Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner (1, fig.1) comprising a secondary dirt separator 400 downstream of a primary dirt separator (210, fig.8), a suction motor (500, fig.8) downstream of the secondary dirt separator, and a post-motor filter downstream of the suction motor, the secondary dirt separator comprising a drive assembly 450 for dislodging dirt and regenerating a filter assembly 405, preferably a hollow semi-elliptical tube located beneath the primary dirt separator, by agitating, moving, wobbling or shaking it, preferably along an elliptical closed path (458, fig.52). Preferably, the primary and secondary dirt separators are within primary and secondary chambers, respectively, within a bin (100, fig.8) having an openable bin base. Airflow may enter the primary chamber in a direction parallel to a central axis (185, fig.10) and a rotational axis (R, fig.57) of the suction motor. The drive assembly may comprise an electric motor (451, fig.50) and a drive shaft (446, fig.48) with an eccentric mass (455, fig.48). Figure 36