Vacuum cleaner

Abstract

An upright vacuum cleaner having a clam shell construction is disclosed. The vacuum cleaner has a main casing to which a canister body containing the dust separation apparatus and dust collection apparatus is removably mounted. The canister is separable from the main casing to facilitate emptying of the contents of the dust collection apparatus. A latching mechanism is provided to facilitate easy removal and re-attachment of the canister.

I claim:  
     
         1 . An upright vacuum cleaning device comprising: 
 (a) a canister body having a dust separation apparatus and a dust collection apparatus;    (b) a main casing having a handle extending from an upper end thereof and a cleaning head pivotally mounted to a lower end thereof; the cleaning head having a dirty air inlet in flow communication with a source of suction via a dirty air passage, the main casing having a recess for receiving the canister body; and    (c) a latching mechanism adapted to realisably retain the canister body on the main casing.    
     
     
         2 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the latching mechanism is disposed adjacent the upper end of the main casing.  
     
     
         3 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the latching mechanism includes a first portion and a second portion and wherein the first portion is insertable into the second portion and realisably retainable therein.  
     
     
         4 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the second portion includes a release apparatus for releasing the first portion from the second portion.  
     
     
         5 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the first portion is moveable between a first position and a second position and wherein said latching mechanism includes a biasing apparatus for biasing the first portion towards the first position.  
     
     
         6 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the first portion is mounted to the main casing and the second portion is mounted to the body.  
     
     
         7 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 3  wherein the first portion comprises a pawl and wherein the second portion comprises a lip.  
     
     
         8 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the release apparatus comprises a manually operable cam.  
     
     
         9 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the latching mechanism includes a handle for carrying the body when released from the main casing.  
     
     
         10 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 9  wherein the handle includes a release apparatus for releasing the body from the main casing.  
     
     
         11 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  where in the main casing houses a portion of the dirty air passage.  
     
     
         12 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the dust separation apparatus and the dust collection apparatus comprises a cyclone in a cyclone bin, the cyclone bin having an air inlet and an air outlet, and the air inlet to the cyclone bin is adjacent an upper end of the canister body and the air exit from the cyclone bin is adjacent the upper end of the canister body and the main casing houses a portion of the dirty air passage and a clean air passage, the clean air passage is in flow communication with the cyclone via the air exit when the canister body is mounted on the main casing.  
     
     
         13 . The vacuum cleaning apparatus of  claim 13  wherein the recess is concavely cylindrical.