Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner (1, fig.1) comprising a dirt separator 400 with a filter assembly 405 and a drive assembly 450 for dislodging dirt and regenerating a filter 410 of the filter assembly by agitating, moving, wobbling or shaking a bridge 440 wrapped around the filter. Preferably, the bridge and the filter are moved repeatedly along a closed path (458, fig.52), which is preferably elliptical and eccentric. Preferably, the filter assembly includes a rear end (417, fig.38) suspended within a housing (241, fig.30) to which an opposite front end (416, fig.38) is mounted. Preferably, the filter 410 is a hollow semi-elliptical tube with pleats (419, fig.39) extending parallel to a filter axis (411, fig.37) and a rotational axis (R, fig.57) of a suction motor (500, fig.8). The drive assembly may comprise an electric motor (451, fig.50) coupled to the filter via a drive shaft (446, fig.48) with an eccentric mass (455, fig.48), wherein the drive shaft is received within a hub (444, fig.47) of the bridge. A primary dirt separator (210, fig.8) may be located upstream of the dirt separator within a bin (100, fig.8). Figure 36