A surface cleaning apparatus, wherein the suction motor is operable using current supplied from an energy storage member when the power cord is removed and operable using current supplied from an external source when the power cord is in electrical communication with the suction motor.

A system of a household appliance has an appliance housing, an accumulator having an accumulator housing and an integrated optical display, and a display control for controlling a display of information on the accumulator display. The appliance has a detector for determining appliance states of the appliance, which do not relate to the accumulator, wherein the detector is configured to transmit the detected appliance state to the display control, wherein the display control is configured to control the accumulator display to display the received appliance state. The display control is configured to control the display of a remaining running time, which specifies how long a charging capacity, which is still available in the accumulator, will last, to complete an activity, which is currently performed, wherein the remaining running time relates to a combination of an appliance parameter of the appliance and of the current charging capacity of the accumulator.

A robot cleaner includes: a body having a suction port; a plurality of wheels for movement of the body; and a plurality of driving devices configured to drive the plurality of wheels, respectively, wherein each of the plurality of wheels includes an inner wheel and an outer wheel having a thickness that is larger than a thickness of the inner wheel, and each of the inner wheel and the outer wheel includes a plurality of slits.

A vacuum hose has a switch that allows an operator to selectively send control signals to a transceiver to control the operation of a central vacuum unit. The switch may be located on a cuff or nozzle defining a distal end of the vacuum hose. The switch is not located on a head unit that couples to the cuff or nozzle and not located on a wall-mounted valve. The switch can be an energy harvesting switch that requires no batteries or no dedicated power source (i.e., not hardwired).

A surface cleaning apparatus comprises a hand vacuum cleaner, a surface cleaning head and a rigid air flow conduit extending between the surface cleaning head and the hand vacuum cleaner. The hand vacuum cleaner comprises a main body and a removably mounted air treatment member. The air treatment member has an air inlet and the outlet end of the rigid air flow conduit is removably connectable in air flow communication with the air inlet.

An emergency power supply is electrically connected to the vehicle-mounted power-consuming device through an electrical connecting device. Magnetic attraction between the first magnet and the matching member matches the spherical bump and the spherical groove, where the first conductive member is electrically connected to the second conductive member without suffering from elastic fatigue. Contact between the spherical bump and the spherical groove has a large surface area that maintains reliable contact even when subject to vibrations. Therefore, the above-mentioned electrical connecting device significantly improves the reliability of the electrical connection between the emergency power supply and the vehicle-mounted power-consuming device.

A power supply arrangement for a suction device is provided, which is optionally operable using direct current or alternating current, including a first connection connectible to a direct current source, a second connection connectible to an alternating current source, a third connection connectible to a consuming unit of the suction device, an electrically isolated converter connected on the input side to the first connection, and a switchover device connected to an output of the converter, the second connection and to the consuming unit, wherein the switchover device allows selection of whether the consuming unit is actively connected to the converter or the second connection for power supply, and wherein the switchover device has one or more components each with an electrical safety clearance that is at least 4 mm in respect of the creepage distance and the total of the creepage distances of the components is at least 8 mm.

A dust collector interlocking system includes a transmitter provided in the electric power tool and capable of transmitting a radio signal, and a receiver provided in the suction hose of the dust collector and capable of receiving the radio signal from the transmitter of the electric power tool. The transmitter transmits a drive signal of the electric power tool, and the receiver receives the drive signal of the electric power tool from the transmitter to turn on a start switch of the dust collector.

A surface cleaning apparatus has a cyclone chamber and a dirt collection chamber. The cyclone chamber has a sidewall extending from a first end to an axially opposed second end. At least a portion of the dirt collection chamber is aligned with first end of the cyclone chamber and radially outwardly of a solid portion of the vortex finder.

An apparatus controls operations of a cleaner. The apparatus comprises a network interface unit for receiving first information regarding external conditions through an external network, and a controller for setting up operating schedules of the cleaner based on the first information.