Patent ID: 7231687

Claim:
A vacuum cleaner, comprising: a casing having a certain internal space; a suction force generating unit installed in the casing so as to generate a suction force; a head unit connected with the casing to provide a flow channel; a filter unit installed in the casing for filtering off impurities in air sucked from outside; flow channel switch means installed in the casing for selecting a flow channel of the air flowing through one of a plurality of combinations of the head unit, the filter unit and the suction force generating unit; and plural pipes connecting the head unit, the filter unit, the suction force generating unit and the flow channel switch means, wherein the plural pipes include: a head unit connecting pipe formed on a side of the flow channel switch means connected with the head unit; a main inflow pipe installed between the flow channel switch means and the filter unit; a guide pipe connecting the filter unit with the suction force generating unit; a main discharge pipe connected to a side of the suction force generating unit for making air flowing from the filter unit into the suction force generating unit discharge to the outside; and a sub-discharge pipe connecting the flow channel switch means with the main discharge pipe, wherein the flow channel switch means includes: a valve housing fixedly installed to the casing so as to have plural through holes connected to the head unit connecting pipe, the main inflow pipe and the sub-discharge pipe; and a flow channel switch valve rotatively inserted into the valve housing so as to have plural channels connected to the plural through holes, wherein the plural through holes of the valve housing includes a first through hole connected to the head unit connecting pipe, a second through hole connected to the main inflow pipe and a third through hole connected to the sub-discharge pipe, and the plural flow channels of the flow channel switch valve includes a first flow channel connecting the first through hole of the valve housing with the second or the third through hole of the valve housing and a second flow channel connecting the second through hole of the valve housing with ambient air when the first flow channel connects the first through hole with the third through hole of the valve housing.