Handheld vacuum cleaner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11672389-B2
Application number	US-202217834575-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 7, 2022
Priority date	Jan 3, 2020
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

A handheld vacuum cleaner includes a housing, motor, filter access door, filter, and dirt cup movably coupled to the housing. The housing defines a top, bottom, motor chamber, dirty air inlet, handle, clean air outlet, and air flow path. The air flow path is routed from the dirty air inlet to the clean air outlet. The motor is disposed in the motor chamber and defines a motor axis. The filter access defines a filter chamber with the housing. The filter is disposed in the filter chamber and defines a filter axis. The dirt cup defines a dirt cup axis extending parallel to the motor axis and filter axis. The filter access door is located below the filter axis. When the filter axis door is removed, the filter is removable in a downward direction from the filter chamber.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A handheld vacuum cleaner comprising:
a housing including
a motor chamber,
a filter chamber in fluid communication with the motor chamber, and
a battery mount;

a motor disposed in the motor chamber;
a filter disposed in the filter chamber;
a battery releasably coupled to the battery mount;
a filter access door removably coupled to the housing by a user actuation portion, the filter removable from the filter chamber when the filter access door is removed from the housing; and
a dirt cup coupled to the housing,
wherein the battery mount is disposed adjacent the filter access door and the user actuation portion is not actuatable when the battery is coupled to the battery mount.

2. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , the filter including
a central filter air path in fluid communication with the motor chamber,
a filter media surrounding the central filter air path, and
a filter axis extending centrally through the central filter air path.

3. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein
the motor defines a motor axis, and
the motor axis and the filter axis extend coaxially.

4. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein
the dirt cup defines a dirt cup axis extending longitudinally through the dirt cup, and
the motor axis, the filter axis, and the dirt cup axis extend parallel to each other.

5. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
at least a portion of the battery mount is disposed on an opposite side of the filter access door from the filter.

6. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the motor defines a motor axis, and
a radial line extending perpendicularly from the motor axis passes through at least a portion of the motor and at least a portion of the battery mount.

7. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the user actuation portion includes a latch, and
the user actuation portion is at least partially covered by the battery.

8. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the motor defines a motor axis,
the battery mount includes a first rail and a second rail, and
the battery is slidably received on the battery mount in a direction extending along the motor axis.

9. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , further comprising
a shroud disposed in the dirt cup.

10. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 9 , wherein
the dirt cup defines a dirt cup axis extending longitudinally through the dirt cup, and
the shroud defines a longitudinal axis extending parallel to the dirt cup axis.

11. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the filter is oriented in the filter chamber by at least one of
a housing filter support disposed in the filter chamber, and
a door filter support of the filter access door.

12. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the filter is positioned directly upstream of the motor.

13. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the filter engages at least a portion of the housing in the filter chamber, and
the filter is constrained in at least one of a lateral direction and a rotational direction in the filter chamber.

14. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein
the filter access door includes two opposing latches extending laterally outwardly,
the housing further includes two opposing channels defined therein, and
each of the latches is disposed in a respective one of the channels with the filter access door installed on the housing.

15. A handheld vacuum cleaner comprising:
a housing;
a battery slidably and removably coupled to the housing; and
a filter access door coupled to the housing, at least a portion of the filter access door covered by at least a portion of the battery, the battery blocking removal of the filter access door.

16. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , further comprising
a battery mount slidably receiving the battery, the battery mount including a first rail and a second rail, and
wherein at least a portion of the first rail is disposed on an opposite lateral side of the filter access door from at least a portion of the second rail.

17. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 16 , further comprising
a motor disposed in the housing, the motor defining a motor axis, and
wherein the battery is slidably received on the battery mount in a direction extending along the motor axis.

18. The handheld vacuum of claim 17 , wherein
the battery mount includes
an open end,
a closed end opposite the open end, and
at least one battery connection terminal configured to electrically couple the motor to the battery, the at least one battery connection terminal positioned nearer to the closed end than to the open end, and

at least a portion of the filter access door is positioned adjacent the open end of the battery mount.

19. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , further comprising
a dirt cup coupled to the housing, the dirt cup including a dirt cup exhaust opening defined therein,
a filter chamber defined by the filter access door and the housing, and
wherein the dirt cup exhaust opening is positioned adjacent to and facing the filter chamber.

20. The handheld vacuum cleaner of claim 19 , further comprising
a shroud disposed in the dirt cup, the shroud extending through the dirt cup exhaust opening.

21. The handheld vacuum of claim 15 , wherein
the filter access door includes a user actuation portion, and
the battery covers at least a portion of the user actuation portion, thereby inhibiting access to the user actuation portion when the battery is coupled to the housing.

Assignees

• Techtronic Floor Care Tech Ltd

Inventors

• Terry Kevin
• Burgess Roderick
• Connelly Jacob W
• Thomas Kevin L
• FEE Garry
• Accursi Jeffrey D

Classifications

• A47L9/22

  Mountings for motor fan assemblies · CPC title

• A47L9/127

  tube- or sleeve-shaped · CPC title

• A47L9/322

  for hand-supported suction cleaners · CPC title

• A47L9/2884

  Details of arrangements of batteries or their installation · CPC title

• A47L5/28

  Suction cleaners with handles and nozzles fixed on the casings, e.g. wheeled suction cleaners with steering handle (A47L5/24 takes precedence) · CPC title