Hand Vacuum Airflow Layout for Battery Cooling and Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hand vacuum cleaners often face issues with heat management in batteries during discharge, leading to reduced performance and efficiency, and they can be cumbersome due to the concentration of mass from heavy components like batteries and motors.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates an airflow path that directs high-velocity air from the cyclone chamber to impinge on the energy storage chamber wall, promoting cooling of batteries and a compact form by strategically positioning the suction motor and energy storage members to distribute weight and reduce torque on the user.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If batteries are positioned in the hand vacuum cleaner to provide power, then the device can operate portably, but heat generated during battery discharge accumulates and reduces performance
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful hot air exhaust from the cyclone chamber into a beneficial cooling resource by directing it against the battery housing. The high-temperature air that would normally be wasted is instead used to cool the batteries during discharge, transforming a harmful thermal byproduct into a useful cooling mechanism that maintains battery performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces air as an intermediary cooling medium between the battery heat source and the external environment. By routing exhaust air through or against the battery housing, the system uses this intermediate fluid to transfer heat away from the batteries, effectively mediating the thermal management without requiring direct contact cooling systems.
2Device complexity
If heavy components like batteries and motors are concentrated in one location, then the device structure is simplified, but the vacuum cleaner becomes cumbersome and creates excessive torque on the user
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from concentrating components along a single axis to distributing them across multiple spatial dimensions. By positioning the battery housing and motor in different locations and using three-dimensional airflow routing, the system achieves better weight distribution and balance without significantly increasing structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent strategically positions heavy components to create counterbalancing effects. By placing the battery housing and motor at different locations and using the cyclone chamber and housing structure as counterweights, the system reduces the net torque on the user's hand and improves ergonomic comfort during operation.
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 solution effectively cools batteries during discharge, enhances the ergonomic feel by distributing weight, and reduces the overall size and torque experienced by the user, improving the hand vacuum's performance and usability.
Implementation Method 1
a hand vacuum cleaner may have an airflow path in which air exiting a cyclone chamber impinges on a wall of an energy storage chamber in which one or more energy storage devices are located. By directing relatively high-velocity airflow directly against a wall of such a chamber, cooling of an energy storage member (e.g. battery) located in the chamber may be promoted
Data Source
AI summary
A hand vacuum cleaner has an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet with a suction motor positioned in the air flow path. A cyclone chamber positioned in the air flow path has a cyclone axis of rotation that extends in the forward/rearward direction. A pre-motor filter overlies the cyclone chamber.