Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Curiously Overstock.com has been stocking refurbished Kirby vacuums for a while, and they have added Rainbow SE vacuums (along with Panasonic, Royal, Dyson, and Oreck offerings).  The Rainbow SE is "factory refurbished" (not sure which factory) and is offered with a brand new Wesselwerks 11" power nozzle and a 5 year warranty. 

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Rainbow-SE-Bagless-Water-Vacuum-Cleaner-Refurbished/3402181/product.html

Filter Queen [copied also by Lewyt] uses an aluminum 'conical assembly' in their 1940's bagless canisters to cover/protect the motor from dirt and dust.  This conical assembly is IMHO the precursor of today's 'shroud.'

Carmine D.

Carmine,
The conical assembly and perhaps others too predate the Dyson shroud. But it is the Dyson shroud that is being copied globally and nothing at the USPTO predates this industry standard [the Dyson shroud]. If designed correctly and if the distance between the shroud and the interior of the bin is “perfect", this results in no or almost no debris getting hung up or sucked into the shroud (if the bin is not overfilled, note: uprights work a little better than canisters). It’s genius, that’s why it’s copied so heavily.

DIB

DysonInventsBig wrote:

I suspect that Filter Queen never bothered with the USPTO.  In part, the reason Lewyt copied FQ bagless cann including the 'conical assembly' and filter cones.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine,

To your recall, did Health-Mor, maker of Filter Queen, ever follow through legally due to Lewyt's use of the filter cone?  We do know that Lewyt eventually gave up on it for a change to disposable bags and subsequent new designs.  I wondered if the initial reason for that was some legal mandate or just getting on thebandwagon by way of more convenience.

Best,

Venson

Venson,Health-mor, maker of the filterquenn,sued and beat lewyt for a patent infringement and beat them for a huge amount of money i think it was somewhere in the mid to late 50's.

It was kind of ironic that the lewyt designed look alike, never really worked very well.I know i sold and serviced them.This technecally put lewyt out of the vacuum market.

I believe the amount was 3 million awarded to health-mor at the time.

Is immitation the highest form of flattery?????????????

MOLE

Venson wrote:

Hi Venson:

Yes, Health-Mor pursued a remedy in the courts and prevailed with a cash payment from Lewyt for its copying.  Not sure of the actual amount.

Lewyt went to bagged cann vacuums [round and square] and scrubbed the bagless cann in the mid 50's.  Disposable paper bags were all the rage.  People did not like to dump cloth bags and dirt canisters.  We mentioned on another thread recently that Lewyt around this time intro'ed the Speed Sak with a see thru window so users could see how full the paper bag was.

American households were also going more often with carpets and rugs for floor furnishings.  Lewyt dropped out of the market along with other vacuum makers [like GE and Westinghouse] who couldn't provide the latest vacuums needed and wanted by US buyers for their household cleaning needs: i.e.: uprights and power heads with brush rolls.

Carmine D.

Hi Carmine,

Did filterqueen go bagged?. I know they had optional bags that could be purchased but never really promoted them, i think because it would totally blow their whole sales and marketing pitch.

Please give us the LOWDOWN and your insight on this..........

I would say that your right [people did not take to kindly to the bagless portable systems],you notice i said portable.........

MOLE

mole wrote:

Hi MOLE:

Wow that woke you up.  Just a mistyping my good friend.  Read again.

Carmine D.

Hi Carmine,

I cant believe it you made a mistake, but redeemed youself[my bad],

Did you hear about the passing away of the great STAN KAHN?

MOLE

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine,

Lewyt first came out with some sort of push-powered mechanical device that was merely a carpet sweeper that hooke up to the vacuum.  I've only seen advetisements of it.  Also, Lewyt did make one early try with an electric power nozzle for a square "big wheel" model as did GE with a model it put out in the early 60s, same style as the green C7.  Its PN was appeared to be made in-house though years later they tried a generic add-on..  I did see the GE in a department store but never saw the Lewyt with power nozzle anywhere but in magazine ads. A case of I came.  I saw.  I fell flat on my face.

Venson