Patent attributes
A dirt collecting system for a vacuum cleaner includes a dirt cup formed from a cylindrical sidewall having a disc shaped member separating the dirt cup into an upper portion and a lower portion. The dirty airstream flows past the disc shaped member from the upper portion to the lower portion through a small gap between the outer periphery of the disc shaped member and the sidewall of the dirt cup. The disc shaped member is supported on a centrally located conduit which has apertured walls located both above and below the disc shaped member. The apertured walls allows the airstream to flow into the conduit for further filtering or exiting the dirt cup. The apertured wall located above the disc shaped member improves sustained performance by enabling the airstream to continue to flow through the dirt cup as the lower portion of the dirt cup fills with large dirt particles and the apertured wall located beneath the disc shaped member becomes increasingly restricted. In the various embodiments of the invention, the airstream is directed through the conduit to a fine particle filter located in a compartment at the bottom of the dirt cup, at the top of the dirt cup or into filter sock located at the upper end of the dirt cup. Alternately, the fine particle filter may be located in a separate container located above or below the dirt container.
