GB2302296A

GB2302296A - A motor-rotatable plate for a floor cleaning machine

Info

Publication number: GB2302296A
Application number: GB9612190A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Gansow
Original assignee: Gansow Maschbau Co KG GmbH
Current assignee: Gansow Maschbau Co KG GmbH
Priority date: 1995-06-17
Filing date: 1996-06-11
Publication date: 1997-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2016-06-11
Also published as: GB9612190D0; FR2735346B1; CH691427A5; DE19522019C2; SE9601941D0; ITMI961092A1; GB2302296B; ITMI961092A0; DE19522019A1; SE9601941L; FR2735346A1; SE508226C2; IT1283077B1

Description

1 ' 2302296 1 A Motor-Rotatable Plate for a Floor Cleaninq Machine The

present invention relates to a motor-rotatable plate for a floor cleaning machine of the kind which includes small cleaning tools in the form of disc brushes, polishing discs or the like disposed to the underside of the plate.

Such plates are known in the prior art. The plates are motor driven and set in rotation by a floor cleaning machine. On the underside of the plate, which in use faces towards the floor or surface to be treated, several small cleaning tools in the form of disc brushes, polishing discs or the like are rotatably mounted with their axes of rotation lying on a circle, the centre of which corresponds to the centre axis of the rotatable plate. The cleaning tools are preferably set at an angle, so that with a rotational movement of the plate the cleaning tools act obliquely on the floor or surface being treated and by the inclined position are set in autorotation. Floor cleaning machines of this kind are known for example from DE 41 40 853.

In those known plates the bearing arrangements for the cleaning tools are so arranged that the bearings are mounted either above or below the plate. Both such arrangements have the disadvantage that the bearings, which are frequently constructed as ball bearings, are not protected against foreign material, with the result that after a short operating period the bearings begin to jam by virtue of for example dirt or fibres penetrating thereinto. Consequently, the operation of the plate cannot be guaranteed.

2 Proceeding f rom this prior art, the aim of the present invention is to create a motor-rotatable plate which includes low-maintenance bearing arrangements, thereby guaranteeing a trouble-free operation over a relatively long period of time.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a motorrotatable plate for a floor cleaning machine, comprising a plate and pivot bearings for cleaning tools, said plate having open recesses on the underside thereof in which the pivot bearings are captively disposed, each pivot bearing consisting of a tubular housing part which is captively disposed in a respective recess of the plate, a bearing disposed in the housing part, a bearing journal, one end of which is disposed in the bearing, a sleeve part made of plastics moulded onto the free end of the bearing journal that protrudes from the housing part, the sleeve part having axially extending rigid arms and axially extending, radially resilient detent arms, onto which a cleaning tool with a corresponding fitting can be located and locked, the opposed end faces of the housing part and the sleeve part each having one of an engaging tongue or groove and forming a labyrinthine seal, and an elastomeric or rubber-type seal, which is supported radially outwardly on the inner wall of the housing part and radially inwardly on the bearing journal, disposed in the housing part between the bearing and the open end face thereof.

By this arrangement an encapsulated extremely lowmaintenance bearing arrangement is achieved, which is operational over a long period. The cleaning tools (disc brushes, polishing discs or the like) can be changed in a simple manner by releasing the locking mechanism using a suitable tool or even manually. The cleaning tools are removed from the sleeve part and replaced by a replacement 3 tool or indeed a new tool entirely.

Low-maintenance operation is especially guaranteed by the fact that the bearing is itself protected by the labyrinthine seal and the elastomeric or rubber-type seal, so that fibre constituents, dirt constituents or even liquid constituents cannot penetrate into the area in which the actual bearing components are disposed.

In addition, by the provision of a combination of rigid and resilient arms, a correct rotational entrainment of the cleaning tools is also guaranteed. At the same time this construction provides an improved snapon connection which allows for production tolerances.

Preferably, the bearing is a ball bearing having inner and outer shells, the inner shell of which is shrunk onto the bearing journal.

In one embodiment the housing part of each pivot bearing is fixedly mounted in respective recesses of the plate.

The plate may be made of plastics, as may the housing part, which is moulded during the primary processing of the plate. It is also possible to stick the housing parts into the recesses.

In order to avoid the connection between the housing part and the plate from becoming detached or loosened by virtue of the rotational movement of the tools, the housing part is preferably provided with radial webs on the outer side thereof which engage in complementary grooves formed in the circumference of the open recesses.

4 In order to achieve a secure locking action even with prevailing production tolerances, the axial ends of the resilient detent arms facing away from the bearing each have an outwardly protruding detent lug which tapers outwardly in the fitting direction of the cleaning tool, the tapered edge of which makes an at least slight obtuse angle with the arm.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described hereinbelow by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates diagrammatically a plan view of a motor-rotatable plate equipped with cleaning tools in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 illustrates a cross-section along line I-I of Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates in exploded view a cross-section along line I-I of Figure 1; Figure 4 illustrates a cross-section of an edge part of the plate of Figure 1, showing the pivot bearing in detail; Figure 5 illustrates a side view, partially in section, of the sleeve part and bearing journal of the pivot bearing of Figure 4; Figure 6 illustrates a cross-section of the detent lug (detail VI) of one detent arm of the sleeve part of Figure 5; 1 Figure 7 illustrates a bottom view of the sleeve part and bearing journal shown in Figure 5; and Figure 8 illustrates a cross-section along line VIIIVIII of Figure 7.

The drawings illustrate a motor-rotatable plate 1 equipped with cleaning tools 2 for a floor cleaning machine in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment small cleaning tools 2 in the form of disc brushes, polishing discs or the like are disposed to the underside of, and ratatably mounted on the plate 1. Imaginary lines from the centre axes of adjacent cleaning tools 2 to the centre axis of the plate 1 enclose an acute angle, with the centre axes of the cleaning tools 2 intersecting the centre axis of the plate 1 at an imaginary point at a considerable distance from the underside of the plate 1 (i.e. beneath the drawing plane in Figure 2).

The plate 1 has open recesses 3 in the form of blind holes on the underside thereof, into which the pivot bearings 4 for the cleaning tools 2 are captively inserted. The pivot bearings 4 each consist of a tubular (barreltype) housing part 5 which is captively inserted into a respective recess 3 of the plate 1, a bearing 6 mounted within the housing part 5, a bearing journal 7 one end of which is inserted into the bearing 6, and a sleeve part 9 moulded onto the other free end 8 of the bearing journal 7 which protrudes from the housing part 5.

The end face of the housing part 5 and the end face of the sleeve part 9 which face towards one another have an engaging tongue and groove construction 10, 11 that forms a labyrinthine seal.

6 An elastomeric or rubber-type seal 12 is disposed in the housing part 5 between the bearing 6 and the open end face thereof. The seal 12 is supported radially outwardly on the inner wall of the housing part 5 and radially inwardly on the bearing journal 7 under spring bias.

The sleeve part 9 has three axially extending rigid arms 13 and three axially extending, radially resilient detent arms 14 disposed symmetrically about its periphery, onto which the cleaning tool 2 with a corresponding fitting 15 can be located and locked.

The bearing 6 is constructed as a ball bearing having inner and outer shells, with the inner shell being shrunk onto the bearing journal 7. The outer shell is fixedly axially retained by a spring ring 16 disposed in the housing part 5.

Each housing part 5 is preferably fixedly mounted in a respective recess 3 of the plate 1, with each housing part 5 having radial webs 17 which engage in complementary grooves 18 formed in the open recess 3, thereby providing a rotation-preventing device.

The axial ends of the resilient detent arms 14 remote from the bearing 6 have outwardly protruding detent lugs 19, which lugs 19 are tapered outwardly in the fitting direction of the cleaning tool 2. The taper 20 forms an obtuse angle with the arm 14 and serves as an insertion aid when fitting the cleaning tool 2. Production tolerances can certainly be obviated by this construction, so that a secure snap-in connection is achieved even with prevailing production tolerances.

7 It will be understood that the present invention is not restricted to the exemplified embodiment, but can be modified in many different ways within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

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Claims

Claims

A motor-rotatable plate for a floor cleaning machine, comprising a plate and pivot bearings for cleaning tools, said plate having open recesses on the underside thereof in which the pivot bearings are captively disposed, each pivot bearing consisting of a tubular housing part which is captively disposed in a respective recess of the plate, a bearing disposed in the housing part, a bearing journal, one end of which is disposed in the bearing, a sleeve part made of plastics moulded onto the free end of the bearing journal that protrudes from the housing part, the sleeve part having axially extending rigid arms and axially extending, radially resilient detent arms, onto which a cleaning tool with a corresponding fitting can be located and locked, the opposed end faces of the housing part and the sleeve part each having one of an engaging tongue or groove and forming a labyrinthine seal, and an elastomeric or rubber-type seal, which is supported radially outwardly on the inner wall of the housing part and radially inwardly on the bearing journal, disposed in the housing part between the bearing and the open end face thereof.
2. A plate according to claim 1, wherein imaginary lines between the centre axes of adjacent pivot bearings and the centre axis of the plate enclose an acute angle.
3. A plate according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the centre axes of the pivot joints coincide with the centre axis of the plate at a point distant from the underside of the plate.
4. A plate according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the bearing is a ball bearing having inner and outer shells, the inner shell of which is shrunk onto the bearing journal.

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5. A plate according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the housing part of each pivot bearing is fixedly mounted in a respective recess of the plate.
6. A plate according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the housing part of each pivot bearing has radial webs on the outer side thereof and each open recess has grooves in the circumference thereof which are complementary to and receive the radial webs of the respective housing part.
7. A plate according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the axial end of each resilient detent arm remote f rom the bearing has an outwardly protruding detent lug which tapers outwardly in the fitting direction of a cleaning tool, the taper making an at least slight obtuse angle with the arm.
8. A motor rotatable plate according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the open recesses are blind holes.
9. A motor-rotatable plate according to any of claims 1 to 8 equipped with cleaning tools.
10. A motor-rotatable plate according to claim 9, wherein the cleaning tools comprise disc brushes or polishing discs.
11. A floor cleaning machine incorporating a motorrotatable plate according to any of claims 1 to 8 or a motor-rotatable plate equipped with cleaning tools according to claim 9 or 10.
12. A motor-rotatable plate for a floor cleaning machine, optionally equipped with cleaning tools, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.