U.S. patent application number 12/635713 was filed with the patent office on 2011-06-16 for floor sweeper.
This patent application is currently assigned to ZWEITA INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Chih-Kao Hsu.
Application Number | 20110138570 12/635713 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44141285 |
Filed Date | 2011-06-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110138570 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hsu; Chih-Kao |
June 16, 2011 |
FLOOR SWEEPER
Abstract
A floor sweeper includes a sweeper head defining therein a dust
chamber, sweeping rollers mounted around all sides of the sweeper
head and powered by a motor to direct dust into the dust chamber,
and electric fans mounted in the sweeper head for inducing currents
of air toward the inside of the sweeper head to offset outward
flowing currents induced during the rotation of the sweeping
rollers so as to prevent outside dust from flying about to cause
secondary contamination.
Inventors: |
Hsu; Chih-Kao; (Taipei,
TW) |
Assignee: |
ZWEITA INTERNATIONAL CO.,
LTD.
Bandar Seri Begawan
BN
|
Family ID: |
44141285 |
Appl. No.: |
12/635713 |
Filed: |
December 11, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/383 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L 7/02 20130101; A47L
11/4044 20130101; A47L 11/33 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
15/383 |
International
Class: |
A47L 5/26 20060101
A47L005/26 |
Claims
1. A floor sweeper, comprising: a sweeper head defining therein a
dust chamber; a plurality of sweeping rollers mounted around
peripheral sides of said sweeper head and coupled to one another; a
motor adapted for rotating said sweeping rollers to direct dust
from a floor into said dust chamber; and at least one electric fan
mounted in said sweeper head and adapted for inducing currents of
air toward the inside of said sweeper head to offset outward
flowing currents induced when the sweeping rollers are rotated.
2. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sweeper
head further comprises a top cover shell having a retaining hole, a
handle pivotally connected to said top cover shell, and a bottom
cover shell pivotally connected to a bottom wall of said top cover
shell and biasable relative to said top cover shell between a
closed position and an open position, said bottom cover shell
having a springy hook rod adapted for hooking in said retaining
hole to lock said bottom cover shell to said top cover shell in
said closed position.
3. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one electric fan is mounted in a top side of said sweeper head.
4. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one electric fan is mounted in a rear side of said sweeper
head.
5. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least
one electric fan is mounted in two opposite lateral sides of said
sweeper head.
6. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sweeping
rollers each have a plurality of bundles of brushes mounted on the
periphery thereof.
7. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said
sweeping roller has a rubber scraper blade protruding from the
periphery thereof.
8. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said
electric fan comprises a pop-up type fan bracket, a fan blade
mounted in said pop-up type fan bracket and a filter element
mounted in said pop-up type fan bracket over said fan blade.
9. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said
electric fan is a turbo fan.
10. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said
electric fan is an axial-flow fan.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] (a) Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to floor sweepers and, more
particularly, to such a floor sweeper that uses electric fans to
induce inward flows of air to offset outward flows of air induced
during rotation of the sweeping rollers of the floor sweeper, thus
preventing flying of dust and avoiding secondary contamination.
[0003] (b) Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Many sweepers for picking up dust and small items from the
floor are known. U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,267 discloses a floor sweeper,
which has sweeping brushes mounted around all sides of the sweeper
head thereof to provide sweeping action in any direction.
Furthermore, there are corner brushes extending out from the sides
of the sweeper head that reach into corners to sweep debris toward
the main sweeping brushes. All of the brushes are powered by a
small electric motor. The motor drives the brushes to direct the
debris into a dust-receiving tray in the sweeper head. According to
this prior art design, a centrifugal force is produced during
rotation of each brush. This centrifugal force forces fine dust out
of the brushes toward the outside of the sweeper head, lowering the
sweeping efficiency. Further, during fast rotation of the brushes,
outward flows of air are produced (see FIG. 11) to cause
surrounding dust to fly about during movement of the sweeper head
on the floor, resulting in secondary contamination.
[0005] Therefore, it is desirable to provide a floor sweeper that
eliminates the aforesaid problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention has been accomplished under the
circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to
provide a floor sweeper, which prevents flying of picked up dust to
avoid secondary contamination.
[0007] To achieve this and other objects of the present invention,
a floor sweeper comprises a sweeper head defining therein a dust
chamber, sweeping rollers mounted around all sides of the sweeper
head and coupled to one another, a motor adapted for rotating the
sweeping rollers to direct dust from the floor into the dust
chamber, and electric fans mounted in the sweeper head and adapted
for inducing currents of air toward the inside of the sweeper head
to offset outward flowing currents induced during rotation of the
sweeping rollers so as to prevent outside dust from flying about in
causing secondary contamination.
[0008] Further, the electric fans can be mounted in the top side,
rear side, or two opposite lateral sides of the sweeper head.
[0009] Further, two different types of sweeping rollers, i.e.,
sweeping brush type sweeping rollers and scraper blade type
sweeping rollers are selectively and replaceably installed in the
sweeper head for sweeping a carpet floor, or a wooden or tile
floor.
[0010] Further, the electric fans can be turbo fans or axial-flow
fans selectively used to fit different requirements.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a floor sweeper in
accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 2 is a cutaway view of the floor sweeper in accordance
with the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 3 is another cutaway view of the floor sweeper in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention,
showing the bottom cover shell of the sweeper head opened.
[0014] FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the floor sweeper in
accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention,
showing the fan bracket of one electric fan opened.
[0015] FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of the first embodiment of the
present invention, showing an operation status of the floor
sweeper.
[0016] FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a sweeping brush type
sweeping roller for the floor sweeper according to the present
invention.
[0017] FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a scraper blade type
sweeping roller for the floor sweeper according to the present
invention.
[0018] FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a floor sweeper in accordance
with a second embodiment of the present invention.
[0019] FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing of the second embodiment of
the present invention, showing an operation status of the floor
sweeper.
[0020] FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing, showing an operation status
of a floor sweeper in accordance with a third embodiment of the
present invention.
[0021] FIG. 11 is a schematic drawing, showing the composition of a
floor sweeper according to the prior art.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0022] As shown in FIGS. 1.about.3, a floor sweeper in accordance
with the present invention is comprises a sweeper head 1, sweeping
rollers 2a (or sweeper rollers 2 shown in FIG. 6) and at least one,
for example, two fans 3.
[0023] The sweeper head 1 has a top cover shell 11 and a bottom
cover shell 12 pivotally connected to the bottom side of the top
cover shell 11. A handle 111 is pivotally connected to the top
cover shell 11. The top cover shell 11 has a retaining hole 112.
The bottom cover shell 12 has a springy hook rod 121 for hooking in
the retaining hole 112. When the springy hook rod 121 is disengaged
from the retaining hole 112, the bottom cove shell 12 can be opened
from the top cover shell 11 (see FIG. 3). The bottom cover shell 12
defines therein a dust chamber 122 for collecting dust. Further,
the fans 3 are mounted in the sweeper head 1. According to the
embodiment shown in FIGS. 1.about.5, the fans are mounted in the
top side of the top cover shell 11.
[0024] The sweeping rollers 2a are respectively mounted around all
sides of the sweeper head 1 and coupled to one another by, for
example, bevel gear mechanisms 4 and powered by an electric motor
5. The electric motor 5 drives the sweeping rollers 2a to direct
the debris into the dust chamber 122 in the sweeper head 1. The
sweeping rollers 2a may be made in any of a variety of forms. For
example, the sweeping roller 2a shown in FIG. 7 is a cylindrical
bar having a rubber scraper blade 21a protruded from and elongated
along the periphery. Alternatively, the sweeping roller 2 shown in
FIG. 6 is made in the form of a sweeping brush having bundles of
brushes 21 fastened to the periphery thereof.
[0025] The electric fans 3 are mounted in the sweeper head 1 at
selected locations. During operation of the floor sweeper, the
electric fans 3 are started to draw currents of air into the inside
of the sweeper head 1 to offset outward flowing currents induced
during the rotation of the sweeping rollers 2a (see FIG. 5).
[0026] During the operation of the floor sweeper, the electric fans
3 keep drawing currents of air into the inside of the sweeper head
1 to offset outward flowing currents induced during the rotation of
the sweeping rollers 2a or 2, enabling debris to be quickly
directed by the sweeping rollers 2a or 2 into the dust chamber 122
in the sweeper head 1 and preventing outside dust from flying about
to cause secondary contamination.
[0027] In either the scraper blade type shown in FIG. 7 or the
sweeping brush type shown in FIG. 6, each sweeping roller 2 or 2a
has two coupling pins 22 respectively axially extending from the
two distal ends thereof for detachably fastened to the bevel gear
mechanisms 4. Therefore, the user can selectively attach different
sweeping rollers 2 or 2a to the bevel gear mechanisms 4 to fit
different sweeping requirements. For example, the sweeping brush
type sweeping rollers 2 can be used for sweeping a carpet floor.
The scraper blade type sweeping rollers 2 can be used for sweeping
a wooden floor or tile floor that has a hard surface.
[0028] Referring to FIG. 4, each electric fan 3 comprises a pop-up
type fan bracket 31, a fan blade 32 and a filter element 33. The
filter element 33 prevents sucked dust from escaping out of the
dust chamber 122. The pop-up design of the pop-up type bracket 31
facilitates cleaning of the fan blade 32 or replacement of the
filter element 33.
[0029] Besides the installation example shown in FIG. 1, the
electric fans 3 may be installed in the rear side or two opposite
lateral sides of the sweeper head 1.
[0030] Further, the fan blade 32 may be an axial fan blade for
causing an axial flow of air. Alternatively, the fan blade 32 can
be made in the form of a turbine vane for inducing a vortex or
spiral flow of air.
[0031] According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, turbo
fans 3a are mounted in the rear side of the sweeper head 1.
According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, axial-flow fans 3b
are mounted in the rear side of the sweeper head 1. Further, the
sweeper head 1a or 1b is configured according to the type of the
electric fans 3a or 3b used. The shape, structure or installation
locations of the filter elements 33a may be changed according to
the type of the electric fans 3a or 3b used, thereby effectively
preventing sucked dust from escaping out of the dust chamber
122.
[0032] During operation of the ordinary electric fans 3, turbo fans
3a or axial-flow fans 3b to induce currents of air, a certain
degree of vacuum is produced in the sweeper head 1 to suck in
outside dust, enhancing the sweeping efficiency.
[0033] A prototype of floor sweeper has been constructed with the
features of FIGS. 1.about.10. The floor sweeper functions smoothly
to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.
[0034] Although particular embodiments of the invention have been
described in detail for purposes of illustration, various
modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from
the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention
is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.
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