Dust Cup Filter Assembly With Auto-Exposed Inner Filter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users of bagless dust cups with permanent filters often forget to clean the inner filter due to its hidden nature within the filter assembly, leading to inadequate maintenance.
Innovation Solution
A dust cup design featuring a filter assembly with a fixing member that retains the inner filter in a displaced position upon detachment, making it visible and facilitating its cleaning, along with grip elements for easy dismounting and intuitive handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the inner filter is fully inserted into the outer filter in the mounted position, then the filtering function is optimized, but the inner filter becomes invisible and users forget to clean it
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing member is designed to automatically displace the inner filter from its mounted position when the filter assembly is removed from the housing. This preliminary displacement action occurs automatically upon detachment, making the inner filter visible to users before they attempt to clean it, thereby ensuring both filters are noticed for maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixing member acts as an intermediary mechanism between the filter assembly and the housing. It mediates the transition from the mounted state (where the inner filter is hidden) to the maintenance state (where the inner filter is visible), by automatically displacing the inner filter when the assembly is removed.
2Ease of operation
If the filter assembly is easily detached for cleaning, then maintenance convenience is improved, but the inner filter may be damaged by excessive extraction force
Solution Approach 1:
The fixing member provides self-regulating protection during the detachment process. As users pull the filter assembly for cleaning, the fixing member automatically engages to limit the displacement of the inner filter, preventing excessive force from damaging the filter while still allowing easy removal of the entire assembly for maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixing member changes the mechanical parameters of the inner filter during extraction. It transitions the inner filter from a freely movable state to a constrained state at the moment of extraction, limiting the displacement distance and protecting the filter from damage while maintaining ease of assembly removal.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 1c~2a
Figure 2b~2c
AI summary
It is presented a dust cup housing (11) comprising a filter assembly which comprises an outer filter (25) and an inner filter (24). The outer filter and inner filter are formed as receptacles and the inner filter is slidably insertable into the outer filter. In a mounted position the inner filter is arranged to be substantially fully inserted into the outer filter. The filter assembly further comprises a fixing member (40, 41; 50, 51; 60, 61) which is arranged to retain the inner filter in a predetermined displacement (d) position relative to the mounted position, in response to the inner filter being subjected to an extraction force for detaching the filter assembly from the dust cup housing. Thereby a user of the filter is in a convenient and intuitive way alerted that the filter assembly comprises more than one filter.