US3761997A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

A cleaning tool or pick-up head for use with a vacuum sweeper, such as an electric vacuum broom, is adapted for connection to the suction tube or hose of a vacuum cleaner. The head is provided with a free-rolling, hollow, floor-engaging roller that is constructed to minimize frictional resistance to hand-operated movement along a rug and the like, while at the same time, to assure a maximized suction pick-up action of dust, etc., through a floor-engaging nozzle of the head. The cylindrical roller is of hollow or cagelike construction, in order that the dirt may be drawn upwardly therethrough, enabling its positioning substantially centrally within the entry mouth of the housing nozzle.

Description

United States Patent 1 Frazier 1 Oct. 2, 1973 VACUUM CLEANER [22] Filed: May 26, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 146,883

[52] 11.8. CI 15/422, 15/388, 15/392 [51] Int. Cl A471 9/02 [58] Field of Search 15/383, 388, 392, 15/364, 362, 422, 378

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,027,938 1/1936 Taylor 15/422 1,527,828 2/1925 Barr v 15/388 1,965,615 7/1934 Sellers 15/383 1,361,563 12/1920 Brockway.. 15/383 X 3,189,933 6/1965 Smith 15/350 X 3,006,022 10/1961 Mamontov. 15/364 2,910,721 11/1959 Burrage 15/392 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 626,842 3/1936 Germany 15/388 Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner--C. K. Moore ABSTRACT A cleaning tool or pick-up head for use with a vacuum sweeper, such as an electric vacuum broom, is adapted for connection to the suction tube or hose of a vacuum cleaner. The head is provided with a free-rolling, hollow, floor-engaging roller that is constructed to minimize frictional resistance to hand-operated movement along a rug and the like, while at the same time, to assure a maximized suction pick-up action of dust, etc., through a floor-engaging nozzle of the head. The cylindrical roller is of hollow or cagelike construction, in order that the dirt may be drawn upwardly therethrough, enabling its positioning substantially centrally within the entry mouth of the housing nozzle.

2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 3.751 .997

SHEET 1 0F 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN P. FRAZ l ER BY 3w, /JM W 3 aziame t PAIENIEDHBT 2 m 3.761.987 SHEEI 20! 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN P. FRAZIER 2, mm 46.; a ti r/26y:

VACUUM CLEANER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an improved cleaner or sweeper which depends essentially on a vacuum pickup operation for withdrawal of dirt and debris from rugs. It has particular reference to a wandlike or lightweight sweeper unit and to means for assuring an efficient suction pick-up action while facilitating a back and forth movement along the floor and particularly, along heavy, tufted or shaglike carpets and rugs.

2. Description of the Prior Art Lightweight, so-called wand or broomlike vacuum sweepers or floor cleaners have recently come into vogue for quick and effortless pick-up of dust or dirt from a rug or floor surface. Various sweeper manufacturers are making and selling so-called vacuum brooms or lightweight sweepers as supplemental cleaning devices that have found considerable favor with the housewife. Such a device requires an efficient vacuum pick-up engagement between the mouth of its nozzle and the floor surface to be effective. It has heretofore been customary in such a device to use flat surface or two or more small, fixedly positioned, pin mounted wheels on each side of the housing nozzle for movement of the sweeper device along the floor. However, I have discovered that these wheels tend to bury themselves in the tufting or pile of a rug or carpet, with the result that the support of the device is primarily carried by the lip portions of the pick-up nozzle, rather than by the wheels. However, it is necessary to have the nozzle in rather close engagement with the carpet to accomplish an efficient air-suction cleaning or pick-up action. The housewife has found that for heavy pile or tufted rugs the device can only with great difficulty be pushed forwardly and, in operation, has to be pulled backwardly, thus making impractical customary back and forth movement along the rug surface.

Analyzing the above problem, I have found it is due not only to the small size of the wheels such that they tend to sink into a highly tufted rug, but also due to the fact that the nozzle tends to draw the strands or tufts of the carpet into it to thus necessitate considerable force to move it, even if the nozzle is pulled backwardly. The movement of the device is resisted by the friction of the lip and a vacuum-created attachment to the portions on the rug surface as well as by the tufts which are being drawn up into it by the suction force. As a result, the conventional lightweight sweeper has been limited in its application more or less to floor surfaces and to rugs that have little or no pile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have been able to solve the above problem and to, at the same time, avoid any appreciable or noticeable increase in weight in a so-called broom type of vacuum cleaning device by employing a hollow, passagewaydefining, cross-extending, free-rolling, cylinder or unitary roller that is provided with at least a pair of endpositioned floor-engaging wheels of such a diameter as to roll smoothly over the surface being cleaned; the roller is mounted within the open nozzle mouth portion in the direct path of dirt pick-up suction action. Spaced-apart, cross-extending, connecting strap, rod, slotted or perforated portions provide a unitary structure that is operatively positioned directly within the mouth of the nozzle or within the direct path of dirt pick-up. The cross-extending portions are constructed to assure a unitary structure having throughpassageways through which dirt may be drawn, to assure that the wheels will freely rotate in synchronism, and to further assure that the pile or tufting of a carpet or rug will be continually moved away from the nozzle interior in opposition to and during the suction movement of dirt up through the nozzle into the housing and collecting bag of the sweeper.

It has thus been an object of the invention to solve the problem heretofore presented in the use of socalled lightweight, wand or broom types of vacuum sweepers.

Another object of the invention has been to devise an improved type of wheeled support and operation of a vacuum utilizing sweeper which will facilitate back and forth movement of the sweeper nozzle along a floor surface having relatively thick tufts, a high or thick pile.

A further object of the invention has been to provide a vacuum operating floor or cleaning device having an improved wheel type of construction, mounting and utilization.

These and other objects of the invention will appear to those skilled in the art from the illustrated embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view in elevation illustrating a lightweight vacuum sweeper or floor cleaner constructed for utilization in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmental sectional view in elevation through the nozzle end portion of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view in elevation on the scale of FIG. 2, particularly illustrating a roller or cylinder constructed in accordance with the invention and of the type utilized in the construction of FIG. 2; in this view, only one of the group of cross-extending, peripherally spaced-apart, body-forming, straight-line, wheelconnecting rods is shown.

FIG. 4 is a side view in elevation on the scale of FIGS. 2 and 3 and shows a slightly modified form of roller.

FIG. 5 is a view on the scale of and similar to FIG. 4 showing a roller having twisted or helical crossextending rod members.

FIG. 6 is an end section on the scale of and taken along the line VIVI of FIGS. 4 and 5.

And FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmental views on a further enlarged scale showing details of the construction and mounting of spring-loaded positioning means for opposite ends of an axle shaft of the roller.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, a small broomlike sweeper A is shown as having a two-part central body made up of an upper motor-containing housing part 10a and a lower paper bag-containing housing part 10b that are typically removably connected together. The motor of the part 10a is energized by an electric cord 12 leading out through its housing. The lower end of the lower part has a hollow connecting sleeve or pipe 13 that 'carries a hollow connecting neck 16 through the agency of a swivel joint 14. The lower end of the neck 16 is shown secured within a central opening to the back side of a nozzle or pick-up head 15. The nozzle or head 15 is constructed for back and forth movement along a floor area, as manually effected by a handle 11 at the upper end of the sweeper A.

As particularly shown in FIG. 2, the nozzle 15 has a lower open mouth portion that extends therealong and within and through which a floor or rug-engaging hollow roller or cylinder 20 is operatively positioned. The nozzle 15 has lip edge portions which are defined by an in-turned, doubled or recessed front flange 15a that is adapted to removably receive and position a longitudinally extending and outwardly downwardly projecting brush assembly 19. The brush assembly 19 is adapted to, during the movement of the sweeper A, disturb or raise the pile or tufts of the carpet or rug as well as to loosen dirt and dust, lint, etc., for suction air force pick-up through the hollow roller 20 and the nozzle, through a pipe or hose into a vacuum unit, or as shown, up into the bag which is carried within the lower housing part b. The lip edge portions of the nozzle also have a back edge in the form of a vertical flange b which serves as a mounting flange for a forwardly, horizontally extending, angle-shaped closure member 17. As shown, the closure member 17 is removably secured on the flange 15b by means of screws 18 and its horizontal shelf portion serves as a suction-sealing, slideshelf in cooperation with horizontal shelf portions of the flange 15a; it will be noted that these horizontal portions lie on the same horizontal plane. Wheels 20 in their maximum upward positioning, as may occur when the sweeper A is being moved on a relatively hard surface, such as a tile floor, are adapted to extend below the lip a minimum distance to provide sufficient support for free movement along the cleaning area. It will be noted that the inner edge of the flange 15a has a relatively closely spaced adjacent relation with respect to the outer periphery of the roller 20 as does the forward edge of the horizontal shelf portion of the angle-shaped closure member 17. As a result, major pick-up or dirt removing action is concentrated in the area represented by the cylindrical-shaped body of the roller 20.

The roller 20 of FIGS. 2 and 3 has a pair of endpositioned floor-engaging wheels 22 of disclike shape that may be of metal material with plastic rubberlike rims. A central, longitudinally extending axle shaft 21 is shown (see FIGS. 7 and 8) journaled at each end by self-lubricated or oil-less bearings 24. A plurality of peripherally spaced-apart straight-line cross-extending rod or barlike members 23 are shown extending into the wheels 22 and secured thereto at their ends to form an integral construction therewith to define a central body that has open or through extending passageways through which dirt may be moved up into the nozzle 15 under the suction air force which is generated within the upper housing part 10a.

FIG. 4 shows a slightly modified form of roller 20' which is of the same construction as the roller 20, except that a centrally disposed disclike spacer 22' is provided and shown in the form of a wheel corresponding to the end wheels 22. In this embodiment, the crossextending members or rods 23 project through and are secured to the central spacer wheel 22 adjacent its outer periphery. Also, the axle shaft 21 is rigidly secured, as by weld metal, to the end-positioned wheels 22 and to the centrally positioned wheel 22.

In the form of roller shown in FIG. 5, cross-extending members 33 define a roller 20" of somewhat helical shape, since each member is twisted or spiraled along its length to connect between the end positioned 25 and 26 along their inner ends which define an entry and exit passageway or guide recess a for removably receiving the associated ends of the shaft 21. The guide shoulders 25 and 26 at their inner ends are connected together in a unitary structure and define a more or less vertically elongated opening with which a vertical bore 25a is in alignment. Spring-loading is provided for each end of the rollers 20, 20 or 20" by a curvilinear ring segment 31 and a compression spring 30. It will be noted that the upper end of the spring 30 is adapted to rest within the bore 25a, while its lower end is secured to carry the associated ring segment 31. As a result, each roller 20, 20 or 20" is spring-pressed outwardly or downwardly of the nozzle 15 within which it is mounted to, in effect, give and move upwardly when, for example, a hard surface is encountered and to move outwardly to more or less its maximum outward position when a soft or fabriclike surface is encountered. Each roller has a free moving position and will rotate in the direction of movement of the sweeper to, in effect, reject or force outwardly tufts or fabric portions of a rug or carpet that are being drawn upwardly towards the nozzle by suction air force that is generated.

In accordance with the invention, the tool part of head 15 may, as illustrated, be swiveled or coupled somewhat directly to a sweeper unit, such as A, or through a suction tube or hose to a vacuum sweeper cannister or housing or to a room suction outlet connection, where a central suction device or unit is provided for the building. The longitudinally extending brush assembly 19 serves to loosen and sweep debris and dirt, thus facilitating operation of the suction force as applied to the nozzle or head.

An important feature of the construction is the utilization of a cylindrical roller, such as 20, 20' or 20", that serves as an operating enclosure or cage within the open mouth portion of the nozzle and which has through-extending passageways that enable the dust and dirt to be drawn upwardly therethrough into the nozzle. At the same time, rotation of the roller is effected by manual back and forth movement of the nozzle on the surface that is being cleaned and as effected by a pair of wheels, such as 22, which frictionally engage the surface being cleaned and freely rotate in the direction of movement of the nozzle. The wheels impart movement to the roller by reason of the integral connection or attachment therebetween. The movement of the hollow, apertured or open roller enables loose material, such as dirt and debris, to pass therethrough into the nozzle for discharge into a dirt collecting means and importantly, however, deflects material such as rug tufting that is secured to the surface being cleaned, outwardly in such a manner as to free it during the movement, facilitate such movement, and minimize resistance thereto.

Any suitable form of bearings 24 of a self-lubricating type may be used, such as bronze bearings impregnated with graphite or Teflon bearings. Also, preassembled mounting shoe units may be used at each end of the roller 20, etc., for removably mounting it within the open mouth portion of the pick-up head or nozzle 15. In this connection, end shoe assemblies that include bearings mounted on opposite ends of the roller shaft 21 may be adapted to be slid upwardly through bottom slots within end walls of the head 15, with set screws employed to hold each shoe assembly in position (not shown). This is an alternative to the construction shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

movement therein and with respect thereto, said roller having a pair of longitudinally spaced-apart surfaceengaging wheels that project outwardly through the nozzle beyond the lip edge thereabout, said roller being of unitary construction and having a body with crossextending connecting portions between said wheels that define open passageways therethrough for bypassing dirt into the nozzle upon the application of negative air pressure thereto, and said roller being adapted to rotate forwardly and backwardly in the direction of movement of said nozzle along the surface to, during such movement, deflect material secured to the surface outwardly that is being drawn towards the nozzle by negative pressure induced air flow.

2. In a cleaning tool as defined in claim 1, the body of said roller being constructed of rodlike portions extending across between said pair of wheels and connected thereto adjacent to and at spaced locations along the peripheries thereof.

Claims (2)

1. In a cleaning tool for coupling to a vacuum sweeper housing having an active suction force producing means for inducing negative pressure air flow into and through the cleaning tool to pick up dirt from a surface such as a rug or floor, wherein the tool has a nozzle provided with an endwise-elongated open-mouth portion defined by a lip edge thereabout, the improvement which comprises, an elongated roller operatively positioned within the open mouth portion for rotative movement therein and with respect thereto, said roller having a pair of longitudinally spaced-apart surface-engaging wheels that project outwardly through the nozzle beyond the lip edge thereabout, said roller being of unitary construction and having a body with cross-extending connecting portions between said wheels that define open passageways therethrough for bypassing dirt into the nozzle upon the application of negative air pressure thereto, and said roller being adapted to rotate forwardly and backwardly in the direction of movement of said nozzle along the surface to, during such movement, deflect material secured to the surface outwardly that is being drawn towards the nozzle by negative pressure induced air flow.

2. In a cleaning tool as defined in claim 1, the body of said roller being constructed of rodlike portions extending across between said pair of wheels and connected thereto adjacent to and at spaced locations along the peripheries thereof.

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