Patent Description:
A cleaner is an appliance that sucks dusts or foreign matters to clean the room. A conventional cleaner generally includes a housing having an intake port and an exhaust hole, a fan for flowing air flowed into the intake port to the exhaust hole, a separator for separating the foreign matters from the air flowing by the fan, a filter located between the separator and the fan to filter the foreign matters from the air passed through the separator, and a handle disposed on the housing.

In a case of the above-mentioned conventional cleaner, most of the foreign matters contained in the air are separated from the air through the separator and stored in the housing, and the foreign matters contained in the air passed through the separator are separated from the air while passing through the filter. Accordingly, it may be seen that, the larger the volume of a storage space of the foreign matters defined in the housing, the greater the filtration capacity of the cleaner. However, when an amount of foreign matters remaining in filtering means is large, the filtering means will be a flow path resistance that reduces a flow rate of the air flowing to the fan. Thus, in some cases, a filtration capacity of the filtering means, rather than the volume of the housing, may become a factor that determines a filtration capacity of an entirety of the cleaner. A cleaner is already known e.g. from <CIT>.

A purpose of the present application is to provide a cleaner capable of maximizing a filtration capacity of a filter installed in a mounting space having a limited volume.

Further, another purpose of the present application is to provide a cleaner in which a filter is easy to be cleaned.

The present application provides a cleaner may include: a hollow housing; a wall dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space and a second space; a through-hole defined to pass through the wall; a mount including: a mounting body having a top face and a mounting space defined therein in communication with the second space, wherein the mounting body is coupled to the through-hole; at least one first opening penetrating a bottom face of the mounting body and in communication with the mounting space, wherein the first opening is defined in a first region of the bottom face; and at least one second opening penetrating the bottom face and in communication with the mounting space, wherein the second opening is defined in a second region of the bottom face that is separated from the first region; an intake port, the first space communicating with an exterior of the housing via the intake port; an exhaust hole, the second space communicating with the exterior of the housing via the exhaust hole; a separator positioned in the first space to form a flow path to guide air flowing from the intake port to the first and second openings, wherein the separator removes material from the air using centrifugal force; a fan positioned in the second space to move air from the first and second openings to the exhaust hole; and a filter positioned in the mount to filter air flowing to the fan.

The filter may include: a cup-shaped filter body located in the mounting space; a first filter face positioned to face the bottom face in the mounting body to filter air flowing through the first opening; and a second filter face positioned on the filter body to divide the mounting space into a first space including the first region located therein and a second space including the second region located therein, wherein the second filter face filters air flowing through the second opening.

The first region may include a center of the bottom face of the mounting body, and the second region may be defined as a ring-shaped region surrounding the first region.

The second opening may include at least two communicating holes, and the second filter face may include chamber forming walls provided on a side face of the filter body to form, respectively, filtering chambers, a quantity of the filtering chambers formed by the chamber forming walls corresponding to a quantity of communicating holes in the mounting space.

The filtering chambers may be provided to define respective spaces that are independent of each other.

Each of the chamber forming walls may be shaped to be bent toward a center of the filter body.

The cleaner may further include: one or more guides positioned in the mount to divide each of the filtering chambers into at least two spaces, and pairs of the communicating holes included in the second opening are separated from each other by one of the guides.

The second opening may include a first communicating hole, a second communicating hole, and a third communicating hole, and the second filter face may include: a first chamber forming wall that is bent toward a center of the filter body to form a first filtering chamber in communication with the first communicating hole in the mounting space and not in communication with the second and third communicating holes; a second chamber forming wall that is bent toward the center of the filter body to form a second filtering chamber in communication with the second communicating hole in the mounting space and not in communication with the first and third communicating holes; and a third chamber forming wall that is bent toward the center of the filter body to form a third filtering chamber in communication with the third communicating hole in the mounting space and not in communication with the first and second communicating holes.

The cleaner may further include: a first guide positioned to divide the first filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a second guide positioned to divide the second filtering chamber into at least two spaces; and a third guide positioned to divide the third filtering chamber into at least two spaces, wherein the first communicating hole includes at least two holes provided respectively in the spaces defined in the first filtering chamber by the first guide, wherein the second communicating hole includes at least two holes provided respectively in the spaces defined in the second filtering chamber by the second guide, and wherein the third communicating hole includes at least two holes provided respectively in the spaces separated defined in the third filtering chamber by the third guide.

The second opening may further include a fourth communicating hole, and the second filter face may further include a fourth chamber forming wall that is bent toward the center of the filter body to form a fourth filtering chamber in communication with the fourth communicating hole in the mounting space and not in communication with the first, second, and third communicating holes.

The fourth filtering chamber may be positioned independent of the first filtering chamber, the second filtering chamber, and the third filtering chamber.

The cleaner may further include: a first guide positioned to divide the first filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a second guide positioned to divide the second filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a third guide positioned to divide the third filtering chamber into at least two spaces; and a fourth guide positioned to divide the fourth filtering chamber into at least two spaces, wherein the first communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the first guide, wherein the second communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the second guide, wherein the third communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the third guide, and wherein the fourth communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the fourth guide.

The second opening may further include a fifth communicating hole, wherein the second filter face further includes a fifth chamber forming wall bent toward the center of the filter body to form a fifth filtering chamber in communication with the fifth communicating hole in the mounting space and not in communication with the first, second, third, and fourth communicating holes.

The cleaner may further include: a first guide positioned to divide the first filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a second guide positioned to divide the second filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a third guide positioned to divide the third filtering chamber into at least two spaces; a fourth guide positioned to divide the fourth filtering chamber into at least two spaces; and a fifth guide positioned to divide the fifth filtering chamber into at least two spaces, wherein the first communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the first guide, wherein the second communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the second guide, wherein the third communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the third guide, wherein the fourth communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the fourth guide, and wherein the fifth communicating hole includes at least two holes separated from each other by the fifth guide.

The housing may have a cylindrical form.

The present application provides a cleaner includes: a cylindrical housing having an intake port and an exhaust port; a fan provided in the housing to generate an air flow into the housing through intake port and out of the housing via the exhaust port; a separator provided in the housing and including a plurality of flow path bodies that extend in an axial direction of the housing to generate a plurality of cyclones to remove material from air flowing from the intake port, the plurality of flow path bodies including first axial ends and second axial ends that are positioned further from the fan than the first axial ends; a mount provided in the housing between fan and the separator and including: a mounting body having a top face and a mounting space defined therein; a plurality of openings in a bottom face of the mounting body and positioned to correspond to the first axial ends of the flow path bodies, the plurality of openings including at least one first opening in a first region of the bottom face and at least one second opening in a second region of the bottom face that is separated from the first region; and a filter positioned in the mount to filter air flowing to the fan and including: a filter body located in the mounting space; a first filter face positioned to face the bottom face in the mounting body to filter air flowing through the first opening; and a second filter face positioned on the filter body to divide the mounting space into a first space including the first region located therein and a second space including the second region located therein, wherein the second filter face filters air flowing through the second opening.

The first region may include a center of the bottom face of the mounting body, and wherein the second region may include a ring-shaped region surrounding the first region.

The second opening may include at least two communicating holes, and the second filter face may include chamber forming walls provided on a side face of the filter body to form, respectively, filtering chambers, a quantity of of the filtering chambers formed by the chamber forming walls corresponding to a quantity of communicating holes in the mounting space.

The cleaner may further include: one or more guides positioned in the mount to divide each of the filtering chambers into at least two spaces, wherein pairs of the communicating holes included in the second opening are separated from each other by one of the guides.

The present application has an effect of providing the cleaner that may maximize the filtration capacity of the filter installed in the mounting space having the limited volume.

Further, the present application has an effect of providing the cleaner in which the filter is easy to be cleaned.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a cleaner will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. A configuration or a method for controlling an apparatus to be described below is only for describing an embodiment of the present application, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application. Further, like reference numerals throughout the specification indicate like components.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a cleaner <NUM>. The cleaner <NUM> includes a housing <NUM> formed in a form of a cylinder with a hollow therein, an intake port <NUM> formed on the housing <NUM> and an exhaust hole <NUM> defined in the housing <NUM>, a fan <NUM> disposed inside the housing <NUM> to flow air from the intake port <NUM> to the exhaust hole <NUM>, a separator <NUM> for guiding the air flowed into the intake port <NUM> to the fan <NUM>, and separating foreign matters from the air using a centrifugal force, and a handle <NUM> disposed on the housing <NUM> such that a user may grab the handle <NUM> with a hand. The handle <NUM> may be positioned at a point that is symmetrical with (<NUM> degrees apart from) a point where the intake port <NUM> is located in a space provided by a circumferential face of the housing <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, a housing wall <NUM> for dividing an internal space of the housing into a lower space (a first space, S1) and an upper space (a second space, S2) of the housing is disposed inside the housing <NUM>. Further, the housing wall <NUM> includes a wall through-hole S3 for communicating the first space S1 and the second space S2 with each other defined therein. The intake port <NUM> is disposed on a circumferential face of the housing <NUM> to flow outside air into the first space S1. The intake port <NUM> may include an intake hole <NUM> defined to penetrate the circumferential face of the housing <NUM>, and an intake pipe <NUM> extending from the intake hole <NUM> in a direction to be farther away from a center of the housing <NUM> (a direction farther away from the handle, a Y-axis direction).

Although not shown in the drawings, the cleaner of the present disclosure may further include an extended pipe detachably disposed on the intake pipe <NUM>, and a nozzle disposed at a free end of the extended pipe to flow the foreign matters to the extended pipe.

The exhaust hole <NUM> is defined to penetrate a top face or a circumferential face of the housing <NUM> to exhaust air in the second space S2 to the outside of the housing <NUM>. Further, <FIG> illustrates an example in which the exhaust hole <NUM> is defined in the top face of the housing <NUM>. A housing through-hole <NUM> (see <FIG>) may be defined in the top face of the housing <NUM>, and the housing through-hole <NUM> may be defined to be opened and closed by an upper cover <NUM>. A second filter F2 for filtering the air discharged from the fan <NUM> may be disposed inside the housing, and the user may separate the second filter F2 from the housing <NUM> by separating the upper cover <NUM> from the housing through-hole <NUM>.

The upper cover <NUM> may be disposed in a shape corresponding to a shape of the housing through-hole <NUM>, and the exhaust hole <NUM> may include a plurality of holes penetrating the upper cover <NUM>.

A housing outlet <NUM> (see <FIG>) for discharging the foreign matters stored in the housing <NUM> to the outside is further defined in a bottom face (one face of the housing opposite to the face in which the exhaust hole <NUM> is defined) of the housing <NUM>. The housing outlet <NUM> is opened and closed by a lower cover <NUM>. The lower cover <NUM> may be rotatably fixed to the housing <NUM>.

A mounting portion (or a mount) <NUM> is disposed inside the wall through-hole S3. The mounting portion <NUM> is for providing a mounting space <NUM> in which a first filter F1 to be described below is mounted. The mounting portion <NUM> may be disposed as a mounting body <NUM> detachably fixed to the housing wall <NUM> and positioned inside the wall through-hole S3.

The mounting body <NUM> may be disposed in a cylindrical or faceted cylindrical shape having a hollow therein. <FIG> illustrates an example in which the mounting body <NUM> is formed in a cylindrical shape in which the mounting space <NUM> is defined.

As shown in <FIG>, a top face through-hole <NUM> for communicating the mounting space <NUM> and the second space S2 with each other is defined in a top face of the mounting body <NUM>, and first communicating means (or first communication openings) <NUM> and second communicating means (or second communication openings) <NUM> for communicating the mounting space <NUM> with the first space S1 are defined in a bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body.

The bottom face <NUM> is divided into a first region <NUM> including a center of the bottom face, and a ring-shaped second region <NUM> surrounding the first region. The first communicating means <NUM> is defined in the first region <NUM>, and the second communicating means <NUM> is defined in the second region <NUM>.

The first communicating means <NUM> may be defined as one hole penetrating the bottom face <NUM>, or may be defined as a plurality of holes defined in the first region <NUM>. Similarly, the second communicating means <NUM> may be defined as one hole or a plurality of holes defined in the second region <NUM>.

The mounting body <NUM> is detachably coupled to the housing wall <NUM> through a body fastening portion <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the body fastening portion <NUM> may include a protrusion <NUM> disposed on an outer circumferential face of the mounting body <NUM>, and a protrusion fastening groove <NUM> defined in the housing wall <NUM> and positioned in the wall through-hole S3, wherein the protrusion fastening groove <NUM> provides a space in which the protrusion <NUM> is accommodated.

The separator <NUM> is fixed to the mounting body <NUM>. Thus, when the user opens the housing outlet <NUM> with the lower cover <NUM> and pulls the separator <NUM> to the housing outlet <NUM>, the mounting body <NUM> and the first filter F1 may be drawn out of the housing <NUM> together with the separator <NUM>.

The fan <NUM> is disposed in the second space S2 to flow the air in the first space S1 to the exhaust hole <NUM> through the first communicating means <NUM>, the second communicating means <NUM>, and the top face through-hole <NUM>. Further, the separator <NUM> is a flow path formed in the first space S1 to guide the air flowed into the intake port <NUM> to the two communicating means <NUM> and <NUM>. The foreign matters such as dust contained in the air are separated from the air by a centrifugal force while flowing to the fan <NUM> along the flow path provided by the separator <NUM>, and a specific structure thereof is as follows.

The separator <NUM> includes a chamber forming portion (or chamner forming wall) <NUM> for dividing the first space S1 into a first separated chamber 41a and a second separated chamber 41b, and a cyclone forming portion (or cyclone forming cylinders) <NUM> for supplying the air in the second separated chamber 41b to the fan <NUM>. The cyclone forming portion <NUM> is for providing the centrifugal force to the foreign matters contained in the air by rotating the air flowing to the fan <NUM>.

The chamber forming portion <NUM> is formed in a hollow cylindrical shape. One end of the chamber forming portion <NUM> may be fixed to the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body, and the other end of the chamber forming portion <NUM> may include a separated chamber body <NUM> in contact with the lower cover <NUM>, and a separated chamber wall <NUM> for separating the second separated chamber 41b formed in the separated chamber body into a separated space <NUM> and a storage space <NUM>.

The separated chamber body <NUM> includes a plurality of through-holes <NUM> communicating the first separated chamber 41a and the separated space <NUM> with each other. Therefore, the air flowed into the first separated chamber 41a through the intake port <NUM> may be supplied to the separated space <NUM> through the through-hole <NUM>.

An outlet <NUM> is defined in a bottom face of the separated chamber body <NUM> in contact with the lower cover <NUM>. Accordingly, the foreign matters stored in the storage space <NUM> may be discharged to the outside of the housing <NUM> through the outlet <NUM> when the lower cover <NUM> opens the housing outlet <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, each cyclone forming portion <NUM> may have one end fixed to the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body, and the other end including a flow path body <NUM> penetrating through the separated chamber wall <NUM> and in communication with the storage space <NUM>, each discharge pipe <NUM> having one end connected to the mounting space <NUM> and the other end located inside the flow path body <NUM>, each inlet <NUM> defined to penetrate a circumferential face of the flow path body <NUM>, and each air flow forming portion <NUM> forming a spiral flow path between an outer circumferential face of the discharge pipe <NUM> and an inner circumferential face of the flow path body.

The first communicating means <NUM> and the second communicating means <NUM> are defined as communicating holes penetrating the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body. Each discharge pipe <NUM> may be disposed as a pipe fixed to each of the communicating holes. Each flow path body <NUM> may be fixed to the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body and having each pipe fixed to each communicating hole.

In one example, each foreign matter outlet <NUM> is defined at a free end of each flow path body <NUM> (a bottom face of the flow path body) positioned in the storage space <NUM>. Thus, each flow path body <NUM> may be in communication with the storage space <NUM> through each foreign matter outlet <NUM>. Each flow path body <NUM> may be disposed to decrease in diameter toward the free end thereof. This is to strongly maintain a strength of the air flow formed therein. Each inlet <NUM> is located at a point higher than each air flow forming portion <NUM>. Therefore, when the fan <NUM> is operated, the air flowing into the flow path body <NUM> through the inlet <NUM> flows to the discharge pipe <NUM> via the air flow forming portion <NUM>. In this process, the air will flow while rotating inside the flow path body <NUM> (e.g., a cyclone flow).

When the cyclone flow occurs in the flow path body <NUM>, the foreign matters contained in the air will flow to an edge of the flow path (the circumferential face of the flow path body) by the centrifugal force, and then be discharged to the storage space <NUM> by gravity.

Each cyclone forming portion <NUM> having the above-described structure may include each first cyclone forming portion connected to each communicating hole of the first communicating means <NUM>, and each second cyclone forming portion connected to each communicating hole of the second communicating means <NUM>. The number of first cyclone forming portions may be equal to the number of communicating holes constituting the first communicating means <NUM>, and the number of second cyclone forming portions may be equal to the number of communicating holes constituting the second communicating means <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the fan <NUM> is disposed in the second space S2 of the housing to flow the air flowed into the first communicating means <NUM> and the second communicating means <NUM> to the exhaust hole <NUM>.

The fan <NUM> may include a casing <NUM> disposed in the second space S2, an impeller <NUM> rotatably disposed inside the casing, and a motor <NUM> fixed to the casing to rotate the impeller <NUM>.

The casing <NUM> may be disposed in a hollow cylinder shape. Further, a casing intake hole <NUM> and a casing exhaust hole <NUM> are defined in the casing <NUM>. It is preferable that the casing intake hole <NUM> is defined in one face of the casing <NUM> inserted into the mounting space <NUM>, and the casing exhaust hole <NUM> directed toward the exhaust hole <NUM> is defined to penetrate one face of the casing <NUM>. The motor <NUM> may be fixed to a support <NUM> fixed inside the casing <NUM>. In this case, the casing exhaust hole <NUM> may be defined as a support through-hole passing through the support <NUM>.

The impeller <NUM> is disposed to be positioned between the casing intake hole <NUM> and the casing exhaust hole <NUM>, and a rotation shaft <NUM> of the motor penetrates through the support <NUM> and is connected to the impeller <NUM>.

The motor <NUM> may be disposed to receive power through a power source disposed in the room, or may be disposed to receive the power through a battery <NUM> detachable from the housing <NUM>. When the handle <NUM> is disposed to include a handle body <NUM> protruding in a direction farther away from the intake port on a rear face (a face opposite to the face on which the intake port is positioned) of the housing <NUM>, the handle body <NUM> may include a battery housing <NUM> in which the battery <NUM> is detachably accommodated.

In one example, in order for filtration of the foreign matters, which is not removed through the separator <NUM>, the present disclosure may further include filtering means F1 and F2. The filtering means (or fileters) further includes at least one of a first filter F1 and a second filter F2. <FIG> illustrates an example in which the filtering means includes both the first filter F1 and the second filter F2.

The first filter F1 may be located between the casing intake hole <NUM> and the mounting body bottom face <NUM> to filter the air, and the second filter F2 may be located between the casing exhaust hole <NUM> and the exhaust hole <NUM> to filter the air. The first filter F1 and the second filter F2 may be disposed to filter foreign matters of the same size, or may be disposed to filter foreign matters of different sizes. When the first filter F1 and the second filter F2 are disposed to filter the foreign matters of different sizes, it is preferable that the second filter F2 is disposed to filter foreign matters of a size smaller than a size of the foreign matters filtered by the first filter F1. This is to minimize an amount of fine dusts discharged to an indoor space.

As shown in <FIG>, when electric power is supplied to the motor <NUM> and the impeller <NUM> rotates, the air is flowed into the first separated chamber 41a through the intake pipe <NUM> and the intake hole <NUM>. The intake pipe <NUM> includes a housing guide <NUM> that allows the air discharged from the intake hole <NUM> to inflow in a tangential direction of a circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a. Therefore, the air flowed into the first separated chamber 41a will rotate along the circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a.

When the air rotates inside the first separated chamber 41a, the foreign matters in the air flow to the circumferential face of the first separated chamber 41a by a centrifugal force, and then flows to the lower cover <NUM> disposed on the bottom face of the housing by gravity. Further, the air will flow through the through-hole <NUM> to the second separated chamber 41b. The air flowed to the second separated chamber 41b will flow to the flow path body <NUM> through the inlet <NUM>, and the air flowed into the flow path body <NUM> will flow cyclonically while passing through the air flow forming portion <NUM>. When the cyclone flow occurs in the flow path body <NUM>, the foreign matters contained in the air will flow to the circumferential face of the flow path body <NUM> by a centrifugal force and then be discharged to the storage space <NUM> by gravity. Further, the air will be discharged out of the housing <NUM> through the discharge tube <NUM>, the first communicating means <NUM>, the second communicating means <NUM>, the top face through-hole <NUM>, the casing intake hole <NUM>, the casing exhaust hole <NUM>, and the exhaust hole <NUM>.

The foreign matters stored in the storage space <NUM> and the first separated chamber 41a are discharged to the outside of the housing <NUM> when the lower cover <NUM> opens the housing outlet <NUM>. Further, in the cleaner <NUM> having the above-described structure, a volume of the first filter F1 is limited by a volume of the mounting space <NUM>, so that a filtration capacity of the first filter F1 is limited by the volume of the mounting space <NUM>.

In addition, in the cleaner <NUM> having the above-described structure, among filter faces provided by the first filter F1, only a filter face (a filter face in which the first communicating means and the second communicating means are defined) facing the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body functions to filter the foreign matters. That is, the filter faces of the first filter F1 which do not face the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body do not serve to separate the foreign matters from the air. This may cause a problem that the first filter F1 does not perform the function of filtering the air when a lot of foreign matters are accumulated on the filter face facing the bottom face <NUM> of the mounting body even when other filter faces of the first filter F1 are in a state of being able to filter the foreign matters. <FIG> illustrates an example of the first filter F1 in which all filter faces thereof are able to filter the air, thereby maximizing the filtration capacity.

The first filter F1 may include a filter body <NUM> having a cup shape (a cylindrical shape with open top face) located in the mounting space <NUM>, a first filter face <NUM> disposed on a face facing the bottom face of a space provided by the filter body <NUM> to filter the air flowed into the first communicating means <NUM>, and a second filter face <NUM> disposed on the filter body <NUM> to filter the air flowed into the second communicating means <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the second filter face <NUM> is disposed to divide the mounting space <NUM> into a space in which the first communicating means <NUM> is defined (a space in which the first region is located) and a space in which the second communicating means <NUM> is defined (a space in which the second region is located). That is, the second filter face <NUM> includes a plurality of chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> arranged on a side face of the filter body <NUM>, and respectively forming a plurality of filtering chambers of the number equal to the number of communicating holes constituting the first communicating means <NUM> and the second communicating means <NUM> in the mounting space <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, when the second communicating means <NUM> is defined as a first communicating hole <NUM>, a second communicating hole <NUM>, and a third communicating hole <NUM>, the chamber forming portions may be arranged as a first chamber forming portion <NUM>, a second chamber forming portion <NUM>, and a third chamber forming portion <NUM>.

The first chamber forming portion <NUM>, the second chamber forming portion <NUM>, and the third chamber forming portion <NUM> may be formed in shapes bent from the second filter face <NUM> (the side face of the filter body) toward a center of the filter body <NUM>.

The first chamber forming portion <NUM> is disposed to form a first filtering chamber C1 in communication only with the first communicating hole <NUM> in the mounting space <NUM>, the second chamber forming portion <NUM> is disposed to form a second filtering chamber C2 in communication only with the second communicating hole <NUM> in the mounting space <NUM>, and the third chamber forming portion <NUM> is disposed to form a third filtering chamber C3 in communication only with the third communicating hole <NUM> in the mounting space <NUM>. It is preferable that the chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are arranged such that the first filtering chamber C1, the second filtering chamber C2, and the third filtering chamber C3 are independent of each other.

The air flowed into the first communicating means <NUM> passes through the first filter face <NUM> and then flows to the fan <NUM>. Further, the air flowed into the first communicating hole <NUM> of the second communicating means passes through the first filtering chamber C1 and then flows to the fan. Further, the air flowed into the second communicating hole <NUM> passes through the second filtering chamber C2 and then flows to the fan. Further, the air flowed into the third communicating hole <NUM> passes through the third filtering chamber C3 and then flows to the fan. Therefore, the first filter F1 having the above-described structure has an effect that the first filter face <NUM> and the second filter face <NUM> all filter the foreign matters.

When the second filter face <NUM> is disposed to be in close contact with an inner circumferential face of the mounting body <NUM> (when no chamber forming portions are arranged on the second filter face), the air flowed into the first communicating means <NUM> and the second communicating means <NUM> may pass through only the first filter face <NUM> and then flow to the fan <NUM>. In this case, the second filter face <NUM> may not be able to perform a function of filtering the air, but the above-described first filter F1 may prevent such a problem. In addition, the first filter F1 described above may maximize a surface area of the second filter face <NUM>, so that a filtration capacity of the filter located in the mounting space <NUM> with a limited volume may be maximized.

<FIG> illustrates a case in which the second communicating means <NUM> is defined as the first communicating hole <NUM>, the second communicating hole <NUM>, the third communicating hole <NUM>, and a fourth communicating hole <NUM>. In this case, the chamber forming portions should be arranged as the first chamber forming portion <NUM>, the second chamber forming portion <NUM>, the third chamber forming portion <NUM>, and a fourth chamber forming portion <NUM>. The fourth chamber forming portion <NUM> forms a fourth filtering chamber C4 in communication only with the fourth communicating hole <NUM> inside the mounting space by bending a surface of the second filter <NUM> toward the center of the filter body <NUM>. The fourth filtering chamber C4 is preferably disposed as an independent space separate from the first filtering chamber C1, the second filtering chamber C2, and the third filtering chamber C3.

<FIG> illustrates a case in which the second communicating means <NUM> is defined as the first communicating hole <NUM>, the second communicating hole <NUM>, the third communicating hole <NUM>, the fourth communicating hole <NUM>, and a fifth communicating hole <NUM>. In this case, the chamber forming portions should be arranged as the first chamber forming portion <NUM>, the second chamber forming portion <NUM>, the third chamber forming portion <NUM>, the fourth chamber forming portion <NUM>, and a fifth chamber forming portion <NUM>.

The fifth chamber forming portion <NUM> forms a fifth filtering chamber C5 in communication only with the fifth communicating hole <NUM> inside the mounting space by bending the surface of the second filter <NUM> toward the center of the filter body <NUM>. The fifth filtering chamber C5 is preferably disposed as an independent space separate from the first filtering chamber C1, the second filtering chamber C2, the third filtering chamber C3, and the fourth filtering chamber C4.

<FIG> illustrates an example in which each of the communicating holes constituting the second communicating means <NUM> includes two holes. That is, <FIG> illustrates a case in which each of the first communicating hole <NUM>, the second communicating hole <NUM>, and the third communicating hole <NUM> of the second communicating means includes two holes. <FIG> illustrates a case in which each of the first communicating hole <NUM>, the second communicating hole <NUM>, the third communicating hole <NUM>, and the fourth communicating hole <NUM> includes two holes. Further, <FIG> illustrates a case in which each of the first communicating hole <NUM>, the second communicating hole <NUM>, the third communicating hole <NUM>, the fourth communicating hole <NUM>, and the fifth communicating hole <NUM> includes two holes.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the first communicating hole <NUM> is defined as a first chamber first hole 261a and a first chamber second hole 261b. The second communicating hole <NUM> is defined as a second chamber first hole 263a and a second chamber second hole 263b. The third communicating hole <NUM> is defined as a third chamber first hole 265a and a third chamber second hole 265b. The fourth communicating hole <NUM> is defined as a fourth chamber first hole 267a and a fourth chamber second hole 267b. Further, the fifth communicating hole <NUM> is defined as a fifth chamber first hole 269a and a fifth chamber second hole 269b.

The mounting body <NUM> may further include guides <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, each of which separates two chamber holes defined in one filtering chamber from each other.

<FIG> illustrates a case in which the guide includes a first guide <NUM> that divides the first filtering chamber C1 into two spaces to separate the first chamber first hole 261a and the first chamber second hole 261b from each other, a second guide <NUM> that divides the second filtering chamber C2 into two spaces to separate the second chamber first hole 263a and the second chamber second hole 263b from each other, and a third guide <NUM> that divides the third filtering chamber C3 into two spaces to separate the third chamber first hole 265a and the third chamber second hole 265b from each other.

<FIG> illustrates an embodiment in which the guide further includes a fourth guide <NUM> that divides the fourth filtering chamber C4 into two spaces to separate the fourth chamber first hole 267a and the fourth chamber second hole 267b from each other, and <FIG> illustrates an embodiment in which the guide further includes a fifth guide <NUM> that divides the fifth filtering chamber C5 into two spaces to separate the fifth chamber first hole 269a and the fifth chamber second hole 269b from each other.

The embodiments of <FIG> and <FIG> illustrate examples in which the first communicating means <NUM> is defined as one communicating hole. However, the first communicating means <NUM> may also be defined as a plurality of communicating holes.

The first filter F1 illustrated in <FIG> and <FIG> have shapes in which each of the chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> protrude sharply toward the center of the filter body <NUM>. However, each chamber forming portion is not necessarily formed in a sharply protruding shape.

<FIG> illustrates another embodiment of the first filter F1, and <FIG> illustrate an example of the first filter F1 in which each of the chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> is disposed as a face concavely curved toward the center of the filter body <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example in which each of the chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> is disposed as a face concavely curved toward the center of the filter body <NUM>, the mounting body <NUM> is formed to include the guides <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> that respectively divide the filtering chambers C1 to C5 respectively formed by the chamber forming portions <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> into the two spaces, and each of the communicating holes <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> constituting the second communicating means is defined to include two chamber holes separated from each other by each guide.

In the cleaner having the above-described structure, when the user separates the separator <NUM> from the housing <NUM>, the first filter F1 may be separated from the housing <NUM> together with the separator <NUM>.

That is, as shown in <FIG>, when the user opens the housing outlet <NUM> with the lower cover <NUM> and then pulls the separator <NUM> toward the housing outlet <NUM>, the mounting body <NUM> and the first filter F1 seated in the mounting body <NUM> may be drawn out of the housing <NUM> together with the separator <NUM>. This is because the separator <NUM> may be fixed to the mounting body <NUM>, and the mounting body <NUM> is detachably coupled to the protrusion fastening groove <NUM> defined in the housing wall <NUM> through the protrusion <NUM>. When the mounting body <NUM> and the first filter F1 are withdrawn from the housing <NUM>, the user may detach the first filter F1 from the mounting body <NUM>. Therefore, the cleaner having the above-described structure has an effect of facilitating separation and cleaning of the first filter F1.

Claim 1:
A cleaner comprising:
a hollow housing (<NUM>);
a wall (<NUM>) dividing an internal space of the housing into a first space (s1) and a second space (S2);
a through-hole (S3) defined to pass through the wall;
a mount (<NUM>) including:
a mounting body (<NUM>) having a top face (<NUM>) and a mounting space (<NUM>) defined therein in communication with the second space, wherein the mounting body is coupled to the through-hole;
at least one first opening (<NUM>) penetrating a bottom face (<NUM>) of the mounting body and in communication with the mounting space, wherein the first opening is defined in a first region of the bottom face; and
at least one second opening (<NUM>) penetrating the bottom face and in communication with the mounting space, wherein the second opening is defined in a second region (<NUM>) of the bottom face that is separated from the first region;
an intake port (<NUM>), the first space communicating with an exterior of the housing via the intake port;
an exhaust hole (<NUM>), the second space communicating with the exterior of the housing via the exhaust hole;
a separator positioned in the first space to form a flow path to guide air flowing from the intake port to the first and second openings, wherein the separator removes material from the air using centrifugal force;
a fan (<NUM>) positioned in the second space to move air from the first and second openings to the exhaust hole; and
a filter (F1) positioned in the mount to filter air flowing to the fan,
wherein the filter includes:
a cup-shaped filter body (<NUM>) located in the mounting space;
a first filter face (<NUM>) positioned to face the bottom face in the mounting body to filter air flowing through the first opening; and
a second filter face (<NUM>) positioned on the filter body to divide the mounting space into a first space including the first region located therein and a second space (<NUM>) including the second region located therein, wherein the second filter face filters air flowing through the second opening.