EP3984435B1 - Surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation according to the preamble of patent claim 1.

A surface cleaner with suction according to the preamble of claim 1 is made, for example US-A-5711051 A surface cleaner with suction is known, for example, with the subject of DE 202011 107 459 U1 known. The surface cleaner shown there has a 3-way valve with the aim of enabling a total of three operating states.

A first operating state is reached via a first valve position of a 3D valve and provides that the high-pressure operated rotor arm with the spray nozzles located thereon and a suction device are operated together.

A second operating state provides that the high-pressure medium fed in via a high-pressure source is fed exclusively to a suction device, which sucks off the water accumulating inside the housing and directs it into a connected waste water hose.

A third operating state provides a third valve position in which high-pressure cleaning takes place without switching on the cut-off device.

However, the surface cleaner shown has the disadvantage of being more difficult to operate, because to set the three different operating modes, the user has to lean down towards the bottom housing of the device and set the various valve positions by hand.

In addition to the inconvenient handling, there is also an operating disadvantage, because the device cannot be operated while the valve is being adjusted. This leads to unwanted service interruptions. Furthermore, the operation of the 3-way valve in the vicinity of the surfaces to be cleaned and dirt-dispensing is unfavorable. Especially in times of Corona, there is a risk that aerosols will form near the floor when operating the surface cleaner, which is disadvantageous with the 3-way valve being operated near the floor.

Such a device has not been able to establish itself because of the associated interruption to operations and the further associated risk of infection and the slower mode of operation.

Although it is known to move actuators in the area of the operating fork of a drawbar, as for example from the DE 20 2012 007 333 U1 is known. There, in the area of a drawbar, two separate operating handles are provided, which, however, has the disadvantage that one operating handle and the high-pressure pistol arranged there can only be used to switch the rotor arm of the surface cleaner on and off, while the other operating handle can only be used is assigned to a high-pressure spray gun that is detachably arranged on the drawbar and is used completely separately from the functions of the surface cleaner. Therefore, the transition from surface cleaning to operation of the high-pressure spray gun also leads to an undesirable interruption in operation. The handling of two different devices is also complicated.

Even with such an arrangement of a surface cleaner, it is not possible to work quickly because the device only offers high-pressure cleaning operation with a rotor arm equipped with spray nozzles, without having a suction device.

If there are still residues on the floor that need to be removed, the high-pressure gun is removed from the drawbar and the remaining dirt on the floor is removed in a separate operation.

The DE 100 66 009 A1 shows a surface cleaner with a push rod consisting of two mutually parallel tubes, with a single actuating handle for a high-pressure gun being arranged on one tube. The handle arranged on the adjacent other tube of the drawbar has no actuating function. The suction power can only be adjusted using a hand lever attached directly to the housing, which means increased effort for operation. The hand lever can only be actuated when the operator is bent over above the housing.

It is therefore not possible to control the inflow of the cleaning liquid with an actuating handle arranged at the top of the drawbar and the suction power with a further actuating handle arranged on the drawbar.

In the WO 2014066891 A1 a surface cleaner is shown, which distributes the cleaning liquid without using a high-pressure pump onto a surface to be cleaned with a rotatingly driven liquid distributor and sucks it off with a vacuum arrangement.

The cleaning performance is low because there is no high-pressure cleaning fluid that is sprayed onto the surface to be cleaned. A brush shut-off device is arranged as an electric switch on the right-hand handle of the two-arm push-bar, and on the left-hand side there is a manually operated rotary valve, with which the flow of cleaning liquid to the rotating liquid distributor can be controlled.

Accordingly, there is no design of a surface cleaner that works with a high-pressure jet that can be controlled with an actuating handle on one side of the push rod and another actuating handle with which the suction power of the rotating liquid distributor can be controlled.

The invention therefore has the task of providing a surface cleaner according to the subject of DE 20 2011 107 459 U1 or the DE 100 66 009 A1 further training in such a way that uninterrupted operation of the surface cleaner in several operating states is possible and that during operation an easy and manageable changeover from a high-pressure surface cleaning operation alone to a suction operation alone and finally to a dual function consisting of high-pressure and suction operation is possible.

The invention is characterized by the technical teaching of claim 1 in order to solve the task at hand.

The advantage of the present invention is that in the area of a push rod there are two actuating handles that can be actuated independently of one another and are preferably attached to one end of the push rod, preferably at the same height and next to one another. The two actuating handles are thus within reach of a standing person and can easily be actuated individually or together during operation of the surface cleaner - each with the fingers of one hand. Accordingly, two-handed actuation of the actuation handles, which are spatially separated from one another, is provided.

With the given technical teaching, there is the advantage that in the area of the operating fork of a drawbar, the operating states of the surface cleaner belonging to the three operating modes can be set manually.

In a first operating state, when one operating handle is actuated, the high pressure is sent directly to the rotor arm of the surface cleaner - assuming that the other operating handle is not actuated - so that in this first mode of operation only a high-pressure surface cleaning process takes place.

Conversely, if the other actuating handle is actuated without the first-mentioned actuating handle being actuated, only the waste water occurring in the interior of the housing is sucked off via a suitable suction device, which represents the second actuating mode.

If, on the other hand, both actuating handles are actuated at the same time, suction is also made possible at the same time during high-pressure operation, which means a particularly simple, gentle and fast operating mode.

Here, the present invention offers an advantage over the prior art, because the operator can now operate the two operating handles in the area of the operating fork without having to operate a valve close to the floor, remains in an upright working position and can also use the device during this operation move further on the ground and carry out the necessary cleaning work without interrupting operation.

The technical teaching according to claim 1 therefore leads to simpler, uninterrupted operation of such a surface cleaner with three different operating states.

Normally, both actuating handles are actuated in order to carry out the second operating state of suction in addition to the operating state of surface cleaning. It can happen that water remains on the cleaned surface. In this case, the operating handle responsible for high-pressure cleaning is closed by releasing it and only the operating handle responsible for suction is actuated further, so that only suction takes place without further surface cleaning. This has the advantage that no residual water remains during surface cleaning because the two actuating levers can be operated alternately and under visual control of the operator without the operator having to interrupt the cleaning work and switch a valve near the floor.

A further advantage of the invention is that if only the actuating lever for feeding in the high pressure is actuated, a high cleaning force (speed of rotation) is achieved on the rotor arm and the spray nozzles (high pressure) attached to it. However, if both actuating levers are actuated because the suction is switched on, the effective one drops Cleaning pressure on the cleaning surface decreases because it is partly made available for the suction device. The user can then always actuate the two actuating levers alternately or simultaneously under visual control in order to create a clean, cleaned surface that has been freed from water residues.

Tests by the applicant have shown that about 33% of the total water volume is used to supply the suction device, which means that the cleaning performance drops somewhat when high-pressure cleaning and suction are in operation at the same time. However, it is advantageous that a relatively small amount of water is required for the suction device and that there is nevertheless a superior suction effect. The suction device with the built-in Venturi nozzle was optimized for this purpose in order to reduce water consumption to 33% of the total water volume with good suction performance.

Therefore, the suction capacity of the Venturi nozzle used must be matched to the cleaning effect of the high-pressure arm, which has been achieved ideally with the ratio mentioned above.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the two actuating handles are designed as pistol grips, as is usual with high-pressure pistols for high-pressure cleaners. Each pistol-style grip has an actuating lever that can be manually actuated.

The invention is not limited to this. Other actuating handles with associated adjusting levers can also be used, such as ball valves with a ball valve or actuating elements that have rolling elements or similar actuating elements instead of an actuating lever.

The invention is therefore not dependent on the design of the actuating handle as a pistol grip, but rather provides any other form of actuating handle.

In a development of the present invention, it was found that because of the flow distribution of the high-pressure flow to the suction device and to the rotor arm, problems arise when the suction device is operated alone and the high-pressure cleaning does not take place. In this case, a relatively high water pressure is supplied solely to the suction device, which, however, is not calibrated for this water pressure.

For this reason, a further feature of the invention provides that there is a pressure relief valve on the inlet side of the suction device, which bypasses the Venturi nozzle via a bypass line in the event of excess pressure and opens the bypass when a set high pressure is exceeded. This prevents the venturi nozzle from being overloaded.

Furthermore, this prevents the high-pressure pump, which provides the high-pressure medium, from being overloaded.

It is of particular advantage that the bypass water, which is discharged via the bypass line from the pressure relief valve in the event of excess pressure, is fed to the outlet of the suction device and does not reach the floor.

Moreover, the invention is not dependent on a drawbar with a push or operating fork attached to it.

In the other embodiment, it can be provided that instead of the operating fork there is a self-contained push bar that fulfills the same function, because the actuating handles according to the invention are preferably arranged on the left and right of such a push bar.

The subject matter of the present invention results not only from the subject matter of the individual patent claims, but also from the combination of the individual patent claims with one another.

All of the information and features disclosed in the documents, including the abstract, in particular the spatial configuration shown in the drawings, could be claimed as essential to the invention, insofar as they individually or in combination are new compared to the prior art. The use of the terms "essential" or "in accordance with the invention" or "essential to the invention" is subjective and does not imply that the features so named must necessarily form part of one or more patent claims.

In the following, the invention is explained in more detail with reference to drawings showing only one embodiment. Further features and advantages of the invention that are essential to the invention emerge from the drawings and their description.

Figur 1:

perspektivische Seitenansicht eines Flächenreinigers nach der Erfindung

Figur 2:

eine vergrößerte Detaildarstellung nach Figur 1

Figur 3:

die vergrößerte Detaildarstellung nach Figur 1 auf der Bedienungsseite

Figur 4:

die Ansicht auf die Unterseite des Gehäuses

Show it:

Figure 1:

perspective side view of a surface cleaner according to the invention

Figure 2:

an enlarged detail view figure 1

Figure 3:

the enlarged detail view figure 1 on the service side

Figure 4:

the view of the underside of the case

In figure 1 a surface cleaner is shown, which essentially consists of a roughly pot-shaped and cylindrical housing 6, open on one side downwards, on the outer circumference of which a number of guide rollers 20 are arranged, distributed uniformly around the circumference. The housing 6 forms according to figure 4 a double casing 27, which forms an annular gap 28 between the outer and inner casing, through which the suction on the cleaned surface takes place. Instead of arranging an annular gap 28 assigned to the suction, suitable suction nozzles can also be provided in the housing 6 in accordance with DE 20 2011 107 459 U1 be arranged. The lower edge of the housing is sealed off from the cleaning surface on the bottom by means of a peripheral, self-contained, ring-shaped brush seal 29, which is arranged on the lower edge of the housing.

In the interior of the housing 6, a rotor arm 7 is arranged with two opposing cleaning nozzles, which are directed obliquely against the direction of the rotor in order to achieve a rotation of the rotor arm 7 during high-pressure operation through the resulting recoil effect. At the same time, a forced high-pressure jet is emitted from cleaning nozzles onto the surface to be cleaned.

The invention is not limited to a single rotor arm 7 with two cleaning nozzles located opposite one another. A cross arrangement of a rotor arm or several rotor arms can also be present. The rotor arm 7 is rotatably attached to a pivot joint 5 in the center of the housing. The high-pressure medium is fed through the rotary joint 5 to the rotor arm 7 .

A push rod 30 attaches to the housing, which consists of two mutually parallel drawbar tubes 16 in the exemplary embodiment shown, which fork in the area of the housing 6 and are pivotally accommodated there in the area of two pivot joints 17, 18 arranged at a distance from one another.

In this way, the working angle for the operator can be continuously adjusted with the inclination of the drawbar 30.

The drawbar 30 with its drawbar tube 16 branches at the top into two fork tubes 14, 15, which form an operating fork 11.

The two actuating handles 1, 3 according to the invention are each arranged at the ends of the operating fork 11.

The actuating handle 1 intended for the high-pressure cleaning mode is designed as a pistol grip and has a first actuating lever 25 , while the second actuating handle 3 intended for the suction mode has a further actuating lever 26 .

The high-pressure medium is fed into the actuating handle 1 via an HP connection 24 and is fed via a T-shaped adapter 2 at the same time as a connecting hose 23 to the input side of the other actuating handle 3 .

Accordingly, the high-pressure medium is constantly in contact with the HP connection 24 and the input side of the operating handle 1 and also the input side of the operating handle 3 .

When actuating the actuating lever 25 in the (right) actuating handle 1, the high-pressure medium is fed via the HP hose 4a into the housing-side, central swivel joint 5 for the pressure supply of the rotor arm 7, whereby the first operating mode is given, namely the high-pressure surface cleaning under the action of the cleaning nozzles on Rotor arm 7.

If it turns out that water remains on the surface to be cleaned, which can be the case with high-pressure operation alone, the operator optionally opens the (left) actuating handle 3 under his visual control in order to switch on the suction device 8 by actuating the actuating lever 26.

The suction device 8 is attached to the housing 6 . In its interior, in a manner known per se ( DE 20 2011 107 459 U1 ) a Venturi nozzle 9 is arranged, which is acted upon by the HP hose 4b with the HP medium when the actuating lever 26 on the actuating handle 3 is actuated, see FIG Figure.3 .

Thus, during the surface cleaning operation, the operator can optionally switch on suction or not by actuating the actuating lever 26 in the actuating handle 3 .

In suction mode alone, the actuating lever 25 in the actuating handle 1 is closed and only the actuating lever 26 on the actuating handle 3 is open, which means that only the suction device 8 is put into operation, which then particularly forces the suction device on the Cleaning surface sucks the remaining amount of water and introduces it into a not shown, connected to the outlet of the suction waste water hose.

It can happen that the venturi nozzle 9 could be overloaded by the overpressure of the high-pressure water supply when the suction is only on. A pressure relief valve 21 which has a bypass line 22 is therefore arranged on the inlet side of the suction device 8 . The bypass line is indicated with dashed lines in figure 1 and 2 drawn because it is located in the interior of the suction device 9. When the pressure relief valve 21 is triggered, the excess water is routed to the drain via the bypass line 22 , bypassing the Venturi nozzle 9 .

The castors 20 of the chassis 19 shown here can also be designed in other ways. Roller elements, ball rollers, sliding elements, runners or the like can be used in this case. Overall, the technical teaching according to the invention results in a significant operating advantage and an improved working speed with an improved working result and better cleaning performance.

End of drawing

1

Operating handle (right)

2

adapter

3

Operating handle (left)

4a

HP hose; 4b HP hose

5

swivel joint

6

Housing

7

rotor arm

8th

suction device

9

venturi nozzle

10

spray nozzle

11

operating fork

12

fitting

13

fitting

14

fork tube

15

fork tube

16

drawbar tube

17

swivel joint

18

swivel joint

19

landing gear

20

swivel castor

21

pressure relief valve

22

bypass line

23

connecting hose

24

HD connection

25

operating lever (right)

26

operating lever (left)

27

double coat

28

annular gap

29

brush seal

30

drawbar

Claims (10)

1. Surface cleaner with suction and simplified operation which can be moved over a floor-side cleaning surface by hand with the aid of a push bar (30), and which consists of a pot-like housing (6) open at the bottom against a cleaning surface in which at least one rotor arm (7) with spray nozzles (10) attaching thereto is driven rotatably under the action of a high-pressure medium, wherein a hand-actuated valve device (1, 3, 25, 26) is present which supplies the high-pressure medium alternatively to the one or several rotor arms (7) and/or the suction device (8), characterised in that for two-handed operation, the hand-actuated valve device consists of two actuation handles (1, 3) arranged to be spatially separated from one another and having hand-actuatable actuation levers (25, 26) which are arranged at the two ends of the push bar (30) of the surface cleaner.
2. Surface cleaner according to claim 1, characterised in that in a first operating state with actuation of the first actuation lever (25) in the first actuation handle (1), the high-pressure medium can be supplied to the rotor arm (7), in that in a second operating state with actuation of the second actuation lever (26) in the second actuation handle (3), the suction device (8) alone is supplied with the HP medium, and in that in a third operating state with actuation of both actuation levers (25, 26) in the two actuation handles (1, 3), the high-pressure medium can be supplied both to the rotor arm (7) and to the suction device (8).
3. Surface cleaner according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the HP medium is applied via an HP connection (24) at the input of the first actuation handle to which a T-shaped adapter (2) attaches, via which the high-pressure medium is passed into a connection hose (23) which leads into the input side of the second actuation handle (3).
4. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the push bar (30) consists of two bar tubes (16) parallel to one another which lead into two swivel joints (17) parallel to one another in the region of the housing (6) of the surface cleaner.
5. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the push bar (30) at its upper, operator-side ends leads into two oppositely directed fork tubes (14, 15) to which the actuation handles (1, 3) are attached.
6. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the actuation handles (1, 3) are configured as pistol grips.
7. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterised in that an excess-pressure valve (21) is connected upstream of the Venturi nozzle (9) arranged in the suction device (8) on the input side.
8. Surface cleaner according to claim 7, characterised in that the excess-pressure valve (21) in the case of excess pressure, passes the HP medium at least partly into a bypass pipe (22) bridging the Venturi nozzle and leads into the outlet of the suction device (8).
9. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterised in that in double operation of surface cleaner and suction, the suction device has a water consumption of about 20 to 40%, preferably 33%, of the total quantity of water.
10. Surface cleaner according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterised in that the swivel angle of the push bar (30) can be continuously adjusted.

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