GB2497632A

GB2497632A - Dust collector

Info

Publication number: GB2497632A
Application number: GB1220314.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kazunori Hattori; Fuzhi Zhang; Zhiqiang Lv
Original assignee: Makita Corp
Current assignee: Makita Corp
Priority date: 2011-12-13
Filing date: 2012-11-12
Publication date: 2013-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 2032-11-12
Also published as: DE202012011528U1; JP5808660B2; GB201220314D0; GB2497632B; JP2013123471A; CN203018422U

Abstract

A dust collector 1 such as a vacuum cleaner, in which a main body 8 accommodating a suction unit is mounted on top of a tank 4 and a power cord C and hose H are connected to the tank 4 or the main body 8 comprises a hook 30 provided on a side face of the main body 8, as a storage area from which both the hose H and the power cord C can be hung. In addition, a hole 50 may be formed in an end part of the hook 30 so that an upper area and both side areas of the hook 30 surrounding the hole 50 can be used as a grip. Thus, the hook 30 serves as a handle. Preferably a step part 46 is provided in an inner bottom face of the hook 30 to hang the power cord (C) therefrom.

Description

DUST COLLECTOR

The present invention relates to a dust collector which is usable when connected to an electric power tool.

In a dust collector, an upper side of a tank having a suction port is closed by a main body which includes an air intake unit formed by a motor-driven suction fan. The dust collector is provided with a power cord which supplies power for the motor drive and a hose that is connected to the suction port. The power cord and the hose left drawn out after used may be obstacles when the dust collector is moved.

In order to prevent such obstacles, the power cord and the hose are brought together with the tank or the main body.

In this regard, Japanese Utility Model Examined Publication No. 36-28840 discloses an electric vacuum cleaner in which an attachment receiver attached to a main body thereof includes a groove having a U-shaped cross section for a power cord.

When the attachment receiver is used as a hose receiver, a hose and a power cord can be retained in a dust collector, respectively.

However, in the vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Examined Publication No. 36-28840, since an attachment and the power cord arc accommodated in different parts of the attachment receiver, respectively, the attachment receiver projects farther than the part where the electric cord is wound up. Therefore, the external size of the vacuum cleaner becomes large.

Further, in the vacuum cleaner disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Examined Publication No. 36-28840, the attachment receiver projects, which causes difficulties in handling the attachment receiver and so on when the vacuum cleaner is moved.

Furthermore, the attachment receiver is provided, which may be obstacles when the electric cord and/or the hose are used.

Therefore, an aim of the present invention is to provide a dust collector achieving compact storage of a power cord and a hose, which results good operability.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aim, according to a first aspect of the present invention, a dust collector is provided in which a main body accommodating a suction unit is mounted on a top of a tank, and a hose and a power cord are connected to the tank or the main body Further, the dust collector includes a hook which is provided on a side face of the main body, and from which both the hose and the power cord can be hung.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to the first aspect, a horizontal hole is provided in the hook in a projecting direction thereof According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a step part is provided in an inner bottom face of the hook from which the power cord can be hung.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a projecting part which projects downward is provided in a lower part of the hook on an end side thereof.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a vertical hole or a depressed portion is formed in the lower part of the hook in a vertical direction and is opened downward.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a vertical groove is formed on a rear side of the lower part of the hook in the vertical direction.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a rear face of the hook is formed as a flat surface.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a front-to-rear width of the step part is almost same as a width of the power cord which is wound in ioops.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the dust collector according to any one of the above aspects, a depth of the step part is almost same as a height of the power cord which is wound in loops.

According to the first, sixth, and seventh aspects of the present invention, the hook is provided to be used in common from which the hose and the power cord can be hung. Therefore, the hose and the power cord are not be obstacles when a dust collector with the hose and the power cord is moved. Therefore, a compact dust collector having good handling can be provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the horizontal hole is provided in the hook, and an upper side thereof is gripped through the horizontal hole, a hand can be put through the horizontal hole and grip an upper side thereof, thus enabling the hook to function as a handle as well. Hence, in addition to the effect mentioned above, handling of the dust collector can be improved further. Since the horizontal hole can be used to have the power cord and so on, the power cord and so on can be easily placed when used or stored.

Moreover, according to the third, eighth, and ninth aspects of the present invention, the step part is provided in the bottom surface of the hook. Therefore, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the stored location of the power code (the hose) can be recognized. When the power cord (the hose) wound in loops is stored, a top of the stored power cord (the hose) is almost flat and it is thus easy to store the bose (the power cord) therein.

Further, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the projecting part is provided in the lower face of the hook. Therefore, in addition to the foregoing effects, when the projecting part can be gripped, the hook serves as a grip as well.

In addition, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the vertical hole or the depressed portion is formed in the lower part of the hook in the vertical direction and is opened downward. Therefore, in addition to the aforementioned effects, a hand can be put into the vertical hole or the depressed portion, thus a grip part to be easily and firmly gripped is provided in the hook.

An example of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained below based on the drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dust collector according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a backside view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a dust collector 1, FIG. 2 is a right side view thereof, FIG 3 is a backside view thereof; FIG. 4 is a top view thereof; and FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway vertical cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

The dust collector 1 includes a tank 4 which is open on top and has a suction port 2 (see FIG. 5) on a front side thereof, and a main body 8 which is mounted on top of the tank 4 and accommodates an air intake unit 6 (sec FIG. 5). A hose H is attached to the suction port 2 in a detachable fashion.

A base 9 which supports the tank 4 with casters is arranged around a lower part of the tank 4.

The air intake unit 6 includes a motor 12 in which a rotating shaft 10 faces downward, and a suction fan 14 which is fixed to the rotating shaft 10. The motor 12 is electrically connected to a power cord C, which is fixed to the main body 8, through a non-illustrated circuit in the main body 8.

The main body 8 includes a cowling (housing) 16 to which the air intake unit 6, a U-shaped handle 18 and so on are attached, and further includes an air intake port 20 which is lbrmed on a lower part of the suction fan 14. The handle 18 is arranged on a top thee of the cowling 16, and able to rotate from a standing state to a flat stored state.

Inaddilion,anairpathway22isfbrmedbctwecnasideoftheairintakcunit6andan innersideofthemainbody8andsuppliesairfromtheairintakeunit6intothemain body 8. A filter 23 is attached to a lower part of the air intake port 20.

The top face of the cowling 16 is entirely flat including a top thee of the handle 18 stored therein. A dial-operated on/off switch 24, and a connecting part for interlocked power supply 26 having a cap fbr connecting a power cord of an electric power tool are provided on the front face of the cowling 16 (see FIG 4).

Further, a hook 30 is provided in a back of the main body 8 (cowling 16), projecting from the rear-side face thereof The hook 30 includes a hook lower part 32 which extends rearward from near the center in a right and left direction of a base (lower part) of the cowling 16, and a hook upper part 34 which is arranged on top of the hook lower part 32 and is i-shaped in a side view; as shown in FIG 2.

The hook lower part 32 has a vertical hole 40 formed in the height direction (vertical direction) in the center thereof, and a plurality of (two) vertical grooves 42 fbrmed on a rear side thereof in the same direction. A rear side portion of the vertical hole 40 is formed as a projecting part 43 which projects downward with respect to a front side portion thereof.

The hook upper part 34 includes a horizontal base part 44, a step part 46 and a standing part 48. The horizontal base part 44 projects horizontally m the rear side faccofthemainbody8witharoundcomer.Thestcppart4ótothehorizontalbasepart 44 is provided on a rear side face of the horizontal base part 44 and extends in a horizontal direction. An upper face of the step part 46 is hollowed downward. The standing part 48 is provided on a rear side face of the step part 46 in a manner that the upper fitce of the step part 46 is continuously connected with a front face of the standing part 48. The standing part 48 extends upward. The area flxm an upper lice of the horizontal base part 44 through the inner face of the step part 46 of the hook upper part 34 forms an inner bottom face of the hook 30.

A corner between the horizontal base part 44 and the step part 46 and the corner between the step part 46 and the standing part 48 are rounded.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the front-to-rear width of the step part 46 is almost same as a width of the power cord C of the dust collector 1, which is wound in loops above the base 9, and the depth (height) of the step part 46 is almost same as a height of the power cord C wound in loops (the dimension in the radial direction of the circle).

Further, the front-to-rear width of the horizontal base part 44 and the step part 46 as a whole and the depth of the horizontal base part 44 are respectively almost same as the front-to-rear width and height of the hose H of the dust collector 1, which is wound in loops like the power cord C. It should be noted depictions of the cross sections of the lower parts of the circles of the hose H and the power cord C are omitted in FIG. 5.

Moreover, an upper end of the standing part 48 is as high as the top face of the main body 8, and a horizontal hole 50 is formed from the center through the lower side portion of the standing part 48 and is open in the front-to-rear direction (and downward).

In other words, the standing part 48 has an inverted U shape when viewed from the back, and the horizontal hole 50 surrounded by the standing part 48 and the hook lower part 32 is located in the hook 30 in the front-to-rear direction (the direction in which the hook 30 projects).

Furthermore, rear faces of the standing part 48 and the hook lower part 32 (excluding the vertical grooves 42) are leveled evenly with each other to be flat as a whole. In other words, the rear face of the hook 30 is formed as a flat surface.

An example of the operation of this type of dust collector I will be described below.

After the power cord C is connected to a power source and the hose H is joined to the suction port 2, the on/off switch 24 is turned on. Then, the motor 12 is driven and the suction fan 14 rotates, and air is suctioned from outside into the tank 4 through the hose H and the like.

Air suctioned into the tank 4 goes through the filter 23 and reaches the air intake port 20. Thereafter, air is flown to the air pathway 22 in the cowling 16 and is discharged from exhaust ports provided in various parts of the cowling 16. When air is suetioned, dust in the air is captured by the filter 23 and stored in the tank 4.

When the hose H which suetions air as described above is connected to an electric power tool such as a circular saw, chips produced while using the electric power tool can be collected and prevented from scattering.

To stop collecting dusts after the electric power tool is used, the on/off switch 24 is turncd off to stop air suction, and the hose H and the power cord C arc disconnected.

The power cord C disconnected from the power source is wound in loops and hung from the step part 46 of the hook 30. A part of the power cord C may also be passed through at least any one of the vertical grooves 42. Further, when a part of the power cord C near the end thereof is passed through the vertical groove 42, it becomes especially easy to hold the plug at the end of the power cord C. Alternatively, the power cord C may be wound in loops by hanging one round of the cord after another on the step part 46.

The hose H disconnected from the electric power tool and the suction port 2 is hung from the space between the horizontal base part 44 and the step part 46 (where the power cord C is stored) of the hook 30, in other words, between the rear face of the main body 8 and the standing part 48 of the hook 30, in a similar way to hang the power cord C. Furthermore, when maintenance is done for the main body 8 such as detaching/attaching of the filter 23, the main body 8 disconnected from the tank 4 may be placed sideways with the flat rear face of the hook 30 facing down.

Further, when the dust collector 1 is moved, a part above the horizontal hole 50, a lower part of the vertical hole 40 and so on can be gripped instead of or together with the handle 18. Moreover, the lower rear side of the vertical hole 40 protrudes downward and has a sufficient thickness as a gripping part when gripping the lower part of the vertical hole 40.

In the aforementioned dust collector 1, the hook 30 is provided in the side face (rear face in the present embodiment) of the main body 8 as a storage area from which both the hose H and the power cord C can be hung.

Therefore, the hose H and the power cord C can be stored in the same hook 30 together, and the dust collector 1 can thus bc provided which is compact and can be handled easily even when the hose H and the power cord C are stored therein.

Further, the hook 30 ftinctions as a (second) handle because the horizontal hole is formed in an end part (rear part in the present embodiment) of thc hook 30 so that a part of the hook 30 surrounding the horizontal hole 50 can be gripped. Hence, the hook is able to flinction as storage for the hose H and the power cord C as well as a handle, and the dust collector I is thus compact but still able to have multiple functions and be handled easily Moreover, since the step part 46 is provided on the inner bottom face of the hook 30 for hanging the power cord C, it is easy to recognize a storage area for tbe power cord C provided close to a storage area for the hose H, thus improving operability In additioa, the power cord C is stored on the inner bottom face of the hook 30 ia such a manner that the step part 46 is filled by the power cord C wound in loops. Therefore, top of the stored power cord C becomes almost flat, and the hose H can be stored easily, thus improving handling of the hose H. Further, the projecting part 43 projecting downward from the hook lower part is provided on the end side thereof Therefore, handling is improved when the main body 8 and so on is lifted by gripping the projecting part 43.

In addition, the vertical hole 40 is formed in the vertical direction through the lower part of the hook 30 and is open downward so that the vertical hole 40 can be used to hold the main body 8. Hence, it becomes possible to hold the main body 8 and the like even more firmly It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and includes modification examples explained below respectively With regard to the hook, the hook may be H-shaped in a side view the hook may be arranged on a side face of the main body other than the rear face thereof, dimensions of the bottom surface and the steps of the hook may be changed, the vertical hole, the horizontal hole, the vertical grooves and the projecting part on the lower side of the hook may be omitted, the hook may be formed without being separated into the hook upper part and the hook lower part or may be formed from three or more parts, the number of the vertical hole, the horizontal hole, and the vertical grooves may be changed, the height of the standing part may be changed, and the rear face of the standing part may not be flat. Further, the gripping part in the hook lower part may be provided as a depressed portion instead of the vertical hole, and a plurality of hooks may be provided.

It is explicitly stated that all features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention independent of the composition of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. It is explicitly stated that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original disclosure as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed invention, in particular as limits of value ranges.