US3871047A

US3871047A - Floor cleaner

Info

Publication number: US3871047A
Application number: US317833A
Authority: US
Inventors: Yasuo Kaburaki; Kiyoshi Kobayashi
Original assignee: Hukuba Hiroshi
Current assignee: HOKY KK
Priority date: 1972-12-22
Filing date: 1972-12-22
Publication date: 1975-03-18
Anticipated expiration: 1992-03-18

Abstract

A floor cleaner comprising a rotating brush adapted to rotate in liaison with rollers supporting a housing onto the floor in a suitable manner, dust receivers disposed on the front and the rear side of said rotating brush respectively so as to receive the dust swept off from the floor by said rotating brush, and hindering members located over said dust receivers adapted to permit the dust to be introduced into said dust receivers but to prevent the dust from being drawn out to the outside again.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Kaburaki et al.

1451 Mar. 18, 1975 FLOOR CLEANER [75] Inventors: Yasuo Kaburaki; Kiyoshi Kobayashi, both of Nagareyama, Japan [73] Assignee: Hiroshi Hukuba, Nagareyama-shi,

Chiba-ken, Japan 22 Filed: Dec. 22, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 317,833

[52] US. Cl. 15/42 [51] Int. Cl A471 11/33 [58] Field of Search 15/41 R, 41-48 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS l,097,833 5/1914 Yochem 15/44 l,332,429 3/1920 Czechowicz 15/48 2,975,450 3/1961 15/48 Fukuba ls/41 R 3,587,127 6/l97l Rosendall ..Q lS/48 3,628,211 12/1971 Fukuba i 15/42 3,671.991 6/1972 Fukuba 15/41 R Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard and Flynn 57] ABSTRACT A floor cleaner comprising a rotating brush adapted to rotate in liaison with rollers supporting a housing onto the floor in a suitable manner, dust receivers disposed on the front and the rear side of said rotating brush respectively so as to receive the dust swept off from the floor by said rotating brush, and hindering members located over said dust receivers adapted to permit the dust to be introduced into said dust receivers but to prevent the dust from being drawn out to the outside again.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 1 8195 3.871 .047 saw 10F 2 PATENTEB HAR I 81975 SHEET 2 OF 2 BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floor cleaner, and more particularly to a floor cleaner comprising a rotating brush adapted to rotate in liaison with rollers supporting the housing so as to sweep off the dust from the floor.

2. Description of the Prior Art The conventional floor cleaner of a well known type that sweeps off the dust from the floor into the dust receiver by a rotating brush is usually provided with the teeth of combs in the upper shoulder portion of the rotating brush for the purpose of combing the brush to take away the dust adhering thereto so that the dust is deposited into a dust receiver.

However, when the dust consists of, for instance, bits of cotton, fallen hairs from the carpet made of hair material, and the like, the dust thus brought into the dust receiver is rolled therein into clusters due to the reciprocating motion of the floor cleaner during cleaning operation thereof, whereby the dust thus formed into clusters becomes adheres to the rotating brush and is drawn out again from the dust receiver. This is a noticeable disadvantage of the conventional floor cleaner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaner eliminating the above-mentioned disadvantage therefrom by provision of hindering members disposed over the dust receivers with a suitable space from the bottom thereof, whereby said hindering members serve to keep the dust apart from the rotating brush so as to prevent the dust from being drawn back again toward the outside of the dust receiver, once the dust has been brought therein by the rotating brush.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaner including such hindering members that are provided with a plurality of projections projecting and opposing toward the bottom of the dust receivers, said projections adapted to permit the dust to enter into the dust receiver quite easily without any interruption, meanwhile to serve to hold the dust securely deep into the dust receiver and prevent it from being drawn back out again with its interrupting effect, once the dust has been brought therein by the rotating brush.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaner having hindering members obtained from bending a linear material in a suitable way for defining projections at a very cheap expense of manufacturing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the above embodiment taken along a longitudinal line passing through the center portion thereof;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plane view of the embodiment with the upper portion of the housing removed and illustrating how a rotating brush rotates in liaison with rollers;

FIG. 4 is a partially sectional view of the embodiment illustrating how the hindering member is formed and how it is installed.

LII

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference numeral I denotes a housing provided with a bulged portion along thelateral center line of the upper surface of the housing having a cross-section defined into an arc-shape. In the front-end portion as well as the rearend portion of the housing there is defined respectively a pendant edge 2 extending downwardly and a side plate 3 is disposed on both side-end portions of the housing.

In the inner side of the housing 1 there is a rotating brush 4, a pair of upwardly opening boxlike dust receivers 5, hindering members 6, and combs 7, besides other essential subsidiary members.

The rotating brush 4 is positioned in the central portion of the housing 1 being suspended rotatably by a shaft 8 disposed transversely between the side plates 3 at a right angle to the direction in which the housing 1 is to be moved during cleaning operation.

A pair of rollers 9 are fixedly secured to the shaft 8 in both end portions thereof and, as shown in FIG. 3, rollers 10 for use in supporting the housing 1 are brought into contact with said roller 9 on each side thereof with a suitable driving pressure therebetween.

The dust receiver 5 is constructed in a form of a box having the bottom portion 12 provided with plural detents 11 which are formed as a sharp edge or shoulder as seen in FIG. 2 and a pair of side walls 13 disposed on both sides thereof. Said walls 13 are provided in one end portion thereof adjacent to the rotating brush 4 with an opening in which a short pivot shaft 14 projecting inwardly from the inner side of the side plate 3 is inserted with a rotating relation between the dust receiver and the short shaft. Said dust receivers 5 are located both on the front and the rear side of the rotating brush 4, one on each side, to be seen as if said rotating brush 4 is held therebetween.

A free edge of each dust receiver is kept always forced into contact with a packing 18 along the pendant edge 2 of the housing 1 by the force of a wire spring 16 held between the spring stoppers l5 installed on other end of the dust receiver which spring 15 extends around the shaft 8.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the hindering member 6 is constructed of a linear rodlike material and is bent at suitable intervals to define a plurality of V-shaped projections 119, and both end portions of said member 6 are bent at a right angle for provision of the engaging portion 20 thereof to be inserted into an elongated groove 22 defined in a fixture 21 provided on the side plate 3 of the housing 1, in order that both end portions of the hindering member 6 are fixedly secured to the side plates 3 of the housing 1.

Further, said hindering members 6 are disposed substantially in parallel with the rotating brush 4 and over the bottom of the dust receivers 5, being suitably spaced therefrom and being installed slantly in such a fashion that a plurality of projections 19 extend toward the detents 11.

On the arm 25 of a suspension yoke 24 hung oscillatably by a shaft 23, is disposed an elongated comb 7 in such a manner that the comb 7 thus positioned on the arm 25 disposed on one side of the rotating brush 4 faces oppositely relative to the comb disposed on the arm positioned on the other side thereof and is able to comb the rotating brush at the shoulder portion thereof, said shaft 23 being suspended between the side plates 3 of the housing 1.

In addition, the

reference numerals

26, 27 and 28 denote a cornerbrush, a stopper and a handle, respectively. The stopper 27 is fixed to the end plates 3.

In the present invention, in reference to appended FIG. 2, rightward movement of the housing 1 causes the brush 4 to rotate counter-clockwise, as shown by arrow A, to sweep away the fine dust on the floor surface in the direction indicated by arrow B, so as to be deposited within the right side receiver 5. The fibroid dust adhering to the periphery of said rotating brush 4 is combed off by comb 7' which is in the position indicated by a solid line, whereupon the fibroid dust stays on the upper surface 'of the comb 7' in the form of a cluster D1.

If the movement of the housing is then changed so as to be in the leftward direction, the brush in turn rotates clockwise in the direction indicated by the arrow C.

Due to the clockwise rotation of the brush 4, the combs 7 and 7' are induced to change their inclination as seen in FIG 2 from the positions indicated by by solid lines to the positions indicated by chained lines. In this case, contrary to the above, the fine dust on the floor is swept away in the direction indicated by arrow D and deposited within the receiver 5'.

In the meantime, said dust cluster D1 moves rightwardly, namely clockwise along with the periphery of the brush 4, as shown by the dotted arrow E, so as to be moved onto the upper surface of the comb 7, where it grows into a larger cluster D2 by being tangled with the fibroid dust newly combed off from the brush 4 by means of the comb 7.

Repetition of the reciprocating movement of the housing on the floor surface results in growth of the cluster of fibroid dust until it becomes large and heavy enough to drop from the upper surface of the comb 7 or 7' into the receiver 5 or 5'. When the housing 1 moving leftwardly, the cluster of fibroid dust drops into the rightside receiver 5, while, when moving rightwardly, it drops into the leftside receiver 5'.

When the

receiver

5 or 5 moves forward or backward, the cluster of fibroid dust that has dropped into the receiver 5 or 5' also moves by itself, by virtue of the inertia thereof, relative to the receiver reversely to the direction in which the receiver is moving.

To be more precise, when the housing 1 moves leftwardly, the cluster ofdust in the receiver 5 moves rightwardly, i.e., backwardly, relative to the receiver and rolls over the gently slanted wall 11a of the detents 11. However, when the housing moves rightwardly, the cluster of dust is prevented from moving reversely relative to the receiver due to the presence of the vertical wall 11b of said detents. As'to the cluster of dust in the receiver 5', everything goes on in a reverse manner to the above.

Therefore, by repetition of reciprocating movement of the housing 1, the cluster of dust in the receiver 5 moves only rightwardly relative thereto to remain in the far rightside portion of the receiver 5, and the cluster of dust in the receiver 5 moves only leftwardly relative thereto to remain in the far leftside portion of the receiver 5.

In this connection, when the cluster of dust is passing under the hindering

member

6 or 6, it is still small enough to pass through the gap between the projections of the hindering member and the upper end of the detent.

After passing under the hindering member, then the cluster of dust if formed in a bar-shape that is parallel with the rotating brush 4, by being tangled and jointed together with other clusters of dust which have deposited therein previously. Such a bar-shaped cluster of dust rolls on the bottom surface of the

receiver

5 or 5 in accordance with the reciprocating movement of the housing 1. However, it is prevented from rolling back toward the brush 4 due to the multiple projections 19 of the hindering

members

6 and 6, so that it stays within the receiver.

Discharging of the dust accumulated in the dust receiver 5 is executed by pushing the free end of the dust receiver 5 downwardly to counteract the force of the wire spring 16 so as to swing downwardly said dust receiver around the short pivot shaft 14, as shown in FIG. 2 by a broken line, in order to make itself open outwardly. The outward swinging of the receiver 5 is limited by the stops 27. After discharging the accumulated dust therefrom, the dust receiver 5 should be turned in the reverse direction in order that the free end thereof is brought again into contact with the packing 18 by the force of the flat spring 16 for closure thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A floor cleaner, comprising:

housing means defining a downwardly opening compartment;

roller means rotatably supported on said housing means and adapted for rolling engagement with a support surface, such as a floor, for movably supporting said housing means thereon;

brush means disposed within said compartment and rotatable in response to rotation of said roller means for sweeping the dust off of said support surface, said brush means including an elongated brush rotatably supported on said housing means and extending transversely across said compartment in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which said housing means is moved during a cleaning operation, said rotating brush having a rotational axis which is substantially parallel to the rotational axes of said roller means; first and second dust receiver means mounted on said housing means and positioned for receiving therein the dust swept off of said surface by said rotating brush, said first and second dust receiver means each having an edge thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said rotating brush, and said first and second dust receiver means being positioned on substantially diametrically opposite sides of said brush so that dust will be deposited into either said first or second dust receiver means depending on the rotational direction of said brush; each of said dust receiver means comprising an upwardly opening boxlike tray mounted on said housing means, said tray having one sidewall thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said brush, and one-way means associated with each said dust receiver means for permitting the dust deposited within said receiver means to move in a direction away from said brush in response to inertia caused by the back-and-forth movement of said housing means on said surface, said one-way means tending to preventthe dust within said receiver means from moving back towards said brush;

said one-way means including a sloped wall portion formed on the bottom of said tray and extending upwardly in a direction away from said brush, said sloped wall terminating in a substantially vertical wall which projects downwardly to form an abutment which tends to prevent the dust from moving backwardly towards the brush after the dust has passed over said sloped wall, said vertical wall being located between said one sidewall and the middle of said tray as measured between the front and rear ends thereof; and hindering means associated with each of said dust receiver means for preventing the dust deposited therein from moving backwardly out of said dust receiver means so as to again contact said rotating brush, said hindering means including a hindering member positioned over each tray and disposed above said sloped wall in the vicinity of said vertical wall, said hindering member having a plurality of projections which extend downwardly toward the bottom of said tray but are spaced upwardly therefrom to prevent the dust collected within said tray from moving back towards said brush, said projections being spaced from one another in a direction extending transversely across said compartment, the spacing between said projections enabling dust to move therebetween when deposited into said tray by said brush, whereupon the dust as deposited into said tray then contacts the dust previously collected within said tray to form a larger mass which is of substantial transverse width so that said larger mass of dust is prevented by said projections from moving backwardly toward the brush. 2. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, further including first and second comb means disposed within said compartment and positioned for engagement with the periphery of said brush for removing the dust therefrom, said first and second comb means being disposed on opposite sides of said brush and positioned adjacent said one edge of said first and second dust receiver means, respectively, the comb means associated with each dust receiver means being positioned between said brush and the respective hindering member 3. A floor cleaner according to claim 2, wherein said comb means associated with the respective tray is spaced upwardly from the upper edge of said one sidewall whereby fine dust particles picked up by said brush will move over said one sidewall and beneath said comb means for deposit into said tray, said comb means causing the fibrous dust to be removed from the brush with said fibrous dust then being deposited into one of said trays by passing over the top of one of said comb means.

4. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said hindering member is disposed in substantial alignment with the upper edge of said sloped wall, and the lowermost point of said projections being spaced upwardly a relatively small distance above the upper edge of said sloped wall.

5. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said member by bending same.

l =l =l

Claims

1. A floor cleaner, comprising: housing means defining a downwardly opening compartment; roller means rotatably supported on said housing means and adapted for rolling engagement with a support surface, such as a floor, for movably supporting said housing means thereon; brush means disposed within said compartment and rotatable in response to rotation of said roller means for sweeping the dust off of said support surface, said brush means including an elongated brush rotatably supported on said housing means and extending transversely across said compartment in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which said housing means is moved during a cleaning operation, said rotating brush having a rotational axis which is substantially parallel to the rotational axes of said roller means; first and second dust receiver means mounted on said housing means and positioned for receiving therein the dust swept off of said surface by said rotating brush, said first and second dust receiver means each having an edge thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said rotating brush, and said first and second dust receiver means being positioned on substantially diametrically opposite sides of said brush so that dust will be deposited into either said first or second dust receiver means depending on the rotational direction of said brush; each of said dust receiver means comprising an upwardly opening boxlike tray mounted on said housing means, said tray having one sidewall thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said brush, and one-way means associated with each said dust receiver means for permitting the dust deposited within said receiver means to move in a direction away from said brush in response to inertia caused by the back-and-forth movement of said housing means on said surface, said one-way means tending to prevent the dust within said receiver means from moving back towards said brush; said one-way means including a sloped wall portion formed on the bottom of said tray and extending upwardly in a direction away from said brush, said sloped wall terminating in a substantially vertical wall which projects downwardly to form an abutment which tends to prevent the dust from moving backwardly towards the brush after the dust has passed over said sloped wall, said vertical wall being located between said one sidewall and the middle of said tray as measured between the front and rear ends thereof; and hindering means associated with each of said dust receiver means for preventing the dust deposited therein from moving backwardly out of said dust receiver means so as to again contact said rotating brush, said hindering means including a hindering member positioned over each tray and disposed above said sloped wall in the vicinity of said vertical wall, said hindering member having a plurality of projections which extend downwardly toward the bottom of said tray but are spaced upwardly therefrom to prevent the dust collected within said tray from moving back towards said brush, said projections being spaced from one another in a direction extending transversely across said compartment, the spacing between said projections enabling dust to move therebetween when deposited into said tray by said brush, whereupon the dust as deposited into said tray then contacts the dust previously collected within said tray to form a larger mass which is of substantial transverse width so that said larger mass of dust is prevented by said projections from moving backwardly toward the brush.

2. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, further including first and seconD comb means disposed within said compartment and positioned for engagement with the periphery of said brush for removing the dust therefrom, said first and second comb means being disposed on opposite sides of said brush and positioned adjacent said one edge of said first and second dust receiver means, respectively, the comb means associated with each dust receiver means being positioned between said brush and the respective hindering member.

3. A floor cleaner according to claim 2, wherein said comb means associated with the respective tray is spaced upwardly from the upper edge of said one sidewall whereby fine dust particles picked up by said brush will move over said one sidewall and beneath said comb means for deposit into said tray, said comb means causing the fibrous dust to be removed from the brush with said fibrous dust then being deposited into one of said trays by passing over the top of one of said comb means.

5. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said hindering member comprises an elongated rodlike member which extends transversely across the width of said compartment and has the opposite ends thereof mounted on said housing means, said rodlike member having an intermediate portion thereof provided with said plurality of projections thereon, said projections being of a large and upwardly opening V-shaped configuration whereby said projections point downwardly, said projections being formed in said rodlike hindering member by bending same.