Patent ID: 8453294

Claim:
An upright vacuum cleaner, comprising: a cleaner body; a hose which introduces air including dust into a dust collection unit; an extension pipe which is connected to the hose and is attached to/detached from the cleaner body; a suction port assembly connected to a bottom of the cleaner body; and a path switching apparatus installed in the cleaner body, wherein the path switching apparatus includes an actuator, a rotary valve which pivotally rotates when the actuator operates, and a valve housing in which the rotary valve is built, wherein the rotary valve is curvedly formed so that the rotary valve forms a duct along with an inner circumferential surface of the valve housing to select a first path or a second path, wherein the valve housing of the path switching apparatus includes two inlet ports and the outlet port, one of the two inlet ports being interconnected to the hose, the other being interconnected to the suction port assembly, and the outlet port being interconnected to the dust collection unit, and wherein the extension pipe pressurizes the actuator when the extension pipe is attached to the cleaner body and the actuator is released when the extension pipe is detached from the cleaner body so that the first path or the second path is selectively switched.