Hand Vacuum Cleaner Cyclone Inlet Segmentation for Compact Height
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surface cleaning apparatuses face challenges in reducing the size of components like cyclone chambers and suction motors without compromising their operability, particularly in hand vacuum cleaners, where maneuverability and ease of use are desired.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a cyclone chamber with multiple airflow passages leading to tangential inlets, allowing for a reduction in cyclone chamber height while maintaining air volume and separation efficiency, by ensuring air completes a sufficient number of revolutions and using a common airflow passage to distribute air effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cyclone chamber height is reduced to improve maneuverability, then the device becomes more compact and easier to handle, but the air volume and separation efficiency may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The cyclone chamber is divided into multiple sections with multiple airflow passages distributed around the perimeter, allowing air to enter at different locations and complete sufficient revolutions within a shorter vertical space, thus maintaining separation efficiency while reducing overall chamber height
Solution Approach 2:
The design transitions from a single tall inlet to multiple inlets arranged circumferentially around the cyclone chamber perimeter, utilizing the radial dimension to distribute airflow and achieve sufficient rotation cycles within a reduced vertical height
2Length of stationary object
If the cyclone inlet height is reduced to make the device more compact, then the overall size decreases improving portability, but the air volume handling capacity may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The single tall inlet is segmented into multiple smaller inlets arranged around the cyclone chamber, with each inlet handling a portion of the total air volume, allowing the vertical height of each inlet to be reduced while maintaining overall air volume capacity
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple airflow passages are merged into a common airflow passage that distributes air to all inlets, consolidating the air intake system into a compact configuration that reduces individual inlet heights while preserving total air volume handling capability
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
This design enhances maneuverability and ease of use by reducing the height of cyclone inlets without compromising air volume or separation efficiency, improving the overall performance of surface cleaning apparatuses.
Implementation Method 1
a cyclone positioned in the air flow path, the cyclone having a cyclone chamber, a cyclone chamber sidewall, a first airflow passage having an inlet end and a downstream outlet end wherein the downstream outlet end comprises a first tangential air inlet
Implementation Method 2
dirty air enters the cyclone chamber, and dirt and debris is separated from the air as it flows through the cyclone chamber
Data Source
AI summary
A hand vacuum cleaner with a finger grip area that is provided between a forward side of the handle and a rear side of the main body, and wherein the suction motor is positioned between the cyclone and the finger grip area and an axis that extends between the front of the cyclone and the handle extends through the suction motor.