100 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the grip  179  is moved toward the right, the filter case  120  and the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  move upwardly and so again is attached to the cyclone body  100 . 
   After detaching the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  from the filter case  120  and the cyclone body  100 , the user can dispose of the contaminants collected in the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  and of the fine dust collected in the filter case  120 , which itself is detachable from the contaminant collecting receptacle  110 . 
   After disposing of the contaminants, the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  is again attachable to the cyclone body  100  and the filter case  120 . The user mounts the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  between the cyclone body  100  and the filter case  120  and moves the lever member  160  to the right. 
   According to the embodiment of the present invention, the user can easily attach the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  to the cyclone separator  90  and detach it therefrom by using the attaching and detaching device  140 . 
   While the contaminant collecting receptacle  110  is attached to the cyclone separator  90 , the attaching and detaching device  140  also seals the fluid communication path between the filter case  120  and the motor chamber  131 . Therefore, leakage of the suction force of the motor is inhibited and thus the contaminant collecting capacity of the cyclone separator  90  is enhanced. 
   While the embodiment of the present invention has been described, additional variations and modifications of the described embodiment may occur to those skilled in the art once they achieve an understanding of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the above embodiments and all such variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.