US2971210A - Mobile industrial suction cleaner - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 14, 1961 M. c. THOMPSON MOBILE INDUSTRIAL SUCTION CLEANER Fil d March 19, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 14, 1961 Q THOMPSON 2,971,210

MOBILE INDUSTRIAL SUCTION CLEANER Filed March 19, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. MILES COURTNEY THOMPSON ATTOREY 1961 M. c. THOMPSON MOBILE INDUSTRIAL SUCTION CLEANER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 19, 1959 up" 23a INVENTOR. MILES COURTNBK THOMPSON United States Patent C F MOBILE INDUSTRIAL SUCTION CLEANER Miles Courtney Thompson, 1022 N. Edgefield St., Dallas 8, Tex.

Filed Mar. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 800,508

Claims. (Cl. 15-346) The present invention relates to an improved mobile cleaner of the vacuum type for floor surfaces and the like and, particularly, for truck and lorry trailers, freight cars and docks, although it is susceptible of other uses.

While it is well known that various types of vacuum cleaning devices have been proposed and used for most all purposes, both domestic and industrial, there still remains a need and want for a very simple and relatively inexpensive vacuum cleaner that will gather effectively litter of all sorts, dirt and dust from cracks, crevices, grooves and depressions, as well as from relatively flat surfaces, in a minimum of time, thus reducing labor costs and the time a vehicle is being detained for cleaning prior to reloading or re-routing.

The improvement of this invention has for its main aim and object the provision of a very simple and positively acting construction for a vacuum cleaner that will fulfill the needs above mentioned,

To accomplish this object, the important feature of the inventive improvement resides in the overall arrangement of the suction hood discharging directly into a suctioncreating impeller which has a short arcuate conduit discharging directly into a collection bag or receptacle, said discharge conduit having a forced-air take-oil in advance of the collector and so positioned as to deliver a forced blast of air, devoid of litter dirt and the like, to a jet nozzle so arranged relatively to the hood as to dislodge litter, dust and other particles or articles lodged in crevices, cracks, grooves and depressions, in the surface being cleaned, in a manner that will be drawn through the hood and into the impeller and discharged into said collector, thus resulting in a compact, mobile, relatively lightweight, durable and inexpensive cleaning device having a minimum of parts and most eflicient for its purposes.

The above and other objects and features of the improvement of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the same and as will be distinctly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, which illustrate the cleaning device of this invention in the manner it is at present devised:

Figure l is a side elevation of the cleaning device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view and taken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view and taken substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the hood and impeller and taken substantially on line 5-5 of Figure 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 6 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through the hood and impeller casing to illustrate a modified form.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which like character of reference refers to similar and like parts, the reference character H designates generally a cleaning head secured at its back side 23b to an opposing vertically disposed supporting plate 10 by bolts or screws 11, said 2,971,210 Patented Feb. 14,195;

'supporting plate 10 having a horizontal plate 12 extending from the other or rear side thereof and is of a length (about 12 inches) sufficient only to provide a platform for a motor 13. The plate 12 has its forward end secured to the plate 10 below its center, preferably by a weldment, and is braced by triangular blocks 14 welded to adjacent portions of the plates 10 and 12. An axle 15 is disposed horizontally along the rear edge of the plate 12 and may be secured thereto by a weldment and/or by looped straps 16 as indicated in Figure 5. The ends of the axle 15 project beyond the plate 12 and carry a traction wheel 17, respectively. The motor 13 may be either a gasoline or other fuel-burning motor or may be an electric motor suitably positioned and secured to the platform plate 12, although a conventional gasoline motor, of the type employed on lawn mowers, is shown in the drawings.

A pair of elongated and spaced tubular bars 18 extend rearwardly and upwardly from the platform 12 for a convenient height to provide handles by which the operator may push or pull or otherwise guide and manipulate the cleaning device. The lower ends of the handle bars 18 are removably secured by bolts 19 to the under side of the platform 12 and are maintained in spaced relation by cross-brace bars 20 welded to the handle bars. A brace bar 21 may have one end looped around a cross brace 20, as at 21a, and its other end secured to the motor 13, as at 211:, to give additional rigidity to the structure.

The cleaning head H consists of an impeller, in the form of a fan 22, and a suction hood 30 carried directly by the impeller and diverging from the intake opening of the impeller. The fan 22 is, preferably, on a horizontal axis and has rectangular blades enclosed in a circular casing 23. A discharge extension 24 projects for a short distance and somewhat tangentially from a point on the circumference of the casing 23 and the front wall 23 of the casing is provided with an intake opening 25 substantially concentric with the axis of the fan 22, the cross sectional areas of both the intake opening .25 and of the discharge extension 24 being predetermined by the size of the fan 22 for, creating the required suction for any given size of the cleaning device. The end walls 23 and 23b of the casing are slightly spaced from the side edges of the fan blades, the fan being so disposed in the casing that the outer ends of the fan blades are closer to the inner surface circumferential wall of the casing at a point immediately past its discharge or exhaust extension 24in the direction of rotation of the fanthan at any other point, so as to permit bulky particles or articles to be drawn in by the fan and blown upwardly and outwardly of the fan casing.

A relatively short elbow-type conduit 26 is suitably connected to the outer end of the discharge extension 24 and is of the same interior cross-sectional area as said extension and is, preferably, a e bow, the arc of which is on the same radius. The outer end of the conduit 26 is flanged, at 26a, and adapted to have telescoped thereover the end of an elongated collection bag or sack 27 detachably secured thereto in any suitable manner, such as by means of a split band 28, while the other end of the sack is provided with a book 29 that removably engages over the upper cross-brace member 20 of the handle bars 18. The sack 27 is, preferably. of a textile fabric, woven or otherwise, constructed to receive and retain dust, dirt and other particles delivered thereinto, while permitting air, under pressure, within the sack to filter through the interstices thereof, such bags being conven tional and available on the market.

The suction hood 30 is semi-pyramidal in form and comprises front, back and side walls. The back of the of the impeller casing 23 and its front and side walls diverge downwardly from the back wall to form a suction opening or mouth 300 at the bottom of the hood, the rear wall being formed with an'opening 3012 near its upper end and of the same dimension as andregistering with the intake opening 25 of the fan casing 23. The side walls of the hood are considerably narrower than its front and back walls in order to provide a relatively wide suction mouth of sulficient depth between the front and back walls of the hood as will permit the passage therethrough of the type of litter usually encountered in the cleaning operations for which this device is intended, this litter being funneled by thehood directly into the impeller .Which shreds it or breaks large pieces into smaller sizes.

One of the principal features of this invention is the manner in which an air blast is provided at the mouth 36a of the hood for the purpose of dislodging the litter or other objects or particles from crevices, grooves and the like 'in said surface being cleaned. in the present improvemenhthis is accomplished by providing along and at each lower end of the front and rear walls of the hood 34} a tapered pipe 31, having spaced perforations 32 along its length to provide air-jet nozzles, as shown more particularly in Figs. 3 and 5. it is preferred that these pipes 31 be within the hood and, to this end, the walls of the hood are inturned to provide lateral flanges 30 upon and against which the pipes 31 rest and are secured by weldments 33 or by straps. The larger ends of the pipes 31 extend through an end wall of the hood and are connected by a T-pipe coupling 34, which coupling is connected through a flexible tubing 35 to an an air-pressure take-off 36 on the discharge conduit 26. The perforations 32 in the tapered pipes 31 are positioned so as to direct opposing jets of an air-blast along the entire width of the suction mouth 30a and downwardly from opposite wa ls at about 45 relative to the surface being cleaned. The air-blast from one pipe 31 impinges on the surface, being cleaned, at a spaced distance in front or advance of the point of impingement of the blast from the other pipe 31, as shown in Fig. 5, thus lifting the ends of particles or other litter from opposite directions to dislodge them from crevices, grooves or depressions and the suction force of the fan 22 draws suchlitter upwardly into the hood 30 through the fan casing 23 and delivers it through the discharge conduit 26 and into the collection bag or sack 27.

It has been found that, if the air, under pressure, is taken from the elbow-conduit 26 (of the formation above described) through its arcuate wa l x of greater radius and at about degrees from the beginning of the curve, with respect to the direction of flow through said conduit, sufficient back pressure builds up in the device (when the collector 27 is in place and the fan 22 is operating) as to cause a continuous flow of air through the blast-jet openings 32 for the purposes described above and said blast air will'be free of litter. particles and heavv dust without the need of a screen or filter at said take-oft. The elimination of such screens or filters is of great advantage because they become clogged and'require'frequent cleaning. I have also found that if the take-oft is p aced at other points in the conduit 26, the same results are not obtained. Accordingly, the take-off 36 is illustrated as positioned in the manner just described and as can be observed in Figs. 3 and 4. This arrangement greatly simplifies prior construction where blast-jets 'of air have been proposed or used. The jet-nozzle pipes 31 are tapered so as to equalize the air pressure throughout the length of said pipes and to assure sufficient air pressure at each jet opening 32.

Figure 6 illustrates a modification, wherein the lower end portions of the front and back walls of the hood 30- are bent inwardly and upwardly of the hood, upon themselves, to form on eachend portion an open-loop 31a, preferably triangular in cross-section, with the free end of each loop welded to the opposite portion of its wall and with one of their ends closedthus forming air-blast conduits, instead of the separate pipes 31, and each having a longitudinal series of space jet openings 32a therein to direct jets of air therefrom at about 45 relative to the surface to be cleaned, as shown.

In order to support the mouthopening 30a of the hood 30 in proper spaced relation to the surface to be cleaned, caster-wheels 37 are provided forwardly of the traction wheels 1'7. In this embodiment of the invention, brackets 38 are welded, or otherwise secured, preferably to the ends of the back wall of the hood that project beyond the impeller casing 23, as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6. The brackets 38 extend rearwardly of the hood on opposite sides of the casing 23 so as to be well within the confines of the lines defining the device; and a caster-wheel 37 is secured to the rear end of each bracket 33, respectively.

It should be pointed out that in some instancesthe vertical back wall of the hood 30 and the front wall 23f of the impeller housing may have one wall common to both. Also, it is within the purview of this invention for the fan 22 to be arranged on a vertical axis. As shown-in the drawing, the axis of the fan 22 is a shaft 22a operatively connected with the motor 13.

In practice it has been found that for purposes of cleaning docks, floors of trailers, trucks, freight cars, roadway and the like, a fan 12 inches in diameter should run at variable speed. from 1500 r.p.m. up, depending entirely on the condition of the floor and the debris to be cleaned, and should be run at slower speed for cleaning grass-cuttings and leaves from a lawn, from 900 rpm. to 1200 rpm. and up, depending on the moisture content.

From the above it will be apparent that a very simple and novel construction has been provided for, so-called, industrial floor cleaners of the vacuum type and that the objects of the invention are attained thereby.

Having thus described the improvement of the invention and the manner in which the same is to beperformed, it is to be understood that minor changes or modifications may be made in the device without departing from the spirit of the invention and that the invention is only to be limited by the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed, as new and to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A mobile suction cleaner for floors and the like, comprising a wheel supported platform, an encased suction-blowe'r fan mounted on said platform with the shaft of said fan horizontal and having a central positioned intake opening in one face thereof and substantially coaxial with said shaft and a substantially tangential exhaust opening, a hood carried on said face of said fan casing and communicating with said central opening and having a downwardly directed intake opening to form a suction mouth overlying the surface to be cleaned,the .front wall of the hood being wider than its side walls, a motor mounted on said'platform and having an operative connection with the shaft of said fan, a horizontally disposed arcuate exhaust conduit having one end connected to the exhaust opening of said suction-blower fan, a trash collecting receptacle connected to the'other end of said horizontal exhaust conduit, air-blast jetmeans carried at the mouth of said hood and positioned to direct an air-blast toward the surface to be cleaned, and an air conduit connecting said jet-means with said exhaust conduit at a point on itsgreater arcuate surface about 5 degrees from the beginning of its arcuate wall of greater radius and in the direction of the air blown through said exhaust conduit to allow air pressure, devoid of entrained trash and litter, to flow from said exhaust conduit to said air-jet conduit.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 wherein said jetmeans comprises two jet conduits extending longitudinally along and-on'opposite lower edge portions ofsaid hood and having a series of spaced jet-emitting openings therein and along its length with the jet openings of each arranged to direct their emitted air jets toward the other and with the air jets of one conduit impinging upon the surface, to be cleaned, at a spaced distance in front of the point of impingement of the air jets from the other conduit, whereby litter and the like may be lifted or dislodged at its opposite ends by said emitted opposing air jets.

3. A mobile suction cleaner for floors and the like comprising a wheeled supporting frame, an encased suction-blower fan mounted on said supporting frame and having an intake opening and an exhaust opening, a relatively short right-angular elbow conduit connected to said exhaust opening and extending therefrom and having an arcuate wall on its anterior side, a trash 'collector means: connected to the other end of said elbow conduit, a suction hood communicating with said intake opening and having a relatively wider downwardly ex-- therein and therethrough, a plurality of air-jet means ar-- ranged along opposite lower edge portions of said hood to emit jets of air, under pressure, toward each other at an oblique angle to the surface to be cleaned, a take-off conduit communicatively connecting said jet means directly With said elbow conduit at a point on its said anterior arcuate wall but spaced approximately 5 degrees from the beginning of said arcuate surface, in the direction of flow through said elbow conduit, that allows air pressure from the exhaust conduit to flow devoid of entrained litter to said jet means, a motor mounted on said frame and operatively connected to said fan, and means for guiding said wheeled frame.

4. The subject matter of claim 2 wherein the hood is formed of sheet metal and the lowcr ends of the front and back walls thereof are bent upwardly upon themselves each to form an open-loop with the ends of said loops sealed against the adjacent portions of its wall thereby to provide said jet conduits, and wherein the airjet openings are formed in the inner walls of said open loops.

5. A mobile suction cleaner for floors, docks, pavements and the like comprising a cleaning head unit including a fan in a circular casing having front and back walls, said fan being carried on a horizontally disposed shaft extending through said back wall and the front wall of said casing being formed with a centrally positioned intake opening and with a peripherally positioned exhaust opening and carrying thereon outwardly extending and downwardly diverging walls forming a semi-pyramidal suction hood, the upper end of which is in spaced masking relation with said intake opening and its lower end forms a wide suction mouth; a wheeled platform adapted to support a motor thereon for connection with said fan shaft, means detachably connecting the back wall of said casing to one end of said platform for supporting said cleaning head in cleaning position, and handle-bars projecting rearwardly and upwardly from the other end of the said platform; a pervious trash collection bag detachably supported at one end by said handle-bars; an elbow-shaped exhaust conduit connected to said exhaust opening and extending rearwardly from the cleaning head and having its rear end detachably connected with the other end of said collector bag; a series of spaced air-jet means carried at the lower edge portions of the front and back walls of said hood, respectively, and extending longitudinally of said edge portions and arranged to direct their emitted air-jets downwardly and toward each other at an oblique angle relative to the surface being cleaned, whereby litter and the like may be lifted or dislodged at its opposite ends; and means connecting said air-jet means with said exhaust conduit at a point on its greater arcuate surface near but spaced from the beginning of said arcuate surface, in the direction of air flow therethrough, in the order of 5 degrees that allows air pressure to flow to said air-jet means devoid of entrained litter.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 345,610 Wood July 13, 1886 1,998,851 Shields Apr. 23, 1935 2,020,600 Becker Nov. 12, 1935 2,039,860 Watts May 5, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 534,298 Germany Sept. 24, 1931

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