Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-26
2004-09-21
Snider, Theresa T. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S384000, C015S385000, C015S389000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06792648
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly to an apparatus for rotatably driving a floor cloth of a vacuum cleaner for performing a floor mopping in addition to a dust suctioning of the vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vacuum cleaner performs a dust removing process by drawing in external air with foreign substances with suction force of a fan motor, and filtering the foreign substances with a filter.
As shown in
FIG. 1
, such vacuum cleaner includes a dust collecting chamber (not shown) having a dust filter mounted at a front inner portion of a cleaner body
1
, and a fan motor (not shown) formed at a rear portion of the cleaner body
1
. Further, the vacuum cleaner includes a suction assembly
9
that is removably connected to a hose
3
connected to the dust collecting chamber of the cleaner body
1
, a handle portion
5
, and a plurality of extension pipes
7
.
In the conventional vacuum cleaner constructed as above, as the fan motor is driven, the dust collecting chamber of the cleaner body
1
is subject to a negative pressure with respect to outer atmosphere. Accordingly, external air and foreign substances are drawn into the dust collecting chamber through the suction assembly
9
, the extension pipe
7
, and the hose
3
. During this process, the foreign substances are filtered out by the filter (not shown), and the clear air is passed through the fan motor and discharged out through an exhaust grill (not shown) formed at a rear side of the cleaner body
1
.
Undesignated reference numeral
6
refers to a driving switch for on-off controlling the cleaner.
Although such vacuum cleaner can clean a pile of dust on a cleaning surface to some extent, there still is a shortcoming in that the vacuum cleaner cannot be useful when cleaning dirt or foreign substances stuck on the cleaning surface. Accordingly, for cleaning the dirt or foreign substances stuck on the surface, it takes a considerable time and separate labor.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned problems of the related art, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a floor cloth for use in a vacuum cleaner having an improved structure for mopping a floor by rotatably driving a floor cloth separately mounted on a suction portion of the vacuum cleaner, and an apparatus of the vacuum cleaner for rotatably driving the floor cloth.
In order to accomplish the above object, in an apparatus for rotatably driving a floor cloth employed in a suction assembly of a vacuum cleaner that draws in and collects air and dust in a dust collecting chamber through an air path connecting a suction assembly to a connecting pipe by a negative pressure generated by an operation of a driving portion that is activated by manipulating a driving switch of a handle portion, the apparatus according to the present invention includes a rotary member rotatably disposed on a lower end of the suction assembly, for supporting the floor cloth cleaning a cleaning surface; rotary driving means on-off controlled by the manipulation of the driving switch, for supplying a driving force for rotating the rotary member in an on-state; and power supplying means for supplying an electric signal from the manipulation of the driving switch to the rotary driving means.
Here, the rotary driving means includes a bi-directional rotary motor having a pair of rotary shaft portions formed on both sides of the rotary motor and simultaneously rotated with each other by the power supplied from the power supplying means, and a power transmission unit disposed for transmitting the driving force of the rotary shaft portions to the rotary member.
The power transmission unit includes a pair of worm gear members connected to the rotary shaft portions for being rotated in the same direction as the rotary shaft portions are rotated; and transmission gears meshed with the pair of worm gear members for converting a rotational force of the worm gear members into a perpendicular direction and transmitting the converted rotational force to the rotary member.
In order to accomplish another object, in a floor cloth removably employed in a mounting portion at a lower end of a suction assembly of a vacuum cleaner, the floor cloth for mopping impurities on a cleaning surface according to the present invention includes a body contacting the cleaning floor; a removable layer attached to an upper surface of the body, supportable by a binding force with removable means formed on the mounting portion; and supporting means for improving cleaning efficiency by preventing deformation of the body and enabling easier contact against the cleaning surface, when the body contacts the cleaning surface.
The supporting means includes a supporting member disposed between the body and the removable layer, for recovering the body into an original shape, elastically.
It is also preferable that the supporting means includes a protruding pattern protruding from a lower surface of the body contacting the cleaning surface in a predetermined pattern.
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Samsung Kwangju Electronics Co., Ltd.
Snider Theresa T.
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