Vacuum assembly for automobile

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10618502-B2
Application number	US-201314101840-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2013
Priority date	Oct 6, 2008
Publication date	Apr 14, 2020
Grant date	Apr 14, 2020

Abstract

The disclosed vacuum cleaner system for an automobile fits in a cavity in the vehicle and has a tank that can be removed in a lateral direction without tools and without detaching the vacuum hose. A circuit board that carries an electronic controller is positioned alongside the motor and extends generally parallel to both the axis of the motor and the lateral direction in which the tank is removed. Cooling air is drawn though a cooling air inlet on the cabin wall to the circuit board, and then one side of the motor, through the center of the motor, to the cooling fan. From there, it is blown into a cavity where it joins exhausted working air from the vacuum and is exhausted from the vehicle through an air release opening that leads to the exterior of the vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuum cleaner system for an automobile that has a cabin and an internal cavity between an external panel of the automobile and a cabin wall, the system comprising:
a housing that has a chamber in which is mounted a motor/fan assembly that has a motor and an impeller that are used to collect debris through a vacuum hose while the motor/fan assembly is mounted in the cavity;
a cooling air inlet on the housing and a cooling chamber extending from the air inlet to the chamber;
a tank that communicates with the motor/fan assembly and is used to contain collected debris;
a cooling fan that is used to draw cooling air through the cooling air inlet to the chamber in which the motor/fan assembly is mounted;
a circuit board that has a first planar element and carries an electronic controller that controls the motor; and
a second planar element that is spaced from and parallel to the first planar element of the circuit board, and is arranged on a plane that extends at an angle to the plane of the cooling air inlet, with the circuit board and the second planar element being arranged so there is direct line of sight from the cooling air inlet to the side of the first planar element of the circuit board that faces the second planar element, wherein the circuit board and the second planar element are both entirely positioned within the cooling chamber.

2. A vacuum cleaner system as recited in claim 1 , in which:
downstream of the cooling fan, the cooling air joins exhausted working air from the vacuum in the cavity.

3. A vacuum cleaner system as recited in claim 1 , in which:
the system also has a chassis wall that has a hose opening that connects to the vacuum hose; and
the tank is arranged for removal without tools and without detaching the vacuum hose from the hose opening and without removing the motor/fan assembly from the cavity.

4. A vacuum cleaner system as recited in claim 1 , in which:
the system also has a chassis wall that has an impeller opening that communicates with the motor/fan assembly and a hose opening that connects to a vacuum hose; and
the tank is arranged for movement between (1) a mounted position in which an outlet on the tank communicates with the impeller opening and an inlet on the tank communicates with the hose opening, and (2) a removed position in which the outlet is separated from the impeller opening and the inlet is separated from the hose opening.

5. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 1 , in which:
the impeller draws working air into the tank and is mounted on the same shaft as the cooling fan, on the same axial side of the motor as the cooling fan.

6. A vacuum cleaner system for an automobile that has a cabin and an internal cavity between an external panel of the automobile and a cabin wall, the system comprising:
a housing that has a chamber in which is mounted a motor/fan assembly that has a motor and an impeller that are used to collect debris through a vacuum hose while the motor/fan assembly is mounted in the cavity;
a cooling air inlet on the housing and a cooling chamber extending from the air inlet to the chamber;
a tank that receives debris through a vacuum hose while the motor/fan assembly is mounted in the cavity;
a cooling fan that is used to draw cooling air through a cooling air passage from a cooling air inlet to an opening to a chamber in which the motor/fan assembly is mounted;
a circuit board that has a first planar element and carries an electronic controller that controls the motor;
a second planar element that is spaced from and parallel to the first planar element of the circuit board and is arranged on a plane that extends through the plane of the cooling air inlet, with the circuit board and the second planar element being arranged so there is direct line of sight from the cooling air inlet to the side of the circuit board that faces the second planar element, wherein the circuit board and the second planar element are both entirely positioned within the cooling chamber.

7. A vacuum cleaner system as recited in claim 6 , in which the tank is arranged for removal without tools and without detaching the vacuum hose from the hose opening and without removing the motor/fan assembly from the cavity.

8. A vacuum cleaner system as recited in claim 6 , in which the tank is arranged for movement between (1) a mounted position in which an outlet on the tank communicates with the impeller opening and an inlet on the tank communicates with the hose opening, and (2) a removed position in which the outlet is separated from the impeller opening and the inlet is separated from the hose opening.

9. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 6 , in which the tank is arranged for pivoting between a) a mounted position in which an outlet on the tank communicates with the impeller opening and an inlet on the tank communicates with the hose opening, and b) a removed position in which the outlet is separated from the impeller opening and the inlet is separated from the hose opening.

10. A vacuum cleaner as recited in claim 6 , in which:
the impeller draws working air into the tank and is mounted on the same shaft as the cooling fan, on the same axial side of the motor as the cooling fan.

Assignees

• Shop Vac Corp

Inventors

• Norell Neil N
• Robitaille James M
• Huff Matthew L

Classifications

• A47L9/1427

  Means for mounting or attaching bags or filtering receptacles in suction cleaners; Adapters · CPC title

• A47L9/2831

  Motor parameters, e.g. motor load or speed · CPC title

• A47L9/2842

  Suction motors or blowers · CPC title

• A47L7/0076

  adapted for vehicle cleaning (vehicle cleaning apparatus for interior of land vehicles B60S3/008) · CPC title

• A47L9/1463

  specially adapted for rigid filtering receptacles · CPC title