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A vacuum cleaner (colloquially in the UK, '''Hoover''' after one of the major brands) is a device that uses an air Pump to create a partial Vacuum to Suck up Dust and dirt, usually from Carpet ed floors. Most homes with carpeted floors in developed countries possess a domestic vacuum cleaner for cleaning. The dirt is collected by a filtering system or a Cyclone for later disposal. CONFIGURATIONS Vacuum cleaner configurations:
Most vacuum cleaners are supplied with various specialised attachments, tools, brushes and extension wands to allow them to reach otherwise inaccessible places or to be used for cleaning a variety of surfaces. HISTORY The first hand-powered cleaner using vacuum principles may have been the "Whirlwind", invented in Chicago in 1865 . H. Cecil Booth The first powered cleaner employing a vacuum was patented by H. Cecil Booth , a British engineer, in 1901 . He noticed a device used in trains that blew dust off the chairs, and thought it would be much more useful to have one that sucked dust. He tested the idea by laying a handkerchief on the seat of a dinner chair, putting his mouth to it and sucking hard. Upon seeing the dust and dirt collected on the underside of the handkerchief he realised the idea could work. Booth worked to create a device operating on such principles, and patented such a machine in Britain: the large device, known as the Puffing Billy, was drawn by horses and parked outside the building to be cleaned; suction was then provided by an internal-combustion engine burning petrol (gasoline). Booth never achieved great success with his invention. Walter Griffiths In 1905 "Griffith's Improved Vacuum Apparatus for Removing Dust from Carpets" was another manually operated cleaner, patented by Walter Griffiths Manufacturer, Birmingham , England . It was portable, easy to store, and powered by "any one person (such as the ordinary domestic servant)", who would have the task of compressing a bellows-like contraption to suck up dust through a removable, flexible pipe, to which a variety of shaped nozzles could be attached. This was arguably the first domestic vacuum-cleaning device to resemble the modern vacuum cleaner. James Murray Spangler In 1906 , James Murray Spangler , a janitor in Canton, Ohio , in the United States , invented an electric vacuum cleaner from a fan, a box, and a pillowcase. In addition to suction, Spangler's design incorporated a rotating brush to loosen debris. Hoover Spangler patented his rotating-brush design 1908 , and eventually sold the idea to his cousin's "Hoover Harness and Leather Goods Factory". In the United States, Hoover remains one of the leading manufacturers of household goods, including cleaners; and Hoover became very wealthy from the invention. In Britain , and to a lesser extent, in the United States ''Hoover'' has become so associated with the manufacture of vacuum cleaners as to become a Genericized Trademark . The word ''"hoover"'' (without initial capitalization) often is used as a generic term for ''"vacuum cleaner"''. Hoover is sometimes used as a verb, as well, as in ''"I've just hoovered the carpet"''. Post-World War II For many years after their introduction, vacuum cleaners remained a luxury item; but after World War II they became ubiquitous among the rising Middle Class es. They tend to be more common in Western countries because, in some parts of the world, wall-to-wall Carpeting is uncommon and homes have Tile or Hardwood Floor s, which are easily swept, wiped, or mopped. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ' to separate dust and particles from the air flowing through the cylindrical collection vessel.]] Vacuum cleaners working on the , where they fall because of gravity, and clean air from the center of the vortex is expelled from the machine after passing through a number of successively finer filters at the top of the container. The first filter is intended to trap particles which could damage the subsequent filters that remove fine dust particles. The filters must regularly be cleaned or replaced to ensure that the machine continues to perform efficiently. Since Dyson, several other companies have introduced cyclone models, including Hoover, and the cheapest model is no more expensive than a conventional cleaner. In early 2000 several companies developed robotic "vacuum" cleaners. Some examples are Roomba , Robomaxx , Trilobite and FloorBot . Although most do not create a vacuum for cleaning, these machines propel themselves in patterns across a floor, cleaning surface dust and debris into their Dustbin . They usually can navigate around furniture and find their recharging stations. Most robotic "vacuum" cleaners are designed for home use, although there are more capable models for operation in offices, hotels, hospitals, etc. By the end of 2003 about 570,000 units were sold worldwide. In 2004 a British company released Airider , a hovering vacuum cleaner that floats on a cushion of air. It is claimed to be light weight and easier to manoeuvre (compared to using wheels), although it is not the first vacuum cleaner to do this - the Hoover Constellation predated it by at least 35 years. (The Hoover Constellation did this with a simple hovercraft-type airfoil on the bottom, using the discharge to float the vacuum. Hoover hover-vacs are now sought-after collectibles with their distinctive round post-Sputnik space-age design, though they do not float on carpets.) In 2005 it was announced that a British inventor had invented a cleaner which has a closed system which circulates air, picking up dust from the carpet in an air stream rather than using suction. He claims that the advantage of this system is that it does not blow air back into the room disturbing dust on furniture and it is capable of working at a much lower power, saving energy. At current this cleaner has not been manufactured due to a lack of interest from vacuum cleaner manufacturers. VACUUM CLEANER SPECIFICATIONS The performance of a vacuum cleaner, when mentioned at all by the manufacturer, can be measured by several parameters:
The suction is the maximum pressure difference that the pump can create. For example, a typical domestic model has a suction of about negative 20 kPa. This means that it can lower the pressure inside the hose from normal atmospheric pressure (about 100 kPa) by 20 kPa. The higher the suction rating, the more powerful the cleaner. One inch of water is equivalent to about 249 Pa; hence, the typical suction is 80 inches of water. The power consumption of a cleaner, in s (not quite the same as watts for AC current, see AC Voltages ). The power does not indicate how effective the cleaner is, only how much electricity it consumes. The amount of this power that is converted into airflow at the end of the cleaning hose is sometimes stated, and is measured in ''air watts'': the units are simply watts; "air" is used to clarify that this is output power, not input electrical power. This is calculated using the formula: ELECTRIC MOP Some vacuum cleaners include an electric Mop in the same machine: for dry and a later wet clean. SEE ALSO
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