Blower vacuum

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11946490-B2
Application number	US-202318120655-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2023
Priority date	Mar 14, 2022
Publication date	Apr 2, 2024
Grant date	Apr 2, 2024

Abstract

A blower vacuum, the blower vacuum including a nozzle forming a first opening, a fan housing in fluid communication with the nozzle, an inlet exhaust housing rotatably coupled to the fan housing, and a debris housing. The fan housing forms a second opening. A fan assembly is positioned at the fan housing. The inlet exhaust housing includes an inlet portion and an exhaust portion. The inlet exhaust housing is rotatable to a first position forming a blower operation and a second position forming a vacuum operation. The debris housing is coupled to the exhaust portion of the inlet exhaust housing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A blower vacuum, the blower vacuum comprising:
a nozzle forming a first opening; a fan housing in fluid communication with the nozzle, the fan housing forming a second opening, wherein a fan assembly is positioned at the fan housing; an inlet exhaust housing rotatably coupled to the fan housing, the inlet exhaust housing comprising an inlet portion and an exhaust portion, wherein the inlet portion forms a third opening, and wherein the inlet exhaust housing is rotatable to a first position forming a blower operation and a second position forming a vacuum operation, wherein the inlet exhaust housing in the second position positions the second opening and the third opening at an angle to one another; and a debris housing coupled to the exhaust portion of the inlet exhaust housing.

2. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , wherein the inlet exhaust housing is rotatable relative to a transverse axis perpendicular to an axial axis extending through the nozzle.

3. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , wherein the inlet exhaust housing in the first position positions the second opening and a third opening at the inlet portion in axial alignment to one another.

4. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , comprising:
a duct extending between the exhaust portion and the debris housing.

5. The blower vacuum of claim 4 , wherein the duct is a flexible duct.

6. The blower vacuum of claim 5 , wherein the nozzle and the debris housing are fixed relative to one another.

7. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , wherein the debris housing forms a plenum, and wherein the debris housing comprises an articulatable wall configured to selectively allow egress of debris from the plenum.

8. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , wherein the exhaust portion forms a tortious body configured to direct a debris flowpath from the fan housing in a first axial direction and along a curved flowpath toward a second axial direction toward a debris opening at the debris housing.

9. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , comprising:
an actuation mechanism configured to rotate the inlet exhaust housing relative to the fan housing.

10. The blower vacuum of claim 9 , wherein the actuation mechanism is operably coupled to the fan assembly to change a flow direction corresponding to the first position and the second position.

11. The blower vacuum of claim 9 , wherein the actuation mechanism is a gear assembly, a belt assembly, or combinations thereof.

12. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , the inlet exhaust housing comprising a handle configured to allow a user to articulate the inlet exhaust housing to the first position and the second position.

13. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , wherein the inlet exhaust housing is rotatable up to approximately 90 degrees above and below an axial centerline axis extending through the nozzle.

14. The blower vacuum of claim 1 , the debris housing comprising a removable wall, wherein the wall is a cap selectively sealing debris in a plenum at the debris housing.

15. A blower vacuum, the blower vacuum comprising: a nozzle forming a first opening; a fan housing in fluid communication with the nozzle, the fan housing forming a second opening, wherein a fan assembly is positioned at the fan housing; an inlet exhaust housing rotatably coupled to the fan housing, the inlet exhaust housing comprising an inlet portion and an exhaust portion, wherein the inlet portion forms a third opening, and wherein the inlet exhaust housing is rotatable to a first position forming a blower operation and a second position forming a vacuum operation, wherein the inlet exhaust housing in the second position positions the second opening and the third opening at an angle to one another; a debris housing forming a plenum in fluid communication with the second opening at the fan housing; and a separator positioned fluidly between the fan assembly and the plenum at the debris housing, wherein the separator comprises a plurality of vanes extending along a radial direction, the plurality of vanes extending from an inlet centerbody toward an outside wall surrounding the inlet centerbody.

16. The blower vacuum of claim 15 , wherein the separator comprises an exhaust centerbody positioned downstream of the inlet centerbody relative to a flow of air from the fan assembly, wherein an outer flowpath is formed between the exhaust centerbody and the outside wall, wherein the outer flowpath extends in fluid communication to the plenum at the debris housing, and wherein the exhaust centerbody forms an inner flowpath in fluid communication with an exhaust opening.

17. The blower vacuum of claim 16 , wherein the outer flowpath is positioned radially around the exhaust centerbody, and wherein the inner flowpath is positioned radially inward of the outer flowpath, and wherein the exhaust centerbody separates the outer flowpath and the inner flowpath.

18. The blower vacuum of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of vanes is configured to induce swirl at a flow of air from the fan assembly.

19. The blower vacuum of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of vanes is integral to the outside wall.

Assignees

• Techtronic Cordless Gp

Inventors

• Eckard Lance
• Holman Christopher A
• Hoffman Ronald J

Classifications

• F04D29/4226

  Fan casings · CPC title

• F04D17/16

  for displacing without appreciable compression · CPC title

• F04D29/703 Primary

  specially for fans, e.g. fan guards · CPC title

• A01G20/47 Primary

  Vacuum or blower devices · CPC title