Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-22
2002-04-09
Moore, Chris K. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S337000, C015S409000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06367119
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dual-duty blowing and exhausting apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus which is convertible between blowing and exhausting configurations in a simple and rapid manner without undue wear or damage of parts, or leakage of any collected material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In accordance with common practice, industrial exhaust devices used in various factories to exhaust dust, iron scurf, wood flour, and various scraps are configured to perform just a one-way exhaust function. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a conventional device employing a high speed jet of compressed air to generate strong suction for exhausting dust is shown. The device comprises an air valve
11
controlling the introduction of compressed air into the device body
12
; a direction valve
13
placed adjacent the air valve
11
in the device body
12
; a locking sleeve
14
securing the direction valve
13
in the device body
12
at its back side; a pair of O-rings
131
,
132
located at the opposed ends of the direction valve
13
for preventing leakage of the compressed air; a hose
15
connected at the rear end of the locking sleeve
13
and clamped by a binding ring
16
; and, a dust collecting bag (not shown in the Drawing) connected at the end of the hose
15
. Formed between the outside wall of the direction valve
13
and body
12
is a ring groove that communicates with diagonal air holes
133
for guiding the compressed air. By appropriately controlling the air valve
11
, the compressed air is allowed into the body
12
, such that it passes through the air holes
133
of the direction valve
13
to jet into the locking sleeve
14
. Due to the circular arrangement of the air holes
133
, the jetting current of high speed air generates strong suction so that dust, iron scurf, wood flour and various scraps are exhausted into the dust collector. Referring to FIG.
2
and
FIG. 3
, various auxiliary extending accessories may be attached to the inlet of the exhaust pipe to meet the requirements of different applications.
If the user wishes to effect a blower function with the device, he/she must first convert the orientation of the direction valve
13
within the device body
12
. Referring to
FIG. 4
, this conversion is carried out by first releasing the binding ring
16
so as to disconnect the hose
15
from the locking sleeve
14
; disengaging the locking sleeve
14
from the back end of the device body
12
; then taking the direction valve
13
out carefully, making sure that the two O-rings
131
,
132
are drawn out together at the same time. Referring to
FIG. 5
, the direction valve
13
is inverted in orientation so that the direction of the air holes
133
are oriented toward the front device body
12
. Thus reoriented, the direction valve
13
is placed back into the device body
12
again and retained therein by securing the locking sleeve
14
into the device body
12
. The hose
15
is then re-connected to the locking sleeve
14
, as shown in FIG.
6
. Because the air holes
133
of the direction valve
13
are now directed towards the front end, the jetting air current will also be directed towards the front side to serve a blower function. This conventional device thus converts in function between exhausting and blowing, but only after disassembly and re-assembly to change the orientation of the direction valve
13
. This structure has the following shortcomings:
1. Complicated procedure for converting the working function as above-described: the operator has to loosen the binding ring
16
, uninstall the hose
15
, remove the locking sleeve
14
and direction valve
13
, re-orient the direction valve
13
, then put it into place again, making sure that the locking sleeve is replaced again. The hose
15
is re-connected, and the binder ring
15
is again tightened.
2. If frequent changing of the working functions is necessary, the parts will be damaged easily. If the direction valve
13
has to be re-oriented frequently, scratching and wearing of parts will occur during repeated assembling and disassembling operations so as to diminish the resulting device operation.
3. Confusing direction: when changing the direction of the direction valve
13
, the user is often confused as to the proper orientation of the air holes with reference to the outside profile, and the direction valve
13
is often mis-oriented.
4. The O-rings slide out easily: the two O-rings
131
,
132
placed on the ends of the direction valve
13
are, due to their tight sealing function, not tightly compressed against the inside wall of the device body
12
by the direction valve
13
and the locking sleeve
14
. But when the direction valve
13
is removed too often, there is a great likelihood that the O-ring
131
may remain adhered to the inside of the cylinder of the device
12
. If the operator does not discover this problem, replacement of the direction valve
13
upon re-orientation will result in both O-rings
131
,
132
being located at the inner end, with the outer end remaining without an O-ring seal. Leakage when then occur after re-assembly.
5. When the O-rings are often drawn out and re-mounted repeatedly, the friction between the inside wall of the cylinder and the outside surface of the O-rings will wear and scratch at the outer surface of the O-rings. In those cases where the clamped O-ring
131
is removed with a needle shaped hook (as is often done), the needle-shaped tip of the hook may damage the surface of the O-ring, causing leakage to occur eventually.
6. For inverting the direction valve
13
, so many related parts have to be disassembled that much time is consumed, and upon disassembly, the loose parts are easily lost before re-assembly.
7. The reassembled O-rings
131
,
132
have to be carefully adjusted to their positions in order to prevent their shape from distorting under the pressing engagement of the direction valve. If not carefully adjusted, distortion may cause the O-rings to lose their sealing function.
8. If the operator does not know the conversion procedure well, and disassembles the device without first disconnecting the hose
15
, the collected dust, wood flour, iron scurf and other various scraps in the collecting bag will escape out of the device and contaminate the surrounding area.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a main object of the present invention to provide a dual-duty blowing and exhaust apparatus in which the body includes extending therefrom a connection portion for directly attaching a hose. An exhaust valve is secured on the front end of the body for conducting the jet air current to a back side to generate suction.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dual-duty blowing and exhaust apparatus, wherein a blow valve is secured at a front end of the exhaust valve. The blow valve has an elastic slide rod at the end extending to the exhaust valve to touch against a throat portion of the body with its terminal surface, so as to block the backward channel and cause re-direction of the compressed air flow towards the front side. The re-directed air flow jets out from a front end mouth to form a blower jet current. In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus may be converted in its working function without disassembling any parts. One need only secure a blow valve to the front end of the exhaust valve. The operation is very simple and convenient, eliminating much of the potential for operator error.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2324422 (1943-07-01), Patterson
patent: 2846710 (1958-08-01), Haka
patent: 2851213 (1958-09-01), Swallert
patent: 3525118 (1970-08-01), Viollet
patent: 3964123 (1976-06-01), Pettersson
patent: 3967341 (1976-07-01), Gavin
patent: 4055870 (1977-11-01), Furutsutsumi
patent: 5924166 (1999-07-01), Jones et al.
patent: 1022770 (1958-01-01), None
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