Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner of the stick-vac type, the cleaner including a handheld vacuum cleaner which is attached to an elongate, rigid wand and which is fluidly connected to a cleaner head provided at the end of the wand. The cleaner head is connected to the wand via a mechanical steering couple for directionally steering the cleaner head in plane parallel contact with the floor as the wand is rotated about its axis.

Description

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims the priority of United Kingdom application No. 1016563.7, filed Oct. 1, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to the field of vacuum cleaners, and more specifically to “stick-vac” type vacuum cleaners of the general type comprising a handheld vacuum cleaner which is attached to an elongate, rigid wand and which is fluidly connected to a cleaner head provided at the end of the wand.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Broadly speaking, there are four types of vacuum cleaner: “upright” vacuum cleaners, “cylinder” cleaners (also referred to as “canister” cleaners), “handheld” vacuum cleaners and “stick” vacuum cleaners, the latter being popularly referred to as “stick-vac” cleaners, or simply “stick-vacs”.[0004]Upright cleaners and cylinder cleaners are well known. They tend to be mains-operated and are used for relatively heavy-duty cle...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]It is an advantage of the present invention to provide an improved stick vac cleaner of the second general type described above.

[0011]According to the present invention there is provided a stick-vac cleaner comprising a handheld vacuum cleaner which is attached to an elongate, rigid wand and which is fluidly connected to a cleaner head provided at the end of the wand, wherein the cleaner head is connected to the wand via a mechanical steering couple for directionally steering the cleaner head in plane parallel contact with the floor as the wand is rotated about its axis.

[0012]By providing a mechanical steering couple between the wand and cleaner head according to the present invention, the maneuverability of the stick-vac cleaner is greatly improved compared to conventional stick-vac cleaners of the second general type.

[0013]Any suitable mechanical steering couple may be used. In particular, the mechanical steering couple may be configured to constrain the wand and the cleaner head for co-rotation about the wand axis while permitting relative rotation of the wand and cleaner head about an axis which is non-parallel to the wand axis. This type of steering couple can be implemented relatively cheaply, while still providing a high degree of maneuverability for the cleaner.

[0014]The wand and the cleaner head may be coupled for relative rotation along a rotatable scarf joint or via an elbow joint. The use of a scarf joint is considered to be particularly advantageous, in that it provides a mechanical turning advantage for the cleaner head during steering.

[0015]The wand may be hingedly connected to the cleaner head passively for varying the lie angle between the wand and the cleaner head. A variable lie angle helps maintain the cleaner head in contact with the floor across a relatively wide range of turning angles during steering of the cleaner head. Here, the term “lie angle” is somewhat analogous to the lie angle between the sole of a golf club head and the shaft of the club.

Problems solved by technology

In the case of these stick vac cleaners, the wand and floor tool are typically conceived and marketed as low-cost accessories for a handheld vacuum cleaner, and as such the functionality of the cleaner in stick vac mode tends to be relatively poor compared to dedicated stick vac cleaners of the first type.

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