US2933152A - Central vacuum cleaning unit - Google Patents

Description

April 1960 A. A. CARPENTER ETAL 2,933,152

CENTRAL VACUUM CLEANING UNIT Filed July 18, 1958 mwHl .r :1 na.

INVENTORS flwefiifm pemia iz W ATTORNEYS 2,933,152 CENTRAL VACUUM CLEANING UNIT Arvell A. Carpenter, and James R. Ferguson, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application July 18, 1958, Serial No. 749,424

3 Claims. (Cl. 183-37) The present invention relates in general to cleaning apparatus, and more particularly to vacuum cleaning apparatus designed especially for central built-in cleaning systems.

Portable home vacuum cleaners have been in wide use for many years for domestic and building cleaning purposes. These portable cleaners as produced are primarily of two basic types, namely the bag type and the tank type. The bag type conventionally includes a wheel supported cleaning head or brush having a motor-driven impeller or fan incorporated therein, a handle pivoted to the cleaning head, and a collecting bag removably supported at one end on the handle and coupled at the other end to the exhaust duct of the impeller. The tank type conventionally employs an elongated horizontal or upright tank adapted to rest on the floor, having the motordriven impeller and a collecting bag housed within the tank and inlet and exhaust openings. The cleaning heads or cleaning attachments are supported on one end of a tubular handle and a flexible hose extends from the other end of the handle to the inlet opening of the tank.

Both of these basic types of portable vacuum cleaners must be moved from room to room and the electrical supply cord providing current for the motor-driven impeller must be coupled to and uncoupled from the electrical convenience outlets in the various rooms as the cleaner is so moved. cleaners, the dust-laden air drawn in through the cleaning head by the impeller is discharged into the same room in which the cleaner is used, after varying amounts of dust and dirt are filtered out by the walls of the collecting bag. Also, the etfective suction at the cleaninghead produced by the impeller diminishes rapidly during the initial stages of use of the cleaner, due to the collection of dust and dirt on the walls of the collecting bag in the path of the air being drawn through the cleaner and the rapid reduction in the porosity in the walls of the collecting bag produced by this accumulation of dust and dirt.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a novel vacuum cleaning apparatus for use in association with a ducting system extending to a plurality of rooms to be cleaned, wherein the vacuum cleaning apparatus may be located remote from the rooms while the cleaning attachments may be removably coupled to outlets of the ducting system in the rooms.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a central vacuum cleaning apparatus for use in built-in domestic cleaning systems, wherein means are provided for separating the dust and direct collected by the cleaning head out of the suction air stream to minimize reduction of the effective suction at the cleaning head by accumulation of such dust and dirt.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel vacuum cleaning central unit for use in built-in domestic vacuum cleaning systems wherein the motor for driving the motor-driven impeller is isolated.

from the air stream through which the dirt and dust In both of these basic types of drawn in through the suction head is entrained to protect the motor against contamination.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel vacuum cleaning central unit for use in built-in central vacuum cleaning systems, wherein the components may be readily separated to clean the parts and disposed of collected dirt and dust.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing illustrating one preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical section view of a central vacuum cleaning unit embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal transverse section view taken along the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section view of the impeller structure; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal transverse section view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1 illustrating the filter in top plan view.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures, the central vacuum cleaner unit, indicated generally by the reference character it), normally will be disposed ina shed externally of a house, in a garage or other location wherein the air discharged from the unit 10 may be dissipated to outside air. The unit is housed in a generally cylindrical casing 11 having an upper section 12 and a lower section 13 which are separable from each other and are removably secured together in vertical axial alignment by conventional toggle looks or latches 14. The lower casing section 13 is in the form ofan upwardly opening receptacle designed to receive and collect dust and dirt drawn into the unit 14 Supported atthe center of the circular bottom 15 of the lower casing,

section 13 is an upright tubular post or pipe having a flange collar 17 at the upper end thereof. A stem or shaft 18 telescopically extends into the tubular post 16 and is provided with an enlarged head 18 at the upper end thereof. The stem 18 removably supports in spaced relation above the bottom 15 a filter cap 19 which is in the form of a circular disk which may be, for example, 20 gage steel, having a plurality of perforations extending throughout its area, for example inch holes spaced 1 inches from center to center, and a filter member 20. The filter member 20 is formed of channel-shaped annular inner and outer rings 21, 22 between which extends a packing of aluminum cloth 23 sandwiched between upper and lower wire mesh members 24 having about /s inch openings. The inner ring 21 of the filter 20 and the filter cap 19 are each provided with a central opening to receive the stem 18 and are adapted to be mounted on the stem 18 and shifted upwardly until they engage the head 18', and held in this position by a washer 25 and a coil spring 26 surrounding the stem 18 and extending The upper section 12 of the casing 11 has a flanged inlet opening 30 and a flanged exhaust opening 31 spaced vertically above the inlet opening 30 extending through the side wall thereof. A transverse partition 32 extends entirely across the upper casing section 12 and is located vertically between the inlet opening 30 and exhaust opening 31. The transverse partition 32 is provided with a large cylindrical opening 33 in the center thereof. for housing an impeller assembly generally indicated at 34, and depending from the transverse partition 32 is a vacuum stack or cylinder 35 having its upper end fixed to the transverse partition 32 and an annular lower 11p 36 carrying a resilient gasket 37 adapted to tightly embrace the periphery of the filter cone 27 at the lower limit of the zone of perforations 29 so as to seal the juncture of the stack 35 with the filter cone 27 against passage of air, and thus restrict air flow into the vacuum stack 35 to air drawn through the filter 20 and perforations 29.

The impeller assembly 34 includes a plurality of dr ven impeller blades 38a, 33b and 38c each fixed to a driven shaft 39 extending through a bearing 40 in a transverse wall =41 and depending from an electric motor 42 disposed above the transverse wall 41 and fixed to the domeshaped top 43 of the casing 1L- The impeller blades each comprise a disk-shaped base 44 which is perforated at its center to snugly accommodate the driven shaft 39 and a plurality of depending vanes 45 which extend from near the center of the impeller blade to one peripheral edge thereof along tangents to a circle concentric with the driven shaft 3'9 and having a slightly greater radius than the radius of the shaft 39. The configuration of the depending vanes 45 is illustrated in Figure 2.

Cooperating with the impeller blades 38a, 38b and 380 are stationary diverters 45 and 47 which comprise an upper annular wall 48 fixed at its outer periphery to the transverse partition 32 and having a central opening 49 surrounding the driven shaft 39 and spaced therefrom, a lower annular wall 50 having its outer periphery corresponding to the outer periphery of the base 44 of the impeller blades 38a, 38b and 380 and of smaller diameter than the cylindrical opening 33 in the transverse part1- tion 32, and vertically disposed vanes 51 which extend from the bounding surface of the cylindrical opening 33 inwardly to a point spaced from the driven shaft 39 along paths corresponding to the paths of the vanes 45. A bafile 52 which isrcentrally apertured at 53 to provide an inlet opening for drawing air upwardly into the lower impeller 380 from the vacuum stack 35, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 3, is carried on the lower surface of the transverse partition 32.

It will be noted that the transverse wall 41 defines the upper limit of the space within the casing 11 in which the air drawn by the impeller assembly 34 may flow, and forms the bottom closure for a motor compartment 54 within which the electric motor is provided with a fan 55 disposed above the bearing 40 in the wall 4110 effect ventilation of the motor 42, the air which is drawn through the opening 56 in the top of the casing 43 beingcirculated in isolated relation to the air below the wall 41 and discharged from the casing 11 through the annular series of ventilating openings 57 formed in the side wall of the upper casing section 12 immediately above the transverse wall 41. I

In initially assembling the central cleaning unit 10, assuming the upper casing section 12 to be removed from the lower casing section 13 and the parts dissembled, the filter cap 19, filter 20, washer 25 and coil spring 26 will be assembled in that order onto the stem 18 and the stem 18 inserted into the bore of the tubular post 16. The filter cone 27 will then be fitted over the periphery of thefilter 20, and the upper casing section 12 lowered into position over the lower section 13. Upon the lowering of the upper casing section 12 onto the section 13, the gasket lined lip 36 of the vacuum stack 35 will engage the surface of the filter cone 27 in approximately the position illustrated in Figure 1 and form a sealing contact therewith. The latter stages of movement of the upper casing section 12 into locked relation with the lower section 13 may result in some compression of the spring 26 as the lip 36 of the vacuum stack 35 forces the filtercone 27 downwardly to a slight degree. The toggle locks or latches 14 will then be adjusted to latched,

position and a flexible conduit connecting with the builtin conduit system in the home or building will be secured to the flanged inlet opening 30, and a flexible exhaust conduit will be secured to the exhaust opening 31 to discharge the exhaust air to some desired outside location. It will be understood that the built-in conduit sys' tem in the home or building consists of a series of conduits extending from a wall near the location of the central cleaning unit 10 to the various rooms of the building and suitable convenience outlets will be provided in a wall of each of the rooms to provide a separable sealing connection with a flexible hose to the other end of which conventional cleaning attachments may be.

connected.

Upon energization of the electric motor 42, the impeller blades 38a, 3% and 31% will be driven through the shaft 39 to draw air into the casing through the inlet opening 39, as indicated by the arrows 58, thence downwardly into the lower casing section 13 about the liplfi of the filter cone 27 and the periphery of the filter 2 0 and upwardly through the filter 20, as indicated by the arrow 59. Upon passage through the filter 20, the air is drawn through the perforations 29 near the apex ofthe V filter cap 27 and through the vertical vacuum stack 35,

as indicated by the arrows 60, into the opening 53 in the battle 52 at the transverse partition 32, as indicated by the arrows 61. The air is forced outwardly along the vanes 45 of the lowermost impeller blade 38c, thence up-, wardly about the outer peripheries of the lowermost i111 peller blade base 44 and lower diverter wall 50, thence,

inwardly along the diverter vanes 51 and upwardly through the opening 49 defined between the inner edge, of the upper diverter wall 48 and the surface of the driven shaft 39 and outwardly again in a similar cycle through the next impeller blade 38b. This radially outwardly and then inwardly cycling of the air is repeated through the next stationary diverter 46 and the uppermost impeller blade 38a and the air is discharged into the space between the upper surface of the transverse partitionIIiZ and the transverse wall 41 from which it is exhausted through the exhaust opening 31. A great portion of the dust and dirt which is entrained in the air drawn in through the inlet opening 30 falls under the force of gravity into the lower portion of the lower casing secair stream to minimize the building up of a layer of such dust and dirt particles across the duct through which 7 the air is drawn which would appreciably reduce the sue-- tion generated by the impellers 34 as operation con tinues.

Also, due to the presence of the transverse wall 41 isolating the motor compartment 54 from the chambers, within the casing 1 1 through which the vacuum stream flows, clean air from externally of the casing 11 may be drawn in through the opening 56 in the dome-shaped top 43 and about the motor 42 by the fan 55 and discharged through the openings 57, and the motor will beprotected against any contamination by residual dust in the air" discharged by the impellers 38a, 38b and 38c.

As a practical matter, a 1% horsepower single' phase" A.C. motor running at about 15,000 r.p.m. may be prace tically employed in this unit and will provide about four toseven times the suction available in conventional domestic V vacuum cleaner units. Thus, not only is a much-greatercleaning suction made available by this system, but thesuction which is produced is not rapidly diminished, as it is in conventional vacuum cleaners bythe production of a baflie of rapidly diminishing porosity across the air stream due to the accumulation of dust and dirt particles.- While only one preferred embodiment of the invention :7

has been particularly shown and described, it is apparent that other modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and it is desired, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art and are set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Suction cleaning apparatus comprising a vertically elongated cylindrical casing including a separable upwardly opening drum-shaped lower section having a horizontal bottom wall forming a dirt collecting receptacle, vertically spaced inlet and exhaust openings in said casing above said lower section, partition means extending across said casing intermediate said inlet and exhaust openings defining an upper discharge chamber and a lower inlet chamber communicating with said inlet and exhaust openings respectively, rotatable impeller means incorporated in said partition means, an air pervious filter member, means extending upwardly from the bottom wall of said lower section for supporting said filter member in a horizontal position with a surface of said filter incident to air flow facing downwardly, a conically shaped member removably supported on said filter member having a portion adapted to removably frictionally embrace the periphery of said filter member and an upwardly pointed apex above said filer member, said conically shaped member having a perforated zone immediately adjacent said apex, a cylindrical duct depending from said partition means into sealing engagement with the surface of said conically shaped member immediately below the perforated zone thereof, said cylindrical duct and said conically shaped member dividing the interior of said easing into an inner uptake stack extending from the uppermost surface of said filter member through the interior of said conically shaped member and said cylindrical duct and communicating with said impeller means and an outer annular downtake chamber, whereby air is drawn by said impeller means inwardly through said inlet opening and downwardly through said downtake chamher about the periphery of said filter member and thence upwardly through said filter member and said uptake chamber to cause gravity discharge of heavy dirt and dust particles from the dust-laden air within said lower section to fall onto said bottom wall and collect in said removable lower section.

2. Suction cleaning apparatus comprising a vertically elongated cylindrical casing having separable upper and lower sections, said lower section comprising an upwardly opening drum-shaped receptacle having a bottom wall and forming a separation chamber, said upper section having an upper motor compartment and a lower compartment, said lower compartment having vertically spaced inlet and exhaust openings, partition means extending across said lower compartment intermediate said inlet and exhaust openings and having an opening therein, rotatable impeller means in said opening of said partition means for drawing air inwardly through said inlet opening and discharging air through said exhaust opening, a cylindrical air filter member, means extending upwardly from the bottom wall of said receptacle supporting said cylindrical filter member in vertically spaced parallelism with said bottom wall, a. conical member having a lower lip adapted to removably frictionally embrace the periphery of said filter member, an upwardly pointed apex spaced vertically above said filter member, and a perforated zone immediately adjacent said apex, a cylindrical duct depending from said partition means into sealing engagement with the surface of said conicalmember immediately below the perforated zone thereof to separate the interior of said casing into an inner uptake stack extending from the uppermost surface of said filter member through the interior of said conical member and the perforations thereof and communicating with said impeller means and an outer annular downtake chamber between the walls of said duct and said casing to direct air flow from said inlet opening downwardly about the periphery of said filter member and said conical member and into said separation chamber and then upwardly through said filter member and said uptake stack and eiiect gravity separation of heavier dust and dirt from the dirt-laden air, said upper compartment of said casing having a motor therein for driving said impeller means, second partition means spaced vertically above said first mentioned partition and below said motor to separate said motor compartment from said lower compartment and isolate the motor from air currents produced by said impeller means.

3. Suction cleaning apparatus comprising a vertically elongated cylindrical casing including a separable upwardly opening drum-shaped lower section having a horizontal bottom wall forming a dirt collecting receptacle, vertically spaced inlet and exhaust openings in said casing above said lower section, partition means extending across said casing intermediate said inlet and exhaust openings defining an upper discharge chamber and a lower inlet chamber communicating with said inlet and exhaust openings respectively, rotatable impeller means incorporated in said partition means, an air pervious filter member, a tubular post extending upwardly from the bottom wall of said lower section, a spindle extending entrally htrough said filter member and depending below the same into sliding elescope relation with said post to removably support said filter member in a horizontal position with a surface of said filter incident to air fiow facing downwardly, a conical member removably supported on said filter member having a portion adapted to removably irictionally embrace the periphery of said filter member and an upwardly pointed apex above said filter member, said conical member having a perforated zone immediately adjacent said apex, a cylindrical duct depending from said partition means having an annular lower lip, a coil spring surrounding said spindle and bearing at opposite ends against said post and said filter member to resiliently urge said com cal member carried by said filter member into sealing contact with said lower lip below said perforated zone, said cylindrical duct and said conical member dividing the interior of said casing into an inner uptake stack extending from the uppermost surface of said filter member through the interior of said conical member and said cylindrical duct and communicating with said impeller means and an outer annular downtak-e chamber for directing air drawn by said impeller means inwardly through said inlet opening and downwardly through said downtake chamber about the periphery of said filter member and thence upwardly through said filter member and said uptake chamber to cause gravity discharge of heavy dirt and dust particles from the dust-laden air within said lower section to fall onto said bottom wall and collect in said removable lower section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,021,298 Forsberg Nov. 19, 1935 2,143,144 Fagerberg Jan. 10, 1939 2,397,980 Petri Apr. 9, 1946 2,719,596 Kent Oct. 4, 1955

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