Cyclonic Separating Apparatus

Abstract

A cyclonic separating apparatus includes a first cyclonic separating unit including at least one first cyclone, a second cyclonic separating unit located downstream of the first cyclonic separating unit and including at least one second cyclone, and a third cyclonic separating unit located downstream of the second cyclonic separating unit and including a plurality of third cyclones arranged in parallel. The separation efficiency of the first cyclonic separating unit is lower than the separation efficiency of the second cyclonic separating unit and the separation efficiency of the second cyclonic separating unit is lower than the separation efficiency of the third separating unit, thus achieving a higher separation efficiency than known separation apparatus.

1 . A cyclonic separating apparatus, comprising:
 a first cyclonic separating unit including at least one first cyclone;   a second cyclonic separating unit located downstream of the first cyclonic separating unit and including at least one second cyclone; and   a third cyclonic separating unit located downstream of the second cyclonic separating unit and including at least one third cyclone;   wherein the third cyclonic separating unit includes a plurality of third cyclones arranged in parallel, a separation efficiency of the first cyclonic separating unit is lower than a separation efficiency of the second cyclonic separating unit and the separation efficiency of the second cyclonic separating unit is lower than a separation efficiency of the third separating unit.   
   
   
       2 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the first cyclonic separating unit includes a single first cyclone. 
   
   
       3 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each first cyclone is substantially cylindrical. 
   
   
       4 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the second cyclonic separating unit comprises a plurality of second cyclones arranged in parallel. 
   
   
       5 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the number of second cyclones is lower than the number of third cyclones. 
   
   
       6 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the second cyclones are substantially identical to one another and the third cyclones are substantially identical to one another. 
   
   
       7 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each second cyclone and each third cyclone are tapering in shape. 
   
   
       8 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein each second cyclone and each third cyclone are frusto-conical. 
   
   
       9 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the angle of taper of each second cyclone is greater than the angle of taper of each third cyclone. 
   
   
       10 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each second cyclone has at least two inlets which communicate with the first cyclonic separating unit. 
   
   
       11 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the inlets to each second cyclone are circumferentially spaced about an axis of the second cyclone. 
   
   
       12 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein each cyclonic separating unit has a collector which can be emptied simultaneously with other collectors. 
   
   
       13 . The cyclonic separating apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising additional cyclonic separating units downstream of the third separating unit. 
   
   
       14 . (canceled) 
   
   
       15 . A vacuum cleaner comprising the cyclonic separation apparatus of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       16 - 27 . (canceled) 
   
   
       28 . A multi-cyclone dust separator comprising at least three dust separation units for separating dust stepwise according to size of the dust. 
   
   
       29 . The multi-cyclone dust separator of  claim 28 , wherein the at least three dust separation units comprise: a first dust separation unit primarily separating dust from external air drawn in; a second dust separation unit secondarily separating dust from the air primarily dust-separated by the first dust separation unit; and a third dust separation unit thirdly separating dust from the air secondarily dust-separated by the second dust separation unit. 
   
   
       30 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: a cleaner body; a suction brush fluidly communicated with the cleaner body to draw in dust-laden air from a surface being cleaned; and a multi-cyclone dust separator mounted in the cleaner body to separate dust from the dust-laden air drawn in through the suction brush, the multi-cyclone dust separator comprising at least three dust separation units for separating the dust stepwise from relatively larger dust to smaller dust. 
   
   
       31 . A multi-cyclone dust separator comprising a first dust separation unit having a first air inlet, a first cyclone chamber, and a first air outlet, said first air inlet for drawing in dust-laden air, and said first cyclone chamber for separating dust of a first size from said dust-laden air; a second dust separation unit having a plurality of second cyclone chambers each having a second air inlet and a second air outlet, each of said second air inlets being in fluid communication with said first air outlet, and said plurality of second cyclone chambers for separating dust of a second size from said dust-laden air; and a third dust separation unit having a plurality of third cyclone chambers each having a third air inlet and a third air outlet, each of said third air inlets being in fluid communication with said second air outlet, and said plurality of third cyclone chambers for separating dust of a third size from said dust-laden air. 
   
   
       32 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: an air suction port through which a contaminant-laden air is drawn from a surface being cleaned; a suction motor for generating a suction force at the air suction port; and a cyclone dust separating apparatus for separating contaminants from the drawn contaminant-laden air, the cyclone dust separating apparatus comprising: a first cyclone chamber for separating the contaminants from the air by centrifugal force, one or more second cyclone chambers for separating the contaminants from the air discharged from the first cyclone chamber by centrifugal force; and one or more third cyclone chambers for separating the contaminants from the air discharged from the one or more second cyclone chambers by centrifugal force, wherein the one or more second cyclone chambers have an inner diameter smaller than that of the first cyclone chamber and larger than that of the one or more third cyclone chambers.