WET/DRY VACUUM APPLIANCE, DUST FILTRATION ATTACHMENT THEREFORE, AND METHODS OF USE
A wet/dry vacuum assembly is described which includes a powerhead assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of a container, the powerhead assembly including a housing, a motor, a fan, and air inlet, and an air exhaust port; and, a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end, and at least one sidewall there between, the container including a continuous handle member for carrying the container in a suspended position. Also described are water filter attachments having particle diffusing means formed therein, for use with the wet/dry to vacuum assembly for use in dust control when the vacuum assembly is used for vacuuming up fine particulate dust, such as dust generated from sanding drywall joint compound.
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This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/352,818, filed Jun. 8, 2010, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot applicable.
REFERENCE TO APPENDIXNot applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The inventions disclosed and taught herein relate generally to vacuum appliances, and more specifically are related to portable wet/dry utility vacuum cleaners having improved convenience and performance, and methods of use of such vacuum cleaners for debris collection and dust control applications, such as for controlling dust generated from sanding drywall joint compound and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Utility vacuum cleaners, also referred to as wet/dry vacuum cleaners, are commonly used in basements, garages, workshops, on construction job-sites, and the like, for a variety of heavy duty cleaning tasks which are beyond the capabilities of the standard vacuum used to clean carpets and floors. While generally speaking these known wet/dry vacuums work for their intended purpose, such as cleaning up solid and liquid debris, there are a few drawbacks with the typical configuration.
One such drawback concerns the size and portability of many of the known wet/dry vacuum cleaners. Some vacuums are of such a size that their use in smaller areas or elevated areas, such as in attics, closets, and crawl spaces, is not readily possible due to size or weight issues, or is limited.
Another drawback concerns the collection drum used in containing the dirt, debris, and/or liquid material which is vacuumed up by the wet/dry vacuum appliance. In the typical wet/dry vacuum configuration, the vacuum includes a debris collection drum and a power head. During typical operation, solid and/or liquid debris are drawn up through a collection hose and into the collection drum via vacuum generated by a motor assembly within the power head, the solid and/or liquid debris being deposited within the collection drum. Thereafter, the user must empty the full collection drum. In some instances, such as when cleaning up certain types of particulate or liquid debris, e.g., drywall compound dust, fine sanding dust, or other fine particulate matter, the dust can be dangerous to the user, and due to the fine nature of the particulate matter being drawn into the vacuum, can in part make its way through the filters and re-enter the environment through the vacuum exhaust, thus reducing efficiency and subjecting the user to additional airborne particles. Further, when using a vacuum appliance to clean up select fine particulate matter, it can be difficult to fully remove all of the particulates from the collection drum after cleaning, due to static or other adherence to the inside walls of the collection drum. Thus, it would be preferable in situations like this to be able to simply dispose of the container itself, once full, while retaining the vacuum power head assembly for continued use.
Several approaches to solving this problem have been suggested to date. U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,307 describes a water filtration kit for drywall dust control for use in capturing and controlling dust generated from sanding drywall joint compound. The invention device includes a container. A lid portion secures to the open upper end of the container. The lid has a pair of apertures therethrough. A filtering tube is secured to one of the apertures of the lid and extends interiorly of the container.
In a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,733 describes a method and apparatus for filtering an air stream with an aqueous froth. According to the disclosure, the process includes passing a contaminated air stream through a diffusing sieve, into an aqueous solution in an expansion chamber; generating, maintaining, and containing an aqueous froth between the liquid-bath reservoir and a saturated fiber element; and continually saturating a coarse-fiber element with liquid from the aqueous solution. The froth is generated and maintained, and the fiber element is saturated, by controlling the dynamic interface between the contaminated air stream and the liquid-bath reservoir. The apparatus for filtering an air stream includes: an air filter device that incorporates a liquid-bath filter initial stage; an aqueous-froth filter second stage; a constantly saturated, coarse-fiber filter as a combined third stage and froth-limiter; and a moist, fine-fiber filter as the final stage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,188, a dust collecting apparatus is described that provides a vacuum system with a liquid filtering medium to collect dust produced during screening. A dust collection unit is also disclosed to collect and separate sawdust produced by sanding which can cause foaming of a liquid filter medium.
While all of these approaches seek to address the problems associated with vacuuming selected fine particulate materials, they suffer from being cumbersome to handle and move from area to area, as well as expense and similar related issues.
The inventions disclosed and taught herein are directed to an improved utility vacuum cleaner, particularly a wet/dry vacuum system, with improved portability while retaining the vacuum suction power, the vacuum system including a disposable debris collection container. Also disclosed herein are methods of use of such vacuum appliances in conjunction with a water filter kit, acting as vacuum-based dust removal units for fine particulate dust control which acts to capture and control dust generated from sanding drywall joint compound, fine sawdust, and the like within the disposable collection container.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONWet/dry vacuum appliances for use with disposable containers as debris collection drums are described, as well as methods and assemblies for the use of such vacuum appliances in both typical vacuum operations, and in the vacuum collection of fine particulate material, such as fine sawdust or gypsum dust.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present disclosure, a vacuum assembly is described, the vacuum assembly comprising a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end, and at least one sidewall there between, the container including a continuous handle member for carrying the container in a suspended position; a power head assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of the container, the power head assembly including a housing, a motor, a fan, an air inlet and an air outlet; and two oppositely spaced handle-latching assemblies, V- or U-shaped wherein the latching members are spaced on opposite sides of the lower outer rim of the power head assembly.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present disclosure, a water filter kit for a wet/dry vacuum assembly for dust control so as to capture and control dust generated from a construction-related process is described, wherein the kit comprises, in combination, a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end opposite the upper end, and at least one side wall extending therebetween, the container being capable of holding a predetermined quantity of water therein; a wet/dry vacuum assembly comprising a power head assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of the container, the power head assembly including a housing, a motor, a fan, an air inlet, an air outlet, and a filter cage; and a filtering assembly, the filtering assembly comprising: a filtering tube having an open proximal end and an oppositely spaced distal end, the proximal end being capable of securedly engaging the lower face of the power head assembly in an air-tight manner such that the distal end extends downwardly towards the interior of the container; and a mixer plate securable to the distal end of the filtering tube, the mixer plate extending substantially parallel to the lower end of the container. In further accordance with this aspect of the present disclosure, the container has a cylindrical configuration and a cylindrical side wall extending between the upper end and the lower end.
The following figures form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain aspects of the present invention. The invention may be better understood by reference to one or more of these figures in combination with the detailed description of specific embodiments presented herein.
While the inventions disclosed herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, only a few specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are described in detail below. The figures and detailed descriptions of these specific embodiments are not intended to limit the breadth or scope of the inventive concepts or the appended claims in any manner. Rather, the figures and detailed written descriptions are provided to illustrate the inventive concepts to a person of ordinary skill in the art and to enable such person to make and use the inventive concepts.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe Figures described above and the written description of specific structures and functions below are not presented to limit the scope of what Applicants have invented or the scope of the appended claims. Rather, the Figures and written description are provided to teach any person skilled in the art to make and use the inventions for which patent protection is sought. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that not all features of a commercial embodiment of the inventions are described or shown for the sake of clarity and understanding. Persons of skill in this art will also appreciate that the development of an actual commercial embodiment incorporating aspects of the present inventions will require numerous implementation-specific decisions to achieve the developer's ultimate goal for the commercial embodiment. Such implementation-specific decisions may include, and likely are not limited to, compliance with system-related, business-related, government-related and other constraints, which may vary by specific implementation, location and from time to time. While a developer's efforts might be complex and time-consuming in an absolute sense, such efforts would be, nevertheless, a routine undertaking for those of skill in this art having benefit of this disclosure. It must be understood that the inventions disclosed and taught herein are susceptible to numerous and various modifications and alternative forms. Lastly, the use of a singular term, such as, but not limited to, “a,” is not intended as limiting of the number of items. Also, the use of relational terms, such as, but not limited to, “top,” “bottom,” “left,” “right,” “upper,” “lower,” “down,” “up,” “side,” and the like are used in the written description for clarity in specific reference to the Figures and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention or the appended claims.
Applicants have created a wet/dry vacuum assembly which includes a power head capable of sealingly engaging a separate, disposable collection container. This vacuum assembly may be used in typical wet/dry vacuum operations, or may be used in conjunction with a dust filter attachment for use as a dust removal unit.
Turning now to the figures,
Vacuum assembly 10 is shown in
With continued reference to the Figures, and in particular
With reference to the cross-sectional view of
With continued reference to
In a typical manner of operation, power head 12 is sealingly attached to the open end of container 14 via latches 18 positioned on the lower, circumferential edge of the power head, and which are preferably spaced about 180-degrees apart as illustrated in
While the vacuum assembly 10 described above may be used for carrying out both wet and dry cleaning operations of various debris types in a variety of areas, particularly hard-to reach or areas of limited confinement (e.g., attics or crawlspaces), due to the fact that the assembly uses a disposable and easily replaceable container 14 (such as a 5-gallon bucket) as the collection drum, it can also be used to vacuum up fine particulate dust and similar materials, using the particle diffusion assemblies shown in
Attachment and securement of the downspout 50 (and the rest of assembly 60) to the vacuum assembly 10 is by a combination of base insert 32 and cage attachment means 62, both of which will be described in more detail herein, and as shown in
As shown in
Downspout 50, and associated air filtration assembly 60, is also secured by way of a filter cage attachment means, 62, as illustrated in
As shown in
Alternatively, as shown in
An example method of operation is now described, illustrating use of the systems of the present disclosure with diffusion plate 80, although it will be understood that any of the diffusion plate assemblies described herein may be used. Once the air-filtration assembly 60 has been positioned within the vacuum assembly 10 such that the downspout 50 of assembly 60 is in an in-line orientation with the vacuum air stream, extends downward into the debris collection container 14 as described above, and the operator has filled the container with liquid to a predetermined level above the diffusion plate but below the filter cage 40, thereby forming a liquid reservoir 90 as shown in
As illustrated in
The size, shape and geometry of the scroll within the bottom face of the assembly 100 is limited only by physical factors, and as such variations on wall placement (e.g., placement of diffusion wall 110, or the addition of further diffusion walls) may be included without detracting from the present disclosure. The size of the plate 100 is limited by the bucket diameter at that area. The scroll may be defined by first picking a circular path that allows the air flow from the downspout 50 sufficient room (that is, small enough that the air flow didn't intersect the downspout, but not so small it left insufficient clearance to the exit hole 109). Diffusion wall 110 may then be defined by an arc of the same diameter and made tangent to the inner and outer circles at the defined areas. In this way, the air flow into the base-plate 101 is forced into the walls at all points within the scroll, so as to aid in the particle separation. Alternatively, the diffusion walls of the assembly may be arranged in a logarithmic or non-logarithmic spiral, as appropriate.
Other and further embodiments utilizing one or more aspects of the inventions described above can be devised without departing from the spirit of Applicant's invention. For example, the mixer plates associated with the filter attachment may include a combination of increasingly shorter deflection walls and air channels of varying sizes, or alternatively may include a coarse, fine, or coarse and fine filter element associated with the lower face of the mixer plate to act as a pre-filter. Further, the various methods and embodiments of the present disclosure can be included in combination with each other to produce variations of the disclosed methods and embodiments. Discussion of singular elements can include plural elements and vice-versa.
The order of steps can occur in a variety of sequences unless otherwise specifically limited. The various steps described herein can be combined with other steps, interlineated with the stated steps, and/or split into multiple steps. Similarly, elements have been described functionally and can be embodied as separate components or can be combined into components having multiple functions.
The inventions have been described in the context of preferred and other embodiments and not every embodiment of the invention has been described. Obvious modifications and alterations to the described embodiments are available to those of ordinary skill in the art. The disclosed and undisclosed embodiments are not intended to limit or restrict the scope or applicability of the invention conceived of by the Applicants, but rather, in conformity with the patent laws, Applicants intend to fully protect all such modifications and improvements that come within the scope or range of equivalent of the following claims.
Claims
1. A vacuum assembly comprising:
- a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end, and at least one sidewall there between, the container including a continuous handle member for carrying the container in a suspended position;
- a power head assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of the container, the power head assembly including a to housing, a motor, a fan, an air inlet and an air outlet; and
- two oppositely spaced handle-latching assemblies, having V- or U-shaped notches formed by two latching ears, wherein the latching members are spaced on opposite sides of the lower outer rim of the power head assembly.
2. A wet/dry vacuum assembly comprising:
- a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end, and at least one sidewall there between, the container including a continuous handle member for carrying the container in a suspended position;
- a power head assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of the container, the power head assembly including a housing, a motor, a fan, an air inlet and an air outlet; and
- two oppositely spaced handle-latching assemblies having V- or U-shaped notches formed by two latching ears, wherein the latching members are spaced on opposite sides of the lower outer rim of the power head assembly.
3. A wet/dry vacuum power head assembly capable of being removably attached to a container/receptacle having a handle for carrying the receptacle portion in a suspended position, the handle being a single, continuous member, wherein the power head assembly comprises:
- a motor;
- an air inlet port;
- an air outlet exhaust port oriented substantially 180-degrees from the air inlet port; and
- two oppositely spaced handle-latching assemblies, having V- or U-shaped notches formed by two latching ears, wherein the latching members are spaced on opposite sides of the lower outer rim of the power head assembly.
4. The wet/dry vacuum powerhead assembly of claim 3, wherein the assembly is sized to be removably attached to a container having a cylindrical configuration.
5. A water filter kit for a wet/dry vacuum assembly for dust control so as to capture and control dust generated from a construction-related process, the kit comprising, in combination:
- a container having an open upper end, a closed lower end opposite the upper end, and at least one side wall extending therebetween, the container being capable of holding a predetermined quantity of water therein;
- a wet/dry vacuum assembly comprising a power head assembly capable of removable attachment to the open upper end of the container, the power head assembly including a housing, a motor, a fan, an air inlet, an air outlet, and a filter cage; and
- a filtering assembly, the filtering assembly comprising: a filtering tube having an open proximal end and an oppositely spaced distal end, the proximal end being capable of securedly engaging the lower face of the power head assembly in an air-tight manner such that the distal end extends downwardly towards the interior of the container; and a diffusion plate securable to the distal end of the filtering tube, the diffusion plate extending substantially parallel to the lower end of the container.
6. The water filter kit of claim 5, wherein the container has a cylindrical configuration and a cylindrical side wall extending between the upper end and the lower end.
7. A method of filtering vacuum air streams comprising sub-micron particulate contaminants from a contaminated vacuum air stream, the method comprising:
- a wet/dry vacuum assembly of claim 2; and
- a water filter kit for use with the wet/dry vacuum assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 9, 2011
Publication Date: Dec 13, 2012
Applicant: EMERSON ELECTRIC CO. (St. Louis, MO)
Inventors: Robert R. Hollis (St. Peters, MO), Matthew A. Williams (Bridgeton, MO), Mark J. Tomasiak (St. Peters, MO)
Application Number: 13/156,337
International Classification: A47L 5/00 (20060101); A47L 9/10 (20060101);