Vacuum And Pressure Pickup Device For Home And Commercial Vacuum Cleaners

Abstract

An improved home and commercial vacuum cleaner employing pressure and vacuum functions for picking up dirt and lightweight articles from a rug surface.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved cleaner for home and commercial use of the vacuum cleaner type, and more particularly to an improved head or device for picking up articles such as dirt and the like from rug covered surfaces by a combination of pressure and vacuum functions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

While it is known that various types of vacuum cleaning devices have been proposed and used for a variety of purposes, both domestic and industrial, there still remains a need for an efficient, inexpensive cleaner that will gather effectively litter of all sorts, dirt and dust from bare and carpeted floors and particularly from carpets of the shag or long, thick fabric type. The prior art vacuum cleaners do not have the ability to remove the dirt effectively from shag rugs since the fibers, if tangled, block the effects of the suction from reaching the base of the rug where the dirt gravitates.

Therefore, to improve on the prior art structures a new and improved mobile cleaner is provided which employs a jet nozzle arrangement in a suction hood of a pick up head so that the blasts of air are directed, substantially perpendicularly into the rug and to its base where the dirt and litter are located to dislodge it and move it toward the surface of the rug fibers where suction forces it directly into a collection bag or receptacle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the invention claimed an improved vacuum cleaner for domestic and industrial use is provided which directs jets of air under pressure directly into the rug in such a manner that the dirt is moved upwardly from the base of the rug to aid the suction forces.

It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide an improved cleaner of the vacuum cleaner type utilizing air under pressure to dislodge the dust, dirt and assorted litter.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved vacuum cleaner in which jets of air are directed perpendicularly into the surface of the rug to utilize the full forces of the air under pressure to dislodge the litter.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved vacuum cleaner wherein the suction forces in the suction hood of the cleaner substantially surround the jet nozzles except where the jets of air enter the rug.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved cleaner in which a plurality of jets are arranged laterally of the direction of movement of the suction hood in the center of the housing and juxtapositioned to a comb for parting the fibers of the rug prior to receiving the jets of air.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a suction hood for a vacuum cleaner wherein a revolving comb and a fixedly mounted comb are positioned one on each side of a plurality of jets all arranged in the suction hood laterally of the direction of movement of the cleaner.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved vacuum cleaner employing a plurality of jets arranged substantially in the center of the suction shroud and mounted on a pair of spaced runners for engaging the floor.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The present invention may be more readily described by reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cleaning device embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view partly broken away of the suction-pressure hood shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of FIG. 2 taken along the line 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a bottom partially broken away view of the suction-pressure hood shown in FIGS. 1-3

FIG. 5 is a modification of the suction-pressure hood shown in FIG. 2 employing a rotating comb;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the structure shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a further modification of the structure shown in FIGS. 1-6 wherein a stationary comb is inserted in the housing of the pressure jets.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring more particularly to the drawing by characters of reference FIG. 1 discloses a carriage for moving over a surface for collecting dirt and the like and hereinafter referred to as a cleaning suction-pressure head 10 connected by a pair of inlet and outlet conduits or hoses 11 and 12 forming a wand 13 to a power driven cleaner 14. Cleaner 14 may comprise conventional suction and pressure creating means (not shown) in a wheel mounted canister 15.

Hose 11 is the suction duct having one end 16 connected to the previously mentioned suction creating means in the canister 15 and its other end 16' connected to a housing defining a cavity called a suction hood 17 of the suction-pressure head 10 and terminating in a port 18 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The suction creating means in the canister may include a fan, a blower, or an air impelling means of one type or another driven by an electric motor (all not shown) contained in canister 15. It should be noted that the end of the suction hose 11 terminating in the canister is adapted to be connected through a removable fitting to an air pervious, dirt impervious, air filtration and dirt storage bag in canister 15.

As shown in FIG. 1 the pressure hose 12 has one end 21 connected to a fitting 22 on canister 15 which may be connected to a housing surrounding the air pervious bag in the canister or to a separate source of air under pressure. The other end 21' of hose 12 is connected to the pressure jet nozzle device 20.

Ends 16' and 21' of hoses 11 and 12, respectively are connected to suction-pressure head 10 by means of pivotally mounted fittings 23 and 24 which can be moved laterally of the suction-pressure head 10 in the well known manner without losing suction or pressure in the head through leakage to atmosphere.

The wand 13 comprises a handle member 25 which together with rigid coverings 26 and 27 form an outer casing for the hoses 11 and 12 between the handle member 25 and the canister 15. In this manner the suction-pressure head 10 may be readily moved across the surface to be cleaned. The suction-pressure head 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-4 may be mounted on skis or skids 28 and 29 which cause the suction-pressure head to move freely over the surface to be cleaned. It should be recognized that wheels may be used in place of the skids if so desired.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the pressure jet nozzle device 20 comprises a housing 30 extending across hood 17 laterally to the direction of movement of the suction-pressure head 10. Housing 30 is connected through an integrated coupling 31 to fitting 24 which is connected to pressure hose 12. Housing 30 is provided with a plurality of openings 32 which direct air under pressure perpendicularly into the surface to be cleaned. This is particularly important when cleaning shag rugs since the fibers of the rug are long and will distort or deflect off of it under air pressure directed laterally at the rug surface. The housing is also placed midway between the front and back of the hood 17 so that suction may be applied to the suction-pressure head 10 on both sides of it so that air and dirt deflected off of the rug surface may be readily drawn into the suction hose 11.

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate a modification of the suction-pressure head 10 shown in FIGS. 1-4 wherein a power driven rotating comb 35 is arranged in the housing perpendicular to its direction of movement during a cleaning operation. The comb is driven by a belt 36 connected to an electric motor 37. Motor 37 is energized by electric power furnished to the motor through wires which may be threaded through one of the hoses 11 or 12 to canister 15.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 the comb 35 comprises two rows of spacedly arranged teeth 38 on opposite sides of and extending longitudinally of a cylinder 39.

FIG. 7 illustrates a further modification of the structure shown in FIGS. 1-6 wherein a stationary comb 40 is arranged to snap into the base of the pressure jet nozzle device 20 and comprises a row of teeth 41 extending laterally across the suction-pressure head 10. Each tooth 41 comprises an arm bent at an angle as shown, so that it extends downwardly and rearwardly of the pressure jet nozzle device 20. The stationary comb parts the fibers of the rug so that the suction rearwardly of the pressure jet nozzle device 20 may easily draw the dirt and other litter from the base of the rug.

Although but a few embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A carriage for moving over surface for collecting dirt and the like comprising:

a housing defining a cavity having an opening outward of the side of said housing juxtapositioned to said surface and having forward and rearward walls,

inlet and outlet conduits connected to said cavity of said housing,

one of said conduits being connected to a source of pressure and the other of said conduits being connected to a vacuum producing means,

said inlet conduit being conducted to a jet producing device arranged within the cavity of said housing laterally of the direction of movement of said carriage and spacedly arranged between the forward and rearward walls of the cavity,

said device defining a plurality of nozzles spacedly arranged along the length of the device for directing jets of air under pressure outwardly of said opening of said opening of said cavity,

said outlet conduit opening into said cavity so as to produce a vacuum around said nozzle device,

said jets of air being directed substantially perpendicularly to said surface for blasting dirt from said surface into the space of said cavity under the influence of the vacuum of said outlet conduit,

a comb mounted on said jet producing device adjacent said nozzles, said comb comprising a plurality of teeth bent to extend at least partially along its length outwardly of said opening in the direction of movement of said carriage while said carriage is moving in one direction only.

2. The carriage set forth in claim 1 in further combination with:

a rotatably mounted comb, said rotatably mounted comb being substantially parallelly arranged with said jet producing device within said cavity of said housing and comprising two rows of spacedly arranged teeth on opposite sides of a rotatably mounted cylinder and extending longitudinally thereof,

and means for rotating said cylinder.

3. The vacuum-pressure carriage set forth in claim 2 in further combination with a pair of spacedly arranged skids mounted on and extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said housing over the sides of said housing defining the opening of said cavity and in the direction of movement of said carriage.