Openable side compartments for a surface cleaning apparatus

1. A surface cleaning apparatus comprising:

(a) an air flow path extending from a dirty air inlet to a clean air outlet and including an air treatment member and a suction motor;

(b) a main body comprising a front end and a rear end;

(c) a plurality of wheels; and,

(d) a pre-motor filter compartment positioned inwards of one of the wheels and housing a pre-motor filter, the pre-motor filter having an upstream side and a downstream side, the pre-motor filter compartment is sealed by a closure member and has an openable portion, wherein the one of the wheels has an axis of rotation, wherein the one of the wheels is moveable between a closed configuration in which the one of the wheels overlies and is axially spaced from the pre-motor filter and is operable to rollingly support the main body and an open configuration in which the one of the wheels is moved to a position in which the closure member becomes accessible and, when the one of the wheels is in the open position the pre-motor filter compartment is sealed by the closure member.

2. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the air treatment member comprises a cyclone bin assembly having a cyclone chamber having a diameter, and the filter has a cross sectional area that is larger than a transverse cross sectional area of the cyclone chamber.

3. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 2 wherein the main body comprises first and second opposed sidewalls, the compartment is provided in one of the sidewalls and the filter has a cross sectional area that is at least 60% of a cross sectional area of the sidewall.

4. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 3 wherein the filter has a cross sectional area that is proximate that of the sidewall.

5. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the main body comprises first and second opposed sidewalls, the compartment is provided in one of the sidewalls and one of the wheels is provided on each sidewall.

6. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 5 wherein the air treatment member comprises a cyclone bin assembly and a cyclone chamber having a diameter and each of the wheels provided on the sidewall have a diameter larger than the diameter of the cyclone chamber.

7. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 6 wherein the wheels have a cross sectional area larger than a transverse cross sectional area of the cyclone bin assembly.

8. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 6 wherein the sidewalls overlie at least 75% of the cyclone bin assembly.

9. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 6 wherein the sidewalls overlie essentially all of the cyclone bin assembly.

10. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 5 the wheels provided on the sidewall are substantially the same size as the sidewalls.

11. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 6 wherein the main body further comprises a cavity having an open upper end positioned between the first and second opposed sidewalls and the cyclone bin assembly is removably mounted in the cavity.

12. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 11 wherein the cyclone bin assembly seats on a platform in the cavity and the platform comprises a portion of a housing for the suction motor.

13. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 5 further comprising at least one of a front stabilizer wheel and a rear stabilizer wheel.

14. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a front stabilizer wheel and a rear stabilizer wheel wherein the stabilizer wheels are positioned such that only one wheel can contact the floor at a time.

15. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one of the wheels is rotational mounted on a bearing surface that is provided on the surface cleaning apparatus.

16. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 15 wherein the bearing surface is threaded mounted to the surface cleaning apparatus.

17. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 16 the one of the wheels is removable by rotation of the bearing surface in a direction opposite to a direction of forward rotation of the wheel.

18. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one of the wheels has a rim and the rim overlies a portion of the main body.

19. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 18 wherein the compartment has a laterally extending perimeter wall and the rim overlies at least a portion of the perimeter wall.

20. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the surface cleaning apparatus includes an axle mount and an axle is threadedly received in the axle mount.

21. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 20 wherein the one of the wheels has a central bore that is rotatably mounted on the axle.

22. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein one of the upstream and downstream sides of the pre-motor filter is oriented generally parallel to the one of the wheels, when the one of the wheels is in the configuration and, when in the open configuration, the one of the wheels is further laterally spaced from the pre-motor filter than in the closed configuration.

23. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the upstream and downstream sides of the pre-motor filter are oriented generally parallel to the one of the wheels, when the one of the wheels is in the configuration and, when in the open configuration, the one of the wheels is further laterally spaced from the pre-motor filter than in the closed configuration.

24. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein the one of the wheels is removably mountable to the surface cleaning apparatus and when in the open configuration, the one of the wheels is removed from the main body.

25. The surface cleaning apparatus of claim 1 wherein one of the upstream and the downstream sides of the filter faces towards the one of the wheels.