Hand carryable surface cleaning apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hand vacuum cleaners often suffer from ergonomic issues and airflow reduction due to clogged pre-motor filters, leading to discomfort during use and reduced cleaning efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A hand vacuum cleaner design featuring a cyclone unit with a horizontally extending air treatment member, a suction motor positioned forward of the handle, and a pre-motor filter with a longitudinally extending porous media that allows air to travel upwardly to the suction motor, enhancing ergonomics and extending cleaning duration without airflow reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pre-motor filter is used in conventional hand vacuum cleaners, then air filtration is improved, but airflow is reduced when the filter becomes clogged
Solution Approach 1:
The filter assembly is segmented into a pre-motor filter and a post-motor filter, with the pre-motor filter positioned to allow bypass airflow. This segmentation enables the system to maintain filtration while providing an alternative airflow path when the pre-motor filter becomes clogged, resolving the contradiction between filtration reliability and airflow productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
A bypass通道 acts as an intermediary element between the pre-motor filter and the cyclone separator. When the pre-motor filter becomes clogged, this intermediary bypass path allows air to flow around the filter rather than through it, maintaining airflow productivity while the filter continues to provide filtration for the majority of air flow during normal operation.
2Device complexity
If the suction motor is positioned in conventional locations, then structural simplicity is maintained, but ergonomic comfort deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The suction motor is repositioned from a conventional horizontal arrangement to a vertical arrangement above the cyclone separator. This dimensional change in motor positioning allows the drive shaft to extend vertically and connect to the impeller, creating a more compact vertical profile that improves ergonomic comfort by reducing the overall length and improving balance, while maintaining structural simplicity through the direct vertical drive connection.
3Ease of manufacture
If the cyclone axis is positioned in conventional locations, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but hand feel and ergonomics worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The cyclone separator is positioned asymmetrically within the housing, with its axis offset from the centerline and located toward the rear of the device. This asymmetric positioning allows the inlet conduit to connect more effectively and enables the cyclone to be arranged in a configuration that improves hand feel and ergonomic comfort by balancing the weight distribution and improving the center of gravity, while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through standard positioning relative to the housing structure.
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 design provides improved ergonomics and hand feel, maintaining airflow efficiency even when the pre-motor filter becomes clogged, allowing for extended use without significant reduction in suction power.
Implementation Method 1
A porous pre-motor filter media allows air to pass through
Implementation Method 2
A porous pre-motor filter media allows air to pass through and travel upwardly to a suction motor
Implementation Method 3
a cyclone unit comprising a cyclone chamber having a cyclone axis of rotation
Implementation Method 4
a cyclone unit comprising a cyclone chamber having a cyclone axis of rotation
Implementation Method 5
a suction motor and fan assembly having a suction motor axis of rotation
Data Source
AI summary
A surface cleaning apparatus has a cyclone chamber provided in an air flow path. The cyclone chamber has a screen assembly with an outlet section, a longitudinally spaced apart distal section and a longitudinally extending porous section. The outlet section includes a non-porous member extending longitudinally inwardly an outlet section length from an outlet end of the outlet section to a longitudinally inwardly positioned inlet end of the outlet section. The outlet end of the outlet section overlies a cyclone air outlet. The porous section extends longitudinally inwardly from an outlet end of the porous section that is located at the inlet end of the outlet section. The inlet end of the outlet section has a width in a direction transverse to the longitudinal direction that is greater than a width of the outlet end of the porous section in the transverse direction.