U.S. patent number 3,739,421 [Application Number 05/106,094] was granted by the patent office on 1973-06-19 for automatic suction cleaner.
Invention is credited to Hiroshi Fukuba.
United States Patent |
3,739,421 |
Fukuba |
June 19, 1973 |
AUTOMATIC SUCTION CLEANER
Abstract
An automatic suction cleaner is provided with a suction
air-current producer and a suction nozzle connected to said suction
air-current producer, said suction nozzle being so devised as to
automatically reciprocate to the extent of a specified distance
from said suction air-current producer by virtue of the working of
a coiler in order to rub the floor surface, the reversal in the
reciprocating motion of said suction nozzle is effected by the
switchover of the motion of said coiler which takes place whenever
said coiler is overloaded.
Inventors: |
Fukuba; Hiroshi
(Nagareyama-shi, Chiba-ken, JA) |
Family
ID: |
11572882 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/106,094 |
Filed: |
January 13, 1971 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jan 14, 1970 [JA] |
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45/4006 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
15/319; 15/312.1;
15/415.1; 15/315 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L
5/00 (20130101); A47L 9/02 (20130101); A47L
5/362 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47L
5/36 (20060101); A47L 9/02 (20060101); A47L
5/00 (20060101); A47L 5/22 (20060101); A47l
005/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;15/312,319,1.7,415,301 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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675,552 |
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Dec 1963 |
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CA |
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722,755 |
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Jan 1932 |
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FR |
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Primary Examiner: Petrakes; John
Assistant Examiner: Moore; C. K.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An automatic suction cleaner, particularly for cleaning a work
surface such as a carpet or floor, comprising:
housing means;
a suction cleaning device supported on said housing means and
including nozzle means movable relative to said housing means and
capable of being automatically moved through a predetermined
distance for permitting cleaning of said work surface as said
nozzle means moves through said distance;
said suction cleaning device further including telescopic tube
means supported on said housing means, said nozzle means being
mounted on one end of said telescopic tube means, and motor means
drivingly connected to said telescopic tube means for extending and
contracting said telescopic tube means through said predetermined
distance; and
control means coacting with said suction cleaning device for
angularly shifting the direction of working of said nozzle means to
enable a prescribed area of surface centered around a selected
point on said work surface to be cleaned.
2. A suction cleaner according to claim 1 wherein said control
means includes means for automatically reversing the direction of
travel of said nozzle means when said nozzle means encounters an
obstacle which prevents said nozzle means from completing its
movement in one direction through said predetermined distance.
3. A suction cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said housing
means is provided with first means theron disposed for engaging
said surface for supporting said housing means thereon, and a
veering wheel mounted on the bottom of said housing means and
positioned for rotation about an axis which extends generally in a
direction toward said first means, whereby said housing means is
thus supported on said surface for rotation substantially about
said first means, and said control means including rotary solenoid
means coacting with said veering wheel for selectively causing
rotation thereof to cause said housing means to be pivoted
substantially about said first means to cause the working direction
of said nozzle means to be angularly shifted.
4. An automatic suction cleaner, particularly for cleaning a work
surface such as a carpet or a floor, comprising:
housing means;
a suction cleaning device supported on said housing means and
including movable nozzle means capable of being automatically moved
through a predetermined distance for permitting cleaning of said
work surface as said nozzle means moves through said distance;
said suction cleaning device including telescopic tube means
supported on said housing means, said nozzle means being mounted on
one end of said telescopic tube means, and motor means drivingly
connected to said telescopic tube means for extending and
contracting said telescopic tube means through said predetermined
distance; and
control means coacting with said suction cleaning device for
angularly shifting the direction of working of said nozzle means
relative to said work surface to enable a prescribed area of
surface centered around a selected point on said work surface to be
cleaned;
said control means including the motor means for linearly moving
said nozzle means in opposite directions through said predetermined
distance and means then shifting said nozzle means angularly
relative to the previous direction of movement;
said control means further including means for automatically
reversing the direction of travel of said nozzle means when said
nozzle means encounters an obstacle which prevents said nozzle
means from completing its movement in one direction through said
predetermined distance.
5. An automatic suction cleaner, particularly for cleaning a work
surface such as a carpet or a floor, comprising:
housing means;
a suction cleaning device supported on said housing means;
nozzle means movable relative to said housing means and capable of
being automatically moved through a predetermined distance for
permitting cleaning of a work surface as said nozzle means moves
through said distance;
telescopic tube means supported on said housing means and including
a plurality of telescopic sections, one of said sections being
fixedly connected to said housing means and interconnected to said
suction device, another of said sections being movable relative to
said housing means and having said nozzle means mounted on the free
end thereof;
motor means mounted on said housing means to supply the power for
expanding and contracting said telescopic tube means;
a drive mechanism connected to said telescopic tube means for
expanding and contracting same;
disengagable coupling means connected between said motor means and
said drive mechanism for expanding and contracting said telescopic
tube means while permitting disengagement of said motor means from
said drive mechanism to prevent overloading of said motor means due
to stoppage of said nozzle means; and
control means coacting with said suction cleaning device for
angularly shifting the direction of working of said nozzle means to
enable a prescribed area of surface centered around a selected
point on said work surface to be cleaned, said control means
causing said housing means to be pivotally moved relative to the
work surface in response to disengagement of said coupling means to
cause the direction of working of the nozzle means to be angularly
shifted.
6. An automatic suction cleaner, particularly for cleaning a work
surface such as a carpet or floor, comprising:
housing means movable relative to said work surface;
a suction cleaning device supported on said housing means;
a suction nozzle movable relative to said housing means and suction
conduit means connected between said suction nozzle and said
suction cleaning device;
drive means coacting between said housing means and said suction
nozzle for causing said nozzle to be automatically moved through a
predetermined distance relative to said housing means for
permitting cleaning of said work surface; and
control means for causing said suction nozzle to be moved through
said predetermined distance along a first linear path and for
causing the linear path of movement of said suction nozzle to be
angularly shifted relative to said first path after said nozzle has
moved through said predetermined distance.
7. A suction cleaner according to claim 4, wherein said control
means includes, a drive mechanism connected to said telescopic tube
means, and releasable clutch means drivingly connected between said
motor means and said drive mechanism, said clutch means being
automatically released in response to stopping of said telescopic
tube means.
8. A suction cleaner according to claim 7 wherein said drive
mechanism includes an elongated flexible band connected between
said clutch means and said tube means.
9. A suction cleaner according to claim 5, wherein said control
means includes switch means disposed for actuation by said coupling
means when same is disengaged to cause stoppage of said motor
means, and secondary drive means operatively connected to said
switch means and energized thereby for causing pivoting of said
housing means when said coupling means is disengaged.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a floor cleaner, particularly an
automatic suction cleaner for use in cleaning the surface of a
floor, carpet or the like.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The conventional suction cleaners provided with a suction
air-current producer and a suction nozzle connected thereto by
means of a coupling tube have been accompanied with many
inconveniences. For example, the coupling tube generally lacks
elasticity so that the user has to move the suction nozzle by hand
when it is to be moved along the floor surface and due to the lack
of mechanism for changing the location of the suction air-current
producer in the prior art, the user had to modify the location
thereof by hand.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic
suction cleaner which dispels the above-mentioned inconveniences
accompanying the conventional cleaners and is possessed of such a
suction air-current producer that it is capable of automatically
cleaning the floor surface neighboring thereto while being placed
at an optional location on the floor surface to be cleaned.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic
suction cleaner which is so devised that a suction nozzle connected
to a suction air-current producer placed at an optional location on
the floor surface to be cleaned is automatically movable and, by
means of making such suction nozzle move periodically over a
specified distance by virtue of the working of a coiler, the dust
encountered in the course of movement of the suction nozzle is
sucked in and removed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an
automatic suction cleaner whose suction air-current producer
connected to a suction nozzle is equipped with a veering wheel,
which is so devised that said veering wheel turns around for
shifting the position of the suction air-current producer after
completion of a stroke of movement of said suction nozzle, and, by
virtue of this shifting and the movement of the suction nozzle, the
dust within a sectorial area of the floor surface can be
automatically sucked in and removed.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an
automatic suction cleaner whose suction nozzle head is composed of
a plurality of inlet-port members which are pivot-connected to each
other and, at the same time, are designed to be capable of reflex
motion to restore the original state so that, when a portion of the
nozzle head runs against an obstacle on the floor, said portion
turns centering around the pivot and avoids said obstacle, thereby
permitting a continuous forward and backward movement of the
suction nozzle as a whole.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Of the accompanying drawings,
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus which may be utilized
in practicing one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a top view of the same apparatus, wherein the state of
veering of the nozzle is shown with broken lines.
FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the same apparatus, wherein a
vertical section of the essential part thereof is partially
shown.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in FIG. 3 along the line
IV--IV.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical section of the front elevation of
the nozzle head of the same apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a view taken of the left side of the same nozzle head as
in FIG. 5 upon cutting off a portion thereof.
FIG. 7 is a top view of the same nozzle head as shown in FIG.
5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 denotes the box-shaped main housing
containing known mechanisms necessary for a cleaner, such as the
air-current suction producing device, a dust collecting device,
etc. The housing 1 is provided with an exhaust port 21 on one side
as well as the supporting tube 8 fixed onto the outside thereof.
The supporting tube 8 accommodates the telescope-type multiple
suction tube 2, and the end of said multiple tube 2 is equipped
with the nozzle 7 which is easily demountable. 3 denotes the
cord-supporting tube which is installed upright and in rotatable
fashion on the main housing 1 and accommodates the cord 23 inserted
therein by the medium of the reel 4 equipped on the upper end
thereof, and said cord 23 is supposed to supply electricity to the
electric instruments within the main housing 1 as well as the
controlling box A. 5 denotes a pair of wheels installed on both
sides of the bottom of the main housing 1 for the purpose of
forward and backward travelling of the cleaner, 11 denotes the
casing mounted on the rear of the main housing 1, and, on the top
of said casing, there is mounted the motor 13. 20 denotes the angle
controlling board, and 22 denotes the lid for the dust collector
outlet.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged views of the rear of the main housing 1,
wherein the aforementioned casing 11 accommodates the drum 12 which
is provided with double annular walls having therebetween an
interstice whose lower end is left open, and the bottom lid 24 of
said drum 12 is held in rotatable fashion on the shaft 25 which is
installed on the lower surface of the casing 11. Said bottom lid 24
is provided with the upward projection 26. The interstice between
said double walls accommodates the coiled flexible steel band 10,
and one end of this steel band 10 is fixed onto the rear end of the
innermost tube-member 2A of the multiple tube 2 while the other end
of the same band 10 is fixed onto the uppermost end of the double
walls of the drum 12. The shaft 14 of the motor 13 perpendicularly
penetrates the top plate of the casing 11, and the lower end of
said shaft 14 fits in the disk 41 in such a fashion that the latter
rotates together with the former while being capable of axial
movement. The disk 41 is provided with the dent 15 to engage with
the above-mentioned projection 26 so that disk 41 and plate 24
function as an overload-release clutch, and, between the upper
surface of the disk 41 and the inner surface of the top plate of
the casing 11, there is provided the spiral spring 16 which
encircles the shaft 14 and presses upon the disk 41. 6 denotes the
veering wheel which is disposed at the rear of the main housing 1
and at a right angle to the lengthwise direction thereof, and the
axle 42 is held with conventional rotary solenoids 18 and 19 which
are installed at the rear bottom of the main housing 1. 9 denotes
the dust inlet port.
FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 show the details of the nozzle 7. To be precise,
on the tip of the nozzle 7 there is rotatably mounted the central
nozzle member 30 in, and this central suction-nozzle member 30 is
bilaterally provided with the flanges 27 and 28 on which there are
pivoted the nozzle members 31 and 32 respectively by means of the
pivot pins 29. These nozzles members 31 and 32 are therefore
capable of turning around the pivot 29, but the angle of turning is
regulated to be about 90.degree. both forward and backward relative
to the lengthwise direction of the central nozzle member 30 by
means of a stopper or the like. On the front side and back side of
the nozzle members 31 and 32 there are fixed one end of the leaf
springs 34, 35, 36 and 37, while the other end of these springs are
fixed into the grooves 39 and 40 formed on the front side and back
side of the nozzle member 30. Between the back side of the member
30 and the bottom of the nozzle 7 there is provided the tension
spring 41 which normally maintains nozzle member 30 in a
predetermined rotational position relative to the nozzle 7. 33
denotes the suction channel.
OPERATION
When the main housing 1 is laid at an optional position on the
floor surface to be cleaned and the switch button on the
controlling box A is pressed, the motor 13 works to rotate the
shaft and the disk 41, whereby the bottom lid 24 of the drum 12 is
also rotated due to the dent 15 being engaged by the projection 26.
This causes rotation of the drum 12 whereby, the steel band 10
coiled within the drum 12 gets uncoiled and is fed out through the
opening at the lower end of the drum 12. Since the end of the band
10 is secured to the outermost telescopic section 2A of multiple
tube 2, the feeding out of the band 10 causes the tube 2 to extend.
In this manner, the sections of tube 2 are moved out from the
supporting tube 8 in regular order of the innermost tube 2A first
and the outermost tube last as shown in FIG. 2. By virtue of this
movement, the nozzle 7 fitted onto the end of the multiple tube
section 2A advances. When the nozzle 7 has advanced in this way to
the extent of the full length of the multiple tube 2, i.e., a full
outstroke, or it has collided against the wall surface B
obstructing its advance, the sending out of the steel band 10
ceases and the rotation of the drum 12 is discontinued. Meanwhile,
the motor 13 continues to run so that the disk 41 also continues to
rotate and, as a result, the dent 15 becomes disengaged from the
projection 26 of the bottom lid 24 which has ceased to rotate, and
the disk 41 ascends along the shaft 14 in opposition to the
pressure of the spring 16 and causes the switch 17 to be actuated.
By virtue of the working of this switch 17, the rotation of motor
13 is reversed and the disk 41 also rotates reversely, whereby the
dent 15 re-engages with the projection 26 of the bottom lid 24 to
make said bottom lid 24 as well as the drum 12 rotate reversely to
roll up the band 10 in said drum and haul the sections of the
multiple tube 2 into the supporting tube 8 one after another,
thereby causing the nozzle 7 equipped on its end retreat. When the
nozzle 7 has retreated to the full extend, this again actuates the
switch 17, whereupon the operation of the motor 13 is discontinued.
In the course of the advance and retreat of this nozzle 7, the dust
existing on the floor surface en route is sucked up and removed,
and, by virtue of the disengagement of the disk 41 and the bottom
lid 24, damage to the motor 13 due to overload can be avoided.
Simultaneously with the discontinuance of rotation of the motor 13
as mentioned above, either one of the rotary solenoids 18 and 19 is
energized to cause the axle 42 of the veering wheel 6 to rotate to
run said wheel until the main housing 1 turns to either the right
or the left pivoting around the wheels 5 whereupon the solenoid is
de-energized. At this point motor 13 is again energized whereby,
the afore-mentioned nozzle 7 starts again the reciprocating motion.
In this connection, each of said rotary solenoids 18 and 19 is
supposed to be capable of rendering a plurality of rotations of the
axle 42 of the wheel 6 with a single stroke, and, for this purpose,
there are employed conventional solenoids of such type that when
one solenoid works the other solenoid stops working and said
solenoids are installed in such a fashion that the direction of
working thereof, i.e. the direction of rotation of the axle 42, are
opposite to each other.
The controlling circuit necessary for making the motor 13 and the
rotary solenoids 18 and 19 work as above can be easily constructed
by employing commonplace electric parts so that its illustration is
omitted from the present drawings, but it is accommodated in the
controlling box A having the controlling buttons as shown in the
drawings,
The following is an explanation of working of the nozzle 7 at the
time when it collides against some furniture or other obstacles
existing on the floor in the course of advance or retreat.
If one side of the nozzle 7 comes in contact with the leg C of a
desk as shown in FIG. 2 in the course of advance, the nozzle member
32 on said side turns centering around the pivot 29 in defiance of
the elasticity of the springs 36 and 37 as shown in FIG. 7, whereby
the nozzle 7 keeps moving forward without changing the direction of
advance, and, moreover, said nozzle member 32 returns to its
initial state by virtue of the elasticity of the springs 36 and 37
as soon as it gets clear of the leg C, while the nozzle 7 is
sucking up the dust around the leg C all the time through the
suction channel 33. On the other hand, if the nozzle 7 happens to
come in contact with the obstacle C again at the time of retreat,
the nozzle member on the side brought into contact with said
obstacle turns to a direction opposite to the previous direction of
advance and gets clear of the obstacle while the nozzle keeps
sucking up the dust. In this connection, if it should happen that
the pivoting of the nozzle member 31 or 32 fails to disengage the
nozzle from the obstacle C then, the central nozzle member 30 will
also turn about the tip of the nozzle 7 in defiance of the
elasticity of the spring 41, whereby the nozzle 7 will pass the
obstacle C and move on, while the central nozzle member 30 returns
to its initial state by virtue of the working of the spring 41 as
soon as it gets clear of said obstacle.
As described in the foregoing, the nozzle 7 can thoroughly perform
the suction of the dust around those obstacles which are passable
by means of the advance, retreat and alteration of the angle of
movement of the nozzle .
* * * * *