US2770000A - Suction cleaner having agitator drive in air stream and unobstructed fan inlet - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 13, 1956 E, SEGESMAN 2,770,000

SUCTION CLEANER HAVING AGITATOR DRIVE IN AIR STREAM AND UNOBSTRUCTED FAN INLET Flled Sept 3, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l Q. km,

-IN'VENTOE. l

Lou/s E. Sages/nan BY /gwaa/ ATTORNEY.

Nov. 13, 1956 SEG ESMAN 2,770,000

L. E. SUCTION CLEANER HAVING AGITATOR DRIVE IN AIR STREAM AND UNOBSTRUCTED FAN INLET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 3, 1955 INVENTOH. Lau/.s` E. Segesman ATTORNEY.

SUCTION CLEANER HAVING AGITATOR DRIVE IN AIR STREAM AND UNOBSTRUCTED FAN INLET Louis E. Segesman, Canton, Ghia, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 3, 1953, Serial No. 378,246 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-333) The present invention relates to the art of suction cleaners and in particlarto a handle-propelled, oorsupported suction cleaning device characterized by the provision of a rotary surface cleaning member in the nozzle driven through a belt from a pulley on the motor shaft, which belt is positioned entirely within the dirt laden air stream and wherein the dirt laden air stream taken in through the nozzle passes rearwardly along the underside of the cleaner body over the agitator drive belt and pulley upwardly at the rear of the cleaner and thence forwardly into the inlet to the air circulating fan.

Suction cleaning devices of the general type to which my invention pertains have suffered several disadvantages due to the fact that the pulley which drives the belt for energizing the rotary agitator in the nozzle projects from the fan structure through the inlet eye thereof forming an undesirable obstruction at this point and also greatly interfering with and complicating conversion of the apparatus for offethe-oor cleaning. Constructions wherein the pulley projects through the fan eye are advantageous, however, in that the entire drive mechanism for the agitator is in the dirt laden air stream, which has been found through long experience to give improved operation of these parts and greatly to enhance belt life.

Cleaners have been constructed wherein the drive belt structure for the rotary agitator is removed from the fan eye and the air stream, but experience has shown that such constructions are characterized by poor driving characteristics and short belt life which is most undesirable in a domestic appliance. Conventional constructions in which the drive pulley for the belt projects from the fan eye produce a particularly undesirable choking effect at this point because the air duct leading from the nozzle to the fan must necessarily narrow down at the fan eye at the very point where the drive belt and drive pulley come together. This is fruitful of difculty because the ights of the belt and pulley at this restriction occasionally clog with large units of dirt.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present in# vention to provide a suction cleaner wherein the drive belt and pulley for the rotary surface agitating device are positioned entirely within the air stream but are all positioned ahead of the fan eye with respect to the direction of air flow, whereby these elements are removed from the fan eye and are positioned in a wide unobstructed portion of the air duct so that a converting tool may be inserted into the air duct in a position to cut off the fan from the nozzle completely but entirely free of the belt and drive mechanism.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide a suction cleaner apparatus of the above described character wherein a portion of the air duct interposed between the fan eye and belt drive mechanism is removable for reception of a converting tool to convert the apparatus to oif-the-oor cleaning.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a suction cleaning device of the above described character having a removable portion of the air duct normally retained in operating position by a link connected to a portion of the wheel support of the cleaner which is biased against the link in such a direction as to retain the nozzle in a normal cleaning position when the link is engaged with the removable portion of the cleaner, and in which the link also serves to secure a converting tool in operative relation to the air duct and at the same time to reposition the supporting wheels of the cleaner so as to place the nozzle in an inoperative position for olf-thesurface cleaning.

It is another object of my invention to provide a suction cleaning device having a power driven surface cleaning agitator therein wherein the agitator and nozzle are normally positioned relative to the carpet by the posi-v tion of rear supporting wheels on the cleaner structure, which wheels are biased in a direction to lower the nozzle into engagement with the surface and are restrained by means of a link engaged with a catch on the cleaner, which link may be engaged in a plurality of selective positions to adjust the position of the nozzle between a normal working position and an inoperative non-cleaning position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view in section illustrating a suction cleaning apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view in section of the apparatus of Fig. 1, illustrating the same converted for otf-the-floor cleaning operation; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the power plant and portions of the air ducting of the apparatus of Fig. l.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my cleaner comprises a main casting body portion indicated generally by the reference character 1, having a downwardly facing suction nozzle 2 extending across the front thereof communicating with a rearwardly extending duct 4, which duct extends to the rear of the cleaner and thence joins a rising section 5 thereof which in turn joins a forwardly directed section 6 thereof.

The main casting 1 supports a power plant housing indicated generally by the reference character 7 which encases an electric drive motor 8. The shaft of the motor projects through and is supported by upper and lower guide and support bearings 9 and 1t), respectively, which bearings are secured to and supported by the housing 7. The motor shaft projecting through the bearing 9 carries a centrifugal suction air fan 12 on the end thereof positioned so that the central portion of the fan communicates with the forward end portion of the duct 6. That portion of the motor shaft which projects through the bearing 10 carries a pulley 13 on the lower end thereof projecting into the portion 4 of the air duct, which pulley drives a rubber belt 15 which in turn drives a rotary brush and agitator 16, of wellknown type, rotatably mounted in the nozzle 2 in position to brush and clean a surface covering drawn up against the nozzle 2 by suction during the operation thereof.

The front portion of the cleaner body portion 1 is supported by front supporting wheels 17 which are secured to the body portion by conventional means not illustrated.

The rear portion of the cleaner body 1 is provided with a pair of spaced rearwardly projecting wheel supporting lugs 1S, only one shown, which carry a shaft 19. Rearwardly projecting arms 20, only one of which is shown, are pivotally supported on the ends of the shaft 19. The rearwardly projecting ends of the arms 20 support a rear wheel shaft 21 on the outer ends of which rear supporting wheels 22 are pivotally mounted. A torsion spring 23 wraps about the shaft 19 between the lugs 18 and bears between the body 1 and one of the projecting arms 2t) to bias the shaft 21 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l, to force the wheels 22 downwardly and thus tend to urge the nozzle into an engagement with a supporting surface.

eferring now to Fig. 3, taken in conjunction with Fig. l, the power plant casing '7 is preferably constructed from a molded plastic and is formed by a lower section 25 which supports the lower bearing 1) and has a projecting portion 26 between the bearings 1t? and pulley 13, forming a housing for a Ventilating fan 27 mounted on the motor shaft within the housing 26. The housing 7 has an upper half 2S which supports the bearing 9 and cooperates with the housing section 25 completely to encase the drive motor 8. The upper housing 28 is provided adjacent the top portion thereof with a laterally projectingange 29 which provides a sea-t for the heads of bolts 30 extending through the ange 29 and threading into bosses 31 projecting outwardly from the sides of the housing section 25, Thus the bolts 3@ Serve to secure the two halves ofthe housing 7 together to form a complete motor casing and bearing support housing.

As is shown most clearly in Fig. l, the fan 12 is positioned above the upper surface of housing section 28 and is surrounded by a volute fan casing 32 which is preferably of metal and is secured to the ange 29 by means of L-shaped anchoring legs 33 carried by the peripheral surface of the volute casing 32 which are engaged by short screws 34 threading into the ange 29. As is shown most clearly in Fig. 3, the portion 6 of the air duct which joins the fan eye is preferably of metal and extends above and surrounds a fan inlet eye 35 formed in the upper surface of the volute casing 32.

The air duct S up to the level of the ange 29 is formed as part of the main casting 1. The upper portion of the air duct S and the rear portion of the top air duct 6 comprise a removable duct section 4d having a hook 41 on its inner end engaging under a downturned tongue 42 on the rear end of the duct-forming housing 6. The rear outside portion of the duct 4d is provided with an upwardly facing hook section 43 engageable by the hook end 44 of a link 4-5, the lower end of which is wrapped about the rear wheel shaft 21. The link 45 is provided with a finger-receiving opening 46 for a purpose to be described hereinafter. The hook 43 on the removable air duct 4t! serves to determine the position of the rear wheels 22 due to the tension on the link 45 and thus determines the position of the nozzle relative to a surface to be cieaned. ln the position of the parts shown in Fig. l, the nozzle is in a normal cleaning position and the rear wheels 22 are prevented from moving the nozzle to a lower elevation because of the engagement between link 45 and hook 43.

The duct section 4d is channel-shaped in cross section and engages against the outside surface of the volute housing 32 and cooperates therewith to complete the air duct, forming a continuation of duct and joining member 6, to lead dirty air from the duct 4 into the inlet to the fan i2.

The volute casing 32 is provided with a rearwardly extending `discharge duct 43 which terminates in a bias cut outlet 49. The outlet 49 is adapted to communicate with a hollow fitting 5G attached to the end of a suitable air filter 51 in the usual manner. The itting 50 is removably secured to the duct-8 by a known type of anchoring device indicated generally by the reference character 52.

As shown most clearly in Fig. l, the main casting 1 is provided at the side thereof with upwardly extending wall' portions 54 which abut the under side of the ange 29 and are secured thereto by suitable Vstuds 56 extending through holes S6' in the ange 29.

T he volute casing 32 and duct section 6 are preferably or" metal and the conduit section di? is a molded plastic given a ydecorative tnish which will match a decorative plastic housing 57 secured by lany suitable means to the upper portion of the casi-ng 1 and cooperating with the dust sectio-n di? to enclose the top side and forward portion of the casing 1 and the mechanical structures associated with the casing '7.

The front Wall section 54 of the main casting 1 extends around the front of the casing 7 in spaced relation to the main body thereof to form a chamber for a dirt finder lamp 58. The lamp 58 is supported by a socket S9 secured to and depending from the iiange 29 in any desired manner. A reector 59 is also secured to the under side of the flange 29 and extends downwardly between the lamp 58 and the housing 7. The Walls 54 and the lfront portion of the housing 57 are provided with aligned openings 6% and 61, respectively, to permit the light from the lamp 5S to shine forwardly of the cleaner and also to form Ventilating exhaust ports as will be described.

The main casting 1 is provided with cooling air inlet ducts 63 at the sides thereof adjacent the rear on opposite sides of the duct 5. Air admitted through the ducts 63 ilows into the space between the casings 1 and 7 and thence into an air inlet port 64 formed in the upper half of the casing 7. Air supplied through port 64 flows over the various portions of the motor to cool the same, thence to the fan 27 from which is discharges through a port 65 in the fan casing 26 and flows upwardly between the upper wall of duct 4 and casing '7 into the chamber housing lamp 58 and then outwardly through the ports 69 and 61. Thus the fan serves not only to cool the motor but to keep a cooling air stream flowing across the lamp S8 and those portions of the plastic casing 7 which are adjacent thereto.

As shown most clearly in Pig. l, the apparatus may be propelled by a suitable handle 67 secured at its lower end to a bail structure 63 pivoted at 69 to the lower portion of the main casting 1 on opposite sides thereof.

In order to convert the apparatus for off-the-surface cleaning the operator inserts a ringer in the opening 46 and raises the link l5 until the hooks 43 and 44 are disengaged. After this is accomplished, the conduit section 4) is easily removed by lifting the rear end of the same and rocking the hook Sections 4l and l2 out of engagement with each other. A converting tool 70, see Fig. 2, is next inserted into the upper portion of the gap formed by the removal of the conduit section 4b and is provided on its end with a hook-shaped section 71 which engages under the flange 42 on the duct member 6. Itis apparent from Fig. 2 that the converting tool 70 completely blocks communication between the duct section 6 and the duct 5 so that all air drawn by the fan from the chamber 6 must be supplied through the converting tool 70 which is adapted to be connected to a iiexible hose 72 which may carry suitable known type dusting tools on its operating end.

The converting tool 70 is provided with a depending hook 73 which is adapted to be engaged with the hookshaped end 44 of the section link 45. After the converter '70 is inserted into the operating position illustrated in Fig. 2, the operator places a finger through the opening 46 and draws the link 45 upwardly lagainst the tension of spring 43 until the hooks 73'aud 44 are engaged. This action serves to anchor the converting tool 70 tirmly in its nalposition and to raise the rear wheels relative to the main `casting 1 whereby -the nozzle 2 and agitating device 16V areV now raised above floor engaging operating position. As a consequence of this operation, the agitating device 16 may be permitted to `rotate at full speed duringof-the-floor cleaning operations without imposing a load on the motor and without engaging a surface covering on which-the cleaner might happen to be resting.

It is characteristic of the foregoing construction'that the entire drive mechanism from the motor shaft to the rotary agtating device i6 is encased within the dirty air stream and is positioned completely within a portion thereof which is ahead of the point at whichk the air conduit enters the fan casing. As a consequence of the foregoing, the belt and pulley mechanism always operates within the dirty air stream but without restricting the inlet to the fan and in a portion of the air ducting which may be made very wide if desired to prevent choking of the air duct by the belt and pulley structure. In addition to the foregoing, the converting tool is inserted into the air duct at a point between the pulley and fan inlet so that complete cut-off of the nozzle is achieved without interference from the agitator drive mechanism and without affecting that mechanism in any way.

Whiie l have illustrated and described the invention in considerable detail, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the arrangement, proportion and construction of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. ln a suction cleaner having a main body portion provided with a suction cleaning nozzle across the front thereof and a rotary cleaning device mounted in the nozzle, the combination of an electric drive motor carried by the body portion, a suction air fan driven by the motor, means forming a suction air duct for conveying dirt laden air from the nozzle to the fan, a drive pulley driven by the motor positioned in the air duct, a belt forming a driving connection between the pulley and rotary cleaning device positioned in the air duct, said pulley and belt being so positioned in the air duct relative to the fan that said air duct includes an elongated section between the belt and pulley and the fan free of obstruction, said elongated section of the air duct including a removable portion providing for the insertion of a converting tool to interrupt communication between the fan and nozzle to convert the apparatus for otf-thefloor cleaning, surface engaging means for supporting said body portion including wheels adjacent the rear of the body portion, means mounting said wheels for movement relative to the body portion for adjusting the position of the nozzle relative to a supporting surface, means biasing said wheels downwardly to lower the nozzle relative to a supporting surface, a tension member engaged between said wheels and the removable portion of the air duct for limiting movement of the rear wheels by the biasing means to place the nozzle in a normal operating position and to hold the removable portion of the air duct in operative position.

2, Apparatus according to claim 1 including a converting tool insertable into the apparatus in place of the removable portion of the air duct to convert the apparatus for oif-the-floor cleaning, and means on the converting tool engageable with the tension member for holding the rear wheels in a new position in which the nozzle is raised to an inoperative position and for holding the converting tool in operative relation to the air duct.

3. A suction cleaner having a main body portion provided with a suction cleaning nozzle at the front thereof, a rotary cleaning device rotatably mounted in the nozzle, a suction air fan, a `drive motor aranged to drive the fan and cleaning device, and an air duct for conveying dirt laden air from the nozzle to the fan, characterized in that the air duct includes a removable portion spaced from the fan between the fan and nozzle and completely free of drive mechanisms for the cleaning device, an adjustable supporting device for the body portion including a movable surface engaging member biased to move in a direction to lower the nozzle into engagement with a supporting surface, and a holding member engaged with the removable air duct portion and the surface engaging member to hold the removable air duct portion in operative position and to restrain movement of the surface engaging member to position the nozzle in a normal cleaning position.

4. In a suction cleaner having a main body portion provided with a suction cleaning nozzle across the front thereof, a rotary surface cleaning device mounted in the nozzle, a suction air fan, an air duct for conveying dirt laden air from the nozzle to the fan, said duct having a removable section adapted to be replaced by a converter element and an electric motor drivingly connected to the fan and surface cleaning device, the combination of surface engaging supporting wheels attached to the body portion adjacent the front thereof, surface engaging supporting wheels movably attached to the body portion at the rear thereof, means biasing the rear wheels to move downwardly to lower the nozzle with respect to a supporting surface, a tension link having one end thereof engaged with the rear wheels, means forming a detachable connection between the other end of the tension link and the removable duct section to limit movement of the rear wheels by the biasing means, and said tension link being formed with an opening adapted to receive the operators nger when actuating the link to disengage the detachable connection.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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