Dust collector and vacuum cleaner having the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10517453-B2
Application number	US-201715666761-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 2, 2017
Priority date	Aug 25, 2016
Publication date	Dec 31, 2019
Grant date	Dec 31, 2019

Abstract

A dust cleaner includes a primary cyclone part formed by an outer case and an inner case; and a secondary cyclone part including a set of cyclones. The secondary cyclone part includes a casing member mounted on the inner case and configured to form casings of the cyclones arranged around a hollow part; and vortex finders provided inside the casings and including guide vanes extending in a spiral direction and forming a revolving flow at outer circumferential surfaces. The casing member forms inlet flow paths of the cyclones, and each of the inlet flow paths is formed in a direction inclined with respect to a direction toward a center of each of the vortex finders to enable air to flow in a direction eccentric from the center of each of the vortex finders.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising a dust collector; wherein the dust collector comprising:
a first cyclone body formed by an outer case having a hollow shape and an inner case provided inside the outer case, the first cyclone body forming a first cyclone to separate contaminants from air received from outside the dust collector; and
a second cyclone body forming a set of second cyclones to separate contaminants from air that has passed through the first cyclone body,
wherein the second cyclone body includes:
a shell casing mounted on the inner case, the shell casing including casings of the second cyclones that are positioned around a hollow region; and
vortex finders provided inside the casings, the vortex finders including hollow bodies and guide vanes extending in a spiral direction around the hollow bodies, and

wherein:
the shell casing further includes inlet flow paths extending from the hollow region to the casings, and each of the inlet flow paths is formed in an eccentric direction relative to a center of a corresponding one of the vortex finders positioned in the casings;
each of the second cyclones includes a first region and a second region that are formed between an inner circumferential surface of a corresponding one of the casings and an outer circumferential surface of a corresponding one of the vortex finders;
the first region is positioned in the eccentric direction;
the second region is positioned opposite to the first region with respect to the center of the vortex finder;
the guide vanes for each of the vortex finders includes a first guide vane provided in the first region that gradually shortens in a spiral direction away from a corresponding one of the inlet flow paths, and a second guide vane provided in the second region that gradually shortens in a spiral direction toward the corresponding one of the inlet flow paths;
the second cyclones are positioned in contact with and around the hollow region;
the shell casing further includes boundary walls extending from outer circumferences of each of the second cyclones toward the hollow region to form a boundary between the second cyclones, and inlet flow path forming extensions protruding from one or more surfaces of the boundary walls to form the inlet flow paths in the eccentric direction;
for each of the flow paths, the inlet flow path forming extensions include a first forming extension protruding from a leading one the boundary walls, and a second forming extension protruding from a trailing one of the boundary walls;
each of the first forming extensions and the second forming extensions includes a first surface adjacent to a portion of a corresponding one of the vortex finders and the associated casing, and a second surface extending from a start position of the inlet flow path and meeting the first surface at an edge;
the hollow region of the shell casing is formed at a center of the shell casing;
the inlet flow path starts from a circumference of the hollow region;
the second surface of the first forming extension forms an acute angle with a first line tangential to the circumference of the hollow region at the start position of the inlet flow path; and
the second surface of the second forming extension forms an obtuse angle with a second line tangential to the circumference of the hollow region at the start position of the inlet flow path.

2. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein a distance between adjacent pairs of the boundary walls associated with respective ones of the flow paths progressively increases between a start position of the flow path adjacent to the center region and an end position of the flow path adjacent to an associated one of the vortex finders, such that the cross-sectional areas of the inlet flow paths perpendicular to air flows in the inlet flow paths decrease between the start positions and the end positions.

3. The vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein the cross-sectional areas of the inlet flow paths decrease by a third to a half between the start positions adjacent to the hollow region and the end positions adjacent to the vortex finder.

4. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the inlet flow path forming extension protrudes up to or beyond a virtual line extending from a center of the shell casing to an outer circumferential surface at a side of a region of the vortex finder positioned away from the center of the vortex finder in a direction that is opposite to the eccentric direction.

5. The vacuum cleaner of claim 4 , wherein:
a normal line extends from a point in the boundary wall toward the edge, and a first length of the normal line from the point to the edge is greater than or equal to a second length of the normal line from the point to the virtual line.

6. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein:
a distance between the first and second boundary walls progressively increase between the start position and an end position of the inlet flow path adjacent to the vortex finder; and
the first forming extension and the second forming extension are configured such that cross-section areas perpendicular to air flow between the first and second boundary extensions away from the start position are smaller than a cross-section area perpendicular to air flow at the start position of the inlet flow path.

7. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first forming extension and the second forming extension are configured such that cross-section sectional areas perpendicular to air flow between the first and second boundary walls decrease by a third to a half between the start positions adjacent to the hollow region and end positions adjacent to the vortex finder.

8. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first forming extension protrudes to a position that reaches or exceeds a virtual line extending from the center of the shell casing to an outer circumferential surface at a side of a region of the vortex finder positioned away from a center of the vortex finder in a direction that is opposite to the eccentric direction.

9. The vacuum cleaner of claim 8 , wherein a normal line extends from a point in the first boundary wall toward the edge, a first length of the normal line from the point to the edge of the first forming extension is greater than or equal to a second length of the normal line from the point to the virtual line.

10. The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the second cyclone body is provided above the first cyclone body.

11. A vacuum cleaner comprising a dust collector; wherein the dust collector comprising:
a first cyclone body to receive air from outside the dust collector to form a first vortex to remove first contaminants; and
a second cyclone body including:
a hollow region to receive air from the first cyclone body,
inlet flow paths extending from the hollow region to receive air from the hollow region,
casings having inverted cone shapes and receiving air from the inlet flow paths, and
vortex finders provided inside the casings, the vortex finders including hollow bodies and guide vanes extending in a spiral direction around the hollow bodies to form second vortexes in the casing to remove second contaminants,

wherein:
each of the second cyclones includes a first region and a second region that are formed between an inner circumferential surface of a corresponding one of the casings and an outer circumferential surface of a corresponding one of the vortex finders;
the first region is positioned in the eccentric direction;
the second region is positioned opposite to the first region with respect to the center of the vortex finder;
the guide vanes for each of the vortex finders includes a first guide vane provided in t

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Hyun Kietak
• Ko Jungmin
• Eo Soohan
• Lee Sangchul

Classifications

• A47L9/127

  tube- or sleeve-shaped · CPC title

• A47L5/24 Primary

  Hand-supported suction cleaners · CPC title

• A47L9/1633 Primary

  Concentric cyclones · CPC title

• A47L9/165

  Construction of inlets · CPC title

• A47L5/225

  Convertible suction cleaners, i.e. convertible between different types thereof, e.g. from upright suction cleaners to sledge-type suction cleaners · CPC title