WO1979000755A1

WO1979000755A1 - Floor treatment unit

Info

Publication number: WO1979000755A1
Application number: PCT/DK1979/000003
Authority: WO
Inventors: N Johannesson; E Stenild; I Rasmussen
Original assignee: Rasmussen Watex Carpet Cleanin; N Johannesson; E Stenild; I Rasmussen
Priority date: 1978-03-14
Filing date: 1979-02-01
Publication date: 1979-10-04
Also published as: GB2035786A; EP0014700A1

Abstract

A floor treatment unit with a liquid container (48), a suction hose plus a liquid pressure hose, means for suction of liquid from the floor and means for separating the sucked-in air from fluid and solid particles and for the salvaging of the liquid since the means of separation have been enclosed in a casing with a container and consist of a horizontzal diffusor (38), a horizontal filter cloth (40), plus an air suction discharge (49) at the upper end of the container. The air suction inlet for the filter is preferably in the opposite direction in relation to the air suction discharge from the filter.

Description

FLOOR TREATMENT UNIT

This invention concerns a floor treatment unit.

The purpose of this invention is to point to a combined unit for vacuum cleaning as well as wet cleaning of carpets and floors.

Prom the Swedish publication for public inspection No. 350 695 we know a handle vacuum cleaner with accessories for using the vacuum cleaner for the production and discharge of shampoo. This vacuum cleaner can, however, not be used for liquid suction.

Many devices are actually known as suitable for the washing of floors by portioning or an even fl'ow of cleaning fluid, preparation of the wetted floor and subsequent suction of the fluid, vide for instance the description pertaining to U S patent No. 4023233.

From the description pertaining to U.S. patent No. 359^849 we know of a device for the treatment of surfaces consisting of a container containing cleaning fluid which may be discharged for instance on to a floor by using a nozzle. Further, you can effect suction- of the cleaning fluid which is then led back to the container where it is cleaned and used again. Our invention may be described as oneconcerning a further development of the invention to this description.

Our invention is thus based on a discovery and a. recog¬ nition of the fact that the principle of re-circulation may be applied to the cleaning of carpets in a particu- larly advantageous manner. Thus, in applying this prin¬ ciple, it proved possible to clean 8 sq. metres of carpeted floor, using two litres of water only. This presupposes that all water is used, a further advantage for you avoid having to exhaust dirty water after each operation. The fact that such a smal-1 quantity of water is required for the cleaning of carpets enables you to apply the principle of recirculation in connection with very compact and handy designs.

-BO^K

OM The unit to the invention is characteristic in that it has a container designed to possibly contain a cleaning fluid and having at its upper end an inlet and an outlet for air where the inlet is connected to a suction line at the outer end of which a cleaning nozzle has been mounted, and where the outlet is connected with the suction side of a fan, a fluid outlet having been made at the lower part of the container, this fluid outlet being connected to the nozzle, preferably through a liquid pump, and that there are means- of separating fluid, air, and solids or air and solids from each other. When the in- and outlets etc. have been mounted in the manner indicated, you may use the unit either as an ordinary vacuum cleaner or as a floor or carpet washing unit since you need only .change filters when switching, and it is ^'a condition that you apply the principle of recirculation when using the unit as a floor or carpet washing unit .

A mode of design of this unit is characteristic in that a manually operated valve has been inserted at a conve¬ nient spot in the fluid pressure line, and in that a return pipe connected to the container has been connected in the fluid pressure line on the delivery side of this valve, in this return pipe a pressure relief valve or a throttle has been inserted. In this manner, you may dose the water quantity in a simple way.

Another mode of design is characteristic in that the air inlet has a mainly horizontal direction, and that the air outlet is mainly oppositely directed so that the air flow is turned appr. 180 . Thus, you attain a good separation of heavier particles, both solid particles and water drops, plus a compact design. Besides, you will get an effective separation of lighter particles

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OiYiPI A, V.'IPO since these are frequently enclosed in water drops. In fact, this is frequently the case when you clean carpets where lighter particles often consist of hair and motes.

A further development of this mode of design is charac¬ teristic in that a mainly horizontal filter has been mounted between the air inlet and outlet, to the inven¬ tion, this filter may be a net or a filter cloth. Any such construction is very simple.

Another mode of design is characteristic in that a diffusor has been mounted in the air inlet. This provides for another means of separating heavier particles from air. The diffusor to the invention may have a flattened shape, and thus the design will be more compact.

A preferred mode of design of the unit designed for floor or carpet washing is characteristic in that it has a hinged lid in which the air outlet and the flat- tened diffusor have been mounted, in that the air outlet has been mounted in the actual unit, in that the filter is loose and designed for inserting between the lid and the actual unit, and in that the diffusor mouth has been inserted over the filter. This mode of design entails the advantages mentioned above, and more. The particular way of mounting the filter mentioned above ^• is expedient for it would then be very easy to exchange the filter by merely opening the lid. The lid will then be easy to open since it is loosely hinged to the unit. If the unit has been turned off, the lid can be opened . just like that whereas the vacuum will keep the lid shut when the unit is working. The effect of the diffusor will support the effect by turning the air flow l8θ so that heavier particles will settle on the filter at the side lying opposite the in- and outlets. This effect will still be there, at any rate as far as the heaviest particles are concerned, even after this part of the filter has been clogged. The heaviest particles will simply settle at the side referred to due to the force of inertia. The effect is enhanced further since the diffusor has been flattened for the highest air veloci¬ ties will consequently be in directions parallel to the filter level. Thus, you will obviously achieve a rational utilization of the filter. This effect is supported further by the way the diffusor inlet has been placed. When this inlet has been led in over the filter, the part of -the filter lying under the diffusor will be kept free of settlement for a very long time.

A third mode of design is characteristic in that it has one or several freely descending plates in front of the air outlet. Thus, you may in a simple and effective manner prevent the water particles falling through the filter from being sucked out through the air outlet if they have been caught by the air flow. A further deve¬ lopment of this mode of design is characteristic in that the lower edge of the plate or of the plates constitutes an incomplete line or curve with the highest points at the middle of each plate. The drops caught by a plate will naturally accumulate for dripping at the lower edge. When the lower edge of a plate has been designed as stated, surface tension will cause the drops to run out to the lowest points at the side. At the sides the air flow will not be so heavy, and the risk of being carried along by the air flow has, therefore, been greatly reduced.

Further, the unit to the invention may be characteristic in that it has means for the separation of the container into two rooms so that the fluid caught is accumulated in the one room, for instance in an extra container for inserting into the first container since there are also means for airing the room from where the clean fluid is drawn off. Thus, we have pointed to a mode of design expedient for any such cleaning j^'obs where you have to clean a small, highly polluted area of a carpet or of a floor. This may be for instance excrements or spew. In case of j^"obs of this nature, it would not be expedient to apply the principle of re.circulation for you would then spread the pollution. On the other hand, one can accept that the unit fluid capacity is reduced considerably for any such operation.

Finally, the unit can be characteristic in that the air inlet has been designed for the attachment of a bag filter, for instance by an adapter with a lock ring.

Thus, we have pointed to a mode of design particularly suitable for vacuum cleaning even though the horizontal filter previously mentioned, preferably designed for wet cleaning, may, of course, also be a dust filter.

The invention is explained further with reference to the drawing where

fig. 1 shows a diagram of a longitudinal section through a mode of design of a unit to the invention,

fig. 2 a section to the line II-II in fig. 1,

fig. 3 the same as fig. 1, but to another, pre¬ ferred mode of design,

fig. 4 a section to the line IV-IV in fig. 3, fig. 5 a handle and a nozzle to be used for the unit viewed from the side but on a smaller scale,

fig. 6 part of this handle and nozzle viewed from in front,

fig. 7 a mode of design for dust bag with an adapter, designed for inserting

10 into the mode of design from the unit, viewed from the side,

fig. 8 the same viewed from above,

^! . fig. 9 and 10 modes of design for screen. plates viewed in the direction of the arrows IX-IX in fig. 3,

fig. 11 a container for insertion into the

20 unit viewed from the side, and

fig. 12 this container viewed from above.

Fig. 1 shows the unit consisting of a frame or casing 1, ²5 supported on wheel pairs 2 and 3. Inside the casing 1, a cylindrical container 4 with a lid 5 has been suspended. This lid 5 has, in the mode of design shown, been connec¬ ted to the lid 6 of the casing by connection elements not shown. In the lids 5 and 6, a pipe 7 has been built in 3° and forms a tangential inlet 8 for air to the container 4, such as shown in fig. 2. The pipe 7 has at its outer end been connected with a suction hose 9 which has in turn been connected to a nozzle not shown. ^'In the upper part of the actual conatiner 4, an air outlet 10 has 3 been made. This outlet 10 has been partly screened by plates 11 and 12. The outlet 10 has actually through a line 13 been connected to the suction side of the unit fan 14 which has a free exhaust through the bottom of the unit. At the spot where the container lid 5 is connected with the container 4, a filter 15 has been inserted, and this filter may easily be exchanged by swinging the connected lids 5 and 6 up. In the middle of the container 4, an extra filter 16 may have been inserted, as shown. The- container 4 has been filled only partly by cleaning fluid 17, preferably with water.

Somewhat above the bottom of the container 4, a fluid discharge line 18 has been connected, leading to a pump 19 and from then on to a pipe 20 and a hose 21 which, like the hose 9. has been connected to the nozzle not shown. A return pipe 22 has been connected to the pipe 20, and this return pipe 22 leads back to the container 4. In the return pipe 22, a pressure relief valve 23 has been inserted. In the hose 21, a manually operated valve, not shown, has been inserted by which you may open and shut off the liquid discharge at the nozzle.

The unit will now work in the following manner. When, as shown on the drawing, there is a cleaning fluid, prefe- rably water, in the container 4, it can be used for wet cleaning of floors and carpets. By opening for the dis¬ charge of cleaning fluid from the hose 21, you will be able to have same. discharged on the carpet. From there, the fluid may again be sucked away through the hose 9 and the pipe 7, and thus the fluid will return to the con¬ tainer 4. The fluid will then partly by graviation and partly by suction from the fan 14 be carried through the filter 15 where impurities settle. In this connection it should be pointed out that the filter 15 may well be rather coarse when the unit is used for wet treatment of carpets. When you take an interest in effecting a treatment of carpets of this nature, the idea is that of absorbing the particles or impurities which cannot be sucked by ordinary vacuum cleaning. Thus, this is not a matter of fine dust particles but rather of larger particles and motes which may be carried away by a liquid flow but not by an air flow. Thus, the luid_, will work preferably as a transportation medium. Thus, this is not a question of actual ordinary washing since you do in fact use all the liquid in most cases. For when the fluid has passed the filter 15, it will fall down into the bottom of the container and be used again. The filter 16 has-been shown only to suggest that one or more filters can be used, and that they can be mounted in various places. Thus, a filter could also be mounted in the outlet 10. At the bottom of the container 4, a sedimentation is taking place because the fluid discharge line 18 has been mounted appropriately over the bottom. The return pipe 22 should, there, open into the container at max. distance from the fluid discharge pipe 18. When all the water has been used, more liquid will have to be filled in, and this can be done without any trouble in a modern household whereas it could be more difficult having to discharge dirty liquid. In this connection, it might be expedient to dimension the liquid filters in such way that these should be exchanged simultaneously with the water filling.

When the unit is to be used for ordinary vacuum cleaning, you will .mount one or more filters suitable for this in an appropriate manner in the container. However, it should be stressed in this connection that the presence of liquid in the container 4 will be no obstacle to the function as an ordinary vacuum cleaner. On the contrary, the liquid can, in a manner actually known, be used for

_0WP1 A.> V.-.1-0 the dust separation since you may lead the sucked-in air containing dust particles direct down towards the liquid surface. In that case you would not have the filter 16 in the container 4. However, you can, with a view to this purpose, extend the plates 11 and 12 downwards and merely use a filter in the air outlet 10. On the whole, with a view to this purpose, you can build up the container 4 as a cyclone with a central suction immediately above the liquid surface.

Figs. 3 and 4 should be considered as a whole. In this case, the unit consists of a frame or casing 30, supporte on two wheel pairs 31 and 32. The casing has a lid 33 , hinged at the back, using hinges 34 and_35. In front, the lid has two flange sockets 36 and 37- At the inside of the lid, the flange socket 3β goes into a flat dif¬ fusor 38 the nozzle 39 of which lies across a filter 40 suspended on a frame 4l embedded between the lid 33 and the casing 30, and gaskets 41 and 42 have been mounted at the frame edges. The filter 40 consists of a standard nylon cloth intended for serigraphy and of a mesh of 60 per inch. After numerous experiments, a filter of this type has been found the most highly suitable for wet cleaning of carpets using this mode of design of the unit. A standard nylon cloth of 90 mesh per inch also proved highly suitable though it was not quite as good as the former. The choice of filter cloth for ^'wet cleaning_^ seems to be most decisive since the cloth in addition to filtration capacity should have great resis- tance to impacts from heavier particles or objects hitting it.

The flange socket 36 has at the outer side been connected with a sUction hose 42 leading to a handle not shown and provided with a nozzle at the lower end. The flange socket 37 has at the outer side been connected to a fluid pressure hose 43 since the two hoses are kept together by connection pieces 44 at regular intervals and end up at the nozzle such as will be explained later below. At the inner side the flange socket 37 has been connected with another liquid pressure hose 45 leading from the delivery side of a liquid pump 46_.. The liquid pressure hose 45 has been carried through the separation between the lid 33 and the casing 30 in a spot close to the hinge line so that the lid may easily be opened. The suction side of the pump 46 has been connected to the bottom of a fluid container 48 mounted in the casing 30 under the filter 40, however, the outlet from the contai¬ ner 48 has been mounted somewhat above its bottom.

The pump has a shunt line or ^'by-pass line not shown providing throttling- so that liquid is. led back from the delivery side to the suction side if the pressure line has been blocked. The container 48 has at its upper end an air discharge opening 49 leading to the suction side of a fan 50 run by a fan engine 51. In front of the air discharge opening 49, vertical screen plates 52 and 53 have been mounted the lower edges of which may have a special shape such as will be explained later in relation to figs. 9 and 10.

Figs. 5 and 6 show a handle consisting of a stiff pipe, at the top connected to the suction hose 42. The liquid pressure hose 43 has been conducted along the handle by holders 55, 5 and 57, however, at the upper end of the handle 5 a manually operated valve 58 has^' been inserted, spring-loaded to a closed position. At the lower end of the handle 54, the liquid pressure hose 43 ends in a nozzle 59 which may be designed to disperse the liquid over a width corresponding to the width of a suction nozzle 60 mounted at the lower end of the handle 54. The handle shown in figs. 5 and 6 may equally well be used in connection with the mode of design to figs. 1 and 2.

The modes of design shown in figs. 3-6 now work in the following manner. The actual portioning of the liquid does not deviate from what h s previously been explained .to figs. 1 and 2. By activating the valve 58 simulta- neously with leading the nozzle 59 by the handle over the area to be cleaned, for instance on a carpet, you may disperse the liquid equally over the area and you can then, in a manner actually known, by shutting off the water discharge, immediately after, i.e. before the water penetrates too deeply into the carpet, suck it on again by using nozzle 60. The special aspect of this mode of design is that of the particular way in which the separation is effected. When the water is sucked up, the water drops will on account of surface tension carry away motes and impurities which might otherwise prove difficult to suck up by actual vacuum cleaning. In this connection it should be emphasized that the unit also works as an ordinary vacuum cleaner when used for wet cleaning, and when you do not portion water or have sucked up most of the water portioned. The actual sepa¬ ration of air from the other parts, i.e. solid particles and liquid particles being transported -pneumatically, will begin already in the diffusor 38. As would appear from the proportions of the diffusor, the air velocity in same will be reduced to about half. However, this is effected over such a brief period of time and over such a short distance that the particles floating in the air flow, mostly water drops, in which motes have been en¬ closed, will not have time to decelerate because the specific gravity of water is much higher than that of BURE

OMP A, WIP the air. The water drops vill, therefore, generally hit the filter cloth 40 at the end of the filter farthest off the nozzle 39 of the diffusor 38, and the filter will consequently be clogged first at this side. However, it is not detrimental to the function of the fil¬ ter that any such initial clogging takes place for even though the filter at the spot referred to has been clogged in relation to air, it will still function for a long time in respect of water and solid particles. Thus, new solid particles will, for the reasons of kine¬ matics mentioned, settle on top of those that came first, and the water will continue to filter through the clogged part of the filter at the left side of figs. 3 and 4 where the air flow is weak. The dripping of the water from the filter will thus to a high extent be effected at the left side whereas the heaviest air flow through the filter will be at the right side where the carrying away of the water drops in the air flow under the filter may to a high extent be avoided. Obviously, as the filter is becoming clogged for air over a continously growing area, the air velocity through the part of the filter open to air will rise correspondingly. However, the effect mentioned above, i.e. that the water will accumulate on the clogged part of the filter, is so strong that you may actually avoid altogether having water sucked out through the air outlet and through the fan in a manner not intended. The essential conditions for obtaining the effect referred to above would seem to be that the filter is horizontal, that the air is sucked in parallel to the upper side of the filter, and that a diffusor has been placed at the inlet. Thus, you may build up a highly compact design allowing for a reduction of the unit diemensions down to ordinary vacuum cleaner dimen¬ sions and for letting the unit being a combined one. Figs. 7 and 8 show an adapter 6l with a plug part 62 intended for insertion into the diffusor nozzle 39 by spring latch effect, the plug part 62 having been provided with cams 63 and 64 designed to mesh with corresponding holes, not shown, in the diffusor nozzle 39- The medium part of the adapter has been designed ^' as a hopper 65, curved downwards and ending in a flange socket 66 designed for the connection of a bag 67 by a spring ring 68. The circumference of the bag 67 should, in a manner actually known, be less than that of the container 48 if you wish to avoid having inside ribs in same. However, you may well provide the container 48 with inside ribs. The screen plates 52 and 53 also have a function when the unit is used with a vacuum cleaner bag since these screen plates 2 and 53 will then prevent the bag 67 from blocking the air suction. Obvious¬ ly, when the unit is used as a vacuum cleaner only, i.e. when the bag and the adapter have been mounted, the filter 40 will not have been mounted.

Figs. 9 and 10 show examples of how the plate 52 can be designed. Its lower edge 69 has been designed so that the middle 70 is top part of the edge. Thus, any drops of liquid which may be caught will move towards the sides and drip at the lower parts of the edges, i.e. in places where the air velocity os less than at the middle.

Figs. 11 and 12 show a box-shaped container 71 which at the upper edge has been designed with a horizontal, outwards projecting flange 72 so as to allow for the container 71, when the lid 33 has been opened and the filter has been removed, to be placed in the container 48 and hang at its upper edge so that the container 48 is divided into two rooms which, however, are connected with each other through an air escape 73. This container 71 has been designed for insertion when, in connection with certain difficult cleaning jobs, you do not want to have the sucked-up liquid mixed with the clean clea¬ ning liquid. The container 71 may then be a disposable type in thin plastic of the same material as is used for disposal bedpans.

It should be noticed that the lids 6 and 33 do not have any locking devices for attachment in the closed position. It has been found that the suction from the fan is entirely adequate to ensure a solid attachment of the lid in the closed position during operation. Thu_.s, it will be easy to make replacements of the various filters and insertion parts which may be used in connec- tion with this unit.

At .the bottoms of the containers 4 or 48, there may be actually known vertical walls in which holes have been made to ensure the connection between the chambers thus established, for the damping of splashes in the liquid.

Any such walls have not been shown in order not to confuse the iss.ue. They may for instance have a height up to around half the container since there will have to be room for a dust bag too. It should be observed in this connection that any such walls will also have a favour¬ able effect in connection with a dust bag since they will contribute towards an improvement in the air discharge around the bag, and the same will also be the case if you mount ribs on the inside of the containers.

Claims

C A I M S

1. A floor treatment unit, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that it has a container designed, to possibly contain a cleaning fluid and having at its upper end an inlet and an outlet for air where^' the inlet is connected to a suction line at the outer end of which a cleaning nozzle has been mounted, and where the outlet has been connected with the suction side of a fan, a fluid outlet having been made at the lower part bf the container, this fluid outlet being connected to the nozzle, preferably through a liquid pump, and that there are means of sepa¬ rating fluid, air, and solids or air and solids from each other.

2. The unit to claim 1 and with a liquid pump, c h a - r a c t e r i s t i c i n that a manually operated valv has been inserted at a convenient spot in the fluid pressure line, and in that a return pipe connected to the container has been connected in the fluid pressure line on the delivery side of this valve, in this return pipe a pressure relief valve or a throttle has been inserted.

3. A unit to claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the air inlet has a mainly horizontal direction and that the air outlet is mainly oppositely directed so that the air flow is turned appr. 180 .

4. A unit to claim 1, 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i s - t i c i n that a mainly horizontal filter has been mounted between the air inlet and outlet.

5. A unit to claim 4, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the filter is a net or a filter cloth.

6. A unit to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or ₃ c h a r a c t e ¬ r i s t i c i n that a diffusor has been mounted in the inlet.

7- A unit to claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the diffusor has a flattened shape.

8. A unit to claim 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, c h a r a c t e ¬ r i s t i c i n that it has a hinged lid in which the air inlet and the flattened diffusor have been mounted, in that the air outlet has been mounted in the actual unit, in that the filter is loose and designed for inserting between the lid and the actual unit_', and in that the diffusor mouth has been inserted over the filter.

9. A unit to one or more of the claims mentioned above, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that it has one or several freely descending plates in front of the air outlet.

10. A unit to claim 9, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the lower edge of the plate or plates constitutes an incomplete line or curve with the highest points at the middle of each plate.

11. A unit to one or more of the claims mentioned above, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that it has means for the separation of the container into two rooms so that the fluid is accumulated in the one room, for instance in an extra container for inserting into first container, since there are also means for airing the room from where the clean fluid is drawn off.

12. A unit to one or more of the claims mentioned above, c h a r a c t e r i s t i c i n that the air inlet has been designed for the attachment of a bag filter, for instance by an adapter with a lock ring.

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