Patent ID: 7070636

Claim:
A bagless vacuum cleaner, comprising: a nozzle assembly including a suction nozzle for picking up dirt and debris from a surface to be cleaned; a canister assembly; a dust collection assembly including a filtering subassembly and a dust container, said dust container having an open top, a bottom wall, a first cylindrical sidewall, an inlet, and a downwardly directed outlet extending through said bottom wall, said dust collection assembly being received and held on one of said nozzle assembly and said canister assembly; an airstream conduit for conveying a vacuum airstream between said suction nozzle and said inlet; a filter carried on said filtering subassembly; a sweeper carried on said filtering subassembly so as to allow relative rotary movement with respect to said filtering subassembly, said sweeper cleaning dirt and debris from at least a portion of said filter; and a suction fan and suction fan drive motor carried on one of said nozzle assembly and said canister assembly for generating said vacuum airstream.