Floor Maintenance Machine With Hollow Hood Providing Air Filtration

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to equipment for floor maintenance machines and, in particular, to debris and particulate collection systems for floor maintenance machines and to vacuums associated therewith.

Floor maintenance machines, for example sweepers, provide a way to clean dirty floor surfaces. Typically, an operator directs a floor maintenance machine over the surface to be cleaned by steering or guiding the floor maintenance machine. With the help of rotating brooms or brushes, the floor maintenance machine can directly contact the floor surface to loosen debris that is on the surface of the floor.

During cleaning and when using a floor sweeper, this debris and particulate is swept from the floor into a collection system, for example a hopper. In some instances, the debris loosened by the rotating brooms and/or brushes and other floor cleaning mechanisms may become airborne. The airborne debris may escape the collection system, potentially returning to the floor and thus leave the floor dirty. The escaped airborne debris may further need to be contained to limit the exposure of the maintenance machine operator and bystanders breathing the air nearby. To ensure airborne debris does not escape, typical collection systems include a vacuum source configured to draw gas and airborne debris from the collection system through a primary filter. The primary filter may then trap the airborne debris, and ensure particulate is not exhausted and blown back into the surrounding environment.

Despite the use of a primary filter to remove airborne debris, particulate may still be exhausted to the surrounding environment. In order to remove the small particles, the air drawn by the vacuum source may be exhausted additionally through a secondary filter. The secondary filter can be configured to remove the small particles from the exhausted air to improve the exhausted air quality. However, in most such instances, the filter is disposed within the machine and, unless an operator looks to see whether the filter needs replacing, this filter may remain out of sight and mind and not be replaced on a sufficiently consistent basis. The secondary filter can become clogged, potentially reducing the ability of the vacuum source to exhaust air, and consequently reduce the ability of the vacuum sources to draw air in the first instance and thus impair the ability of the maintenance machine to perform its cleaning function.

Thus, there is a need for improved collection systems, which prevent airborne debris and particulate from escaping collection systems.

SUMMARY

To improve the debris collection system of a floor maintenance machine, various improvements are proposed herein. Among other things, features of the floor maintenance machine that are already in existence and serve other functions can now be modified in such a way that they are added to an exhaust pathway of the debris collection system. One or more components that are traditionally non-hollow or are traditionally not part of an exhaust pathway such as a hood are discussed herein that may be made hollow in their interior to define extended segments of an exhaust pathway through which gas is expelled. Further, the hollow component can be outfitted with non-conventional features (for example, secondary filters configured to be received by exhaust outlet openings) that further assist in preventing airborne debris from passing from the collection system to a surrounding environment. Put slightly differently, to accommodate a large volume of airflow in the exhaust system for a floor sweep, a primary filter cannot be too fine. Otherwise, the primary filter clogs quickly, and the dust control is defeated. Thus, primary filters need to be large and filter to perhaps 5 microns (which is not HEPA-grade). So fine particles can pass through, and the ability to provide secondary filters after the fan exhaust can greatly improve air quality before reintroduction in the surrounding environment. While secondary filters have certainly been utilized before, it is not believed that they have ever been integrated into a hollow hood assembly providing part of the exhaust path which provides for both large air flows and avoids the need to mount a second filter box, which can impair operator visibility.

According to one aspect, a floor maintenance machine is provided for collecting debris from a floor. The floor maintenance machine includes a broom and a hopper positioned to collect debris swept by the broom. The floor maintenance machine further includes an exhaust system that draws a gas with suspended debris from a region of the broom and the hopper. The exhaust system includes a filter box positioned to receive the gas, including the suspended debris therein, following sweeping. The filter box receives a primary dust filter. The exhaust system further includes a fan in fluid communication with the dust box that draws the gas with the suspended debris through the primary filter. Finally, the exhaust system includes a hollow hood defining an internal chamber. The internal chamber has an inlet opening that receives the gas with the suspended debris expelled from the fan into the internal chamber and at least one exhaust opening in fluid communication with a surrounding environment. The exhaust opening(s) receive a secondary filter or filters to further filter the suspended debris from the gas before the gas is exhausted from the at least one exhaust opening.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the filter box may be above and in fluid communication with the hopper.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the hood can define an enclosure configured to cover components of the floor maintenance machine. In some forms, the hollow hood may be movable relative to the rest of the fluid maintenance machine to provide access to at least some of the components covered by the hollow hood. The hollow hood being movable relative to the rest of the fluid maintenance machine may involve the hollow hood being tippable, rotatable, and/or pivotable. The hollow hood may be moveable between a closed position in which the fan abuts the inlet opening of the hollow hood to define a direct pathway from the fan to the hollow hood, and an open position in which the inlet opening of the hollow hood is separated from the fan to temporarily break the direct pathway therebetween. When closed, the exhaust pathway from the fan to the hollow hood is established and may be maintained generally by the weight of the hollow hood or possibly assistive latching connections.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the secondary filter can be configured to filter smaller-sized debris than the primary filter.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the at least one exhaust opening is two exhaust openings each including a corresponding secondary filter.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the hood is a polymeric rotomolded form and the internal chamber is defined by the inside walls of the polymeric rotomolded form.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the machine may include a secondary vacuum that utilizes the exhaust pathways of the hollow hood. For example, in some forms, the machine may further include a vacuum collection chamber adapted to receive a filter bag, the vacuum collection chamber being defined at least in part by the hollow hood, the internal chamber of the hollow hood having an inlet opening receiving the exhaust of the vacuum source. The machine may further include a flexible vacuum hose that is in fluid communication with the surrounding environment and the vacuum collection chamber and may further include a vacuum source in fluid communication with the vacuum collection chamber. The vacuum source can draw a vacuum in the vacuum collection chamber and can exhaust the gas into the interior volume of the hollow hood and ultimately out the at least one exhaust opening of the hollow hood. In such configurations of the floor maintenance machine, when the vacuum source draws the vacuum in the vacuum collection chamber, this may draw gas and debris through the flexible hose from the surrounding environment for collection in the vacuum collection chamber. In such forms, it is contemplated that the vacuum collection chamber may be defined at least in part by an exterior surface of the hollow hood. For the sake of clarity, this exterior surface may be a side of a wall that is opposite a side of the wall that defines the interior chamber of the hood.

In some configurations of the floor maintenance machine, the machine may further include a bypass valve providing selective fluid communication between the interior chamber of the hollow hood and the surrounding environment. Such selective fluid communication can be dependent on a pressure within the interior chamber of the hollow hood and permits a gas within the interior chamber of the hollow hood to exhaust through the bypass valve into the surrounding environment above a threshold pressure. For example, when pressure in the interior chamber of the hollow hood is below the threshold pressure, the bypass valve may remain closed and, when the threshold pressure is exceeded inside the interior chamber of the hollow hood, the bypass valve may be opened to permit communication to the surrounding environment (i.e., exhausting through the bypass valve). In one particular form, the bypass valve may include a bypass opening formed on the hollow hood and a bypass flap that is biased or positioned to cover the bypass opening. With such design, when pressure in the interior chamber of the hollow hood is below the threshold pressure, the bypass flap can cover the bypass opening to substantially prevent the exhaust of gas through the bypass opening; when the threshold pressure is exceeded inside the interior chamber of the hollow hood, the bypass flap can lift from the bypass opening to permit exhaust of gas in the interior chamber to the surrounding environment through the bypass opening. During operation of the floor maintenance machine, more generally, the bypass valve being open can be visually indicative that the secondary filter requires replacement or is blocked. Particularly when the bypass valve is a flap structure as described above and herein, this can make it apparent that exhaust gas is exiting via the bypass as opposed to the normal exhaust pathways involving secondary filtration.

These and still other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description and drawings. What follows is merely a description of some preferred embodiments of the present invention. To assess the full scope of the invention, the claims should be looked to as these preferred embodiments are not intended to be the only embodiments within the scope of the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view of a ride-on floor maintenance machine.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1, taken at 2-2 illustrating an exhaust pathway including, in part, the interior of the hollow hood to secondary filters and further illustrating the fluid reservoir formed into the filter box.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1 illustrating an integrated vacuum formed, in part, in the exterior of the hollow hood, and further utilizing the hollow hood as part of the exhaust pathway.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1, further illustrating the connection of the filter box to the fan.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1, further illustrating the hollow hood in a tipped orientation.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1 illustrating an integrated vacuum formed illustrating the connection between the exhaust of the vacuum and the inside of the hollow hood.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1, further illustrating the pump and how it would be connected to the fluid reservoir of the filter box which fluid reservoir is then fluidly connected to spray outlets (fluid connections not expressly illustrated, but which would be conduits or the like).

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view of a variant of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 1 in which there is a bypass valve in the form of a bypass flap, in which the bypass valve is shown in the closed state.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view of the variant of the floor maintenance machine of FIG. 8 in which the bypass valve is shown in an opened state, visually indicative that the gas is not able to exhaust through the at least one exhaust opening associated with the secondary filter potentially due to blockage or clogging.

FIG. 10 is an example method for operating a floor maintenance machine in accordance with the present disclosure involving the collection and filtration of debris from a broom.

FIG. 11 is still another example method for operating a floor maintenance machine in accordance with the present disclosure involving the collection and filtration of debris from the integrated vacuum.

FIG. 12 is yet another example method for operating a floor maintenance machine in accordance with the present disclosure involving the utilization of the liquid from the fluid reservoir in the filter box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, an exemplary floor maintenance machine 100 is shown for the cleaning of floors. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the floor maintenance machine 100 can be a riding-type machine that includes an operator seat 104 and a steering mechanism (not depicted) to control and direct the floor maintenance machine 100 about a floor surface. In some configurations, the floor maintenance machine 100 could rather be any kind of floor maintenance machine 100 including both walk-behind or riding-type floor scrubbers or sweepers. For purposes of aiding the general understanding of the reader about the construction and the nature of a floor cleaning machine, the reader can refer to U.S. Pat. No. 8,505,156 filed Sep. 21, 2007; U.S. Pat. No. 9,980,556 filed May 14, 2015; and U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2016/0331201 filed May 5, 2016, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

With additional reference being made to FIG. 2, a rear end 106 of the floor maintenance machine 100 includes a hollow hood 108. The hood 108 is configured to cover and protect internal components of the floor maintenance machine 100 (e.g., batteries, not shown), many of which can be accessible by lifting or tilting the hood 108, for example using a hinge mechanism. In some configurations, the hood 108 partially surrounds the internal components, creating a four-sided enclosure. For example, the hood 108 includes a rear wall 112, a first side wall 116, and a second side wall 120, extending from a top wall 124. In some configurations, the enclosure can be sealed by components coupled to a front and bottom of the hood 108. For example, a filter box 128, as will be described further below, is coupled to a front of the hood 108 to at least partially cover a fifth side of the enclosure.

In the form illustrated and best shown in FIG. 2, the hood 108 is hollow, defining an internal chamber 132. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the internal chamber 132 is defined by the rear wall 112, side walls 116, 120, and top wall 124 of the hood 108 each being hollow and interconnected. The hood 108, and the internal chamber 132 therein, can be formed through a polymeric rotomolding process that may be used to make such large, hollow-bodied plastic components. For example, the hood 108 may be a polymeric rotomolded form and the internal chamber 132 is defined by an interior surface of the hollow rear wall 112, side walls 116, 120, and top wall 124.

Returning to FIG. 1, the floor maintenance machine 100 as depicted includes a plurality of floor cleaning elements that are configured to work separately or in tandem to sweep or mop the floor to remove debris. A front end 136 of the floor maintenance machine 100 includes, for example, one or more side brooms 140 configured to contact the floor. The side brooms 140 can rotate to loosen and direct debris inward toward a path of the floor maintenance machine 100 as it travels.

The one or more side brooms 140 direct the debris toward a collection system configured to remove the debris from the floor. The collection system includes a broom housing 144 that partially surrounds a cylindrical broom assembly 148 for sweeping the floor surface. For example, the brooms can be similar to those described by U.S. Pat. No. 9,572,469 issued on Feb. 21, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes as if set forth in its entirely herein, or other brooms or brushes not including the drive improvements described in that patent. In the illustrated embodiment, the brooms in the broom assembly 148 are horizontally-oriented cylindrical brooms. As is best illustrated in the partial view of the underside of the floor maintenance machine 100 in FIG. 1 (in which a sidewall of the broom housing 144 is removed), the bottom of the broom housing 144 is open, to allow the bristles of the cylindrical brooms of the broom assemblies 148 to contact the surface of the floor for cleaning.

During operation, the collection system receives and retains the collected debris in a hopper 152. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the hopper 152 is disposed within the broom housing 144 configured to collect the debris swept by the broom assembly 148. For example, the hopper 152 is disposed directly in front of the broom assembly 148 to catch the swept debris. In such configurations, debris swept forward by the broom assembly 148 that is not initially caught by the hopper 152, can be reswept by the broom assembly 148 into the hopper 152, as the floor maintenance machine 100 travels forward.

As described above, broom assemblies can cause debris on the floor to become agitated and airborne in a way that might allowing debris to escape collection systems. As such, an exhaust system is utilized to capture and filter suspended debris that is swept up by the broom assembly to minimize the amount of particulate introduced into the surrounding air. As will be discussed below, the exhaust system includes an unconventional fluid/gas exhaust pathway that utilizes the internal chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108 to exhaust filtered gas and provide a second level of filtration.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the exhaust system includes the filter box 128, configured to receive and filter the air and suspended debris from the collection system. The filter box 128 is disposed above the broom housing 144, to at least partially define an upper boundary of the broom housing 144. Although not completely shown in the figures, there is a walled pathway from the hopper 152 to the filter box 128. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the bottom of the filter box 128 includes an inlet opening 156, to provide fluid or gaseous communication between the broom housing 144, and an inner volume 160 of the filter box 128. The inlet opening 156 allows the flow of gas and suspended debris from the broom housing 144 into the inner volume 160 of the filter box 128.

The inner volume 160 of the filter box 128 is configured to receive and retain a primary filter 164, which is best shown in FIG. 2. In some configurations, the primary filter 164 may include more than one filter. As will be described further below, the primary filter 164 can be configured to remove the suspended debris from the gas traveling through the inner volume 160 of the filter-receiving portion of the filter box 128.

Making brief reference to FIG. 4, the filter box 128 includes an outlet opening 168, configured to provide fluid communication between the inner volume 160 of the filter box 128 and a fan housing 172 via a filter-box-to-fan-connection line 170. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the fan housing 172 includes a fan 176, however it is noted that the fan housing 172 could instead include any element configured to draw gas through the filter box 128. As will be described further below, the fan 176 is configured to draw a gas from the broom housing 144, through the primary filter 164 of the filter box 128, through the filter-box-to-fan-connection line 170 and into the fan 176.

As generally described above, the exhaust system utilizes the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108 to exhaust filtered gas. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the hood 108 includes an exhaust inlet 180, to provide fluid communication between the fan housing 172 and the internal chamber of the hood 108. The exhaust inlet 180 allows the flow of gas and any remaining suspended debris from the fan housing 172 into the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108. As described further below, the fan 176 is configured to exhaust the gas through the internal chamber 132, to a surrounding environment, through an exhaust outlet 184 in the hood 108.

In some cases, the gas that is exhausted by the fan 176 can include suspended debris, sometimes debris having a smaller particulate size that would not be readily caught during primary filtration stage, despite filtration by the primary filter 164. As such, a secondary filter 188 is coupled to or received by the exhaust outlet 184, to provide a second filtration of the gas, and to further remove any remaining airborne debris in the gas before exhausting the gas. This both improves the quality of the exhaust gas and avoids exhausting swept particulate back onto the surfaces just cleaned and reduces the amount of particulate in the air for those in the immediate vicinity that may be exposed to the exhaust.

As described above, secondary filters of exhaust systems are often rarely replaced—or at least less regularly than they should be—as they are generally disposed out of sight and mind. Consequently, the exhaust outlet 184 of the hood 108 is disposed in a conveniently accessible location on the hood 108, allowing operators to easily change the secondary filter 188 without obstruction. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the exhaust outlet 184 is disposed on a bottom surface of the hood 108. The exhaust outlet 184 being disposed on a bottom surface of the hood 108, further allows gravity to aid the flow of gas from the internal chamber 132 through the exhaust outlet 184. It is noted that the exhaust outlet 184 can instead be disposed elsewhere on the hood 108 and the position as illustrated is only exemplary in nature.

In some configurations, the hood 108 can include a plurality of exhaust outlets, each configured to receive a secondary filter. The plurality of exhaust outlets can provide multiple fluid pathways through the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108. Including multiple exhaust outlets to the surrounding environment ensures that the gas can be exhausted, even if one of the secondary filters becomes clogged and also provides the benefit of increasing the surface area available for secondary filtration.

As generally described above, the exhaust system includes a pathway for gases that connects a region of the broom assembly 148 and the hopper 152 (e.g., the broom housing 144), to a surrounding environment. For example, the gas is drawn by the fan 176 through the inlet opening 156 from the broom housing 144 to the filter box 128. Suspended debris present in the gas is removed by the primary filter 164 as the fan 176 continues to draw the gas through the filter box 128. The gas is then drawn through the fan housing 172 and exhausted into the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108, through the exhaust inlet 180. The fan 176 is configured to push or exhaust the gas through the internal chamber 132 and through the secondary filter 188 disposed in the exhaust outlet 184. The secondary filter 188 is configured to remove any remaining suspended debris present in the gas, prior to the gas entering the surrounding environment. In this way, the gas is filtered twice, first by the primary filter 164, and second by the secondary filter 188.

It is noted that the secondary filter 188 is configured to filter smaller-sized debris than the primary filter 164. The variable filter sizes can allow the exhaust system to function for longer periods of time without the need to change filters. It can be advantageous to position the fan 176 in the fluid pathway after the primary filter 164, in order to remove large airborne debris or particles that could jam or otherwise interfere with the function of the fan 176.

With brief forward reference to FIG. 5, the tilting of the hood 108 is shown generally (albeit without all surrounding structure of the machine 100). Such tilting of the hood 108 may occur, for instance, to provide access to the batteries or other structure beneath the hood 108. It can be seen in this view that, when the hollow hood 108 is tilted, that the exhaust inlet 180 of the hollow hood 108 can be temporarily separated from the exhaust 182 of the fan housing 172. When closed back up by tilting the connections toward one another, potentially the weight of the hood 108 and/or latching or fastening members could help reestablish the fluid/exhaust pathway from the exhaust 180 of the fan housing 172 to the exhaust inlet 180 of the hollow hood 108. In some forms a compressible gasket or the like (e.g., a rubber ring or seat) might be present around the opening to improve the quality of the seal around between the exhaust 182 of the fan housing 172 and the inlet 180 of the hood 108.

Utilizing the internal chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108 provides a unique solution to exhausting gas from floor maintenance machines. For example, the use of the hollow hood 108 can reduce the number of hose components required to conduct air from the fan source to the secondary filter 188. Furthermore, the use of the hollow hood 108 can easily provide more than one fluid pathway through more than one secondary filters, when exhausting the gas to the surrounding environment. It also provides a secondary function for the hood, which normally is just present to cover components, and by providing this second function enables a generally smaller overall size for the machine. Also, because of the large overall surface area of the hood 108 as compared to say an exhaust pipe, there exists the possibility to use surfaces as comparably larger exhaust openings for filtration.

In some configurations, the floor maintenance machine 100 might include an integrated vacuum 192 including a handheld vacuum wand 196 that is operable by a user. This integrated vacuum 192 might exist in conjunction with the aforementioned system for collecting debris and particulate from the floor using the cylindrical brooms or brushes or may exist in machines independent of that other improvement.

As illustrated, the integrated vacuum 192 includes a vacuum collection chamber 200 configured to receive debris collected by the integrated vacuum 192. In some configurations, the vacuum collection chamber 200 is defined at least in part by an exterior surface of the hood 108. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, sidewalls of the vacuum collection chamber 200 are defined by the exterior surface of the hood 108. In contrast, the interior surfaces of the hood 108 may include the walls on the inside of a rotomolded form that define the interior chamber 132. So conceptually, this vacuum collection chamber 200 may be thought of as being outside of the hood 108 but, at the same time, also formed by part of the hood 108. This is in contrast to many secondary hand vacuum devices on existing machines in which a separate package is strapped or connected to the machine and so this represents a better utilization of the exterior walls of the hood 108 and permits for a smaller overall package size for the machine 100.

The vacuum wand 196 is fluidly connected to the vacuum collection chamber 200 via a flexible hose 204, to provide a greater range of motion to the operator using the vacuum wand 196 during operation. A cover caps the vacuum collection chamber 200 and, at least in the form shown, provides a point of entry for the hose 204 into the vacuum collection chamber 200.

A vacuum source 208 in fluid communication with the vacuum collection chamber 200 is configured to draw a vacuum in the vacuum collection chamber 200. The vacuum source 208 includes a vacuum exhaust port 212 that is configured to exhaust the gas drawn through the vacuum collection chamber 200. As illustrated in FIG. 3 and in particular FIG. 6, the vacuum exhaust port 212 is fluidly connected to the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108 and is configured to exhaust the gas drawn through the vacuum collection chamber 200 into the internal chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108.

As described above, the vacuum source is configured to draw gas and debris through the vacuum wand 196 to the vacuum collection chamber 200, for example by creating a vacuum in the vacuum collection chamber 200. The gas and debris drawn into the vacuum collection chamber 200 is filtered using a bag filter 216 that is received and retained within the vacuum collection chamber 200 (and which bag 216 may be disposed of, when full). The air and any remaining airborne debris that passes through the bag filter 216, is drawn into the vacuum source 208. The vacuum source 208 is then configured to exhaust the gas and the remaining airborne debris into the internal chamber 132 of the hood 108. Similar to the broom exhaust system above, the vacuum source 208 is configured to push the gas through the internal chamber 132 and through the secondary filter 188 disposed in the exhaust outlet 184. The secondary filter 188 is configured to remove any remaining suspended debris present in the gas, prior to the gas entering the surrounding environment. In this way, the gas is filtered twice, first by the bag filter 216, and second by the secondary filter 188.

Notably, in the illustrated form, the hollow hood 108 can provide a part of the exhaust pathway for both the broom exhaust system and the integrated vacuum. So in the illustrated embodiment, the hollow hood 108 can provide a shared exhaust pathway with shared secondary filters. In such construction, it is contemplated that there may be some valving, such as one way flapper valves, so that exhaust from one input will not blow back into the other's point of entrance into the hood. As an example, a flapper valve may prevent vacuum exhaust from the additional vacuum from being blown into the fan assembly and/or a flapper valve could prevent the flow of exhaust gas from the fan from being blown into the integrated vacuum.

With forward reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, a variant of the floor maintenance machine from FIGS. 1-7 is illustrated in which there is a bypass valve 246. In general operation, the bypass valve 246 provides selective fluid communication between the interior chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108 and the surrounding environment, wherein such selective fluid communication is dependent on a pressure within the interior chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108. This permits an exhaust gas within the interior chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108 to exhaust through the bypass valve 246 into the surrounding environment when the pressure of the gas in the interior chamber 132 goes above a threshold pressure at which the valve 246 is designed to open and provide relief. Effectively, and put more plainly, the bypass valve 246 is designed to permit one-way flow of exhaust gas from the internal chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108, in the event that the exhaust outlet(s) 184 or the secondary filter(s) 188 become blocked or clogged.

As particularly illustrated, the bypass valve 246 includes a bypass opening 248 (see FIG. 9) formed on and through the hollow hood 108 and further includes a bypass flap 250 that is biased or positioned to cover the bypass opening 248. When pressure in the interior chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108 is below the threshold pressure and as depicted in FIG. 8, the bypass flap 250 covers the bypass opening to substantially prevent the exhaust of gas through the bypass opening 248. As depicted in FIG. 9, when the threshold pressure is exceeded inside the interior chamber 132 of the hollow hood 108, the bypass flap 250 lifts from the bypass opening 248 to permit exhaust of gas in the interior chamber 132 to the surrounding environment through the bypass opening 248. Such lifting of the flap 250 could be adjusted by selecting a flat having particular elastic properties and mechanical design to permit flexure of the flap above the target threshold pressure in the interior chamber 132 or could involve some variety of spring loading which may be more easily adjustable. Of course, it should be appreciated that the bypass flap design is just one possible variant of a bypass valve and other one-way flow valves might be employed to similar effect.

One benefit of the flap design, however, is that during operation of the floor maintenance machine, the bypass valve being open is visually indicative that the secondary filter requires replacement or is blocked. This is because the flap visually lifts when it is open. Thus, an operator or observer, noting this flap has lifted, can appreciate that the bypass valve being in an opened state, is visually indicative that the gas is not able to exhaust through the at least one exhaust opening associated with the secondary filter potentially due to blockage or clogging. This should prompt the user to replace the secondary filters and/or check for blockages.

Another benefit of the presence of the bypass valve 246 is that the machine 100 can continue to operate when secondary filtration may cease. While secondary filtration may be generally desirable, if the machine has a clogged exhaust pathway at the secondary filtration stage, that clog may prevent debris from even being drawn by the fan into the primary filtration in the first instance and severely limit the effectiveness of the machine. Accordingly, the bypass valve 246 offers a way for the machine to remain operable until the secondary filtration can be replaced while also altering the user to the fact the secondary filtration requires attention.

The illustrated floor maintenance machine also has a modified filter box with a fluid reservoir that can utilize a fluid, detergent, or liquid to aid the cleaning of a floor surface. It is no doubt appreciated that filter boxes are typically designed to retain a filter in place to filter an airflow and, thus, typically do not also serve as a structure for holding a liquid. As disclosed below, however, a modified filter box is presented that serves both these functions and therefore permits a more compact machine size and potentially offers shorter fluid pathways due to the proximity of the filter box to the dispensing sprayers.

As described above, the front end 136 of the floor maintenance machine 100 includes the one or more side brooms 140 configured to loosen debris on the floor. As best illustrated in FIG. 1, a fluid dispensing system is configured to spray a fluid (e.g., a cleaning detergent) in front of or adjacent to the side brooms 140 during operation to aid the loosening of the debris from the floor.

Referring to FIG. 2, the fluid dispensing system includes a reservoir for retaining the fluid to be dispensed on the floor. For example, one or more walls 220 of the filter box 128 can be hollow, defining an interior volume 224 configured to receive and retain the fluid. The hollow walls 220, and therefore the interior volume 224, surround and define the inner volume 160 of the filter box 128, extending vertically from the inlet opening 156 of the suction/exhaust pathway to a seat platform 228. In some configurations, the interior volume 224 surrounds only a portion of the inner volume of the filter box 128, for example if one or more of the walls 220 of the filter box 128 may not be hollow. In some configurations, the one or more hollow walls 220 of the filter box 128 can define a discontinuous interior volume 224. It is noted that, somewhat similar to the hood 108, the one or more hollow walls 220 can be manufactured via a molding process, such as a rotomolding process, in order to properly create a fluid tight interior volume 224.

In some configurations, the seat platform 228 that supports the operator seat 104, is hingedly movable to expose the inner volume 160 of the filter box 128 and the interior volume 224 of the walls 220 to allow operators to perform maintenance, such as exchanging the primary filter 164 or adding fluid to the interior volume 224 of the walls 220. It is noted that the seat platform 228 is held in a closed position by a latch during operation.

The fluid dispensing system is configured to discharge the fluid retained in the interior volume 224 of the one or more walls. The interior volume 224 releases fluid to the surrounding environment via a plurality of sprayers 232. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the interior volume 224 is fluidly coupled to the sprayers 232 via a plurality of hoses 236 (schematically illustrated) by pumps 240 described below. During operation, the sprayers 232 can discharge the fluid onto the floor in front of or adjacent to the brooms 140. The brooms 140 can then rotate and agitate the liquid to scrub any dirt and debris that may be on the surface of the floor.

In order to provide proper fluid flow and pressure from the interior volume 224 to the sprayers 232 and effectively serve as a valve for presentation of the fluid, the floor maintenance machine 100 includes one or more pumps 240 (see FIG. 7 for pump 240 non-schematically, although note that the pump 240 is not illustrated specifically connected to fluid reservoir/interior volume 224 or the sprayers 232 in that view, but instead see the partial schematic of FIG. 1). Also observe that FIG. 7 illustrates the outlet 242 of the interior volume 224 or fluid reservoir and illustrates how it may receive a tube (not illustrated) for connection to the pump 240. FIG. 7 also better illustrates the fluid line 244 of the fluid in the fluid reservoir provided by the interior volume 224.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a method 400 is illustrated for utilizing a floor maintenance machine to collect debris from a floor, which may include fewer or more steps than depicted. In some embodiments, the following steps are performed in any order. At a first step 404, the method 400 may include providing a floor maintenance machine having a broom, a hopper, a filter box having a primary filter, a fan, and a hollow hood defining an internal chamber including a fluid pathway to a surrounding environment through a secondary filter. This first “providing” may be entirely optional as the machine having this structure may already exist. At a second step 408, the method 400 includes sweeping debris into the hopper using the broom. At a third step 412, the method 400 includes drawing a gas with suspended debris from a region of the broom and the hopper. At a fourth step 416, the method 400 includes drawing the gas and suspended debris through the filter box and primary filter. These steps may involve the drawing of the gas using a fan or any other air-moving device that creates a negative pressure on one side thereof to create the drawing action. At a fifth step 420, the method 400 includes exhausting the gas and any remaining suspended debris to the internal chamber of the hollow hood. At a sixth step 424, the method 400 includes exhausting the gas and any remaining suspended debris through the fluid pathway in the hollow hood and through the secondary filter to the surrounding environment. These exhausting steps can be performed under the positive pressure produced by the fan or other air-moving device on the outlet or exhaust side of that fan or air-moving device.

Referring now to FIG. 11, a method 500 is illustrated for utilizing a floor maintenance machine to collect debris from a floor, which may include fewer or more steps than depicted. At a first step 504, the method 500 includes providing a floor maintenance machine having a vacuum wand, a vacuum collection chamber adapted to receive a filter bag, a vacuum source, and a hollow hood defining an internal chamber including a fluid pathway to a surrounding environment through a secondary filter. Again, the providing step is not required and this structure can simply pre-exist. At a second step 508, the method 500 includes drawing a gas with suspended debris through the vacuum wand to the vacuum collection chamber. At a third step 512, the method 500 includes drawing the gas and suspended debris through the vacuum collection chamber and bag filter. At a fourth step 516, the method 500 includes exhausting the gas and any remaining suspended debris to the internal chamber of the hollow hood. At a fifth step 520, the method 500 includes exhausting the gas and any remaining suspended debris through the fluid pathway in the hollow hood and through the secondary filter to the surrounding environment.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a method 600 is illustrated for utilizing a floor maintenance machine to scrub debris on a floor, which may include fewer or more steps than depicted. In some embodiments, the following steps are performed in any order. At a first step 604, the method 600 includes providing a floor maintenance machine having one or more brooms or brushes, a filter box being defined by walls with a hollow interior volume providing a fluid reservoir retaining fluid, a sprayer in selective fluid communication with the fluid reservoir of the filter box, and a pump configured to pump a fluid in the fluid reservoir of the filter box to the sprayer. Again, the providing step is not required and this structure can simply pre-exist. At a second step 608, the method 600 includes pumping fluid from the fluid reservoir of the filter box to the sprayers. At a third step 612, the method 600 includes spraying the fluid on the floor adjacent to the brush. At a fourth step 616, the method 600 includes rotating the brooms or brushes to agitate the fluid and debris on the floor.

Thus, an improved gas exhaust pathway for a floor maintenance machine is disclosed. By incorporating a hollow hood into the exhaust pathway, gas can be discharged through an exhaust outlet of the fan source and filtered using a secondary filter before being directed to the external environment. Furthermore, the use of the hollow hood can reduce the number of hose components required to conduct air from the fan source to the secondary filter. It is also contemplated that the exterior surface of the hood can serve as walls to an integrated vacuum collection chamber and that a filter box can be constructed with an integrated fluid reservoir for providing fluid to sprayers for a presentation to cleaning implements at the floor. This collectively results in various components serving non-traditional functions and enables the overall size the machine to be more compact. It should be appreciated that each of these three aspects (i.e., the broom exhaust filtration, the integrated vacuum in the hood, and the modified filter box) may be independent presented in machines or could be used in various permutations together in a single machine.

It should be appreciated that various other modifications and variations to the preferred embodiments can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be limited to the described embodiments. To ascertain the full scope of the invention, the following claims should be referenced.

Floor Maintenance Machine With Hollow Hood Providing Air Filtration

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