Surface treating appliance

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9521937-B2
Application number	US-201013509869-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2010
Priority date	Nov 16, 2009
Publication date	Dec 20, 2016
Grant date	Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

A surface treating appliance includes cyclonic separating apparatus having a plurality of cyclones arranged in parallel and a dust collector arranged to receive dust from each of the plurality of cyclones. Each cyclone has a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. The plurality of cyclones is divided into at least a first set of cyclones and a second set of cyclones. The fluid inlets of the first set of cyclones are located in a first plane and the fluid inlets of the second set of cyclones are located in a second plane spaced from the first plane. This enables the separating apparatus to have a compact appearance.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A surface treating appliance comprising a first cyclonic separating unit having a longitudinal axis and, downstream from the first cyclonic separating unit, a second cyclonic separating unit comprising a plurality of cyclones arranged about the axis and a dust collector arranged to receive dust from each of the plurality of cyclones, each cyclone comprising a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the plurality of cyclones being divided into at least a first set of cyclones and a second set of cyclones, the first set of cyclones and the second set of cyclones being fed in parallel and coaxially arranged about the axis, the fluid inlets of the first set of cyclones being arranged in a first group and the fluid inlets of the second set of cyclones being arranged in a second group longitudinally spaced along the axis from the first group.

2. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first group of fluid inlets is generally arranged in a first annular arrangement, and the second group of fluid inlets is generally arranged in a second annular arrangement spaced along said axis from the first annular arrangement.

3. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein each of the annular arrangements is substantially orthogonal to said axis.

4. The appliance of claim 2 , wherein the annular arrangements are of substantially the same size.

5. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein, within each set, the fluid inlets are substantially co-planar.

6. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein, within each set, the cyclones are substantially equidistant from said axis.

7. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein, within each set, the cyclones are substantially equidistantly spaced about said axis.

8. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first cyclonic separating unit at least partially surrounds the dust collector.

9. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the second cyclonic separating unit is substantially co-axial with the first cyclonic separating unit.

10. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein each cyclone has a longitudinal axis, and wherein the longitudinal axes of the cyclones of the first set of cyclones approach one another and the longitudinal axes of the cyclones of the second set of cyclones approach one another.

11. The appliance of claim 10 , wherein the longitudinal axes of the cyclones intersect the longitudinal axis of the first cyclonic separating unit.

12. The appliance of claim 11 , wherein the angle at which the longitudinal axes of the first set of the cyclones intersect the longitudinal axis of the first cyclonic separating unit is substantially the same as the angle at which the longitudinal axes of the second set of the cyclones intersect the longitudinal axis of the first cyclonic separating unit.

13. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first set of cyclones extends about part of the second set of cyclones.

14. The appliance of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of conduits for conveying fluid from the first cyclonic separating unit to the second cyclonic separating unit, the appliance having a shroud forming an outlet from the first cyclonic separating unit, the shroud comprising a wall having a multiplicity of through-holes, and wherein each conduit comprises an inlet located behind the wall of the shroud.

15. The appliance of claim 1 , comprising a manifold for conveying fluid from the first cyclonic separating unit to the second cyclonic separating unit.

16. The appliance of 1 , wherein each cyclone of the second set of cyclones is located immediately above a respective cyclone of the first set of cyclones.

17. The appliance of 1 , wherein the second set of cyclones is angularly offset about the longitudinal axis of the first cyclonic separating unit relative to the first set of cyclones.

18. The appliance of claim 17 , wherein each cyclone of the second set of cyclones is located angularly between, and spaced along the axis from, an adjacent pair of cyclones of the first set of cyclones.

19. The appliance of claim 1 , wherein the first cyclonic separating unit and the second cyclonic separating unit form part of a separating apparatus removably mounted on a main body of the appliance.

20. The appliance of claim 1 , comprising a vacuum cleaning appliance.

21. A surface treating appliance comprising a first cyclonic separating unit and, downstream from the first cyclonic separating unit, a second cyclonic separating unit comprising a plurality of cyclones arranged about an axis and a dust collector arranged to receive dust from each of the plurality of cyclones, each cyclone comprising a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the plurality of cyclones being divided into at least a first set of cyclones arranged in an annular arrangement and a second set of cyclones arranged in an annular arrangement above the first set of cyclones, the first set of cyclones and the second set of cyclones being fed in parallel, the fluid inlets of the first set of cyclones being spaced along the axis from the fluid inlets of the second set of cyclones.

22. A surface treating appliance comprising a first cyclonic separating unit and a second cyclonic separating unit located above the first cyclonic separating unit, wherein the second cyclonic separating unit is downstream from the first cyclonic separating unit and comprises a plurality of cyclones and a dust collector arranged to receive dust from each of the plurality of cyclones, each cyclone comprising a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet, the plurality of cyclones being divided into at least a first set of cyclones and a second set of cyclones, the first set of cyclones and the second set of cyclones being fed in parallel, and the second set of cyclones being located above the first set of cyclones.

Assignees

• Follows Thomas James Dunning
• Courtney Stephen Benjamin
• Gammack Peter David
• Dyson Technology Ltd

Inventors

• Follows Thomas James Dunning
• Courtney Stephen Benjamin
• Gammack Peter David

Classifications

• A47L9/1641 Primary

  for parallel flow · CPC title

• A47L9/10 Primary

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

• A47L9/16

  Arrangement or disposition of cyclones or other devices with centrifugal action · CPC title