This invention relates to portable vacuum cleaners and, more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner capable of operating both with air and liquid cleaners.
Vacuum cleaners are utilized in numerous situations ranging from relatively light duty, such as the removal of crumbs and dust from a flat surface, as well as for relatively heavy duty operation as in the withdrawal of foreign matter embedded in carpets and upholstery. It is apparent from the wide range of cleaning tasks that some cleaning is best accomplished by the use of air alone, while other cleaning is best accomplished with the use of water or other cleaning liquid which is to be drawn by suction into the vacuum cleaner.
It is recognized that the use of a liquid cleaning agent necessitates a more complex structure in the vacuum cleaner. Thus, it is necessary to protect a fan motor from contamination by the liquid. Provision must also be made for extraction of the foreign matter and the liquid cleaner from the vacuum cleaner upon completion of the cleaning process. In addition, the foregoing must be accomplished while allowing for the intake and exhaust of the air stream which is driven by suction of the cleaner fan.
The foregoing constraints become more difficult to attain in the case of a portable vacuum cleaner, since, as is readily appreciated, a hand held cleaner may be placed in a variety of positions and orientations so that, unlike a stationery cleaner, reliance cannot be made solely on the use of gravity for direction of the liquid cleaning agent away from the motor. Also, it is realized that the use of the traditional vacuum-cleaner bag fabricated of cloth or paper would be contraindicated since any liquid entrapped therein would tend to leak out upon removal of the bag.
Thus, a problem exists in that the desirable feature of portability in a vacuum cleaner is difficult to attain in a situation wherein the vacuum cleaner is to be used for both wet and dry cleaning applications.