Patent ID: 7662198

Claim:
A separation assembly for separating at least solid particles from air in a vacuum cleaner, comprising: an air inlet; an air outlet; wall sections bounding an air flow path from the inlet to the outlet; and at least two separators for separating at least solid particles from the air, wherein the air flow path extends through said separators, an upstream one of said separators being located upstream of a downstream one of said separators, and wherein the downstream separator includes an air-permeable filter element bounding an inner space; wherein the wall sections bounding the air flow path in the area of the downstream separator include at least a transparent section through which the filter element is visible; wherein said inner space is located upstream of an area outside the filter element for filtering air flowing from inside the filter element to outside the filter element; wherein the upstream separator is a cyclonic separator having a separating chamber extending about a central tube extending in an upward direction, the central tube bounding a central chamber inside the central tube, the separating chamber communicating with the central chamber via an air-permeable upper section of the central tube forming an outlet of the separating chamber, and the central tube having a non-permeable lower section; and wherein, in the operating condition, the inner space in the filter element is open in a downward direction and located above and in open communication with the non-permeable lower section of the central tube.