EP2032010A1

EP2032010A1 - Vacuum cleaner

Info

Publication number: EP2032010A1
Application number: EP07803775A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fabien David
Original assignee: SEB SA
Current assignee: SEB SA
Priority date: 2006-06-27
Filing date: 2007-06-26
Publication date: 2009-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2027-06-26
Also published as: EP2032010B1; ES2549114T3; FR2902632A1; CN101478909A; KR20090035551A; CN101478909B; RU2416356C2; RU2009102543A; WO2008000947A1; FR2902632B1

Abstract

The invention concerns a vacuum cleaner comprising a housing, wherein is situated an electric motor associated with a ventilator that, while the vacuum cleaner operates, allows the creation of air suction from a manifold, upstream from the motor and ending in a sucker, up to output of air from the housing situated downstream from the motor, with a filtration device situated on the aeraulic pathway, preferably upstream from the motor, and the motor situated in a specific streamlined body (130), characterized in that this streamlined body (130) has a plurality of air outlets drilled therein, thus making up a total surface of at least 10 cm2, with each opening in the streamlined body (130) making up a surface comprising between 0.75 mm2 40 mm2 of the entire surface.

Description

VACUUM

The invention relates to the field of household appliances vacuum cleaners and more particularly the structure of a vacuum cleaner.

The present invention aims to provide a device for reducing the noise related to the operation of the vacuum cleaner. Many documents address this issue, including proposing engine containment solutions, associated or not with an extension of the air path from the engine to the outlet openings in the frame of the vacuum cleaner.

Thus, EP 0345699 shows an extension of the air path after the engine using baffles. Such a device is however bulky and therefore bulky.

The present invention thus proposes a noise reduction device in a vacuum cleaner, said vacuum cleaner comprising a frame, inside which is housed an electric motor associated with a fan for creating, in operation, a suction of air from a tubing , upstream of the motor, terminated by a nozzle, to an air outlet of the frame located downstream of the engine, a filtering device being arranged on the air flow path, preferably upstream of the engine, the latter being disposed in a specific fairing. According to the invention, this fairing is pierced with a plurality of air exhaust openings, representing in total an area of at least 10 cm ² , each opening of the fairing having an area of between 0.75 mm ² and 40 mm ² .

Thus, on the one hand the fairing allows, by the screen thus formed, to limit the noise. On the other hand, the realization of a multitude of openings makes it possible to distribute the flow of air at the motor output, avoiding that it concentrates in certain privileged zones, a frequent situation when the opening is unique, and which leads to locally high speeds and a passage noise consequent.

This new flow distribution is conducive to reducing the air velocities higher by uniformizing the air velocities over the entire perforated surface, thereby reducing noise.

However, it is necessary to ensure that the total opening represented by the multitude of openings is significant, while making openings of appropriate section, neither too weak that would generate hissing noise and significant pressure losses, nor too much important, which would not allow to divide the flow. Thus, the openings total a surface area of at least 10 cm ² . In addition, the apertures of the fairing each have an area of between 0.75 mm ² and 40 mm ² .

Indeed, it is the combination of the two parameters that are the size of the openings and their number, that is to say the total surface of the openings, which gives the best acoustic effect: the size of the openings must be adapted to not to induce whistling noise (when the size is too small) while allowing a homogeneous distribution of the air by reducing the differences of speed, by the large number of openings, which makes it possible to reduce the turbulences, the surface total openings must be high enough not to induce excessive loss of loads.

Advantageously, the openings of the fairing are formed in one or more walls of the fairing located opposite the air outlet of the vacuum cleaner frame, thus making it possible not to directly transmit the noise to the outlet without specific conduit or additional room .

In order to further improve the noise reduction, provision may be made to have an absorbent material facing the openings of the fairing, outside said fairing. This material, according to its nature and its dimensions, will absorb some of the acoustic energy coming from these openings at certain frequencies and at a certain level of efficiency.

It will then take care to size the surface of this absorbent material vis-à-vis the apertures to the size of the walls having said openings, so that the part thus produced is present in front of each of openings, which increases the efficiency of sound absorption.

Furthermore, the air speeds at the exit of the fairing are not the same depending on the position of the opening, this fluctuation depending on the configuration of the engine air outlet relative to the openings of the fairing, as well as the air outlet position of the vacuum cleaner frame.

In order to reduce the dispersion of the air velocities at the fairing outlet, the air passage section downstream of an opening of the fairing, and defined by the wall of the fairing and the absorbent material, is all the more important. that the air outlet of the vacuum cleaner frame is close to said opening.

In other words, the air passage section downstream of the outlet openings of the shroud, possibly comprising an absorbent material, has an increasing air flow section in the direction of the flow downstream of the outlet openings. fairing. In this way the passage section of the air thus formed provides a more uniform air velocity.

This increase in section is advantageously proportional to the increase in section generated by the fairing outlet openings encountered on the air path, in order to maintain a uniform air velocity between the air velocity at the openings of the air ducts. fairing outlet and the air velocity in this section of airflow just downstream of these openings.

In particular, the section of passage of the air near an opening is all the more important that the opening is close to the air outlet of the vacuum cleaner frame, in order to reduce the speed of the air in this section of passage of air relative to the air velocity at the outlet openings of the fairing.

Advantageously, the absorbent material used is a foam, the pore density of which is preferably greater than 75 pores per inch.

Furthermore, in order to increase the reduction of the noise, it may be provided, in one of the improvements of the invention, an additional sound insulation shroud in which are arranged the part of the fairing comprising the openings, as well as the absorbent material. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one of the fairings is made of polypropylene, the frame can be made, for the most part, expanded polypropylene (EPP).

The use and the associated advantages of expanded polypropylene for the production of at least a portion of the vacuum cleaner frame have been described in application FR 2873563.

The advantages of the realization of the body of the apparatus in this matter are numerous: lightness, respect of the environment, robustness, ... However, by realizing the body of the vacuum cleaner, or part of the body of the vacuum cleaner in EPP, the expanded nature of the material may allow piercing said body with a tip. If such an operation takes place, for example during a shock with a metal rod, such as a knitting needle, it is necessary to prevent the latter from coming into contact with the electrically active parts that constitute the electrical connections of the motor.

It should be noted that such an accident has no consequence on the robustness of the body of the device, the plasticity of the EPP allowing the material to resume its shape after removal of the object without real damage to the structure.

Thus, the engine fairing, in addition to the acoustic properties described above, protects the active parts of the engine by surrounding them with a specific protection made of a rigid material. By rigid material is meant a material resistant to mechanical stresses, this resistance may however cause some deformation of the material, in particular a material passing the standard 60-335-1 Art 30 in relation with the standard IEC 60-695-10-2 which provides for a penetration resistance test of a 2.5mm diameter ball under 20 Newton force to leave an impression smaller than 2mm.

Preferably, the hardness of this material is greater than or equal to 5 Hv. Polypropylene (PP) will be advantageously used for the realization of the fairing.

The use of PP and PEP also reduces the diversity of plastics used and facilitates the recycling of the device at the end of its life. Other features and advantages of the invention will be given by the description which follows, with reference to the appended figures which constitute only non-limiting examples of embodiment. Figures 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the invention, while Figures 5 to 11 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner provided with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an exploded view of the different main parts of the vacuum cleaner.

Figure 3 is an exploded view, from below and in perspective, of certain parts of the vacuum cleaner.

Figure 4 is an exploded view, in perspective, of the engine fairing of the vacuum cleaner.

Figure 5 is a partial section of the frame of a vacuum cleaner in a second implementation of the invention.

Figure 6 is a rear perspective view of the vacuum cleaner.

Figure 7 is a top view of the vacuum cleaner.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view along section A-A of FIG.

Figures 9 and 10 are respectively a side and rear view of a detail of the invention.

Figure 11 is an exploded view of a subset of the vacuum cleaner.

Figures 12 and 13 show alternative embodiments of this second implementation of the invention, respectively in perspective and sectional views of certain elements of the vacuum cleaner.

As shown in particular in Figures 1 to 3, the vacuum cleaner 1, according to a first embodiment of the invention, consists of a vacuum cleaner body composed of three main parts manufactured separately and assembled thereafter:

A small lower body 2 having: a housing 20 of the lower part of the engine, o a location 22 for the rear operating members such as wheels or casters (not shown), o an air outlet 26 of the vacuum cleaner, o a housing 30 of the lower part of a winder 10 of electric cable,

• an upper body 4 comprising: a space 40 arranged for receiving a filter dust bag, a housing 42 of the upper part of the cable winder 10, a location 48 for the front maneuvering members (not shown) of the vacuum cleaner, o a recess 44 housing the upper part of the motor, together with the housing 20 of the lower body 2, o an insert 45 for the connection of suction pipes, this insert cooperating with a bag support 46 disposed in the space 40.

A rear part 50 having a large handle 52 for transporting the vacuum cleaner.

According to the first example of implementation of the invention, the constituent material of the vacuum cleaner, ie at least the upper body 4, and preferably also the lower body 2 and the rear part 50, is expanded polypropylene (EPP ).

However, in order to reinforce the shock resistance of the handle 52, the rear piece 50 has an unexpanded PP core allowing the piece 50 to be mechanically resistant to a possible violent impact on said handle.

The low mechanical strength of the EPP, however, required considerably increase the thickness of the walls to have sufficient strength. Surprisingly, however, even if the volume of material required then causes a larger vacuum cleaner than normal, the mass of plastic material can be greatly reduced, and the weight of the final vacuum can be halved. The amount of material remains however lower than a traditional vacuum cleaner, which is also advantageous from an economic point of view since the vacuum cleaner is less expensive to manufacture.

The high flexibility of the EPP allows for improved shock absorption compared to other plastics traditionally used to make vacuum cleaners. This great flexibility is associated, depending on the degree of expansion, an elastic memory of the material, which also has significant advantages in terms of assembly of the different complementary parts fitted to the body of the device. Indeed, it is thus possible to articulate for example the different lids without hinge and lock simply by deforming the material. This curious particularity also makes it possible to fix inserts, by interlocking, without difficulty.

It suffices to "force" the material to deform to lock or fix an insert, the material taking its shape after the deformation to maintain the assembly.

Thus, according to the proposed example, a cover 80 is made of expanded polypropylene and is disposed on the upper body. The mechanical strength of the cover on the upper body 4 of the vacuum cleaner is obtained by interlocking, by deforming the material, as previously explained.

This lid allows the closure of the dust bag housing and directs air from the bag to the engine block. Incidentally, this cover can receive, in its thickness, various suction accessories such as small brush, suction lolly, etc.

According to the proposed example, the holding of the upper body on the lower body is provided by rods 12, 13 bearing under the lower body 2. The rods

12 engage with the rear piece 50, while the rod 13 is connected to a rigid piece 90 disposed on the upper body 4.

The supports of the rods 12 and 13 under the lower body 2 are preferably associated with the wheels, not shown, of the vacuum cleaner. As regards the central wheel, the latter is associated with a platform 11 for refocusing the wheel relative to the entire vacuum cleaner. The actual assembly of the upper body on the lower body consists, according to the example shown, to screw the rods 12 and 13 in corresponding tubes from the parts 90 and 50, the tubes and / or rods passing through a portion of of the upper body 4. FIG. 2 shows in particular such a tube 14 coming from the part 90, this tube receiving the rod 13 which passes through the lower body 2 through the orifice 24.

The screwing thus makes it possible to compress, by means of the parts 90 and 50, the upper body on the lower body, the relatively large deformation of the PPE, as previously described, making it possible to seal between the lower and upper bodies, without joint. specific.

The rigid part 90 may have very different shapes and conformations, ranging from a piece covering substantially the entire width of the upper body, as shown, behind the dust bag compartment, to a more indented part. It is even possible to consider the realization of several independent parts.

Similarly, and conversely, the support surface under the lower body can be provided by a plate more or less extended, like the rigid part 11. It is then possible to have a rigid part under the lower body and more punctual support points on the upper body.

The rigid part 90 disposed on the upper body, however, offers the advantage of being able to perform other functions. Thus, the rigid part 90 presents the locations of the on / off control button 60, in relation to a switch, as well as that of the rewind button 68 of the electric cable on the reel 10.

The rigid piece 90 also has a housing 92 for a housing 94 containing a pleated filter HEPA type, for filtering the air from the dust bag, before entering the engine.

The indicator lights, control and operating elements 60, 68, as well as the rigid piece 90, the tubes 12, 13 and the rollers, will preferably be made of unexpanded polypropylene.

The electrical circuit supplying the motor from an electrical outlet Domestic begins with the power cord of the vacuum cleaner, mounted on the winder 10. Electrical son out of the fixed part of the winder to connect to two terminals 72 of an electronic card 70. Two other terminals 72 of the electronic card 70 are used for connection with the on / off button. Finally two other terminals 72 allow the connection of the motor in the electrical circuit.

According to this embodiment, the vacuum cleaner 1 comprises protections of the active parts of the apparatus, that is to say electrical connections of the various elements of the motor supply circuit.

Thus, the winder 10 comprises a casing 100 covering the rear part of the winder. This housing thus covers the connection of the electrical wires at the level of the reel.

Furthermore, the motor, not shown, is, according to the invention, contained in a housing 120 whose cover 122 has a chimney 124. The casing 120 is advantageously made of rigid parts made of unexpanded polypropylene.

The cover 122 also has orifices 126 for the entry of air, as well as a seal 128, which makes it possible to seal the engine fairing during the compression of the lower and upper bodies.

The chimney 124 fully accommodates the electronic card 70. Thus, the power supply son from the retractor join two of the terminals 72 of the electronic card where they are connected to said card.

The housing 120 also comprises a substantially cylindrical fairing 130, surrounding the motor and on which is fixed the cover 122 by a bayonet type assembly. This fairing, in association with the chimney 124, protects the terminals 72 as well as the moving parts of the motor. It also allows to confine the noise generated by the engine.

For this purpose, the fairing advantageously comprises a multitude of openings 132 of air exhaust, these openings, of cylindrical shape, having a diameter of about 2.5 mm. According to the proposed example, the fairing comprises more than 400 openings, representing a total exit area close to 21 cm ² .

In order to further reduce the noise generated by the motor, a foam 134 is disposed in front of the openings 132, this foam being in abutment against one of the substantially vertical faces of the upper body 4. Such a foam makes it possible to absorb the noise of impact of the air against the vertical wall of the upper body, before reaching the exit 26 of the lower body 2.

As clearly visible in FIG. 4, the round shape of the fairing and the associated foam makes it possible to limit the impact noise of the air and fluidifies the flow of air at the outlet of the fairing.

This outlet is advantageously made opposite the openings 132 in order to extend the air circuit, which is favorable to the reduction of noise. An improvement of this acoustic reduction also consists in arranging a foam 136 in a support 138, in front of the air outlet 26, as shown in FIG. 4.

Advantageously, fairings and protective housings are made of unexpanded polypropylene to limit the diversity of materials used. However, it is conceivable, in the context of the invention, to use any other material having the required qualities of electrical insulation and good mechanical strength, including resistance to the penetration of a tip.

As far as expanded polypropylene is concerned, it will be used at degrees of expansion defined by the amount of material (polypropylene) per liter. It will be preferable to use contents of between 40 g and 80 g of material per liter.

Moreover, in order to facilitate the recycling of the polypropylene used, preference will be given to the use of homopolymers.

According to a second example of implementation of the invention, as shown in Figures 5 to 11, the vacuum cleaner 200 comprises a frame consisting essentially of an upper body 202 and a lower body. For the sake of highlighting the invention, the lower body has not been shown.

The upper body 202 carries a power variator 210, and two buttons 212 and 214 respectively for rewinding the cord power the engine and start or stop the engine of the vacuum cleaner.

The rounded portion at the front of the upper body is configured as a handle 218. On the upper face of the body 202 is hinged a lid 215 carrying the connection 216 of a suction pipe, not shown.

The upper body furthermore comprises a compartment 206 for the bag for filtering the air and for storing the aspirated waste, said compartment being closed at the top by the cover 215. The compartment 206 has, on its rear face 207 , airflow communication openings with the engine compartment.

The upper body 202 also carries the front wheel 230, as well as the rear wheels (not shown), and the son pass 222 to guide the power cord to the winder.

According to the invention, the motor 240 is disposed in a fairing comprising two parts: an upper part 250 covering the air inlet of the engine, and a lower part 260 covering the air outlet of the engine, as illustrated in FIG. 8. The fairing thus completely surrounds the engine and thus reduces the noise by the confinement thus generated.

Figure 11 shows the arrangement of the engine in the fairing. A seal 242 allows the sealing of air inlet of the engine inside the fairing, while a seal 252 makes it possible to seal the aeraulic connection between the compartment 206 containing the garbage bag, and the motor zone.

In addition, a seal 254 seals between the two parts of the fairing.

In addition, the lower part 260 of the fairing is pierced with a multitude of openings 262 allowing the air to leave the fairing. Faced with these openings is an absorbent member 270, such as a foam. This foam is disposed on substantially the entire path of the air from the fairing outlet to the outlet of the frame of the vacuum cleaner, this output being effected through a filter 220, HEPA type.

Advantageously, and as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, the lower fairing 260 of the engine, as well as the foam 270 and the HEPA filter 220 are arranged in a support 280 which is fixed on the upper fairing 250, said support thus constituting a second fairing, which, by the wall shown, further reduces the perceived noise outside the device.

The size and the number of openings 262 are substantially those indicated above. These openings are advantageously arranged in a network, as clearly visible in FIG. 10, whose horizontal pitch p is of the order of 6 mm and whose vertical pitch q is close to 3.5 mm. However, it may be considered a variable pitch according to the relative position of the openings relative to the air outlet of the frame of the vacuum cleaner.

Moreover, the thickness e of the fairing 260 at the openings is of the order of 4 mm, this consequent thickness making it possible to produce a laminar flow at the fairing outlet. Moreover this thickness is sufficient to conceive, in one of the improvements of the invention, frustoconical openings, that is to say widening from the inside towards the outside of the fairing, these openings, by their nozzle shape, to reduce the air outlet velocities.

According to an improvement of the invention, these openings are located on the rear and bottom faces of the lower part of the fairing, that is to say opposite the air outlet opening of the frame of the apparatus, this output being effected through the filter 220.

In operation, the air, after having passed through the filter bag then the engine, leaves the latter according to the arrow indicated in FIG. 8. It then leaves the fairing through the openings 262 before going along the absorbent element 270 to then leave the frame through the filter 220.

As is clearly visible in FIGS. 8 and 9, the air passage section, on the height, has walls of the fairing 260 is smaller for the openings which are remote from the air outlet of the frame. the device, in order to compensate for the lower air outlet velocities through these openings.

Thus, the passage section Si is lower than the passage section S ₂ , thus distributing the air flow over substantially the entire width of the faired area of the fairing. This sectional evolution is achieved by a curvature 272 given to the foam 270, allowing a progressive and linear evolution conducive to limiting turbulence and impact noise.

This more homogeneous distribution of the air flows at the outlet of this fairing thus contributes to the reduction of ventilation noise.

Figures 12 and 13 show an alternative embodiment of the engine fairing in this second implementation of the invention.

Thus, Figure 12 shows the lower part 360 of a fairing of the engine, this lower part having openings 362 whose size, number and density are substantially the same as previously described. However, the openings 362 are positioned only on the bottom wall of the lower part of the fairing, opposite the air outlet 320 of the vacuum cleaner frame, as shown in FIG. 13, which shows a sectional view. engine and associated fairings.

Thus, the engine 340 is housed in a fairing composed of an upper part 350 and a lower part 360. The air outlet openings 362 of the fairing make it possible to direct the air downwards. An absorbent material 370, as previously described, is disposed facing the openings, outside the fairing, to absorb a portion of the acoustic energy of the outgoing air flow. This material is contained in a second fairing 380 fixed to the upper part 380 of the first fairing.

As is clearly visible in FIG. 13, the air passage section at the outlet of the lower part 360 of the shroud is increasing in the direction of the air flow, in order to distribute the air flows to the through said openings, and to limit air velocity dispersions at this level

The present invention is not limited to the two implementation examples proposed and the improvements mentioned, but also encompasses all the technical equivalents of the solutions envisaged.

Claims

1. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) having a frame, inside which is housed an electric motor (240, 340) associated with a fan for creating, in operation, a suction of air from a pipe, upstream of the motor, terminated by a nozzle, to an air outlet (320) of the frame located downstream of the engine (240, 340), a filtering device being arranged on the air flow path, preferably upstream of the engine (240 , 340), the motor (240, 340) being disposed in a specific shroud (130, 260, 360), characterized in that said shroud (130, 260, 360) is pierced with a plurality of openings (132, 262, 362), representing a total area of at least 10 cm ² , each opening (132, 262, 362) of the shroud (130, 260, 360) having a surface area of between 0.75 mm ² and 40 mm ² .

2. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the openings (132, 262, 362) of the shroud (130, 260, 360) are formed in one or more walls of the shroud (130, 260, 360 ) located opposite the air outlet (320) of the vacuum cleaner frame.

3. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an absorbent material (134, 270, 370) is disposed opposite the openings (132, 262, 362) of the shroud (130, 260 360) outside said fairing.

4. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the surface of the absorbent material (134, 270, 370) vis-à-vis the openings (132, 262, 362) is at least equal to the surface of the fairing wall (s) (130, 260, 360) having the openings (132, 262, 362).

5. Vacuum cleaner (200) according to one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that the absorbent material (270, 370) is arranged at a variable distance from the wall or walls of the fairing (260, 360) having the openings (262, 362).

6. Vacuum cleaner (200) according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the section (Si, S ₂ ) passage of the air downstream of an opening (262, 362) of the shroud (260, 360), and defined through the wall of the shroud (260, 360) and the absorbent material (270, 370), is all the more important that the air outlet (320) of the vacuum cleaner frame is close to said opening (262, 362) .

7. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the absorbent material (134, 270, 370) is a foam.

8. Vacuum cleaner (200) according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the part of the shroud (260, 360) having the openings (262, 362), as well as the absorbent material (270, 370), are arranged in a fairing (280, 380) of sound insulation.

9. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the fairings (130, 260, 360) is made of polypropylene.

10. Vacuum cleaner (1, 200) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the frame is made, essentially, expanded polypropylene.