Flexible Cyclone Tip Structure to Prevent Vacuum Cleaner Blockage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small cyclones in surface treating appliances, such as vacuum cleaners, are prone to blocking, which reduces separation efficiency due to the accumulation of dirt, despite their ability to separate smaller dust particles effectively.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a flexible portion into the cyclone, particularly a flexible tip, which vibrates during use to prevent dirt buildup and can be dilated or inflated to enhance separation efficiency and dislodge trapped dirt, thereby maintaining the appliance's performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the cyclone size is reduced to separate smaller dust particles, then separation efficiency for fine particles is improved, but the risk of blocking increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cyclone is designed with a flexible portion that allows it to vibrate during operation. This dynamic characteristic enables the cyclone to prevent dirt buildup through vibration while maintaining its small size for effective fine particle separation. The flexible material allows the cyclone to adapt its shape slightly during operation, preventing clogging without requiring a larger diameter.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameter of the cyclone from rigid to flexible by using materials with appropriate elasticity (Shore A value of 20-80). This parameter change allows the cyclone to maintain structural integrity while enabling vibrational movement that prevents blocking, thus resolving the contradiction between small size for fine separation and blocking risk.
2Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid cyclone is used, then structural stability is maintained, but dirt buildup occurs inside the cyclone
Solution Approach 1:
The cyclone incorporates a flexible portion made from elastomeric materials that can deform and vibrate. This flexible shell design allows the cyclone to maintain structural stability while preventing dirt buildup through vibrational movement. The flexible material properties (Shore A value 20-80) provide the necessary combination of stability and movement capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible cyclone design inherently produces mechanical vibration during operation as air flows through it. This vibration prevents dirt from accumulating and building up inside the cyclone, eliminating the harmful effect of clogging while the flexible material maintains sufficient structural stability for operation.
3Manufacturing precision
If the dirt outlet diameter is reduced to increase separation efficiency, then fine particle separation is improved, but the cyclone becomes more prone to blocking
Solution Approach 1:
The dirt outlet is formed in the flexible portion of the cyclone, allowing it to vibrate and flex during operation. This dynamic characteristic prevents dirt from building up at the outlet even when the diameter is small, maintaining both high separation efficiency and blocking resistance through the vibrational movement enabled by the flexible material.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The flexible cyclone design prevents blockages, increases separation efficiency, and allows for the use of smaller cyclones, improving the overall performance of surface treating appliances by effectively managing dirt accumulation and maintaining suction power.
Implementation Method 1
Incorporating a flexible portion into the cyclone, particularly a flexible tip, which vibrates during use to prevent dirt buildup
Implementation Method 2
an airflow in which dirt and dust is entrained enters a first cyclonic separator via a tangential inlet which causes the airflow to follow a spiral or helical path within a collection chamber so that the dirt and dust is separated from the airflow
Implementation Method 3
Most bagless vacuum cleaners use cyclonic or centrifugal separation to spin dirt and dust from the airflow
Data Source
AI summary
A surface treating appliance includes a plurality of frusto-conical cyclones arranged in parallel. Each cyclone has a relatively wide, rigid frusto-conical portion and a relatively narrow, flexible frusto-conical portion connected to the relatively wide portion. The relatively wide portion includes at least one dirty air inlet, and the relatively narrow portion includes a dirt outlet. The relatively narrow portion vibrates during use of the appliance is dislodged dirt from the inner surface of the relatively narrow portion, the dislodged dirt being expelled from the dirt outlet.