EP0420265B1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Vacuum cleaner
Assignee: Hitachi Ltd
•
Filing: 1990-09-28
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Granted: 1994-03-02
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Expires: 2010-09-28
Abstract
No abstract record available.
Inventors
- 👤 Hidetoshi Sakurai
- 👤 Gorou Sasai
- 👤 Kouiti Sagawa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 22:49
CPC Classifications
A; A47; A47L; A47L5/00; A47L5/12; A47L5/22; A47L9/00; A47L9/28; A47L9/2889; A47L5/36; A47L5/362; A47L9/009; A47L9/2805; A47L9/2821
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 22
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A vacuum cleaner comprising a cleaner body (1) to which an intake hose (11) is connectable; a traveling member (55, 55a) for enabling the traveling of said cleaner body; and an obstacle-avoiding angularly-movable member (45) angularly movably mounted on said cleaner body (1); a dust collector chamber (5) being formed in a front portion of said cleaner body (1); an electrically-operated fan (32) being provided in a rear portion of said cleaner body, characterized by said angularly-movable member (45) being so arranged as to be angularly movable around an outer wall of said dust collector chamber (5); and part of said angularly-movable member (45) being projected from a front face of said cleaner body (1) and front side surfaces of said cleaner body (1).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
50 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that said traveling member (55, 55a) comprises a pair of front casters (55) and a pair of rear casters (55a), said angularly-movable member (45) being disposed below a position where said intake hose (11) is connected to said cleaner body (1).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said angularly-movable member (45) also comprises a cushioning member (47), at least an outer wall of said cushioning member being projected from said cleaner body (1).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
59 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said angularly-movable member has the shape of a disk (45), ends formed respectively at the front side portions of said cleaner body (1) for the entrance and exit for said angularly-movable member (45) being disposed rearwardly of the axis of angular movement of said disk.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 4, characterized in that the outer diameter of said disk is substantially equal to the maximum transverse width of said cleaner body (1).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
49 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said angularly-movable member (45) has angular movement angle-limiting means (3a1, 3a2, 3a3, 3a4) for setting the angle of angular movement of said angularly-movable member (45) to a range of between 60 ° to 180 °.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
50 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the axis of angular movement of said angularly-movable member (45) is displaced toward the front side of said cleaner body (1) from a vertical line passing through the center of gravity of said cleaner body (1).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
68 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said intake hose (11) is disposed substantially on the centerline of the transverse width of said cleaner body (1), when viewed from the top of said cleaner body, the shape of that portion of said angularly-movable member (45) projected from said cleaner body being substantially symmetrical right and left with respect to said centerline.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
75 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that a rotation shaft (18) on which a plurality of mounting pieces mounted on a lid member (6) closing a top opening of the dust collector chamber (5) and a plurality of mounting pieces mounted on an inner lid (8) of said lid member (6) are fitted is angularly movably mounted on a mounting portion (19) formed on said cleaner body (1).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 9, characterized in that there is provided a clamp (13) for retaining said lid member (6) on said cleaner body (1), an operating button (14) for said clamp having in its surface a recess indicating the position of pressing of said button (14).
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
60 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said intake hose (11) is angularly movably connected to said lid member (6), that portion of said intake hose connected to said lid member being disposed closer to the front end of said cleaner body than a vertical axis of rotation of each of said front casters (55).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
68 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the front face of said cleaner body (1) has a curved shape, the external shape of the front face of said cleaner body (1) being substantially similar to the external shape of that portion of said angularly-movable member (45) projected from said cleaner body, when viewed from the top of said cleaner body (1).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
26 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that said angularly-movable member (45) is angularly movable about a substantially vertical axis.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
72 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, characterized in that said cleaner further comprises return means (50) by which when said angularly-movable member (45) is angularly moved in one direction upon collision with an obstacle on a surface to be cleaned, such as a floor, and is moved away from said obstacle, said angularly movable member (45) is angularly returned to its initial position in a direction opposite to said one direction.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
43 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that said cleaner body comprises a pair of upper and lower split cases (2, 3), a soft material (4) being integrally molded on an entire surface of said upper case.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
57 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 15, characterized in that said upper case (2) is made of a synthetic resin having a Rockwell hardness of 50 to 80, said soft material (4) having a rubber Shore hardness of 30 to 40, and said soft material (4) having a thickness of about 1.5 mm to about 3.5 mm.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
68 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that said electrically-operated fan (32) is incorporated in a motor case (29), said motor case (29) being incorporated in a lower case cover (38), said lower case cover (38) being mounted on an inner bottom of said lower case (3), thereby forming an exhaust passage (39) between said lower case cover (38) and said lower case (3).
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 17, characterized in that a fine dust-arresting filter (43) is mounted in said exhaust passage.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
81 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 18, characterized in that said intake hose (11) is disposed substantially on the centerline of the transverse width of said cleaner body (1) when viewed from the top of said cleaner body, a downwardly-opening recess (56a) being formed in the front central portion of said cleaner body to provide a handle portion (56) and a hose stand retainer (57) for retaining said intake hose (11) being formed at said handle portion.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
66 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 19, characterized in that when an engaging piece mounted on an extension pipe (58) continuous with said intake hose (11) is engaged with said hose stand retainer (57), an outermost periphery of a suction member (59) connected to said extension pipe (58) is disposed substantially in registry with the outermost periphery of the rear face of said cleaner body (1).
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
53 words
A vacuum cleaner according to claim 19 or 20, characterized in that a handle holder lid (65) is mounted on the inner bottom of said recess (56a), an upper wall of said handle holder lid (65) also serving as a roller guide plate for guiding a roller mounted on said angularly-movable member (45).
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
114 words
A vacuum cleaner according to any of claims 1 to 21, characterized in that a shape-maintaining dust collector container (24) capable of arresting fine dust is received within a dust collector chamber (5) of said cleaner body (1), said dust collector container (24) being drawable from an opening (71) of said dust collector chamber (5), and an elastic support (70) for guiding a pressure of the air, filtered through said dust collector container (24), to a pressure sensor (69) mounted in the lid member (6) closing the opening of said dust collector chamber (5) being formed integrally with a seal packing mounted on the edge of the opening of said dust collector container (24).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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