Dirt separator for a vacuum cleaner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020163510-A1
Application number	US-201816638023-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 30, 2018
Priority date	Aug 11, 2017
Publication date	May 28, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A dirt separator for a vacuum cleaner including a chamber having an inlet through which dirt-laden fluid enters the chamber and an outlet through which cleansed fluid exits the chamber; and a disc located at the outlet, the disc being arranged to rotate in a predetermined direction about a rotational axis, and including holes running from an upstream face to a downstream face through which the cleansed fluid passes. When viewed along the radial direction of the disc, the path of each hole through the thickness of the disc defines a centreline, the centreline being inclined such that it is non-perpendicular to the disc. The centreline of each hole is inclined such that it intersects the upstream face of the disc at a point which is behind, in the direction of rotation of the disc, the point at which the centreline intersects the downstream face of the disc.

First claim

1 . A dirt separator for a vacuum cleaner, the dirt separator comprising:
a chamber having an inlet through which dirt-laden fluid enters the chamber and an outlet through which cleansed fluid exits the chamber; and a disc located at the outlet, the disc being arranged to rotate in a predetermined direction about a rotational axis, and comprising holes running from an upstream face to a downstream face through which the cleansed fluid passes, wherein: when viewed along the radial direction of the disc, the path of each hole through the thickness of the disc defines a centreline, the centreline being inclined such that it is non-perpendicular to the disc; and the centreline of each hole is inclined such that it intersects the upstream face of the disc at a point which is behind, in the direction of rotation of the disc, the point at which the centreline intersects the downstream face of the disc.

2 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein the centreline defines an angle of less than 80 degrees with the plane of the disc.

3 . The dirt separator of claim wherein the centreline defines an angle of less than 70 degrees with the plane of the disc.

4 . The dirt separator of claim 1 wherein:
the holes are distributed over at least first and second regions of the disc, the second region being radially outward of the first region; and
the porosity of the second region is higher than the porosity of the first region.

5 . The dirt separator of claim 1 wherein when viewed normal to the disc, each hole is elongate and defines a longitudinal axis which runs within the plane of the disc.

6 . The dirt separator of claim 5 , wherein each hole extends across substantially the entire radial extent of the disc over which the holes are provided.

7 . The dirt separator of claim 5 , wherein the longitudinal axis of each hole is inclined relative to the radial direction of the disc.

8 . The dirt separator of claim 5 , wherein the longitudinal axis of each hole is curved.

9 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein each hole has a tapered portion which narrows from an upstream end to a downstream end thereof.

10 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein the disc is at least 1 mm thick.

11 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein the disc is less than 6 mm thick.

12 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein the disc is made of plastic.

13 . The dirt separator of claim 1 , wherein the chamber is configured such that dirt separated from the dirt-laden fluid collects at a bottom of the chamber and fills progressively in a direction towards a top of the chamber, the outlet is located at or adjacent the top of the chamber, and the bottom of the chamber is spaced axially from the top of the chamber.

14 . A vacuum cleaner comprising a dirt separator that comprises:
a chamber having an inlet through which dirt-laden fluid enters the chamber and an outlet through which cleansed fluid exits the chamber; and a disc located at the outlet, the disc being arranged to rotate in a predetermined direction about a rotational axis, and comprising holes running from an upstream face to a downstream face through which the cleansed fluid passes, wherein:
when viewed along the radial direction of the disc, the path of each hole through the thickness of the disc defines a centreline, the centreline being inclined such that it is non-perpendicular to the disc, and
the centreline of each hole is inclined such that it intersects the upstream face of the disc at a point which is behind, in the direction of rotation of the disc, the point at which the centreline intersects the downstream face of the disc.

15 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 14 , wherein the vacuum cleaner is a stick vacuum cleaner comprising a handheld unit attached to a cleaner head by an elongate tube, the handheld unit comprising the dirt separator, and the elongate tube extending along an axis parallel to the rotational axis.

Assignees

• Dyson Technology Ltd

Inventors

• Maclean Tim John
• Gugala Mateusz
• Percy-Raine Charles Howard
• Dussek Gregory William
• Murphy Jonathan Bartholomew
• Isaacs Andrew John

Classifications

• B01D45/14

  generated by rotating vanes, discs, drums or brushes · CPC title

• A47L9/10

  Filters (in general B01D; cyclones B04C); Dust separators; Dust removal; Automatic exchange of filters {(for machines for cleaning floors A47L11/40)} · CPC title

• B01D33/155

  the filtering surface being parallel to the rotation axis · CPC title

• A47L9/1675 Primary

  movable, revolving or rotary · CPC title

• B01D45/08

  by impingement against baffle separators · CPC title