Hand-Held Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

A hand-held portable vacuum comprising:

• a housing having a front end, a rear end, a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a dirt cup having an inlet and defining a container for storage of dirt and debris therein, the dirt cup being removably attached to the front end of the housing and forming the entirety of a front portion of the vacuum and whose walls form a continuous surface with the housing;
• a handle located on the top surface of the housing;
• a motor located within the housing to the rear of the dirt cup;
• a filter disposed inside the dirt cup, the filter being formed with a plurality of pleats and having an annular flange with driven tabs thereon;
• a prefilter having a prefilter body that surrounds the filter and having ribs located on an interior surface of the prefilter;
• a filter cleaning device having an actuation mechanism with drive tabs that directly engage driven tabs on the filter to rotate the filter within the prefilter so that the filter contacts the ribs to agitate the filter and dislodge accumulated dirt and debris from its pleats;
• and
• wherein the actuation mechanism is located within the housing, the housing having an opening adjacent the actuation mechanism so that a portion of the actuation mechanism is exposed to the exterior of the housing.