Dust and dirt collecting unit for vacuum cleaner

Abstract

The present invention relates to a dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner capable of simultaneously performing a primary cyclonic dust collection and a secondary filter dust collection. The dust and dirt collecting unit of the present invention is arranged on one side of the vacuum cleaner for filtering air containing foreign materials. The dust and dirt collecting unit includes a dust casing which has an inlet formed tangentially on the dust casing with an open top portion. A cover may be arranged for opening and closing the top portion of the dust casing. An outlet is provided at the center of the cover for discharging air from which the foreign materials have been filtered out. A filter assembly installed at a bottom surface of the cover corresponding to the outlet and including a cylindrical filter of which the interior communicates with the outlet, and a separating plate which is coupled with a bottom portion of the filter assembly and extends radially to be spaced apart from an inner circumferential surface of the dust casing by a predetermined gap.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner, adapted to be mounted to a main body of the vacuum cleaner, for filtering suctioned air containing foreign materials, comprising: 
 a dust casing with a bottom and side surfaces and an open top portion;    an inlet formed tangentially to the side surface of the dust casing for introducing air into the dust casing;    a cover for opening and closing the top portion of the dust casing, the cover having an outlet for discharging air from which the foreign materials have been substantially filtered out;    a filter assembly attached to a bottom surface of the cover, said filter assembly including a substantially cylindrical filter arranged such that an interior of the filter communicates with the outlet; and    a separating plate attached to a bottom portion of the filter assembly and extending radially to be spaced apart from an inner surface of the dust casing by a predetermined gap.    
     
     
         2 . A dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner adapted to be mounted to a main body of the vacuum cleaner for filtering suctioned air containing foreign materials, comprising: 
 a dust casing with an open top portion;    an inlet formed tangentially to the dust casing for introducing air into the dust casing;    a cover for opening and closing the top portion of the dust casing, said cover having an outlet for discharging air from which the foreign materials have been substantially filtered out;    a filter assembly attached to a bottom surface of the cover corresponding to the outlet, said filter assembly including a substantially cylindrical filter arranged such that an interior of the filter communicates with the outlet;    a separating plate attached to bottom portion of the filter assembly and extending radially to come into close contact with an inner surface of the dust casing; and    a communicating passage formed on at least a portion of the separating plate to allow the foreign materials to pass therethrough and into a bottom portion of the dust casing.    
     
     
         3 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 1 , wherein the separating plate extends radially from a bottom surface of the filter assembly and then slopes downwardly.  
     
     
         4 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 2 , wherein the separating plate extends radially from a bottom surface of the filter assembly and then slopes downwardly.  
     
     
         5 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 1 , wherein the filter assembly includes a ring-shaped upper frame mounted to communicate with the outlet of the cover, a lower frame spaced apart from the upper frame by a predetermined interval, and the substantially cylindrical filter mounted between the upper and lower frames.  
     
     
         6 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 3 , wherein the separating plate has a portion extending downwardly from an outer edge of the sloped portion.  
     
     
         7 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 5 , wherein the separating plate includes a portion fixed to a bottom surface of the lower frame, and a downwardly sloped portion which extends radially from the fixed portion.  
     
     
         8 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 5 , wherein the separating plate is detachably connected to the lower frame.  
     
     
         9 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 5 , wherein the separating plate is integrally formed with the lower frame.  
     
     
         10 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 8 , wherein the separating plate is fastened to the lower frame with a screw.  
     
     
         11 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 8 , wherein the separating plate is coupled to the lower frame by fastening an elastic hook protruding from a bottom surface of the lower frame into a coupling hole formed on a top surface of the separating plate.  
     
     
         12 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 1 , further comprising a stop plate formed with a floor surface of the dust casing.  
     
     
         13 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 1 , wherein the filter is formed with a plurality of vertical pleats creating a circumferential undulation on an outer surface of the filter.  
     
     
         14 . A vacuum cleaner, comprising: 
 a main body of the vacuum cleaner including a suction source;    a guide path for guiding air containing foreign materials introduced into the main body by a suction force generated from the suction source; and    a dust and dirt collecting unit detachably mounted to the main body for filtering out the foreign materials contained in the air, wherein the dust and dirt collecting unit comprises: 
 a dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner, adapted to be mounted to a main body of the vacuum cleaner, for filtering suctioned air containing foreign materials, comprising: 
 a dust casing with a bottom and side surfaces and an open top portion;  
 an inlet formed tangentially to the side surface of the dust casing for introducing air into the dust casing;  
 a cover for opening and closing the top portion of the dust casing, the cover having an outlet for discharging air from which the foreign materials have been substantially filtered out;  
 a filter assembly attached to a bottom surface of the cover said filter assembly including a substantially cylindrical filter arranged such that an interior of the filter communicates with the outlet; and  
 a separating plate attached to a bottom portion of the filter assembly and extending radially to be spaced apart from an inner surface of the dust casing by a predetermined gap.  
 
   
     
     
         15 . A vacuum cleaner, comprising: 
 a main body of the vacuum cleaner including a suction source;    a guide path for guiding air containing foreign materials introduced into the main body by a suction force generated from the suction source; and    a dust and dirt collecting unit detachably mounted to the main body for filtering out the foreign materials contained in the air, wherein the dust and dirt collecting unit comprises: 
 a dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner adapted to be mounted to a main body of the vacuum cleaner for filtering suctioned air containing foreign materials, comprising: 
 a dust casing with an open top portion;  
 an inlet formed tangentially to the dust casing for introducing air into the dust casing;  
 a cover for opening and closing the top portion of the dust casing, said cover having an outlet for discharging air from which the foreign materials have been substantially filtered out;  
 a filter assembly attached to a bottom surface of the cover corresponding to the outlet, said filter assembly including a substantially cylindrical filter arranged such that an interior of the filter communicates with the outlet;  
 a separating plate attached to bottom portion of the filter assembly and extending radially to come into close contact with an inner surface of the dust casing; and  
 a communicating passage formed on at least a portion of the separating plate to allow the foreign materials to pass therethrough and into a bottom portion of the dust casing.  
 
   
     
     
         16 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 14 , wherein the separating plate extends radially from a bottom surface of the filter assembly and then slopes downwardly.  
     
     
         17 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 14 , wherein the separating plate extends radially from a bottom surface of the filter assembly and then slopes downwardly.  
     
     
         18 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 14 , wherein the filter assembly includes a ring-shaped upper frame mounted to communicate with the outlet of the cover, a lower frame spaced apart from the upper frame by a predetermined interval, and the substantially cylindrical filter mounted between the upper and lower frames.  
     
     
         19 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 14 , wherein the separating plate has a portion extending downwardly from an outer edge of the sloped portion.  
     
     
         20 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 18 , wherein the separating plate includes a portion fixed to a bottom surface of the lower frame, and a downwardly sloped portion, which extends radially from the fixed portion.  
     
     
         21 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 18 , wherein the separating plate is detachably connected to the lower frame.  
     
     
         22 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 18 , wherein the separating plate is integrally formed with the lower frame.  
     
     
         23 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 21 , wherein the separating plate is fastened to the lower frame with a screw.  
     
     
         24 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 21 , wherein the separating plate is coupled to the lower frame by fastening an elastic hook protruding from a bottom surface of the lower frame and into a coupling hole formed on a top surface of the separating plate.  
     
     
         25 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 14 , further comprising a stop plate formed with a floor surface of the dust casing.  
     
     
         26 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 15 , further comprising a stop plate formed with a floor surface of the dust casing.  
     
     
         27 . A dust and dirt collecting unit for a vacuum cleaner comprising: 
 a dust casing with a bottom and side and a top portion;    an inlet in the dust casing for introducing air into the dust casing;    a cover for the top portion of the dust casing, the cover having an outlet for discharging air;    a filter assembly coupled to a bottom surface of the cover, said filter assembly including a filter having an interior communicating with the outlet; and    a separating plate attached to the filter assembly and extending toward the inner surface of the dust casing and spaced apart from the inner surface of the dust casing by a predetermined gap.    
     
     
         28 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 27 , wherein the predetermined gap is chosen to allow foreign materials entering the dust casing through the inlet to optimally pass the gap.  
     
     
         29 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 27 , wherein the separating plate extends radially from a bottom surface of the filter assembly and then slopes downwardly.  
     
     
         30 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 29 , wherein the separating plate has a portion extending downwardly from an outer edge of the sloped portion.  
     
     
         31 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 27 , wherein the filter assembly includes a ring-shaped upper frame mounted to communicate with the outlet of the cover, a lower frame spaced apart from the upper frame by a predetermined interval, and a substantially cylindrical filter mounted between the upper and lower frames.  
     
     
         32 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 31 , wherein the separating plate includes a portion fixed to a bottom surface of the lower frame, and a downwardly sloped portion extending radially from the fixed portion.  
     
     
         33 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 31 , wherein the separating plate is detachably connected to the lower frame.  
     
     
         34 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 33 , wherein the separating plate is fastened to the lower frame with a screw.  
     
     
         35 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 33 , wherein the separating plate is coupled to the lower frame by fastening an elastic hook protruding from a bottom surface of the lower frame into a coupling hole formed on a top surface of the separating plate.  
     
     
         36 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 31 , wherein the separating plate is integrally formed with the lower frame.  
     
     
         37 . The dust and dirt collecting unit of  claim 27 , further comprising a stop plate formed with a floor surface of the dust casing.