Patent Application
20060174439
The present application Claims foreign priority under Chinese Patent Application, No. 200510038317.5, filed Feb. 5, 2005 currently pending before the China Patent and Trademark Office.
The invention relates to a vacuum cleaner nozzle, and more particularly to a power nozzle for a floor cleaning apparatus.
In prior art, many vacuum cleaners or floor cleaning apparatus are equipped with a power brush as part of a vacuum nozzle for removing dirt from the surface to be cleaned. The brush is driven by a motor. When the brush must stop under abnormal conditions such as blocked by something, the motor must first be shut down.
The present invention provides a power nozzle, the operation of which is controllable by a driving system. The inventive power nozzle comprises a nozzle housing or frame. A brush with bristles on its circumference is rotatably secured to the frame. A motor is secured to the frame and has a transmission shaft. A movable pulley assembly is connected to a position-control mechanism. A first drive belt runs around the pulley assembly and the power transmission shaft of the motor and a second drive belt runs around the pulley assembly and the brush. The position-control mechanism is constructed so that the movable pulley assembly can move between at least two positions. In the first position the axis of the movable pulley assembly is away from the transmission shaft of the motor with the first drive belt under tension by the pulley assembly and the motor. In the second position, the axis of the pulley assembly is close to the transmission shaft of the motor with the first drive belt being released from tension.
The invention is an improvement over the prior art in that the operation of the first belt can be changed by changing the position of the pulley assembly. Thus when the first drive belt is in tensioned state, the motor drives the brush to rotate via the pulley assembly. When the rotation of the brush is to be stopped, the first drive belt can be free from tensioned simply by changing the position of the movable pulley assembly without shutting down the motor.
Referring to
The invention is advantageous for a vacuum cleaner or floor cleaning apparatus in that the pulley assembly 4 is movable into its first position to place the first drive belt 5 under tension, which engages the transmission shaft 6 of motor 7 to drive the brush 2 to rotate in the agitation of dirt as needed for the vacuum cleaner. On the other hand, the pulley assembly 4 can be moved into its second position so that the first drive belt 5 can be free from tension and thus disengaged from the transmission shaft 6, whereupon the rotating cylinder 2 can be stopped immediately without shutting down the motor 7.
According to the first embodiment of the invention as shown in
In the present invention, the lever 9 and the crank rod 11 cooperate to enable the pulley assembly to selectably engage or disengage the drive belt 5 with the motor shaft 6. A pedal 8 is provided on the connecting lever 9 for toggling the pulley assembly between a first and a second position. When the pulley assembly 4 is placed in its first position, the brush 2 receives power from the transmission shaft 6 in rotational engagement with the pulley 4 by way of the drive belt 5 in tension, which power is in turn delivered to the brush 2 by drive belt 3.
When the rotation of brush 2 must be stopped for any reasons, the pedal 8 is actuated to rotate lever 9 in a clockwise, which in turn rotates crank rod 11 in the opposite direction until the pulley assembly 4 is moved to its second position.
When the pulley assembly 4 is in its first position, its axis 4 is on one side of a plane, which is defined by a line connecting the axis of the brush 2 and the axis of the pin 15 about which the crank rod 11 pivots relative to the frame 1. When the pulley assembly 4 is in its second position, the axis of the pulley assembly 4 is located on the opposite side of this plane. When the pulley assembly 4 moves between the first position and the second position, it pass through an intermediate and transitional position, in which position the axes of the pulley assembly 4 , the pivot pin 15 and the brush 2 are on the same plane. In this position, the distance between the axes of the pulley assembly 4 and the rotating cylinder 2 is the greatest than those when the pulley assembly 4 is in any positions between the first or second positions. When the pulley assembly 4 is in the transitional position, a tension applied on the pulley assembly 4 by the second drive belt 3 is sufficiently provided to urge the pulley assembly 4 to pass through the transitional position.
According to the second embodiment of the invention as shown in
Referring to all of the drawings, the pulley assembly 4 also incorporates a second pulley 13 and a first pulley 14 on the same shaft. The said second drive belt 3 loops around the second pulley 13 and the first drive belt 5 around the first pulley 14. As a speed reduction arrangement, the diameter of the second pulley 13 is less than that of the rotating cylinder 2 and the diameter of the first pulley 14 is larger than that of the transmission shaft 6 of the motor.
After reading this description it will become apparent to one skilled in the art how to implement the invention in various alternative embodiments and alternative applications. However, although various embodiments of the present invention will be described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and not limitation. As such, this detailed description of various alternative embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope or breadth of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200510038317.5 | Feb 2005 | CN | national |
