Patent Application
20190045986
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The disclosure and prior art relates to vacuum devices and more particularly pertains to a new vacuum device for coupling a vacuum to a wheelbarrow.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a wheelbarrow that has a bucket. A vacuum is provided that has an intake and an exhaust. A housing is removably coupled to the bucket on the wheelbarrow such that the housing encloses the bucket. The housing has an aperture extending into an interior of the housing and the aperture insertably receives the intake of the vacuum. A spout is fluidly coupled to the housing such that the spout is in fluid communication with the vacuum when the intake is positioned in the aperture. A pipe is removably coupled to the spout such that the pipe is in fluid communication with the aperture. In this way the pipe suctionally removes debris from the support surface thereby facilitating the debris to be deposited in the bucket.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A vacuum 20 is provided that has an intake 22 and an exhaust 24. The vacuum 20 may be an electric shop vacuum 20, a gas powered leaf blower and any other portable vacuum 20. A battery may be provided and the battery may be suspended on the handles of the wheel barrow. A power cord may be electrically coupled between the battery and the electrical variation of the vacuum 20.
A housing 26 is provided and the housing 26 is removably coupled to the bucket 16 on the wheelbarrow 12 such that the housing 26 encloses the bucket 16. The housing 26 has an aperture 28 extending into an interior of the housing 26. The aperture 28 receives the intake 22 of the vacuum 20. Thus, an interior of the housing 26 is exposed to negative pressure created by the vacuum 20.
A spout 30 is fluidly coupled to the housing 26 such that the spout 30 is in fluid communication with the vacuum 20 when the intake 22 is positioned in the aperture 28. A pipe 32 is removably coupled to the spout 30 such that the pipe 32 is in fluid communication with the aperture 28. The pipe 32 angles downwardly from the spout 30 such that the pipe 32 is aligned with the support surface 14. In this way the pipe 32 suctionally removes debris 34 from the support surface 14 thereby facilitating the debris 34 to be deposited in the bucket 16. The debris 34 may be leaves and lawn clippings or the like.
The housing 26 has a top wall 36 and a perimeter wall 38 extending away therefrom. The perimeter wall 38 has a front side 40, an interior surface 42 and a distal edge 44 with respect to the top wall 36 to define an opening 46 into the housing 26. The perimeter wall 38 flares outwardly adjacent to the distal edge 44 to define a receiver 48 extending around the perimeter wall 38. The receiver 48 engages the top edge 18 of the bucket 16 when the housing 26 is positioned on the wheelbarrow 12. Moreover, the distal edge 44 of the housing 26 is coextensive with the top edge 18 of the bucket 16. The top wall 36 extends outwardly beyond the perimeter wall 38 to define a lip 50 for gripping the housing 26.
The aperture 28 extends through the top wall 36 and the spout 30 angles downwardly from the front side 40 of the housing 26. A collar 52 extends upwardly from the top wall 36 and the collar 52 surrounds the aperture 28. Moreover, the collar 52 receives the intake 22 of the vacuum 20. The spout 30 has a distal end 54 with respect to the front side 40 and the distal end 54 is open. The pipe 32 has a first section 56 that is slidably coupled to a second section 58 such that the pipe 32 has a telescopically adjustable length. The first section 56 has a first end 60 and the second section 58 has a second end 62.
An outer wall corresponding to the first half of the pipe 32 has a plurality of holes extending into an interior of the pipe 32. A lock is movably coupled to the second half of the pipe 32 and the lock engages a selected one of the holes. In this way the pipe 32 is retained at a selected length. The distal end 54 of the spout 30 insertably receives the first end 60 of the first section 56. In this way the pipe 32 is in fluid communication with the vacuum 20 when the vacuum 20 is fluidly coupled to aperture 28. The second end 62 of the second section 58 is aligned with the support surface 14 when the pipe 32 is positioned in the spout 30.
A nozzle 64 is provided that has a first end 66 and a second end 68. The nozzle 64 flares outwardly between the first end 66 and the second end 68 of the nozzle 64 and each of the first end 60 and the second end 62 of the nozzle 64 is open. The second end 62 of the second section 58 of the pipe 32 insertably receives the first end 60 of the nozzle 64. Thus, the second end 62 of the nozzle 64 is aligned with the support surface 14 when the pipe 32 is positioned in the spout 30. The second end 62 of the nozzle 64 is in fluid communication with the intake 22 of the vacuum 20 to suck the debris 34 from the support surface 14.
A gasket 70 is positioned between the bucket 16 and the housing 26. The gasket 70 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material. Thus, the gasket 70 forms a fluid impermeable seal between the housing 26 and the bucket 16. The gasket 70 is continuous such that the gasket 70 is coextensive with the top edge 18 of the bucket 16.
A screen 72 is coupled to the interior surface 42 of the perimeter wall 38 of the housing 26. The screen 72 is coextensive with the perimeter wall 38 and the screen 72 inhibits the debris 34 from passing through the aperture 28 in the housing 26. The screen 72 is spaced from the top wall 36 of the housing 26. A strap 74 is wrapped around the bucket 16 and the housing 26 when the housing 26 is positioned on the bucket 16 to removably retain the housing 26 on the bucket 16. The strap 74 may be a ratcheting strap 74 or the like.
In use, the gasket 70 is positioned on the top edge 18 of the bucket 16 and the housing 26 is positioned on the gasket 70. The strap 74 is wrapped around the housing 26 and the bucket 16 to retain the housing 26 on the bucket 16. The intake 22 of the vacuum 20 is inserted into the collar 52 and the pipe 32 is inserted into the spout 30. The vacuum 20 is turned on and the wheelbarrow 12 is urged along the support surface 14 to such the debris 34 from the support surface 14. The bucket 16 captures the debris 34 as the wheelbarrow 12 is urged along the support surface 14. The housing 26 is removed from the wheelbarrow 12 and the debris 34 is emptied when the wheelbarrow 12 is full.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, system and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
