Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-08
2004-09-21
Snider, Theresa T. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S326000, C415S205000, C415S206000, C415S208100, C415S215100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06792649
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to contoured intake ducts and fan housing assemblies for floor care machines, such as vacuums, extractors, steam cleaners, and the like.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many contemporary floor care machines are equipped with vacuum motors or other suction-generating apparatus for drawing particulates, fluids, or other materials from a floor surface and propelling such materials into a storage receptacle. Such floor care machines include upright and canister vacuums, extractors, steam cleaners, carpet shampooers, and other similar devices.
FIG. 1
is a side elevational, partially-exploded view of a floor care machine
20
(e.g. an upright vacuum) in accordance with the prior art. As is well known, the floor care machine
20
includes a head assembly
40
that engages a floor surface
22
, and a dirt receptacle
26
for receiving and storing particulates. An exhaust duct
28
extends upwardly from the head assembly
40
and has an exhaust outlet
29
that extends partially into the dirt receptacle
26
. A handle support
30
extends upwardly from the exhaust duct
28
, and a handle
32
is attached to an upper end of the handle support
30
.
FIG. 2
is an exploded isometric view of the head assembly
40
of the floor care machine
20
of FIG.
1
. The head assembly
40
includes a motor assembly
42
having a fan housing
50
and a drive shaft
44
coupled to a drive belt
46
. A roller brush
48
is also coupled to the drive belt
46
. The fan housing
50
includes an intake opening
52
and an exhaust opening
54
. The head assembly
40
also includes a lower housing
56
, and an upper housing
58
that engages with the lower housing
56
to cover and protect the internal components of the head assembly
40
.
The upper and lower housing
58
,
56
form a suction compartment
60
surrounding the roller brush
48
, and an intake duct
62
extending between the suction compartment
60
and the intake opening
52
of the fan housing
50
. The intake duct
62
has a generally rectangular cross-section from the suction compartment
60
to the fan housing
50
, however, at the point where the intake duct
62
meets the intake opening
52
of the fan housing
50
, the cross-sectional shape of the intake duct
62
abruptly changes from a relatively large rectangular cross-sectional shape to a relatively small circular exit aperture
63
. At the bottom of the suction compartment
60
, an intake aperture
64
is disposed through the lower housing
56
that leads into the suction compartment
60
.
In use, an operator grips the handle
32
and actuates a control switch (not shown) to transmit power to the motor assembly
42
. As will be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, the motor assembly
42
creates suction within the suction compartment
60
, drawing a particulate-laden airstream from the floor surface
12
through the intake aperture
64
. The motor assembly
42
propels the particulate-laden airstream through the intake duct
62
and into the fan housing
50
.
The particulate-laden airstream is then driven through the fan housing
50
and the exhaust duct
28
, and into the dirt receptacle
26
, where the particulates may be filtered from the particulate-laden airstream and stored for later disposal. Floor care machines of the type shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2
are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,095 issued to Redding et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,741 issued to Hampton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,121 issued to Blackman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,276 issued to Glenn, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,774,930 issued to Sommer et al.
Although desirable results have been achieved using the floor care machine
20
, some drawbacks exist. For example, although the noise generated by floor care machines is of low volume and well within established limits for the comfort and safety of the operator and other persons in the vicinity of the machine, it may be desirable to further reduce the noise generated from the floor care machine. For some applications, such as in hospitals, hotels, or residential applications, it may be desirable to operate floor care machines while people are sleeping nearby. For other applications, such as in schools, universities, or office buildings, it may be desirable to operate floor care machines while people are quietly concentrating or conversing. Therefore, there is an ever-present desire to further reduce the noise generated by floor care machines.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to contoured intake ducts and fan housing assemblies for floor care machines. In one aspect, an intake apparatus for a floor care machine includes a contoured duct having a passage therethrough, the passage having a first cross-sectional area at a first open end of the passage and a second cross-sectional area at a second open end of the passage. The first open end of the passage is adapted to be fluidly connected to a suction compartment of the floor care machine, and the second open end of the passage is adapted to be fluidly connected to an opening of an airflow propulsion device. The passage has a cross-sectional area progression from the first open end to the second open end that smoothly varies between the first cross-sectional area and the second cross-sectional area. Because the intake passage has a smoothly varying area progression, turbulence within the intake passage may be reduced or inhibited, and noise generated by the airstream within the intake passage may be reduced.
In another aspect, the contoured duct may include a bellmouth substantially surrounding the first open end. The bellmouth may inhibit the separation of the airstream within the intake passage, and thus, noise generated by the airstream within the intake passage may be reduced.
In a further aspect, an airflow propulsion device for a floor care machine may include a motor having a drive shaft, a fan operatively coupled to the drive shaft, and a fan housing disposed about the fan and having a transition passage proximate the radially-outward ends of the vanes of the fan. The transition passage extends to an exhaust opening and being sized to receive the outwardly-driven airflow from the fan. In one aspect, the fan housing includes an internal cowling surface closely conforming to and closely spaced from the distal edges of the vanes of the fan. In another aspect, the transition passage also has a cross-sectional area progression that smoothly varies between a first cross-sectional area proximate one of the vanes and a second cross-sectional area proximate the exhaust opening. Turbulence within the fan housing may be reduced or inhibited, and noise generated by the airstream within the fan housing may be reduced.
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patent: 5852847 (
Millard Jeffrey A.
Paterson Chris M.
Duft Setter Ollila & Bornsen LLC
Oreck Holdings LLC
Snider Theresa T.
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