Dust container for vacuum cleaner
A dust container having a handle which self recovers and a vacuum cleaner having the same, to thereby conveniently pull the dust container from a cleaner body. The dust container includes a container body and a handle pivotably disposed at the dust container. A guide incline slidably contacts with and resiliently deforms the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle pivots. A fixing rib is disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle.
This application claims priority to copending Korean Patent Application No. 2003-63141, filed Sep. 9, 2003 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention generally relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more specifically, to a dust container for a vacuum cleaner, having a handle which mechanically recovers to a seated position with the closing movement of the dust container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONGenerally, a commercial vacuum cleaner having a wide-area coverage requires a larger dust container in comparison to a vacuum cleaner used in a residence. Hence, the commercial vacuum cleaner usually has a dust container as a cleaner body to remove the need for a dust bag. In such a vacuum cleaner, in order to empty the collected contaminants, a user experiences an inconvenience in separating a bulky cleaner body from a suction motor unit. For that, a separate dust container was provided to collect the contaminants therein.
However, without a separate handle, the hand of the user is often soiled while emptying the dust container. Even with the handle, unless the handle is affixed during the movement of the cleaner, the dust container sways and the contaminants therein are spilled.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a dust container with an improved handle capable of mechanically recovering to a seated position with the closing movement of the dust container, and a vacuum cleaner having the same.
To achieve the above aspect of the present invention, the dust container includes a container body, a handle pivotably disposed at the dust container, a guide incline to slidably contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle pivots, and a fixing rib disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dust container is formed of a transparent material.
The container body includes a first container having a diameter corresponding to an outer circumference of a cleaner body which is formed in a cylindrical shape, and a second container formed in a stepped manner with respect to the first container and having a bottom side which is less than an open upper side of the first container. The first container has a concave portion at the bottom side so that a user can use it as a grip.
The handle has both ends partially bent to form pivotal shafts. The handle is a wire member which is bent in a shape corresponding to the outer circumference of the dust container.
A vacuum cleaner with the dust container including the handle comprises a cleaner body, wherein the dust container is removably received in the cleaner body and includes an open upper side and a suction port which is connected to an extension pipe at a side thereof. The vacuum cleaner also includes a handle pivotably connected to the dust container, and a guide incline to slidably contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction as the handle pivots. A fixing rib is disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle. A sealing cover covers the open upper side of the dust container. The cleaner body includes a receiving portion to receive the dust container therein, and a contaminants check window formed by penetrating an outside of the vacuum cleaner. The sealing cover has one end connected to a suction motor disposed in the cleaner body, and the other end connected to the opening of the dust container. The sealing cover includes a filtering portion therein to filter and collect contaminants in the dust container. The handle mechanically recovers to a seated position due to a covering operation of the sealing cover.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSMany aspects of the invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be illustrated in greater detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
In detail, the dust container 100, as shown in
As shown in
Unlike a conventional large-sized vacuum cleaner, a vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the claimed invention has a vacuum motor (not shown) for generating suction force located in the cleaner body 101. Accordingly, the container body 101 is divided into the first and the second containers 101a, 101b in a stepped manner to prevent interference between the vacuum motor portion and the dust container 100. Hence, the second container 101b is structurally smaller than the first container 101a. As shown in
The handle 110 has both ends partially bent to form a pivotal shaft 110a (
The guide incline 120 is formed preferably adjacent to the pivotal shaft 110a where the handle 110 is connected. As shown in
The fixing rib 130 restrains a pivoting angle α of the handle 110 and is disposed at a position at which the handle can pivot up to approximately 90 degrees. As shown in
A vacuum cleaner having the dust container 100 which includes the handle 110 as shaped and configured above, includes the cleaner body 10, the dust container 100, the handle 110, the guide incline 120, the fixing rib 130, and the sealing cover 13. The dust container 100 is removably received in the cleaner body 10 and has the open upper side and the suction port P at a side in fluid connection with the extension pipe 30. The handle 110 is pivotably disposed at the dust container 100. The guide incline 120 slidably contacts with and resiliently deforms the handle 110 in the pivotal axis direction of A when the handle 110 pivots. The fixing rib 130 is disposed at the guide incline 120 to restrain the pivoting angle of the handle 110. The sealing cover 13 covers the opening 103 which is formed at the upper side of the dust container 100.
The cleaner body 10 includes the receiving portion 12 to receive the dust container 100 therein, and a contaminants check window 11 formed by penetrating an outside of the vacuum cleaner. By looking into the inside of the dust container 100 through the contaminants check window 11, the user can check the amount of collected contaminants in the dust container 100. Thus, additional equipment is not needed to measure the amount of the collected contaminants.
Although not shown in the drawings, one end of the sealing cover 13 is connected to the suction motor (not shown) disposed in the cleaner body 10, and the other end is sealingly connected to the opening 103 of the dust container 100. The sealing cover 13 may be provided with a filtering member (not shown) therein. Accordingly, contaminants which are collected due to a suction force generated by the suction motor, are filtered by a filtering unit and stacked in the dust container 100.
Referring to
In an embodiment of the claimed invention, the dust container is provided with a grip portion such as the concave portion which is not soiled, and the user can conveniently grip and pull out the dust container from the cleaner body. Also, while dumping the collected contaminants, the user does not dirty his/her hands due to the collected contaminants. As the dust container is pulled out, the handle is fixed at a predetermined position. Thus, the dust container does not sway and the collected contaminants are not spilled when the dust container is received in the vacuum cleaner. The handle self returns to the seated position as the sealing cover covers the opening.
Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Rather, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made in those embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A dust container comprising;
- a container body;
- a handle pivotably disposed at the dust container;
- a guide incline to slidably contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle pivots; and
- a fixing rib disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle.
2. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the container body is formed of a transparent material.
3. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the container body comprises:
- a first container having a diameter corresponding to an inner circumference of a cleaner body which is formed in a cylindrical shape; and
- a second container formed in a stepped manner with respect to the first container and having a bottom side which is less than an open upper side of the first container.
4. The dust container of claim 3, wherein the first container includes a concave portion at the bottom side for a user to grip.
5. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the handle includes both ends partially bent to form pivotal shafts.
6. The dust container of claim 1, wherein the handle involves a wire member which is bent in a shape corresponding to the outer circumference of the dust container.
7. A vacuum cleaner comprising:
- a cleaner body;
- a dust container removably received in the cleaner body and having an open upper side, and a suction port formed in a side in fluid connection with an extension pipe;
- a handle pivotably connected to the dust container;
- a guide incline to slidably contact with and resiliently deform the handle in a pivotal axis direction while the handle pivots;
- a fixing rib disposed at the guide incline to restrain a pivoting angle of the handle; and
- a sealing cover to cover the open upper side of the dust container.
8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the cleaner body comprises;
- a receiving portion to receive the dust container therein; and
- a contaminants check window formed by penetrating an outside of the vacuum cleaner.
9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the sealing cover includes one end connected to a suction motor disposed in the cleaner body, the other end connected to the opening of the dust container, and a filtering portion formed therein to filter and collect contaminants in the dust container.
10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the dust container is formed of a transparent material
11. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the dust container comprises:
- a first container with a diameter corresponding to an inner circumference of a cleaner body which is formed in a cylindrical shape; and
- a second container formed in a stepped manner with respect to the first container and including a bottom side which is less than an open upper side of the first container.
12. The vacuum cleaner of claim 11, wherein the first container includes a concave portion at the bottom side for a user to grip.
13. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle includes both ends that are partially bent to form pivotal shafts.
14. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle includes a wire member which is bent corresponding to the outer circumference of the dust container.
15. The vacuum cleaner of claim 7, wherein the handle self recovers to a seated position with a covering operation of the sealing cover.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 13, 2004
Publication Date: Mar 10, 2005
Inventor: Kyoung-woung Kim (Goyang-si)
Application Number: 10/777,685