Vacuum assembly with inlet through removable tank

1. A vacuum assembly that has:

a head unit that houses a motor and an air impeller, and has an impeller opening that leads to the impeller and a pair of parallel, angled, ramp portions;

a vacuum hose that connects to a hose opening on the head unit;

a tank that is detachable from the head unit and has lateral flanges;

a removable lid that is on the tank, and has an inlet and a separate outlet; and

a lateral axis upon which the tank tilts with respect to the head unit between (1) a mounted position in which the lateral flanges are spaced above the angled ramp portions, the inlet adjoins and is sealed to the hose opening on the head unit, and the outlet adjoins and is sealed to the impeller opening on the head unit, and (2) a lowered position in which the lateral flanges rest on the angled ramp portions, requiring the tank to be moved laterally to be fully removed from the head unit,

in which tilting the tank from the mounted position to the lowered position lowers the lateral flanges onto the angle ramp portions and simultaneously separates the inlet on the tank from the hose opening and the outlet on the tank from the impeller opening, breaking both the seal between the inlet and the hose opening and the seal between the outlet and the impeller opening.

2. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

the air impeller is connected to a lower end of the motor and spins on a generally vertical axis; and

the impeller opening is on a generally horizontal chassis wall located beneath the motor, and opens to the axis of the impeller.

3. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a dirty air gasket is mounted to the lid, forming part of the inlet on the tank, and is positioned between the rest of the lid and the hose opening when the tank is in the mounted position.

4. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a clean air gasket is mounted to the lid, forming part of the outlet on the tank, and is positioned between the rest of the lid and the impeller opening when the tank is in the mounted position.

5. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a cartridge filter is removably connected to the lid in an arrangement in which a central passage on the filter is aligned with the outlet.

6. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

the lid fits against a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly; and

the chassis wall and the lid have an aligned opening and an alignment boss that fits within the aligned opening when the tank is in the mounted position.

7. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

the lateral flanges are positioned on opposed sides of the tank, and the inclined ramp portions are connected to a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly, and support the tank in generally horizontal sliding motion from a forward position to the lowered position.

8. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a rear flange is positioned on a rearward part of the tank, lies upon a lip near a rearward part of a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly, and supports the tank as it tilts about a horizontal axis from the mounted position to the lowered position.

9. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a release lever is connected to a forward part of the tank at a pivot; and

when the tank is in the mounted position, a resilient latching arm on the release lever latches onto a horizontal latch edge on a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly.

10. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a release lever is connected to a forward part of the tank at a pivot;

when the tank is in the mounted position, a resilient latching arm on the release lever latches onto a horizontal latch edge on a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly; and

a cam surface (a) presses the latching arm laterally as the tank is pivoted from the lowered position to the mounted position and the latching arm moves toward the horizontal latch edge, and (b) releases when the tank reaches the mounted position, enabling the arm to snap into engagement with the horizontal latch edge.

11. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

a release lever is connected to a forward part of the tank at a pivot; and

a finger recess is positioned on the forward edge of the tank, at least partially behind the release lever.

12. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

one or more alignment bosses with a vertical face fit into and align with one or more aligned openings.

13. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

the lateral flanges are positioned on opposed sides of the tank, and the inclined ramp portions are connected to a chassis wall that is fixed in position with respect to the motor/fan assembly and support the tank in generally horizontal sliding motion from a forward position to the lowered position;

a rear flange is positioned on a rearward part of the tank, lies upon a lip near a rearward part of the chassis wall, and supports the tank in pivoted movement about a horizontal axis from the lowered position to the mounted position; and

one or more alignment bosses with a vertical face fit into and align with one or more aligned openings.

14. A vacuum assembly as recited in claim 1 , in which:

the outlet to the impeller is substantially offset from the centerline of the tank.