Patent Application
20120216364
This document relates to the cleaning equipment field and, more particularly, to a floor care apparatus in the form of a canister vacuum cleaner incorporating a nozzle assembly and a control handle with swivel action control for better maneuverability and a swivel lock for stability when the control handle is in the storage position.
Canister vacuum cleaners have long been known in the art. Generally, a canister vacuum cleaner includes a canister assembly that carries a suction generator and a dirt collection vessel usually in the form of a disposable filter bag or a reusable dirt cup. A canister vacuum cleaner also includes a nozzle assembly having a suction inlet. A rotary agitator is usually provided across the suction inlet to enhance the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner. A control handle, including a wand and flexible hose, connects the nozzle assembly with the canister assembly. Accordingly, during operation the suction generator draws dirt and debris loosened by the rotary agitator through the suction inlet in the nozzle assembly and then through the wand and flexible hose of the control handle into the dirt collection vessel in the canister assembly. There dirt and debris are captured while a relatively clean air stream is drawn from the dirt collection vessel through the motor of the suction generator to provide cooling before being exhausted back into the environment.
In order to ensure utmost maneuverability and ease of operation, it has been found desirable to connect the control handle to the nozzle assembly by means of a swivel connection. Such a swivel connection allows fore-and-aft pivoting of the control handle with respect to the nozzle assembly about a first axis and rotational movement of the control handle about a second axis perpendicular to the first. The resulting swivel action allows the operator to maneuver the control handle to provide the best possible attack angle for turning and guiding the nozzle assembly during the vacuum cleaning operation.
Unfortunately, however, the freedom of movement provided by the swivel connection does have a drawback. Specifically, when the control handle is placed in the upright storage position over the nozzle assembly, it may be rotated to either side creating instability that may result in the toppling over of the nozzle assembly. This document describes a swivel lock mechanism that centers and locks the control handle in the most stable storage position thereby minimizing the potential for the toppling over of the nozzle assembly when the control handle is in the storage position.
Accordingly, a floor care apparatus is provided comprising a body including a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly, a suction generator carried on the body, a dirt collection vessel carried on the body and a control handle. A swivel assembly connects the control handle to the nozzle assembly. The swivel assembly includes a first member pivotally mounted to the nozzle assembly and a second member rotatably mounted with respect to the first member. The second member includes a receiver for receiving and holding the control handle. Additionally, the apparatus includes a swivel lock. The swivel lock includes (a) a slide carried on the first member and (b) a cooperating centering and locking projection carried on the second member. The slide includes a locking slot and the slide is displaceable between a use position and a control handle centering and locking position.
In one particularly useful embodiment the locking slot is substantially V-shaped. So is the guide projection. The V-shaped locking slot defines an included angle of between about 60 and about 120 degrees. Thus, the V-shaped locking slot may define an included angle of about 90 degrees. Similarly the V-shaped centering and locking projection defines an included angle of between about 60 and about 120 degrees. Thus, the V-shaped centering and locking projection may define an included angle of about 90 degrees.
Further describing the device, the slide includes a cam and the nozzle assembly includes an activation rib. The first member is pivotally connected to the nozzle assembly about a first pivot axis A and the control handle is pivoted about the first pivot axis A between the cleaning position and a storage position. The activation rib engages the cam when the control handle is pivoted into the storage position causing the slide to be displaced from the use position to the centering and locking position. There the V-shaped slot engages the V-shaped projection resulting in the centering of the control handle and the locking of the control handle in the centered storage position.
The first member further includes a guide and the slide includes a guide follower connecting the slide to the first member while allowing for free sliding movement along the first member. More specifically, the guide includes first and second ribs defining first and second opposed guide channels. The guide follower comprises first and second opposed flanges. The first flange is received for free sliding movement in the first channel while the second flange is received for free sliding movement in the second channel. The slide further includes a median section that extends through a gap between the first and second ribs.
In the following description there is shown and described several different embodiments of the invention, simply by way of illustration of some of the modes best suited to carry out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of other different embodiments and its several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawings incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the present invention and together with the description serve to explain certain principles of the invention. In the drawings:
a and 5b are respective detailed front elevational and cross sectional views illustrating the slide in the storage position; and
a and 6b are respective detailed perspective and cross sectional views illustrating the slide in the use position.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiment of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Reference is now made to
Referring back to drawing
Reference is now made to
The second member 66 includes an air flow conduit 80 that is aligned and in communication with the airflow pathway 64 of the first member 60. A receiver 82 is provided at the second end of the second member. The receiver 82 receives and holds the wand 40 of the control handle 42. A spring loaded lever 84 includes a detent (not shown) that passes through an opening in the second member 66 and engages in a cooperating opening in the wand 40 to secure the wand in the receiver 82 of the second member 66.
In use, the control handle 42 pivots fore and aft with respect to the nozzle assembly 34 about the pivot axis A defined by the trunion mounting 62. In addition, the control handle 42 may be pivoted through an arc of approximately 90 degrees to the left or right of dead center by the rotational mounting of the second member 66 in the first member 60 of the first swivel assembly 11 (note axis B in
As further illustrated in
More specifically, the first member 60 includes a guide generally designated by reference numeral 94. As best illustrated in
The swivel lock 12 also includes a cooperating centering and locking projection 112 carried on the second member 66. The centering and locking projection 112 is substantially V-shaped and defines an included angle of between 60 and 120 degrees including, for example, 90 degrees. As illustrated, the centering and locking projection 112 is provided on the second member 66 on the first member side of the ring flange 74. When the second member 66 is properly seated in the first member 60, the centering and locking projection 112 projects into a clearance cutout 114 provided in the collar 116 of the first member 60. The ends 118 of the clearance cutout 114 like the ends 78 of the slot 72 allow for rotational movement of the second member 66 relative to the first member 60 of approximately 180 degrees.
As illustrated in
When the operator inclines the control handle 42 into a use position (see
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled. The drawings and preferred embodiments do not and are not intended to limit the ordinary meaning of the claims in their fair and broad interpretation in any way.
