Drive Means For Vacuum Cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner having a motor housing to which powered attachments may be directly mechanically coupled without the use of drive belts as the mechanical coupling between the motor housing and the powered attachment. The motor housing encloses a motor fan unit and a drive belt which couples the motor to a drive socket. The drive socket extends through a wall in the housing so that the socket may receive the drive shafts of powered attachments, such as vacuum cleaner brush nozzles, power polishers, rug scrubbers, and power-driven miscellaneous tools. A vacuum inlet extends through the wall in the motor housing and suction hoses may be attached to the inlet for off-the-floor cleaning purposes.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A widely used vacuum cleaner today is the type which includes a motor housing which may be detachably coupled to various on-the-floor powered cleaning attachments, various off-the-floor cleaning attachments, or various powered tools. An example of such a vacuum cleaner is shown in U. S. Pat. No. 2,538,464, granted to MacFarland. In the MacFarland patent there is disclosed a fan casing having a suction inlet and a fan shaft projecting outwardly through the inlet. A suction nozzle may be detachably connected to the fan casing inlet by attaching the upper loop of a twisted belt to the shaft so that the lower loop of the belt will drive a brush shaft provided in the suction nozzle. The upper belt loop is applied to and removed from the fan shaft by an adjustable belt-engaging member on the nozzle that is movable from a position clear of the belt into engagement with the belt and to a position overlying the outer end of the fan shaft so as to support the upper loop of the belt clear of the fan shaft so that the belt is supported wholly by the nozzle in a position such that the fan shaft is free to move out of or into the upper belt loop as the nozzle is detached from or attached to the fan casing and that is movable from its belt-supporting position to re-engage the belt with the fan shaft.

This principle is employed to attach other floor treating powered attachments to the projecting fan shaft. This principle is also employed to attach powered tools to the fan casing. Examples of such powered tools may be found in U. S. Pat. Nos. 2,563,541; 2,748,543; 2,948,091; and 2,954,652.

Although the drive arrangement shown in the foregoing patents has proved to be an acceptable arrangement, certain disadvantages are inherent in such an arrangement. One such disadvantage is the fact that the fan eye is exposed when the power-driven accessory is detached from the motor housing. If the motor is turned on with the fan eye exposed, the user may accidentally touch the exposed fan blades. Another disadvantage is the fact that, although the belt and its lifter are designed for easy manipulation, some users find it difficult to remove the belt from and place the belt on the fan shaft. A further disadvantage is the fact that a twisted belt must be employed to drive the powered accessories. Since the belt is twisted, a reinforced belt may not be used, since the reinforcing members within the belt would quickly wear out. Therefore, unreinforced belts have been used, with consequent short life.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention overcomes many of the difficulties associated with prior art drive and mounting arrangements for powered vacuum cleaner accessories. This invention provides a motor housing having a horizontally mounted motor which drives a socket by means of an untwisted power belt. The socket extends through the motor housing so that power-driven attachments may be affixed to the socket and to the motor housing. To hold the power-driven accessory in place on the motor housing, a pivoted bumper guard is provided to clamp the accessory firmly in place.

The drive arrangement according to this invention is particularly useful in hardbox upright vacuum cleaners wherein dirt-laden air is drawn from the rug-cleaning nozzle attachment to the interior of a filter box where the dirt is filtered from the air, and then to the fan.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hardbox upright vacuum cleaner embodying the principles of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the vacuum cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1, showing an accessory removed from the motor housing.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the accessory shown in FIG. 2, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 3--3 in FIG. 2, with certain portions omitted for clarity.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the motor housing, partially in section, and with certain portions broken away for clarity.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the motor housing, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 5--5 in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A vacuum cleaner 10 embodying this invention is shown in FIG. 1. The vacuum cleaner 10 includes a motor housing 11, a filter box 12, and a handle 13. The filter box 12 is more fully described in copending application Ser. No. 299,217, filed Oct. 20, 1972 and includes a filter for removing dirt-laden air which is picked up by the vacuum cleaner. The filter box 12 is mounted between axially extending ducts 14 and 15, which are pivotally connected to the motor housing 11 by hinge members 16 and 17.

A first inlet conduit 18 opens through a front flat wall 19 of the motor housing 11 and is sealed thereto by a gasket 20. The conduit 18 communicates with the interior of the filter box 12 and conducts dirt-laden air thereto so that the dirt is separated from the air by a filter (not shown but fully described in copending application Ser. No. 299,217 filed Oct. 20, 1972). Clean air is drawn from the filter box 12 through a conduit 21 which leads into the motor housing 11. The conduit 21 leads into a motor fan unit 22 which is mounted on its horizontal axis within the housing 11 and which exhausts the filtered air drawn through the conduit 21 through a suitable opening (not shown) in the housing 11.

As may be seen most clearly in FIG. 4, the motor fan unit 22 is provided with an axially extending drive shaft 23. A flat, non-twisted, reinforced belt 24 is driven by the shaft 23 and engages a pulley assembly 25. The pulley assembly 25 is housed within a side extension 26 of the housing 11 and is rotatably supported by a bearing 27. One end of the pulley assembly 25 opens through a flat wall 28 in the extension 26 and has an axial socket 29 therein. For a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent, the socket 29 comprises a plurality of flat outwardly diverging sidewalls.

The bottom of the housing 11 is closed by a cover plate 30, which may be removed in order to service the cleaner and, if necessary, change the belt 24. Rear wheels 31 are provided on the cover 30, and a front wheel carriage 32 is also provided on the cover 30. The front wheel carriage includes wheels 33 which may be raised or lowered by a conventional toe-touch control 34.

A wide variety of vacuum cleaner attachments may be coupled to conduit 18 and/or the socket 29. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a vacuum brush nozzle 35 is coupled to the housing 11. The nozzle 35 includes a nozzle housing 36 having a flat back wall 37, a flat sidewall 38, and an open-bottom mouth. A carpet-engaging shoe 39 is mounted on the open mouth of the brush nozzle by frictionally engaging the nozzle walls surrounding the opening. There is provided within the nozzle 35 a brush cylinder 40 having bristles 41 disposed in helical rows on longitudinally spaced portions of the cylinder. One end of the cylinder 40 is rotatably mounted in a bearing assembly 42 and the other end of the cylinder 40 is driven by the pulley assembly 25. To this end, there is provided a finger 43 having a shank portion 44 axially aligned with and slidably mounted in the cylinder 40. A projecting end portion 45 is received within the socket 29 and has tapered faces which cooperate with the socket surfaces. A spring 46 urges the portion 45 into firm contact with the socket 29 and a pin 47 cooperates with a slot 48 in the shank 44 to prevent rotation of the shank 44 relative to the cylinder 40 but to permit axial movement of the shank 44 relative to the cylinder 40.

With the motor housing 11 in the condition illustrated in FIG. 2, the brush nozzle 35 is attached to the housing 11 by inserting the head 45 into the socket 29 and by inserting a headed pin 50, which is provided on the face 19 of the motor housing, into an opening 51 in the side 37 of the nozzle 35 (see FIG. 3). The nozzle 35 is then pushed toward the extension 26 against the bias of the spring 46 so that the shank of the pin 50 enters a narrow extension 52 of the opening 51. While holding the nozzle 35 in this position, a hinged gate 53 is pivoted downwardly until it embraces and securely holds the nozzle 35 in position. It should be noted that the gate 53 also serves as a bumper for the vacuum cleaner, and may be covered with a conventional vinyl bumper strip. An opening 54 is provided in the flat rear wall 37 of the nozzle 35, and the opening 54 cooperates with the conduit so that dirt-laden air may be drawn into the filter box 12.

Other attachments may be affixed to the motor housing 11. For example, a powered wax polishing brush may be attached to the motor housing. Such a brush would be attached in a manner similar to the attachment of the illustrated nozzle, but the brush housing would be substantially open to minimize the possibility of drawing wax into the conduit 18.

Furthermore, it should be appreciated that vacuum cleaning wands may be employed by merely connecting a flexible hose to the conduit 18.

Various tools may be powered by the vacuum cleaner such as those tools shown in the previously mentioned U.S. patents. Of course, those tools would be modified to eliminate the use of a driving belt and to directly couple the drive to the socket 29.

The invention is not restricted to the slavish imitation of each and every detail set forth above. Obviously, devices may be provided which change, eliminate, or add certain specific details without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A motor housing unit for a vacuum cleaner comprising a motor-fan assembly for drawing dirt-laden air to filter means and for powering accessories for the vacuum cleaner, a cover enclosing said motor-fan assembly, drive shaft means driven by and extending from said motor, belt means driven by and extending from said drive shaft to coupling means, said coupling means being mounted in a wall of said cover and having a first portion driven by said belt, said coupling means having a second portion extending through said wall and being adapted to drive a powered accessory, said drive shaft means, said belt means, and said first portion of said coupling means all being enclosed by said cover, and means pivotally connected to said cover for releasably holding an accessory to said unit and in coupled engagement with said coupling means.

2. A motor housing unit for a vacuum cleaner according to claim 1 wherein said cover has a forwardly projecting portion which encloses said belt means and said first portion of said coupling means.

3. A motor housing unit according to claim 1, including means defining a vacuum inlet opening through said cover.

4. A motor housing and cleaning accessory unit for a vacuum cleaner comprising a motor-fan assembly for drawing dirt-laden air to filter means and for powering said accessory, a cover enclosing said motor-fan assembly, drive shaft means driven by and extending from said motor, belt means driven by and extending from said drive shaft to coupling means, said coupling means being mounted in a wall of a forwardly projecting portion of said cover and having a first portion driven by said belt, said forwardly projecting portion enclosing said belt means, said coupling means having a second portion extending through said wall and having a socket therein for driving said accessory, said drive shaft means, said belt means, and said first portion of said coupling means all being enclosed by said cover, said cover having a front wall intersecting said wall of said projecting portion, said accessory comprising a cylindrical brush rotatably mounted within a brush housing, said brush housing having first and second walls respectively cooperating with the front wall of said cover and said wall of said projecting portion, means defining an opening in said second wall, said brush having an end portion projecting through said opening and into said socket so that said brush is rotatably driven by said coupling means, and means releasably holding said accessory to said cover.

5. A motor housing and cleaning accessory according to claim 4, wherein said means releasably holding said accessory to said cover includes a gate having its ends pivotally connected to said cover and having a portion in surrounding relationship with respect to front and side walls of said accessory.

6. A motor housing and cleaning accessory according to claim 4, including means defining a vacuum inlet opening through the front wall of said cover and means defining a cooperating opening in the first wall of said brush housing.