旋風(fēng)除塵器的設(shè)計(jì),旋風(fēng)除塵器的設(shè)計(jì),旋風(fēng),除塵器,設(shè)計(jì) 第 1 頁 共 12 頁 Multi cyclone dust collector for a vacuum cleaner1.Background of the invention1. 1 Field of the InventionThe present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner. More particularly, the presentinvention relates to a multi-cyclone dust collector for a vacuum cleaner that separates andcollects contaminants from sucked air by centrifugal force.1.2 Description of the Related ArtA cyclone type vacuum cleaner, which separates contaminants from sucked air bycentrifugal force, employs a cyclone dust collector providing semi permanent use. Because a cyclone type vacuum cleaner is more sanitary and convenient than a vacuum cleaneremploying a dust bag or a dust filter, cyclone type vacuum cleaners have become widespread.An example of a conventional cyclone dust collector is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG.1, the conventional cyclone dust collector 500 includes a cylindrical cyclone body 510 inwhich sucked air containing contaminants forms a whirling current therein, an air inlet 520through which the air containing contaminants enters, and an air outlet 530 through whichclean air is discharged. The air inlet 520 is disposed at a side of an upper portion of thecyclone body 510 in a tangential direction relative to the cyclone body 510 so that the airentering the cyclone body 510 whirls downward easily. The air outlet 530 is disposed at acenter of a top surface of the cyclone body 510 so that the air, which has contaminants removed as the air whirls downwardly, then rises up inside the cyclone body 510, and isdischarged out of the cyclone dust collector 500. Separated contaminants are discharged in thegravity direction through a contaminants outlet 540 that is formed at a lower portion of thecyclone body 510. 第 2 頁 共 12 頁 However, in the conventional cyclone dust collector 500, the air whirling downwardlycollides with the air rising up inside the cyclone body 510 because both the air inlet 520 andthe air outlet 530 are disposed at the upper portion of the cyclone body 510. Accordingly, theconventional cyclone dust collector 500 has a problem that a dust collecting efficiency thereofis decreased due to collision between the rising air and the descending air.Currently, a multi-cyclone dust collector has been developed and has become widespread.The multi-cyclone dust collector separates contaminants from air in two or more stages, andespecially provides a plurality of cyclones for separating fine contaminants. An example of aconventional multi-cyclone dust collector 600 is shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, the conventional multi-cyclone dust collector 600 includes a firstcyclone 610 that centrifugally separates contaminants from sucked air, and a plurality ofsecond cyclones 620 that sucks the air being discharged from the first cyclone 610, and then,separates fine contaminants remaining in the air. First and second air inlets 611 and 621through which air is sucked into the first and second cyclone 610 and 620, and first and secondair outlets 612 and 622 through which air having contaminants removed is discharged aredisposed at upper portions of the first and second cyclones 610 and 620. Accordingly, airhaving contaminants removed is discharged in a direction opposite to the gravity direction.Also, first and second dust receptacles 613 and 623 are formed under the first and secondcyclones 610 and 620. Therefore, contaminants that are separated in the first and second cyclones 610 and 620 are discharged in the gravity direction, and then are collected in the firstand second receptacles 613 and 623, respectively.Because the first and second receptacles 613 and 623 are not isolated from the first andsecond cyclones 610 and 620 in which air forms whirling currents, contaminants that arecollected in the first and second receptacles 613 and 623 are re-scattered and flow back due tothe whirling current. The backflow of contaminants decreases the dust collecting efficiency of 第 3 頁 共 12 頁 the cyclone dust collector 600 and shortens the filter maintenance cycle of the cyclone dustcollector 600.Furthermore, the multi-cyclone dust collector 600 still has the problem that air collisionoccurs so as to decrease the dust collecting efficiency as described above, because the airinlets 611 and 621 and the air outlets 612 and 622 are disposed at the upper portions of thefirst and second cyclones 610 and 620.Furthermore, the conventional multi-cyclone dust collector 600 has a drawback that theheight thereof is high, because the space in which the air whirls and the space in whichcontaminants are collected are arranged vertically. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved multi-cyclone dust collector the height ofwhich is lower and is more compact as compared of the conventional multi-cyclone dustcollector.2.Summary of the inventionThe present invention has been developed in order to overcome the above drawbacks andother problems associated with the conventional arrangement. An object of the presentinvention is to provide a multi-cyclone dust collector for a vacuum cleaner that has a high dustcollecting efficiency because air collision does not occur inside a cyclone.Another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-cyclone dust collector that has a high dust collecting efficiency and a long filter maintenance cycle because collectedcontaminants are not re-scattered.Still another object of the present invention is to provide a compact multi-cyclone dustcollector having a space in which contaminants are collected disposed at a side of a space inwhich air whirls. 第 4 頁 共 12 頁 Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a multi-cyclone dust collector fora vacuum cleaner having a configuration where a volume of a first dust collecting chamber islarger than a volume of a second dust collecting chamber.The above objects and/or other features of the present invention can substantially beachieved by providing a multi-cyclone dust collector for a vacuum cleaner, which includes atleast one first cyclone forcing outside air that is entered into a lower portion of the at least onefirst cyclone to whirl so as to centrifugally separate contaminants from the outside air; and atleast one second cyclone being disposed around the at least one first cyclone, the at least onesecond cyclone forcing air that is discharged from the at least one first cyclone to enter into alower portion of the at least one second cyclone to whirl so as to centrifugally separate contaminants from the air.The at least one second cyclone is smaller in size than the at least one first cyclone. Theat least one first cyclone and the at least one second cyclone discharge air in the gravitydirection. The gravity direction means the direction in which the earths gravity operates.Also, a place through which air is discharged from the at least one first cyclone and asecond place through which air enters the at least one second cyclone are on the same plane.And the at least one first cyclone discharges the contaminants in a direction opposite to thegravity direction.According to an embodiment of the present invention, multi-cyclone dust collector further includes a first dust collecting chamber being disposed around the at least one firstcyclone, and collecting the contaminants discharged from the at least one first cyclone. The atleast one second cyclone is disposed inside the first dust collecting chamber. A height of the atleast one first cyclone is lower than a height of the first dust collecting chamber.According to an embodiment of the present invention, in each of the at least one firstcyclone and the at least one second cyclone, a place through which contaminants are 第 5 頁 共 12 頁 discharged is higher than a place through which air enters. And, a place through whichcontaminants are discharged is higher than a place through which air is discharged.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one second cyclonedischarges the contaminants in a direction opposite to the gravity direction.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collectorfurther includes a second dust collecting chamber being disposed at a side of the at least onesecond cyclone, and collecting the contaminants discharged from the at least one secondcyclone.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collector includes: a plurality of second cyclones; and a plurality of second dust collecting chamberswrapping around at least one of the second cyclones, and collecting contaminants dischargedfrom at least one of the second cyclones.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second dust collecting chamberis formed to wrap around two nearby second cyclones so as to collect contaminants dischargedfrom the two nearby second cyclones.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second dust collecting chamberwraps around all the plurality of second cyclones so as to collect contaminants dischargedfrom the plurality of second cyclones. According to an embodiment of the present invention, some part of the at least one firstcyclone forms some part of the at least one second cyclone.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one second cyclone isin a substantially conical shape, and some part of the first cyclone forms a side surface of thelower portion of the at least one second cyclone. 第 6 頁 共 12 頁 According to another aspect of the present invention, a multi-cyclone dust collector for avacuum cleaner includes: a first cyclone sucking outside air into a lower portion of the firstcyclone, forcing the outside air to form a first upwardly whirling air current so as tocentrifugally separate contaminants from the outside air; a first dust collecting chamber beingdisposed to wrap around some of the first cyclone, collecting the contaminants dischargedfrom the first cyclone; and a plurality of second cyclones being disposed around the firstcyclone, sucking air that is discharged from the first cyclone into a lower portion of each ofthe second cyclones, forcing the air to form a second upwardly whirling air current so as tocentrifugally separate contaminants from the air.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first cyclones includes a first cyclone body having a substantially hollow cylindrical shape, forcing the entered outside air towhirl inside the first cyclone body; an air communicating member being disposed inside thefirst cyclone body, discharging air having contaminants removed; and an air suction pipebeing disposed at a bottom surface of the first cyclone body, forcing the entered outside air toform the first upwardly whirling air current.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the air communicating member isformed in a substantially hollow cylindrical shape, the air communicating member having anopened top end and a bottom end that is in fluid communication with a plurality of airpassages corresponding to the plurality of second cyclones. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collectorfurther includes a guiding cone being disposed at a center of the bottom end of the aircommunicating member.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collectorfurther includes: a second dust collecting chamber being formed to wrap around all theplurality of second cyclones, and collecting the contaminants discharged from the plurality of 第 7 頁 共 12 頁 second cyclones. At this time, the plurality of second cyclones is in contact with the firstcyclone body.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second dust collecting chamberis formed as a space between the first cyclone body and an inner wall that wraps around all theplurality of second cyclones outside. The first dust collecting chamber is formed as a spacebetween an outer wall wrapping entirely around the inner wall and the first cyclone body, theinner wall, and a part of the first cyclone body that is not wrapped around by the inner wall.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collectorfurther includes: each of a plurality of second dust collecting chambers being formed to wrap around at least one of the plurality of second cyclones. Gaps, through which contaminantsdischarged from the first cyclone can pass, are formed between the plurality of second dustcollecting chambers.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of second cyclones isspaced apart from the first cyclone body. The second dust collecting chamber is formed as aspace between the plurality of second cyclones and a dust wall that wraps around all theplurality of second cyclones. The dust wall is in contact with each of the plurality of secondcyclones.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collector further includes: an upper cover detachably covering the top ends of the first cyclone, the firstdust collecting chamber, and the second dust collecting chamber. The upper cover includes abackflow preventing dam being disposed on a bottom surface of the upper cover forpreventing contaminants collected in the first dust collecting chamber from flowing back intothe first cyclone body.According to still another aspect of the present invention, the multi-cyclone dust collectorfor a vacuum cleaner, includes: a first cyclone forcing outside air, which is entered into a 第 8 頁 共 12 頁 lower portion of the first cyclone, to form a first upwardly whirling air current so as tocentrifugally separate contaminants from the outside air; a plurality of second cyclones beingdisposed around some of the first cyclone, each of the second cyclones sucking air that isdischarged from the first cyclone into a lower portion of each of the second cyclones, each ofthe second cyclones forcing the air to form a second upwardly whirling air current so as tocentrifugally separate contaminants from the air; and a first dust collecting chamber beingdisposed to wrap around the first cyclone and the plurality of second cyclones, collectingcontaminants discharged from the first cyclone.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first cyclone includes aplurality of cyclones. According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the plurality of secondcyclones includes a second cyclone body, and a top end of the second cyclone body is inclinedtoward the first cyclone with respect to a bottom end of the second cyclone body.Furthermore, at least one of the second cyclones is formed such that some circumferentialsurface thereof is projected into the first dust collecting chamber.According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a multi-cyclone dust collectorfor a vacuum cleaner includes: at least one first cyclone sucking outside air so as tocentrifugally separate contaminants from the outside air; at least one second cyclone beingdisposed around the at least one first cyclone, the at least one second cyclone sucking air that is discharged from the at least one first cyclone so as to centrifugally separate contaminantsfrom the air; a second dust collecting chamber wrapping around the at least one secondcyclone, so as to collect contaminants discharged from the at least one second cyclone in adirection opposite to the gravity direction; and a first dust collecting chamber wrapping aroundthe at least one first cyclone and the second dust collecting chamber, so as to collectcontaminants discharged from the at least one first cyclone. 第 9 頁 共 12 頁 According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one first cyclone forcesthe outside air that is sucked into a bottom surface thereof to whirl upwardly, the at least onefirst cyclone discharges contaminants separated from the outside air into the first dustcollecting chamber through an opened top end of the at least one first cyclone, and the at leastone first cyclone discharges air that has contaminants removed in the gravity direction.According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one second cycloneforces air that is discharged from the at least one first cyclone and sucked into a lower portionof the at least one second cyclone to whirl upwardly, the at least one second cyclonedischarges contaminants separated from the air into the second dust collecting chamberthrough an opened top end of the at least one second cyclone, and the at least one second cyclone discharges air that has contaminants removed in the gravity direction.According to another aspect of the present invention, a multi-cyclone dust collector for avacuum cleaner includes: at least one first cyclone sucking outside air so as to separatecontaminants, a first dust collecting chamber collecting contaminants separated by the at leastone first cyclone, at least one second cyclone centrifugally re-separating air discharged fromthe at least one first cyclone, and a second dust collecting chamber collecting contaminantsseparated by the at least one second cyclone, wherein the second dust collecting chamberwraps around some of a circumferential surface of the at least one first cyclone, and the firstdust collecting chamber wraps around a circumferential surface of the second dust collectingchamber and some of the circumferential surface of the at least one first cyclone. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one first cyclone is on acenter of the multi-cyclone dust collector. And, the at least one first and second cyclonesdischarge separated contaminants in a direction opposite to the gravity direction. Also, the atleast one first and second cyclones suck air into a lower portion thereof and then discharge airthrough the lower portion thereof. 第 10 頁 共 12 頁 According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of collectingcontaminants for a multi-cyclone dust collector, includes: sucking outside air into a lowerportion of a first cyclone so as to form the outside air into a first upwardly whirling air currentinside the first cyclone; separating contaminants from the outside air by centrifugal force so asto discharge the contaminants in a direction opposite to the gravity direction from the firstcyclone; discharging air that has contaminants removed in the gravity direction from the firstcyclone; sucking the air discharged from the first cyclone into a lower portion of a secondcyclone so as to form the air into a second upwardly whirling air current inside the secondcyclone; separating fine contaminants from the air by centrifugal force so as to discharge thefine contaminants in a direction opposite to the gravity direction from the second cyclone; and discharging air that has fine contaminants removed in the gravity direction from the secondcyclone.With the multi-cyclone dust collector for the vacuum cleaner according to embodimentsof the present invention, entering air and discharging air do not collide with each other in thefirst and second cyclones so that a dust collecting efficiency of the multi-cyclone dustcollector is increased.Furthermore, with the multi-cyclone dust collector according to embodiments of thepresent invention, as sucked dust-laden air passes through the first cyclone, relatively largecontaminants are separated, and then, as the air discharged from the first cyclone passes through the second cyclone, fine contaminants that remain in the air are separated. So themulti-cyclone dust collector according to the present invention has a high dust collectingefficiency for fine contaminants.Furthermore, with the multi-cyclone dust collector according to embodiments of thepresent invention, the first and second cyclones, where upwardly whirling air currents areformed, are isolated from the first and second dust collecting chamber where contaminants are 第 11 頁 共 12 頁 collected so that the multi-cyclone dust collector has a high dust collecting efficiency and aprolonged filter maintenance cycle.T