Conventional surface cleaning machines have power driven brushes and use vacuum air pressure to pickup dust and dirt from floors and carpets and transfer the dust and dirt with air into porous bags. Electric motors connected with wire cords to electric outlets drive fans to establish vacuum air flow that carry dust and dirt to the bags. These cleaning machines are used in commercial, office and retail stores during off hours to clean floors and carpets. A combined sweeper and vacuum cleaning having an electric carpet sweeper with one rotary brush driven by an electric motor wired to a battery is disclosed by D. F. Downey et al in U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,775. Dust and dirt is picked up by the brush and transferred through a handle tube and hose to the inlet of a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner draws air through the sweeper to transport dust and dirt to the vacuum cleaner.
The sweeper of the invention is a surface cleaning machine used for day cleaning in areas when cords of electric vacuum create a safety hazard. The sweeper has an electric motor powered by a battery to rotate dirt and debris pickup brush assemblies that collect and transfer dirt and debris into a filter box. The filter box is removable from the machine whereby the dirt and debris can be removed from the filter box and discarded or a new filter box can be placed into the cleaning machine. The sweeper is quiet and unobtrusive in operation allowing it to be used to pickup dirt and debris from carpets and bare floors without disturbing customers and coworkers. The sweeper can be used a number of times during normal business hours in high traffic areas, such as entry mats, retail stores and restaurant floors which is an advantage over cord vacuum cleaners that can only be used during off hours.
The sweeper is a floor, carpet and mat cleaning machine that is manually used by a work person to pickup materials, such as dirt, debris and moisture and deposit these materials in a container. The sweeper has a frame movably supported on a surface with a pair of rear wheels and a transverse front roller wheel. An upright handle joined to the frame is used by a work person to move the sweeper along the surface. A pair of side-by-side brush assemblies are rotatably mounted on the frame in front of the transverse roller wheel. Each brush assembly has two rows of helical radial projections that engage the surface to pickup dirt and debris and transfer the dirt and debris into the container. A drive mechanism including an electric motor wired to a battery and a power transmission operates to rotate the brush assemblies in opposite rotational directions to pickup dirt and debris from the surface and transfer it to the container. The container is a box having a front opening to a chamber for holding dirt and debris. The box has a wall with openings to allow air to flow through a filter from the chamber to the surrounding environment.
In the following detailed description of the cordless sweeper, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that form a part hereof, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Cordless sweeper 10, shown in
Frame 11 comprises a transverse front wall 23 joined to rearwardly extended side walls 24 and 26. A flat horizontal bottom wall 27 is connected to the lower edges of side walls 24 and 26. A rear wall 28 extended between rear wheels 14 and 16 is joined to a top wall 29 which is also connected to side walls 24 and 26. A pair of cylindrical bumpers or cushions 31 and 32 are mounted on front wall 23 to inhibit frame 11 from hitting walls and upright objects. As shown in
As shown in
Brush assemblies 43 and 44 are concurrently rotated in opposite directions with a dc electric motor 53. As shown in
Filter box 38, shown in
It is understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, not restrictive. Numerous characteristics and advantages of the cordless sweeper as described herein have been set forth in the foregoing description together with details of its structure and function. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/925,954 filed Apr. 24, 2007.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
D46634 | Ferguson | Nov 1914 | S |
D46800 | Boyer | Dec 1914 | S |
1129118 | Pereira | Feb 1915 | A |
D47020 | Ferguson | Mar 1915 | S |
D50310 | Krantz | Feb 1917 | S |
2101133 | Dilliard | Dec 1937 | A |
3184775 | Downey et al. | May 1965 | A |
3460188 | Boyd | Aug 1969 | A |
3906585 | Mattsson | Sep 1975 | A |
3978539 | Yonkers | Sep 1976 | A |
4042994 | Sassaman et al. | Aug 1977 | A |
4219897 | Leibscher et al. | Sep 1980 | A |
4445245 | Lu | May 1984 | A |
4701969 | Berfield et al. | Oct 1987 | A |
4709436 | Berfield et al. | Dec 1987 | A |
4974283 | Holsten et al. | Dec 1990 | A |
4979260 | Holsten et al. | Dec 1990 | A |
5309597 | Wymore | May 1994 | A |
5500979 | Worwag | Mar 1996 | A |
5664276 | Arias | Sep 1997 | A |
5896611 | Haaga | Apr 1999 | A |
5920939 | Worwag | Jul 1999 | A |
6436160 | Stephens et al. | Aug 2002 | B1 |
6553600 | Fischer | Apr 2003 | B2 |
7665172 | Tran et al. | Feb 2010 | B1 |
20070089250 | Hsiao | Apr 2007 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
0 050 470 | Apr 1982 | EP |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60925954 | Apr 2007 | US |