Cyclonic dirt separation module

A vacuum cleaner comprising;

• a dirt separator housing defining a cyclonic airflow chamber for separating contaminants from a dirt-containing airstream, said dirt separator housing further comprising a cyclonic chamber inlet and an airstream outlet in fluid communication with each other;
• an airstream suction source fluidly connected to the cyclonic airflow chamber for transporting dirt-containing air from a source of a dirt-containing airstream to the cyclonic airflow chamber, said suction source selectively establishing and maintaining the dirt-containing airstream from said source of a dirt-containing airstream to said cyclonic chamber inlet and for maintaining tangential flow of the dirt-containing airstream within the cyclone airflow chamber for separating dirt from the air stream in the cyclonic airflow chamber;
• a support element positioned within said dirt separation housing and mounting a separator plate that forms a toroidal chamber within the dirt separation housing with a cylindrical side wall and upper wall of the dirt separation housing;
• a dirt-collecting bin beneath the separator plate within the dirt separation housing and forming a dirt collecting chamber;
• and
• wherein the relative cross-sectional areas of the separator plate with respect to the housing cross sectional area at the separator plate is in the range of 0.75 to 0.95.

A vacuum cleaner comprising:

• a housing defining a first cyclonic airflow chamber for separating contaminants from a dirt-containing airstream, said housing further comprising an airstream inlet and an airstream outlet in fluid communication with said first cyclonic airflow chamber;
• a nozzle base including a suction opening, said suction opening being fluidly connected with said airstream inlet of the first cyclonic airflow chamber;
• the housing further including a second cyclonic airflow chamber having an airstream inlet in fluid communication with the outlet of the first cyclonic airflow chamber and an airstream outlet;
• the second cyclonic airflow chamber is at least in part defined by a frustroconical wall that decreases in diameter from a lower end to an upper end,
• a fluid passage between the airstream outlet of the first cyclonic airflow chamber and the airflow inlet of the second cyclonic airflow chamber;
• a first dirt-collecting bin beneath said first cyclonic airflow chamber for collecting dirt separated from the airstream in the first cyclonic airflow chamber;
• and
• an airstream suction source fluidly connected to the suction opening and to the first and second cyclonic airflow chambers for transporting a dirt-containing airstream from the suction opening through the first and second cyclonic airflow chambers, wherein the suction source is adapted to selectively establish and maintain the flow of the dirt-containing airstream from the suction opening through said first and second cyclonic airflow chambers.

A vacuum cleaner comprising:

• a suction nozzle opening adapted to draw dirt from a surface to be cleaned;
• a cyclonic separator having an inlet opening communicating with the suction nozzle and an outlet opening for exhausting cleaned air;
• an airstream suction source fluidly connected to cyclonic separator outlet opening for selectively establishing and maintaining a dirt-containing airstream from the suction nozzle opening through the cyclonic separator;
• wherein the cyclonic separator comprises an upstream cyclone and a downstream cyclone;
• the upstream cyclone including a first end and a second end, and the downstream cyclone having a first end and a second end,
• wherein the upstream cyclone is substantially cylindrical in shape between the first and second ends thereof,
• wherein the upstream and downstream cyclones are arranged relative to one another so that the orientation of the downstream cyclone is substantially inverted with respect to the orientation of the upstream cyclone, and
• wherein the downstream cyclone is frusto-conical in shape between the first and second ends thereof.