Air suction/injection device and vacuum cleaner comprising the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a technology, which is capable of easily switching between the vacuum function and the blower function of the vacuum cleaner with a simple configuration, and is also capable of effectively utilizing the blower function even in the various situations. Typical air suction/injection device is configured that the interior of the main unit constitutes a main passage of air, and the interior of an injection passage section provided in the main body constitutes a sub-passage. Once a suctioned airstream is created in the main passage, a power fan inside of a suction chamber is rotated, and in conjunction with such a rotation, an injection fan is rotated so that an injecting airstream is created in the sub-passage. In such case, a passage switching section composed of a valve member provided in the location of joining the main passage and the sub-passage is switched to easily switch between a creation of an injecting airstream and a creation of a suctioned airstream.

1 . An air suction/injection device which connects to a front end of a suction hose included in a vacuum cleaner,
 the air suction/injection device comprising:
 a tube-like main body, one end of said main body serving as a rear end opening section connected to the front end of said suction hose and the other end thereof serving as a front end opening section, and an interior of said main body forming a main passage of air; 
 an injection passage section having an injecting air inlet for introducing air from outside and an injection outlet for injecting the introduced air to the outside, an interior of said injection passage section forming a sub-passage from said injecting air inlet to said injection outlet; 
 a power fan provided in the interior of said main body and being rotated by a suctioned airstream created in said main passage by means of suction of air through said suction hose; 
 an injection fan provided in an interior of said injection passage section and rotates in conjunction with said power fan to create an injecting airstream from said injecting air inlet toward said injection outlet in said sub-passage; and 
 an injection switching section for permitting or limiting injection of said injecting airstream from said injection outlet to the outside. 
   
     
     
         2 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein said injection switching section is a passage switching section for switching between connecting of and blocking of said sub-passage to said injection outlet. 
     
     
         3 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein said injection switching section is a passage open-close section for opening or blocking said main passage or said sub-passage at a location upstream of said power fan or said injection fan, in a flow direction of the suctioned airstream. 
     
     
         4 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a power fan housing section provided in said main passage in said main body, for housing said power fan therein,
 wherein said power fan housing section includes a inner suction inlet facing to said main passage and a suctioned air introduction inlet for introducing air from the outside.   
     
     
         5 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 4 , further comprising an air introduction cover member for closing at least a portion of a passage of air from said suctioned air introduction inlet to said main passage in openable and closable manner. 
     
     
         6 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein said injection passage section is provided in the main body so that the sub-passage in said injection passage section is joined to said main passage in said main body, and said front end opening section in said main body serves as said injection outlet in said injection passage section, and   wherein said passage switching section is provided in a section where said main passage is joined to said sub-passage and is a valve member for changing its position so as to close one of said main passage and said sub-passage.   
     
     
         7 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 3 ,
 wherein said injection passage section is provided in said main body so that the sub-passage in said injection passage section reaches said front end opening section along said main passage inside of said main body, and   wherein said passage open-close section is a valve member for blocking only said main passage.   
     
     
         8 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 6 , further comprising a lever member provided outside of said main body, said lever member being operative in response to a positional change of said valve member. 
     
     
         9 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein said front end opening section is provided in said main body as a turnable opening section, which is a separate member turnable in a circumference direction thereof, an interior of said turnable opening section being provided with a through hole and a closed hole, said closed hole being adjacent to the through hole and having one open end that leads to said main body and the other closed end,   wherein said injection passage section is provided in the main body so that said main passage is adjacent to said sub-passage in an end leading to said turnable opening section of said main body, and the through hole of said turnable opening section serves as said injection outlet in said injection passage section, and   wherein said turnable opening section connects said closed hole to one of said main passage and said sub-passage, and said turnable opening section is turned so as to connect said through hole to the other of said main passage and said sub-passage, so that it functions as said passage switching section.   
     
     
         10 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 4 , wherein said injection passage section and said power fan housing section are a cylindrical housing for fan section such that said injection passage section and said power fan housing section are integrated together in a state in which the injection fan and the power fan are internally housed, respectively, and is rotatably provided to said main body,
 wherein the housing for fan section is inserted in the main body, at a location between said front end opening section and said rear end opening section along a direction for intersecting with a tube axis of said main body, and at least a portion of an outer circumference thereof faces to said main passage of said main body,   wherein said injecting air inlet is provided at a location in a top surface of said housing for fan section and at the outside of said main body and an injection outlet is provided in a part of the outer circumference of said housing for fan section to form said sub-passage between said injecting air inlet and said injection outlet, and   wherein said housing for fan section functions as said injection switching section, by turning said housing for fan section to change a position of said injection outlet.   
     
     
         11 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein said injection passage section is provided to be inserted in the main body so as to position said sub-passage along said main passage inside of said main body,   and said suction air introduction inlet is provided at a location facing to the outside of said main body in said suctioned airstream,   the air suction/injection device comprising a passage open-close section serving as said injection switching section for closing at least a part of the passage of air from said suction air introduction inlet to said main passage in openable and closable manner.   
     
     
         12 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a suction nozzle detachably provided in said front end opening section. 
     
     
         13 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a liquid spray section including a liquid storage tank and a spray nozzle for spraying liquid stored in the liquid storage tank,
 wherein the liquid spray section is detachably provided in said injection outlet.   
     
     
         14 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 1 , wherein said front end opening section is a front end nozzle section at a front end side, the front end nozzle section having a shape in which a cross sectional area is gradually reduced toward the front end. 
     
     
         15 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 14 , wherein an injection opening regulation member for adjusting a momentum of the injecting airstream is provided inside of said front end nozzle section. 
     
     
         16 . A vacuum cleaner, comprising an air suction/injection device, and a suction hose provided with the air suction/injection device,
 the air suction/injection device comprising:   a tube-like main body, one end of said main body serving as a rear end opening section connected to the front end of said suction hose and the other end thereof serving as a front end opening section, and an interior of said main body forming a main passage of air;   an injection passage section having an injecting air inlet for introducing air from outside and an injection outlet for injecting the introduced air to the outside, an interior of said injection passage section forming a sub-passage from said injecting air inlet to said injection outlet;   a power fan provided in the interior of said main body and being rotated by a suctioned airstream created in said main passage by means of suction of air through said suction hose;   an injection fan provided in an interior of said injection passage section and rotates in conjunction with said power fan to create an injecting airstream from said injecting air inlet toward said injection outlet in said sub-passage; and   an injection switching section for permitting or limiting injection of said injecting airstream from said injection outlet to the outside.   
     
     
         17 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 16 , wherein said air suction/injection device is detachably connected to said suction hose. 
     
     
         18 . The air suction/injection device according to  claim 7 , further comprising a lever member provided outside of said main body, said lever member being operative in response to a positional change of said valve member.