Household appliance with a sound attenuator

Abstract

A household appliance has a device housing, a blower arranged in the device housing, an outlet opening formed in a direction of flow behind the blower in the device housing, a flow channel that connects the outlet opening with the blower in terms of flow, and a sound attenuator allocated to the flow channel for attenuating sound arising from the operation of the household appliance. The sound attenuator has sound-absorbing wall elements that have a wall surface that is curved in relation to a direction of a longitudinal extension of the flow channel, a support body for receiving the sound-absorbing wall elements, and a sound-reducing wall with a wall plane oriented parallel to the flow path. The sound attenuator is modular in design, formed of the support body, wall elements and sound-reducing wall, and is installed as a whole into the device housing between the blower and outlet opening.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A household appliance comprising:
 a device housing,   a blower arranged in the device housing,   an outlet opening formed in a direction of flow behind the blower in the device housing,   a flow channel that connects the outlet opening with the blower in terms of flow, and   a sound attenuator allocated to the flow channel for attenuating sound arising from the operation of the household appliance,   wherein the sound attenuator has a plurality of sound-absorbing wall elements,   wherein the wall elements together form at least one section of the flow channel, and each wall element has a wall surface that is curved in relation to a direction of a longitudinal extension of the flow channel,   wherein a flow path formed between opposing wall surfaces is curved,   wherein the sound attenuator has a support body configured for receiving the sound-absorbing wall elements,   wherein the flow channel has a sound-reducing wall,   wherein a wall plane of the sound-reducing wall is oriented parallel to the flow path, and   wherein the sound-reducing wall is centrally arranged between the opposing wall surfaces of the flow channel relative to a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal extension of the flow channel, and   wherein the sound attenuator is modular in design, comprised of the support body, wall elements and sound-reducing wall, and is configured to be installed as a whole into the device housing between the blower and outlet opening.   
     
     
         2 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the flow path has an s-shaped design. 
     
     
         3 . The household appliance according to  claim 2 , wherein the flow path has two opposite changes in direction. 
     
     
         4 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the flow channel has a constant flow cross section between the opposing wall elements along the flow path. 
     
     
         5 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the support body has a support body wall in at least one partial area of the support body, wherein the support body wall and the wall elements placed in the support body form a flow channel section closed airtight to the outside, the flow channel section being airtightly connected with the blower and the outlet opening of the device housing. 
     
     
         6 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the wall elements are comprised of an open-pored foam. 
     
     
         7 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the wall elements are fabricated out of melamine resin foam or polyurethane foam. 
     
     
         8 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the wall elements have a wall thickness (d) that corresponds to at least one fourth of a wavelength of a sound component to be attenuated. 
     
     
         9 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the wall elements have an airtight closing wall on an outwardly facing exterior side facing away from a guided airflow. 
     
     
         10 . The household appliance according to  claim 1 , wherein the household appliance is a floor processing device.