GB2416677A

GB2416677A - Vacuum/blower device with telescopic wand

Info

Publication number: GB2416677A
Application number: GB0515111A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Tony John Archbold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2004-07-29
Filing date: 2005-07-26
Publication date: 2006-02-08
Also published as: GB0515111D0

Abstract

A hand held vacuum blower device comprising a housing defining a handle and an enclosure in which a powered fan is located, the housing having a wand 30 projecting therefrom in the form of hollow ducting terminating in an outlet aperture 40, the ducting being divided into at least two sections 34,35 that telescope one within the other so that the effective length of the wand is adjustable.

Description

24 1 6677 - 1 -

TITLE

Vacuum Blower

INTRODUCTION

This invention relates to a vacuum blower and in particular a vacuum blower that is used in the garden.

These days there are a number of hand held vacuum blowers that are designed specifically for garden use.

They are usually electrically powered and have the capacity to either provide a blast of air or provide a mechanism for sucking air into the unit. The blast of air is frequently used to sweep up leaves into piles and the vacuum unit picks up leaves and other waste for collection in a receptacle that is either attached directly to or independently associated with the device.

The problem with devices of this kind is that they have a finite length and that they are hand held. To ensure that the blowing or sucking tip of the device is close to the material there is often a need for the user to bend forwardly and this can lead to back injuries.

Current health and safety standards have dictated that products such as this should be designed with much greater emphasis on the reduction in back strain. It is these issues that have brought about the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a hand held vacuum blower device comprising a housing defining a handle and an enclosure in which a powered fan is located, the housing having a wand projecting therefrom in the form of hollow ducting terminating in an outlet aperture, the drafting being divided into at least two - 2 - sections that telescope one within the other so that the effective length of the wand is adjustable.

Preferably, the ducting of one wand section is adapted to be a sliding fit within the ducting of the other wand section and means are provided to lock the two components in selective relative positions.

In a preferred embodiment, the ducting includes a partition that separates the dusting into two passages, a first passage facilitating ingress of air when the device operates in a vacuum mode and when the device is operating in a blower mode the second passage defines a throughway for escape of the air.

In a preferred embodiment, the fan is powered by an electric motor that is either powered by rechargeable batteries or through a source of mains electricity.

Alternatively, the device may incorporate a small internal combustion engine that drives the fan.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side view in cross-section illustrating a vacuum blower device when in a vacuum mode, Figure 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the device in a blower mode, Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the device having a wand in an extended position, Figure 4 is a side cross- sectional view of the device having the wand in a normal position, Figure 5 is a detailed side elevational view of the device in an extended position, and - 3 - Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the device in the extended position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The vacuum device 10 illustrated in the accompanying drawings comprises a housing 11 that is moulded in plastics in two halves that are secured together about a central axis, the housing 11 comprises a main body 12 that defines an enclosure 13. The center of the top of the main body has an upstanding arcuate handle 14 and the underside terminates in a circular flange that surrounds outlet aperture 15 that can be coupled to the mouth of a collection bag (not shown). The enclosure 13 houses a fan assembly 16 which is in turn driven by an electric motor 17 that is preferably powered by mains electricity through a power lead 18. The electric motor is usually of 2400 or 2000 watts capacity.

A slide switch 20 is incorporated in the main body 12 underneath the handle 14 to vary the speed of the fan.

The top of the handle also includes a T bar 21 with a press switch 22 for a turbo mode whereby, for a brief period, the electric motor is turned onto an extremely high speed which causes a strong blast of air for either vacuum or blower purposes. The turbo mode has a timing function to ensure against overload and overheating of the electric motor or damage to the fan blade assembly.. The T bar 21 and handle 14 provide an excellent means of holding the device in two hands, whilst the handle 14 also allows single handed use. The switches 20, 22 have been ergonomically positioned for ease of use.

The main body 12 has an elongate forwardly projecting duct 32 that forms part of a wand 30 and this wand terminates in a downwardly pointing outlet aperture 31.

The outlet aperture 31 may in one embodiment constitute an - 4 - outlet nozzle or may be adapted to support a foot 40. The foot 40 comprises a head 41 that is positioned across a duct 42 that is arranged to be a sliding fit with the outlet aperture 31. A pair of opposed projections/depressions 44, 45 in the walls of the duct 41 and wand locate the foot 40 in fixed location at the end of the wand 30. The head 41 has a downwardly extending elongate nozzle 47 and a pair of spaced wheels 48, 49. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the underside of the wand 30 also supports a jockey wheel 50 so that in use the device can be run along the ground on either the wheel 50 or the wheels 48, 49 depending on the angle of inclination the device assumes to the ground. The use of wheels 48, 49 or 50 allows the device to operate particularly effectively on paved or hard surfaces.

The wand 30 is split into two ducts 32, 33 namely an inner duct 32 that is integrally formed with the housing 11 that is in turn a sliding fit within the second wand duct 33 that includes the outlet aperture 31. The sliding interrelationship between the wand ducts 32, 33 provides a telescopic feature whereby the overall length of the device 10 can be increased from the position shown in Figures 1 and 2 to the extended position shown in Figures 3, 5 and 6. The telescopic nature of the wand varies the length of the device 10 by about 250mm, i.e. from 950mm to 1200mm to accommodate users of differing heights.

The wand 30 components are in the form of ducts of square cross section with rounded corners with a dividing floor 36 that splits the ducts into two, namely a larger vacuum duct 55 which is the upper duct shown in Figures 1 and 2, and a smaller blower duct 56 that is positioned directly beneath the vacuum duct. Operation of the slide switch 20 causes the fan to rotate in a single direction but operation of a side operated switch 70 (Figure 5) places the device in a vacuum mode and causes air to be - 5 drawn in through the nozzle 47 and along the upper larger part 55 of the duct to escape into the collection bag (not shown) through the outlet aperture 15. When the switch 70 is turned to the blower mode the escape of air to the bag is blocked and the air is redirected to the lower duct 56 defined by the dividing floor 36 to thus escape out through the outlet aperture 31 along that duct as shown in Figure 2. The ducts 32, 33 each have floor section 34, 35 that as shown in Figure 6 interfit to define the dividing floor 36.

The duct sections 32, 33 are designed to ensure that one 32 which is an extension of the housing 11 is a close sliding fit within the interior of the other section 33.

The duct sections 32, 33 are held in their allocated position by two latch assemblies 60 mounted one on each side of the device 10. As shown in Figure 5 each latch assembly 60 comprises an elongate notched rail 61 in one duct 32 and a pivoting latch 62 on the other duct section 33. The pivoting latch 62 has a head 65 with an aperture 66 that allows the head 65 to engage a notch in the rail 61. A lever 67 is pivotally secured to the opposite end of the latch 62 and the underside of the latch 62 has a cam (not shown) that engages a plastics hook on the casing 32 to engage the rail of the other duct section 33 to hold the duct sections together as shown in Figure 5. Release of the lever 67 disconnects the latch 62 allowing the duct sections 32, 33 to slide axially relative to one another.

Although a divided air duct 55, 56 is illustrated in the preferred embodiment it is understood that a single air duct can fulfil both functions.

The vacuum blower described above is particularly versatile and is ergonomically designed to be length adjustable to accommodate users of different heights. The handle and switching arrangement have been designed to - 6 - facilitate both double handed and single handed use and the provision of wheeled feet at the front of the wand allows the device to be run along the ground especially on hard surfaces such as paved areas. The high power electric motor includes a turbo boost feature that produces a 20% increase boost in power and the electric motor includes cut out features to ensure against overheating. A simple mechanism is provided to facilitate change from a blow facility to vacuum operation and the device comes with a very large 45 litre collection bag that is usually provided with an elongate zip for ease of emptying. The device has a mulch-ratio of 12:1 and can include a shoulder strap for ease of operation.

In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" is used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention. - 7 -

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A hand held vacuum blower device comprising a housing defining

a handle and an enclosure in which a powered fan is located, the housing having a wand projecting therefrom in the form of hollow dusting terminating in an outlet aperture, the ducting being divided into at least two sections that telescope one within the other so that the effective length of the wand

is adjustable.
2. The hand held vacuum blower device according to claim 1 wherein the dusting of one wand section is adapted to be a sliding fit within the ducting of the other wand section and means are provided to lock the two sections in selective relative positions.
3. The hand held vacuum blower device according to claim 2 wherein a notched rail is provided on one duct section and a latch is secured to the other duct section whereby the latch can engage the rail to hold the duct sections in a selected relative position.
4. The hand held vacuum blower device according to claim 3 wherein a notched nail and latch are positioned on each side of the device.
5. The hand held vacuum blower device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a first duct section forms an extension of the housing and that section is a sliding telescopic fit with a larger second duct section.
6. The hand held vacuum blower device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the forward end of the wand supports at least one wheel to facilitate wheeled passage on a surface. - 8 -
7. The hand held vacuum blower device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the ducting includes a partition that separates the ducting into two passages, the first passage facilitating the ingress of air when the device operates in a vacuum mode and when the device is operating in a blower mode the second passage defines a throughway for escape of air.
8. The hand held vacuum blower device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the fan is powered by an electric motor that is either powered by rechargeable batteries or through a source of mains electricity.
9. The hand held vacuum blower device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the device incorporates a small internal combustion engine that drives the fan.
10. A hand held vacuum blower device substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.