High efficiency vacuum cleaner bags

Claim 2

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1 wherein the flashspun polyolefin sheet has a pair of opposed lateral edges and a pair of opposed transverse edges, the receptacle being formed by affixing surfaces proximate said opposed lateral and said opposed transverse edges.

Claim 3

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1 wherein the sheet contains less than about 25% of nonflashspun fibers by weight of the sheet.

Claim 4

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1 wherein the nonflashspun fibers present in the sheet are less than about 10% by weight of the sheet.

Claim 5

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1 wherein the sheet contains essentially 100% flashspun polyolefin fibers.

Claim 6

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1, 3 or 5 wherein the flashspun sheet has an air permeability of from about 2 to about 20 cfm/ft².

Claim 7

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 6 wherein the flashspun sheet is fabricated from flashspun fibers having a fiber diameter distribution in the range of from about 1 to 20 microns, a fiber length of from about 0.1 to about 6 mm, and a fiber surface area of from about 2 to 6 m²/g, the caliper of said sheet being from about 5 to 25 mil.

Claim 8

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 7 wherein the flashspun sheet has an effective pore size distribution on a cumulative percent basis essentially as follows: 1% > 30 µ, 5% > 20 µ, 90% > 10µ, and 100% < 10µ and above.

Claim 9

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 8 wherein the flashspun polyolefin fibers are selected from polyethylene and polypropylene.

Claim 10

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 8 wherein the air permeability of the flashspun sheet is from about 5 to about 12 cfm/ft².

Claim 11

A vacuum cleaner bag suitable for use with a vacuum cleaning device having, a vacuum inlet tube attachable at one end to the vacuum cleaner bag, the vacuum cleaner bag comprising a closed receptacle having a vacuum inlet tube attachment orifice, and means to support the vacuum inlet tube within said orifice, said receptacle being fabricated from a sheet containing at least 75% ultra-short, micro-fine flashspun polyolefin fibers, the sheet being of such strength as not to require further structural support means and of sufficient durability as to resist undue wearing during normal vacuuming, the vacuum cleaner bag retaining sufficient air permeability during vacuuming to maintain its cleaning capability until the vacuum cleaner bag is essentially full.

Claim 12

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 11 wherein the flashspun polyolefin fibers present in the sheet have a fiber diameter distribution in the range of from about 1 to 20 microns, a fiber length of from about 0.5 to 6 mm, and a fiber surface area of from about 2 to 6 m²/g, the caliper of said sheet being from about 5 to 20 mil.

Claim 13

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 12 wherein the air permeability of the flashspun polyolefin sheet is from about 2 to about 20 cfm/ft².

Claim 14

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 13 wherein the flashspun sheet contains less than 10% nonflashspun fibers.

Claim 15

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 13 wherein the flashspun fiber sheet contains essentially 100% flashspun fibers.

Claim 16

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claims 11, 13, 14 or 15 wherein the flashspun sheet has an effective pore size distribution on a cumulative percent basis essentially as follows: 0.1% > 30µ , 2% > 20 µ , 50% > 10µ and 100% < 10 µ above.

Claim 17

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 16 wherein the air permeability of the flashspun sheet is from about 5 to about 12 cfm/ft².

Claim 18

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 17 wherein the flashspun polyolefin fibers present in the sheet are selected from polyethylene and polypropylene.

Claim 19

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 18 wherein the flashspun fibers have a fiber diameter distribution in the range of from about 0.5 to 10 microns, a fiber length of from about 0.5 to about 2 mm, and a fiber surface area of from about 3.5 to 6 m²/g, the caliper of the sheet being from about 8 to about 15 mils.

Claim 20

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 11, 14 or 15 wherein the flashspun polyolefin fibers present in the sheet are polyethylene.

Claim 21

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 11 wherein the receptacle is fabricated from a sheet that is a single ply.

Claim 22

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 11 wherein the receptacle is fabricated from a sheet that is two-ply.

Claim 23

The vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 11 or 15 wherein the said bag is capable of reuse.

Claim 24

A method of vacuuming a surface to be cleaned comprising attaching the vacuum cleaner bag of Claim 1 or 11 to a vacuum inlet tube in a vacuuming cleaning device, and vacuuming said surface.

Claim 25

The method of Claim 24 wherein the vacuum cleaning device is an upright or canister vacuum cleaner.

Claim 26

The method of Claim 24 wherein the vacuum cleaning device is a central vacuum cleaning system.