At 6:24 in this video you get a clear view of what I am talking about. This is a through flow motor but it also has peripheral bypass ports. This is a 600 + watt ( Suction Work Rate rated ) vacuum that pulls ten amps on 100 volts. Panasonic calls it their "3D Inducer Motor" You can also see how the vanes on the fan protrude all the way into the bulging suction inlet of the fan housing. The original Panasonic motors used in the Elite upright and canister were like this.
I just found this video and sure wish I knew about it when I took my first one of those vacuums apart for service. You can see there is some technique involved and I had to suss my first one out on my own. This example has been apart before. The original foam on the outside of the motor housing and inside the body over the exhaust openings has been replaced by what looks like HEPA bag material. I do something similar when I refresh these because the open cell foam is terrible. You can see from the carbon dust the machine is well used yet look how clean the bag chamber is. Panasonic sells an outstanding synthetic bag for their Japanese model vacuums which I always buy for ours. I have a half dozen like this, different model variations but the same basic layout. Vacuum hose and power nozzle combined weighs 2.6 kg, or just under 6 pounds but the power at the nozzle is more than a Kirby has. Stunning little vacuums. After trying one of these my wife won't touch either Miele or anything else for that matter.
