Vacuum Cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner having an agitator in the form of a cylindrical element with a plurality of rigid agitator elements projecting radially outwardly therefrom. A second form of the invention has agitator elements comprised of resilient material disposed intermediate the rigid agitator elements.

Description

This invention relates to vacuum cleaners and more particularly to an improvement in an agitator for vacuum cleaners.

Vacuum cleaners are old and well known cleaning implements. They have enjoyed wide use both commercially and domestically. In the home, vacuum cleaners are, for the most part, used to clean textile materials such as rugs, fabrics and the like.

Vacuum cleaners having agitators of the type known heretofore have comprised rotary members that support a plurality of resilient agitator elements. Generally, these agitator elements have comprised resilient elongated bristle-like elements which were either natural or made from synthetic materials. Their resilience is achieved principally by virtue of the fact that they are relatively long with respect to their diameters. The purpose of the agitator elements is to vibrate and agitate the surface of the item being cleaned in order to work particles of dirt and the like to the surface where they can be drawn into the vacuum cleaner.

This arrangement is, for the most part, entirely satisfactory for rugs with a relatively tight pile. However, for rugs with loose or shag pile, this type agitator is entirely inadequate The reason for this is that with a conventional agitator the strands of material comprising the pile are too long to be moved by the resilient agitator elements. Thus, rather than being moved in order to shake the particles of dirt and the like to the surface of the rug to be drawn into the vacuum cleaner, the agitator tends to mat the pile, thus preventing any dirt particles from being brought to the surface. In order to clean these rugs it has been necessary to rake them. Raking is unsatisfactory since it does not result in thorough cleaning.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel and unobvious vacuum cleaner which is capable of vacuuming rugs with loose piles.

It is another object of this invention to provide a vacuum cleaner having a novel and unobvious agitator.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a novel and unobvious agitator for a vacuum cleaner.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel and unobvious insert which is adapted to be inserted in the agitator of a vacuum cleaner.

Generally, the invention relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising a housing which supports a motor and an elongated agitator. The motor has a drive shaft which is drivingly connected by suitable means to the agitator. The agitator comprises a plurality of rigid agitator elements which are supported thereby in spaced linear disposition with respect to each other. The rigid agitator elements are made of a material that will not deflect when rotated into contact with an item to be vacuum cleaned.

The invention also includes an agitator to be used in a vacuum cleaner. The agitator has rigid agitator elements which are made of a material that will not deflect when rotated into contact with item to be vacuumed.

Finally, the invention includes an agitator element insert to be carried by the agitator of a vacuum cleaner. The insert has rigid agitator elements which are made of a material that will not deflect when rotated into contact with item to be vacuum cleaned.

The invention can best be understood by referring to the drawings wherein a presently preferred form of the invention is illustrated and wherein

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view taken through a head of a vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 2 is a view of one type of agitator which may be used in the vacuum cleaner shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view of an alternate embodiment of the agitator shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side view of an agitator element insert constructed in accordance with one form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view of an alternate embodiment of the agitator element insert illustrated in FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of a presently preferred form of the invention there is shown in FIG. 1 a conventional vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner head 10 supports a motor 12 having a downwardly depending drive shaft 14 which drives a centrifugal fan 16. The centrifugal fan 16 causes a vacuum in conduit 18 which draws particulate material therethrough and into a storage bag 20.

A suitable agitator 22, which may comprise an elongated cylindrical shaft, is mounted for rotation in the vacuum cleaner head by being journaled in the side walls thereof. A drive belt 24 is entrained over the midportion of agitator 22 and drive shaft 14 so that energization of the motor causes the centrifugal fan 16 and agitator 22 to rotate about their respective axes. This beats the surface of the object being cleaned to raise dirt and particulate material to the surface so that it can be drawn into the vacuum cleaner.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, one form of agitator 22 may be a generally elongated cylindrical member having a central portion 26 of reduced diameter to engage and support drive belt 24. Additionally, end bearings 28 are provided for rotatably securing the agitator 22 to the side walls of the vacuum cleaner head 10.

A plurality of agitator elements 32 are provided for agitating the pile of a rug or other item to be cleaned in order to work dirt particles and the like upwardly toward the surface thereof. As illustrated in FIG. 3 these agitator elements are preferably disposed in radially outwardly directed, spaced linear relation with respect to each other. They may be arranged in a generally helical configuration or as illustrated in FIG. 2 the agitator elements 32 may be arranged so that they are parallel to the longitudinal axis of the agitator cylinder.

The agitator elements 32 may be secured directly to the agitator 22 or they may be installed in suitable inserts 34 and 36 (FIGS. 4, 5, and 6).

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the agitator elements may comprise a plurality of radially outwardly directed spaced rigid elements 34.

Each of the rigid agitator elements is generally cylindrical in cross section. It has one end secured in agitator 22 and has its other end rounded or otherwise treated to be smooth. Additionally, by comparison with conventional resilient agitator elements on conventional agitators, the rigid elements are relatively thick with respect to their length so that the length of the exposed element, i.e., that portion which extends beyond the agitator is approximately three to four times the diameter of the element.

In order to achieve a suitable construction, it is preferred that these rigid elements be comprised of a suitable nonyielding material such as steel, aluminum, or the like. Furthermore, in another preferred form of the invention these rigid materials may be comprised of a suitable rigid high impact unbreakable plastic. Such plastics are well-known and need not be described with any specificity.

It is apparent by virtue of having a plurality of these rigid elements in spaced relation along the agitator, that the nap of a shag rug will be lifted and disturbed by the rigid elements as the vacuum cleaner head passes over it. This will enable the particals of dirt and the like to be worked loose from the pile and brought to the surface to be drawn into the vacuum cleaner.

An alternative arrangement to that described above is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6. In these figures, the agitator elements comprise a plurality of spaced linearly arranged rigid elements 34 as described above. However, they are shown interspersed among conventional resilient agitator elements 36. In this configuration, the rigid and resilient agitator elements cooperate with each other in order to raise the nap of the rug and also to vibrate it to bring the dirt particles to the surface.

In order to maximize the advantage to be achieved when both rigid and resilient agitating elements are used, it is preferred that the resilient agitator elements 36 be at least as long as the rigid agitator elements 34. This is because the resilient agitator elements have a tendency to flex when they encounter the pile of the material to be cleaned. As they deflect, the distance that they project outwardly from the agitator cylinder is reduced. Thus, if the rigid elements are slightly shorter than the resilient elements, both types of elements will project outwardly approximately the same distance during operation of the vacuum cleaner.

Additionally, with particular reference to FIGS. 4,5 and 6, an alternate manner of supporting the agitator elements 32 on the agitator 22 is shown.

In these figures, elongated inserts 38, which are adapted to be slidingly received in suitable recesses in the agitator 22, are shown. The recess may be formed to result in either the parallel form shown in FIG. 2 or the helical form shown in FIG. 3.

The inserts 38 may be comprised of a suitable plastic material or of a hard rubber material. The inserts are provided with regularly spaced openings 40 (FIG. 5) along their length in order to support a plurality of agitator elements 32. In FIG. 4 the insert has a relatively small number of holes since it is supporting only the rigid agitator elements 34. However, when both rigid and resilient agitator are utilized (FIG. 6), the openings may be close together.

While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments and forms thereof, it is apparent that many other embodiments and forms thereof will be obvious to those skilled in the art, in view of the foregoing description. Thus, the scope of the invention should only be limited by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

I claim:

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising a housing, said housing supporting a motor having a drive shaft for driving a centrifugal fan, an elongated agitator journaled in said housing for rotation about its longitudinal axis, means coupling said drive shaft and elongated agitator so that upon energization of said motor, said agitator rotates about its own axis, said agitator comprising a first plurality of agitator elements supported by said agitator in a line and being in radially outwardly directed, spaced disposition with respect to each other, said first plurality of agitator elements being comprised of resilient material, a second plurality of agitator elements, said second plurality being comprised of rigid materials so that they are not deflected when rotated into contact with an item to be vacuum cleaned, said rigid agitator elements being interspersed between said flexible agitator elements in said line, and said resilient agitator elements project radially outwardly from said agitator further than said rigid agitator elements.

2. A vacuum cleaner as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid elements are substantially cylindrical in cross section.

3. A rotatable agitator to be inserted into a vacuum cleaner and be driven by a vacuum cleaner motor comprising a first plurality of agitator elements supported by said agitator in a line and being in radially outwardly directed, spaced disposition with respect to each other, said first plurality of agitator elements being comprised of resilient material, a second plurality of agitator elements, said second plurality being comprised of rigid materials so that they are not deflected when rotated into contact with an item to be vacuum cleaned, said rigid agitator elements being interspersed between said flexible agitator elements in said line, and said resilient agitator elements project radially outwardly from said agitator further than said rigid agitator elements.

4. A rotatable agitator as defined in claim 3 wherein said rigid elements are substantially cylindrical in cross section.

5. A device to be inserted into a rotary agitator of a vacuum cleaner comprising an elongated support member, said support member being provided with a first plurality of agitator elements, said agitator elements being disposed in a line and being in outwardly directed, spaced disposition with respect to each other, said first plurality of agitator elements being comprised of resilient material, a second plurality of agitator elements, said second plurality being comprised of rigid material so that they are not deflected when rotated into contact with an item to be vacuum cleaned, said rigid agitator elements being interspersed between said flexible agitator elements in said line, and said resilient agitator elements project radially outwardly from said agitator further than said rigid agitator elements.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein said rigid elements are substantially cylindrical in cross section.