Best Vacuum Cleaners Configurations
Vacuum cleaners are devices that use an air pump to
create a partial vacuum to suck up dirt and dust,
normally from carpeted floors. Most homes that have
carpet floors have a vacuum for cleaning. The dirt
that is pulled up from the carpet is collected by
a filtering system or even a cyclone for later
disposal.
There are several type of configurations possible
for vacuum cleaners.
Upright
Upright vacuums have the pump mounted directly above
the suction intake, with the bag mounted directly on
the handle, which will rise to waist height or so.
The upright type designs normally employ mechanical
beaters which often rotate brushes, to help disturb
dust enough to be vacuumed up. These beaters are
normally driven by a belt that is attached to the
vacuum motor.
Canister
Also known as cylinder vacuums, the canister type
designs have the motor and bag in a seperate canister
unit that connects to the vacuum head by a flexible
hose. Even though upright units have been tested
as being more effective, the lighter and more
maneuverable heads of the canister models are quite
popular. Some models have power heads, which contain
the same type of mechanical beaters found it upright
units, although they are driven by a seperate electric
motor.
Wet vacs/dry vacuums
These types a specialized form of the canister
vacuum and they can be used to clean up wet or liquid
spills as well. They will commonly accomodate both
wet and dry soilage, with some being equipped with
a switch or exhaust port that reverses the flow of
air. This is a very useful function for everything
from clearing clogged hoses to blowing dust into a
corner for easy collecting.
Back pack vacuum
These types of vacuums are commonly used for
commercial cleaning, as they allow you to move about
quickly and efficiently in a large area. They are
basically canister vacuum cleaners, except for the
fact that straps are used to carry the canister
on your back.
Built in or central
These types of vacuum cleaners will move the suction
motor and bag to a central location in the building
and provide vacuum inlets at strategic places
throughout the entire building. You only need to
carry the hose and pickup head from room to room,
while the hose is normally 25 foot long and allows
a large range of movement without changing vacuum
inlets.
The plastic piping will connect vacuum inlets to
the central unit. The vacuum can either be unpowered
or have beaters that are operated by an electric
motor or an air driven motor. The bag in the
central vacuum system is normally so big that
emptying it or changing needs to be done less as
often, sometimes only once a year.
Vacuum Cleaner Bags
Everything that a vacuum picks up, no matter what
type it may be, needs to be deposited somewhere -
normally in a vacuum cleaner bag.
Back in 1920, the Air Way Sanitizer Company of
Ohio introduced the first vacuum cleaner with a
disposable vacuum bag. Until that time, the bags
for vacuum cleaners resembled the type of bags that
golfers used to carry their clubs. They were
somewhat heavy and awkard devices made out of
thick, stiff canvas, designed to be very flexible
and still keep dust and debris from the carpets
from escaping out into the air.
The improvements made by the Air Way Sanitizer
disposable vacuum bag went a long way toward
improving the effectiveness of the vacuum cleaner.
Made out of paper, the bag was designed to fit
inside of the cloth bag. Not only did it make
cleaning the vacuum easier, but it also kept the
insides of the stationary bag clean at all times
so that less of the dust and debris could be
blown out of the vacuum and make its way through
the home again.
In the beginning, each manufacturer designed
their own disposable vacuum cleaner bag made out
of different types of paper. You couldn't
interchange the bags from one machine to the next,
as the fittings were different sizes with
different configurations for the opening of the
intake. Manufacturers who were once very
dependant on the sales of their machines had now
discovered an entirely new territory for the
disposable bags, and once again sales went through
the roof.
Before, a housewife had her vacuum cleaner and
the only thing it needed was to be cleaned and
serviced every now and then. If the man of the
house was around, the job normally went to him.
After a while, repair shops that specialized in
vacuum cleaners began to pop up all over the
place.
These days, there are very few vacuum cleaners
that use bags. Bagless is the way to go these days,
and for good reason. What was once a revolution
in household cleaning, is now rapidly fading away
and fast.
Models such as the Cyclone or Dirt Devil, are
now using cylinder technology to store the dirt
and dust. When you have finished vacuuming, you
simply empty the cylinder into the trash. Vacuum
bags can be very frustrating, which is why
millions of people are using bagless vacuums.
If you own a vacuum cleaner that uses bags, you
should look into upgrading it. Bagless vacuums
will save you time, money, and replacement. If
you've grown tired of the bags, now is the time
to get a better vacuum.
Not only do the bagless models have more power,
but they will also save you quite a few trips to
the store and the closet. They don't cost a lot
of money either, and they are the perfect addition
to any household.
Belts And Performance
The belts for vacuum cleaners can come in many styles
and hundreds of different sizes. Normally, vacuums
use a belt to drive an agitation device, which
is also known as a brush roller. With very few
exceptions, most vacuums will use either a flat
belt, round belt, or a geared style belt.
The type of belt that your vacuum uses is very
important, not only for durability, but performance
as well. The condition and type of belt your
vacuum uses will have a lot of impact on the systems
ability to clean carpet. The proper use of
agitation is almost 70% of the cleaning ability of
a vacuum cleaner.
Suction is also very important. The suction is
what pulls the dirt that is removed from the carpet
into the collection area of the vacuum. The
suction, or airflow, is the key when cleaning
hard surfaces or when using attachments. Without
suction, a vacuum cleaner could only bring more
dirt to the surface of carpet. Even though both
agitation and suction are important with vacuuming,
the agitation is what actually cleans them.
Almost all manufacturers use brush rollers that
are made of wood, metal, or even plastic that
is driven by a suction or brush motor through
the use of three different kinds of belts - round,
geared, or flat.
The round belts are the earliest type as they
were easy to produce and easy to engineer. The
round style, unfortunately, is normally run in
the same space as vacuumed dirt. What this means,
is that almost all of the dirt, staples, and
hair you vacuum up will pass around the belt;
cutting, nicking, or even scratching it along the
way.
Vacuum cleaner belts have to stretch quite a long
way, placing even more stress on the roller and
the motor bearings. The round belt is still
common, and used even today.
The flat style of belts are most often run in a
circular fashion as well, unlike the twisted
route the round belt takes to deliver the
performance in the proper direction.
The style allow manufacturers to run the belt off
of one side of the brush roller, instead of the
center where all of the dirt is. This is truly a
great innovation, as you can eliminate premature
failure due to the soil and dirt in the belt path.
The latest belt design is considered to be the
best in the industry. Even though there are many
variations out there, the geared belt is the
most efficient means to drive a brush. The
geared belt is also known as a positive brush system
because the energy of the brush motor is
transmitted directly to the brush.
Both the brush and the motor are locked by
fixed teeth to each other through a cogged belt
without tension. The resulting direct connection
results in higher cleaning efficiency because
the brush can be driven at a faster speed
regardless of the age of the belt.
The flat style can stretch as they become warm,
which will cause them to lose tension. When
you use your vacuum, the belt is always going to
stretch. Believe it or not, it will lose it's
tension the moment you put it up to rest in the
closet.
There is however, one real drawback to geared
belts - the cost of the vacuum. Geared belts
are normally used on two motor vacuums. Not
only does this require a separate suction and
brush motor, but it also requires electronic
sensory systems to tell you when something is
wrong with the brush.
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