Patent ID: 6949130

Claim:
A dust and dirt separation assembly for use in a vacuum cleaner comprising: a housing having a dirt collection chamber, a dirty air inlet, a clean air outlet, and an airflow path existing between the dirty air inlet and the clean air outlet, a first separation means for separating articles of dirt from dirty air entering the housing through the dirty air inlet, the dirt articles being collected in the dirt collection chamber, a filter element being passed through by the airflow path for separating smaller particles of dust from the dirty air, the dust particles being smaller than the dirt articles, a selectively manually operable mechanical actuation mechanism including a snap-acting resilient element, the resilient element changing from a first stable condition to a second condition when a sufficient force is applied thereto, and an impact member actuatable by the mechanical actuation mechanism to strike the filter element thereby dislodging dust particles therefrom, the dust particles being collected in the dirt collection chamber together with the dirt particles.