NOZZLE ASSEMBLY FOR VACUUM CLEANER

Abstract

A nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner includes a case having an inlet through which a dirt is drawn in from a surface to be cleaned and an outlet, a drum brush that is rotatably mounted in an inner space of the case, and a rotation preventing member that is disposed between an inner wall of the case and the drum brush and prevents the dirt from being rotated along the drum brush.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2009-0035503, filed on Apr. 23, 2009, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner in which a drum brush is mounted.

2. Description of the Related Art

Vacuum cleaners draw in materials to be cleaned, such as dust or dirt, from a surface to be cleaned using a suction force, and remove the drawn-in materials. In general, vacuum cleaners are classified into canister type vacuum cleaners and upright type vacuum cleaners.

An upright type vacuum cleaner is configured in which a cleaner main body is connected directly to a nozzle assembly in contact with a surface to be cleaned. Additionally, in most of these upright type vacuum cleaners, a drum brush is mounted in the nozzle assembly in order to increase the cleaning efficiency. The drum brush rotates at a high speed and is in contact with the surface to be cleaned, so that dirt or dust may be separated from the surface to be cleaned, and that the separated dirt or dust may flow in a dust-collector included in the cleaner main body through the nozzle assembly.

However, when the nozzle assembly having the drum brush is used, a part of the dirt or dust drawn into the nozzle assembly may be made to rotate by a rotational force of the drum brush rotating at the high speed, while being attached to the drum brush or floating.

Accordingly, the dirt or dust is rotated along the drum brush, and thus it is impossible for the dirt or dust to flow in the dust-collector included in the cleaner main body, which results in a reduction in the cleaning efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure has been developed in order to solve the above described and other problems in the related art. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner that is capable of reducing an amount of dirt, which is rotated along a drum brush, thereby increasing a cleaning efficiency.

The above aspect is achieved by providing a nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner, including a case having an inlet through which a dirt is drawn in from a surface to be cleaned, and an outlet; a drum brush that is rotatably mounted in an inner space of the case; and a rotation preventing member that is disposed between an inner wall of the case and the drum brush and prevents the dirt from being rotated along the drum brush.

The rotation preventing member may be disposed opposite to the outlet and the drum brush may be disposed between the rotation preventing member and the outlet.

The rotation preventing member may be disposed in a position higher than a center of the drum brush.

The rotation preventing member may protrude from the inner wall of the case toward the center of the drum brush.

The rotation preventing member may extend along a longitudinal direction of the drum brush.

The dirt may be guided from the inlet to the outlet either along a first flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet directly to the outlet, or along a second flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet to the outlet via the rotation preventing member.

The nozzle assembly may further include a discharge guide member that encloses at least a portion of the drum brush to guide the dirt blocked by the rotation preventing member toward the outlet.

An end of the discharge guide member may be disposed adjacent to the rotation preventing member.

The end of the discharge guide member may be perpendicular to one side of the rotation preventing member.

The discharge guide member may enclose an upper portion of the drum brush.

The discharge guide member may extend along a longitudinal direction of the drum brush.

The second flow path may include a first sub flow path in which the dirt is guided toward the rotation preventing member along a space between the discharge guide member and the drum brush, a second sub flow path in which the dirt comes into contact with the rotation preventing member so that a moving direction of the dirt is converted, and a third sub flow path in which the dirt is guided toward the outlet along a space between the discharge guide member and the case.

The rotation preventing member may include a plurality of bristles that remove dirt from the drum brush.

The case may include an upper case and a lower case having the inlet, and the rotation preventing member may be mounted on an inner wall of the upper case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

These and/or other aspects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a nozzle assembly included in the vacuum cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 2, explaining a second flow path illustrated in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of a nozzle assembly according to the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood to refer to like parts, components and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner includes a main body 100 and a nozzle assembly 200.

The main body 100 includes a suction motor unit 110, a dust-collector 120, and a handle 130.

The suction motor unit 110 is disposed in a lower portion of the main body 100, and includes a suction motor (not illustrated) as a vacuum source to generate a suction force. The suction motor is disposed in the suction motor unit 110.

The dust-collector 120 is disposed above the suction motor unit 110, and separates dirt and dust (hereinafter, is referred to as dirt) from air drawn in through the nozzle assembly 200 and collects the separated dirt. The dust-collector 120 according to the present disclosure is a cyclone dust-collector to whirl the drawn-in air and to centrifugally separate the dirt from the drawn-in air. However, the vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure may include other types of dust-collector for example a dust-collector using a dust bag, instead of or in addition to the dust-collector 120.

The handle 130 is detachably mounted to an upper end of the main body 100, so that a user may easily move the vacuum cleaner to a desired position using the handle 130. Additionally, the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 may also be used as a canister-type vacuum cleaner by detaching the handle 130 from the main body 100, although not related to the aspect of the present disclosure. In more detail, when the handle 130 is attached to the main body 100 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the vacuum cleaner may be used as an upright-type vacuum cleaner, or when the handle 130 is detached from the main body 100, the vacuum cleaner may be used as a canister-type vacuum cleaner.

To allow the vacuum cleaner to be used as both a canister-type vacuum cleaner and an upright-type vacuum cleaner, the main body 100 includes a first connection hose 140 for fluid communication between the nozzle assembly 200 and the dust-collector 120 in upright cleaning mode, and a second connection hose 150 for fluid communication between the handle 130 and the dust-collector 120 in canister cleaning mode. Additionally, the main body 100 includes a flow path switch unit (not illustrated) disposed in a rear side thereof to switch a flow path so that the dust-collector 120 may fluidly communicate with the nozzle assembly 200 or the handle 130 selectively according to whether the handle 130 is attached or detached to or from the main body 100.

In more detail, if the handle 130 is attached to the main body 100, that is, if the vacuum cleaner is used in the upright cleaning mode, the dust-collector 120 may fluidly communicate with the nozzle assembly 200 by the flow path switch unit, so that the dirt and air may be drawn into the dust-collector 120 from the surface to be cleaned through the nozzle assembly 200. Alternatively, if the handle 130 is detached from the main body 100, that is, if the vacuum cleaner is used in the canister cleaning mode, the dust-collector 120 may fluidly communicate with the handle 130 by the flow path switch unit, so that the dirt and air may be drawn into the dust-collector 120 from the surface to be cleaned, through another nozzle (not illustrated) connected to a first end of the handle 130. In this situation, the air drawn into the dust-collector 120 through the nozzle assembly 200 or through the other nozzle connected to the first end of the handle 130 may be discharged to the outside through the suction motor unit 110, after a dust separating operation is finished in the dust-collector 120.

Reference numeral 160 of FIG. 1 indicates a pair of main wheels (only one shown), which is disposed on a lower end of the main body 100 at opposite sides of the main body, to easily move the vacuum cleaner according to the present disclosure.

The nozzle assembly 200 is in contact with the surface to be cleaned, and draws in air along with the dirt from the surface to be cleaned using the suction force provided by the suction motor unit 110. The nozzle assembly 200 is rotatably connected to the main body 100, and thus a user may operate the vacuum cleaner for cleaning by tilting the main body 100 with respect to the nozzle assembly 200 at various angles.

Hereinafter, the nozzle assembly 200 will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the nozzle assembly 200 included in the vacuum cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view, similar to FIG. 2, explaining a second flow path illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, the nozzle assembly 200 includes an upper case 210, a lower case 220, an extension pipe 230, and a drum bush 240.

The upper case 210 and the lower case 220 are engaged with each other to form an inner space in the nozzle assembly 200 and to form an external appearance of the nozzle assembly 200. The lower case 220 includes an inlet 221, which is formed in a front portion thereof and through which dirt and air flow in the nozzle assembly 200 from the surface to be cleaned. Additionally, the lower case 220 includes a pair of sub-wheels 222 (only one shown) that are disposed on a bottom surface thereof to assist movement of the nozzle assembly 200 on the surface to be cleaned.

The extension pipe 230 is installed in the inner space in the nozzle assembly 200 in order to guide the dirt and air flowing in the nozzle assembly 200 through the inlet 221 toward the first connection hose 140 (see FIG. 1) and the second connection hose 150 (see FIG. 1). A first end of the extension pipe 230 is disposed near the inlet 221 of the nozzle assembly 200, and a second end of the extension pipe 230 is connected to the flow path switch unit described above. Accordingly, the dirt and air flowing in the nozzle assembly 200 through the inlet 221 may be guided toward the first connection hose 140 through the extension pipe 230.

Additionally, the nozzle assembly 200 includes a guide case 211 that is disposed therein and connected to the first end of the extension pipe 230. The guide case 211 may enable the dirt and air flowing in the nozzle assembly 200 through the inlet 221 to flow in the extension pipe 230. An outlet 212 of the guide case 211 is sealed with the first end of the extension pipe 230, so that the dirt and air drawn in the nozzle assembly 200 through the inlet 221 may flow in the extension pipe 230, rather than leaking out.

The drum brush 240 is installed in the inner space in the nozzle assembly 200 so as to be adjacent to the inlet 221 formed on the lower case 220. Additionally, the drum brush 240 receives a rotational force from a drum brush driving motor (not shown), which is disposed in the rear thereof, and is made to rotate by the rotational force at a regular angular speed during cleaning.

The drum brush 240 includes a drum brush body 241 having a substantially cylindrical shape, and a plurality of contact members 242 planted in all directions from an outer circumference surface of the drum brush body 241. Each of the plurality of contact members 242 protrudes a predetermined length from the inlet 221, so if the drum brush 240 is rotated, the contact members 242 may separate dirt from the surface to be cleaned. In particular, if the surface to be cleaned is made of some kind of fabric, such as carpet, the cleaning efficiency may be further improved by the drum brush 240.

The nozzle assembly 200 further includes a discharge guide member 250 and a rotation preventing member 260, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The discharge guide member 250 extends along the longitudinal direction of the drum brush 240 so as to enclose an upper portion of the drum brush 240. The discharge guide member 250 is installed in a space between the upper case 210 and the drum brush 240, and is spaced apart a predetermined distance from the drum bush 240. Although not illustrated in FIG. 2, the discharge guide member 250 is connected to the upper case 210 and supported by the upper case 210. Additionally, according to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the discharge guide member 250 may be formed integrally with the upper case 210. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the discharge guide member 250 encloses about ⅓ of the circumference of the drum brush 240, but dimensions of the drum brush 240 enclosed by the discharge guide member 250 may be changed according to exemplary embodiments. In addition, a left end 251 of the discharge guide member 250 may desirably be disposed in a position higher than a center 243 of the drum brush 240.

The rotation preventing member 260 includes a base member 261 and a plurality of bristles 262.

The base member 261 protrudes from an inner wall of the upper case 210 along the length of the drum brush 240, toward substantially the center 243 of the drum brush 240. Accordingly, the base member 261 is substantially perpendicular to the left end 251 of the discharge guide member 250. Additionally, since the base member 261 is disposed near the left end 251 of the discharge guide member 250, the base member 261 is also disposed in a position higher than the center 243 of the drum brush 240.

The plurality of bristles 262 are planted in an end of the base member 261 adjacent to the drum brush 240. The plurality of bristles 262 protrude toward the center 243 of the drum brush 240. When the drum brush 240 is rotated, the plurality of bristles 262 may brush the dirt from the outer circumference surface of the drum brush body 241 or from the contact member 242.

As described above, the nozzle assembly 200 includes the discharge guide member 250 and the rotation preventing member 260, and thus two inner flow paths 270 may be formed in the nozzle assembly 200. In more detail, the nozzle assembly 200 includes a first flow path 271 extending from the inlet 221 directly to the outlet 212, and a second flow path 272 extending from the inlet 221, sequentially through an inner surface and an outer surface of the discharge guide member 250 and to the outlet 212.

In this situation, since the second flow path 272 makes a detour around the discharge guide member 250, the second flow path 272 is greater in length than the first flow path 271. Additionally, the two inner flow paths 270 may be divided into the first flow path 271 and the second flow path 272 in the vicinity of a right end 252 of the discharge guide member 250, and the first flow path 271 and the second flow path 272 may then be combined in the vicinity of the outlet 212 of the guide case 211.

Therefore, the air and dirt A₁ (see FIG. 2) that are drawn into the nozzle assembly 200 may be partially discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the first flow path 271, and the remainder may be discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the second flow path 272.

Referring to FIG. 3, the second flow path 272 includes a first sub flow path 273, a second sub flow path 274, and a third sub flow path 275.

The first sub flow path 273 enables the dirt drawn in through the inlet 221 to flow in the rotation direction of the drum brush 240 along the inner surface of the discharge guide member 250. In more detail, the first sub flow path 273 is a path along which the dirt is moved in a space between the discharge guide member 250 and the circumference of the drum brush 240 by the rotational force of the drum brush 240.

Additionally, the second sub flow path 274 is a path in which the movement direction of the dirt is converted by the rotation preventing member 260. More specifically, the dirt moved along the first sub flow path 273 collides with one side of the base member 261 of the rotation preventing member 260 in the second sub flow path 274, and thus a great deal of kinetic energy transferred from the drum brush 240 may be lost.

The third sub flow path 275 enables the dirt that lost kinetic energy due to the collision with the rotation preventing member 260, to be moved along the outer surface of the discharge guide member 250 by the suction force transferred from the main body 100 in a direction opposite to the first sub flow path 273.

In this situation, the left end 251 of the discharge guide member 250 and the rotation preventing member 260 may desirably be disposed in the position higher than the center 243 of the drum brush 240, so that a suction force enough to guide the dirt toward the outlet 212 may be applied to the third sub flow path 275. If the rotation preventing member 260 is disposed below the center 243 of the drum brush 240, it is impossible to apply a sufficient suction force to the dirt flowing along the first sub flow path 273, and thus the dirt may continue to be rotated by the drum brush 240 along the circumference of the drum brush 240.

As described above, the two flow paths, namely, the first flow path 271 and the second flow path 272 are formed between the inlet 221 of the lower case 220 and the outlet 212 of the guide case 211, and accordingly it is possible to prevent a part of the dirt drawn in the nozzle assembly 200 from the surface to be cleaned from not being discharged to the extension pipe 230 while being rotated along the drum brush 240. In other words, a part of the dirt drawn in the nozzle assembly 200 may be discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the first flow path 271, and the remainder may be discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the second flow path 272 formed by the discharge guide member 250 and the rotation preventing member 260.

Therefore, it is possible to remarkably reduce an amount of dirt drawn in the nozzle assembly 200 that is rotated along the drum brush 240 by the rotational force of the drum brush 240 but not discharged to the extension pipe 230. Thus, the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner may be enhanced.

Additionally, the plurality of bristles 262 attached to one end of the rotation preventing member 260 separate the dirt from the outer circumference surface of the drum brush body 241 or from the contact member 242, and accordingly, it is possible to further increase an amount of dirt discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the second flow path 272. Therefore, the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner may be greatly enhanced.

Hereinafter, the operation of the vacuum cleaner described above according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The vacuum cleaner according to the exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure may be used as a canister-type vacuum cleaner, but an upright-type vacuum cleaner only is now described as illustrated in FIG. 1.

If a user operates the vacuum cleaner, the suction motor (not illustrated) mounted in the suction motor unit 110 of the main body 100, and the drum brush driving motor (not illustrated) in the nozzle assembly 200 may be operated. Accordingly, the drum brush 240 mounted in the nozzle assembly 200 may be rotated at the regular angular speed, and an external air containing the dirt may be drawn in the nozzle assembly 200 from the surface to be cleaned, through the inlet 221 of the lower case 220 by the suction force exerted by the suction motor.

The air and dirt A₁ (see FIG. 2), which are drawn into the nozzle assembly 200 may be partially discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the first flow path 271, and the remainder may be discharged to the extension pipe 230 along the second flow path 272 formed by the discharge guide member 250 and the rotation preventing member 260.

As described above, the second flow path 272 is formed to guide the dirt rotated along the drum brush 240 toward the extension pipe 230, and thus it is possible to increase an amount of dirt drawn in the main body 100 from the nozzle assembly 200. Therefore, it is possible to increase the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner.

The air containing the dirt A₂ (see FIG. 2), which is discharged to the extension pipe 230 through the first flow path 271 or the second flow path 272, may flow into the dust-collector 120 through the first connection hose 140. Subsequently, the dirt may be centrifugally separated from the air in the dust-collector 120, the separated dirt may be collected in the dust-collector 120, and air from which the dirt has been separated may be discharged outside the vacuum cleaner through the suction motor.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the nozzle assembly according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of a nozzle assembly according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, a nozzle assembly 200′ includes a discharge guide member 250′ and a rotation preventing member 260′ in order to form the second flow path 272 (see FIG. 2) in the same manner as the embodiment described above. However, a front end of a lower case 220′ of the nozzle assembly 200′ extends upward higher than the lower case 220 of the nozzle assembly 200, and accordingly, the rotation preventing member 260′ may extend from an inner wall of the lower case 220.′ Thus, the nozzle assembly 200′ is distinct from the nozzle assembly 200. Other constituents and operations of the nozzle assembly 200′ are the same as those of the nozzle assembly 200 described above, so no further description thereof is herein provided.

The rotation preventing members 260 and 260′ include the plurality of bristles 262 and 262′ according to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure as described above, but may include the base members 261 and 261′ only. In this situation, the base members 261 and 261′ may convert the movement direction of the dirt rotated along the drum brushes 240 and 240′, and accordingly the second flow path 272 (see FIG. 2) to increase the cleaning efficiency may also be formed.

Additionally, the vacuum cleaner for both upright and canister modes has been described in the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure is also applicable to an upright-type vacuum cleaner, or other types of vacuum cleaner having a nozzle assembly in which a drum brush is mounted.

Although representative exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure has been shown and described in order to exemplify the principle of the present disclosure, the present disclosure is not limited to the specific exemplary embodiment. It will be understood that various modifications and changes can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Therefore, it shall be considered that such modifications, changes and equivalents thereof are all included within the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A nozzle assembly for a vacuum cleaner, comprising:

a case having an inlet through which a dirt is drawn in from a surface to be cleaned, and an outlet;

a drum brush that is rotatably mounted in an inner space of the case; and

a rotation preventing member that is disposed between an inner wall of the case and the drum brush and prevents the dirt from being rotated along the drum brush.

2. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotation preventing member is disposed opposite to the outlet, and the drum brush is disposed between the rotation preventing member and the outlet.

3. The nozzle assembly of claim 2, wherein the rotation preventing member is disposed in a position higher than a center of the drum brush.

4. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotation preventing member protrudes from the inner wall of the case toward the center of the drum brush.

5. The nozzle assembly of claim 4, wherein the rotation preventing member extends along a longitudinal direction of the drum brush.

6. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the dirt is guided from the inlet to the outlet either along a first flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet directly to the outlet, or along a second flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet to the outlet via the rotation preventing member.

7. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, further comprising a discharge guide member that encloses at least a portion of the drum brush to guide the dirt blocked by the rotation preventing member toward the outlet.

8. The nozzle assembly of claim 7, wherein the discharge guide member has an end that is disposed adjacent to the rotation preventing member.

9. The nozzle assembly of claim 8, wherein the end of the discharge guide member is perpendicular to one side of the rotation preventing member.

10. The nozzle assembly of claim 7, wherein the discharge guide member encloses an upper portion of the drum brush.

11. The nozzle assembly of claim 7, wherein the discharge guide member extends along a longitudinal direction of the drum brush.

12. The nozzle assembly of claim 7, wherein the dirt is guided from the inlet to the outlet either along a first flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet directly to the outlet, or along a second flow path that enables the dirt to move from the inlet to the outlet via the rotation preventing member.

13. The nozzle assembly of claim 12, wherein the second flow path comprises:

a first sub flow path in which the dirt is guided toward the rotation preventing member along a space between the discharge guide member and the drum brush;

a second sub flow path in which the dirt comes into contact with the rotation preventing member so that a moving direction of the dirt is converted; and

a third sub flow path in which the dirt is guided toward the outlet along a space between the discharge guide member and the case.

14. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the rotation preventing member comprises a plurality of bristles.

15. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the case comprises an upper case and a lower case having the inlet, and the rotation preventing member is mounted on an inner wall of the upper case.

16. The nozzle assembly of claim 1, wherein the case comprises an upper case and a lower case having the inlet, and the rotation preventing member is mounted on an inner wall of the lower case.