GB2159393A

GB2159393A - Suction nozzle

Info

Publication number: GB2159393A
Application number: GB08513612A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ernst Lude
Original assignee: Duepro AG
Current assignee: Duepro AG
Priority date: 1984-06-02
Filing date: 1985-05-30
Publication date: 1985-12-04
Also published as: FI852154L; DE3420698A1; GB8513612D0; FR2565090B1; FR2565090A1; SE8502427L; SE8502427D0; FI80581B; FI852154A0; SE456314B; FI80581C; GB2159393B

Abstract

A suction nozzle suitable for use in removing liquid from wet ground surfaces such as tennis courts comprises two spaced rolls (8, 9) which are accommodated in a housing (2) and partly project therefrom. At least one of the rolls comprises a groove extending in the circumferential direction. This groove may be helical and extend over the entire roll length or it may be circular. A plurality of circular grooves may be spaced along the length of a roll. A strip-shaped brush (13) may be arranged about the mouth of the nozzle, and elements (24) may be located within the housing for removing matter adhering to the surfaces of the rolls. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Suction nozzle The invention relates to a suction nozzle of the type comprising two rolls mounted in a housing to project therefrom and are mutually spaced to provide a small gap therebetween.

Suction nozzles of this kind serve for sucking liquids from the surfaces of the ground, more especially for sucking offwaterwhich has been used for cleaning such surfaces. The suction nozzle is connected to a suction cleaning apparatus via a suction line. The known liquid suction nozzles are however not suitable for removing liquids from hard sports grounds, e.g.

for removing standing rain-water from tennis courts, sincethe mechanical action ofthesuction nozzle causes parts ofthe wet ground covering to be detached and sucked off as the suction nozzle slides overthe ground surface to be treated, so that additional depressions are formed. In orderto prevent these ground covering detachments,theknown suction nozzle have to be handled very carefully, which isverytime-consuming, causing the sports grounds to be unavailable for play for a considerable length of time, which leads to substantial financial losses and a considerable expenditure of work for setting up new ground-use schedules.The enforced interval forthe players should be kept as short as possible, since the grounds fees are extremely high, particularly during the main playing periods.

The object of the invention is to provide a suction nozzle which is suitableforvacuum-cleaning hard sports grounds, in that even relatively large quantities of liquid can be completely sucked up within a very short time, without i m pairing the ground's surface.

The invention provides a suction nozzle to be placed on a suction line of a suition cleaning apparatus for vacuum-cleaning ground surfaces, comprising at leasttwo rolls which are spaced from each other in the working direction of the suction nozzle, and are mounted in a housing and partly projecttherefrom, at least one ofthe rolls being provided with at least one groove extending around the circumference thereof.

Byway ofthe grooves according to the invention it is possible, under the suction force of the suction air flow generated by the associated suction cleaning apparatus, to feed individual streams of liquid into the housing ofthe suction nozzle and from there to the suction line and the suction cleaning apparatus. The groove design according to the invention thus ensures that the liquid standing on the ground surface to be cleaned is sucked off satisfactorily and quickly, so that, for example, play will be possible again on tennis courts after heavy rainfalls after a very short time, causing the loss of play to be reduced to a minimum.

Furtherfeatures ofthe invention emerge from the other claims, the description and the drawings.

The invention will hereinafter be described in more detail with the aid of two exemplified embodiments illustrated inthedrawings, in which Fig. 1 shows, in a side view and partly in an axial section, a suction nozzle according to the invention of a suction cleaning apparatus for sucking off dirt and liquids, Fig. 2 shows the suction nozzle shown in Fig. 1 in an elevation according to the arrow X in Fig. 1 in a scaled-down representation, with two rolls provided with helical grooves, Fig. 3 shows, in an elevation and partly in section, the bearing points ofthe rolls ofthe suction nozzle shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 4 shows a second constructional form of a suction nozzle according to the invention in a representation corresponding to Fig. 2, with two rolls provided with a plurality of annular grooves which lie one behind the other in the longitudinal direition at intervals.

The suction nozzle 1 shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is connected by means of a suction line (not shown) to a suction cleaning apparatus. It comprises a housing 2 which is open in the direction of the ground surface B to be vacuum-cleaned. On its upper wall 3, the housing 2 is provided with an articulatedly mounted connecting socket 4. An articulation piece 5 of the connecting socket 4 comprises an elastic bellows 6 which forms an air- and liquid-tight elastic connection between the housing 2 and the connecting socket 4. In the interio r space 7 of the housing 2there are accommodated two rolls 8 and 9 which are at a short distance from each other. The axes 10 and 1 1 of the rolls 8 and 9 are parallel to each other and preferably perpendicularto the working direction A.The two rolls 8 and 9 project downwardly from the housing 2 by approximately 10 mm so that a vertically downwardly projecting edge 12 of the housing 2 lies relatively far above the ground surface as they roll overtheground surface Bto be treated. Fortheformation of a suction gap, which impartstotheinflowing suction airflow the inflow velocity that is necessaryforthe reoval of liquids from ground surfaces, the housing edge 12 is prvided with a strip-shaped brush 13 having thick bristles. This brush 13, which extends all around, is so flexiblethatthe housing 2 and the ground surface B are not damaged when objects orthe groundsurface B are hit. The brush 13furthermore prevents hard particles, such as stones or the like, from entering the zone between the rolls.The brush ends 14 of the housing edge 12 are at a distance of a few millimetres from the ground surface B.

The surfaces of the two rolls 8 and 9 have helical grooves 15,16. The grooves 1 5,1 6 have a width of approximately 2 mm and a depth of approximately 1 mm and a lead of,forexample, 15 mm.The helical groove 15 of the roll 8 is preferably left-hand helical, and the groove 16 of tle roll 9 is preferably right-hand helical. However, the lead ofthe grooves 15, may be the same. The grooves 15, 16 allow even considerable quantities of liquid, which accumulate forward of the roll 8, which is to the front in the working direction A, to be pushed into the housing interior, as the rolls roll over the ground surface B to be cleaned, and to be fed to a guiding device 17 via a gap z between the two rolls 8, 9. The channel-shaped guiding device 17, which extends overthe entire length ofthetwo rolls 8,9, and consequentlythat of the housing 2, is arranged between the upper part of the two rolls and the upper housing wall 3. The guiding device 17 consists preferably of guiding surfaces 18 and 19 which are located above the rolls 8 and 9 at a short distance therefrom. The guiding surfaces 18, 19 have obliquely downwardly pointing endswhich bound an inflow gap 20 in the zone above the gap z between the rolls 8, 9.The inflow gap extends overthe entire length ofthe rolls 8,9 and widens upwardly in the shape of a funnel in the flow direction of the sucked liquid so that there is formed, in conjunction with the internal surface of the upper housing wall 3 a channel 22 which opens into an inflow opening 21 of the articulation piece 5 of the connecting socket 4. The removed liquid is conducted into a reception tank of the suction cleaning apparatus (not shown) via the suction linewhich is in communication with the connecting socket 4. In order to strip from the rolls foreign bodies adhering to the surface ofthe rolls 8,9,the two guiding surfaces 18,19 are provided with a stripper 24which rests with a slight bearing pressure on the associated roll surface.

The strippers 24 have side edges 24a, 24b which are inclined in the circumferential direction of the associated roll 8,9 and with which the particles adhering to the rolls can be easily lifted off.

As Fig. 3 shows, the roll 9 (not shown) (Fig. 1) is mounted in the housing 2 so as to be movable perpendicularlyto its axial direction. The axle 11 ofthe roll projects with its ends into an associated bearing opening 25 of a respective rectangular plate-like slide 26. The two slides 26 are displaceably mounted on the two narrow sides 30 of the housing 2. The bearing opening 25 is in one half ofthe slide 26, whilst in the otherhalfthere is provided a rectangular recess 32 which is open on the edge and into which a helical spring 33 projects. The spring is supported outside the recess 32 on a closing plate 34 which closes a housing opening 35 in one longitudinal wall 36 ofthe housing 2.

The slides 26 ensure that, for example, stones or other hard parts which penetrate into the gap z between the rolls 8,9 while work is carried out with the suction cleaning apparatus comprising the suction nozzle 1 cannot become jammed. When stones orthe like parts penetrate between the rolls 8,9, the roll 9 can be moved to the right in Fig. 3 againsttheforce of the spring 33, in that its axle 11 slides to the rightwith the slides 26. The roll 9 can be deflected to one side until its slides 26, with their front ends 37,37' bounding the recess 32 on the side that is directed away from the bearing opening 25, come into abutting contact with the inside ofthe closing plate 35. The stones orthe like parts can be easily and quickly removed at anytime from thethuswidened gap z.As soon as the foreign bodies have been released, the roll 9 is returned under the force ofthe helical compression spring 33 to its starting position, in which the slides 26 strike against a stop surface 27. In orderto ensure that the strippers 24 restwith a slight pressure on the rolls 8,9,the guiding surfaces 18, 19 are so designed thatthey are elastically deformed in their installed position and therefore press the strippers againstthe rolls.This causes the stripping action to be improved.

In the constructional form shown in Fig. 4, the rolls 8', 9' have, instead ofthe helical grooves 15, 16 shown in Fig. 2, a plurality of self-contained annular grooves 23, 23a which are providedonebehindtheotherat intervals in the longitudinal direction ofthe rolls. Part or all ofthe annular grooves 23, 23a may be unevenly spaced. Furthermore, the annular grooves 23, 23a of the rolls 8', 9' are staggered. But they may be on the same level. In this constructional form, too, the roll is resilientlymountedwith respecttothe housing 2', as described with reference to Fig. 3.

In both constructional forms, the grooves 15, 16,23, 23a may have a semi-circuiar, angular, preferably rectangular, or wedge-shaped cross-section. The width ofthe grooves 15,16,23, 23a may be approximately 2mm to 6mm and the depth may be approximately lmmto4mm, depending on the application case andlorthe size of the rolls 8,9,8', 9'.

The gap z between the two rolls 8,9 and 8', 9' is determined by the shortest distance between them and is approximately 1 mm wide.

Claims

1. A suction nozzle to be placed on a suction line of a suction cleaning apparatus forvacuum-cleaning ground surfaces, comprising at least two rolls which are spaced from each other in the working direction of the suction nozzle, and are mounted in a housing and partly projecttherefrom, at least one ofthe rolls being provided with at least one groove extending around the circumference thereof.

2. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the groove extends substantially over the entire roll length.

3. Asuction nozzle as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the groove extends helically.

4. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of annular grooves are provided which are mutually spaced in the longitudin al direction ofthe roll.

5. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4,wherein the two rolls have substantiallythe same length.

6. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the two rolls have substantiallythe same diameter.

7. Asuction nozzle according to Claim 6 wherein said diameter is in the range 50mm to 60mm.

8. Asuction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the two rolls each have at least one groove therein.

9. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the minimum distance between the two rolls is substantially 1 mm.

10. Asuction nozzle as claimed in anyone of Claims 1 to 9, wherein the width ofthegrooveor grooves is in the range 2mm to 6mm.

11. Asuction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the depth ofthe groove or grooves is in the range lmmto4mm.

12. Asuction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 1 wherein the or each groove has a substantially semi-circular cross-section.

13. Asuction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the or each groove has a substantially rectangular cross-section.

14. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the or each groove has a substantially wedge-shaped cross-section.

15. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 14, wherein the lead of the groove is in the range Smm to 15mm.

16. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 4 or any claim dependentthereon, wherein the annular grooves are evenly spaced.

17. Asuction nozzle as claimed in claim 4 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein the annular groovesaresubstantially identical.

18. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 8 or any claim dependent thereon, wherein the annular grooves of both rolls are substantially identical.

19. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 18, wherein at least one ofthetwo rolls can be moved, substantially perpendicularly to its axis in a direction away from the other roll against a force of spring means.

20. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 19, wherein the movable roll is mounted in a pivot which lies in slides which are displaceably guided with respecttothe housing and on which the spring means act.

21. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 20, wherein in use a housing edge directed towards the ground surface to be treated has a distance in the range 8to 1 Omm from the ground surface.

22. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 21, wherein the housing edge is provided with a brush which projects downwardly therefrom.

23. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 22, wherein in use the brush has bristle ends located adjacent but spaced from the ground surface.

24. Asuction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 23, wherein the housing is provided with a tiltableconnecting socket for connecting a suction line.

25. Asuction nozzle as claimed in Claim 24, comprising between the two rolls, the suction air and liquid flow flows to a guiding device which is disposed between the tops of the rolls and the internal surface ofthe upperwall ofthe housing and is operable to guide suction air and liquid which has passed between said rolls to the connecting socket for the suction line.

26. A suction nozzle as claimed in Claim 25, wherein the guiding device has two guiding parts which are inclined in the direction ofthe rolls and are closely spaced from the roll surfaces.

27. Asuction nozzle as claimed in Claim 25 or Claim 26, wherein the guiding device has free ends which point towards the gap between the two rolls and are spaced therefrom to form an inflow gap which widens in the flow direction.

28. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 25 to 27, wherein the guiding device extends over the entire length ofthe rolls and overthe entire length ofthe internal space ofthe housing.

29. A suction nozzle as claimed in any one of Claims 25 to 28, wherein the guiding device is provided with at least one stripper which rests on the rolls.

30. A suction nozzle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 or Fig. 4 of the accompanying drawings.