A hand vacuum cleaner has a cyclonic stage comprising an openable front wall provided at the front end of the cyclonic stage. A pre-motor filter is positioned in the air flow passage downstream from the cyclone air outlet and rearward of the cyclone sidewall. The pre-motor filter has a diameter in a direction transverse to the cyclone axis that is larger than a diameter of the cyclone air outlet in the direction transverse to the cyclone axis. The pre-motor filter has an outer perimeter defining a volume and the cyclone axis and the motor axis each extend through a centre of the volume. The cyclone axis is generally parallel to the motor axis. When the openable front wall is opened, the front end of the cyclone stage is opened and has an opening, the opening has a diameter in the direction transverse to the cyclone axis, and the rear end of the cyclonic stage has a diameter that is generally equal to the diameter of the opening. The cyclonic stage is removable from a cleaner body which houses the suction motor with the openable front wall in a closed position. When the first cyclonic stage is removed, the pre-motor filter is accessible for removal.

A vacuum cleaner includes a body having a space that allows air to flow therethrough. The vacuum cleaner includes a suction inlet that introduces the air into the body and a first cyclone in the body. The first cyclone separates foreign substances from the air introduced into the suction inlet. The vacuum cleaner includes a dust separation module having a filter unit that separates foreign substances from the air introduced from the first cyclone. The dust separation module also includes a second cyclone arranged within and separated from the filter unit. The second cyclone includes a cyclone base, a storage unit arranged adjacent to a lower portion of the second cyclone, and a cyclone array coupled to the cyclone base. The cyclone array allows the air to pass through an upper portion of the second cyclone and discharge the foreign substances collected by the second cyclone to the storage unit.

A vacuum cleaner including a housing having a dust collection chamber; a main body that is movable against the housing between a first position and a second position; a rubbish removal member in the dust collection chamber; and an opening or closing device. When the main body is moved against the housing from the first position to the second position, the opening or closing device opens the dust collection chamber, and the rubbish removal member moves toward an open end of the dust collecting chamber to allow rubbish removed by the rubbish removal member to be discharged out of the dust collection chamber. When the main body is moved against the housing from the second position to the first position, the rubbish removal member moves toward an inside of the dust collection chamber, and the opening or closing device closes the dust collection chamber.

A valve arrangement (900) for generating a pulse of air (1100) to clean an air filter (125) of a pre-separator (120), the arrangement (900) comprising: a main valve closure body (950) arranged to seal a passage (951) between a high pressure (P2) side and a low pressure (P3) side of the valve arrangement (900), a control body (940), connected to the main valve closure body (950), such that a position of the main valve closure body (950) Is determined by a position of the control body (940), a control chamber (930), partially defined by the control body (940), whereby a volume of the control chamber (930) Is variable In relation to the position of the control body (940), and a control chamber valve (920) having an open state and a closed state for regulating a pressure (P1) In the control chamber, wherein the control chamber (930) Is fluidly connected to the low pressure (P3) side via a connecting channel (935) configured with a connecting channel aperture (936), wherein the control chamber valve (920) Is configured with an aperture larger than the connecting channel aperture (936) such that the control chamber valve (920) Is arranged to overcome the connecting channel (935), and wherein the state of the control chamber valve (920) Is determined by a trigger device (910, 980). The arrangement also comprises a resilient trigger membrane (980) arranged between the high-pressure (P2) side and the low pressure (P3) side wherein the state of the control chamber valve (920) is determined by the position of the resilient trigger membrane (980).

A hand vacuum cleaner comprises a cyclone and a dirt chamber external to the cyclone. The cyclone comprises a dirt outlet in communication with the dirt chamber, a cyclone chamber rear end that is axially spaced from and opposed to a cyclone chamber front end and a sidewall located between the cyclone chamber front end and the cyclone chamber rear end. The cyclone air inlet and the cyclone air outlet are located at the cyclone chamber rear end wherein, when the upper end of the hand vacuum cleaner is positioned above the lower end of the hand vacuum cleaner, the central longitudinally extending axis is oriented generally horizontally. A plate is positioned at the front end of the cyclone chamber. The dirt outlet comprises a gap that is provided at the cyclone chamber front end and the gap is provided at a location that is spaced axially inwardly towards the cyclone chamber rear end.

A surface cleaning apparatus includes a housing that supports a suction source, a dirt separation device that has an elongate axis, and a user graspable handle having an elongate axis. A passage member transports dirt-laden air to the dirt separation device. The passage member has an elongate axis. The elongate axis of the passage member and the elongate axis of the user graspable handle lie in a plane. The elongate axis of the dirt collection chamber intersects the plane. During operation, while the housing is supported on a floor surface, the elongate axis of the dirt separation device is parallel with the floor surface.

A cyclone pre-separator for positioning on a particle collecting container, the cyclone pre-separator including a box-shaped housing and a cyclone unit arranged in the housing, the cyclone unit including an air inlet, an air outlet, and a particle outlet arranged on a underside of the cyclone pre-separator, where the housing has an air inlet hose port connected to the air inlet and an air outlet hose port connected to the air outlet, and has lower housing couplers, adapted to provide a releasable, vertically tension-proof coupling to the particle collecting container, when the cyclone pre-separator is positioned on the particle collecting container.

A kit comprising a hand vacuum cleaner and a floor standing docking station for the hand vacuum cleaner. When the hand vacuum cleaner is docked with the floor standing docking station and the openable door of the hand vacuum cleaner is opened, dirt collected in the dirt collection region of the hand vacuum cleaner is transferrable to the dirt collection chamber of the floor standing docking station.

A surface cleaning apparatus comprises an air treatment chamber with a moveable member positioned therein. An end wall of the air treatment chamber is openable in response to a moveable member being longitudinally translated through at least the portion of the air treatment chamber. The driving assembly includes a handle and a drive rod that is rotatably mounted about a longitudinally extending axis of the drive rod between a stored position in which the moveable member is in a stored position and an operable position in which the moveable member is translatable through at least a portion of the chamber. In the stored position, the handle is longitudinally spaced from the first and second ends of the air treatment chamber and, when the driving assembly is in the operable position, the driving assembly is operable to longitudinally translate the moveable member through at least a portion of the chamber.

A hand vacuum cleaner has a cyclonic stage. A suction motor is provided in a housing. The housing has a first portion and a second portion wherein the second portion has a post-motor filter and the second portion is removably mounted to a first portion. The hand vac has a handle provided on the first portion of the housing. The sidewall of the second portion extends 360° around the cyclone axis of rotation and the suction motor axis of rotation, extends axially over the post-motor filter, forms part of an outer surface of the hand vacuum cleaner and comprises a rearmost removable sidewall portion of the hand vacuum cleaner body