U.S. patent application number 11/349640 was filed with the patent office on 2006-12-28 for up-right type vacuum cleaner.
This patent application is currently assigned to SAMSUNG GWANGJU ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Jang-keun Oh.
Application Number | 20060288520 11/349640 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36292914 |
Filed Date | 2006-12-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060288520 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oh; Jang-keun |
December 28, 2006 |
Up-right type vacuum cleaner
Abstract
The present invention relates to an up-right type vacuum cleaner
having a weight compensation unit to share weight of main body. The
up-right type vacuum cleaner includes a brush assembly having a
pair of wheels, a main body being rotatably disposed to the brush
assembly, a spiral spring being disposed at a connecting part of
one side of the brush assembly, and a spring wrap reel being
disposed at the connecting part of one side of the main body
corresponding to the spiral spring and on which one end of the
spiral spring is fixed, wherein the spiral spring gets loosen and
wound round the spring wrap reel as the main body angles
downwards.
Inventors: |
Oh; Jang-keun;
(Gwangju-city, KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Paul D. Greeley;Ohlandt, Greeley, Ruggiero & Perle, L.L.P.
10th Floor
One Landmark Square
Stamford
CT
06901-2682
US
|
Assignee: |
SAMSUNG GWANGJU ELECTRONICS CO.,
LTD.
|
Family ID: |
36292914 |
Appl. No.: |
11/349640 |
Filed: |
February 8, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/351 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 5/28 20130101; A47L
9/325 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
015/351 |
International
Class: |
A47L 5/28 20060101
A47L005/28 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 22, 2005 |
KR |
10-2005-0054079 |
Claims
1. An up-right type vacuum cleaner, comprising: a brush assembly
having a pair of wheels; a main body being rotatably disposed to
the brush assembly; a spiral spring being disposed at a connecting
part at one side of the brush assembly; and a spring wrap reel
being disposed at the connecting part at one side of the main body
corresponding to the spiral spring, the spring wrap reel having one
end of the spiral spring fixed thereto; wherein the spiral spring
gets loosen and wound around the spring wrap reel as the main body
is angled downwards with respect to a vertical axis.
2. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 1, further comprising:
a second spiral spring being disposed at a second connecting part
at the other side of the brush assembly; and a second spring wrap
reel being disposed at the second connecting part at the other side
of the main body corresponding to the second spiral spring.
3. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 2, wherein the spring
wrap reel and the second spring wrap reel are disposed on the main
body in front of rotation shafts of the pair of wheels.
4. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 3, wherein the spiral
spring and the second spiral spring are disposed at the brush
assembly below and behind the rotation shafts of the pair of
wheels.
5. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the
connecting part comprises: a pair of hinge shafts disposed at a
bottom of the main body; and a pair of hinge grooves disposed in
the brush assembly to support the pair of hinge shafts.
6. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 5, wherein the spring
wrap reel and the second spring wrap reel are disposed at the pair
of hinge shafts, respectively.
7. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 1, wherein the spring
wrap reel has a diameter with a ratio to the diameter of the spiral
spring of substantially 2:1.
8. An up-right type vacuum cleaner, comprising: a brush assembly; a
main body; a connecting part rotatably connecting the main body to
the brush assembly so that the main body is moveably between a
vertical position and a horizontal position; and a first weight
compensating unit having a spiral spring on the brush assembly and
a spring wrap reel on the main body, the spiral spring having one
end fixed to the spring wrap reel, wherein the spring wrap reel
rotates in a first direction as the main body is moved from the
vertical position to the horizontal position so that the free end
is wound around the spring wrap reel and the spring wrap reel
rotates in a second direction as the main body is moved from the
horizontal position to the vertical position so that the free end
is unwound from the spring wrap reel.
9. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 8, further comprising
a second weight compensating unit.
10. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 8, further comprising
a pair of wheels on the brush assembly, the pair of wheels rotating
about rotation shafts, respectively.
11. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 10, wherein the
spring wrap reel is on the main body in front of the rotation
shafts.
12. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 10, wherein the
spiral spring is on the brush assembly below and behind the
rotation shafts.
13. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 8, wherein the spring
wrap reel has a diameter with a ratio to the diameter of the spiral
spring of substantially 2:1.
14. The up-right type vacuum cleaner of claim 8, wherein the brush
assembly has a front portion that is not lifted up from a cleaning
floor until the main body is substantially in the horizontal
position.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
.sctn.119(a) from Korean Patent Application Nos. 2005-54079 filed
on Jun. 22 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the
disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its
entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of The Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner. More
particularly, the present invention relates to an up-right type
vacuum cleaner having a weight compensation unit.
[0004] 2. Description of The Related Art
[0005] Generally, a vacuum cleaner generates suction force and
sucks contaminants such as dust from a cleaning floor by the
suction force. Vacuum cleaners are generally classified into a
canister type, an up-right type, a stick type, a handy type, a drum
type, and so on according to their shape and structure.
[0006] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional up-right type vacuum
cleaner I includes a brush assembly 2 moving on a cleaning floor 9
and a main body 3 being disposed on an upper portion of the brush
assembly 2.
[0007] The brush assembly 2 is moved via a plurality of wheels 4
and has a contaminant suction opening (not shown) facing the
cleaning floor for sucking in contaminants. The connection between
the brush assembly 2 and the main body 3 allows the brush assembly
2 and the main body 3 to rotate relative to one another. A
contaminant collecting apparatus (not shown) that separates and
collects contaminants from the air being sucked through the brush
assembly 2 is disposed in the main body 3. A vacuum generating
apparatus (not shown) for generating the suction force is also
disposed in the main body 3. The contaminant collecting apparatus
may be implemented by any of a general dust bag and a cyclone dust
collecting apparatus. A handle 5, which a user grabs during
cleaning, is disposed at an upper portion of the main body 3.
[0008] When the user cleans with the up-right type vacuum cleaner
1, he or she grabs the handle 5 and angles the main body 3 with
respect to the brush assembly 2 as shown in FIG. 1 to an angle 7.
In this position, the main body 3 is angled downward with respect
to a vertical axis 6. When the user cleans with the angled main
body 3, he or she may feel very tired because whole weight of the
main body 3 is applied to the handle 5. In order to solve this
drawback, a conventional up-right type vacuum cleaner 1 disposes a
torsion spring (not shown) at a connecting portion between the main
body 3 and the brush assembly 2. The torsion spring supports the
main body 3 so that the weight being applied to the handle 5
decreases. Therefore, the user can move and clean the up right type
vacuum cleaner 1 with a small force. The user feels it is
convenient to clean with the up-right type vacuum cleaner 1.
[0009] However, the up-right type vacuum cleaner 1 having such a
torsion spring has one or more drawbacks. For example, the torsion
spring can cause the front portion 2a of the brush assembly 2 to be
lifted up from cleaning surface 9 when the main body 3 has an angle
7 over a predetermined angle. When the front portion 2a of the
brush assembly 2 is lifted up from the cleaning surface 9, the
suction force sucking the contaminants decreases so that it is
difficult to perform the cleaning. Therefore, the user typically
keeps the angle 7 of the main body within a predetermined angle
range so that the front portion 2a of the brush assembly 2 is not
lifted up. Thus, many users feel that it is inconvenient to clean
with the conventional up-right type vacuum cleaner 1.
[0010] Furthermore, the conventional up-right type vacuum cleaner 1
has another drawback that weight being applied to the handle 5
varies according to the angle 7 of the main body 3.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention has been developed in order to
overcome the above drawbacks and other problems associated with the
conventional arrangement. An aspect of the present invention is to
provide an up-right type vacuum cleaner that minimizes the force
supporting the main body when the main body is angled downward.
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an up-right
type vacuum cleaner wherein its main body can be angled with
respect to its brush assembly without lifting up a front portion of
a brush assembly from the surface being cleaned.
[0012] The above aspects and/or other feature of the present
invention can substantially be achieved by providing an up-right
type vacuum cleaner, which includes a brush assembly having a pair
of wheels, a main body rotatably connected to the brush assembly by
a connecting part at one side of the vacuum cleaner. The connecting
part includes a spiral spring being disposed at the brush assembly
and a spring wrap reel being disposed at the the main body. The
spiral spring gets loosened and wound around the spring wrap reel
as the main body is angled downwards.
[0013] The up-right type vacuum cleaner can include another
connecting part at the other side of the vacuum cleaner.
[0014] The spring wrap reels are disposed at the main body in front
of the rotation shafts for the pair of wheels on the brush
assembly.
[0015] The spiral springs are disposed at the brush assembly below
and behind the rotation shafts for the pair of wheels.
[0016] The connecting part includes a pair of hinge shafts and a
pair of hinge grooves to support the pair of hinge shafts. The
spring wrap reel is disposed at the hinge shaft.
[0017] The ratio of a diameter of the spring wrap reel to the
spiral spring can be substantially 2:1.
[0018] With an up-right type vacuum cleaner according to the
present invention described above, a user may angle the main body
downwards by a small force and perform the cleaning because the
weight compensation unit shares weight of the main body.
[0019] Furthermore, the up-right type vacuum cleaner according to
the present invention is convenient to clean because the front part
of the brush assembly does not lift up from the floor when the main
body is angled downwards.
[0020] Also, with the up-right type vacuum cleaner according to the
present invention, although the downward angle of the main body
varies with respect to the brush assembly, the weight being applied
to the handle of the main body may be substantially constant
because the spiral spring is used for the weight compensation
unit.
[0021] Other objects, advantages and salient features of the
invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,
discloses preferred embodiments of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
[0022] These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present
invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from
the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawing figures of which:
[0023] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a posture of a conventional
up-right type vacuum cleaner,
[0024] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an up-right type
vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the present
invention,
[0025] FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view illustrating a
connecting part of the up-right type vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 2
having one weight compensation unit,
[0026] FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view illustrating a
connecting part of the up-right type vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 2
having two weight compensation units,
[0027] FIG. 5 is a partial exploded prospective view illustrating
the connecting part of the up-right type vacuum cleaner shown in
FIG. 4,
[0028] FIG. 6 is a partial section view illustrating operation of
the weight compensation unit when the up-right type vacuum cleaner
shown in FIG. 2 is angled downward, and
[0029] FIG. 7 is a partial section view illustrating operation of
the weight compensation unit when the up-right type vacuum cleaner
shown in FIG. 2 is returned to a vertical posture.
[0030] Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be
understood to refer to like parts, components and structures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0031] Hereinafter, certain exemplary embodiments of the present
invention will be described in detail with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
[0032] The matters defined in the description, such as a detailed
construction and elements thereof, are provided to assist in a
comprehensive understanding of the invention. Thus, it is apparent
that the present invention may be carried out without those defined
matters. Also, well-known functions or constructions are omitted to
provide a clear and concise description of exemplary embodiments of
the present invention.
[0033] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an up-right type vacuum cleaner
10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a
brush assembly 20, a main body 30, and a weight compensation unit
50.
[0034] The brush assembly 20 moves on and sucks contaminants from a
cleaning floor. The brush assembly 20 includes a brush body 21, a
suction duct 22, a brush unit 23, a water spray unit 24, when
desired, a plurality of wheels 25, and a brush cover 29.
[0035] The brush body 21 has a contaminant suction opening (not
shown) being formed in a bottom portion thereof and supports other
elements described below. The contaminant suction opening sucks the
contaminants from the cleaning floor.
[0036] The suction duct 22 forms a passage that the contaminants
being sucked through the contaminant suction opening flows to the
main body 30. The suction duct 22 is disposed at an upper portion
of the brush body 21, one end thereof is connected to the
contaminant suction opening and the other end thereof is connected
to the a hose 34 of the main body 30.
[0037] The brush unit 23 includes a brush (not shown), a brush
motor 23a, two pulleys 23b and 23d, and a belt 23c. The brush is
rotatably disposed at the contaminant suction opening and rotates
in contact with the cleaning floor. The brush has a cylindrical
shaped brush drum and a large number of brush hairs fixed to the
brush drum. The brush motor 23a rotates the brush. The two pulleys
23b and 23d and the belt 23c transmit power from the brush motor
23a to the brush.
[0038] The water spray unit 24 is only disposed in the up-right
type vacuum cleaner that is desired to have a water cleaning
function. The water spray unit 24 includes a water tank 33, a water
supply hose 24a, an air pump 24b, a water spray hose and a water
spray nozzle 24d. The water tank 33 contains a predetermined
quantity of water and is disposed in the main body 30 to supply the
water spray nozzle 24d with water. The water supply hose 24a places
the water tank 33 in fluid communication with the air pump 24b so
that the water flows from the water tank 33 to the air pump 24b.
The air pump 24b selectively communicates or blocks the water being
supplied from the water tank 33 to the water spray nozzle 24d
through the water spray hose 24c as the air pump is selectively
turned on or off by a pump switch 35a.
[0039] The plurality of wheels allow the up-right type vacuum
cleaner 10 to move on the cleaning floor and comprises a pair of
wheels 25 disposed at a back portion of the brush body 21. The pair
of wheels 25 are rotatably supported by rotation shafts 26 disposed
at both sides of the back portion of the brush body 21.
Furthermore, it is preferable that a pair of small wheels (not
shown) be disposed at a front portion of the bottom of the brush
body 21 for easy movement of the vacuum cleaner 10.
[0040] The brush cover 29 is assembled on the brush body 21 so that
the brush cover protects those elements described above. Nozzle
holes 29a through which the water spray nozzles 24d are exposed are
formed at a front side of the brush cover 29 when the up-right type
vacuum cleaner 10 has the water cleaning function.
[0041] The main body 30 includes a vacuum generating apparatus 31
to generate suction force and a contaminant collecting apparatus 32
to collect the contaminants being sucked through the brush assembly
20. A motor assembly having a motor rotating an impeller may be
used for the vacuum generating apparatus 31. The contaminant
suction opening of the brush assembly 20 is in fluid communication
with the contaminant collecting apparatus 32 by the hose 34. The
contaminant collecting apparatus 32 may be implemented by any of a
general dust bag and a cyclone dust collecting apparatus. The
up-right type vacuum cleaner 10 according to an embodiment of the
present invention has the water cleaning function. The cyclone dust
collecting apparatus 32 and the water tank 33 containing water for
the water cleaning are disposed in the main body 30 thereof.
[0042] Furthermore, a handle 35, which a user grabs to perform the
cleaning, is disposed on an upper portion of the front side of the
main body 30. The handle 35 is connected to the main body 30 via an
extension pipe 36. A power switch (not shown) that turns on or off
the vacuum generating apparatus 31 is disposed at the handle 35.
The up-right type vacuum cleaner 10 having the water cleaning
function also includes a mode switch (not shown) and the pump
switch 35a on the handle 35. The mode switch selects a mode between
a dry cleaning mode and water-cleaning mode. The pump switch 35a
operates the air pump 24b. The air pump 24b may only operate when
the mode switch selects the water-cleaning mode. The main body 30
can include a grip 37 disposed at upper portion of the backside
thereof for carrying the up-right type vacuum cleaner 10.
[0043] When the main body 30 is angled downward with respect to a
vertical axis 60 (FIG. 6), the weight compensation unit 50 supports
some weight of the main body 30 so that weight being applied to the
handle 35 is decreased. The weight compensation unit 50 is disposed
at a connecting part 40 that connects the main body 30 to the brush
assembly 20. The weight compensation unit 50 includes a spiral
spring 51 and a spring wrap reel 53.
[0044] The spiral spring 51 is disposed on the brush assembly 20 at
one side of the connecting part 40. The spiral spring 51 is formed
of a thin steel band wound around and around like a whirlpool. When
placed in tension, the spiral spring 51 stores up energy to be
equivalent to the pulling force.
[0045] The spring wrap reel 53 is disposed at a lower part of the
main body 30 forming the connecting part 40 so that the spiral
spring 51 may wind around the spring wrap reel 53. An end of the
spiral spring 51 is fixed on the spring wrap reel 53. When the main
body 30 is angled downwards with respect to axis 60, in other
words, the main body 30 rotates a predetermined angle 70 on the
connecting part 40, the end of the spiral spring 51 is pulled and
the pulled part of the spiral spring 51 is wound around the spring
wrap reel 53. So it is preferable that a diameter of the spring
wrap reel 53 is larger than the diameter of the spiral spring 51.
Preferably, it is desirable that the diameter of the spring wrap
reel 53 is twice the diameter of the spiral spring 51. In other
words, the ratio of the diameter of the spring wrap reel 53 to the
diameter of the spiral spring 51 is 2:1. Here, the connecting part
40 includes all elements disposed at each of the main body 30 and
the brush assembly 20 so that the main body 30 and the brush
assembly 20 can rotate relatively each other. The connecting part
40 according to this embodiment of present invention is formed by a
hinge shaft 39 and a hinge groove 27 as shown in FIG. 5. However,
the connecting part 40 may be formed in any shaped configuration
suitable for a relative rotation of the main body 30 and the brush
assembly 20.
[0046] Furthermore, the spring wrap reel 53 is disposed so that its
center is located in front of a rotation shaft 26 of the wheel 25
and the spiral spring 51 is disposed so that its center shaft 52 is
located behind the rotation shaft 26 of the wheel 25. Therefore,
the front part of the brush assembly 20 is not lifted up when the
main body 30 is angled downwards with respect to the brush assembly
20. At this time, it is preferable that the center shaft 52 of the
spiral spring 51 also be located below the rotation shaft 26 of the
wheel 25 as shown in FIG. 6.
[0047] FIG. 5 is a partial exploded prospective view illustrating
the connecting parts 40 and 40' between the main body 30 and the
brush assembly 20. In this embodiment, each connecting part 40 and
40' includes the hinge shaft 39 and the hinge groove 27.
[0048] Referring to FIG. 5, the hinge shafts 39 for each connecting
part 40, 40' are formed on the bottom of the opposite sides 38 of
the main body 30. The hinge grooves 27 for each connecting part 40,
40' have a semicircular shape inner sides 21a of the brush body 21
so that each hinge groove 27 supports one of the hinge shafts 39.
The brush cover 29 can include a pair of upper hinge grooves 28
corresponding to the pair of hinge grooves 27 of the brush body 21.
Therefore, the pair of hinge shafts 39 can be seated in the hinge
groove 27 of the brush body 21 and the brush cover 29 is assembled
on the brush body 21 so that the main body 30 and the brush
assembly 20 may rotate relatively each other. At this time, it is
preferable that the pair of hinge shafts 39 be disposed in front of
the rotation shaft 26 as shown in FIG. 6. The spring wrap reel 53
is fixed on the hinge shaft 39 so that the spring wrap reel 53
rotates integrally with the hinge shaft 39. The spiral spring 51 is
disposed at one side of the hinge groove 27. Especially, the spiral
spring 51 is preferably disposed so that its center shaft 52 is
located below and behind the rotation shaft 26 of the pair of the
wheels 25 as shown in FIG. 6. In this manner, angling the main body
30 downward with respect to the vertical axis 60 does not lift up
the front part of the brush assembly 20.
[0049] The weight compensation unit 50 described above is disposed
at the connecting part 40 on one side between the main body 30 and
the brush assembly 20 as shown in FIG. 3. However, it is also
contemplated by the present invention for each of the connecting
parts 40, 40' to have a weight compensation unit 50, 50' at both
sides between the main body 30 and the brush assembly 20.
[0050] Hereinafter, operation of the up-right type vacuum cleaner
10 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprising
the same structure as that described above will be explained
referring to FIGS. 2 and FIGS. 5 to 7.
[0051] When performing the cleaning, a user grips the handle 35 of
the up-right type vacuum cleaner 10 and angles the main body 30
downwards by predetermined angle as shown in FIG. 6. At this time,
weight being applied to the handle 35 is decreased by the weight
compensation unit 50 between the main body 30 and brush assembly
20. This procedure is described in detail hereinafter.
[0052] When the main body 30 is angled downward with respect to
vertical axis 60, the spring wrap reel 53 rotates clockwise with
respect to the main body 30. Then end of the spiral spring 51 that
is fixed to the spring wrap reel 53 is pulled toward the spring
wrap reel 53 (see a direction of an arrow A in FIG. 6) and is wound
around the spring wrap reel 53. At this time, the spiral spring 51
stores up force of restitution, in other words, energy that will
act to return the main body 30 to an original position (i.e.,
parallel to axis 60) as much as the force pulling on the main body.
The spiral spring 51 shares in the weight of the main body 30 so
that the weight being applied to the handle 35 decreases.
Therefore, the user may support the main body 30 angled downwards
with a small force. So the user may lightly move the up-right type
vacuum cleaner 10 to perform the cleaning.
[0053] Furthermore, the front portion of the brush assembly 20 is
not lifted up until the main body 30 is substantially laid down on
the floor (i.e., when angle 70 is substantially ninety degrees),
because the spring wrap reel 53 is disposed in front of the
rotation shaft 26 of the wheel 25 and the spiral spring 51 is
disposed behind the rotation shaft 26 of the wheel 25. Therefore,
the up-right type vacuum cleaner 10 according to the present
invention is convenient to clean because the user does not need to
maintain the angle of the main body 30 within a predetermined angle
range for preventing the front portion of the brush assembly 20
from lifting up.
[0054] Furthermore, although the angle of the main body 30 varies,
the weight being applied to the handle 35 of the main body 30 is
substantially constant because the spiral spring 51 supports the
main body 30.
[0055] When the power switch turns on and the user pushes the
handle 35, the brush assembly 20 moves back and forth on the pair
of the wheel 25 and sucks the contaminants from the floor through
the contaminant suction opening. The contaminants sucked with air
are separated and collected in the contaminant collecting apparatus
32 of the main body 30. Cleaned air is discharged out of the main
body 30. When wet cleaning, the mode switch is set to the wet
cleaning mode and the pump switch 35a is operated. Then, water is
sprayed through the water spray nozzle 24d so that the user may
perform the wet cleaning.
[0056] When the cleaning is completed, the user turns the power
switch off, and pushes up the main body 30 in a perpendicular
posture, namely so that the main body is parallel to axis 60 and
angle 70 is zero. At this time, operation of the weight
compensation unit 50 is described hereinafter referring to FIG.
7.
[0057] When pushing up the main body 30, the main body 30 rotates
on the connecting part 40, namely the hinge shaft 39
counterclockwise. When the main body 30 rotates, the spring wrap
reel 53 being disposed on the hinge shaft 39 rotates integrally
with the hinge shaft 39 counterclockwise. Then the spiral spring 51
is wound off the spring wrap reel 53 and returns to the original
state. At this time, the force of restitution of the spiral spring
51 applies to the spring wrap reel 53 in a direction of an arrow B
as shown in FIG. 7 so that the user may push up the main body 30 in
the perpendicular posture by a small force.
[0058] While the embodiments of the present invention have been
described, additional variations and modifications of the
embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn
of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the
appended claims shall be construed to include both the above
embodiments and all such variations and modifications that fall
within the spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *