Dirt Cup Latch Mechanism

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner dust cup having a sidewall surrounding an open bottom end, and a shelf extending from the sidewall. A lid is pivotally connected to the cup adjacent the bottom end and is movable between a first position in which it covers the open bottom end, and a second position in which it does not cover the open bottom end. A latch is attached to the lid and has a contact surface adapted to engage the shelf to hold the lid in the first position. An actuator is mounted adjacent the cup sidewall and is movable in a first direction to move the contact surface of the latch out of engagement with the shelf to allow the lid to move about the hinge to the second position. In some embodiments, the actuator does not apply any substantial force to move the lid out of the first position.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A vacuum cleaner dust cup comprising;
 a cup comprising a sidewall surrounding an open bottom end, and a shelf extending from the sidewall;   a lid pivotally connected to the cup adjacent the open bottom end by a hinge, the lid being movable about the hinge between a first position in which the lid substantially covers the open bottom end of the cup, and a second position in which the lid does not substantially cover the open bottom end of the cup;   a latch attached to the lid at a location remote from the hinge, the latch having a contact surface adapted to engage the shelf to hold the lid in the first position;   an actuator mounted adjacent the cup sidewall, the actuator being movable in a first direction to move the contact surface of the latch out of engagement with the shelf to thereby allow the lid to move about the hinge to the second position;   wherein, the actuator does not apply any substantial force to move the lid out of the first position.   
     
     
         2 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 1 , further comprising an air passage extending through the cup, the air passage terminating adjacent the open bottom end of the cup, and wherein the lid comprises a lid opening positioned to abut the air passage when the lid is in the first position. 
     
     
         3 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the air passage extends into the lid opening when the lid is in the first position. 
     
     
         4 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 3 , wherein the air passage terminates at a cage that extends into the lid opening when the lid is in the first position. 
     
     
         5 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 2 , further comprising an air passage seal positioned to seal the air passage to the lid when the lid is in the first position, wherein the air passage seal is dimensioned to be compressed when the lid is in the first position, thereby generating a restoring force that biases the lid away from the first position. 
     
     
         6 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 5 , wherein the air passage seal is mounted to the air passage. 
     
     
         7 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 5 , further comprising a perimeter seal positioned to seal the open end of the cup to the lid when the lid is in the first position. 
     
     
         8 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 7 , wherein the perimeter seal comprises a lip seal that contacts an inner surface of the sidewall. 
     
     
         9 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 8 , wherein the restoring force biases the lid away from the first position at least until the lid is moved about the hinge away from the first position a sufficient distance to remove a portion of the lip seal opposite the hinge from contact with the sidewall. 
     
     
         10 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 1 , further comprising a handle mounted to the latch, the handle being configured to allow a user to apply a manual force thereto to assist in opening the lid. 
     
     
         11 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator is adapted to move between the contact surface of the latch and the sidewall and contact the shelf, wherein the actuator comprises movable member adapted to rotate about an axis to thereby move the contact surface away from the sidewall and out of engagement with the shelf. 
     
     
         12 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 11 , wherein the movable member comprises a cam, the cam having a protrusion adapted rotate, by contact with the shelf, towards the latch. 
     
     
         13 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 1 , wherein the actuator is located adjacent an outer surface of the sidewall. 
     
     
         14 . A vacuum cleaner dust cup comprising;
 a cup comprising a sidewall surrounding an open bottom end;   a lid pivotally connected to the cup adjacent the open bottom end by a hinge, the lid being movable about the hinge between a first position in which the lid substantially covers the open bottom end of the cup, and a second position in which the lid does not substantially cover the open bottom end of the cup;   a latch attached to the lid at a location remote from the hinge, the latch being configured to selectively engage the cup to hold the lid in the first position;   an actuator mounted adjacent the cup sidewall, the actuator being movable in a first direction to disengage the latch from the cup to thereby allow the lid to move about the hinge to the second position;   an air passage extending through the cup, the air passage terminating adjacent the open bottom end of the cup, and wherein the lid comprises a lid opening positioned to abut the air passage when the lid is in the first position;   wherein the lid is elastically deformed by contact with the air passage when the lid is in the first position, thereby generating a restoring force that biases the lid away from the first position.   
     
     
         15 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 14 , wherein the actuator does not apply any substantial force to move the lid out of the first position. 
     
     
         16 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the lid and the air passage comprises an air passage seal positioned to seal the air passage to the lid when the lid is in the first position. 
     
     
         17 . A vacuum cleaner dust cup comprising;
 a cup comprising a vertically-extending sidewall surrounding an open bottom end;   a lid pivotally connected to the cup adjacent the open bottom end by a hinge, the lid being movable about the hinge between a first position in which the lid substantially covers the open bottom end of the cup, and a second position in which the lid does not substantially cover the open bottom end of the cup;   a latch attached to the lid at a location remote from the hinge, the latch being configured to selectively engage the cup to hold the lid in the first position;   an actuator mounted adjacent the cup sidewall, the actuator comprising a first member located generally adjacent the sidewall and being movable in a generally vertical direction, and a second member movably attached to the first member and having a contact surface that is adapted to move in a direction generally perpendicular to the sidewall as the first member moves in the generally vertical direction; wherein the second member is positioned to disengage the latch from the cup when the contact surface has moved a predetermined distance from the sidewall.   
     
     
         18 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 17 , wherein the actuator does not apply any substantial force to move the lid out of the first position. 
     
     
         19 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 17 , wherein the first member comprises a pushrod, and the second member comprises a cam pivotally mounted to the pushrod. 
     
     
         20 . The vacuum cleaner dust cup of  claim 19 , wherein the cup comprises a shelf and the latch comprises a latch surface that contacts the shelf to hold the lid in the first position, and wherein the cam contact surface is adapted to move in the direction generally perpendicular to the sidewall when the cam contacts the shelf.