GB2105183A - Cleaning tool for connection to a vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

A cleaning tool for connection to a vacuum cleaner comprises a casing (1) in which an electric motor (4) and a cylindrical brush (21) are mounted in separate compartments (2, 3) which are located side by side. Access to the compartments (2, 3) may be by way of removable covers (53, 52). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cleaning Tool for Connection to a Vacuum Cleaner The invention relates to a cleaning tool for connection to a vacuum cleaner having a casing in which an electrical drive motor and a driven cylindrical brush are located, and a connecting socket for a suction pipe.

Cleaning tools of this type are used as brush nozzles in vacuum cleaners and have an inlet opening for the dust-laden air. Mounted in the inlet opening is a cylindrical brush which is driven in a rotary manner, the brush bristles projecting beyond the lower bottom of the tool, which is constructed as a sliding plate, within a rectangular, nozzle-like opening, in order to penetrate the pile of the carpet to be cleaned. The brush is driven by way of a belt by an electric motor, which is located inthecasing. Since the brush and the belt are parts which are subject to wear and may also become clogged, they must be easily accessible for maintenance and repair purposes.

In known cleaning appliances, this requirement was met in that the casing was constructed as a trough open on the underside. All the parts such as the drive motor, connecting socket, castors, mounting members for the brush and the electrical mem bers, such as switch and mains lead are fitted from the lower, open side. The trough is covered with a base plate, which is attached to the underside in a removable manner.

However, this simple and easily maintained con struction has the drawback that after removing the base plate, all the components, i.e. also the electrical components, are exposed. During operation it fre quently happens that the rotating brush suddenly stops, because it is jammed by excessively long car pet strands or large foreign bodies or is overloaded.

In this case, the drive belt may even jump off the driving pinion of the drift shaft of the electric motor.

For the purpose of replacing the belt, the base plate must then be removed. In this case, due to careless ness, the cleaning tool is frequently not disconnected from the electrical supply. Therefore, for reasons of safety, the drive motor with the connection of the mains lead and the switching members must be located inside the trough with a special cover, which serves as shock-protection means. However, the additional covering members necessitate increased expenditure.

In addition, this arrangement of the electrical com ponents has the drawback that fine dust is able to penetrate the motor and the receiving compartment for the switching and connecting members, which may lead to breakdowns, current leakages or arcing.

It is the object of the invention to construct a clean ing tool of this type so that the electrical parts are located in a protected manner in the casing without additional assembly work and expenditure, but so that they are nevertheless easily accessible.

The invention provides a cleaning tool of the aforementioned type in which the drive motor and the brush are located in separate compartments of the casing which are disposed side-by-side in a direc tion laterally of the axis of the brush.

In the present cleaning tool the drive motor and the brush are separated from each other by a casing wall and each is individually accessible. For example, if the brush requires changing,then only a coverforthe brush compartment need be removed. The other compartment of the casing containing the drive motor can remain completely closed, so that accidents are precluded even if the appliance is supplied with power. In addition, the drive motor and the associated electrical parts are protected in a simple manneragainstthe penetration offine dust as a result of their location in a separate compartment of the casing, so that breakdowns, current leakages or arcing are reliably prevented. Also the assembly is simplified, since when fitting the brush, the already fitted electrical parts are not disturbed.

The invention is described in detail hereafter with reference to one embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view ofthe cleaning tool, with the hood removed, Figure2 is an underneath view ofthe cleaning tool, with the sliding plate removed, Figure 3 is a section on line Ill-Ill of figure 1,to an enlarged scale, Figure 4 is a section corresponding to figure 3, but with the covering hood in position and the sliding plate fitted Figure 5 is a plan view of the cleaning tool according to the invention, with the hood in position, Figure 6 is an underneath view of the cleaning tool according to the invention with the sliding plate fitted.

The cleaning tool illustrated is a suction brush for attachment to the suction pipe of a vacuum cleaner. It comprises a casing 1, which is preferably produced in one piece from thermoplastic synthetic material by the injection moulding process. The casing 1 has a motor compartment 2 and a brush compartment 3, which are completely separate from each other (figures 1 and 5). Located in the motor compartment2 are an electric drive motor 4, a connecting terminal 5, a mains connection lead (not shown) and the other electrical components. The motor compartment 2 is sealed off completely with respect to the other compartments ofthe casing 1 by a base 6 and side walls 7 to 10. The side wall 7 forms part of an outer wall 7' of the casing 1 (figure 1).In plan view, the motor compartment 2 has a substantially rectangular contour, in which case the side walls 7 and 9 form the longitudinal sides of the motor compartment, which extend parallel to the longitudinal direction of the entire casing 1. The motor compartment is divided into two sections 2a, 2b by a paritition 11 disposed approxi mately halfway along its length, at right angles to the side walls 7 and 9. Located in the casing section 2b is the connection terminal 5, which is located close to the side wall 7 in the region behind an opening 12 provided in this wall for the mains lead. The partition 11 connecting the side walls 7 and 9 comprises a mounting recess 13 for the drive motor 4, which is located adjacent the side wall 9 (figure 1).

The drive motor 4 is mounted by means of a seal ing, resilient mounting member 16 on the side wall 10, which comprises an opening 15 forth passage of a drive shaft 14, which opening is sealed by sealing members (not shown) to prevent the penetration of dust. This opening 15 represents the sole connection between the motor compartment 2 and the brush compartment 3.

The drive shaft 14 projects into a further compartment 17 of the casing, which is located between the side wall 10 and an outer wall 18 of the casing 1 arranged parallel thereto. The outer wall 18 is at right anglestothe outerwall 7' and passes into the latter by way of a curve. Located in the compartment 17 of the casing is a drive belt 19, which connects the drive shaft 14 to a belt pulley 20 of a cylindrical brush 21 located in the brush compartment 3 (figure 2).

Approximately halfway along the length of the side wall 10 of the motor compartment 2, the compartment 17 of the casing is defined with respect to a receiving compartment 23 for a castor 24, by a partition 22 extending parallel to the side walls 7,9. The receiving compartment 23 is defined by a part of the side wall 10, a part of the outer walls 18 and 7' of the casing 1 and by the partition 22, which connects the side wall 10 of the motor compartment 2 to the outer wall 18 (figure 1). As a result of this arrangement of the boundary walls, the receiving compartment 23 has a substantially rectangular cross-section. The castor 24 is mounted to rotate freely in the side wall 10 and in the outer wall 18. The receiving compartment 23 extends overtheentire heightofthecasing 1 and is completely separated from the other compartments of the casing.

The side wall 9 of the motor compartment 2 forms one boundary wall of the brush compartment 3, which extends over the entire length of the casing 1 (figure 2) and is connected in an open manner to the compartment 17 of the casing for the drive belt 19.

Provided as an extension of the side wall 10 of the motor compartment 2 is a mounting wall 25, which extends as far as an outer wall 26 of the casing 1, which runs parallel to the outer wall 7' and extends over the entire length of the cleaning tool (figure 2).

The mounting wall 25 runs solely over part of the height of the brush compartment 3 and is provided with an opening 27 for a shaft 28 or the cylindrical body of the brush 21. The shaft 28 or the cylindrical body projects into the compartment 17 of the casing and supports the belt pulley 20.

The receiving compartment 23 and the compartment 17 of the casing have approximately the same width, but the compartment 17 of the casing is approximately twice as long as the receiving compartment 23. Due to this, these two compartments 17 and 23 of the casing take up only a small amount of space in the longitudinal direction ofthe cleaning tool and may thus be arranged in a space-saving manner one behind the other, directly adjacent to the outer wall 18 of the casing 1.

Provided in the compartment 17 of the casing, on the inner side ofthe outer wall 18 is a plug-in mounting 29 for inserting a rotary bearing 30 ofthe brush 21 (figure 2). Provided on the inner side of the opposed outer wall 31 of the casing 1 is a further plug-in mounting 32 for a further rotary bearing 33 of the brush. The brush 21 can be inserted in a simple manner by its rotary bearings 30,33 in the plug-in mountings 29 and 32 and removed therefrom. By way of the belt 19, the drive motor 4 drives the brush 21 which is mounted to rotate freely in the rotary bearings 30,33.

The brush compartment 3, which extends approx imately over the entire length of the cleaning tool, is defined in the longitudinal direction by the outer wall 26 of the casing 1 and by the side wall 9 of the motor compartment 2 (figure 2). The side wall 9 is extended beyond the side wall 8 and passes in the form of a curve into a side wall section 34 extending parallel to the outer wall 18 of the casing, which section 34 adjoins an outer wall section 35 of the casing.

Whereas the outer wall 18 of the casing runs in a straight line over its entire length and in one plane, the opposed outer wall is formed by the staggered outer wall sections 31 and 35 as well as an inclined intermediate wall portion 36 connecting these sections. In this case, the outer wall section 35 is closerto the outer wall 18 than the other outer wall section 31, which extends approximately over half the width of the casing 1. As shown in figure 2, apart from being defined by the outer wall 26 of the casing 1 and the side wall 9 of the motor compartment 2, the brush compartment 3 is also defined by the outer wall section 31,the inclined intermediate wall section 36, the side wall section 34 and partoftheouterwall 18 ofthe casing.The intermediate wall portion 36, which atthe height of the transition point between the side wall section 34 and the outer wall section 35 opens into the outer wall section, likewise forms part of the outer wall of the casing 1. In relation to the motor compartment 2, the brush compartment 3 is approximately twice its length and of less width. The brush compartment 3 is closed off completely on its upperside by a covering wall 37 (figures 1,3 and 4), the contour of which is defined by the side wall 9, the side wall section 34, the inclined intermediate wall portion 36, the outer wall section 31, the outer wall 26 and a part of the outer wall 18 extending up to the height ofthe side wall 9. Seen in the longitudinal direction of the casing 1, the motor compartment 2 and the brush compartment3 are located side by side.The side wall 8 separates the motor compartment 2 from a flow compartment 38, which is connected directly to the brush compartment 3. In the flow compartment 38, the intake airstream coming from the brush compartment 3 is collected and supplied to a connecting socket 40 provided with an inlet opening 39. An open- ing 41 is provided in the extension of the side wall 9 for connecting the brush compartment 3 to the flow compartment 38 (figure 3). The flow compartment 38 widens out in the direction ofthe brush compartment 3 (figure 1). For this, close to the point where it joins the side wall 9, the side wall 8 is bent obliquely outwards in the direction of the outer wall 18 of the casing 1. On the opposite side, the flow compartment 38 is defined by a further side wall 42, which joins the outer wall 7' of the casing 1 at right angles and, seen in the longitudinal direction of the casing, approximately halfway along the length ofthe opposed side wall 8 passes into a side wall portion 42' directed obliquely outwards, which passes into the intermediate wall portion 36.

The outer wall section 35, the adjoining part of the outer wall 7', the side wall 42 and the sidewall portion 42' define a receiving compartment 43, in which a further castor 44 is mounted to rotate freely. This receiving compartment 43 is completely separated from the other compartments of the casing.

The flow compartment 38 is open on its upperside and closed on its lower side by a base 6', which forms a continuation of the base 6 limiting the motor compartment 2 on the underside (figures 2,3 and 4). Inside the flow compartment 38, the connecting socket 40 is mounted to pivot on the side walls 8 and 42 arranged parallel to each other. The part 45 of the connecting socket 40 located inside the flow compartment 38 has a cylindrical construction (figures 3 and 4) and bears against a correspondingly curved section 46 of the base 6'.The two hinge pins 47 of the connecting socket 40 lie parallel to the outer walls 7' and 26 of the casing 1. Due to this, the connecting socket 40 can be tilted in the vertical direction of the cleaning tool.The lowermost tilted position of the connecting socket 40 is determined by a stop 48, which is provided on the base 6' adjoining the base part 46 and co-operates with a recess 49 at the transition point from the cylindrical socket part 45 into the conical socket part 50 (figures 3 and 4).

On the side remote from the inlet opening 39, the socket 40 comprises a connection opening 51 for a suction pipe, which conveys the intake airstream flowing from the brush compartment 3 through the flow compartment 38.

The motor compartment 2, the flow compartment 38 and the belt compartment 17 are covered by a hood 53 detachably connected to the upperside ofthe casing 1,which hood is provided with inlet and outlet openings 54 for the cooling airstream of the electric motor 4 (figures 4 and 5).

After removing the hood 53, the motor compart ment 2 and the flow compartment 38 are accessible from the upperside of the cleaning tool in the operat ing position, whereas the brush compartment 3 and the castor compartments 23 and 43 remain closed on the upperside and are only accessible from the lower side of the casing. The brush compartment 3 is covered on the lower side by a removable sliding plate 52 (figures 4 and 6), which extends up above the compartment 17 of the casing for the drive belt 19, which is thus likewise covered on the lower side by the sliding plate 52. An opening 55 in the sliding plate 52 is provided parallel to the longitudinal axis of the brush 21, for the bristles of the latter.

On account of the aforedescribed subdivision, the casing 1 produced in one piece has two oppositely directed trough-like parts, which are separated from each other by the central wall 9 (figures 1, 3 and 4).

One trough-like part is open in the direction of the upperside of the casing and closed with respect to the lower side by the base 6,6', whereas the other trough-like part is open on the lower side and closed on the upperside by the covering wall 37. The hood 53 orthesliding plate 52 arethen removably attached to the respectively open sides of the trough-like parts.

As a result of the two oppositely directed trough-like parts, which are separated from each other by the side wall 9, an extraordinarily stable and tortionally rigid component is produced, which is particularly suitable for manufacture by the injection moulding method from thermoplastic synthetic material.

Furthermore, owing t the subdivision of the troughlike parts into individual compartments ofthe casing, additional strengthening of the entire casing is achieved, so that the casing wal Is may be constructed in a relatively thin manner. Since the receiving compartments, 23,24, the flow compartment 38 and the motor compartment 2 are arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the casing and are directly adjacent to each other and furthermore the flow compartment 38 and the motor compartment 2 are only separated from the brush compartment 3 by the side wall 9, a very compact and flat construction of the cleaning tool is achieved, which can thus be operated conveniently under cupboards and other pieces of furniture which are not very high off the floor.In order to reduce the overall height, in the region above the brush 21,thecovering wall 37 is bent obliquely downwards in the direction of the outer side wall 26 (figure 3). Since the outer walls of the casing 1 as side walls lie approximately at right angles to the base plate, the cleaning tool can be operated even close to vertical walls.

The subdivision of the casing into a trough-like compartment accessible solely from above and a compartment accessible solely from below above all has the advantage that maintenance and repair work are facilitated. Thus, after removing the sliding plate 52, the brush compartment 3 can be cleaned and the brush changed, without coming into contact with the electrical parts located in the motor compartment.

Also, the brush compartment 3 and the flow compartment 38 can be sealed in a simple manner with respect to the motor compartment 2, into which fine dust is therefore unable to penetrate.

Claims (17)

1. A cleaning tool, for connection to a vacuum cleaner, having a casing in which an electrical drive motor and a driven cylindrical brush are located, a connecting socket for a suction pipe, the drive motor and the brush located in separate compartments of the casing, which are located side by side in a direction laterally of the axis of the brush.

2. A cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the motor compartment and the brush compartment are each open towards a side ofthe cleaning tool and each is provided with a respective removable cover.

3. A cleaning tool according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which the brush is driven from a drive shaft of the motor by means of a belt, wherein the belt is located in a further compartment of the casing, which is separate from the motor compartment.

4. A cleaning tool acording to claim 3, wherein the belt compartment is arranged adjacent and extends over substantially the entire length of one side of the casing.

5. A cleaning tool according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the drive shaft of the drive motor projects through an opening in a side wall of the motor compartment into the belt compartment, whch is connected in an open mannerto the brush compartment.

6. A cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein in the direction of flow of the intake air, the connecting socket is located directly behind the brush compartment sothatthe intake airstream flows through the brush compartment substantially without being deflected from a straight line.

7. A cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the motorcompartmentis located adjacent the connecting socket.

8. A cleaning tool according to claim 3 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein the brush compartment and the belt compartment are accessible from the underside ofthe cleaning tool and are closable by a removable sliding plate.

9. A cleaning tool according to claim 8 wherein the sliding plate comprises an opening for the bristles ofthe brush, which opening is arranged substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the brush.

10. A cleaning tool according to claim 3 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein the motor compartment, the flow compartment and the belt compartment are accessible from the upperside of the cleaning tool and are covered on the upperside by a common, removable hood.

11. Acleaningtool according to anyoneofclaims 1 to 10, wherein the casing is constructed in one piece and is divided by a partition into two trough-like casing compartments, which are open on opposite sides of the casing.

12. A cleaning tool according to claim 11,wherein the partition is upright relative to a base of the casing and connects the base to a covering wall of the casing.

13. A cleaning tool according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein thetwo trough-like casing compartments are of substantially the same height.

14. Acleaning tool according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein dividing walls which define the receiving compartments for the individual parts of the cleaning tool, are constructed in one piece with the casing.

15. A cleaning tool according to claim 14, wherein at least one of said dividing walls extends substantially at right angles to the said partition.

16. A cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the casing is injection moulded of a thermoplastic synthetic material.

17. A cleaning tool substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.