U.S. patent application number 10/748929 was filed with the patent office on 2005-01-20 for motorised floor sweeper.
This patent application is currently assigned to Yasuda Technology (Holdings) Limited. Invention is credited to Chow, Hung.
Application Number | 20050011028 10/748929 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33759763 |
Filed Date | 2005-01-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050011028 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chow, Hung |
January 20, 2005 |
Motorised floor sweeper
Abstract
A motorised floor sweeper includes a chassis, a pair of elongate
brushes mounted to the chassis in parallel relationship with one
another, two electric motors mounted to the chassis and causing
counter-rotation of one of the brushes with respect to the other
brush, and a dust compartment adjacent to at least one of the
brushes for receiving dust swept up by the brush.
Inventors: |
Chow, Hung; (Hong Kong,
HK) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ALIX YALE & RISTAS LLP
750 MAIN STREET
SUITE 1400
HARTFORD
CT
06103
US
|
Assignee: |
Yasuda Technology (Holdings)
Limited
|
Family ID: |
33759763 |
Appl. No.: |
10/748929 |
Filed: |
December 30, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/41.1 ;
15/52.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 11/4069 20130101;
A47L 11/4058 20130101; A47L 11/4013 20130101; A47L 11/32 20130101;
A47L 11/4041 20130101; A47L 11/24 20130101; A47L 11/4036
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/041.1 ;
015/052.1 |
International
Class: |
A47L 011/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 18, 2003 |
CN |
03267700.6 |
Claims
1. A motorised floor sweeper comprising: a chassis, a pair of
elongate brushes mounted to the chassis in parallel relationship
with one another, an electric motor mounted to the chassis and
causing counter-rotation of one of the brushes with respect to the
other brush, and a dust compartment adjacent to at least one of the
brushes for receiving dust swept up thereby.
2. The floor sweeper of claim 1 comprising a pair of said electric
motors, one of which drives one of the brushes and the other of
which drives the other brush.
3. The floor sweeper of the claim 2 wherein the electric motors are
positioned between the rollers.
4. The floor sweeper of claim 3 wherein one of the motors is
situated adjacent to one end of the brushes and the other motor is
situated adjacent to the other end of the brushes.
5. The floor sweeper of claim 4 further comprising a battery
compartment in between the brushes.
6. The floor sweeper of claim 4 further comprising a pair of drive
belts, one transmitting rotational output of one of the motors to
one of the brushes and the other of which transmits rotational
output of the other motor to the other brush.
7. The floor sweeper of claim 1 further comprising floor-engaging
rollers attached to the chassis and maintaining each brush at a
defined spacing above a flat swept surface in use.
8. The floor sweeper of claim 7 wherein the rollers are located
inboard of the brushes.
9. The floor sweeper of claim 8 further comprising a pair of buffer
strip upon the chassis outboard of the brushes defining a minimum
spacing between the brushes and a flat swept surface in use.
10. The floor sweeper of claim 1 comprising a pair of said dust
compartments--one adjacent to each brush and a deflection surface
adjacent to each brush and positioned proximate a respective said
dust compartment to deflect dust swept up by the brush into that
dust compartment.
11. The floor sweeper of claim 10 wherein the deflection surface
has an edge strip defining a minimum spacing between the brushes
and a flat swept surface in use.
12. The floor sweeper of claim 9 wherein each brush has a plurality
of bristles extending radially therefrom and wherein the bristles
have tips that reach a flat swept surface if one of the buffer
strips engages the flat swept surface in use.
13. The floor sweeper of claim 13 wherein each brush comprises a
radially extending strip extending radially as far as the tips of
the bristles.
14. The carpet sweeper of claim 1 comprising an attachment for an
elongate handle attached to the chassis by a multi-pivot joint.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to floor sweepers. More
particularly, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a
motorised floor sweeper having counter-rotating driven brushes.
[0002] Non-powered carpet sweepers are known. These comprise
floor-engaging wheels or rollers connected by a transmission to a
rotating brush. In order to rotate the brush at an effective speed,
significant effort is required to push the carpet sweeper across
the floor surface.
[0003] Mains powered vacuum cleaners having large-capacity dust
bags and air filters are also known. These are useful in cleaning
large areas of carpet for example, but are heavy and limited
somewhat by the need to extend a power cord to a wall socket.
[0004] Battery-operated handheld vacuum cleaners that draw air
through a nozzle are also known. These are useful for cleaning up
smaller areas, but are impractical for cleaning substantial flat
areas.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
[0005] It is an object of the present invention to overcome or
substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages
and/or more generally to provide an improved floor sweeper.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
[0006] There is disclosed herein a motorised floor sweeper
comprising:
[0007] a chassis,
[0008] a pair of elongate brushes mounted to the chassis in
parallel relationship with one another,
[0009] an electric motor mounted to the chassis and causing
counter-rotation of one of the brushes with respect to the other
brush, and
[0010] a dust compartment adjacent to at least one of the brushes
for receiving dust swept up thereby.
[0011] Preferably, the floor sweeper comprising a pair of said
electric motors, one of which drives one of the brushes and the
other of which drives the other brush.
[0012] Preferably the electric motors are positioned between the
rollers.
[0013] Preferably one of the motors is situated adjacent to one end
of the brushes and the other motor is situated adjacent to the
other end of the brushes.
[0014] Preferably the floor sweeper further comprises a battery
compartment in between the brushes.
[0015] Preferably, the floor sweeper further comprises a pair of
drive belts, one transmitting rotational output of one of the
motors to one of the brushes and the other of which transmits
rotational output of the other motor to the other brush.
[0016] Preferably, the floor sweeper further comprises
floor-engaging rollers attached to the chassis and maintaining each
brush at a defined spacing above a flat swept surface in use.
[0017] Preferably the rollers are located inboard of the
brushes.
[0018] A preferably, the floor sweeper further comprises a pair of
buffer strip upon the chassis outboard of the brushes defining a
minimum spacing between the brushes and a flat swept surface in
use.
[0019] Preferably, the floor sweeper further comprises a pair of
said dust compartments--one adjacent to each brush and a deflection
surface adjacent to each brush and positioned proximate a
respective said dust compartment to deflect dust swept up by the
brush into that dust compartment.
[0020] Preferably, the deflection surface has an edge strip
defining a minimum spacing between the brushes and a flat swept
surface in use.
[0021] Preferably, each brush has a plurality of bristles extending
radially therefrom and wherein the bristles have tips that reach a
flat swept surface if one of the buffer strips engages the flat
swept surface in use.
[0022] Preferably, each brush comprises a radially extending strip
extending radially as far as the tips of the bristles.
[0023] A preferably, the carpet sweeper further comprises an
attachment for an elongate handle attached to the chassis by a
multi-pivot joint.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0024] A preferred form of the present invention will now be
described by way of example with reference to the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional end elevation of a
motorised floor sweeper,
[0026] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional top view of the floor
sweeper of FIG. 1,
[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic plan of the floor sweeper of Figures
is 1 and 2,
[0028] FIG. 4 is a schematic elevation of the floor sweeper of
FIGS. 1 to 3, and
[0029] FIG. 5 is a schematic plan of the floor sweeper of FIGS. 1
to 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0030] In the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically
a motorised floor sweeper 10 comprising a chassis 11 having a
handle attachment 19 connected thereto by a multi-pivot joint 20 to
be described later.
[0031] The chassis 11 is typically a plastics moulding and has a
pair of brushes 21 rotatably mounted therein. Each brush 21
comprises a central longitudinal horizontal shaft 12 extending in
the transverse direction of the chassis and parallel to one
another. A plurality of bristles 22 extend radially from the shaft
12. Formed integrally with the shaft 12 is a straight longitudinal
strip 18 having a remote edge at the same or similar radial offset
to the shaft longitudinal axis as the tip of each bristle 22. As
shown in FIG. 2, the bristles extend in a spiral formation about
the shaft 12.
[0032] Supported rotatably at the bottom of the chassis are four
rollers 14. When all of the rollers contact a hard flat swept
surface, the tips of the bristles 22 are spaced away from the floor
surface. If the floor sweeper is being used on carpet however, the
rollers 14 will sink into the carpet somewhat thereby allowing the
tips of the bristles to contact the top of the carpet pile or at
least approach the carpet pile. There is a buffer strip 15 at the
forward and trailing edges of the chassis 11 which would press
against the floor surface or carpet should the chassis tilt about
one of the rollers 14 in use. The rollers 14 and tips of the
bristles 22 extend the same distance downwardly from the chassis 11
this enables the bristle tips to just touch on a hard floor
surface. The bottom extremity of the buffer strip 15 is
approximately 8.5 mm higher than the bottom extremity of each
roller 14. This enables the sweeper to be used on carpet without
jamming of the brushes 21.
[0033] Located inboard of and adjacent to each brush 21 is a
deflection plate 16 having an edge strip 17 approximately 5.5 mm
higher than the bottom extremity of each roller 14. Above each
deflection plate 16 there is an opening 24 through which dust swept
up by the respective brush 21 enters a dust compartment 23. It
should be noted in this regard that the right-hand brush in FIG. 1
rotates in a clockwise sense, whereas the left-hand brush rotates
in an anticlockwise sense. There is a lid 25 covering each dust
compartment 23 which can be lifted prior to inversion of the
chassis for dust-removal purposes.
[0034] There is a rechargeable battery 26 located in between the
brushes 21 and extending in the transverse direction across the
chassis. The battery powers a pair of motors 13 electrically
connected in parallel and each having an output pulley 27 about
which a drive belt 28 extends. Each drive belt 28 extends about a
roller pulley 29 at the end of each roller. As seen in FIG. 2, the
motors 13 flank the batteries 26 and the respective pulleys and
drive belts are at opposite lateral ends of the chassis 11. There
is a switch 30 (FIG. 5) on the top of the chassis to activate the
motors 26.
[0035] The handle attachment 19 has a hollow interior to receive
the end of a wooden broom handle for example. At the bottom end of
the attachment there is a recess 31 into which a pivot pin 32 of a
pivot joint 33 is received. The pivot joint 33 can pivot about axis
A (FIG. 1) back and forth in a plane of intended operational
movement of the floor sweeper 10. The pivot joint 33 is designed to
also enable pivotal movement of the handle attachment 19 about axis
B (FIG. 4) so that the handle attachment can pivot in a lateral
direction.
[0036] It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations
obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as
beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, a single
motor might be adapted to drive both brushes in opposite rotational
directions.
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