Vacuum-cleaner filter bag for a hand-held vacuum cleaner

Abstract

The invention comprises a vacuum cleaner filter bag (1), comprising a bag wall (2) and a retaining plate (3), wherein the retaining plate (3) is connected to an at least partially cylindrical connection piece (4) which extends in a direction perpendicular to a passage opening (5) formed in the retaining plate (3), wherein the bag wall (2) is connected with the lateral surface of the connection piece (4) along the circumference thereof.

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner filter bag, comprising a bag wall and a retaining plate, wherein the retaining plate is connected to an at least partially cylindrical connection piece which extends in a direction perpendicular to a passage opening formed in the retaining plate, and wherein the bag wall is connected to a lateral surface of the connection piece along a circumference thereof.

2. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag wall is glued or welded to the lateral surface of the connection piece.

3. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the connection piece is glued or welded or positively connected to the retaining plate.

4. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the retaining plate and the connection piece are arranged at a short side of the bag wall.

5. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag wall includes a surface pleating with at least five pleats.

6. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 5, wherein the at least five pleats extend along a longitudinal axis of the vacuum cleaner filter bag or transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vacuum cleaner filter bag.

7. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 5, further comprising a fixing device which prevents at least one of the at least five pleats from completely unfolding.

8. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, further moreover comprising at least one side pleating.

9. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein a side of the bag wall opposite the retaining plate is designed to be concave or convex.

10. A method of manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag having a bag wall and a retaining plate, wherein the retaining plate is connected to an at least partially cylindrical connection piece which extends in a direction perpendicular to a passage opening formed in the retaining plate, and wherein the bag wall is connected to a lateral surface of the connection piece along a circumference thereof, the method comprising the steps of: a) forming a tubular bag from a filter material which is open on one side; b) arranging the at least partially cylindrical connection piece at a wide end of a conical guiding element, so that the connection piece abuts against an outer surface of the conical guiding element; c) slipping the tubular bag over the conical guiding element; d) connecting the tubular bag to the lateral surface of the connection piece facing away from the conical guiding element; e) lifting the tubular bag connected with the connection piece from the conical guiding element; and f) connecting the connection piece to the retaining plate.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the bag wall is glued or welded to the lateral surface of the connection piece.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the connection piece is glued or welded or positively connected to the retaining plate.

13. The method according to claim 10, wherein the retaining plate and the connection piece are arranged at a short side of the bag wall.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein a side of the bag wall opposite the retaining plate is designed to be concave or convex.

15. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag wall is clamped between the lateral surface of the connection piece and a clamping element.

16. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 2, wherein the connection piece is glued or welded or positively connected to the retaining plate.

17. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 2, wherein the retaining plate and the connection piece are arranged at a short side of the bag wall.

18. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 4, wherein the bag wall includes a surface pleating with at least five pleats.

19. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 4, further comprising at least one side pleating.

20. The vacuum cleaner filter bag according to claim 4, wherein a side of the bag wall opposite the retaining plate is designed to be concave or convex.

Description

[0089] Further features and advantages of the invention will be described below with reference to the exemplary figures. In the figures:

[0090] FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through an exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag;

[0091] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary at least partially cylindrical connection piece;

[0092] FIG. 3 shows a plan view onto an exemplary tubular bag open on one side for manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag;

[0093] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of an exemplary conical guiding element for manufacturing a vacuum cleaner filter bag; and

[0094] FIG. 5 shows an illustration of a production step in the manufacture of an exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag.

[0095] FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through an exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag 1 with a bag wall 2 and a retaining plate 3. The retaining plate 3 is used for fixing the vacuum cleaner filter bag in a corresponding mounting in a housing of a vacuum cleaner.

[0096] The bag wall is not, as common in prior art, directly connected with the retaining plate, but with an at least partially cylindrical connection piece 4. In particular, the connection piece extends in a direction perpendicular to a passage opening 5 formed in the retaining plate 3, i.e., perpendicular to the plane in which the passage opening 5 is located. The bag wall 2 is connected with the lateral surface of the connection piece 4 along the circumference thereof which also extends in the direction perpendicular to the passage opening 5 formed in the retaining plate 3.

[0097] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of an exemplary at least partially cylindrical connection piece 4. The connection piece 4 comprises a cylindrical section 10. The shape of the cylindrical section 10 can be freely selected and is not restricted to the shape of a circular cylinder. The axis of the cylindrical section 10 defines the longitudinal axis of the connection piece 4. Along this longitudinal axis of the cylindrical section 10, a passage opening is provided. Together with the passage opening 5 of the retaining plate 3, this passage opening forms an admission port for the sucked-in material into the filter bag, as can be seen in FIG. 1.

[0098] The exemplary connection piece 4 of FIG. 2 comprises a second section 11 adjacent to the cylindrical section 10 with an enlarged circumference compared to the cylindrical section 10. The second section 11 in particular projects radially to the outside beyond the lateral surface of the cylindrical section 10. The connection piece 4 can be connected with the retaining plate 3 in the region of the second section 11, as is shown in FIG. 1.

[0099] FIG. 1 in particular shows that the connection piece 4 is connected to the retaining plate via a weld seam 9. Instead of the weld seam 9, an adhesive connection or a positive connection could also be used.

[0100] The bag wall 2 is welded to the lateral surface of the cylindrical section 10 of the connection piece 4 in the embodiment of FIG. 1. One can in particular see the ultrasonic weld seams 7. In addition, a clamping ring 8 is shown in this embodiment which clamps the bag wall 2 to the lateral surface of the cylindrical section 10 of the connection piece 4. Such a clamping ring 8 can also create the connection of the bag wall with the lateral surface alone.

[0101] In the embodiment of FIG. 1, a sealing lip 6 at the passage opening 5 is also shown.

[0102] FIG. 3 shows a plan view onto an exemplary tubular bag open on one side as it can be employed in the manufacture of a vacuum cleaner filter bag according to FIG. 1. The bag wall 2 of the exemplary bag of FIG. 3 comprises two longitudinal weld seams 12, 13 and one transverse weld seam 14. At the transverse side 15, the bag is open, that means without a weld seam, to permit there a connection with a connection piece as shown in FIG. 2 by way of example.

[0103] The transverse weld seam 14 could also be designed to be concavely or convexly bent to better utilize the installation space. A bottom, for example like a block bottom, or a side pleat would also be conceivable in the region of the transverse weld seam 14.

[0104] Moreover, the bag wall 2 in FIG. 3 comprises a plurality of surface pleats 16 extending along the longitudinal weld seams 12, 13. At the open end 15, the pleats are fixed in their positions via a fixing device 17.

[0105] As already illustrated above, the term pleating is defined, in the sense of the present invention, as a sequence of two or several pleats, wherein a single pleat in the sense of the present invention is each defined by two pleat legs and one pleat hinge.

[0106] A pleat hinge is understood as the point of a pleat with the smallest radius of curvature. By the imaginary connection of the pleat hinges, a so-called pleat axis is obtained. The pleat axis is also referred to as pleat back. The pleat axis can correspond to the longitudinal axis of a pleat. Regions of a pleat with a radius of curvature that is larger than the minimum radius of curvature of the pleat are referred to as pleat leg. The region located between the pleat legs of a pleat is referred to as pleat core. The pleat legs of one pleat can in particular also include a curvature.

[0107] Pleats can also include points of inflection. Points of inflection are those locations of a pleat, in particular the pleat legs, where the curvature of the pleat changes from concave to convex. A connection line connecting several points of inflection of a pleat is referred to as inflection line (line of inflection).

[0108] Two adjacent pleats can also share one pleat leg. If a plurality of pleats are provided in this manner, a pleat pack or a pleat array can be realized.

[0109] A plurality of pleats can also be arranged in zigzag form.

[0110] Pleats may also have legs which extend in parallel to the bag wall. Such legs can be located between pleats that project from the plane of the bag wall and thus have an opening on the face side with respect to the bag wall. In particular, the width of the parallel leg can here be smaller than the width of the opening of the pleat projecting from the bag wall, preferably smaller than half of or most preferably smaller than one fourth of said width.

[0111] The pleat legs of the pleats can in particular be smooth. “Smooth” here means that the pleat legs do not include any compactions and/or structuring which are in particular to stabilize the shape of the pleats.

[0112] One or more pleat legs of one or more pleats can comprise one or more embossed structures, in particular wherein the embossed structures do not serve to stabilize the shape of the pleats. Thereby, a further enlargement of the area available for filtration can be achieved.

[0113] The bag wall 2 can in particular include more than 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 pleats, in particular also folds of these pleats.

[0114] The pleats of the bag wall can include a substantially regular distance with respect to each other. In other words, the distance between the pleat backs of two adjacent pleats each can be substantially constant.

[0115] Pleatings can be designed to be horizontal or vertical. Horizontal pleatings are to be understood as pleatings whose pleat legs are arranged substantially in parallel to the bag wall 2. Vertical pleatings are to be understood as pleatings whose pleat legs include an angle with the bag wall 2 that is greater than 0° and smaller than 180°, in particular greater than 20° or greater than 45°.

[0116] A vertical pleating is also understood as a pleating wherein a plane in which both the pleat axis and the line of inflection of the pleat are lying includes, with a plane horizontal surface on which the first and/or second bag wall is arranged, an angle greater than 45°, in particular greater than 30°, in particular greater than 10°. A lying pleating can in this case be understood as a pleating wherein the plane with this surface includes an angle smaller than 45°, in particular smaller than 30°, in particular smaller than 10°.

[0117] To measure or determine the above-mentioned angles, the vacuum cleaner filter bag, in particular the pleated non-woven fabric material, is arranged on a plane horizontal surface. To this end, the vacuum cleaner filter bag can also be cut open and in particular arranged on the surface such that the face side or inner side of the original vacuum cleaner filter bag rests on the surface.

[0118] Horizontal pleatings can be designed to mutually overlap, not overlap, and/or partially overlap.

[0119] For the manufacture of an exemplary vacuum cleaner filter bag as shown in FIG. 1, it is required to connect the bag wall 2 with the connection piece 4. Although the connection piece 4 of plastic has a certain strength, it is advantageous in case of a connection by welding to provide an anvil which forms an abutment. FIG. 4 shows such an anvil in the form of a conical guiding element 18.

[0120] As is shown in FIG. 5, the conical guiding element 18 can be arranged vertically on a working table. The conical guiding element 18 is designed such that its outer diameter at the broad end corresponds to the inner diameter of the cylindrical section of the connection piece 4. The connection piece 4 is then pulled over the conical guiding element 18, as is shown in FIG. 5. A robot gripper can then grip a tubular bag open on one side, as shown in FIG. 3, for example, and also pull it over the conical guiding element 18. Here, too, the conical shape of the guiding element 18 is advantageous. Thereupon, a welding of the bag wall 2 to the lateral area of the cylindrical section 10 of the connection piece 4 can be accomplished from outside. The latter has the advantage that the welding result can be controlled, for example via image processing.

[0121] Finally, the connection piece 4 and the bag wall 2 connected therewith are withdrawn from the conical guiding element 18. Finally, a connection of the connection piece 4 with a retaining plate 3 is accomplished, for example, also via ultrasonic welding.

[0122] It is understood that features mentioned in the above-described embodiments are not restricted to these special combinations and are also possible in any other combination. It will be furthermore understood that geometries shown in the figures are only given by way of example and are also possible in any other embodiments.