Dust collecting apparatus and vacuum cleaner having the same

A dust collecting apparatus comprising:

• a housing comprising an inlet part through which air is sucked and a dust separating chamber which separates dust from the air sucked through the inlet part;
• a filter disposed at an upper portion of the housing to filter fine dust contained in the air passing through the dust separating chamber;
• a cover to cover the upper portion of the housing and comprising a filter installation part in which the filter is installed;
• a filter cover which is rotatably hinged to an upper portion of the cover so as to prevent the filter from being exposed;
• and
• a closing prevention rib which is rotatably provided at the filter cover to prevent the filter cover from closing when the filter is removed from the filter installation part,
• wherein a catching rib is provided at the filter installation part so that the closing prevention rib is restricted by the catching rib to prevent the filter cover from closing when the filter is removed.

A vacuum cleaner comprising:

• a body;
• a suction unit which sucks air from a surface to be cleaned using a suction force generated from the body;
• and
• a dust collecting apparatus which is provided at the body so as to receive air sucked by the suction unit and to separate dust from the received air,
• wherein the dust collecting apparatus comprises:
• a housing comprising a dust separating chamber which receives the air sucked by the suction unit and separates the dust;
• a filter disposed at an upper portion of the housing to filter fine dust contained in the air passing through the dust separating chamber;
• a cover to cover the upper portion of the housing and comprising a filter installation part which is provided at an upper portion to receive the filter and a catching rib which is provided at the filter installation part;
• a filter cover which is rotatably hinged to the upper portion of the cover to prevent the filter from being exposed;
• and
• a closing prevention rib which is rotatably hinged to the filter cover and rotates to close the filter cover,
• wherein when the filter is installed, the closing prevention rib contacts with an upper surface of the filter while closing the filter case and the closing prevention rib slides along the upper surface of the filter so that the filter cover closes, and when the filter is not installed and the closing prevention rib contacts with an upper surface of the filter installation part while closing the filter case, the closing prevention rib slides along an upper surface of the filter installation part and is restricted by the catching rib to prevent the filter cover from closing.