GB2479530A

GB2479530A - Vacuum cleaner nozzle with hair removal element

Info

Publication number: GB2479530A
Application number: GB1006032A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ponnampalam Shanmugaratnam
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-04-12
Filing date: 2010-04-12
Publication date: 2011-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 2030-04-12
Also published as: GB2479530B; GB201006032D0

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner nozzle comprises a retractable hair removal element 10. The hair removal element 10 can be made out of rubber or polyurethane and can be in the form of a flat pad. The hair removal element 10 may be arranged in two rows 13 on opposite sides of the vacuum cleaner inlet 14 and a pedal (11, fig 4) may be used to lower or retract the pads.

Description

HAIR REMOVAL DESIGN FOR VACUUM CLEANERS

The invention relates to improving the efficiency of vacuum cleaners in removing hairs from fabrics such as carpets.

Most people on average loss between 50 to 100 hairs a day and some of these hairs are deposited on carpets and usually removed by vacuum cleaners or other means, with difficulty. The width of human hair varies from person to person but on average its magnitude is in the order of 0.O254millimetre or 0.O0linch and in microscopic scale human hair is rough while dog hair is slightly thicker and less rough. The outer cuticle layer of human hair is microscopically scaly in structure and this provides the roughness to the hair. As the width of an individual hair is very small the hair doesn't provide sufficient air resistance for vacuum cleaners to lift individual hairs. However, with repeated movement of the vacuum cleaner head on the carpet encourages some of the hair to become entangled and clump together and thus increases the air resistance for the clumps of hair to be lifted off the carpet leaving the rest behind. This is because the typical cylinder cleaner head has a smooth metal or plastic base in contact with the carpet plus two small strips of velvet brushes on both sides of the air intake pipe, indicated 14 in the attached drawings and there is little resistance to move the hairs along the movement of the vacuum cleaner head. However, even with the in-built brush in the lowered position, though the hairs will be dragged by the brushes they usually get entangled with the brush bristles and thus not effective to gather the hairs into clumps to be lifted off from the carpet into the vacuum cleaner.

At microscopic scale the surface of human hair is rough and this roughness can be captured when in contact with a moving medium to hard rubber surface. This principal can be applied to vacuum cleaner heads to drag the hairs into clumps. As there is no possibility of hairs being entangled on a flat medium to hard surface it is likely that most of the hairs will be dragged into clumps by the movement of the vacuum cleaner head. Therefore, the invention is to incorporate fully retractable * flat rubber pads so that when necessary the pads can be lowered by the operation of a foot pedal to remove hair and otherwise fully raised within the vacuum cleaner head housing so that its normal SI.... . * . operation can be maintained.

: The specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference *5I* to accompanying drawings in which:-*.S Figure 1-Shows in perspective, the position of the pads in Design 1 : : Figure 2 -Shows in perspective, the position of the pads in Design 2.

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* Figure 3 -Shows in side elevation of the position of the pads on a typical cylinder cleaner head.

Figure 4 -Shows in plan of the positions of the lever to lower the pads on a typical cylinder cleaner head.

The rubber pads 10 are to be fixed to a hard material such as PVC or other and both lowered by mechanical means. The lowering mechanism 11 could be similar in nature to existing foot pedals on cleaner heads on cylinder cleaners to lower the brush. When the rubber pads are retracted it will be housed within a chamber with no apertures so that there will be a minimal to no loss of intake air velocity at the air intake nozzle. The pads should have a minimum flat width 12 in the movement direction of the vacuum cleaners so that there is sufficiently long enough contact to roll the hairs into clumps. And to improve the area of contact and its efficiency there will be two rows of rubber pads 13. Alternative to rubber polyurethane of similar characteristics to medium to hard rubber can also be used. The exact size of the rubber pads and specification of the rubber are yet to be refined, yet the principal of using flat rubber pads to remove hair remains.

Though the design drawings show its use on a typical cylinder vacuum cleaner head it could also be applied to upright vacuum cleaners as well. The vacuum cleaner heads incorporating the above hair removal mechanism can be manufactured as individual items to be fitted to new and existing cylinder vacuum cleaners but for upright vacuum cleaners the hair removal mechanism has to be incorporated in the design and manufacture of the vacuum cleaners. * * 0*sS

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Claims

CLAIMS1. This invention is about improving the efficiency of vacuum cleaners to remove hairs from carpets by incorporating retractable and essentially flat rubber pads to the vacuum cleaner head so that the friction between the hair and the rubber will enable hairs to clump together with the movement of the vacuum cleaner head on a fabric such as a carpet and this increases its resistance to air flow and be lifted off the carpet into the vacuum cleaner. Alternative to rubber, polyurethane of similar characteristics to medium to hard rubber can also be used.
2. Hair removing vacuum cleaner head as in Claim 1 with rubber pads fixed to a hard surface made of metal or synthetic material.
3. Hair removing vacuum cleaner head as in Claim 1 and Claim 2 constructed with the retractable rubber pads in two rows on the opposite sides of the vacuum cleaner intake pipe and designed essentially rectangular in shape as shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2.
4. Hair removing vacuum cleaner head as in Claim 1, Claim 2 and Claim 3 constructed with a pedal to lower or retract the rubber pads into a housing with no apertures except for essential mechanical levers all made of metal or synthetic material.
5. Hair removing vacuum cleaner head as in Claim 1, Claim 2, Claim 3 and Claim 4 can be manufactured as an individual vacuum cleaner heads to be fitted to new and existing cylinder vacuum cleaners but for upright vacuum cleaners the hear removal mechanism has to be incorporated in the design and manufacture of the vacuum cleaners. * * *.*S*** ***S **.. * *5SIS S..S *1 ** * S S * *SS.....S S