US2354207A - Suction cleaner - Google Patents

Description

July 25, 1944. F 2,354,207

' SUCTION CLEANER Filed June 13, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l Y INVENTOR Llewellyn A. (iriffirh ATTORNEYS July 25, 1944. A. GRIFFITH SUCTION CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 Filed June 13, 1941 INVEQNTQR LlewelbmAGnfffih,

2 BY I I ATTORNEYS Patented July 25, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SUCTION CLEANER Llewellyn A. Griflith, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application June 18, 1941, Serial No. 397,925

6 Claims.

This invention relates to suction cleaners and particularly to novel means for insuring correct relative disposition for the parts thereof. More particularly the invention is directed to novel means for automatically adjusting a brush element to compensate for wear thereof and thereby insure correct relative disposition of its brushing surface with respect to the other elements of the cleaner and, accordingly, with respect to the surface being acted upon.

In cleaners of the general type here contemplated, a suction nozzle is provided with a downwardly opening mouth which in general practice is adapted to be automatically spaced a predetermined distance above the surface along which the cleaner is operating and within such mouth there is disposed a rotatable agitating brush whose lower periphery is preferably dis-' posed approximately tangent to the plane of the mouth of the nozzle. Obviously this correct disposition of the brushing surface will soon be departed from by reason of wear of the brush and accordingly efficiency of operation of the cleaner is progressively lowered from the beginning of use of a suction cleaner where no means are provided for brush adjustment. Despite this obviously unsatisfactory state of affairs, no practical means for the adjustment of the brush with respect to the nozzle, in cleaners of the class here in contemplation, has found commercial acceptance.

According to my present invention means are provided whereby, automatically between successive suction cleaning operations, the cleaner, automatically upon being placed in a parked position, is disposed with the mouth of its suction nozzle against the surface being cleaned and the brush is released for dropping movement to such surface. Upon initial manipulation of the cleaner handle to again place the device in position for convenient use, the brush is automatically locked in its adjusted position and the cleaner is adjusted, likewise automatically and upon further movement of the operating handle to position for use, to dispose the nozzle and brush the desired distance above the surface being operated upon.

In agitator brushes of the kind contemplated, it is presently conventional to provide a brush shaft having a helical row of bristles with the helix having a very long lead whereby the row extends almost lengthwise of the axis of the brush shaft and does not present a continuous circular outline in end elevation. In other words, with present-day brush construction, the brush may assume positions where no bristles extend directly downwardly and the bristle-supporting shaft or spindle could be placed upon a flat surface with no bristles contacting such surface.

It is accordingly a further object of my invention to modify present-day brush constructions to present a full circular outline in end elevation for purposes of accurately gaging the effective A full disclosure of one complete embodimentof the principles of my invention is contained in the accompanying drawings and in the ensuing description thereof. However, it is to be understood that such embodiment is set forth merely by way of example and that many modifications in the mechanical arrangement thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is not to be' considered as limited otherwise than as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the lower portion of a suction cleaner embodying the principles of my invention with the nozzle portion thereof shown in cross-section;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the cleaner of Fig. 1 with a portion of the frame thereof broken away for added clearness;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat schematic view taken similarly to Fig. l but with the supporting wheels and nozzle and brush elements in position for operation; and

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the means for releasably gripping the brush bearings.

In the drawings like characters of reference denote like parts throughout the several figures and the numeral Ill designates the lower casing portion of a suction cleaner which is conventional save for the brush adjusting mechanism and the cleaner supporting and positioning structure. A fan (not shown) is disposed in the casing portion ll] in the usual manner and an operating motor is contained in an upward extension II of the casing III. The numeral I2 designates a bag for receiving the matter discharged through the casing portion In and the numeral I3 designates a manipulating handle which has lower bifurcations I4 pivotally attached to opposite sides of the casing ID as at I5.

Broadly speaking, the pivoting of the manipulating handle I3 is conventional and is provided so that an operator may dispose the handle either in an oblique position for convenient use or in a substantially upstanding position for convenient parking and storage of the cleaner. In Fig. 1 the handle I3 is shown in the position which it generally occupies when the cleaner is not in use or when it is merely temporarily stopped between cleaning operations.

When the manipulating handle I3 is moved clockwise from a position shown in Fig. 1 to an oblique rearward position for convenient use in propelling the suction cleaner along a surface to be cleaned, the supporting wheels of the cleaner are in the position shown in Fig. 3. The casing III of the cleaner is provided with pairs of front and rear supporting ground wheels I8 and I9, respectively. When the ground wheels I8 and I9 are both in engagement with the surface being operated upon, a nozzle portion 20 of the casing III has its mouth 2I disposed substantially parallel to the surface being operated upon and spaced a predetermined distance thereabove.

A rotatable agitating brush, which is designated generally 22, is disposed in the nozzle 20 and, under ideal conditions, with its lower surface in substantially the plane of the mouth 2| of the nozzle. The brush 22 is adapted to be motor driven in a manner conventional in this art as by means of a belt 23 which passes medially about the brush and about a pulley 24 which, in the illustrated form, comprises a downward extension of the motor shaft of the cleaner.

In conventional cleaner structures an auxiliary wheel or wheels are provided at a point substantially behind the normal rear wheel or wheels I9. This auxiliary wheel is normally spaced above the surface being acted upon and assumes approximately the position of a wheel designated 25 in Fig. 3. In. conventional constructions this wheel merely prevents dropping of the handle to the floor and possible consequent tipping of the cleaner if the operator merely drops the handle from an operating position. In conventional structure the wheel or Wheels 25 further serve to elevate the suction nozzle from the surface being cleaned by permitting limited tipping of the cleaner to a position where it rests on the wheels I9 and 25 with the wheel I8 lifted slightly from the surface being treated.

In the construction of my invention the wheels 25 serve quite a different additional function and are accordingly rotatably mounted at the ends of arms 26 of a pair of bell cranks 21, whereby their vertical disposition relative to the cleaner proper may be varied in a manner which will presentl appear. In conventional cleaner constructions these auxiliary rear wheels have been mounted with their axes fixed with respect to the cleaner body. 'In the illustrated embodiment the bell cranks 2! are pivotably secured to a bracket 28 secured to the casing portion II) of the cleaner.

It will be noted from a consideration of Fig. 1 that the auxiliary wheels 25 are in engagement with the surface upon which the cleaner is resting and the wheels I9 are lifted therefrom. This is a parked position of the cleaner and is brought about by movement of the handle I3 to the posiinactive position .tensions 36 formed on the brackets 33.

tion which it occupies in Fig. 1 in the following manner. The lower bifurcations I4 of the handle I3 have downwardly extending arms 29 which pivotally engage at their lower ends a pair of links 30 which extend rearwardly and pivotally engage a second pair of arms 3| of the bell cranks 21.

Beginning with the parked position of Fig. 1, obviously movement of the handle I3 in a clockwise direction to an oblique operating position will rotate the bell cranks 21 in a counterclockwise direction and elevate the wheels 25 to the indicated schematically in Fig. 3.

Movement of the handle I3 to the inactive position shown in Fig. 1 from the operating position in effect pivots the casing III of the cleaner in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the front wheel I8 and such pivotal movement is arranged to be of such degree as to dispose the mouth 2I of the nozzle 20 against the surface upon which the cleaner is resting. If the rotatable brush 22 has its lower cleaning surface properly disposed with respect to the mouth 2| of the nozzle 20, it will likewise engage the surface upon which the cleaner is resting.

To provide automatic adjustment of the disposition of the brush 22, in the event its surface has worn, I provide automatic means for releasing the brush 22 to drop to the surface upon which the cleaner is resting and for again securing the brush with respect to the nozzle 20 upon subsequent manipulation of the operating handle I3 to operating position and prior to lifting of the nozzle 20 from its position of contact with the surface upon which the cleaner is resting.

The automatic brush releasing and securing means comprise bearings 32 which receive opposite end journal portions of the brush 22 and are disposed in elongate slots formed by a pair of stationary angle brackets 33 secured to the inside of the end walls of the nozzle 20 and cooperating resilient plates 34 which may have angularly extending flanges 35 rigidly secured to ex- The plates 34 and the extensions 35 thereof are of resilient material and normally so disposed as to grip and hold the bearings 32 in a predetermined vertical position in the slots formed b the brack- .ets 33 and the plates 34.

Release of the bearings 32 is effected during the very last part of movement of the operating handle I3 to parked position by means of play connnections which may be in the form of flexible chains 38 extending between the lower ends of the downwardly extending arms 29 of the bifurcations I4 of the handle I3 and upwardly extending portions of a pair of arms 39 secured to the plates 34.

Beginning with the parked position of Fig. 1 where the bearings 32 are released and the brush 22 is resting upon the surface supporting the cleaner, initial movement of the operating handle I3 in a clockwise direction will immediately release the tension of the chains 38 on the arms 33 egsageo'z which the cleaner is: resting, as'in"Eig.. 3. Such.

movement automatically disposes the: 'nozzlethe tension of the belt 23-, the' brackets'33 and the plates 34 are preferablyformed to provide slots extending in an arcuate direction with'the extension24'of the motor shaft as the center'of the arc. g

In rotating brushes for-suction'cleanersit is conventional in present-day practice to provide a bristle-carrying spindle which is interrupted medially by a driving belt, asyfor instance. the

driving belt 23 of Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 such spindleis designated 40 and each o-f the halves-thereof, lying on opposite sides of the belt 23, is provided with a single row of bristles as at 4|. This row of bristles extends along the spindle 40in a helical direction but on a very long helix so thatthe row of bristles 4| extends through only a very small angle of the full periphery of the spindle 4U. Therow of bristles which is provided for the portion of the spindle appearing at the lower half of Fig. 2 is oppositely disposed with respect to the upper half and is consequently mostly concealed by the body of the spindle itself.

This bristle arrangement is highly efficacious in removal of particles in cleaning and cooperates in a satisfactory manner with the suction cleaning action of the device but it introduces a peculiar problem in adjustment, since in almost any kind of automatic adjustment, there can be no assurance that the single row of bristles will be in registry with whatever device is used for gaging bristle length. In fact the odds are very much against such registry. To provide convenient assurance of the presence of bristles extending di rectly radially toward a gaging surface in any disposition of the brush, I provide one or more auxiliary circular rows of radiating bristle-like elements or filaments which are preferably of less durable material than the bristles themselves.

In Fig. 2 the numeral 42 designates a continuous circular row of such gaging bristles at each end of the spindle 40. By forming such rows 42 of filaments which are self-sustaining but substantially more wearable than the bristles 41 of the brush proper, assurance is had that the filaments of the circular rows 42 will wear off as fast as they are presented to the surface being cleaned, upon shortening of th bristles of the principal brushing rows 4| and subsequent adjustment of the axis of the brush to compensate for wear.

A further signal advantage of providing readily wearing filaments in the circular rows 42 resides in the fact that efficient brushing by the rows of bristles 4! is not interfered with or modified. If the bristles of the circular rows 42 were of the same kind as those of the helically extending rows 4|, harmful local brushing action would take place adjacent the ends of the brush by reason of the greater concentration of bristles there. Either that or the brush would have to be rotated at a slower speed to avoid such destructive action and that would, of course, render the brushing action of the rows 4| of bristles entirely inadequate.

I claim:

1. In a suction cleaner, a nozzle having a downwardly directed mouth adapted to be disposed substantially in contact with a surface supportingf said. cl'eaner; a brush. disposed in said nozzle with its brushing. surface normally. in substantia'llythe plane of said mouth,'and means for adjusting the vertical disposition of said brush with said nozzle substantially in contact with said' surface, said means-comprising means for releasably gripping said brush inany vertical. position and retaining the sam in such position, a manip'-- ulating handle for said cleaner pivotably movable from an operating to a parked position, means acting between said handle and saidreleasable' gripping means whereby movement'of'the former to parked position releases said gripping means to permit said brush to come to rest upon said surface and. automatically assume its desired normal position with respect to said nozzle mouthj subsequent movement of said handle to operative position resulting in gripping of said brush by said gripping means and retention thereof in desired normal position with respect to the nozzle mouth.

2. In a suction cleaner. a nozzle having a" downwardly directed mouth adapted to bes'up ported in spaced relation with respect toa surface to be operated upon during cleaning'opera tions, a brush disposed in said nozzle with its lowersurface normally in substantially the plane of said mouth, and means for adjusting the vertical disposition of said brush with said nozzle mouth to a position substantially in contact with said surface, said means comprising bearings rotatably supporting said brush at its opposite ends, means guiding said bearings for vertical adjustment and for laterally gripping said bearings to retain the same in adjusted position, and a manipulating handle for said cleaner pivotably movable from an operating to a parked position, means acting between said handle and said releasable gripping means whereby movement of the former to parked position disposes the nozzle mouth substantially against the surface supporting said cleaner and releases said gripping means to permit said brush to rest upon said surface and automatically assume its normal desired position with respect to said nozzle mouth, subsequent movement of said handle to operative position ffecting gripping of said brush and retention thereof in desired normal position with respect to the nozzle mouth and subsequent lifting of the nozzle mouth to the correct spaced position above said surface.

3. In a suction cleaner, a body having a fore wheel and a rear wheel for moving the same along a surface to be cleaned, a rotatable brush disposed ahead of said fore wheels and normally adapted to be spaced a predetermined distance above the surface along which the cleaner is moving, means on said body rearwardly of said front wheel for selectively engaging said surface to lift the rear wheel from engagement with said surface and pivot said body about the front wheel to move said brush toward the surface to gage the correctness of vertical disposition of the sur face of said brush, and means for adjusting said brush to proper relative vertical position by disposing the same in engagement with said surface with the body of the cleaner in such pivoted position.

4. In a suction cleaner, a body having a fore wheel and a rear wheel for moving the same along a surface to be cleaned, said body including a nozzle having a downwardly directed mouth adapted to be supported in spaced relation with respect to a surface being operated upon when said fore and rear wheels are in normal engagement with said surface, a rotatable brush disposed in said nozzle ahead of said fore wheels with its lower surface normally substantially in the plane of said mouth, means on said body rearwardly of said front wheel for selectively engaging said surface to lift the rear wheel from engagement with said surface and pivot said body about the front wheel to move said nozzle to the cleaner supporting surface, and means accessible with the cleaner in such position adjusting said brush to proper relative vertical position by disposing the same in engagement with said surface with the body of the cleaner in such pivoted position.

5. In a suction cleaner, a body having a fore wheel and a rear wheel for moving the same along a surface to be cleaned, said body including a nozzle having a downwardly directed mouth adapted to be supported in spaced relation with respect to a surface being operated upon when said fore and rear wheels are in normal rolling engagement with said surface, a rotatable brush disposed in said nozzle ahead of said fore wheels with its lower surface normally substantially in the plane of said mouth, and means accessible from the exterior of said cleaner for vertically adjusting said brush relative to said nozzle mouth by pivoting the body of the cleaner about the fore wheel to move the nozzle mouth substantially to the cleaner-supporting surface and subsequently moving said brush to engagement with said surface with the body of the cleaner in such pivoted position.

6. In a suction cleaner, a body having a. forewheel and a rear wheel for moving the same along a surface to be cleaned, a rotatable brush wardly of said rear wheel for selectively engagingsaid surface to lift the rear wheel from engagement with said surface and pivot said body about the front wheel to move said brush toward the surface to gage the correctness of vertical disposition of the surface of said brush, and means for vertically adjusting said brush to proper relative vertical position by disposing the same in engagement with said surface with the body of the cleaner in such pivoted position, said auxiliary wheel being spaced from the surface being operated upon when the cleaner is in position for use and serving in that position to limit rearward pivotal movement of the cleaner about the rear" wheel.

LLEWELLYN. A. GRIF'FI'I'H.

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