EP2235294B1 - Submerged-surface cleaning apparatus with inlet duct of non-constant cross section - Google Patents

Abstract

Detailed is a device for cleaning an immersed surface including a body and members for driving the body over the immersed surface in a main direction of advance; a filtration chamber which is provided in the body and which has: a liquid inlet conduit which extends inside the body and which has a lower end which forms a liquid inlet and an opposing upper end which opens into a filtering device; a liquid outlet out of the body; a hydraulic circuit for the flow of liquid between the inlet and the liquid outlet through the filtering device, wherein the inlet conduit has a regular cross-section whose surface-area varies from the lower end thereof up to a maximum value at the upper end thereof which opens in the filtering device.

Description

The invention relates to a surface cleaner device immersed in a liquid, in particular a swimming pool.

• un corps creux et des organes de guidage et d'entraînement dudit corps creux sur la surface immergée dans un sens d'avancement privilégié et selon une direction principale d'avancement, dite direction longitudinale,
• une chambre de filtration ménagée dans ledit corps creux et présentant :
  • au moins une entrée de liquide dans le corps creux située à la base et à l'avant dudit corps creux,
  • au moins une sortie de liquide hors du corps creux située à distance de la base dudit corps creux,
  • un circuit hydraulique adapté pour assurer une circulation de liquide entre chaque entrée et chaque sortie à travers un dispositif de filtrage, sous l'effet d'un dispositif de pompage.

Some known pool cleaner devices include:

• a hollow body and guiding and driving members of said hollow body on the immersed surface in a preferred direction of advancement and in a main direction of advancement, referred to as the longitudinal direction,
• a filtration chamber formed in said hollow body and having:
  • at least one liquid inlet in the hollow body located at the base and at the front of said hollow body,
  • at least one liquid outlet out of the hollow body located at a distance from the base of said hollow body,
  • a hydraulic circuit adapted to ensure a flow of liquid between each inlet and each outlet through a filter device, under the effect of a pumping device.

In some of these known devices (see for example US 2004/0168838 , US 6013178 ), the filtering device is arranged immediately downstream of the liquid inlet. It is considered that this arrangement promotes the efficiency of the pumping device by minimizing the hydraulic path between the liquid inlet and the filtering device, which in particular limits the pressure losses and optimizes the flow of liquid.

However, the inventors have determined that this arrangement is in fact extremely unfavorable from the point of view of the performance of the apparatus, in particular as regards the filtration performance. It would seem that such an arrangement promotes the clogging of the walls of the filter device by debris sucked by the device. Therefore, such devices do not have stable filtration performance over time, especially when cleaning a submerged surface heavily congested with debris. The periods of service of the apparatus between which cleaning must be carried out are relatively brief if the surface is very congested with debris and above all very variable according to the nature of the waste recovered, so that they vary randomly for the user . For example if the basin is clean but the device sucks a single sheet of large size, this sheet is likely to substantially close the filter device, requiring cleaning of the filter device. Thus, the filtration and suction performance of these known devices can drop sharply, randomly from the point of view of the user, and while the amount of debris recovered is much lower than that corresponding to the capacity of the device. filtering.

There are other devices ( FR 2,685,371 , EP 0 483 470 ) which comprise at least one liquid inlet duct extending inside the hollow body and having an end at the base of the hollow body, said lower end, forming a liquid inlet in the hollow body, and an end opposite opening into a filter device.

The disadvantage of these devices lies in the fact that they require the use of a powerful pump motor to allow the liquid to reach the filter device. In addition, EP 0 483 470 used as filtering device, a filter mesh which inevitably causes clogging of the filtering walls. The document FR2896004 discloses a submerged surface cleaner apparatus which comprises the features of the preamble of claim 1.

In this context, the invention aims to provide a submerged surface cleaner device which has improved filtration performance compared to the apparatus of the prior art.

The invention also aims to provide a submerged surface cleaner device whose performance / cost ratio is greatly improved over that of prior devices. More particularly, the invention aims to provide such an apparatus whose cost can be substantially lowered, for performance equivalent to that of known devices.

The invention also aims at providing a submerged surface cleaning device whose filtration performance is stable over time, regardless of the nature of the debris, including during the cleaning of immersed surface heavily congested with debris, especially large debris. having a footprint greater than a 2 euro coin.

The invention applies to any pool cleaner device of the type mentioned above, which can be including electric drive, hydraulic or mixed. The invention is nevertheless more particularly intended to provide such an apparatus which is of the self-propelled type and with electric drive motor (s).

• un corps creux et des organes de guidage et d'entraînement dudit corps creux sur la surface immergée selon une direction principale d'avancement, dite direction longitudinale,
• une chambre de filtration ménagée dans ledit corps creux et présentant :
  • au moins un conduit d'entrée de liquide s'étendant à l'intérieur du corps creux et présentant une extrémité à la base dudit corps creux, dite extrémité inférieure, formant une entrée de liquide dans le corps creux, et une extrémité opposée, dite extrémité supérieure, débouchant dans un dispositif de filtrage,
  • au moins une sortie de liquide hors du corps creux située à distance de la base du corps creux,
  • un circuit hydraulique adapté pour assurer une circulation de liquide entre chaque entrée de liquide et chaque sortie de liquide à travers le dispositif de filtrage sous l'effet d'un dispositif de pompage, caractérisé en ce qu'au moins un conduit d'entrée de liquide présente une section droite dont l'aire varie à partir de son extrémité inférieure, formant une entrée de liquide, jusqu'à une valeur maximum à son extrémité supérieure opposée, débouchant dans le dispositif de filtrage.

To do this, the invention relates to a submerged surface cleaning apparatus comprising:

• a hollow body and guide and drive members of said hollow body on the immersed surface in a main direction of advancement, said longitudinal direction,
• a filtration chamber formed in said hollow body and having:
  • at least one liquid inlet duct extending inside the hollow body and having an end at the base of said hollow body, said lower end, forming a liquid inlet in the hollow body, and an opposite end, so-called upper end, opening into a filtering device,
  • at least one liquid outlet out of the hollow body located at a distance from the base of the hollow body,
  • a hydraulic circuit adapted to ensure a circulation of liquid between each liquid inlet and each liquid outlet through the filter device under the effect of a pumping device, characterized in that at least one inlet duct of liquid has a cross section whose area varies from its lower end, forming a liquid inlet, to a maximum value at its opposite top end, opening into the filter device.

The inventors have indeed found that the provision of a liquid inlet duct whose cross section is not constant between its lower end and its upper end not only provides the device with a pumping device of equal power. or even lower, to previous devices, but also greatly improve filtration performance. For this, the conduit must have a cross section whose area at the upper end of the conduit-that is to say the end that opens into the filter device- is maximum. The cross section of the conduit determines an effective section of liquid passage. In particular, such a configuration makes it possible to reduce the speed of the debris sucked into the inlet duct when they reach that portion of the duct which has a maximum area section. Now this portion is the antechamber of the filtering device. As a result, the debris enters the filtering device with a low speed. This low speed prevented the debris from sticking to the filtering walls of the filtering device. The variation of the cross-section along the duct should be carefully determined so that the debris acquires sufficient velocity to reach the filtering device, but this velocity is sufficiently reduced in the antechamber of the filtering device to avoid clogging. walls.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one inlet duct - in particular each inlet duct - has a first convergent section from its lower end to a zone forming a minimum area collar, and a second section diverging extending the first section from this neck to its opposite upper end opening into said filter device, so as to form a convergent inlet / divergent conduit.

Such convergent / divergent input duct gives an apparatus according to the invention particularly interesting specificities. In particular, the first convergent section accelerates debris entering the inlet duct between the lower end and the minimum area collar. This acceleration is intended to give enough speed to debris, particularly heavy debris, so that they can reach the upper end of the inlet duct. The second section is used to slow debris, particularly small, intimate debris with the liquid, between the minimum area neck and the upper end of maximum area so that they present, when they reach the filtering device, a low speed so that they do not project against the filtering walls of the filter device, thus avoiding clogging thereof.

The dimensions of the first and second sections can be chosen in different ways. Nevertheless, the inventors have, after various experiments, determined that a particularly effective solution consists in providing advantageously that at least one inlet duct - in particular each inlet duct - has a first section which extends over less than 20% of the total length of the inlet duct and a second section which extends over more than 80% of the total length of the duct. Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one inlet duct has, at its upper end, a cross section twice the area of the cross section at its lower end. Advantageously and according to the invention, the area of the section at the neck is of the order of 20% less than the area of the section at the lower end. In addition, it is particularly advantageous that the inlet duct present at the upper end of the duct, for example on an end portion of the order of 10% of the length of the duct, a strong flaring. Such a flare can for example correspond to an increase of the order of 33% of the area of the section on this extremal portion.

According to this variant, the debris acquire in the first section a significant kinetic energy that they retain on a good part of the input duct. The speed of the debris drops sharply in the strongly flared portion of the section, which corresponds to 10% of the inlet duct. Therefore, these debris can reach the upper end of the inlet duct and enter the filtering device without, however, risking sticking against the filtering walls of the filtering device.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one inlet duct - in particular each inlet duct - has a profile, said longitudinal profile, in section through a longitudinal plane, which is generally divergent since its lower end forming a liquid inlet. to its opposite upper end opening into the filter device.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one inlet duct - in particular each inlet duct - has a profile, said transverse profile, in section along a transverse plane, orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, of convergent / divergent form.

Advantageously and according to the invention, the area of the cross-section of at least one inlet duct -particularly of each inlet duct-varies at least substantially continuously from its lower end forming a liquid inlet in this duct. input to its opposite upper end opening into the filter device.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one input duct - in particular each input duct - is curved.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one inlet duct - in particular each inlet duct - is generally orthogonal to the submerged surface.

An apparatus according to the invention may comprise one or more inlet ducts. Nevertheless, advantageously, an apparatus according to the invention comprises a single liquid inlet duct in the hollow body.

A filter device of an apparatus according to the invention can have various shapes and dimensions. Such a device may for example be formed of a suitable housing can be inserted into the filter chamber and extracted from the latter in one piece. Such a housing may be formed of one or more parts assembled to each other by all types of means. In particular, such a housing may be formed of one or more rigid, semi-rigid or flexible shells.

• une première coque présentant des parois périphériques filtrantes s'étendant vers l'arrière du corps creux, à partir d'une ouverture avant de cette première coque et délimitant, vers l'arrière, un volume de récupération des débris, lesdites parois filtrantes étant adaptées pour retenir les éventuels débris véhiculés par le liquide et pour autoriser l'écoulement du liquide hors de cette première coque,
• une deuxième coque assemblée à la première coque à l'avant de celle-ci et formant un conduit d'entrée de liquide à section droite non constante.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said filtering device comprises:

• a first shell having filtering peripheral walls extending towards the rear of the hollow body, from a front opening of this first shell and delimiting, towards the rear, a volume for recovering debris, said filtering walls being adapted to retain any debris carried by the liquid and to allow the flow of liquid out of this first shell,
• a second shell joined to the first shell at the front thereof and forming a non-constant straight section liquid inlet conduit.

• les deux coques peuvent être assemblées l'une à l'autre de façon à former un boîtier filtrant d'un seul tenant monté dans la chambre de filtration de façon à être amovible alors que l'appareil repose en position de nettoyage sur une surface horizontale, ce boîtier filtrant pouvant être inséré d'un seul tenant dans la chambre de filtration et extrait d'un seul tenant hors de cette chambre de filtration,
• lorsque les deux coques sont assemblées l'une à l'autre, la deuxième coque referme ladite ouverture avant de la première coque, à l'exception d'un passage d'entrée du liquide constituant une ouverture d'entrée du liquide dans le volume de récupération des débris, la section de cette ouverture d'entrée étant plus petite que celle de l'ouverture avant de la première coque,
• les deux coques assemblées peuvent être déplacées l'une par rapport à l'autre, après extraction du boîtier filtrant hors de la chambre de filtration, en dégageant ladite ouverture avant de la première coque faisant office d'ouverture de vidange de cette première coque.

Advantageously and according to the invention, the two shells and their relative assembly are adapted so that:

• the two shells can be assembled to one another so as to form a single filter housing mounted in the filter chamber so as to be removable while the apparatus is in the cleaning position on a horizontal surface , this filter housing can be inserted in one piece into the filtration chamber and extracted in one piece out of this filtration chamber,
• when the two hulls are assembled to one another, the second hull closes said front opening of the first hull, with the exception of an inlet passage of the liquid constituting a liquid inlet opening in the volume debris recovery, the section of this inlet opening being smaller than that of the front opening of the first shell,
• the two assembled shells can be moved relative to each other, after extraction of the filter housing out of the filtration chamber, by releasing said opening before the first shell acting as drain opening of the first shell.

An apparatus according to the invention comprising such a filter device with two shells assembled to one another so that once assembled they form a filter housing in one piece easily extractable from the device, is particularly practical to use. Indeed, such a filter housing has a first shell which acts as a pocket for recovering debris and a second shell which forms a non-constant cross-section inlet duct, as previously described, and partially obstructs the debris recovery pocket so that when the apparatus is operating on a submerged surface, the debris is lodged in the debris recovery pocket without being able to come out through the liquid inlet. In addition, the two shells are adapted to be dissociated from one another, once the filter housing extracted from the device. Therefore, it is particularly convenient to clean the filter device by separating the two shells from each other and removing the debris stuck in the debris recovery pocket. Once the first shell cleaned, a user can assemble the hulls to each other and reinsert the filter housing thus formed in the device.

In addition, such an arrangement is particularly effective since the filter housing thus formed comprises a lower end which opens at the base of the hollow body and which constitutes a liquid inlet. Thus, this filter housing forms the "dirty" part, called dirty circuit, of the hydraulic circuit of the device, that is to say the part of the hydraulic circuit capable of transporting debris. The filter housing being removable, the dirty circuit is completely removable. A user can therefore clean the entire dirty circuit of the device and thus restore to a device according to the invention its initial performance.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said second shell forming at least one inlet duct has a rear partition wall transversely extending transversely to the front of said debris recovery volume, between each liquid inlet and said opening of inlet formed at an upper end of this inlet duct.

This transverse rear wall acts as a non-return wall so that debris that has passed this wall can no longer emerge through the liquid inlet, even when the pumping device is stopped, which eliminates the need to spare valves or other movable non-return devices on the liquid inlets.

In addition, the inventors have found that the arrangement of this wall on the path of the liquid between each liquid inlet and each liquid outlet, which at first sight may seem unfavorable from the point of view of hydraulic performance (flow, suction, ...), actually contributes to the improvement of filtration performance of the apparatus by generating a vortex circulation within the filtering device which permanently keeps the debris suspended in the filtering device, thus avoiding clogging of the walls of the filtering device, and finally favoring the hydrodynamic performance of the filter device and the hydraulic circuit.

In other words, the pressure losses induced by the arrangement of a wall on the hydraulic path are compensated by maintaining the initial permeability of the filtering walls of the filtering device. In addition, the periods of service between which the device must be cleaned are longer and especially of substantially constant duration, to the benefit of greater comfort of use.

Advantageously and according to the invention, the first shell comprises a rigid frame adapted to impose a three-dimensional shape to these peripheral walls, and a filter sheet extending into openings formed by the rigid frame.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said first shell has a decreasing transverse cross section from front to rear.

A filtering device whose transverse cross section is decreasing from front to rear makes it possible to ensure filtration of the essentially tangential type of the liquid circulating in the filtering device. Such mainly tangential filtration also helps to limit the clogging of the filter walls by clogging debris (such as dead leaves), which ensures, even after a long period of operation, good suction and good filtering. In addition, it seems that such a convergent shell also causes a swirling of the liquid flowing in this pocket, which ensures a continuous unclogging of the walls of the pocket having effect of restoring to the different walls of the pocket their initial permeability.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said first shell has a horizontal upper wall extending from the front opening, and a lower rear wall inclined backwards and upwards from a bottom portion of the shell, until 'to an upper rear extreme portion.

Advantageously and according to the invention, at least one of the shells has a handle for handling the filter housing.

Such a handle allows easy handling of the filter housing when the two shells are assembled to one another.

Advantageously and according to the invention, said access hatch is formed on an upper wall of the hollow body.

Such an apparatus is particularly practical to handle since the extraction of the filtering device from the apparatus does not impose delicate manipulations of the apparatus. In particular, it is not necessary to return the device to remove the filter device for cleaning. Disassembly of the filter device can be achieved while the device is at rest, in its normal position, on a horizontal surface.

Advantageously, an apparatus according to the invention is free of a check valve of liquid.

Advantageously, an apparatus according to the invention comprises at least one liquid outlet out of the hollow body, said rear outlet, shifted rearwardly with respect to the filter housing.

Advantageously, an apparatus according to the invention comprises a rear outlet generating a flow of liquid oriented with a longitudinal component towards the rear.

These arrangements make it possible to design the apparatus so as to directly recover at least a portion of the residual hydraulic energy in the output stream to participate in driving the apparatus.

Consequently, with equivalent suction and cleaning performance, an apparatus according to the invention can be provided with a pump motor - in particular an electric pump motor - and a device drive -including comprising at least one electric drive motor - whose power is reduced, and therefore consumption and reduced costs. This also results in a lower overall volume and a lower weight of the apparatus which, in addition to the economy achieved, is an important advantage for the user, particularly in terms of handling, transport and storage of the apparatus. .

The invention further relates to a submerged surface cleaner apparatus characterized in combination by all or some of the features mentioned above or below.

• la figure 1 est une vue schématique en perspective d'un appareil nettoyeur selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• la figure 2 est une vue schématique en coupe longitudinale d'un appareil nettoyeur selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention,
• la figure 3 est une vue schématique en coupe longitudinale simplifiée de la figure 2 représentant l'appareil en fonctionnement sur une surface immergée
• la figure 4 est une vue schématique en perspective d'un dispositif de filtrage d'un appareil selon un mode de réalisation de l'invention comprenant deux coques assemblées l'une à l'autre,
• la figure 5 est une vue schématique en perspective du dispositif de filtrage de la figure 4 représentant les deux coques séparées l'une de l'autre,
• la figure 6 est une vue schématique en coupe longitudinale du dispositif de filtrage de la figure 4, les deux coques étant assemblées l'une à l'autre,
• la figure 7 est une vue schématique en coupe transversale du dispositif de la figure 4 au niveau du conduit d'entrée de ce dispositif.

Other characteristics, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent on reading the following description which, by way of nonlimiting example, shows one embodiment of the invention, with reference to the appended drawings; in these drawings:

• the figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention,
• the figure 2 is a schematic view in longitudinal section of a cleaning apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention,
• the figure 3 is a schematic view in simplified longitudinal section of the figure 2 representing the apparatus in operation on a submerged surface
• the figure 4 is a schematic perspective view of a filtering device of an apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention comprising two shells assembled to one another,
• the figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of the filtering device of the figure 4 representing the two hulls separated from each other,
• the figure 6 is a schematic view in longitudinal section of the filtering device of the figure 4 , the two hulls being assembled to one another,
• the figure 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the device of the figure 4 at the input duct of this device.

Figures, scales and proportions are not strictly adhered to for the purpose of illustration and clarity.

Throughout the following detailed description with reference to the figures, unless indicated otherwise, each part of the cleaning apparatus is described as it is arranged when the apparatus is in normal displacement on a horizontal immersed surface in a preferred sense of advancement, with respect to which front and rear are defined.

An apparatus according to the invention comprises a hollow body 1 and rolling bodies 2, 3, 4 for guiding and driving the hollow body 1 on a surface immersed in a main direction of advancement, referred to as the longitudinal direction, parallel to the surface submerged.

This hollow body 1 is formed mainly of a concave casing delimiting a main enclosure. This concave casing is for example made by molding or rotational molding. This housing is preferably made of a thermoplastic material, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, PMMA or any equivalent material.

This hollow body 1 has a central chamber adapted to receive a filtration chamber. This central chamber is delimited by a lower wall extending in a substantially horizontal plane; by sidewalls extending generally in vertical planes; by a front wall extending generally in a vertical plane, orthogonal to the planes of the vertical side walls; and by a rear wall extending generally in a vertical plane orthogonal to the planes of the vertical side walls.

The bottom wall has an opening extending transversely to the vicinity of the front wall so that liquid can enter the central chamber through this lower transverse opening. This opening forms an inlet 9 of liquid in the hollow body 1.

The rear wall comprises a cylindrical opening forming a liquid outlet out of the hollow body 1. This liquid outlet 10 formed in the rear wall of the housing is longitudinally offset from the inlet 9 of liquid formed in the bottom wall. In addition, this liquid outlet 10 is arranged in the upper part of the housing so that it is also vertically offset from the inlet 9 of liquid.

As shown in particular on the figure 2 this central chamber, this inlet 9 of liquid and this liquid outlet 10 forms a filtration chamber 8. This filtration chamber 8 further comprises a hydraulic circuit adapted to ensure a flow of liquid between the inlet 9 of liquid and the outlet 10 of liquid through a filtering device 11.

Preferably, the inlet 9 of liquid and the outlet 10 of liquid are centered on a same longitudinal vertical plane of the apparatus.

The central chamber of the hollow body 1 is adapted to receive a filtering device 11. The filtering device 11 comprises, as represented in particular on the figures 4 and 5 , two shells, a first shell 55 forming a debris recovery pocket and a second shell 49 adapted to be assembled to the first shell 55.

The first shell 55 which forms a debris recovery pocket of the filtering device 11 has filtering walls 56, 57, 58, 59 extending rearwardly from an opening 64 before. These walls 56, 57, 58, 59 filtering are adapted to retain any debris carried by the liquid and to allow the flow of liquid out of this first shell 55.

The second shell 49 forms a conduit 15 for liquid entry into the hollow body 1. This liquid inlet duct 15 extends inside the hollow body 1 and has an end at the base of the hollow body 1, said lower end 81 and an opposite end, said upper end 82 which opens, when the shells 49 and 55 are assembled in the first shell 55. This inlet duct 15 has a cross section whose area varies from its lower end 81 to a maximum value at its upper end 82.

To do this and as represented on the figures 6 and 7 the inlet duct 15 has a longitudinal profile which is generally divergent from its lower end 81 to its upper end 82, and a transverse profile of convergent / divergent form. The inlet conduit 15 has a first section 83 converging from its lower end 81 to a neck 85 area of minimum area, and a second diverging section 84 extending the first section 83 from this neck 85 up to its upper end 82. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first section 83 extends over less than 20% of the total length of the inlet duct 15 and the second section 84 extends over more than 80% of the total length. In addition, the inlet duct 15 has, at its upper end 82, a cross section twice the area of the cross section at its lower end 81. The area of the section at the neck 85 is of the order of 20% less than the area of the section at the lower end 81.

The assembly between the first shell 55 and the second shell 49 can be achieved by various means. For example and as represented on the figure 5 , the first shell 55 comprises, at its lower front end, pins 68 which project from the plane of the opening 64 of the first shell 55. These pins 68 have shapes and dimensions shaped and conjugated to lights 69 formed in tabs 70 integral with the lower rear end of the inlet duct 15, and substantially perpendicular to the rear wall 16 of the duct, so that these pins 68 can snap into the slots 69 and allow a mechanical connection of the lower ends of the first shell 55 and the second shell 49. In addition, the first shell 55 has at its upper front end an element 71 adapted to be housed in a cleat 72 formed at the level of the upper end of the front wall of the duct 15 so as to allow the assembly between the upper ends of the first shell 55 and the second shell 49 This element 71 protrudes from the plane of the opening 64 and has a ruler which extends downwards, not shown in the figures, and adapted to fit into the cleat 72. The end of the cleat 72 oriented towards the first shell 55 is further bevelled to facilitate the insertion of the strip of the element 71 in the stop 72. In addition, this cleat 72 is flexible in compression so that it can deform slightly downwardly during engagement between member 71 and cleat 72. This flexibility in compression also allows a user to exert downward pressure on the cleat. 72, for example with its thumb, which disengages the ruler of the element 71 of the cleat 72, thereby causing separation of the upper ends of the first shell 55 and the duct 15. The assembly between the first shell 55 and the second shell 49 is made by first assembling the lower ends to one another and then fitting the upper ends into one another. Hull separation is accomplished by first disengaging the upper ends of each other and then disengaging the lower ends of each other. Assembly and separation of the first 55 and the second shell 49 can therefore be easily performed without tools by a user.

This relative assembly between the first shell 55 and the second shell 49 is adapted so that once assembled, the second shell 49 closes said opening 64 before the first shell 55, with the exception of a liquid inlet passage. constituting an opening 54 for entering the liquid into the first shell 55, the section of this inlet opening 54 being smaller than that of the opening 64 before the first shell 55.

The first shell 55 which forms the debris recovery pocket is formed of a rigid frame 26 and a filtering web - in particular a filtering cloth - extending into openings formed by this framework. The filtering device 11 is therefore self-supporting and can be easily manipulated by a user. In addition, this filter device 11 forms an extractable filter housing whose lower end defined by the lower end of the inlet duct 15 forms the inlet 9 of liquid in the hollow body 1.

In addition, the first shell 55 has a decreasing transverse cross section from the front opening 64 towards the liquid outlet 10 so as to form a convergent filtration chamber of the tangential type of the liquid flowing between the opening 64 and the outlet 10 of the liquid.

According to the embodiment of the figures, the first shell 55 has a lower filter wall 56 inclined backwards and upwards from a bottom portion of the first shell 55. This inclined lower wall 56 forms with the longitudinal direction an angle, which in the example shown is order of 45 °.

This first shell 55 further comprises a generally horizontal upper wall 57 and extending rearwardly from the front opening 64. This filtering upper wall 57 is connected to the filtering lower wall 56 by a portion 61 upper extreme rear curve. The rearwardly curved portion 61 has a minimum transverse cross-section while the portion of the first shell 55 opposite this curved portion 61, i.e., at the front opening 64, has maximum cross section. Thus, the first shell 55 has a decreasing transverse cross section from the front opening 64 to the rearwardly curved portion 61, that is to say towards the rear outlet 10. In other words, the first shell 55 has a cross section having the shape of a right triangle, the lower wall 56 inclined forming the hypotenuse.

The apparatus also includes, as shown in the figure 1 , a hatch 6 access to this device 11 filtering. This access hatch 6 forms an upper wall of the hollow body 1 and covers the latter. In the embodiment shown, this hatch 6 is formed on the top of the device so that a user of the device can easily open the hatch 6 and extract the filter device 11. Preferably, the access hatch 6 is articulated to the body 1 of the apparatus by hinges 23 arranged at the rear of the apparatus.

Preferably, the filtering device 11 is a device mounted in the filtration chamber 8 of the hollow body 1 in the manner of a drawer. To do this, the rigid frame 26 of the filtering device 11 further has two ribs 25 extending laterally on each side of the filtering device 11. These ribs are preferably formed on the side walls of the inlet duct 15 since this duct has no filter walls. Nevertheless, according to other embodiments, they could be on the side walls of the filtering walls, for example on the frame 26 of the first shell. Wherever these ribs 25 have shapes and dimensions shaped and conjugate shapes and dimensions of grooves 24 integral with the hollow body 1. These grooves 24 integral with the hollow body 1 extend vertically along the inner faces of the vertical side walls of the hollow body 1. The ribs 25 of the filtering device 11 are therefore adapted to cooperate with the grooves 24 of the hollow body 1 of the apparatus

Thus, the extraction of the filtering device 11 results from a displacement in translation of the filtering device 11 along the grooves 24 of the hollow body 1. A user can easily remove the filtering device 11 from the hollow body 1 for example to clean it. Once the filter device 11 is extracted, a user can easily, as indicated above, separate the two shells forming this device. This user can thus clean the first shell which forms the debris recovery pocket, as well as the second shell 49 which forms the inlet duct 15 and the liquid inlet 9 arranged at the lower end of the inlet duct 15 . Once the first shell 55 and the second shell 49 cleaned, the user can easily assemble these shells 49, 55, as indicated above, and reintroduce without difficulty the filtering device 11 in one piece in the hollow body 1 by orienting the filtering device 11 so that the ribs 25 of the filtering device 11 are opposite the grooves 24 of the hollow body, and then sliding the filtering device 11 into the hollow body 1.

The filtering device 11 further comprises a handle 28 formed on an upper portion of the filtering device 11 so as to facilitate the handling of the filtering device 11. In particular, a user can easily assemble / disassemble the filtering device 11 via this handle 28 when the device is out of the liquid and rests on a horizontal surface. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the handle 28 is an extension of the rear portion of the element 71.

According to the invention, an apparatus comprises a device motorized liquid pumping device comprising an electric pumping motor 12 having a rotary motor shaft 13 coupled to a pumping propeller 14 interposed in the hydraulic circuit so as to generate a liquid flow there between the liquid inlet 9 and the outlet 10 of liquid. The liquid outlet 10 is directly opposite the pumping propeller so that the liquid flows out of the liquid outlet 10 in a direction corresponding to the flow of liquid generated by the pumping propeller, this flow having a speed oriented along the axis 51 of rotation of the propeller 14.

The pumping propeller 14 has an orientation for generating a liquid flow with a horizontal component to the rear.

Preferably, the pumping propeller 14 interposed in the hydraulic circuit between the liquid inlet 9 and the liquid outlet 10 has an inclined axis of rotation making, with said longitudinal direction and with the theoretical rolling plane 50, an angle α different from 90 °. This propeller 14 is rotated by the electric pumping motor 12 which preferably has a rotating motor shaft 13 parallel to the axis of rotation of the propeller 14.

According to the invention, the electric pumping motor 12 is arranged under the hydraulic circuit, entirely outside this hydraulic circuit which entirely bypasses the pump motor 12 from above. The rotary shaft 13 of the pump motor 12 passes through an inclined lower wall defining the hydraulic circuit. The seal is provided by an O-ring 18.

The figure 3 comprises a representation of the circulation of liquid in the hollow body 1 of the apparatus. This circulation is schematically represented on the figure 3 by the arrows 66. Liquid enters the hollow body 1 through the inlet 9 of liquid arranged under the apparatus. This liquid passes into the second shell 49 forming the liquid inlet duct 15 to reach the first shell 55 which forms a debris recovery pocket. This debris recovery pouch allows the liquid to pass through the filter cloth and retains solid debris. The filtered liquid then reaches the liquid outlet 10 and is ejected at the back of the device, in the basin from which it comes.

The liquid outlet 10 facing the pumping propeller 14, the liquid flows out of the apparatus through this outlet with a speed V oriented along the axis 51 of the pumping propeller 14 and having a component longitudinally rearward which induces by reaction forces, whose resultant has a longitudinal component of forward drive which participates in driving the apparatus on the immersed surface.

The orientation of the hydraulic reaction force created by this output flow, and therefore the amplitude of its longitudinal component, depend on the inclination α, relative to the theoretical rolling plane 50, of the axis 51 of rotation. of the propeller and the liquid outlet. Preferably, this inclination α is between 15 ° and 45 °.

According to the invention, the electric pumping motor is arranged under the hydraulic circuit, entirely outside this hydraulic circuit, so that the filtering device 11 of the hydraulic circuit can be removed from the apparatus by the top of the hydraulic circuit. the apparatus as previously mentioned without being hindered by the pumping motor. Only the pumping propeller 14 is arranged in the hydraulic circuit so as to ensure the flow of liquid. This pumping propeller 14 is arranged at the rear of the apparatus, close to the liquid outlet 10. In other words, the pump propeller 14 and the liquid outlet 10 form the end portion of the hydraulic circuit.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the figures, the rolling members for guiding and driving the apparatus comprise a front axle comprising front driving wheels, one on each side, and a rear axle comprising 3 non-drive rear wheels, one on each side.

In addition, preferably and as shown in the figures, the apparatus comprises brushes 4 arranged at the front of the apparatus. These brushes 4 are intended to ensure a brushing of the immersed surface and to move the brushed debris towards the rear of the apparatus towards the inlet 9 of liquid arranged under the apparatus.

The apparatus further comprises at least one electric motor for driving the front 2-wheel drive wheels. Preferably, the apparatus comprises two drive motors, one on each side, respectively for the independent drive of each of the front wheels. To do this, each front wheel 2 has an internal toothing 5 cooperating with a pinion driven by the corresponding drive motor 20.

These brushes 4 can be of all types. According to one embodiment of the invention, the apparatus comprises two coaxial front brushes 4. Each brush 4 is adapted to be rotated about an axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. Each brush 4 comprises a plurality of fins 41 extending radially from a brush shaft forming the axis of rotation of the brush 4. The fins 41 are for example made of rubber made of a resistant plastic material.

In addition, the brushes 4 are preferably also rotated from at least one electric drive motor 2 of the front wheels 2 via a gear system.

Thus, in the embodiment shown, the rolling members consist of front 2-wheel, non-driving rear 3 and brush 4 which participate in driving and guiding the device on the immersed surface. In any event, the rolling members 2, 3, 4 have areas intended to come into contact with the immersed surface which are coplanar and define a theoretical rolling plane 50. The longitudinal direction of advancement of the apparatus is parallel to this theoretical plane of rolling.

The front wheels 2 preferably have a diameter of between 100 mm and 500 mm, in particular between 150 mm and 250 mm. According to the embodiment of the figures, the front wheels 2 have a diameter of the order of 200mm. In this way, these front wheels 2 facilitate the crossing of obstacles and have improved motor skills. Advantageously, their peripheral tread is formed or coated with a non-slip material.

The wheels 2 before and the brushes 4 constitute organs front driving wheels 2, 4 which extend projecting forwardly with respect to the other components of the apparatus, in particular the hollow body, so as to form the front end part of the apparatus and to come first in contact with an obstacle encountered while moving forward.

The electric motors for driving and pumping can be of all types known. According to a preferred embodiment, these electric motors are low voltage motors. They can be powered by a power supply external to the device via an electric cable, not shown in the figures, which is connected to the device at an input zone 19 of the electrical cable in the apparatus, as shown on the figure 1 .

In addition, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the apparatus also comprises a maneuvering handle 7 allowing a user to wear the device to immerse in a liquid and out of the latter. This handle 7 is preferably arranged opposite the liquid outlet 10 so that when the hollow body 1 is suspended by this handle, the apparatus switches spontaneously under the effect of gravity in a position in which the outlet 10 liquid is located under the inlet 9 of liquid, which allows a drain of the device. When the appliance is moved from the cleaning position to the emptying position, the debris sucked by the appliance is held in the filtering device and is not likely to come out of the appliance.

It goes without saying that the invention can be the subject of numerous variants and applications.

For example, according to an embodiment not shown in the figures, the filtering device 11 comprises several convergent / divergent liquid inlet ducts 15.

In addition, the invention applies to a bi-directional apparatus capable of retrograde movement.

Claims (15)

1. An apparatus for cleaning an immersed surface comprising:

   - a hollow body (1) and members (2, 3, 4) for guiding and actuating said hollow body (1) over the immersed surface in a main orientation of advance, called the longitudinal orientation,

   - a filtration chamber (8) provided in said hollow body (1) and which has:

   . at least one liquid inlet conduit (15) extending inside the hollow body (1) and having a first end, called the lower end (81), at the base of said hollow body (1), said lower end forming a liquid inlet (9) in the hollow body (1), and a second opposing end, called the upper end (82), opening into a filtering device (11),

   . at least one liquid outlet (10) out of the hollow body (1), located remotely from the base of the hollow body (1),

   . a hydraulic circuit which is capable of providing a circulation of liquid between each liquid inlet (9) and each liquid outlet (10) through the filtering device (11) under the action of a pumping device (12, 13, 14),

   characterised in that at least one liquid inlet conduit (15) has a regular cross-section whose surface-area varies from the lower end (81) thereof, which forms a liquid inlet, up to a maximum value at the upper end (82) thereof which opens in the filtering device (11).
2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) has a first portion (83) which converges from the lower end thereof (81) as far as a zone which forms a neck (85) having a minimum surface-area, and a second divergent portion (84) which extends the first portion (83) from this neck (85) as far as the opposite upper end (82) thereof which opens in said filtering device (11), in order to form a convergent/divergent inlet conduit (15).
3. An apparatus according to claim 2, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) has a first portion (83) which extends over less than 20% of the total length of the inlet conduit (15) and a second portion (84) which extends over more than 80% of the total length of the conduit (15).
4. An apparatus according to either claim 2 or claim 3, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) has, in the region of its upper end (82) thereof, a regular cross-section having a surface-area which is twice as large as the regular cross-section surface-area in the region of the lower end (81) thereof.
5. An apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterised in that the surface-area of the cross-section in the region of the neck (85) is approximately 20% smaller than the surface-area of the cross-section in the region of the lower end (81).
6. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) has a profile, called the longitudinal profile, in section through a longitudinal plane, which is generally divergent from the lower end (81) thereof which forms a liquid inlet as far as the opposing upper end (82) thereof which opens in the filtering device (11).
7. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) has a profile, called the transverse profile, in section along a transverse plane, which is orthogonal relative to the longitudinal orientation and which has a convergent/divergent shape.
8. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the surface-area of the regular cross-section of at least one inlet conduit (15) varies at least substantially continuously from its lower end (81) thereof which forms a liquid inlet in this inlet conduit (15) as far as the opposing upper end (82) thereof which opens in the filtering device (11).
9. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) is curved.
10. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that at least one inlet conduit (15) is generally orthogonal relative to the immersed surface.
11. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterised in that at least one liquid outlet (10) is longitudinally offset towards the rear of the apparatus.
12. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that it comprises a single liquid inlet conduit (15) in the hollow body (1).
13. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that said filtering device (11) comprises:

    - a first shell (55) which has peripheral filtering walls (56, 57, 58, 59) which extend towards the rear of the hollow body from a front opening (64) of this first shell and which delimit, towards the rear, a space for recovering debris, said filtering walls (56, 57, 58, 59) being capable of retaining any debris (60) conveyed by the liquid and allowing the flow of liquid from this first shell (55),

    - a second shell (49) which is fitted to the first shell (55) at the front thereof and which forms a liquid inlet conduit (15).
14. An apparatus according to claim 13, characterised in that said two shells (49, 55) and their relative assembly are adapted in such a manner that:

    - the two shells (49, 55) can be fitted together so as to form a filtering casing (49, 55) in one piece which is removably mounted in the filtration chamber (8) as the apparatus is resting in the cleaning position on a horizontal surface, this filtering casing (49, 55) being able to be inserted into the filtration chamber (8) in one piece and removed in one piece from this filtration chamber (8),

    - when the two shells are fitted together, the second shell (49) closes said front opening (64) of the first shell (55), with the exception of a liquid inlet passage which constitutes a liquid inlet opening (54) into the debris recovery space, the cross-section of this inlet opening (54) being smaller than that of the front opening (64) of the first shell (55),

    . the two assembled shells (49, 55) can be moved relative to each other, after removing the filtering casing (49, 55) from the filtration chamber (8), by disengaging said front opening (64) of the first shell (55) which acts as an opening for emptying this first shell (55).
15. An apparatus according to either claim 13 or claim 14, characterised in that at least one of the shells (49, 55) has a handle (28) for operating the filtering casing (49, 55), in that it further comprises an access flap (6) to the device, which is provided on an outer wall of the hollow body. (1) and and which is capable of allowing the filtering device to be disassembled and removed from the hollow body (1) in order for it to be cleaned, and in that said access flap (6) to the filtering device, a flap is provided on an upper wall of the hollow body.

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