Vacuum Cleaner Suction Pipe Locking for Precise Length Adjustment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vacuum cleaner suction pipes require additional spring force for stabilization and allow only rough length adjustments due to large distance between locking positions, making precise and simple length adjustments difficult for users.
Innovation Solution
A vacuum cleaner suction pipe design featuring a locking device with a toothed rack and strip that can be manually displaced into a release position without spring force, allowing for precise adjustment of the inner and outer pipes by axial movement, and a spring mechanism for automatic resetting to the locking position.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a locking mechanism with spring elements is used to stabilize the position between inner pipe and outer pipe, then the position can be fixed, but additional spring force is required which increases user effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the spring element from the locking mechanism. Instead of using elastic catch hooks that require spring force for engagement and disengagement, the invention uses a purely mechanical locking device with a latch that can be moved parallel to the pipe axis. This extraction of the spring component eliminates the additional force requirement while maintaining position stability through the mechanical latch engagement with the toothed strip.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent inverts the traditional locking mechanism approach. Rather than using elastic elements that spring into engagement, the design uses a rigid latch that is passively held in the locked position by its own weight and geometry. The latch is moved parallel to the pipe axis to engage or disengage from the toothed strip, reversing the conventional spring-based engagement method and eliminating the need for additional spring force.
2Ease of operation
If the distance between locking positions is made large to simplify the locking mechanism, then the mechanism is easier to operate, but only rough adjustment is possible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the adjustment range into multiple discrete locking positions along the pipe axis. The toothed strip contains multiple teeth spaced at precise intervals, and the locking device can engage with any of these teeth to provide discrete length adjustments. This segmentation allows for both easy operation (simple latch engagement) and precise adjustment (multiple discrete positions), resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking device is designed to be movable parallel to the pipe axis, allowing it to dynamically engage with different teeth on the toothed strip. This dynamic positioning capability enables the user to select from multiple discrete locking positions along the pipe length, providing both ease of operation through simple axial movement and precise adjustment through the availability of multiple engagement points.
Data Source
AI summary
A vacuum cleaner suction pipe with at least one inner and at least one outer pipe, and at least one locking device, the locking device being movable by manual actuation, the locking device having a toothed rack, and in the locking position the rack being kept engaged to a toothed strip of the inner pipe, as a result of which the position of the inner pipe is fixed relative to the outer pipe. The locking device is movable into a release position by axial displacement relative to the outer pipe, and in the release position, the rack can be disengaged from the toothed strip by a relative force between the outer pipe and inner pipe, without the effect of a spring force, by the flanks of the teeth of the toothed strip pushing the flanks of the teeth of the rack upward.