Patent Publication Number: US-2009229074-A1

Title: Dual-cyclone type dust collector and cleaner having the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-00421, filed on Jan. 2, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a cleaner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a compact dual-cyclone type dust collector, and a cleaner having the same. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional cleaner includes a cleaner body, a brush assembly, a brush pipe, and a flexible suction hose. The cleaner body generates suction force to draw dust-laden air into the brush assembly using a motor which is mounted in the cleaner body. The brush assembly sucks in dust-laden air while in contact with a surface being cleaned. The drawn-in dust-laden air reaches the dust collector mounted on the cleaner body through the brush pipe extending from the brush assembly and the suction hose. 
     The dust collector separates dust from the dust-laden air. A cyclone dust collector using a cyclone principle is generally used as such a dust collector. The cyclone dust collector separates dust from dust-laden air using centrifugal force by spinning dust-laden air rapidly. In order to raise the dust-separating efficiency, a dual-cyclone type dust collector having two cyclone chambers may be used. However, such a dual-cyclone type dust collector has the problem that it is difficult to construct with a compact size since the dual-cyclone type dust collector must use two cyclone chambers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, to solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below, a non-limiting object of the present invention is to provide a dual-cyclone type dust collector which has a compact size. 
     Another non-limiting object of the present invention is to provide a cleaner having the above dual-cyclone type dust collector. 
     According to an exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dual-cyclone type dust collector including a first dust collecting unit that includes a first cyclone chamber, a second dust collecting unit that includes a second cyclone chamber that is disposed at a diagonal to the first cyclone chamber, and a housing that receives the first dust collecting unit and the second dust collecting unit, and a part of which is formed as a wall of the first cyclone chamber and the second cyclone chamber. 
     The dual-cyclone type dust collector may further include a partition that isolates the first dust collecting unit and the second collecting unit. 
     The first dust collecting unit may include a first air inlet duct that is connected to the first cyclone chamber, and the second dust collecting unit may include a second air inlet duct that is connected to the second cyclone chamber, wherein inlets of the first air inlet duct and the second air inlet duct are formed on the same surface of the housing. 
     The one of the first air inlet duct and the second air inlet duct that is located further inside the housing may have a slant so that dust can fall therefrom. 
     The first dust collecting unit may include a first discharge duct that discharges air from the first cyclone chamber, and the second dust collecting unit may include a second discharge duct that discharges air from the second cyclone chamber. 
     A grill may be formed between the first cyclone chamber and the first discharge duct, and between the second cyclone chamber and the second discharge duct. 
     The first discharge duct and the second discharge duct may be formed pointing downwards, and a stabilizer pipe may be formed in the first cyclone chamber and the second cyclone chamber. 
     The dual-cyclone type dust collector may further include a handle that is grasped by a user. 
     The first dust collecting unit may include a first dust collecting chamber that collects dust separated by the first cyclone chamber, and the second dust collecting unit may include a second dust collecting chamber that collects dust separated by the second cyclone chamber. 
     The housing may be formed of a transparent material. 
     The housing may be formed of a translucent material. 
     The housing may be a rectangular parallelepiped. 
     The dual-cyclone type dust collector may further include a lower cover that is detachably mounted on the housing. 
     According to another exemplary aspect of the present invention, there is provided cleaner including a brush assembly that draws dust in contact with a surface being cleaned, a cleaner body that is connected to the brush assembly and includes a vacuum generation means, and a dual-cyclone type dust collector that is detachably mounted on the cleaner body. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and/or other aspects of the present invention will be more apparent by describing certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a dual-cyclone type dust collector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a top view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional top view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector taken along a line V-V of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector taken along a line VI-VI of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Reference will now be made in detail to non-limiting embodiments of the present invention by way of reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, components and structures. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     The cleaner includes a brush assembly  110 , an extension pipe  115 , a suction hose  120 , a cleaner body  130 , and a dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 . 
     The brush assembly  110  draws dust-laden air while in contact with a surface being cleaned. The dust-laden air reaches the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  mounted on the cleaner body  130  via the extension pipe  115  extending from the brush assembly  110  and the flexible suction hose  120 . The cleaner body  130  generates a suction force using a vacuum generation means such as a motor. The dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  separates dust from the air using two dust collecting units in a cyclone manner, and is detachably mounted on the cleaner body  130 . 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 3  is a top view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 ,  FIG. 4  is a sectional top view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 ,  FIG. 5  is a sectional view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector taken along a line V-V of  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 6  is a sectional view illustrating the dual-cyclone type dust collector taken along a line VI-VI of  FIG. 3 . 
     The dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  includes a housing  141 , a first dust collecting unit  150 , a second dust collecting unit  160 , a partition  171 , a handle  173 , and a lower cover  175 . 
     The housing  141  forms the exterior of the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 . The housing  141  receives a first dust collecting unit  150  and a second dust collecting unit  160 , and provides space for storing dust collected by a first dust collecting chamber  154  and a second dust collecting chamber  164 . In order to make the dual-cyclone type dust collector having the two dust collecting units compact, the housing  141  may be a rectangular parallelepiped as shown in  FIG. 2 , but is not limited thereto. The housing  141  may be formed of a transparent, translucent, or opaque material. If the housing  141  is formed of a transparent or translucent material, the user can directly realize the amount of dust collected in the first and second dust collecting chambers  154  and  164 . In addition, since the wall of the first and second cyclones  152  and  162  constitutes a part of the exterior of the housing  141 , if the housing  141  is formed of a transparent or translucent material, the user can view the operation of dust being separated from dust-laden air using the first and second dust collecting chambers  154  and  164 . 
     The first dust collecting unit  150  includes a first air inlet duct  151 , a first cyclone chamber  152 , a first discharge duct  153 , and a first dust collecting chamber  154 . 
     The first air inlet duct  151  guides dust-laden air to the first cyclone chamber  152 . 
     The first cyclone chamber  152  separates dust from the air in a cyclone manner. In this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the first cyclone chamber  152  is disposed in the upper right of the housing  141  as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     The first discharge duct  153  discharges dust-separated air from the first cyclone chamber  152 . A grill  142  is disposed between the first cyclone chamber  152  and the first discharge duct  153  to completely prevent separated dust from being discharged externally through the first discharge duct  153 . 
     The first dust collecting chamber  154  collects dust separated by the first cyclone chamber  152 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first cyclone chamber  152  is connected to the first dust collecting chamber  154  through a connection hole  144 . The dust is separated by a centrifugal force, and moves in the direction of the arrow of  FIG. 5  through the first connection hole  155  to the first dust collecting chamber  154 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the first discharge duct  153  may be formed pointing downwards, so that air separated by the first cyclone chamber  152  can be discharged through a lower surface of one side of the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 . In order to help dust move into the first dust collecting chamber  154  through the first connection hole  155 , a stabilizer pipe  143  is formed in the first cyclone chamber  152 . Since the stabilizer pipe  143  is known in the related art, detailed description is omitted here. 
     The second dust collecting unit  160  includes a second air inlet duct  161 , a second cyclone chamber  162 , a second discharge duct  163 , and a second dust collecting chamber  164 . Since the second dust collecting unit  160  has the same configuration and function as the first dust collecting unit  150 , only the distinct features of the first dust collecting unit  150  are described here. 
     The second cyclone chamber  162  separates dust from dust-laden air. The second cyclone chamber  162  according to this exemplary embodiment of the present invention is disposed in the lower left of the housing  141  as shown in  FIG. 4 . That is, the first and second cyclone chambers  152  and  162  are diagonally arranged in the housing  141  as shown in  FIG. 4 , so the compact configuration of the dual cyclone type dust separator  140  is enabled. In this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the first cyclone chamber  152  is disposed in the upper right of the dual cyclone type dust separator  140 , and the second cyclone chamber  162  is disposed in the lower left. However, the arrangement is not limited thereto, but instead the first cyclone chamber  152  may be disposed in the lower right, and the second cyclone chamber  162  may be disposed in the upper left. 
     In order to implement the compact configuration of the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140 , the wall of the first and second cyclone chambers  152  and  162  constitutes a part of the exterior of the housing  141 . Referring to  FIG. 4 , in the upper right, a part  141   a  of the housing  141  forms the wall of the first cyclone chamber  152 , and in the lower left, a part  141   b  of the housing  141  forms the wall of the second cyclone chamber  162 . This configuration enables the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  to be made compactly, and thus leads to the miniaturization of the cleaner body  130 . Compared with a dust collector having the same volume, the space available for the first and second dust collecting chambers  154  and  164  is greater, and so more dust can be collected. As a result, the user can dump the collected dust less frequently. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  3 , and  4 , the inlets of the first and second air inlet ducts  151  and  161  are formed on the same surface of the housing  141 , so miniaturization of the cleaner body  130  is enabled. The cleaner body  130  has an air path along which dust-laden air which has been drawn into the brush assembly  110  moves towards the first and second air inlet ducts  151  and  161 , so the cleaner body  130  needs space for forming the air path connected to the first and second air inlet ducts  151  and  161 . An unnecessary increase in the size of the cleaner body  130  can be prevented by forming the first and second air inlet ducts  151  and  161  on the same surface. 
     In this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since the first and second cyclone chambers  152  and  162  are arranged diagonally and the inlets of the first and second air inlet ducts  151  and  161  are formed on the same surface of the housing  141 , the second air inlet duct  161  connected to the second cyclone chamber  162  is located further inside the housing as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . Accordingly, dust in the second dust collecting chamber  164  may pile up on an upper surface of the second air inlet duct  161 . In order to prevent this, the second air inlet duct  161  is configured to have a slant  165 , so dust can be dropped into the second dust collecting chamber  164  instead of piling up on the second air inlet duct  161 . 
     However, since the first air inlet duct  151  is near the first cyclone chamber  152  which is disposed in the upper right in  FIG. 4 , the first air inlet duct  151  does not need to have a slant. As described above, in  FIG. 4 , the first cyclone chamber  152  may be disposed in the lower right, and the second cyclone chamber  162  may be disposed in the upper left. In this case, since the first air inlet duct  151  is located further inside the housing, the first air inlet duct  151  needs to have a slant. 
     The partition  171  isolates the first and second dust collecting units  150  and  160 , and has an “S” shape, as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     The handle  173  is formed on the upper surface of the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  to be grasped by the user, so the user can attach or detach the dual-cyclone type dust collector  140  to or from the cleaner body  130  by holding the handle  173 . 
     The lower cover  175  is detachably formed on the housing  141 . According to this exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the lower cover  175  can rotate about a hinge axis  176  as shown in  FIG. 6 . If the first and second dust collecting chambers  154  and  164  are full of dust, the user can open the lower cover  175  and dump the dust. As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a filter member  177  is formed corresponding to the first discharge duct  153 , and so removes fine dust by filtering air again in which dust is primarily separated by the first cyclone chamber  152 . The filter member  177  is also formed corresponding to the second discharge duct  163 . 
     As can be appreciated from the above description of the dual cyclone type dust separating apparatus, since two cyclone chambers are disposed diagonally and a part of the housing constitutes the wall of the cyclone chambers, compact configuration of the dual cyclone type dust separating apparatus is enabled. As a result, the cleaner body can be miniaturized. 
     While certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.