Shroud

A shroud means for use in a cleaning apparatus including a container comprising a bottom and a sidewall extending to and meeting the bottom, the sidewall having an interior surface, a dirty air inlet which is oriented for supplying dirt laden air into the container tangentially to the interior surface of the container which has a circular cross-section and an air outlet from the container;

• a circular cross-sectioned cyclone having a longitudinal axis mounted inside the container, the cyclone comprising a cyclone air inlet at an upper end having a first diameter of the cyclone in air communication with the air outlet of the container, an interior dirt rotational surface of frusto-conical shape for receiving an air flow from the air inlet and for maintaining its velocity to a cone opening smaller in diameter than the diameter of the upper end of the cyclone, the air inlet being oriented for supplying air tangentially to the surface, an outer surface of frusto-conical shape, and a cyclone air outlet communicating with the interior of the cyclone adjacent the upper end of the cyclone;
• a dirt collecting receiver extending from the cone opening;
• and means for generating an airflow which passes sequentially through the dirty air inlet, the cover, the container, the cyclone air inlet, the cyclone, the dirt receiver and the cyclone air outlet, the airflow rotating around the frusto-conical interior surface of the cyclone and depositing the dirt in the receiver the improvement which comprises:
• (a) the shroud means mounted on and around the outer surface of the cyclone, having opposed ends along the longitudinal axis and providing an air outlet from the container into the air inlet to the cyclone, wherein a portion of the shroud means has a cylindrical section with a large number of perforations around the cylindrical section, spaced from the inside wall of the container which results in a low differential pressure being created between an outside surface and an inside surface of the cylindrical section that keeps dirt from being drawn through the perforations in the cylindrical section by the flow of air from the container to the cyclone air inlet with one of the ends of the shroud means closed by the outer surface of the cyclone and wherein the airflow circulating around the interior surface of the container wipes the outside surface of the cylindrical section around the perforations clean so that the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet is not restricted by dirt accumulating at the perforations in the cylindrical section as dirt is being accumulated in the container.

A shroud means for use in a cleaning apparatus including a container comprising a bottom and a sidewall extending to and meeting the bottom, the sidewall having an interior surface, a dirty air inlet which is oriented for supplying dirt laden air into the container tangentially to the interior surface of the container which has a circular cross-section and an air outlet from the container;

• a circular cross-sectioned cyclone having a longitudinal axis mounted inside the container, the cyclone comprising a cyclone air inlet at an upper end having a first diameter of the cyclone in air communication with the air outlet of the container, an interior dirt rotational surface of frusto-conical shape for receiving an air flow from the air inlet and for maintaining its velocity to a cone opening smaller in diameter than the diameter of the upper end of the cyclone, the air inlet being oriented for supplying air tangentially to the surface, an outer surface of frusto-conical shape, and a cyclone air outlet communicating with the interior of the cyclone adjacent the upper end of the cyclone;
• a dirt collecting receiver extending from the cone opening;
• and means for generating an airflow which passes sequentially through the dirty air inlet, the cover, the container, the cyclone air inlet, the cyclone, the dirt receiver and the cyclone air outlet, the airflow rotating around the frusto-conical interior surface of the cyclone and depositing the dirt in the receiver the improvement which comprises:
• (a) the shroud means mounted on and around the outer surface of the cyclone, having opposed ends along the longitudinal axis and providing an air outlet from the container into the air inlet to the cyclone, wherein a portion of the shroud means has a cylindrical section with perforations around the cylindrical section which allow for the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet and which is spaced from and parallel to the inside wall of the container with one of the ends of the shroud means closed by the outer surface of the cyclone and wherein the airflow circulating around the interior surface of the container wipes an outer surface of the cylindrical section around the perforations clean so that the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet is not restricted by dirt accumulating at the perforations in the cylindrical section as dirt is being accumulated in the container.

A shroud means for use in a cleaning apparatus including a container comprising a bottom and a sidewall extending to and meeting the bottom, the sidewall having an interior surface, a dirty air inlet which is oriented for supplying dirt laden air into the container tangentially to the interior surface of the container which has a circular cross-section and an air outlet from the container;

• a circular cross-sectioned cyclone having a longitudinal axis mounted inside the container, the cyclone comprising a cyclone air inlet at an upper end having a first diameter of the cyclone in air communication with the air outlet of the container, an interior dirt rotational surface of frusto-conical shape for receiving an airflow from the air inlet and for maintaining its velocity to a cone opening smaller in diameter than the diameter of the upper end of the cyclone, the air inlet being oriented for supplying air tangentially to the surface, an outer surface of frusto-conical shape, and a cyclone air outlet communicating with the interior of the cyclone adjacent the upper end of the cyclone;
• a dirt collecting receiver extending from the cone opening;
• and means for generating an airflow which passes sequentially through the dirty air inlet, the container, the cyclone air inlet, the cyclone, the dirt receiver and the cyclone air outlet, the airflow rotating around the frusto-conical interior surface of the cyclone and depositing the dirt in the receiver the improvement which comprises:
• the shroud means mounted on and around the outer surface of the cyclone, having opposed ends along the longitudinal axis and providing an air outlet from the container into the air inlet to the cyclone, wherein a portion of the shroud means has a cylindrical section with perforations around the cylindrical section which allow for the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet and which is spaced from and parallel to the inside wall of the container with the cylindrical section joined to a web means, an inside edge of which contacts the outside wall of the cyclone and an outside edge of which is joined to the cylindrical section and wherein the airflow circulating around the interior surface of the container wipes an outer surface of the cylindrical section around the perforations clean so that the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet is not restricted by dirt accumulating at the perforations in the cylindrical section as dirt is being accumulated in the container.

In a cleaning apparatus including a container comprising a bottom and a sidewall extending to and meeting the bottom, the sidewall having an interior surface, a dirty air inlet which is oriented for supplying dirt laden air into the container tangentially to the interior surface of the container which has a circular cross-section and an air outlet from the container;

• a cross-sectioned cyclone having a longitudinal axis mounted inside the container, the cyclone comprising a cyclone air inlet at an upper end having a first diameter of the cyclone in air communication with the air outlet of the container, an interior dirt rotational surface of frusto-conical shape for receiving an airflow from the air inlet and for maintaining its velocity to a cone opening smaller in diameter than the diameter of the upper end of the cyclone, the air inlet being oriented for supplying air tangentially to the surface, an outer surface of frusto-conical shape, and a cyclone air outlet communicating with the interior of the cyclone adjacent the upper end of the cyclone;
• a dirt collecting receiver extending from the cone opening;
• and means for generating an airflow which passes sequentially through the dirty air inlet, the container, the cyclone air inlet, the cyclone, the dirt receiver and the cyclone air outlet, the airflow rotating around the frusto-conical interior surface of the cyclone and depositing the dirt in the receiver the improvement which comprises:
• (a) a shroud means mounted on and around the outer surface of the cyclone, having opposed ends along the longitudinal axis and providing an air outlet from the container into the air inlet to the cyclone, wherein a portion of the shroud means has a cylindrical section between the ends with perforations around the cylindrical section which allow for the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone air inlet and which is spaced from and parallel to the inside wall of the container with the cylindrical section joined to a web means, an inside edge of which contacts the outside wall of the cyclone and an outside edge of which is joined to the cylindrical section and wherein the airflow circulating around the interior surface of the container wipes an outer surface of the cylindrical section around the perforations clean so that the flow of the air from the container to the cyclone inlet is not restricted by dirt accumulating at the perforations in the cylindrical section as dirt is being accumulated in the container.