Patent Publication Number: US-2007094841-A1

Title: Vacuum cleaner

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE  
      Applicant claims foreign priority under Paris Convention and 35 U.S.C. § 119 to a Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0104854, filed Nov. 3, 2005 with the Korean Intellectual Property Office.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner capable of reducing noise and power consumption, reducing the discharging of fine dust particles, and eradicating mites, mold, and germs by blowing ozone.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Ozone, as a sterilizing and disinfecting agent, when applied to vacuum cleaners, can eradicate mites and various germs on carpets and other surfaces. For this purpose, ozone generators are installed on the main bodies or suctioning heads of vacuum cleaners in the related art. The ozone generated from the ozone generators is discharged through a vacuum cavity by means of the vacuuming force.  
      Accordingly, in such devices relying on this structure employing vacuuming force to discharge ozone into the vacuum cavity, the ozone cannot effectively reach the carpet, so that effective removal of mites and germs from the carpet is not possible.  
      Also, to increase suctioning power, conventional vacuum cleaners use large capacity-blowers, resulting in increased noise and power consumption as well as increased discharge of fine dust particles.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a vacuum cleaner that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
      An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner that has a structure in which air circulates back to a vacuum cavity of a vacuum head by air suctioning and discharging forces generated by a blower motor, while at the same time using the principle of a venturi to cause ozone to infiltrate a surface that is being cleaned for a sterilizing and disinfecting effect.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner capable of maximizing its sterilizing and disinfecting effectiveness by discharging ozone through an air pump to clean a surface below the suctioning head.  
      Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.  
      To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a vacuum cleaner including: a main body including an air suctioning blower installed within, the air suctioning blower imparting suctioning force; a suctioning head including a suctioning cavity; a hose connecting the main body to the suctioning head, the hose including an air discharging passage divided from an air suctioning passage; an ozone generator for generating ozone, installed on the suctioning head; and a venturi connecting a discharging end of the ozone generator to the air discharging passage, wherein the suctioning force imparted by the air suctioning blower continuously circulates air through the air discharging passage, the suctioning cavity, and the air suctioning passage, and the ozone generated by the ozone generator is supplied to the suctioning cavity through the venturi.  
      In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vacuum cleaner including: a main body including an air suctioning blower installed within, the air suctioning blower imparting suctioning force; a suctioning head including a suctioning cavity; an air suctioning passage connecting the main body to the suctioning head; and an ozone generator for generating ozone, and an air pump installed on the suctioning head, the air pump for pumping the ozone generated by the ozone generator into the suctioning cavity, wherein the suctioning force imparted by the air suctioning blower is transferred to the suctioning cavity to suction the ozone pumped into the suctioning cavity to an outside of the main body.  
      It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the structure of a vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing ozone and air flow paths;  
       FIG. 3  is sectional view of a suctioning head according to the first embodiment of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a vacuum cleaner according to the second embodiment of the present invention, showing ozone and airflow paths. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.  
     First Embodiment  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing the structure of a vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 2  is a sectional view of a vacuum cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention, showing ozone and air flow paths, and  FIG. 3  is sectional view of a suctioning head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.  
      A vacuum cleaner  10 A according to the first embodiment of the present invention is structured in an air circulating configuration that discharges ozone from the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30  by means of the air flow speed through the circulating passages of the vacuum cleaner.  
      Within the hose  40  connecting the main body  20  of the vacuum cleaner to the suctioning head  30 , an air discharging passage  41  is separated from an air suctioning passage  42 .  
      The air discharging passage  41  and the air suctioning passage  42  may be flexible hoses separately installed in the hose  40  or may be two passages built into the hose  40  itself.  
      An ozone generator  50  for generating ozone is installed on the suctioning head  30 . The ozone generator  50  may use a glass or ceramic discharge tube within that generates ozone through silent discharging when a high voltage is applied to it, or a ultraviolet lamp, etc. that radiates ultraviolet light at oxygen, inducing a photochemical reaction to generate ozone.  
      The discharging hole of the ozone generator  50  is connected to a venturi  52  near the end of the air discharge passage  41 . The venturi  52  prompts generated ozone to be discharged into the suctioning cavity by the decrease in pressure caused by the airflow through the air discharge passage  41 .  
      An air suctioning blower  60  is installed inside the main body  20  of the vacuum cleaner. The air suctioning blower  60  is able to operate in low, medium, and high settings.  
      The air suctioning blower  60  has a suctioning port connected to the air suctioning passage  42  and an air discharging port connected to the air discharging passage  41 .  
      Here, the capacity of the air suctioning blower  60  may be selected to have ⅕-⅓ the capacity of conventional blowers, in order to reduce noise, power consumption, and discharging of fine dust particles.  
      The first embodiment of the above-structured vacuum cleaner according to the present invention will now be described.  
      First, the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30  is placed over carpets, bed linen, sofas, or other items to vacuum, and a control switch (not shown) located in the middle of the hose is manipulated to operate the air suctioning blower  60  and the ozone generator  50 .  
      Accordingly, ozone is generated from the ozone generator  50 , and the rotating operation of the air suctioning blower  60  generates suctioning force in the air suctioning passage  42  to suction air in the suctioning cavity  31 . Also, the suctioned air passes through the discharging port of the air suctioning blower  60  to be supplied to the air discharging passage  41  and discharged to the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30 .  
      Thus, air suctioning force is generated in the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30  through the operation of the air suctioning blower  60 , and the air circulates through the air suctioning blower  60 . Here, the airflow speed of the air flowing through the air discharging passage  41  lowers the pressure at the venturi  52 , so that the ozone generated in the ozone generator  50  is discharged through the venturi  52  and supplied to the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30 .  
      Likewise, during the operation of the air suctioning blower  60 , ozone is continuously fed to the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30 , so that sterilizing and disinfecting of surfaces below the suctioning cavity  31  can be realized.  
     Second Embodiment  
      The second embodiment according to the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 4 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , one air suctioning passage  42  is provided to connect the main body  20  of the vacuum cleaner to the suctioning head  30  thereof, and an ozone generator  50  that generates ozone and an air pump  100  for pumping the ozone generated by the ozone generator  50  to a suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30  are provided on the suctioning head  30 .  
      The air pump  100  is compact and is rechargeable or is powered from the main body  20  through an electrical connection therewith.  
      Here, the ozone generator  50  and the air pump  100  may be separately or integrally formed.  
      The air suctioning blower  60  is installed in the main body  20 , and the suctioning port of the air suctioning blower  60  is connected to the air suctioning passage  42 . The air suctioned by the air suctioning blower  60  is discharged through a discharge port  22  of the main body  20 .  
      In the above-structured vacuum cleaner  10 B according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the operation of the air suctioning blower generates suctioning force in the air suctioning passage  42  to suction air at the suctioning cavity  31  and discharge the air through the discharge port  22  of the main body  20  to the outside. At the same time, the ozone generator  50  and the air pump  100  operate.  
      Here, the ozone generated in the ozone generator  50  is pumped into the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30  through the pumping force generated by the operating air pump  100 . Thus, dust and impurities below the suctioning cavity  31  can be vacuumed and discharged to the outside through the operating air suctioning blower  60  using less force.  
      Here, the surface below the suctioning cavity  31  is exposed to ozone, so that it can be sterilized and disinfected.  
      In the second embodiment of the present invention, the driving force of the air suctioning blower  60  is also reduced to enable a smaller size thereof, and reduced noise output and power consumption. Also, because the ozone is discharged into the suctioning cavity  31  of the suctioning head  30 , the sterilizing effects are greatly increased.  
      As described above, the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, ozone is either discharged to the suctioning cavity of the suctioning head through an air circulating method or discharged to the suctioning cavity of the suctioning head by an air pump, so that the sterilizing effect of the vacuum cleaner substantially increases. Also, because the capacity of the air suctioning blower can be reduced, noise and power consumption are reduced, and the discharging of fine dust particles into the atmosphere can also be substantially reduced as well.  
      It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.