Portable blower/vac

Abstract

An improved convertible electric blower/vac. The blower/vac includes an improved air inlet cover with an adjustable choke member. The air inlet cover also includes a pressure ring for increasing the efficiency of the blower/vac impeller when the unit is operated in the blower mode. The blower/vac also includes a blower tube and a vacuum bag collar, each with resilient tabs that engage receptacles on the blower/vac to retain the blower tube and vacuum bag collar on the unit. The housing outlet of the blower/vac includes guides that interact with longitudinal ribs on the blower tube and the vacuum bag collar to reduce unwanted rotational deflection of the blower tube and vacuum bag collar when either is engaged on the housing outlet. The blower/vac includes an improved vacuum tube for use of the blower/vac in the vacuum mode.

We claim: 
     
       1. A blower/vacuum, comprising: (a) a housing, the housing including an air inlet opening residing in a first plane and a housing outlet with an outlet orifice residing in a second plane, the first plane being substantially perpendicular to the second plane;   (b) a motor having an output shaft, the output shaft being substantially perpendicular to the first plane; and   (c) an impeller for drawing air through the air inlet opening and into the housing and for expelling air through the housing outlet, the impeller being formed to include a plurality of blades, the blades being driven by the motor output shaft; wherein the outlet orifice is formed so as to have a cross-section having a first area, the cross-section being shaped as two substantially parallel lines joined by two semicircles.   
     
     
       2. The blower/vacuum of claim 1, wherein the housing outlet includes a perimeter, the blower/vacuum further comprising: (a) at least one receptacle, the receptacle being affixed to the perimeter of the housing outlet, the receptacle being formed to include first and second sidewalls supporting a top surface; and   (b) a slot, the slot being formed in the top surface of the receptacle.   
     
     
       3. The blower/vacuum of claim 2, further comprising a discharge nozzle, the discharge nozzle being removably affixed to the housing outlet so as to intercept substantially all air exiting the outlet orifice, the discharge nozzle comprising: (a) an upstream opening, the upstream opening having a cross-section that is substantially identical to the cross-section of the outlet orifice; and   (b) a downstream opening, the downstream opening having a substantially ellipsoidal cross-section having a second area, the second area being less than the first area.   
     
     
       4. The blower/vacuum of claim 3, wherein the discharge nozzle further comprises at least one resilient tab, the resilient tab being affixed to the discharge nozzle adjacent to the upstream opening, the resilient tab being suitably dimensioned to fit within the receptacle located on the housing outlet. 
     
     
       5. The blower/vacuum of claim 4, wherein the resilient tab is formed to include a lip, the lip being suitably dimensioned to fit within the slot formed within the top surface of the receptacle when the tab is inserted into the receptacle. 
     
     
       6. The blower/vacuum of claim 2, further comprising a vacuum bag attachment collar for removably connecting a vacuum bag to the air outlet, the collar comprising at least one resilient collar tab, the resilient collar tab being affixed to the attachment collar adjacent to its upstream opening, the resilient collar tab being suitably dimensioned to fit within the receptacle located on the housing outlet orifice when the collar is attached to the air outlet. 
     
     
       7. The blower/vacuum of claim 6, wherein the resilient collar tab is formed to include a collar lip, the collar lip being suitably dimensioned to fit within the slot formed within the top surface of the receptacle when the collar tab is inserted into the receptacle. .Iadd. 
     
     
       8.  A blower/vacuum, which comprises: (a) a housing including an air inlet opening and a housing outlet;   (b) a motor having an output shaft;   (c) an impeller for drawing air through the air inlet opening and into the housing and for expelling air through the housing outlet, the impeller having a plurality of blades and being driven by the motor output shaft; and   (d) an air handling member associated with the housing outlet for receiving air exiting from the housing outlet, the air handling member being detachably connected to the housing outlet by at least one resilient tab which can be telescopically received within a mating receptacle to hold the air handling member on the housing outlet, wherein the tab is carried on one of the air handling member and the housing and the mating receptacle is carried on the other of the air handling member and the housing, wherein the mating receptacle has an entrance into which the tab can be telescopically pushed using a straight line motion to cause the tab to be received within the mating receptacle, and wherein the mating receptacle has a configuration in a cross-sectional plane parallel to the entrance which configuration is sufficiently enclosed such that the mating receptacle covers and encloses the tab over the tab's sides and top. .Iaddend..Iadd.9. The blower/vacuum of claim 8, wherein the tab and mating receptacle are connected to one another by a lip that is received in a recess when the tab is received within the mating receptacle, the engagement of the lip in the recess being sufficient to retain the air handling member on the housing outlet. .Iaddend..Iadd.10. The blower/vacuum of claim 9, wherein the lip is on the tab and the recess is in the mating receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.11. The blower/vacuum of claim 10, wherein the mating receptacle includes first and second sidewalls supporting a top surface, and wherein the recess is formed in the top surface. .Iaddend..Iadd.12. The blower/vacuum of claim 11, wherein the recess is formed by a slot extending through the top surface of the mating   
     
     
        receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.13.  The blower/vacuum of claim 9, wherein the tab is capable of being depressed against the resilience of the tab to disengage the lip and the recess from one another to thereby allow the air handling member to be pulled away from the housing outlet. .Iaddend..Iadd.14. The blower/vacuum of claim 8, wherein the air handling member has an upstream end that has a cross-sectional shape that is substantially identical to a cross-sectional shape of the housing outlet, and wherein the upstream end of the air handling member and the housing outlet are dimensioned relative to one another to have a snug, telescopic fit with one another when the tab is received within the mating receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.15. The blower/vacuum of claim 14, wherein the air handling member is dimensioned to be slightly larger than the housing outlet such that the air handling member is telescopically received over and around the housing outlet when the tab is received within the mating receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.16. The blower/vacuum of claim 14, wherein the tab is located on the upstream end of the air handling member and the mating receptacle is located on the housing. .Iaddend..Iadd.17. The blower/vacuum of claim 16, wherein a plurality of resilient tabs and mating receptacles are used to detachably connect the air handling member to the housing outlet, wherein the tabs are circumferentially spaced apart relative to one another and the mating receptacles are similarly circumferentially spaced apart relative to one another such that each tab is received in one of the mating receptacles when the air handling member 
     
     
        and the housing outlet are connected together. .Iaddend..Iadd.18.  The blower/vacuum of claim 17, wherein each tab and the mating receptacle associated therewith are connected to one another by a lip that is received in a recess when each tab is received within the associated mating receptacle, the engagement of the lips in the recesses being sufficient to retain the air handling member on the housing outlet. .Iaddend..Iadd.19. The blower/vacuum of claim 18, wherein two tabs spaced approximately 180° apart relative to one another are received within two mating receptacles spaced 180° apart relative to one another. .Iaddend..Iadd.20. The blower/vacuum of claim 8, wherein the air handling member comprises a discharge nozzle for directing air exiting through the housing outlet towards the ground or other surface during gestation of the blower/vacuum a blower. .Iaddend..Iadd.21. The blower/vacuum of claim 8, wherein the air handling member comprises a vacuum bag attachment collar for directing air exiting through the housing outlet into a vacuum bag during operation of the blower/vacuum as a vacuum. .Iaddend..Iadd.22. A blower/vacuum, which comprises: (a) a housing including an air inlet opening and a housing outlet;   (b) a motor having an output shaft;   (c) an impeller for drawing air through the air inlet opening and into the housing and for expelling air through the housing outlet, the impeller having a plurality of blades and being driven by the motor output shaft; and   (d) an air handling member associated with the housing outlet for receiving air exiting from the housing outlet, the air handling member being detachably connected to the housing outlet by at least one resilient tab which can be received beneath an overlying securing member to hold the air handling member on the housing outlet, wherein the tab and overlying securing member are detachably connected to one another by a lip that is received in a recess when the tab is positioned beneath the overlying securing member, the engagement of the lip in the recess being sufficient to retain the air handling member on the housing outlet, and wherein the tab is configured when the lip is received in the recess to allow the user to depress the tab to disengage the lip and the recess from one another to thereby allow the air handling member to be pulled off the housing outlet, wherein the tab is carried on one of the air handling member and the housing and the overlying securing member is carried on the other of the air handling member and the housing. .Iaddend..Iadd.23. The blower/vacuum of claim 22, wherein the overlying securing member comprises an overlying   
     
     
        surface. .Iaddend..Iadd.24.  The blower/vacuum of claim 23, wherein the lip is on the tab and the recess is formed in the overlying surface. .Iaddend..Iadd.25. The blower/vacuum of claim 23, wherein the tab is telescopically inserted into a mating receptacle and the overlying surface comprises a top surface of the mating receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.26. The blower/vacuum of claim 25, wherein the lip is on the tab and the recess comprises a slot formed in the top surface of the mating receptacle. .Iaddend..Iadd.27. The blower/vacuum of claim 22, further including two resilient tabs inserted beneath two overlying securing members to detachably connect the air handling member on the housing outlet, wherein the resilient tabs and overlying securing members are circumferentially spaced apart approximately 180° such that both tabs can be simultaneously depressed by the user using an inward pushing action from a finger and the opposed thumb of one of the user's hands. 
     
     
        .Iaddend..Iadd.     A blower/vacuum, which comprises: (a) a housing including an air inlet opening and a housing outlet;   (b) a motor having an output shaft;   (c) an impeller for drawing air through the air inlet opening and into the housing and for expelling air through the housing outlet, the impeller having a plurality of blades and being driven by the motor output shaft; and   (d) an air handling member associated with the housing outlet for receiving air exiting from the housing outlet, the air handling member being detachably connected to the housing outlet by a plurality of resilient tabs which can be telescopically received within a plurality of mating receptacles to hold the air handling member on the housing outlet, wherein the tabs are carried on one of the air handling member and the housing and the mating receptacles are carried on the other of the air handling member and the housing, wherein the tabs are circumferentially spaced apart relative to one another and the mating receptacles are similarly circumferentially spaced apart relative to one another such that each tab is received in one of the mating receptacles when the air handling member   
     
     
        and the housing outlet are connected together. .Iaddend..Iadd.29.  The blower/vacuum of claim 28, wherein each tab and the mating receptacle associated therewith are connected to one another by a lip that is received in a recess when each tab is received within the associated mating receptacle, the engagement of the lips in the recesses being sufficient to retain the air handling member on the housing outlet. .Iaddend.