Acoustic characteristics of the operating noise of vacuum cleaners that evoke the feeling of suction

Vacuum cleaner noise is mostly assessed by the sound when the cleaner is not picking up dust. However, users usually hear the operating noise when the cleaner is picking up dust, and this noise is used to recognize that the cleaner is working properly. Therefore, the vacuum cleaner operating noise during dust collection should be evaluated. Psychoacoustical experiments were conducted on three vacuum cleaner models to evaluate the sound quality of the operating noise when beads or pieces of paper were vacuumed. The results showed a strong influence of loudness. We therefore standardized the loudness of the operating noise at around 20 sone and carried out similar experiments. A relationship was found between the suction feeling and the impression of luxury. Most of the stimuli that evoked both the impression of luxury and the suction feeling were the noises made when there was no suction object. When comparing the acoustic properties of stimuli that evoked strong and weak suction feelings, the operating noise of the appliance itself, especially those with components in the low frequency range up to 500 Hz and in the high frequency range around 10 kHz, was rated as strong suction feeling.