U.S. patent application number 11/342042 was filed with the patent office on 2009-03-12 for powered carpet scrubbing and combing machine.
This patent application is currently assigned to David K. Thatcher, Owner. Invention is credited to Colby M. Haas, David K. Thatcher.
Application Number | 20090064452 11/342042 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40430296 |
Filed Date | 2009-03-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090064452 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Thatcher; David K. ; et
al. |
March 12, 2009 |
Powered carpet scrubbing and combing machine
Abstract
A powered carpeted floor scrubbing and combing machine is
described. The machine includes first and second scrubbing pads,
followed by a combing head having cylindrical shaped
counter-rotating brushes, which is in turn followed by a carpet
shoe having vacuum ability. This invention provides for
simultaneous scrubbing and combing of carpeted floors. The machine
is powered with an internal engine and has a user control panel for
the control/driving of the machine.
Inventors: |
Thatcher; David K.;
(Paradise, UT) ; Haas; Colby M.; (Providence,
UT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Michael R. Schramm
350 West 2000 South
Perry
UT
84302
US
|
Assignee: |
Thatcher, Owner; David K.
Spectrum Industrial Products,Inc.
|
Family ID: |
40430296 |
Appl. No.: |
11/342042 |
Filed: |
January 27, 2006 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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09865766 |
May 25, 2001 |
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11342042 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
15/364 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 11/283 20130101;
A47L 11/4069 20130101; A47L 11/302 20130101; A47L 11/4002 20130101;
A47L 11/10 20130101; A47L 11/4038 20130101; A47L 11/4044 20130101;
A47L 11/16 20130101; A47L 11/4036 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/364 |
International
Class: |
A47L 9/06 20060101
A47L009/06 |
Claims
1. A scrubbing and combing machine comprising: a frame; a scrubbing
device attached to said frame; a combing device attached to said
frame, said combing device having a front end and a rear end; and a
shoe mounted to said rear end of said combing device, said shoe
having at least one vacuum port providing vacuum suction to said
shoe.
2. The machine of claim 1 wherein said combing device defines a
combing device having a first cylindrical shaped brush having an
axis of rotation and a second cylindrical shaped brush having an
axis of rotation and wherein said axis of rotation of each of said
brushes is substantially parallel to a floor surface when said
machine is engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
3. The machine of claim 2 wherein said cylindrical shaped brushes
define counter-rotating brushes.
4. The machine of claim 1 wherein said scrubbing device defines a
scrubbing device having at least one rotating scrubbing pad having
an axis of rotation, and wherein said axis of rotation of said
scrubbing pad is substantially normal to a floor surface when said
machine is engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
5. The machine of claim 1 wherein said combing device includes at
least one rotating combing brush, and wherein said scrubbing device
includes at least one rotating scrubbing pad, and wherein said at
least one brush and said at least one pad each include an
electrical motor that drives each of said brush and said pad.
6. The machine of claim 1 wherein said machine includes a motor
mounted on said frame and providing power to at least one of said
devices of said machine.
7. The machine of claim 6 wherein said motor defines a motor
selected from the group of motors consisting of a propane powered
engine, a gasoline powered engine, an electric motor, and a battery
powered motor.
8. The machine of claim 6 wherein said motor defines an internal
combustion engine, and wherein said machine includes an alternator
mounted to said frame an in electrical communication to said
machine devices, and wherein said alternator is mechanically driven
by said engine such that said alternator provides electrical power
to at least one device of said machine devices.
9. A scrubbing and combing machine comprising: a frame; a scrubbing
device attached to said frame; and a combing device attached to
said frame, wherein said combing device defines a combing device
having a first cylindrical shaped brush having an axis of rotation
and a second cylindrical shaped brush having an axis of rotation
and wherein said axis of rotation of each of said brushes is
substantially parallel to a floor surface when said machine is
engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
10. The machine of claim 9 wherein said cylindrical shaped brushes
define counter-rotating brushes.
11. The machine of claim 9 wherein said scrubbing device defines a
scrubbing device having at least one rotating scrubbing pad having
an axis of rotation, and wherein said axis of rotation of said
scrubbing pad is substantially normal to a floor surface when said
machine is engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
12. The machine of claim 9 wherein said combing device includes at
least one rotating combing brush, and wherein said scrubbing device
includes at least one rotating scrubbing pad, and wherein said at
least one brush and said at least one pad each include an
electrical motor that drives each of said brush and said pad.
13. The machine of claim 9 wherein said machine includes a motor
mounted on said frame and providing power to at least one of said
devices of said machine.
14. The machine of claim 13 wherein said motor defines a motor
selected from the group of motors consisting of a propane powered
engine, a gasoline powered engine, an electric motor, and a battery
powered motor.
15. The machine of claim 13 wherein said motor defines an internal
combustion engine, and wherein said machine includes an alternator
mounted to said frame an in electrical communication to said
machine devices, and wherein said alternator is mechanically driven
by said engine such that said alternator provides electrical power
to at least one device of said machine devices.
16. The machine of claim 9 wherein said combing device further
defines a combing device having a front end and a rear end, and
wherein said combing devices includes a shoe mounted to said rear
end of said combing device, said shoe having at least one vacuum
port providing vacuum suction to said shoe.
17. A scrubbing and combing machine comprising: a frame; a
scrubbing device attached to said frame; a combing device attached
to said frame; and a motor mounted on said frame and providing
power to at least one of said devices of said machine.
18. The machine of claim 17 wherein said combing device defines a
combing device having a first cylindrical shaped brush having an
axis of rotation and a second cylindrical shaped brush having an
axis of rotation and wherein said axis of rotation of each of said
brushes is substantially parallel to a floor surface when said
machine is engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
19. The machine of claim 18 wherein said cylindrical shaped brushes
define counter-rotating brushes.
20. The machine of claim 17 wherein said scrubbing device defines a
scrubbing device having at least one rotating scrubbing pad having
an axis of rotation, and wherein said axis of rotation of said
scrubbing pad is substantially normal to a floor surface when said
machine is engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface.
21. The machine of claim 17 wherein said combing device includes at
least one rotating combing brush, and wherein said scrubbing device
includes at least one rotating scrubbing pad, and wherein said at
least one brush and said at least one pad each include an
electrical motor that drives each of said brush and said pad.
22. The machine of claim 17 wherein said motor defines a motor
selected from the group of motors consisting of a propane powered
engine, a gasoline powered engine, an electric motor, and a battery
powered motor.
23. The machine of claim 17 wherein said motor defines an internal
combustion engine, and wherein said machine includes an alternator
mounted to said frame an in electrical communication to said
machine devices, and wherein said alternator is mechanically driven
by said engine such that said alternator provides electrical power
to at least one device of said machine devices.
24. The machine of claim 17 wherein said combing device further
defines a combing device having a front end and a rear end, and
wherein said combing devices includes a shoe mounted to said rear
end of said combing device, said shoe having at least one vacuum
port providing vacuum suction to said shoe.
25. A scrubbing and combing machine comprising: a frame; a
scrubbing device attached to said frame; a combing device attached
to said frame; a propane powered engine mounted on said frame; and
an alternator attached to said frame; wherein said scrubbing device
defines a scrubbing device having at least one rotating electric
motor driven scrubbing pad having an axis of rotation, and wherein
said axis of rotation of said scrubbing pad is substantially normal
to a floor surface when said machine is engaged in scrubbing and
combing said floor surface, and wherein said combing device defines
a combing device having a first cylindrical shaped electric motor
driven brush having an axis of rotation and a second cylindrical
shaped electric motor driven brush having an axis of rotation and
wherein said axis of rotation of each of said brushes is
substantially parallel to a floor surface when said machine is
engaged in scrubbing and combing said floor surface, and wherein
said cylindrical shaped electric motor driven brushes define
counter-rotating brushes and wherein said alternator is
mechanically driven by said propane engine such that said
alternator generates electricity, and wherein said alternator is in
electrical communication with said electric motors of said
scrubbing device and said combing device such that electrical power
is provided to said electric motors of said scrubbing device and
said combing device.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation in part of co-pending
application Ser. No. 09/865,766 filed May 25, 2001. The benefit of
the filing date of this earlier filed application is claimed under
35 USC .sctn. 120.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] This invention relates to floor cleaning devices. More
specifically, this invention relates to automatic powered carpet
scrubbing, combing, vacuuming, and cleaning devices.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] A variety of machines and devices have been developed to
clean floors. Typically, such machines are designed to either clean
or polish or perform some other single floor or floor covering
maintenance function. Some machines can be selected to do either
cleaning, scrubbing, combing or polishing, but generally they do
not scrub and comb a carpeted floor simultaneously. Moreover, most
such cleaning machines do not provide a plurality of scrubbing pads
independent from a carpet combing, brushing, and cleaning head in
order to scrub and clean a carpeted floor.
[0006] Different aspects of floor cleaning machines and components
thereof have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,107,387, 3,204,280,
3,600,735, 3,742,546, 3,795,933, 3,866,541, 3,879,789, 3,921,244,
3,931,659, 3,931,662, 3,942,215, 3,952,361, 3,972,088, 4,094,034,
4,096,084, 4,118,819, 4,122,576, 4,150,456, 4,196,492, 4,214,337,
4,217,671, 4,237,517, 4,295,243, 4,319,434, 4,322,920, 4,391,548,
4,393,534, 4,407,040, 4,506,405, 4,523,411, 4,577,364, 4,633,541,
4,654,918, 4,783,872, 4,910,824, 4,956,891, 5,054,245, 5,127,124,
5,253,384, 5,289,605, 5,371,912, 5,402,559, 5,797,157, 5,836,045,
6,023,813, 6,357,070, and 2004/0049878 each of which is hereby
incorporated by reference in its entirety for the material
disclosed therein. Further, U.S. patent application Ser. No.
09/865,766, of which the current application is
continuation-in-part, is also incorporated by reference in its
entirety.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,735 describes a drive connection for a
floor polisher, which permits ready removal from an attachment of
brush units to the vertical shaft driven by the motor.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,546 describes a surface treating
apparatus having rotatable treating members movable over a surface,
a container for liquid wax, which is positioned in a compartment,
and has an outlet at its bottom normally closed by a value having a
vertically movable stem.
[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,933 discloses a multi-purpose cleaning
implement includes a base member supporting a sponge mop type work
head and an auxiliary implement such as a brush, squeegee, scraper,
spreader or similar implement.
[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,244 discloses a floor buffer for
operator directed polishing of a floor.
[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,659 discloses a floor treating machine
supported at the floor or surface to be treated by means of a work
disk arranged beneath a substantially ring-shaped stop member, the
work disk being detachably coupled with a drive motor.
[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,361 discloses a floor treating machine
having laterally spaced drive wheels driven by separate electric
traction motors under electronic control so as to be driven by a
separate train of pulses, comprising means for recording the trains
of pulses to the traction motors and means for replaying the record
to reproduce the trains of pulses whereby the machine will repeat
the operation.
[0013] U.S. Pat. No. 3,972,088 discloses an electric floor scrubber
and buffer having its scrubber or buffer pad attached to the
underside of an oscillating plate.
[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,034 discloses a floor treating machine
of the rotary brush type in which, in operation, the weight of the
machine is, to at least a significant extent, supported by the
rotary brush or brushes, in which a brush mounting member is
flexibly suspended between resilient elements for limited universal
movement.
[0015] U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,084 discloses a method for cleaning
surfaces such as floors and pavements that includes incorporating a
polyelectrolyte in the cleaning solution and a surface-scrubbing
machine for carrying out the process.
[0016] U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,819 discloses a floor treating machine
of the single rotary brush type having a handle and a motor both
laterally offset from the axis of rotation of the brush in a
direction to impart a tilting couple opposed to that arising from
operator forces counteracting the reaction couple on the
handle.
[0017] U.S. Pat. No. 4,122,576 discloses a manually operated floor
polishing machine comprising a polishing pad or brush rotatable at
a speed above 660 rpm, pressing against the floor with a force of
less than about 25 lbs., and positioned so that one segment of the
pad presses harder against the floor than the other, such as by
mounting the pad's driving plate or disc to that its plane of
rotation is at an angle less than about 10 degree to the plane of
the floor.
[0018] U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,456 discloses a floor scrubber with a
propane powered internal combustion engine which is mounted on a
wheeled dolly and which is attached by its rotary output shaft to a
circular cage provided with a plurality of rotary brushes on the
underside thereof.
[0019] U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,214,337 and 4,237,571 disclose compact
floor polishers including a base supporting an electric motor
having a vertically oriented output shaft and driving a circular
brush.
[0020] U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,671 discloses a multipurpose cleaning
device which can be used as a bath and tile scrubbing device as
well as being adapted for use in conjunction with floors, walls,
ceilings and the like.
[0021] U.S. Pat. No. 4,295,243 discloses an apparatus for cleaning,
waxing, polishing and otherwise treating the surface of a floor,
where the apparatus includes a carriage or frame with a handle for
guiding and maneuvering, several containers for dispensing several
selected types of fluids or solutions to the floor where a
reciprocating scrubber, such as steel wool or a buffing pad
operates with a solution to effectively clean, strip, wax or polish
the floor surface. In addition, there is a vacuum means, which
removes and carries away any excess liquid, solution or dirty
cleaning fluids from the floor surface.
[0022] U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,434 describes a surface processing
machine that includes at least one motor-driven spider arm
assembly, each of the arms of the spider having rotatably mounted
as the ends thereof a surface processing tools such as a brush,
buffing pad, grinding stone or the like and wherein the surface
processing tools are mounted on an axis which is substantially
parallel to the axis.
[0023] U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,920 discloses an attachment for use on a
rotary floor-conditioning machine comprising a master block, which
is integrally molded of a urethane elastomer including a centrally
located hub with a circular flange member extending radially from
the base thereof.
[0024] U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,548 describes a coupling device adapted
for use with floor maintenance machines of the type such as floor
brushing, buffing, polishing, scrubbing or the like which enables
automatic coupling of the maintenance element without direct manual
implementation thereof.
[0025] U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,534 discloses an apparatus for
mechanically varying the speed of a disk, such as a floor treating
pad, mounted for rotation about the axis of elongation of a shaft
powered by a fixed speed motor.
[0026] U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,040 describes a pad drive assembly that
detachably grips and rotatably drives a selected maintenance pad by
a floor maintenance pad by a floor maintenance machine.
[0027] U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,405 discloses a floor-treating machine
adapted to operate as a floor scrubber and a floor polisher or
buffer includes a main housing or support frame structure from
which extends a brush housing assembly.
[0028] U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,411 describes a rotatable element and a
surface-treating device.
[0029] U.S. Pat. No. 4,577,364 discloses a floor-cleaning machine
including a support frame with a handle attached to the upper end
of the support frame for guiding the machine along the floor and a
wheel assembly attached to the lower end. A plurality of
disc-shaped floor cleaning pads disposed and held adjacent one
another such that a floor pad cylinder having a horizontally
disposed and held adjacent one another such that a floor pad
cylinder having a horizontally-disposed longitudinal axis is formed
are attached to the lower end of the frame.
[0030] U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,541 discloses a floor-treating machine
adapted to operate as a floor scrubber and a floor polisher or
buffer, which includes a main housing or support frame structure
from which extends a brush housing assembly.
[0031] U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,918 describes a buffer deck assembly for
floor scrubbing, cleaning and polishing machine that includes a
displaceable buffer deck housing mounted to the machine through a
substantially U-shaped mounting frame having a pair of sleeves that
each slid ably receive a cantilever support arm.
[0032] U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,872 discloses a high-speed
floor-treating machine is provided comprising a frame, a control
and guiding handle extending rearward of the frame and an electric
motor for rotating a floor-contacting pad is secured.
[0033] U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,824 discloses a floor polisher, which
causes a pad to rotate at a high speed to polish a floor. The floor
polisher has a vertically moving mechanism adapted to move the pad
in the vertical direction with respect to the floor, a ground
pressure adjusting mechanism adapted to maintain a ground pressure
of the pad at a set pressure by controlling the vertically moving
mechanism and a floor protecting mechanism adapted to actuate the
vertically moving mechanism to lift the pad immediately when the
travel of the floor polisher is stopped.
[0034] U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,245 describes a combination of cleaning
pads, cleaning pad mounting members and a base member for a rotary
cleaning machine.
[0035] U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,124 describes an apparatus for adjusting
the height above the floor of a plate to which is attached a pad in
a rotary floor machine to accommodate pads having a range of
thicknesses.
[0036] U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,384 discloses an electric buffing
machine and a method for buffing waxed floors. The buffing machine
comprises a molded plastic housing, a foldable handle and a DC
drive motor directly driving a buffing pad holder.
[0037] U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,605 discloses a cleaning apparatus in
the form of a scrubber that is a motor driven by a direct current
(DC) motor driving a rotatable scrubber unit which includes a
scrubber disc with the motor and scrubber disc forming a power head
supported from a detachable and adjustable length pole which
enables surfaces that are normally out of reach to be easily
scrubbed.
[0038] U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,912 discloses an electric floor and
baseboard-cleaning machine which includes a motor assembly attached
to a medium frame in which the movement thereof is adjustable for
either straight line or circular motion.
[0039] U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,559 discloses a floor scrubber is
provided which consists of a rectangular head assembly.
[0040] U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,157 describes a floor buffer having the
power source and drive means mounted at one end of an elongate
handle, and a buffer head mounted at the other end, such that the
center of gravity of the machine is roughly at the midpoint of the
elongate handle.
[0041] U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,813 describes an automatic floor
scrubber and buffer that provides for simultaneous scrubbing and
buffing of floors through the use of a plurality of pads operating
at different speeds to optimize the scrubbing and buffing operation
of the device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0042] It is desirable to provide an automatic carpet scrubber and
combing machine that simultaneously scrubs and combs a carpet in
one pass and vacuums dirty cleaning solution and moisture from a
carpeted floor.
[0043] Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a
carpeted floor scrubbing and combing machine that provides separate
scrubbing and combing heads to thereby permit simultaneous
scrubbing and combing of carpeted floors.
[0044] Another object of this invention is to provide a floor
scrubbing and combing machine that employs a carpet combing head
having cylindrical shaped counter-rotating brushes along with one
or more scrubbing pads for the simultaneous scrubbing and combing
of a carpeted floor.
[0045] Another object of this invention is to provide a carpeted
floor scrubbing and combing machine that is compatible with a
variety of power devices or motors, including electrical motors,
battery powered motors, natural gas powered engines, propane
powered engines, and gasoline engines.
[0046] Another object of this invention to provide a carpeted floor
scrubbing and combing machine that provides separate scrubbing and
combing heads wherein the combing head is readily substituted for a
buffing and polishing head.
[0047] Additional objects, advantages, and other novel features of
this invention will be set forth in part in the description that
follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the
art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the
practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of this
invention may be realized and attained by means of the
instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the
appended claims. Still other objects of the present invention will
be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following
description wherein there is shown and described the preferred
embodiment of this invention. As it will be realized, this
invention is capable of other different embodiments, and its
several details, and specific configurations, are capable of
modification in various aspects without departing from the
invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be
regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
[0048] To achieve the foregoing and other objectives, and in
accordance with the purposes of the present invention, this
invention is provided with separate powered scrubbing pads and
combing brushes in combination with a vacuum powered squeegee
device for removing fluid from a carpeted floor subsequent to
scrubbing and combing.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0049] The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part
of the specification, illustrate a preferred embodiment of the
present invention. Some, although not all, alternative embodiments
are described in the following description. In the drawings:
[0050] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment of
the invention.
[0051] FIG. 2 is a trimetric view of the preferred embodiment of
the invention with the view oriented as looking upward towards the
bottom of the invention.
[0052] FIG. 3 is a partially exploded isometric view of the
preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0053] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the preferred embodiment of
the invention showing select covers removed.
[0054] FIG. 5 is a partially exploded isometric view of the
preferred embodiment of the invention showing the exploded
relationship of various subassemblies of the preferred embodiment.
Some portions of the machine are not shown for clarity.
[0055] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of the carriage assembly portion
of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the covers shown
removed.
[0056] FIG. 7 is a partially exploded isometric view of the
carriage assembly portion of the preferred embodiment of the
invention with the covers shown removed.
[0057] FIG. 8 is an isometric view of the carriage frame assembly
portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0058] FIG. 9 is an isometric view of the comb head assembly
portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention. A cover of
the comb head assembly is shown exploded.
[0059] FIG. 10 is a partially exploded isometric view of the comb
head assembly portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention
with a cover and a gear housing shown removed.
[0060] FIG. 11 is an isometric view of the scrub head assembly
portion of the preferred embodiment of the invention with the
scrubbing pad cover and skirt shown removed.
[0061] FIG. 12 is a partially exploded isometric view of the scrub
head assembly portion of the preferred embodiment of the
invention.
[0062] FIG. 13 is an isometric view of the engine assembly portion
of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
[0063] Reference will now be made in detail to the present
preferred embodiment of the invention, and example of which is
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0064] This invention is a machine for simultaneously scrubbing,
combing and removing cleaning solution and moisture from a carpeted
floor. This invention in its preferred embodiment is equipped with
multiple scrubbing pads, multiple brush like combing devices or
combs, and vacuum assisted squeegee shoe for removing water, refuse
and cleaning fluid from a carpeted floor. This invention is
provided with a motor means, both for driving the drive wheels and
for powering the scrubbing pads and combs. In the present preferred
embodiment, the motor means is a propane engine, although
alternative engines or motor, including gasoline or battery powered
electric motor can be substituted without departing from the
concept of this invention. In order to facilitate the understanding
of the present invention in reviewing the drawings accompanying the
specification, a feature list is provided below. It is noted that
like features are like numbered throughout all of the figures.
TABLE-US-00001 FEATURE TABLE # Feature # Feature 100 Scrubbing and
combing machine 110 Water and chemical mixture tank 112 Water and
chemical mixture tank opening 114 Water and chemical mixture tank
cover 120 Waste water tank assembly 122 Waste water tank 123 Waste
water tank pocket 124 Waste water tank opening 126 Left side vacuum
unit 128 Right side vacuum unit 130 Left side grill 132 Right side
grill 134 Waste water drain tube assembly 136 Guide brackets 138
Adjustment bracket 140 Rear cover mounting plate 150 Front cover
160 Rear cover assembly 162 Rear cover 164 Rear cover tank
receiving cavity 166 Tank mounting strap 168 Control handle bars
170 Propane tank 172 Electronic control unit 174 Control panel 200
Carriage assembly 202 Carriage assembly left side cover 204
Carriage assembly right side cover 220 Frame assembly 222 Frame 224
Drive axle 226 Drive axle motor 228 Drive wheels 230 Scrub head
assembly mounting arms 232 Scrub head assembly adjustment cable 234
Scrub head assembly adjustment shaft 236 Adjustment cable mounting
bracket 238 Swivelable wheels 240 Rear cover assembly mounting
brackets 260 Comb head assembly 262 Comb head frame 264
Counter-balance apparatus 266 Squeegee shoe 268 Vacuum connection
port 270 Vacuum opening 272 Shoe flange 274 Shoe mounting arm 280
Front comb 281 Front comb bristles 282 Left side gear cluster 283
Left side gear cluster housing 284 Left side drive motor 286 Left
side cover 288 Front cover 290 Rear comb 291 Rear comb bristles 292
Right side gear cluster 293 Right side gear cluster housing 294
Right side drive motor 296 Right side cover 298 Rear cover 310
Scrub head assembly 312 Scrub head frame 314 Scrub head mounting
arms 316 Pad pressure adjustment apparatus 318 Pad pressure
adjustment bar 320 Pad pressure adjustment handle 322 Pad pressure
adjustment release strap 330 Left side drive motor 332 Left side
gimbal 334 Left side pad driver 336 Left side scrubbing pad 340
Right side drive motor 342 Right side gimbal 344 Right side pad
driver 346 Right side scrubbing pad 350 Scrubbing pad cover 352
Scrubbing pad skirt 360 Engine assembly 362 Engine assembly
mounting frame 364 Propane engine 365 Propane engine shaft 366
Adjustable alternator mounting arms 368 Alternator mounting
brackets 370 Alternator 372 Alternator drive belt 374 Alternator
shaft
[0065] Referring now to the drawings, the invention is a powered
scrubbing and combing machine 100 for use in scrubbing, combing and
cleaning carpeted floors comprising a water and chemical mixture
tank 110, a waste water tank assembly 120, a front cover 150, a
rear cover assembly 160 and a carriage assembly 200.
[0066] Water and chemical tank 110 defines a substantially
elongated rotationally molded plastic tank having an opening 112
and an opening cover 114 removably attached to opening 112.
[0067] Waste water tank assembly 120, defines a tank assembly
comprising a rotationally molded plastic tank 122 having a formed
pocket 123 and an opening 124, a left side vacuum unit 126, a right
side vacuum unit 128, a left side grill 130, a right side grill
132, a waste water drain tube assembly 134, guide brackets 136,
adjustment bracket 138 and a rear cover mounting plate 140. Waste
water tank assembly 120 is assembled such that left side vacuum
unit 126 and right side vacuum unit 128 are mounted within formed
pocket 123, left side grill 130 and right side grill 132 are
mounted on sides of tank 122, drain tube assembly 134 is attached
to and in fluid communication with a lower surface of tank 122,
guide brackets 136 and adjustment bracket 138 are mounted to a
front surface of tank 122 and rear cover mounting plate 140 is
attached to a rear surface of tank 122. The attachment of drain
tube assembly 134 to tank 122 is such that waste water may be
selectively drained from tank 122.
[0068] Front cover 150 defines a substantially thin formed cowling
type cover.
[0069] Rear cover assembly 160 defines a rear cover assembly
comprising a rear cover 162 having a receiving cavity 164, a tank
mounting strap 166, control handle bars 168, a propane tank 170, an
electronic control unit 172 and a control panel 174. Rear cover
assembly 160 is assembled such that mounting strap 166 is hingedly
connected to rear cover 162 and such that propane tank 170 is
removably retained within receiving cavity 164 by being secured by
strap 166. Rear cover 162 further includes handle bars 168
substantially rigidly connected to an upper portion of rear cover
162, and rear cover 162 includes a control panel 174 mounted to an
upper external surface of rear cover 162 and an electronic control
unit 172 mounted within cavity 164.
[0070] Carriage assembly 200 defines a carriage assembly comprising
a carriage assembly left side cover 202, a carriage assembly right
side cover 204, a frame assembly 220, a comb head assembly 260, a
scrub head assembly 310 and an engine assembly 360. Carriage
assembly 200 is assembled such that comb head assembly 260 and
scrub head assembly 310 are movably and adjustably mounted to frame
assembly 220, and such that carriage assembly left side cover 202,
carriage assembly right side cover 204 and engine assembly 360 are
substantially rigidly mounted to frame assembly 220. Carriage
assembly 200 is further adapted such that comb head assembly 260 is
readily replaceable with a conventional buffing and polishing head
such as the buffing and polishing head disclosed in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/865,766.
[0071] Frame assembly 220 defines a frame assembly comprising a
frame 222, a drive axle 224, a drive motor 226, drive wheels 228,
scrub head assembly mounting arms 230, scrub head assembly
adjustment cable 232, scrub head assembly adjustment shaft 234,
adjustment cable mounting bracket 236, swivelable wheels 238 and
rear cover assembly mounting brackets 240. Frame assembly 220 is
assembled such that drive axle 224, adjustment cable mounting
bracket 236 and rear cover assembly 240 are substantially rigidly
mounted to frame 222, scrub head assembly mounting arms 230 and
swivelable wheels 238 are swivelably mounted to frame 222 and scrub
head assembly adjustment shaft 234 is slidingly mounted to frame
222. Drive axle wheels 228 are rotatably connected to drive axle
224 and drive axle motor 226 is drivingly connected to drive axle
224. Scrub head assembly adjustment cable 232 is movably connected
to scrub head assembly adjustment shaft 234 and adjustment cable
mounting bracket 236 such that a forward or rearward movement of
cable 232 causes a corresponding movement of adjustment shaft
234.
[0072] Comb head assembly 260 defines a comb head assembly
comprising a comb head frame 262, a counter-balance apparatus 264,
a squeegee shoe 266, a substantially elongated cylindrically shaped
front comb 280 having a plurality of bristles 281, a left side gear
cluster 282, a left side gear cluster housing 283, a left side
drive motor 284, a left side cover 286, a front cover 288, a
substantially elongated cylindrically shaped rear comb 290 having a
plurality of bristles 291, a right side gear cluster 292, a right
side gear cluster housing 293, a right side drive motor 294, a
right side cover 296 and a rear cover 298. Squeegee shoe 266
further defines a squeegee shoe having a vacuum connection port
268, a vacuum opening 270, a shoe flange 272 and a shoe mounting
arm 274. Comb head assembly 260 is assembled such that squeegee
mounting arm 274, left side gear cluster housing 283, left side
cover 286, front cover 288, right side gear cluster housing 293,
right side cover 296 and rear cover 298 are mounted to comb head
frame 262, front comb 280, left side gear cluster 282, rear comb
290 and right side gear cluster 292 are rotatably mounted to comb
head frame 262 and counter-balance apparatus 264 is swivelably
mounted to comb head frame 262. Left side drive motor 284 is
drivingly connected to left side gear cluster 282 and right side
drive motor 294 is drivingly connected to right side gear cluster
292 such that when said motors 284 and 294 drive combs 280 and 290
respectively, combs 280 and 290 counter-rotate with respect to each
other. To adapt to varying types of carpets, combs 280 and 290 are
readily replaceable by combs having greater or lesser aggression.
For instance, combs 280 and 290 may be readily substituted for
combs having fewer, shorter, and stiffer bristles. Comb head
assembly 260 is further adapted such that a swivel type adjustment
of counter-balance apparatus 264 causes a change in the downward
load applied by the Comb head assembly 260 to a carpeted floor when
machine 100 is resting on a carpeted floor. It is noted that rather
than gear clusters 282 and 292 driving brushes 280 and 290
respectively, alternate means such as a system of pulleys and fan
belts may be used to drive brushes 280 and 290.
[0073] Scrub head assembly 310 defines a scrub head assembly
comprising a scrub head frame 312, a pad pressure adjustment
apparatus 316, and a scrubbing pad cover 350. Frame 312 includes
scrub head mounting arms 314 fastened to frame 312. Pad pressure
adjustment apparatus 316 further defines a pad pressure adjustment
bar 318 connected to a pad pressure adjustment handle 320, with a
pad pressure adjustment release strap 322 connected to handle 320.
Scrub head assembly 310 is assembled such that pad pressure
adjustment apparatus 316 and scrubbing pad cover 350 are
mechanically attached to frame 312. Cover 350 further includes left
side drive motor 330, right side drive motor 340, and scrubbing pad
skirt 352 connected to cover 350. Left side drive motor 330 is
further connected to a left side gimbal 332, which is in turn
connect to a left side pad driver 334, which is in turn connected
to a left side scrubbing pad 336. Right side drive motor 340 is
further connected to a right side gimbal 342, which is in turn
connect to a right side pad driver 344, which is in turn connected
to a right side scrubbing pad 346. Scrub head assembly 310 is
adapted such that scrubbing pads 336 and 346 may be independently
driven by motors 330 and 340 respectively and preferably such that
scrubbing pads 336 and 346 are counter-rotatingly driven with
respect to each other. To adapt to varying types of carpets,
scrubbing pads 336 and 346 are readily replaceable by scrubbing
pads having greater or lesser aggression. For instance, scrubbing
pads 336 and 346 may be readily substituted for stiffer and more
course scrubbing pads.
[0074] Engine assembly 360 defines an engine assembly comprising an
engine assembly mounting frame 362, a propane engine 364 having a
propane engine shaft 365, adjustable alternator mounting arms 366,
alternator mounting brackets 368, an alternator 370 having an
alternator shaft 374 and an alternator drive belt 372. Engine
assembly 360 is assembled such that propane engine 364 is
substantially rigidly mounted to mounting frame 362 and such that
first ends of adjustable alternator mounting arms 366 are
adjustably mounting frame 362. Further second ends of adjustable
alternator mounting arms 366 are adjustably mounted to first ends
of alternator mounting brackets 368, and second ends of alternator
mounting brackets 368 are substantially rigidly mounted to
alternator 370. Alternator drive belt 370 is movably mounted to
engine shaft 365 and alternator shaft 374 such that a rotation of
engine shaft 365 causes a corresponding rotation to alternator
shaft 374 to cause the production of electrical power. Engine
assembly 360 is adapted such that alternator 370 may be adjusted
with respect to engine 364 so as to obtain proper tension in
alternator drive belt 372.
[0075] Scrubbing and combing machine 100 is assembled such that
waste water tank assembly 120 is mounted to carriage assembly 200
and chemical mixture tank 110, front cover 150 and rear cover
assembly 160 are mounted to waste water tank assembly 120. Further,
alternator 370 is electrically connected to motors 226, 284, 294,
330 and 340 such that electrical power produced by alternator 370
is selectively distributed to motors 226, 284, 294, 330 and 340 to
cause selective rotation of motors 226, 284, 294, 330 and 340 and
in turn to power drive wheels 228, combs 280 and 290 and scrubbing
pads 336 and 346 respectively. Chemical mixture tank 110 is
provided with a fluid transmission connection to scrubbing pads 336
and 346 so as to selectively deliver a water and chemical mixture
from chemical mixture tank 110 to scrubbing pads 336 and 346. Waste
water tank 122 is provided with a fluid transmission connection to
squeegee shoe 266 such that when a vacuum type negative pressure is
created by vacuum units 126 and 128, fluid and dirt are drawn
through shoe vacuum opening 270, through vacuum connection ports
268 and into waste water tank 122.
[0076] In practice, with scrubbing and combing machine 100
assembled and resting on a carpeted floor, engine 364 is started,
and electrical power is transmitted to motors 226, 284, 294, 330
and 340 to cause rotation of drive wheels 228, combs 280 and 290
and scrubbing pads 336 and 346 respectively. Scrubbing and combing
machine 100 then moves across the carpeted floor at a selected
rate, and the carpeted floor is simultaneously scrubbed, combed and
vacuumed in a single pass. Scrubbing and combing machine 100 is
selectively operated by means of control panel 174. Further
scrubbing and combing machine 100 is selectively steered by
applying a predetermined load to handle bars 168, causing
swivelable wheels 238 to swivel and causing scrubbing and combing
machine 100 to be turned. It is noted that the counter-rotation
action of combs 280 and 290 of comb head assembly 260 causes the
pile of a carpet to be lifted and cleaned on both sides of the pile
and in combination with scrubbing, squeegeeing and vacuuming,
provides a cleaned carpet with a manicured or groomed look.
[0077] The present invention may be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from its spirit or essential
characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in
all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of
the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims
rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come
within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be
embraced within their scope.
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