Floor cleaning apparatus with filter cleaning system

Abstract

A floor cleaning apparatus includes a housing and a dirt collection vessel carried on that housing. The dirt collection vessel includes a dirty air inlet, a clean air inlet, a dirt collection chamber and a clean air outlet. A filter is received in the dirt collection vessel. A suction generator is carried on the housing. The floor cleaning apparatus also includes a flow control valve assembly. The flow control valve assembly is selectively displaceable between a first position wherein dirt and debris are captured in the dirt collection vessel and a second position wherein clean air is drawn through at least a portion of the filter to clean the filter. An activator is provided for automatically displacing the flow control valve assembly between the first and second positions.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawing incorporated in and forming a part of this specification, illustrates several aspects of the present invention, and together with the description serves to explain certain principles of the invention. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, partially broken-away view of the floor cleaning apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the assembled dirt collection vessel;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the dirt collection vessel, filter and flow control valve assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the dirt collection vessel, filter and flow control valve assembly in the first position allowing for normal vacuum cleaner operation;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but illustrating the flow control valve assembly in the second position allowing cleaning of a section of the filter; and

FIG. 6 is a detailed top perspective view of the filter assembly.

Claims

1. A floor cleaning apparatus, comprising: a housing;a dirt collection vessel carried on said housing, said dirt collection vessel including a dirty air inlet, a clean air inlet, a dirt collection chamber and a clean air outlet;a filter received in said dirt collection vessel;a suction generator carried on said housing;a flow control valve assembly, said flow control valve assembly being selectively displaceable between (a) a first position wherein dirt and debris are captured in said dirt collection vessel and (b) a second position wherein clean air is drawn through at least a portion of said filter to clean said filter; andan activator automatically displacing said flow control valve assembly between said first and said second positions.

2. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said activator is a timer.

3. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said activator is a position sensor.

4. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 3, wherein said position sensor is connected to said control handle.

5. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said activator is a performance sensor.

6. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 5, wherein said performance sensor is an air pressure sensor.

7. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 6, wherein said performance sensor is a dirt volume sensor.

8. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said activator is a switch that initiates filter cleaning when said floor cleaning apparatus is first turned on.

9. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said activator is a switch that initiates filter cleaning when said floor cleaning apparatus is turned off.

10. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said housing includes a nozzle assembly and a canister assembly.

11. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 10, wherein a suction inlet is provided on said nozzle assembly.

12. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 11, further including a rotary agitator carried on said nozzle assembly adjacent said suction inlet.

13. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 12, wherein said dirt collection vessel is carried on said canister assembly.

14. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 13, wherein said canister assembly is pivotally connected to said nozzle assembly.

15. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, further including a manual activator.

16. The floor cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein said flow control valve assembly includes a first flow valve for selectively opening and closing said clean air inlet and a second flow valve for selectively closing and opening said dirty air inlet.

17. A method of cleaning a filter in situ in a floor cleaning apparatus, comprising: providing said floor cleaning apparatus with two modes of operation including a floor cleaning mode wherein dirt and debris are collected in a dirt collection vessel and a filter cleaning mode wherein dirt and debris are cleaned from the filter; andautomatically activating said filter cleaning mode upon sensing of a predetermined condition.

18. The method of claim 17 including activating said filter cleaning mode upon turning on said floor cleaning apparatus.

19. The method of claim 17, including activating said filter cleaning mode upon turning off said floor cleaning apparatus.

20. The method of claim 17, including activating said filter cleaning mode upon sensing a position of a control handle.

21. The method of claim 17, including activating said filter cleaning mode upon sensing a predetermined operating condition.

22. The method of claim 17, including activating said filter cleaning mode upon sensing operation of said floor cleaning apparatus for a predetermined period of time.