Surface cleaning apparatus
A hand vacuum cleaner has an upper end, a lower end, an air flow passage, a main body with a handle, an air treatment chamber and a suction motor. The air treatment chamber has an air outlet, the air outlet comprising a rigid porous member and a filter media that is removably positionable in the rigid porous member. The air treatment chamber is moveable to an open position in which the air treatment chamber is emptyable, and the rigid porous member is moveable within the air treatment chamber to an open position in which the filter media is removable.
1 . A hand vacuum cleaner having a front end, a rear end and a longitudinal axis extending from the front end to the rear end, the hand vacuum cleaner comprising:
(a) an air flow passage extending from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet;
(b) an air treatment chamber comprising an air treatment chamber air outlet, a stationary portion and a moveable portion, the moveable portion can move with respect to the stationary portion between an open position and a closed position, the air treatment chamber air outlet comprises a rigid porous member that is moveably mounted to the stationary portion wherein, in operation to clean a surface, particles entrained in air that enters the air treatment chamber are separated from the air due to a flow rate of air decreasing as it enters the air treatment chamber whereby the particles separated from the air remain in the air treatment chamber and air free of the separated particles exits the air treatment chamber air outlet;
(c) a porous filter media removably positionable in the rigid porous member;
(d) a suction motor positioned in the air flow passage,
wherein, when the air treatment chamber is opened, the rigid porous member is moveable from a first operating position to a filter removal position while the rigid porous member is attached to the stationary portion and, when the rigid porous member is in the filter removal position, the porous filter media is removable, and
when the hand vacuum cleaner is in use to clean a floor, the hand vacuum cleaner has an upper end and a lower end, and the moveable portion rotates downwardly from the closed position to the open position, and
wherein, when the moveable portion is in the closed position, each of the stationary portion and the moveable portion have a mating edge that mate with each other and that extend from a front end of the air treatment chamber to a rear end of the air treatment chamber.
2 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member moves in a first direction between the first operating position and the filter removal positions and the porous filter media is removable in a second direction that is different to the first direction.
3 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member is rotationally mounted and the porous filter media is slideably removable from the rigid porous member.
4 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 3 wherein the rigid porous member is rotationally mounted to an interior wall of the air treatment chamber.
5 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the moveable portion is rotationally mounted.
6 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member is rotationally mounted.
7 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 6 wherein the rigid porous member rotates downwardly from the first operating position to the filter removal position.
8 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 7 wherein the porous filter media is slideable removable from the rigid porous member.
9 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member has a sidewall that is planar.
10 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 9 wherein the porous filter media has a sidewall that is planar.
11 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member has a plurality of sidewalls and, in a plane that is transverse of the longitudinal axis, the plurality of sidewalls define a parallelogram.
12 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 11 wherein the porous filter media has a plurality of sidewalls and, in another plane that is transverse of the longitudinal axis, the plurality of sidewalls of the porous filter media define a parallelogram.
13 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 1 wherein the rigid porous member is rotationally mounted, the moveable portion is rotationally mounted and each of the rigid porous member and the moveable portion rotate in a common direction.
14 . The hand vacuum cleaner of claim 13 wherein, when the hand vacuum cleaner is in use to clean the floor, a rotational axis of the moveable portion is located at the lower end of the hand vacuum cleaner.