Patent ID: 8209815

Claim:
An electrically powered surface care appliance comprising: a nozzle body, including a main suction opening; a housing in air flow communication with the main suction opening of the nozzle body and including an airstream suction source mounted to the housing and including a suction airstream inlet and a suction airstream outlet, the suction source electrically powered to selectively establish and maintain a flow of air from the main suction opening to the airstream outlet; a cyclonic particle separation main body mounted to the housing and in communication with the main suction opening, the cyclonic main body including a first stage cyclonic separator including a shroud, and a laminar flow member connected to the shroud, at least a portion of the laminar flow member being encircled by the shroud, wherein the shroud includes a first portion having a first dimension and a second portion having a second greater dimension, the configuration of the shroud positioning the laminar flow member centrally within the first stage cyclonic separator, and a plurality of second stage cyclonic separators spaced apart and in communication with the first stage cyclonic separator, each second stage cyclonic separator defining an inlet substantially adjacent a top of the second stage cyclonic separator, a dirt outlet substantially at a bottom of the second stage cyclonic separator, and an air outlet substantially adjacent the top of the second stage cyclonic separator, wherein the dirt outlets of two adjacent second stage cyclonic separators are positioned at different heights with respect to the first stage cyclonic separator; and a dirt cup connected to the cyclonic main body for collecting particles separated by the first stage cyclonic separator and the plurality of second stage cyclonic separators.