Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Machines – With air blast or suction
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-25
2001-03-06
Moore, Chris K. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Machines
With air blast or suction
C015S305000, C015S345000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06195834
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cleaning devices similar to vacuum cleaners for removal of foreign particles such as specs of dust, contaminants and alike for in-house or industrial use. More particularly, the method of the present invention describes a cleaning process combining mechanical agitation and pulsed air flow as used for cleaning purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vacuum cleaning and other methods of removing of dust and other foreign particles are well known in the prior art. Various methods of dust removal were suggested in the past for use in the industrial as well as in-house environment.
Combining the effects of dust agitation from the compressed constant flow air jets with evacuating the air containing dust specs from an enclosed chamber for use as carpet cleaning means in household vacuum cleaners is described in many U.S. patents. Examples of such patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,092 by Miwa; U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,775 by Sjoberg; U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,137 by Reeves; U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,261 by Woodward; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,290 by Rose. These patents typically describe various attachments to a commonly used household vacuum cleaner containing a chamber or a shroud placed over a carpet section to be cleaned and having provisions for supplying air jets at a constant flow rate to agitate the fibers of the carpet and to separate the dust particles therefrom. Vacuum hose is used to evacuate the air filled with these suspended dust particles and thus the carpet or a section of the floor is cleaned. Among the limitations of these relatively simple designs, those skilled in the art can point to the limited ability of the constant flow air jets to lift the dust particles and also the inability of these attachments to clean large objects of complex shape, such as a pillow, pieces of clothing, or bed linens due to the limitations of the volume and design of the enclosing chamber. The chamber according to these US patents is typically opened from one end and assumes an available flat surface of the object to be cleaned to form a complete enclosure in combination with that object.
An electrically operated transducer producing agitating waves where this transducer being incorporated in a vacuum cleaner suction head is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,466 by Alderman. The use of the transducer instead of the air jets is suggested for better and simpler agitation of the dust particles. This design suffers from similar limitation, namely the inability to clean larger objects with complex geometry.
Vacuum cleaners of the prior art are also known to use pulsed air flow as agitation means. Examples of the use of pulsed or reversed direction air flow are contained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,205 by Woodward and U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,204 by Chase. In addition to the same limitation of the size and volume of the objects to be cleaned, these designs are quite complex and may have limited reliability.
The use of a large elastic bag for storing and cleaning of large household items made of fabric is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,030 by Sweeney describing a storage enclosure with provisions for evacuating air. Another example is described in a manual to the vacuum cleaner produced by Rexair, Inc. (Troy, Mich.) describing the use of a large bag (“AEROFRESH BAG”) containing pieces of clothing or linen and a manual procedure for the use of an upholstery tool to evacuate the dusty air from the bag. This description does not contained provisions for agitating the item to be cleaned nor suggests repeating of the process at least several times and thus is limited in its efficiency.
Finally, effective dust removal is an important part of the manufacturing process for many industries, especially for the electronics industry. Mechanical vibration coupled with plasma blowing over electronic components is a suggested method of cleaning according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,862 by Otsubo and U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,135 by Selwyn. These patents propose the use of a totally enclosed chamber equipped with a mechanical agitator for separating the foreign particles from the object to be cleaned, such as semiconductor components. In addition to a complex nature of these devices, constant plasma flows are suggested which limits the efficiency of the process of cleaning.
Therefore, the need exists for a simple method and apparatus capable of efficient separating and removing the dust particles from an object of complex shape.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome these and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a method and an apparatus for removal of foreign particles combining efficient agitation and dust removal techniques.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for cleaning of objects of large size or complex shape, such as pieces of clothing, linens, pillows, or other similar household items that can not be cleaned otherwise by a common household vacuum cleaner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for removal of foreign particles from electronic components such as computer boards and alike as part of the manufacturing process thereof.
The apparatus for removal of foreign particles comprises an enclosed chamber equipped with agitation means such as pulsed air jets, mechanical vibrator or a combination thereof. Air supply and removal means are connected to the chamber via valve means for periodic injection and aspiration of air from the chamber.
According to the method of the invention, an object to be cleaned is placed in the chamber and subjected to agitation for initial separation of foreign particles. Air is periodically injected and removed from the chamber for both additional blowing off the particles as well as for carrying out the particles of dust suspended in the air. This process may be repeated at least three times for complete cleaning of the object. For a household application, the use of a common vacuum cleaner is suggested for the purposes of removing the air containing dust particles. Adjustment means are envisioned for tuning the frequency and duration of air removal cycles.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3568477 (1971-03-01), Dixon et al.
patent: 3592689 (1971-07-01), Chaplinski
patent: 3612076 (1971-10-01), Brahm
patent: 3733639 (1973-05-01), Timian
patent: 4037290 (1977-06-01), Rose
patent: 4058868 (1977-11-01), Champion
patent: 4174204 (1979-11-01), Chase
patent: 4300261 (1981-11-01), Woodward
patent: 4333205 (1982-06-01), Woodward
patent: 4403369 (1983-09-01), Lin
patent: 5400466 (1995-03-01), Alderman
patent: 5454137 (1995-11-01), Reeves
patent: 5480030 (1996-01-01), Sweeney
patent: 5531862 (1996-04-01), Otsubo
patent: 5603775 (1997-02-01), Sjoberg
patent: 5647092 (1997-04-01), Miwa
patent: 5849135 (1998-12-01), Selwyn
Lechinsky Boris
Moore Chris K.
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for removing foreign particles does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for removing foreign particles, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for removing foreign particles will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2447246