US20050177974A1

Movatterモバイル変換

Info

Publication number: US20050177974A1
Application number: US11/036,609
Authority: US
Inventors: Wayne Conrad; Helmut Conrad
Original assignee: Fantom Technologies Inc
Current assignee: Polar Light Ltd
Priority date: 1999-01-08
Filing date: 2005-01-18
Publication date: 2005-08-18
Also published as: US20060137310A1; US20040194250A1; US6782585B1

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner has a first and second cyclonic cleaning stages in series. The second cyclonic cleaning stage has a plurality of second stage cyclones. A conduit connects the first cyclonic cleaning stage outlet and the second stage cyclone inlets.

Description

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/828,250 filed on Apr. 21, 2004 which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/679,353 filed on Oct. 5, 2000 which is a division of application Ser. No. 09/239,860 filed on Jan. 29, 1999 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,334,234, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/227,534 filed on Jan. 8, 1999 now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,826.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners having at least two cyclonic separation stages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various types of vacuum cleaners are traditionally produced. These include built in vacuum cleaners, canister vacuum cleaners and upright vacuum cleaners. Upright vacuum cleaners have a ground engaging portion and an upwardly extending portion. The ground engaging portion typically has wheels for movement of the cleaning head across a floor and a suction inlet for the intake of dirty air into the vacuum cleaner. The upwardly extending portion comprises the filter means for removing dirt which is entrained in the air. The upwardly extending portion generally has a handle for guiding the vacuum cleaner across the floor.

Traditionally in upright vacuum cleaners, the motor to draw the dirty air through the vacuum cleaner is positioned in the ground engaging head and the upward extending portion is pivotally mounted to the upper portion of the ground engaging member at a position adjacent the motor.

More recently, cyclonic technology has been introduced commercially into canister and upright vacuum cleaners. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,373,228; 4,571,772; 4,573,236; 4,593,429; 4,643,748; 4,826,515; 4,853,008; 4,853,011; 5,062,870; 5,078,761; 5,090,976; 5,145,499; 5,160,356; 5,255,411; 5,358,290; 5,558,697; and RE 32,257. These patents disclose a novel approach to vacuum cleaner design in which sequential cyclones are utilized as the filtration medium for a vacuum cleaner. Pursuant to the teaching of these patents, the first sequential cyclone is designed to be of a lower efficiency to remove only the larger particles which are entrained in an air stream. The smaller particles remain entrained in the air stream and are transported to the second sequential cyclone which is frusto-conical in shape. The second sequential cyclone is designed to remove the smaller particles which are entrained in the air stream. If larger particles are carried over into the second cyclone separator, then they will typically not be removed by the cyclone separator but exit the frusto-conical cyclone with the air stream.

The advantages of cyclonic separation have been combined with an upright vacuum cleaner to provide a household cyclonic vacuum cleaner, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,429 to Dyson. As shown inFIG. 1, thisvacuum cleaner10 essentially comprises a large, outercylindrical cyclone12, with aninner cyclone14 nested therein, which is mounted on a ground engaging member or floor-cleaning head and provided with a push handle for convenient movement of the unit. A motor, located in the floor cleaning head, draws air through the cleaning head and into anintake conduit16, which delivers air to thedirty air inlet18 of theouter cyclone container12. From the outer cyclone the air flows into inner, nesteddust separating cyclone14, and from there, continues on through the vacuum motor to a clean air exhaust port.

Theair intake conduit16 connects the floor cleaning head and the dirty air inlet in air flow communication.Air intake conduit16 extends upwardly along the outside ofouter cyclone container12 generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the

cyclones

12,14. At a-positionadjacent air inlet18 toouter cyclone12,air intake conduit16 bends 90° and travels inwardly to provide a tangential air flow inlet toair inlet18 ofouter cyclone container12.

In use,air intake conduit16 may become blockage. If the blockage occurs at a midpoint of the conduit, it may be difficult to clear the blockage. While a clean out port may be provided, the port may not be located near where the blockage occurs. Further, the addition of a port increases the cost and complexity of the manufacture of the product.

A bend in a conduit for a fluid causes a turbulent pressure loss in the conduit as the fluid travels through the bend in the conduit and the greater the sharpness of the bend, the greater the pressure loss. The pressure loss in the air flow decreases the amount of suction which can be generated at the cleaning head of the vacuum cleaner for any given motor in the vacuum cleaner and therefore the efficiency of the vacuum cleaner.

One disadvantage of cyclonic vacuum cleaners is the amount of power which is required to create an air flow sufficient to convey the dirty air through the cyclones at sufficient speeds to maintain the air flowing cyclonically through the cyclones

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the instant invention, there is provided an upright vacuum cleaner comprising:

- (a) a cleaning head for cleaning a surface;
- (b) an upper body portion mounted on the cleaning head, the upper portion having a longitudinally extending axis and comprising:
- (i) at least one cyclone having an air entry port; and,
- (ii) a motor positioned above the at least one cyclone and in air flow communication with the at least one cyclone.

In accordance With the instant invention, there is also provided an upright vacuum cleaner comprising:

- (a) a cleaning head for cleaning a surface having a forward portion and two spaced apart rear portions extending rearwardly from the forward portion;
- (b) an upper body portion mounted on the cleaning head, the upper portion having a longitudinally extending axis and at least one cyclone having an air entry port, the upper body portion mounted on the cleaning head at a position forward of the spaced apart rear portions, the spaced apart rear portions defining on open space therebetween sized for receiving the upper body portion therebetween when the upper body portion is in the lowered storage position.

In one embodiment, the cleaning head has a forward portion including an opening in air flow communication with the at least one cyclone and two spaced apart rear portions extending rearwardly from the forward portion, the spaced apart rear portions defining on open space therebetween, the upper body portion mounted on the cleaning head at a position forward of the spaced apart rear portions.

In another embodiment, the upper portion is positionable in a lowered in use position wherein the longitudinally extending axis is at an angle of 40° to the vertical and, when the upper body portion is in the lowered in use position, the centre of gravity of the upper body portion is positioned above the open space. The upper body portion may further comprise a handle, the weight of the handle in the lowered in use position being 2 lbs. or less.

The spaced apart rear members may have floor contacting members such as glides or wheels adjacent the ends thereof. The floor contacting members may be positioned rearwardly of the centre of gravity when the upper body portion is in the lowered in use position.

In another embodiment, the upper body portion is pivotally connected to the cleaning head whereby the upper body portion is moveable between an in use position in which the upper body portion extends upwardly and rearwardly from the cleaning head and a lowered storage position in which the upper body portion extends generally rearwardly from the cleaning head. The cleaning head may have a forward portion and two spaced apart rear portions extending rearwardly from the forward portion, the upper body portion mounted on the cleaning head at a position forward of the spaced apart rear portions, the spaced apart rear portions defining on open space therebetween sized for receiving the upper body portion therebetween when the upper body portion is in the lowered storage position.

In another embodiment, the vacuum cleaner further comprises a mounting member engageable with a support member mounted on a wall whereby the vacuum cleaner may be hung flush against the wall when the upper body portion is in the lowered storage position.

In another embodiment, the vacuum cleaner further comprises a second cleaning member positioned downstream from the at least one cyclone.

In another embodiment, the vacuum cleaner further comprises an air outlet to the at least one cyclone for passage therethrough of air, the air passing generally upwardly from the air outlet to the motor.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member is an electrostatic cleaning member.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member is positioned between the at least one cyclone and the motor.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member comprises at least one second cyclone.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member comprises a plurality of second cyclones.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member is positioned between the at least one cyclone and the motor, the vacuum cleaner further comprising an air outlet to the at least one cyclone and an air outlet to each of the at least one second cyclones, the air passing generally upwardly from the air outlet to the at least one cyclone to the at least one second cyclones and generally upwardly from the air outlet to the at least one second cyclones to the motor.

In another embodiment, the second cleaning member is positioned downstream of the motor, the vacuum cleaner further comprising an air outlet to the at least one cyclone, the air passing generally upwardly from the air outlet to the at least one cyclone to the motor and generally upwardly from motor to the at least one second cyclones.

In another embodiment, the vacuum cleaner further comprises an air inlet to the at least one cyclone and an air supply conduit communicating with the cleaning head and with the air entry port, a portion of the air supply conduit extending longitudinally through the cyclone. The air supply conduit may connect to the air entry port other than through a 90° elbow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show more clearly how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawing which show a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side elevation of an upright cyclonic vacuum cleaner with an air intake conduit according to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an upright cyclonic vacuum cleaner according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section along line3-3 inFIG. 2 of the upright cyclonic vacuum cleaner ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the vacuum cleaner ofFIG. 2 in an in use position;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section along line5-5 inFIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a cross-section along line5-5 inFIG. 3 of an alternate preferred embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a cross-section along the line7-7 inFIG. 8 of a further alternate preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section along line8-8 inFIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a cross-section along the line9-9 inFIG. 10 of a further alternate preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section along line10-10 inFIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a cross-section along the line11-11 inFIG. 12 of a further alternate preferred embodiment of the instant invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-section along line12-12 inFIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a cross-section along the line13-13 inFIG. 3; and,

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the cleaning head of the vacuum cleaner ofFIG. 2 when the vacuum cleaner is in the lowered in use position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An uprightcyclonic vacuum20 according to the present invention is shown in theFIGS. 2 and 3. Afloor cleaning head22 is provided at the lower end ofvacuum cleaner20.Head22 comprises aforward portion21 and tworear portions23 extending rearwardly from theforward portion21.Rear portions23 are spaced apart and define aspace25 there between.Head22 has adirty air inlet27 which is positioned inforward portion21 and, preferably, adjacent the front end of forward portion21 (seeFIG. 3). Preferably,head22 also comprises a transversely extending, floor-contactingrotating brush member26 which is mounted for rotation inhead22. Ahandle42 andrear wheels44 may be provided onhead22 to facilitate movement of the unit for cleaning of a floor, and the like.Head22 may also incorporate a forward set of wheels (not shown) as is known in the art.

In order to be able to convert the vacuum cleaner for above the floor cleaning, handle42 may be hollow and be connected to aflexible hose43 for connecting handle in air flow communication with the dirt filtration stages inupper body portion29.

Upper body portion

29 incorporates the filtration means for removing entrained dirt from the dirty air which is introduced into the vacuum cleaner, via, for example,dirty air inlet27 andmotor24 which draws the air throughvacuum cleaner20.Upper body portion29 comprises at least one cyclonic separation stage. Preferably, the vacuum cleaner includes at least two dirt separation stages. The first of the dirt separation stages preferably comprises a cyclonic dirt separation stage. The second stage may be a second cyclonic dirt separation stage or an electrostatic cleaner (eg. an electrostatic precipitator). It will be appreciated that additional dirt separation stages may be incorporated into the vacuum cleaner. For example, a screen or filter may be positioned between first and second cyclonic separations stages. Further, or alternately, a filter or a screen may be positioned upstream ofmotor24. Further, a HEPA™ filter may be positioned in the air flow path through the vacuum cleaner, such as aftermotor24.

According to the preferred embodiment of the vacuum cleaner shown inFIGS. 2 and 3,upper body portion29 comprisescyclonic unit28 positioned in the lower portion ofupper body portion29.Cyclonic unit28 may comprise any type of dirt separation cyclone known in the art, e.g. cylindrical or frusto-conical, and may comprise a single cyclone or multiple cyclones (either in series and/or in parallel). Preferably,cyclonic unit28 comprises a single cyclone. Referring toFIG. 3,cyclone unit28 comprisescyclone container30 having anair inlet32, typically at anupper end34 thereof, adapted for providing an air flow tangentially to an innerdirt rotation surface36 ofcontainer30.Container30 also has a dirt collection surface or bottom38 and aclean air outlet40.Upper end34 ofcontainer30 is sealed, such as by anupper panel35.

If the vacuum cleaner is used in the upright vacuum cleaner mode, the air flow path through cleaner20 commences with anair supply conduit46 having anupstream portion48 in flow communication withdirty air intake27 and adownstream portion50.Upstream portion48 is provided inhead22 and has afirst end52 positionedadjacent brush member26 for receiving the dirt laden air and a distalsecond end54.Downstream portion50 is positioned in air flow communication withsecond end54. Preferably upstream and

downstream portions

48,50 are substantially sealed together to prevent air and dirt leaking therefrom.

In one embodiment, upstream and

downstream portions

48,50 may comprise a single member (whether integrally formed or connected together). In such a case,

portions

48,50 are preferably flexible so as to allowcyclone container30 to be emptied. Preferably, they are separate elements which are in air flow communication whencontainer30 is mounted invacuum cleaner20. Thus, if a blockage develops inconduit46, by removingcontainer30 fromvacuum cleaner20,

portions

48 and50 may be individually accessed atend54 to clean out the blockage.

As shown inFIGS. 3, 7 and11

downstream portion

50 may extend upwardly throughcontainer30. Alternately, as shown inFIGS. 9 and 11,downstream portion50 may extend upwardly at a position adjacent the outer surface ofcontainer30. Whetherdownstream portion50 is provided internally (FIGS. 11) or externally (FIGS. 9) tocontainer30, by manufacturing the vacuum cleaner so thatdownstream portion50 is removable withcontainer30 from the vacuum cleaner, access is provided to both the upstream and downstream portions ofdownstream portion50 as well asend54 ofupstream portion48. Accordingly, multiple access ports are effectively provided as part of the construction of the vacuum cleaner. It will be appreciated thatdownstream portion50 may be manufactured as part of container30 (such as by moulding it integrally therewith). Alternately, it may be separately manufactured (such as by extrusion) and subsequently affixed tocontainer30 by any means known in the art.

Downstream portion

50 may entercontainer30 at any point (eg. via a side wall) but preferably enters through bottom38. Furtherdownstream portion50 preferably extends generally upwardly through the central portion ofcontainer30 which comprises the area occupied by the vertical return path of the air as it travels from bottom38 tooutlet40. As shown inFIG. 3,downstream portion50 preferably extends coaxially with the longitudinal axis A ofcontainer30, however, it may be positioned off centre either internal of container30 (see for exampleFIG. 11) or external of container30 (see for exampleFIG. 9).

Downstream portion

50 is preferably positioned at any location withincontainer30 where it does not unduly interfere with the cyclonic flow of air withincontainer30. For this reason, ifdownstream portion50 is positioned withincontainer30, it preferably is centrally located incontainer30. In particular, in a cyclone, the air travels generally in an annular bandadjacent surface36 ofcontainer30. The air travels generally downwardly until it reaches a position towardsbottom38 ofcontainer30 at which point the air travels upwardly through the central portion ofcyclone container30. In a most preferred embodiment of this invention,downstream portion50 is positioned within this central portion ofcontainer30 which contains this upflow of air.

As shown inFIG. 11,downstream portion50 may be positionedadjacent sidewall36. In such cases,downstream portion50 is preferably constructed so as to minimize its interference with the flow of air aroundsurface36. For example,downstream portion50 may be constructed with rounded surfaces so as to direct the flow of air arounddownstream portion50. Further,downstream portion50 need not be circular in shape but may be elliptical or of other constructions wherein it has a radial extent (i.e. around inner surface36) which is substantially greater than its width in a direction transverse thereto (i.e. radially inwardly). Thus,downstream portion50 would extend only slightly intocontainer30 and would not substantially interfere with the cyclonic flow of air incontainer30.

Exit portion

56 is positioned at the upper end ofdownstream portion50.Inlet32 is positioned at the distal end ofexit portion56 fromdownstream portion56.Exit portion56 may extend along any desired path fromdownstream portion50 toinlet32. Preferably,exit portion56 is wholly positioned within container30 (eg. it does not exitcontainer30 through upper end34).

Exit portion

56 may extend at a right angle todownstream portion50 as shown inFIG. 3. Further, it may extend in a straight line toinlet32 as shown inFIG. 4. It will be appreciated thatinlet32 may be any inlet known in the cyclonic art to introduce air tangentially into a cyclone and it may be positioned at any point along the longitudinal length ofcontainer30 as is known in the cyclonic art.

In one preferred embodiment,exit portion56 includes a curved portion. More preferably, as shown inFIG. 6,exit portion56 is curved so as to impart circular momentum to the dirty air as it travels therethrough. Depending upon the degree of curvature,exit portion56 may assist in tangentially introducing the dirty air intocontainer30 or it may be the sole source of tangential entry into container30 (e.g. inlet32 may merely be an opening inexit portion56 which does not impart any tangential rotation to the dirty air). By constructing the supply conduit in this manner, a 90° elbow is not required to redirect the dirty air to entercontainer30 tangentially. In a typical application, replacing a 90° elbow with a gradual curved path to redirect the dirty air results in a about a 5 to 10% reduction in the loss of suction as the air travels through the vacuum cleaner. Thus, a smaller motor may be incorporated into the vacuum cleaner to obtain the same pressure atinlet32 or the suction atend52 may be increased if the same motor is used.

Referring toFIG. 7, it will be appreciated that the dirty air traveling indownstream portion50 travels outwardly toinlet32. In an alternate preferred embodiment,exit portion56 curves gently from the upper end ofdownstream portion50 so as to travel outwardly towardsinlet32. More preferably, the change in direction of the dirty air from vertical to horizontal and from horizontal to tangential occurs so as to reduce the pressure drop during its travel fromdownstream portion50 tocontainer30.

Centrally located inupper end34 ofcontainer30 is aclean air outlet40 for permitting withdrawal of air fromcontainer30. Fromclean air outlet40, the air flow may proceed to vacuumfan motor24 or to a second stage of filtration, such as a second cyclone or other filtration means (e.g. an electrostatic precipitator, a mesh screen or a filter). Subsequently, it may be in air flow communication withvacuum fan motor24.

In operation, thevacuum fan motor24 is activated to induce an air flow through cleaner20. The air flow causes a partial vacuum to form atend52. Air, and entrained dirt, is drawn intoupstream portion48, with the aid ofbrush member26. The dirty air flow moves upwardly indownstream portion50 todirty air inlet32 viaexit portion56 and is introduced tangentially tocontainer30. The airflow is then accelerated arounddirt rotation surface36, and proceeds generally downwardly along and arounddirt rotation surface36 until it reaches a position towardsbottom38 ofcontainer30, at which point the air flow travels upwardly through the central portion ofcyclone container30.Container30 may incorporate a wall which is a cylindrical sleeve extending downwardly fromoutlet40 to assist in preventing the treated air travelling upwardly tooutlet40 from mixing with the dirty air which is introduced intocontainer30 viainlet32.

As can be seen by a comparison of

intake conduits

16 and46, of cleaner10 and cleaner20 respectively, the reduction of bends in the air conduit of the present invention beneficially results in a significant reduction in the turbulent pressure loss in the intake conduit, thereby markedly improving the efficiency of the cyclonic separation device as a whole.

The presence ofdownstream portion50 extending through the centre ofcontainer30 interferes minimally with the cyclonic action of the air flow withincontainer30. Thus the presence ofdownstream portion50 does not significantly effect the efficiency of the cyclone.

Ifupper body portion29 comprises only a single dirt filtration stage, thenoutlet40 may be an air communication withmotor24. Alternately, ifupper body portion29 comprises a second or more filtration stage, thenoutlet40 may be an air communication with the second filtration stage (as is shown inFIG. 3). It will be appreciated thatmotor24 may be positioned at any stage in the air flow path throughupper body portion29 provided a sufficient amount of dirt has been removed from the air so as not to damage or unduly damagemotor24.

As shown inFIG. 2,vacuum cleaner20 includessecond filtration stage60. The second filtration stage may comprise one or more cyclones. If the second stage comprises a plurality of cyclones, they may be either in series or parallel but are preferably in parallel. In the preferred embodiment ofFIGS. 3 and 13,second filtration stage60 comprises threesecond cyclones62.Second cyclones62 may be the same or different and may of any particular configuration known in the art.Second filtration stage60 also comprises aconduit64 in fluid flow communication withoutlet40 from thefirst stage cyclone28.Conduit64 is in air flow communication withinlets66 tosecond stage cyclones62. The partially cleaned air is introduced tangentially intosecond stage cyclones62 and travels downwardly therethrough with the separated dirt exitingsecond cyclones62 viadirt outlets68. The further cleaned air travels upwardly through the central portion ofsecond cyclones62 toair outlets70.

The air may travel directly tomotor24 or may pass through a screen or filter72 which is positioned betweensecond filtration stage60 andmotor24. The cleaned air traveling bymotor24 cools the motor. The cooled air may then exit the vacuum cleaner or may pass through a further filtration stage.

InFIGS. 2 and 3, the air passes upwardly frommotor24 to a third filtration stage which comprises, eg., a HEPA™ filter or an electrostatic precipitator. The further cleaned air exitsvacuum cleaner20 after passage throughthird filtration stage74.

In an alternate embodiment, if the vacuum cleaner is convertible for off the floor cleaning (i.e. in a canister mode), then handle42 may be in air flow communication with the upstream portion ofconduit48 by aflexible hose43 andconduit76. Suitable valving means known in the art may be incorporated to selectively connect in air flow communicationdirty air inlet27 and handle42 withconduit50.

By this design, it will be appreciated that fromsecond end54, the dirty air travels upwardly through the filtration stages and exits the vacuum cleaner at the top. In particular, the air travels upwardly toair inlet32 tocyclonic unit28. The air then travels upwardly to theair inlets66 to thesecond cyclone62. The air then travels upwardly fromair outlet70 to the motor and, if desired, further upwardly to thethird filtration stage74 prior to exiting the vacuum cleaner. Regardless of the sequence of the filtration stages, or their numbers, the air continues to travel generally upwardly from one stage to the next without substantial bends or 90° elbows being required to direct the air flow.

In conventional designs as shown inFIG. 1, the air must reverse course and flow downwardly intohead22 so as to cool the motor. By positioning the motor inupper body portion29 in the air flow path, a substantially more direct air flow path may be created (by the elimination of several elbows required to bring the cleaned air down to head22) thus substantially reducing the pressure drop. For example, the pressure drop through the vacuum cleaner such as is shown inFIG. 3 may be about35 inches of water at 45 cfm. By substantially reducing the pressure drop through the vacuum cleaner, the size ofmotor24 may be consequentially reduced without reducing the air flow or suction through the vacuum cleaner.

Upper body portion

29 is preferably pivotally mounted to head22 such as by a ball joint78. Accordingly, the upper body portion may be positionable in an upright storage position as shown inFIG. 3 whereinupper body portion29 extends generally vertically upwardly fromhead22.Upper body portion29 may be lockingly positioned in this place by a locking means as is known in the art.Upper body portion29 is preferably so positioned at a position forward ofrear portions23 and more preferably onfront portion21.Head22 is preferably configured given the vertical position ofmotor24 inupper body portion29 such that whenupper body portion29 is at an angle of 40° to the vertical as shown inFIG. 14, then the centre of gravity ofupper body portion29 is positioned in front ofwheels44 and, more preferably, abovespace25.

In a particularly preferred embodiment,upper body portion29 is positionable in a lowered storage position whereinupper body portion20 extends generally rearwardly fromfront portion21 ofhead22. Preferably,space25 has a sufficient width so as to allowupper body portion20 to fit therewithin so that longitudinal axis B ofhead22 is generally parallel to longitudinal axis A ofupper body portion29. More preferably, longitudinal axis A and B define a continuous axis whenupper body portion29 is a lowered stored position.

In a particular preferred embodiment,space25 has a sufficient width to accommodate therein the lower portion ofupper body portion29. Thus rear portions extend on either side ofupper body portion29 whenupper body portion29 is in the lowered storage position. However, if the portion ofconduit48 extending from joint78 to bottom38 is sufficiently long,upper body portion20 may be positionable in the lowered storage position such that bottom38 is spaced from rearward ends80 ofrear portions23. With this profile,vacuum cleaner20 may be easily placed under many beds and like pieces of furniture for storage or cleaning. Further, it may be hung for storage such as from a hook mounted in a wall or from a ceiling by means ofhanger82 using any hanger means known in the art.

Despite havingmotor24 positioned on upwardly extendingportion29, only a small amount of force may be required to holdvacuum cleaner20 in an in use position as shown inFIG. 4. For example, whenupper body portion29 is inclined such that axis A is at an angle a (seeFIG. 14) of 40° to the vertical, the weight exerted byhandle42 in the hand of a user may be less than three pounds and, preferably, is less than two pounds. Accordingly, the vacuum cleaner provides ease of use despite the position of the motor towards theupper body portion29.

Therefore, the configuration of the air path through the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention advantageously permits a substantial reduction in the pressure loss without interfering with the overall performance of the cyclone separation device. Thus, the present invention permits a smaller motor to be used to provide a similar draw at theintake end52 compared to current designs.

While the above description constitutes the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that the present invention is susceptible to modification and change without departing from the fair meaning of the proper scope of the accompanying claims.