Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-07
2002-08-20
Till, Terrence R. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S325000, C015S420000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06434786
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for collecting particulates from a flow of air transported through a vacuum cleaner.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional vacuum cleaners are widely available, and are useful in a number of cleaning applications. One type of vacuum cleaner, commonly known as the upright vacuum cleaner, is frequently used in both residential and commercial settings to remove particulates of various sizes from floor surfaces such as carpeting, wood flooring, or linoleum.
A typical upright vacuum cleaner according to the prior art is shown in FIG.
1
. The upright vacuum cleaner
10
is comprised of a handle assembly
112
with a grip
118
mounted thereon. A collector bag assembly
120
is generally frontally positioned on the handle assembly
112
that serves as a receptacle for the collection of particulate matter. The vacuum cleaner
10
is further comprised of a wheel-mounted head assembly
20
pivotally coupled to the handle assembly
112
by a pivot
114
. The head assembly
20
may be of any suitable construction, but is generally comprised of a housing with a top portion
202
and front and rear walls
200
and
208
that are joined by side walls
204
and
206
. A protective bumper
210
is generally peripherally disposed on the head assembly
20
and projects outwardly from a lower edge of the front wall
200
and the side walls
204
and
206
to protect walls and room furnishings from potentially damaging impacts.
FIG. 2
shows a cutaway side view of the head assembly
20
of the prior art vacuum cleaner
10
. As shown therein, the head assembly
20
is further comprised of a transversely extending rotating cylindrical brush
216
that has a plurality of brush elements
218
disposed thereon. The cylindrical brush
216
is generally supported by bearings (not shown) positioned in the side walls
204
and
206
, and is rotationally driven by a motor (also not shown) recessed within the head assembly
20
. A bottom panel
211
is suitably mounted beneath the housing walls that generally carry a rearwardly disposed set of support wheels
212
, and a forwardly disposed set of support wheels
213
. The bottom panel
211
is further comprised of an intake nozzle
115
surrounding the rotating brush
216
, and positioned substantially close to a floor surface
110
. The head assembly
20
is further comprised of a motor-driven blower
220
that is recessed within the head assembly
20
that has an intake opening
222
that is suitably fluidly coupled to the intake nozzle
115
. The blower also has an exhaust outlet
224
that is suitably fluidly coupled to the outer bag assembly
120
.
In normal use, the user of the upright vacuum cleaner grasps the grip
118
on the handle assembly
112
and reciprocally translates the head assembly
20
across the floor surface
110
while the cylindrical brush
216
rotates and brushes the surface
110
and the blower
220
is developing suction at the intake nozzle
115
. Effective removal of particulate matter from the floor surface
110
is thus obtained through the combination of brushing the surface
110
to loosen embedded particulates, suctioning the loosened particulates away from the floor surface
110
, and transferring the particulate matter into the collector bag assembly
120
.
Although prior art upright vacuum cleaners are relatively efficient in cleaning floor surfaces that are spaced apart from intersecting surfaces, such as walls, baseboards, or portions of room furnishings, a particular difficulty is encountered in using upright vacuum cleaners to clean floor surface regions immediately adjacent to these intersecting surfaces. For example, referring again to
FIG. 2
, when the front wall
200
of the head assembly
20
is positioned frontally against a wall surface
224
, the upright vacuum cleaner is generally unable to effectively clean the near comer region
225
since the vacuum cleaner cannot apply sufficient suction there. This problem is further aggravated by the presence of the protective bumper
210
that projects outwardly from a lower edge of the front wall
200
since the bumper
210
spaces the intake nozzle
115
substantially away from the near comer region
225
. Consequently, since there exists an inability to effectively remove particulate debris in the near comer region
225
, significant amounts of particulate debris accumulate there that cannot be effectively removed by prior art upright vacuum cleaners.
One attempted solution to this problem has been to provide supplemental openings that direct suction from the nozzle into the near comer region
225
. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,628 to Platt, an apparatus structured lo selectively open and close a gate located in a front wall of a head assembly is described. In normal operation, the gate remains closed, and the supplemental opening, which is connected to a suction source, is inoperative. When the front wall of a vacuum cleaner head is frontally positioned near the intersecting region of the floor and the wall,; an actuator button contacts the wall and opens the supplemental opening, allowing additional suction to be applied to the near corner region. Although this apparatus is an improvement over the prior art, an inherent shortcoming in this approach is that it requires the installation of the actuator and gate assembly on a front wall of the vacuum cleaner head assembly: Since this area repeatedly sustains physical blows as the head contacts the walls in the room, and room furnishings, the actuator and gate assembly may be easily damaged, and thus rendered inoperable.
Another attempted solution to this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,186 to Lessig, III, et al. As described therein, a rotating brush positioned within a head assembly is disposed immediately adjacent but rearwardly of a front wall of the head assembly. In one embodiment, the front wall is resiliently yieldable to enable the brush to more effectively clean the near comer region when the front wall of the head assembly is pushed against the baseboard, or wall of a room. In another embodiment, the front wall of the head assembly is structured to move upwardly and away from the rotating brush when the head assembly is pressed against a baseboard, or room wall. Although this apparatus similarly constitutes an improvement over prior art vacuum cleaner machines, it disadvantageously allows the rotating brush to contact the room wall surface, which may allow the rotating brush to be damaged as it contacts the surface, or alternatively may lead to damage of the baseboard, wall, or other surfaces that it contacts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A front edge cleaning device for an upright vacuum cleaner is disclosed. The front edge cleaning assembly comprises a flexible, resilient member frontally disposed on the head assembly of an upright vacuum cleaner. In one aspect, the front edge cleaning device includes an elongated section having an upper section and a lower section with front and a rear faces, the rear face of the upper section being attached to the front wall of the vacuum cleaner and the lower section extending downwardly from the upper section and having the front face of the lower section beveled inwardly towards the rear face of the lower section to form an apical lower edge spaced apart from the floor with air openings positioned along the apical lower edge and projecting through the lower section. In another aspect, the front edge cleaning device includes an elongated section having an upper section and a lower section with front and rear faces, the rear face of the upper section being at least partially attached to the front wall of the vacuum cleaner and the lower section extending downwardly from the upper section and having the front face of the lower section offset inwardly towards the rear face of the upper section to form a lower offset edge spaced apart from the floor with a plurality of air openings positioned along the lower offset edge and projecting through the lower section.
REFERENCES:
Faegre & Benson LLP
Oreck Holdings LLC
Till Terrence R.
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