Vacuum Cleaner History

VACUUM CLEANER CHRONOLOGY

Ives W. McGaffey
1868 – The first manually powered cleaner was invented in Chicago by Ives W.McGaffey.

Melville Bissell
1876 – Melville Bissell created a new vacuum cleaner for his wife. After Mr. Bissell died in 1889, His wife Anna took control of the company and was one the most famous businesswomen of the day.

Corinno Dufour
1900 – The first patent for an electrically driven “carpet sweeper and dust gatherer” was granted in Georgia.

H. Cecil Booth
1901 – The first powered cleaner employing a vacuum was patented and produced by Hubert Cecil Booth in 1901 in Great Britain.

P.A.Fisker
1910 – P.A. Fisker patented a vacuum cleaner using a name based on the company’s telegram address in 1910 Nilfisk. Nilfisk was the first electric vacuum cleaner in Europe. It was only 17,5 kg and could be used by a single person.

Walter Griffiths
1905 – Walter Griffiths Manufacturer patented another new manually operated vacuum cleaner in 1905 in Birmingham, UK. (“Griffith’s Improved Vacuum Apparatus for Removing Dust from Carpets”)

David T. Kenney
1903 -1913 – Nine patents granted to the inventor David T. Kenney between 1903 and 1913 in New Jersey. He established the foundation for the American vacuum cleaner industry.

James Murray Spangler
1907 – Spangler, a janitor in Canton, Ohio invented an electric vacuum cleaner in 1907 from a fan, a box, and a pillowcase.

W.H.Hoover
1908 – W.H.Hoover bought the Idea (rotating brush design) from his wife`s cousin. Their first vacuum cleaner model was Model O, and it sold for $60 in 1908.Wold War II
For many years after their introduction, vacuum cleaners remained a luxury item; but after World War II they became common among the middle classes. They tend to be more common in Western countries because, in most parts of the world, wall-to-wall carpeting is uncommon and homes have tile or hardwood floors, which are easily swept, wiped, or mopped.

James Dyson
1993 – James Dyson decided to manufacture a new model under his own name in Britain. He opened his research centre and factory in Wiltshire in june 1993 and developed a machine which collected even finer particles of dust.

A Dyson DC07 upright Cyclonic vacuum cleaner using centrifugal force to separate dust and particles from the air flowing through the cylindrical collection vessel.

Vacuum cleaners working on the cyclone principle became more popular in the 1990s, although some companies (notably Filter Queen and Regina) have been making vacuum cleaners with cyclonic action since 1928. In 1959 Amway patented the first ‘bagless‘ cyclonic vacuum, called the CMS 1000. Modern cyclonic cleaners were adapted from industrial cyclonic separators by British designer James Dyson in 1985. He launched his cyclone cleaner first in Japan in the 1980s at a cost of about US$1,800 and later the Dyson DC01 upright in the UK in 1993 for 200 sterlin. It was expected that people would not buy a vacuum cleaner at twice the price of a normal cleaner, but it later became the most popular cleaner in the UK.

Cyclonic cleaners do not use bags: instead, the dust collects in a detachable, cylindrical collection vessel. Air and dust are blown at high speed into the collection vessel at a direction tangential to the vessel wall, creating a vortex.

In early 2000 several companies developed robotic “vacuum” cleaners. Some examples are Roomba and FloorBot. These machines propel themselves in patterns across a floor, cleaning surface dust and debris into their dustbin. They usually can navigate around furniture and find their recharging stations. Most robotic “vacuum” cleaners are designed for home use, although there are more capable models for operation in offices, hotels, hospitals, etc. Some such as the Roomba are equipped with an impeller motor to create an actual vacuum. By the end of 2003 about 570,000 units were sold worldwide.

There is a recorded example of a 1930s Electrolux vacuum cleaner surviving in use for over 70 years, finally breaking in 2008.

Technology
A vacuum’s suction is caused by a difference in air pressure. A pump reduces the pressure inside the tube. Atmospheric pressure then pushes the air through the carpet and into the tube, and so the dust is literally pushed into the bag.

Tests have shown that vacuuming can kill 100% of young fleas and 96% of adult fleas.

Configurations
Vacuum cleaner configurations:

Upright vacuum cleaners take the form of a cleaning head, onto which a handle and bag are attached. Upright designs usually employ a rotating brushroll or beater bar, which removes dirt through a combination of sweeping and vibration. There are two types of upright vacuums; dirty-fan/direct air, or clean-fan/indirect air.

The older of the two designs, dirty-fan cleaners have a large impeller (fan) mounted close to the suction opening, through which the dirt passes directly, before being blown into a bag. The motor is often cooled by a separate cooling fan. Due to their large-bladed fans, and comparatively-short airpaths, dirty-air cleaners create a very efficient airflow from a low amount of power, and make great carpet cleaners. Their ‘above-floor’ cleaning power is less efficient, since the airflow is lost when it passes through a long hose.

Clean-fan uprights have their motor mounted after the bag. Dust is removed from the airstream by the bag, and usually a filter, before it passes through the fan. The fans are smaller, and are usually a combination of several moving and stationary turbines working in sequence to boost power. The motor is cooled by the airstream passing through it. Clean-air vacuums are good for both carpet and above-floor cleaning, since their suction does not significantly diminish over the distance of a hose, as it does in dirty-fan cleaners. However, their air-paths are much less efficient, and can require more than twice as much power than dirty-fan cleaners to achieve the same results.

The most common upright vacuum cleaners use a drive-belt powered by the suction motor to rotate the brush-roll. However, a less common design of dual motor upright, often found in commercial vacuum cleaners, is available. In these cleaners, the suction is provided via a large motor, while the brush-roll is powered by a separate, smaller motor, which does not create any suction. The brush-roll motor can sometimes be switched off, so hard floors can be cleaned without the brush-roll scattering the dirt. It may also have an automatic cut-out feature, which shuts the motor off if the brush-roll becomes jammed, protecting it from damage.

Canister (or cylinder) designs have the motor and bag in a separate canister unit (usually mounted on wheels) connected to the vacuum head by a flexible hose. Although upright units have been tested as more effective (mainly because of the beaters), the lighter, more maneuverable heads of canister models are popular. Some upmarket canister models have “power heads”, which contain the same sort of mechanical beaters as in upright units, although such beaters are driven by a separate electric motor.

Wet vacs or wet/dry vacuums —a specialized form of the canister vacuum can be used to clean up wet or liquid spills. They commonly can accommodate both wet and dry soilage; some are also equipped with a switch or exhaust port for reversing the airflow, a useful function for everything from clearing a clogged hose to blowing dust into a corner for easy collection.

Pneumatic vacs or Pneumatic wet/dry vacuums—a specialized form of vacuum—can be used to clean up wet or liquid spills that hook up to compressed air. They commonly can accommodate both wet and dry soilage, a useful feature in industrial plants and manufacturing facilities.

Back-pack vacs are commonly used for commercial cleaning: they allow the user to move rapidly about a large area. They are essentially canister vacuum cleaners, except that straps are used to carry the canister unit on the user’s back.

Built-in or central vacuum cleaners, also known as ducted vacuum cleaners, move the suction motor and bag to a central location in the building and provide vacuum inlets throughout the building: only the hose and pickup head need be carried from room to room, and the hose is commonly 8 m (25 ft) long, allowing a large range of movement without changing vacuum inlets. Plastic piping connects the vacuum outlets to the central unit. The vacuum head may either be unpowered or have beaters operated by an electric motor or air-driven motor.

The dirt bag in a central vacuum system is usually so large that emptying or changing needs to be done less often, perhaps once per year. The central unit usually stays in “stand-by”, and is turned on by a switch on the handle of the hose, or the unit powers up when the hose is plugged into the wall inlet when the metal hose connector makes contact with 2 prongs in the wall inlet and the current is transmitted through low voltage wires to the main unit. Such a unit also produces greater suction than common vacuum cleaners, because a larger fan and more powerful motor can be used when they are not required to be portable. Another benefit of a central vacuum system is that unlike a standard vacuum cleaner, which blows some of the dirt collected back into the room being cleaned (no matter how efficient its filtration), a central vacuum removes all the dirt collected to the central unit. Since this central unit is usually located outside the living area, no dust is recirculated back into the room being cleaned. In addition, because of the remote location of the motor unit, there is less noise in the room being cleaned than with a standard vacuum cleaner. Also it is possible on most newer models to vent the exhaust entirely outside with the unit inside the living quarters.

Robotic vacuum cleaners move autonomously, usually in a mostly chaotic pattern (‘random bounce’). Some come back to a docking station to charge their batteries, and a few are able to empty their dust containers into the dock as well.

Small hand-held vacuum cleaners, either battery-operated or mains powered, are also popular for cleaning up smaller spills.

Drum vacuums are used in industrial applications. With such a configuration, a vacuum “head” sits atop of an industrial drum, using it as the waste or recovery container. Electric and compressed air powered models are common. Compressed air vacuums utilize the venturi effect.

Most vacuum cleaners are supplied with various specialized attachments, tools, brushes and extension wands to allow them to reach otherwise inaccessible places or to be used for cleaning a variety of surfaces.

Exhaust filtration
Vacuums by their nature cause dust to become airborne, by exhausting air that is not completely filtered. This can cause health problems since the operator ends up inhaling this dust. There are several methods manufactures are using to solve this problem. Some methods may be combined together in a single vacuum. Typically the filter is positioned so that the incoming air passes through it before it reaches the motor.

Bag: The bag is the typical method to capture the debris vacuumed up. It involves a paper or fabric bag that allow air to pass through but attempts to trap all dust and debris in the bag.

Bagless: In non-cyclonic bagless models, the role of the bag is taken by the container and a reusable filter, equivalent to a reusable fabric bag.

Cyclonic Separation : Vacuum cleaners employing this method are also bagless. It causes intake air to be cycled or spun so fast that the dust is forced out of the air and falls into a storage bin. The operation is similar to that of a centrifuge.

Water Filtration: First seen commercially in the 1920s in the form of the Newcombe Separator (Later to become the Rexair Rainbow), water filtration vacuum cleaners use water as a filter. It forces the intake air to pass through water before it is exhausted. The idea behind this is that wet dust cannot be airborne. They filter out any debris that is water soluble and are considered very effective, but they require the water to be dumped and the machine rinsed out after every use.

Ultra Fine Air Filter: This method is used as a secondary filter after the air has passed thought the rest of the machine. It is meant to remove any remaining dust that could harm the operator.

Vacuum cleaner specifications
The performance of a vacuum cleaner can be measured by several parameters:

airflow, in cubic feet per minute (CFM or ft³/min) or litres per second (l/s)

air speed, in miles per hour (mph) or metres per second (m/s)

suction, vacuum, or water lift, in inches of water or pascals (Pa)

The suction is the maximum pressure difference that the pump can create. For example, a typical domestic model has a suction of about negative 20 kPa. This means that it can lower the pressure inside the hose from normal atmospheric pressure (about 100 kPa) by 20 kPa. The higher the suction rating, the more powerful the cleaner. One inch of water is equivalent to about 249 Pa; hence, the typical suction is 80 inches (2,000 mm) of water.

The power consumption of a cleaner, in watts, is often the only figure stated. Many North American vacuum manufacturers only give the current in amperes (e.g. “12 amps”[1]) and the consumer is left to multiply that by the line voltage of 120 volts to get the power ratings in watts. The power does not indicate the effectiveness of the cleaner, only how much electricity it consumes. The amount of this power that is converted into airflow at the end of the cleaning hose is sometimes stated, and is measured in air watts: the units are simply watts; “air” is used to clarify that this is output power, not input electrical power. This is calculated using the formula:

cleaning power (air watts)    = airflow (CFM) × suction (inches of water) / 8.5

= airflow (m³/s) × suction (Pa)

Air watts measured at the vacuum’s motor can differ by as much as 50% (depending on the type of vacuum) from the air watts measured at the end of the hose. This is most noted in central vacuums.
Some smaller vacuum cleaners are light-weight, portable, and rechargeable, instead of using AC power.

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