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Don't Take Your Vacuum For Granted

If we're honest with ourselves, there are many things in life that we take for granted and maybe we should all take a look at our own ignorance - don't get me wrong, I'm not preaching here, after all none of us are perfect, but often it is a human flaw that we go about our everyday lives, using all manner of inventions that make our life more convenient, yet we know absolutely nothing about the process and functionality of many of our household products.

So, here's a question for you: what do your boiler system, Hoover, lamps, car engines and convenience foods all have in common? Answers on a postcard to... Well, the correct answer in fact is... they all use vacuum pumps in production or contained within. Vacuum pumps are more important than you could possibly imagine.

Technically speaking, vacuum refers to a volume of space with a gaseous pressure that is considerably less than the mean pressure of the atmosphere. In layman's terms this means a mass of space consisting of no matter whatsoever. A vacuum pump, therefore, is a machine that eliminates gaseous molecules from a conserved volume, a pump that moves air into or out of a volume of space.

Apart from the obvious usage - that being the main component of a household vacuum cleaner - vacuum pumps are used in many different processes, such as the manufacturing development of electric lamps, medical research and medical procedures, electron microscopy and mechanical and vacuum engineering.

There are many, many different types of vacuum pumps and I could delve into various complicated categories, but to keep things simple, there are two main types of vacuum pumps - transfer pumps and trapping or entrapment pumps.

Transfer pumps, often referred to as kinetic pumps, use kinetic energy to move gas through the vacuum quickly, while trapping pumps work differently - the clue is in the name - by trapping molecules within a volume of space.

The most common vacuum pumps found in every household are of course the vacuum pumps found in a vacuum cleaner. Invented in 1868 in Chicago, the vacuum cleaner and has since evolved through many different designs and forms.

Colloquially known in the UK as a 'Hoover', the vacuum cleaner as we know it today, powered electrically, was invented by James Murray Sprangler who sold the patent of the design to W H Hoover, who in turn created one of the most iconic brand names of all time.

Perhaps the most innovative derivative of the vacuum cleaner was the model invented by an Englishman, James Dyson. In 1985 Dyson invented cyclonic vacuum cleaners which incorporated centrifugal force systems in order to separate dirt and dust particles from the vacuumed air that passes through the cylinder vessel on the head of the vacuum cleaner. Dyson launched his vacuum cleaners in Japan, to critical acclaim before releasing Dyson vacuum cleaners worldwide.

The millennium brought without an array of robotic vacuum cleaners, such as the Robomaxx and FloorBot. These robot vacuum cleaners have sensors attached to their heads and are able to clean around furniture. It's hard to say if these vacuum cleaners have really taken off, with little over half a million units sold worldwide.

So next time someone asks what vacuum pumps are and their uses, you'll be able to answer with confidence - every day's a school day!

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