Patent Application
20140331442
This application claims under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0053055, filed on May 10, 2013 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a dust suction apparatus for shoes, and more specifically, to a dust suction apparatus for shoes which is installed on an entrance floor of a specific facility to clean dust off shoes and remove dust by sucking up the separated dust.
2. Related Art
Various apparatuses are installed at an entrance of facilities such as factories, laboratories, and hospitals, which should minimize contaminant sources, so as to remove foreign matters such as dust from a body of people moving through the entrance.
In particular, a dust suction apparatus for shoes, which is one of such apparatuses, is used in the removal of foreign matters such as dust attached to a bottom of shoes.
Conventional dust suction apparatuses for shoes are disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 10-2009-0010029, 10-2011-0119441 and the like.
As illustrated in
Accordingly, if a person moving through the entrance (hereinafter referred to as a “visitor”) 80 steps on the upper portion 11 of the housing 10 formed in a scaffold, the elastic actuating members 40 located at a position where the feet of the visitor steps are pushed downward to open the corresponding suction ports 53 formed in the upper portion 11 of the housing 10. At the same time, the suction force from the aspirator 20 is applied to the suction ports 53 opened by the elastic actuating members 40 in the housing 10, thereby facilitating the sucking of foreign matters such as dust attached to the bottom of shoes.
In the above-described dust suction apparatus for shoes, since only several elastic actuating members 40 pressed by shoes of the visitor 80, among the plurality of the elastic actuating members 40 which are installed in the upper portion 11 of the housing 10 at a predetermined interval, are pushed downward to open the corresponding suction ports 53, only foreign matters such as dust attached to the bottom of shoes of the visitor 80 may be removed.
That is, it is not possible to effectively remove the foreign matters such as dust attached around the shoes of the visitor.
In order to solve the above-described problem, the Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2011-0119441 discloses a dust suction apparatus for shoes.
As illustrated in
The above-described dust suction apparatus for shoes needs as many elastic actuating members as the number of corresponding suction ports, and additional binding means for binding the elastic actuating members to be operated as one unit, thereby entailing difficulties in production.
Further, in the dust suction apparatuses for shoes in the related art, the dust or the like attached to the shoes may be removed only by the suction force of the aspirator. Therefore, it is difficult to remove the foreign matters strongly attached to the shoe soles, and suck the dust into the suction port far away therefrom, even if the dust separated from the shoes falls onto a lower plate of the housing.
In order to solve the above-described problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dust suction apparatus for shoes which operates integral unit type elastic actuating members to open and close suction ports with a smaller number of the elastic actuating members than the suction ports while without a separate binding means.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dust suction apparatus for shoes which includes a vibration motor for vibrating an upper plate or an opening and closing means so as to more easily clean foreign matters off shoes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dust suction apparatus for shoes which includes a lower plate inclined downwardly toward a side of a housing in which an outlet pipe is disposed so as to efficiently suck the dust separated from the shoes.
In order to accomplish the foregoing objects, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dust suction apparatus for shoes including: a suction unit which includes a housing having a closed storage space formed therein and suction ports of penetrated holes formed in an upper surface thereof, and is configured to be opened the suction ports by a suction force applied thereto at the time of receiving a load of a visitor; a suction device which includes an outlet pipe disposed in a side of the housing, and an inlet pipe communicated with the outlet pipe to suck dust which has fallen in the storage space of the housing through the suction ports by a motor operated by power supplied thereto; and a vibration device which is connected with at least one part of the suction unit so as to horizontally vibrate the suction unit contacting a bottom of shoes by a vibration motor operated by power supplied thereto.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the suction unit includes: an upper plate which forms an upper part of the housing and includes a plurality of suction ports formed therein at a predetermined interval, wherein the upper plate is connected with the vibration device so as to be horizontally vibrated; a lower plate which forms a lower part of the housing and includes a stepped portion which is formed on an inner side wall along an upper edge portion thereof so as to have the upper plate placed thereon, such that the storage space for storing the dust which has fallen down through the suction ports is defined between the upper plate the lower plate; and elastic actuating members which are disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate to selectively open the suction ports while normally closing the suction ports by elastic force stored therein.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the suction unit includes: an upper plate which forms an upper part of the housing and includes a plurality of suction ports formed therein at a predetermined interval; a lower plate which forms a lower part of the housing and includes a stepped portion which is formed on an inner side wall along an upper edge portion thereof so as to have the upper plate placed thereon, such that the storage space for storing the dust which has fallen down through the suction ports is defined between the upper plate the lower plate; and elastic actuating members which are disposed between the upper plate and the lower plate to selectively open the suction ports while normally closing the suction ports by elastic force stored therein, wherein the elastic actuating members are connected with the vibration device so as to be horizontally vibrated.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the lower plate includes an inclination portion which is formed a bottom thereof and is inclined downwardly toward the side of the hosing in which the outlet pipe is disposed so as to move the dust toward the outlet pipe which is communicated with the inlet pipe of the suction device.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the elastic actuating members include: an opening and closing means which includes a plurality of heads having a configuration corresponding to a side wall of the suction ports so as to surface-contact therewith when the heads are exposed from a flat surface of the upper plate, wherein two or more of the heads are integrally formed in a unit; and elastic bodies which are disposed between the opening and closing means and the lower plate to elastically support the opening and closing means, so that the heads surface-contact with the suction ports.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the elastic body is a cylindrical or coil spring.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the bottom of the lower plate of the housing on which the lower end of the elastic bodies are seated is formed with the inclination portion, and the elastic bodies have a length corresponding to a vertical length between the inclination portion and the opening and closing means, so that the elastic bodies which are arranged at different positions on the inclination portion in the housing have an elastic force in proportion to the length thereof to horizontally support the opening and closing means.
In the dust suction apparatus of the present invention, the bottom of the lower plate of the housing on which the lower end of the elastic bodies are seated is formed with the inclination portion, and the elastic bodies have the same length, so that the elastic bodies which are arranged at different positions on the inclination portion in the housing have the same elastic force to support the opening and closing means parallel to the inclination portion of the lower plate.
According to the dust suction apparatus for shoes of the present invention, when the integral unit type elastic actuating members are operated, the suction ports corresponding to the area of the elastic actuating members are simultaneously opened, thus it is possible to reduce the number of components by reducing the number of elastic actuating members compared to the suction ports without a separate binding means.
In addition, according to the dust suction apparatus for shoes of the present invention, it is possible to more easily clean the foreign matters off shoes by the upper plate which is horizontally vibrating by the vibration motor, and remove and suck the dust with a small suction force due to the lower plate inclined downwardly toward the side of the hosing in which the outlet pipe is disposed so as to move the dust toward the outlet pipe.
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, embodiments of a dust suction apparatus for shoes according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Prior to this, terms or words used in the specification and claims should not be construed as limited to a lexical meaning, and should be understood as appropriate notions by the inventor based on that he/she is able to define terms to describe his/her invention in the best way to be seen by others.
Therefore, embodiments and drawings described herein are simply exemplary and not exhaustive, and it will be understood that various modifications and equivalents may be made to take the place of the embodiments.
As illustrated in
The suction unit 100 includes an upper plate on which shoes are placed and elastic actuating members which open suction ports formed in the upper plate when the load of the visitor is applied thereto. Therefore, dust which has fallen into a housing, in which the suction unit 100 is installed, through the opened suction ports is sucked to the suction device 200.
For this, the suction unit 100 has an outlet pipe formed in aside of the housing as a cylindrical tube, and the suction device 200 has an inlet pipe which is communicated with the outlet pipe. Thereby, a suction force of vacuum air from the suction device 200 is applied to the suction ports formed in the upper plate of the airtightly sealed housing through the inlet and outlet pipes.
When the suction device 200 is operated, dust which has fallen into the housing through the suction ports opened by the elastic actuating members is sucked to suction device 200 through the inlet and outlet pipes.
In addition, the upper plate of the suction unit 100 on which shoes are placed is connected with the vibration device 300. Therefore, when the vibration device 300 is operated, the upper plate is horizontally vibrated to efficiently remove the dust from the bottom of shoes.
For this, the vibration motor of the vibration device 300 is connected to one end portion of the upper plate of the suction unit 100 so as to continuously vibrate the upper plate at all times or intermittently vibrate the upper plate when the elastic actuating members are pressed by the load of the visitor.
Herein, the operation of the vibration device 300 according to the lowering and lifting of the elastic actuating members is controlled by a control circuit (not illustrated) which is electrically connected with the elastic actuating members.
It is preferable that a space of a predetermined distance is formed between a peripheral portion of the upper plate and the side wall of the lower plate so as to vibrate the upper plate on the lower plate.
As illustrated in
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the housing has an inclination portion which is formed on a bottom of the lower plate 130, and is inclined downwardly toward the side of the housing in which an outlet pipe 101 is disposed.
The suction unit 100 includes the housing which has the upper plate 110 in which a plurality of suction ports 111 are formed in an upper surface thereof at a predetermined interval and the lower plate 130 which forms a closed space with the upper plate 110 by the closing of the suction ports 111; and the elastic actuating members 120 which are disposed between the upper plate 110 and the lower plate 130 and selectively open each of the suction ports 111 formed in the upper plate 110 of the housing, so as to apply the suction force of vacuum air from the suction device 200 to the suction ports 111.
The rectangular upper plate 110 is placed on the upper edge of the rectangular lower plate 130 so as to define the storage space in the housing for receiving and storing the dust separated from the shoes.
The upper plate 110 is a plate member with the suction ports 111 formed therein, and has a shape corresponding to heads which will be described below.
More specifically, each of the suction ports 111 has a side wall corresponding to the semispherical shape of the head so as to surface-contact therewith, and is formed in an appropriate diameter, preferably smaller than the diameter of the head so as not to penetrate the head above the upper plate 110 formed with the suction ports 111.
The lower plate 130 has a stepped portion which is formed on an inner side wall along an upper edge portion thereof in a size corresponding to the edge of the upper plate 110 so as to have the upper plate 110 placed thereon, so that the storage space for storing the dust which has fallen down through the suction ports 111 is defined in the housing.
Herein, it is preferable that a gap spaced from the side wall of the lower plate 130 is formed with the side wall of the upper plate 110 so as to allow the upper plate 110 to be horizontally vibrated therein.
Preferably, the lower plate 130 has a bottom forming an inclination portion 131 which is downwardly inclined toward the side of the hosing in which the outlet pipe 101 is disposed, so that the separated dust is moved to the outlet pipe 101 communicated with the inlet pipe of the suction device 200.
More specifically, the lower plate 130 includes the inclination portion 131 which is upwardly inclined from the side of the housing in which the outlet pipe 101 is disposed to the side opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction at a predetermined angle.
The elastic actuating members 120 positioned between the upper plate 110 and the lower plate 130 elastically support the upper plate 110 against the lower plate 130 so as to maintain the storage space therebetween at a predetermined height.
For this, the elastic actuating members 120 include: the opening and closing means of a plurality of heads 121 which are formed in a shape corresponding to a side wall of the suction ports 111 so as to surface-contact therewith when the heads 121 are exposed from a flat surface of the upper plate 110 and have head protrusions formed on the top thereof; and elastic bodies 125 for elastically supporting the opening and closing means.
Herein, the elastic actuating members 120 of the opening and closing means are integrally formed in a rectangular shape, rather than each of the heads 121 being connected by a separate binding means. That is, two or more of the heads 121 of the elastic actuating members 120 are integrally formed in a unit.
The elastic actuating members 120, which are elastically supported by the elastic bodies 125, include penetrated holes formed between the heads 121.
The elastic bodies 125 may be a cylindrical or coil spring.
One end of the elastic body 125 is connected to the head 121 of the elastic actuating member 120 and the other end thereof is seated on the lower plate 130 of the housing.
Herein, since the bottom of the lower plate 130 of the housing on which the lower end of the elastic bodies 125 are seated is formed with the inclination portion 131, it is preferable that the elastic bodies 125 have a length corresponding to a vertical length between the inclination portion 313 and the opening and closing means, so that the elastic bodies 125 which are arranged at different positions on the inclination portion 131 have an elastic force in proportion to the length thereof to horizontally support the opening and closing means. Alternately, in order to apply a uniform elastic force over the entire elastic actuating members 120 of the opening and closing means, the elastic bodies 125 may have different coil pitch, thickness, or elastic modulus while having the same length.
Accordingly, the elastic bodies 125 elastically support each of the heads 121 against the lower plate 130 by the elastic force stored therein during compression, so that the heads 121 surface-contact with the suction ports 111 to close the suction ports 111. When the load of the visitor is applied to the upper plate 110, the heads 121 are lowered against the elastic bodies 125 while the elastic force is stored therein.
That is, the heads 121 exposed from the upper plate 110 of the housing are pressed by the visitor, and the heads 121 are lowered against the elastic bodies 125 to be compressed while the elastic force is stored over the entire vertical length thereof, thereby opening the suction ports 111 so as to suck the dust.
As illustrated in
That is, even if a head is not directly pressed by the shoes S, the head is operated together with the head which is directly pressed by the shoes S of the visitor and forms the unit of the elastic actuating members 120.
Then, the heads 121 pressed by the shoes S of the visitor are lowered against the elastic bodies 125 to be vertically compressed, thereby opening the suction ports 111.
At this time, the corresponding suction ports 111 are opened by the operation of the elastic actuating members 120 which are arranged in a large region relative to the bottom area of the shoes S of the visitor.
In addition, since the upper plate 110 of the suction unit 100 is continuously vibrated by the vibration motor of the vibration device 300, the dust may be easily separated from the shoes S, and the dust sucked from the suction ports 111 may be downwardly moved to the outlet pipe along the inclination portion 131 of the lower plate 130.
Next, the dust, which is separated from the shoes S of the visitor and which has fallen on the lower plate 130 of the housing through the suction ports 111, is sucked into the inlet pipe communicated with the outlet pipe 101 by the suction device 200. When the shoes S of the visitor step off the upper plate 110, the elastic actuating members 120 return to an original position by the elastic bodies 125, and the suction ports 111 formed in the upper plate 110 are again closed by the heads 121 of the elastic actuating members 120. Therefore, the closed space is formed in the housing so as to wait for the next operation.
As illustrated in
The suction unit 400 includes an upper plate on which the shoes are placed and elastic actuating members which open suction ports formed in the upper plate when the load of the visitor is applied thereto. Therefore, dust which has fallen into a housing, in which the suction unit 400 is installed, through the opened suction ports is sucked to the suction device.
For this, the suction unit 400 has an outlet pipe 401 formed in a side of the housing as a cylindrical tube, and the suction device has an inlet pipe which is communicated with the outlet pipe 401. Thereby, a suction force of vacuum air from the suction device is applied to the suction ports formed in the upper plate of the airtightly sealed housing through the inlet and outlet pipes.
When the suction device is operated, dust which has fallen into the housing through the suction ports opened by the elastic actuating members is sucked to suction device through the inlet and outlet pipes.
The suction unit 400 of the present invention includes the housing which includes an upper plate 410 and a lower plate 430, and elastic actuating members 420 which are disposed between the upper plate 410 and the lower plate 430.
In the second embodiment of the present invention, the housing has an inclination portion which is formed on a bottom of the lower plate 430, and is inclined downwardly toward the side of the housing in which the outlet pipe 401 is disposed.
The suction unit 400 includes the housing which has the upper plate 410 in which a plurality of suction ports 411 are formed in an upper surface thereof at a predetermined interval and the lower plate 430 which forms a closed space with the upper plate by the closing of the suction ports 411; and the elastic actuating members 420 which are disposed between the upper plate 410 and the lower plate 430 and selectively open each of the suction ports 411 formed in the upper plate 410 of the housing, so as to apply the suction force of vacuum air from the suction device to the suction ports 411.
The rectangular upper plate 410 is placed on the upper edge of the rectangular lower plate 430 so as to define the storage space in the housing for receiving and storing the dust separated from the shoes.
The upper plate 410 is a plate member with the suction ports 411 formed therein, and has a shape corresponding to heads which will be described below.
More specifically, each of the suction ports 411 has a side wall corresponding to the semispherical shape of the head so as to surface-contact therewith, and is formed in an appropriate diameter, preferably smaller than the diameter of the head so as not to penetrate the head above the upper plate 410 formed with the suction ports 411.
The lower plate 430 has a stepped portion which is formed on an inner side wall along the upper edge portion thereof in a size corresponding to the edge of the upper plate 410 so as to have the upper plate 410 placed thereon, so that the storage space for storing the dust which has fallen down through the suction ports 411 is defined in the housing.
Preferably, the lower plate 430 has a bottom forming an inclination portion 431 which is downwardly inclined toward the side of the hosing in which the outlet pipe 401 is disposed, so that the separated dust is moved to the outlet pipe 401 communicated with the inlet pipe of the suction device.
More specifically, the lower plate 430 includes the inclination portion 431 which is upwardly inclined from the side of the housing in which the outlet pipe 401 is disposed to the side opposite thereto in a longitudinal direction at a predetermined angle.
The elastic actuating members 420 positioned between the upper plate 410 and the lower plate 430 elastically support the upper plate 410 against the lower plate 430 so as to maintain the storage space therebetween at a predetermined height.
For this, the elastic actuating members 420 include: the opening and closing means of a plurality of heads 421 which are formed in a shape corresponding to a side wall of the suction ports 411 so as to surface-contact therewith when the heads 421 are exposed from a flat surface of the upper plate 410 and have head protrusions formed on the top thereof; and elastic bodies 425 for elastically supporting the opening and closing means.
Herein, the elastic actuating members 420 of the opening and closing means are integrally formed in a rectangular shape, rather than each of the heads 421 being connected by a separate binding means. That is, two or more of the heads 421 of the elastic actuating members 420 are integrally formed in a unit.
The opening and closing means is connected to the vibration device, so that the opening and closing means is horizontally vibrated when the vibration device is operated, and thereby efficiently removing the dust from the bottom of the shoes.
For this, the vibration motor of the vibration device 300 is connected to one end portion of the opening and closing means of the suction unit 400, so as to continuously vibrate the opening and closing means at all times or intermittently vibrate the opening and closing means when the elastic actuating members are pressed by the load of the visitor.
Preferably a brush 429 is fixed to the top of the head 421 of the opening and closing means, so that, when the shoes contact with the brush 429 while vibrating the opening and closing means, the dust is removed from the bottom of the shoes by the brush 429.
The elastic actuating members 420, which are elastically supported by the elastic bodies 425, include penetrated holes formed between the heads 421.
The elastic bodies 425 may be a cylindrical or coil spring.
One end of the elastic body 425 is connected to the head 421 of the elastic actuating member 420 and the other end thereof is seated on the lower plate 430 of the housing.
Herein, the bottom of the lower plate 430 of the housing on which the lower end of the elastic bodies 425 are seated is formed with the inclination portion 431, and the upper plate 410 and the elastic actuating members 420 are disposed parallel to the inclination portion 431 of the lower plate 430. In this case, it is preferable that the elastic bodies 425 have the same length, so that the elastic bodies 425 which are arranged at different positions on the inclination portion 431 have the same elastic force to support the opening and closing means parallel to the inclination portion 431 of the lower plate 430.
Accordingly, the elastic bodies 425 elastically support each of the heads 421 against the lower plate 430 by the elastic force stored therein during compression, so that the heads 421 surface-contact with the suction ports 411 to close the suction ports 411. When the load of the visitor is applied to the upper plate 410, the heads 421 are lowered against the elastic bodies 425 while the elastic force is stored therein.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it will be understood by those skilled in the related art that various modifications and variations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2013-0053055 | May 2013 | KR | national |
