Vacuum cleaner with cyclonic dirt separation and pet hair remover

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner with a cyclone module assembly comprises a cyclone separation chamber for separating dust and debris from air, a dirt cup for collecting dust and debris that is separated from the air in the cyclone separation chamber, wherein the separation chamber further includes an exhaust grill with apertures formed at an acute angle relative to the working air flow. In an alternate embodiment, the vacuum cleaner further includes a hair collection assembly that can be latched in one of the engaged and disengaged positions. In yet another embodiment, the dirt cup is sealingly biased to the cyclone separation chamber by a cam or a coil spring.

1 . A vacuum cleaner comprising:
 a cleaning head assembly having a suction nozzle adapted to be moved along a surface to be cleaned;   a hair collection assembly having a hair collection element adapted to collect hair from the surface to be cleaned, wherein the hair collection assembly is mounted to the cleaning head for movement of the hair collection element between a first position in which the hair collection element is in contact with the surface to be cleaned, and a second position, in which the hair collection element is spaced from the surface to be cleaned; and   a latch assembly mounted to the cleaning head and the hair collection assembly to selectively retain the hair collection assembly in contact with the surface to be cleaned.   
   
   
       2 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 1  wherein the latch assembly comprises a latch portion as a part of one of the cleaning head assembly and the hair collection assembly and a catch portion as a part of the other of the cleaning head assembly and the hair collection assembly. 
   
   
       3 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 2  wherein the latch portion is a part of the cleaning head assembly and the catch portion is part of the hair collection assembly. 
   
   
       4 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 3  wherein the catch portion is made of a resilient material. 
   
   
       5 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 4  wherein the latch portion includes a disengaging member that is adapted to selectively deform the catch portion to release the latch assembly when the disengaging member is actuated by a user. 
   
   
       6 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 2  and further comprising a spring biasing member that biases the hair collection assembly to the second position to move the hair collection assembly from the first position to the second position when the catch portion is released from the latch portion. 
   
   
       7 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 1  and further comprising a spring biasing member that biases the hair collection assembly to the second position to move the hair collection assembly from the first position to the second position when the latch assembly is released. 
   
   
       8 . A vacuum cleaner comprising:
 a cleaning head assembly having a suction nozzle;   a suction source to create a flow of working air;   a cyclone module assembly in fluid communication with the suction nozzle and the suction source, and comprising:
 a cyclone separation chamber for separating dust and debris from air, the cyclone separation chamber having an inlet opening in fluid communication with the suction nozzle through the working air path, an outlet opening for discharging cleaned air and a particle discharge outlet for discharging dust and debris separated from air; 
 a dirt cup in fluid communication with the particle discharge outlet for collecting dust and debris that is separated from the air in the cyclone separation chamber; and 
 an exhaust grill in the cyclone separation chamber to filter out larger debris, the exhaust grill comprising a plurality of apertures whereby a leading edge of the aperture forms an acute angle relative to the flow of working air. 
   
   
   
       9 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 8  wherein the acute angle is between 10 degrees and 60 degrees. 
   
   
       10 . A vacuum cleaner comprising:
 a cleaning head assembly having a suction nozzle;   a housing coupled to the cleaning head assembly;   a suction source mounted in the housing for creating a flow of working air;   a cyclone module assembly mounted in the housing in fluid communication with the suction nozzle and the suction source, and comprising:
 a cyclone separation chamber for separating dust and debris from air, the cyclone separation chamber having an inlet opening in fluid communication with the suction nozzle through the working air path, an outlet opening for discharging cleaned air and a particle discharge outlet for discharging dust and debris separated from air; and 
 a dirt cup removably mounted to the cyclone separation chamber and in fluid communication with the particle discharge outlet for collecting dust and debris that is separated from the air in the cyclone separation chamber; and 
   a dirt cup latch between the housing and the dirt cup to selectively bias the dirt cup into sealing engagement with the cyclone separation chamber.   
   
   
       11 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 10  wherein the dirt cup latch comprises a grip and a cam whereby the dirt cup is biased into sealing engagement with the cyclone separation chamber when the grip is placed in an upwardly vertical position and the dirt cup is disengaged from sealing engagement for removal from the cyclone separation chamber when the grip is placed in a downwardly vertical position. 
   
   
       12 . The vacuum cleaner of  claim 10  wherein the dirt cup latch comprises a resilient biasing member. 
   
   
       13 . The vacuum cleaner according to  claim 9  wherein the biasing member is a compression coil spring.