US3181190A

US3181190A - Rug scrubbing attachments

Info

Publication number: US3181190A
Application number: US303341A
Authority: US
Inventors: Willard A Dix; Oswald M Porter
Original assignee: Singer Co
Current assignee: Singer Co
Priority date: 1963-08-20
Filing date: 1963-08-20
Publication date: 1965-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 1982-05-04
Also published as: GB1003782A

Description

Y 4, 1965 w. A. DIX ET AL 3,181,190

RUG SCRUBBING ATTACHMENTS Filed Aug. 20, 1963 Fig.4

IN TOR-S Willard i Dix WITNESS Oswald M, Pariar ited States Patent 3,181,190 RUG SCRUBBING ATTACHMENTS Willard A. Dix, North Plainfield, and Oswald M. Porter, Livingston, N.J., assignors to The Singer Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 20, 1963, Ser. No. 303,341 7 Claims. (Cl. 15-98) This invention relates to the art of rug scrubbing and shampooing and more particularly to an attachment capable of being secured to and driven by the vertically positioned depending motor driven spindle of a conventional polishing or scrubbing machine, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an improved device of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rug scrubbing attachment having a portion designed to support the weight of a polishing or scrubbing machine and at the same time having portions which penetrate the pile of the rug.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for delivering a cleaning detergent deep into the pile of the rug.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved rug scrubbing attachment in which all of the rug contacting parts are made of plastic.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical view, partly in section, showing portions of a rug scrubbing and shampooing machine equipped with a pair of rug scrubbing attachments embodying the present invention, 1

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of one of the rug scrubbing attachments shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is a large scale fragmentary section view showing how one of the hollow buttons deposits cleaning material or detergent deeply into the rug pile and also showing how weight is supported on top of the pile.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, there is disclosed a conventional polishing and scrubbing machine 16 comprising a frame or housing 17 supporting an electric motor 18 having a vertical drive shaft 19, the lower end of which carries a pinion 21. The pinion 21 drives one of two intermeshing gears 22-22 and each of these gears drives a small gear 23 held to the upper end of a vertical spindle 24 rotatably mounted in the frame 17. The lower end of each of the spindles 24 carries and rotatably drives a rug scrubbing attachment embodying the present invention and indicated generally by the numeral 32.

The rug scrubbing attachment 32 is annular in form to be understood that any one of many types of means for securing the hub 33 to the spindle 24 may be used. FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate one such means and this means comprises a cast insert 37 having an apertured flange 33 and a shank 39. The flange 38 has an outside diameter substantially equal to the outside diameter of the plastic hub portion 33 and the external diameter of the shank 39 is of such size as to easily enter the opening 36 in the hub portion 33. A pair of screws 41 pass through apertures in the flange 38 and are threaded into holes 42 formed in the hub portion 33 thereby securing the insert 37 to the hub portion 33.

The shank 39 and flange 38 are formed with a centrally located hole 43 having a polygonal cross section of a size designed to receive a similarly shaped polygonal portion 44 of the spindle 24. Reference to FIG. 1 shows that the central opening 36 in the hub portion 33 is longer than the polygonal portion 44 of the spindle 24, and the portion of the opening 36 below the shank 39 is fitted with a resilient tube 46 the central hole of which receives a collar 47 carried on the end of the spindle 24. Since the external diameter of the collar 47 is slightly greater than the size of the hole in the resilient tube 46, the collar 47 and the hole in the tube 46 form a means for holding the hub portion 33 to the spindle 24. Also, the polygonal portion 44 of the spindle 24 co-operates with the polygonal hole 43 in the shank 39 to assure that the attachment 32 will rotate with the spindle 24.

The annular plate portion 34- of the rug scrubbing attachment 32 is formed with a down facing smooth central circular surface 51 which is surrounded by an annular surface 52, the surface 52 being elevated above the surface 51, and the surface 52 adjacent to its outer perimeter is formed with a plurality, in this case twelve, equally spaced depending rug engaging buttons 53. Reference to FIGS. 1 and 4 shows that the lower ends of the buttons 53 are semispherical and depend slightly below the surface 51 and thus when the attachment 32 is placed on a rug or carpet 50, the main portion of the weight of the polishing or scrubbing machine 16 will be at least partially supported by the surface 51 resting on the rug or carpet 50. At the same time, the buttons 53 will penetrate the pile 55 of the rug or carpet. Each button 53 is provided with a vertically extending cylindrical port 54 the upper end of which is in communication with a first or outer upwardly open annular channel or trough 56 formed by an outer annular wall 57 of the button plate 34, an inner annular partition wall 58 and a wall 60, the lower surface of which provides the annular surface 52. Reference to FIG. 1 shows that the upper end of the port 54 is offset radially outwardly from the center of the trough 56 and that the entrance to each port 54 has a downwardly inclined surface 62. Thus gravitational and centrifugal forces combine to feed detergent or other cleaning fluid from the trough 56 into the various ports 54. A second or inner annular upwardly open channel 59 is also formed in the plate portion 34, this channel 59 being defined by the previously mentioned partition wall 58, the outer perimeter of the hub portion 33, and a wall 61 the lower surface of which provides a portion of the central circular surface 51.

Means for conducting a liquid detergent to the channels 56 is diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 and includes a reservoir 66 the lower end of which is connected to a tube having two

branches

67 and 68, the ends of which are positioned to feed detergent to the channels 56 of the two attachments 32. A valve (not shown), of any conventional type, may be used to control the flow of detergent from the reservoir 66.

In operation, the electric motor 18 by means of pinions and

gears

21, 22, 23 and the spindles 24 rotates the two attachments 32, and the reservoir 66 by means of the

tube branches

67 and 68 dispenses detergent or other cleaning material to the two annular channels or troughs 56. Centrifugal force created by rotation of the attachments 32 causes the detergent to move downwardly and outwardly through the ports 54 formed in the center of each button 53. This arrangement places the cleaning liquid at the point of contact of the buttons 53 with the rug or carpet 50 being cleaned and more specifically, as best seen in FIG. 4, the cleaning material is placed deeply into the rug pile 55. Because the cleaning liquid is dispersed at the point Where the buttons move over the rug and through the pile, the liquid not only acts as a cleaning agent but also serves as a lubricant for passage of the buttons 53 over the rug.

The subject rug scrubbing attachments 32 are advantageous because their use (a) provide for deep cleaning of the carpet pile, (b) provide good surface cleaning of the pile, (c) produce little or no matting of the carpet, (d) restores or picks up the pile of a rug that has been matted by heavy traffic, and (e) can be successfully used to scrub or shampoo rugs without a need for using a dolly to support the weight of the scrubbing machine.

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, What we claim herein is:

1. An annular attachment for use in scrubbing a pile type rug, said attachment having a hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion having a down facing annular surface, a plurality of buttons depending from said down facing annular surface at least one of said buttons having a port extending downwardly therethrough and said port having an open end in a lower portion of said button to thereby deposit liquid deeply into rug pile as said attachment rotates, and means for feeding a liquid to said port in said button.

2. An annular attachment for use in scrubbing a pile type rug, said attachment having a hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion comprising an upwardly open trough, a down facing surface, a plurality of buttons depending from said down facing surface at least one of said buttons having a port extending downwardly therethrough and said port having an open end in a lower portion of said button to thereby deposit liquid deeply into rug pile as said attachment rotates, and the upper end of the port in said button being in communication with said trough.

3. An annular attachment for use in scrubbing a pile type rug, said attachment having an upstanding hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion comprising a down facing flat central surface for resting on top of rug pile and thereby at least partially supporting the weight of a scrubbing machine, an upwardly open annular trough, a down facing annular surface surrounding said fiat central surface, a plurality of buttons depending from said down facing annular surface at least one of said buttons having a port extending downwardly therethrough and said port having an open end in a lower portion of said button to thereby deposit liquid deeply into rug pile as said attachment rotates, and the upper end of the port in said button being in communication with said annular trough.

4. An annular attachment for use in scrubbing a pile type rug, said attachment having an upstanding hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion comprising a down facing flat central surface for resting on top of rug pile and thereby at least partially supporting the weight of a scrubbing machine, a down facing annular surface surrounding said flat central surface, said down facing annular surface being located slightly above said central surface, and a plurality of buttons depending from said down facing annular surface at least one of said buttons having a port extending downwardly therethrough and said port having an open end in a lower portion of said button to thereby deposit liquiddeeply into rug pile as said attachment rotates, the lower ends of said buttons extending slightly below the said flat central surface and thereby being capable of entering rug pile, and means for feeding liquid to the ports in said buttons.

5. An annular rug scrubbing attachment having an upstanding hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion comprising a down facing fiat central surface for resting on top of rug pile and thereby at least partially supporting the weight of a scrubbing machine, a down facing annular surface surrounding said fiat central surface, said down facing annular surface being located slightly above said central surface, and a plurality of buttons depending from said down facing annular surface, the lower ends of said buttons extending slightly below the said fiat central surface and thereby being capable of entering rug pile.

6. An annular plastic rub scrubbing attachment having an upstanding hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion integrally formed with said hub portion, said plate portion comprising a down facing flat central surface for resting on top of rug pile and thereby at least partially supporting the weight of a scrubbing machine, walls defining an upwardly open annular trough, a down facing annular surface surrounding said fiat central surface, said down facing annular surface being located slightly above said central surface, and a plurality of semispherical ended port-containing buttons depending from said down facing annular surface, the lower ends of said buttons extending slightly below the said flat central surface and thereby being capable of entering rug pile, and the upper ends of the ports in said buttons being in communication with said annular trough.

7. An annular rug scrubbing attachment having a hub portion equipped with means for connecting said hub portion to a drive spindle of a scrubbing machine for rotatably driving said scrubbing attachment, and a plate portion secured to said hub portion, said plate portion having a first downwardly facing surface, a second downwardly facing surface, said first downwardly facing surface being located slightly above said second downwardly facing surface, thereby causing said second downwardly facing surface to rest on top of rug pile to at least partly support the weight of the scrubbing machine, and a plurality of port containing buttons depending from said first downwardly facing surfaces.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,929,345 10/33 Brown et al 15-98 X 2,975,448 3/61 Glaser l540 X 2,999,258 9/61 Berberian 15-50 FOREIGN PATENTS 378,618 8/32 Great Britain.

WALTER A. SCHEEL, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. AN ANNULAR ATTACHMENT FOR USE IN SCRUBBING A PILE TYPE RUG, SAID ATTACHMENT HAVING A HUB PORTION EQUIPPED WITH MEANS FOR CONNECTING SAID HUB PORTION TO A DRIVE SPINDLE FOR ROTATABLY DRIVING SAID SCRUBBING ATTACHMENT, AND A PLATE PORTION SECURED TO SAID HUB PORTION, SAID PLATE PORTION HAVING A DOWN FACING ANNULAR SURFACE, A PLURALITY OF BUTTONS DEPENDING FROM SAID DOWN FACING ANNULAR SURFACE AT LEAST ONE OF SAID BUTTONS HAVING A PORT EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THERETHROUGH AND SAID PORT HAVING AN OPEN END IN A LOWER PORTION OF SAID BUTTON TO THEREBY DEPOSIT