Patent Grant
7921509
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-90680, filed on Sep. 6, 2007, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a suction brush for use in a vacuum cleaner that can automatically adjust the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the bottom surface of the lower casing of the brush casing in which a suction opening is formed according to whether the surface to be cleaned is a carpet or a hard floor.
In general, a vacuum cleaner is an electric appliance that draws in and collects dust or dirt from a surface to be cleaned by using a suction force generated from a vacuum source. Various kinds of vacuum cleaners have been developed, one of which is a canister vacuum cleaner that is generally includes a cleaner body, a connecting unit and suction brush.
Installed in the cleaner body are a vacuum source, such as a suction motor, that generates a suction force and a dust separating part that collects drawn-in dust and/or dirt. The connecting unit includes a handle to be grasped by a user, an extended tube to connect the handle to the suction brush, and a flexible hose to connect the handle to the cleaner body. In addition, the suction brush, which is the portion that comes in contact with the surface to be cleaned and draws in air containing dust and/or dirt, has a suction opening formed in a bottom surface thereof.
As non-limiting examples of the types of surfaces that a vacuum cleaner may clean, there are a hard floors and a carpet. As used herein the term “hard floor” means a surface to be cleaned having a slippery surface made of stone, wood, or floor paper.
If the surface to be cleaned is a hard floor, the suction brush of the vacuum cleaner often sticks to the surface to be cleaned due to the suction force. In this case, a user must exert a large amount of force in handling the suction brush due to the suction brush sticking to the surface to be cleaned. The forces caused by sticking that must be overcome by a user are hereinafter referred to as “operation resistance.” By contrast, if the surface to be cleaned is a carpet, the number of times that the suction brush of the vacuum cleaner sticks to the surface to be cleaned is relatively less. When the surface to be cleaned is the carpet, however, a larger suction force is required to draw in dust or dirt from the fibers on the upper surface of the carpet as compared with when the surface to be cleaned is a hard floor.
The operation resistance and the suction force of the suction brush to the surface to be cleaned are closely connected with the height of the suction brush from the surface to be cleaned, i.e., the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the bottom surface of the suction brush in which the suction opening is formed. To be more specific, the smaller the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the bottom surface of the suction brush, the greater the suction force and the greater the operation resistance. Accordingly, the larger the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the bottom surface of the suction brush, the smaller the suction force and the smaller the operation resistance.
When the distance from the bottom surface of the suction brush to the surface to be cleaned is uniformly maintained, a large amount of force is constantly required in handling the suction brush if the surface to be cleaned is a hard floor because the operation resistance of the suction brush is large, and dust and/or dirt are not efficiently drawn in if the surface to be cleaned is a carpet because the suction force is small.
To address the problems described above, a suction brush in which the distance between the bottom surface thereof and the surface to be cleaned can be varied has been developed. In the developed suction brush, a lever, which is manually operated by the user, is exposed at an upper surface of the suction brush. Accordingly, if the surface to be cleaned is a hard floor, the user must manually manipulate the lever to move the bottom surface of the suction brush away from the surface to be cleaned, thereby increasing the distance therebetween and reducing the operation resistance of the suction brush. In addition, if the surface to be cleaned is a carpet, the user must manually manipulate the lever to move the bottom surface of the suction brush closer to the surface to be cleaned, thereby decreasing the distance therebetween and increasing the suction force of the suction brush.
Because the user must manually manipulate the lever of the suction brush whenever the surface to be cleaned is changed, the user is inconvenienced.
Accordingly, to solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below, it is a non-limiting object of the present invention to provide a suction brush for use in a vacuum cleaner that includes a brush casing having a suction opening to draw in air and a main air passage through which the air drawn in through the suction opening flows, a detecting unit disposed to the brush casing to detect a kind of a surface to be cleaned, a lifting unit to move a bottom surface of the brush casing close to and away from the surface to be cleaned, and a driving unit operated in response to a signal generated from the detecting unit and moving the lifting unit using air pressure generated by the air flowing through the main air passage.
The detecting unit may include a sensing member disposed in the brush casing and a rotating member rotatably disposed on the brush casing and having a contact part provided at one end thereof to come in contact with the surface to be cleaned and an operating part provided at the other end thereof to switch the sensing member on and off, wherein the sensing member includes an optic sensor having a light emitting part and a light receiving part. In another embodiment, the sensing member may be a hall sensor with the operating part of the rotating member being made of a permanent magnet, or a micro switch.
In yet another embodiment, the detecting unit may include a sensing member disposed on the brush casing and a lifting member disposed on the brush casing and configured to be movable up and down by coming in and out of contact with the surface to be cleaned and having an operating part to operate the sensing member. The sensing member may also includes a micro switch, and the lifting member may includes a rod with one end having a roller part configured to come in contact with the surface to be cleaned, the other end having a supporting part configured to support the lifting member and be move up and down with respect to the brush casing, and a middle having the operating part to operate the micro switch, the lifting member being elastically urged toward the surface to be cleaned by an elastic spring disposed on the lifting member between the brush casing and the operating part.
The lifting unit may a lifting plate configured to be movable up and down and disposed within the brush casing and at least one rib disposed on at least one longitudinal side of the lifting plate and configured to come in contact with the surface to be cleaned.
The driving unit may include a conversion air passage part configured to form a conversion air passage in fluid communication with the main air passage, an air passage closing-up part configured to open and close up the conversion air passage so as to allow or prevent a suction force from being generated in or from the conversion air passage, and a lifting plate-operating part configured to lift and lower the lifting plate when generation of the suction force is allowed or prevented in or from the conversion air passage. The conversion air passage part may include a first conversion air passage guide and a second conversion air passage guide disposed on opposing sides of an air passage guide of a lower casing of the brush casing, thereby forming the main air passage, and a joining guide disposed below the main air passage and formed by an air passage guide of an upper casing of the brush casing so as to join the first conversion air passage guide and the second conversion air passage guide in fluid communication.
The air passage closing-up part may include a driving motor disposed on one side of the lower casing configured to operate in response to the signal generated from the detecting unit and an air passage closing-up plate connected to a driving axis of the driving motor configured to rotate between an open position and a closed position, the air passage closing-up plate being configured to open an upper end of the joining guide in the open position and close an upper end of the joining guide in the closed position. The air passage closing-up part may also include a stop controlling part to control an angle through which the air passage closing-up plate rotates to open and close the upper end of the joining guide, a cam having a cam protrusion disposed on one end of the air passage closing-up plate, and a limit switch configured to be switched on and off by the cam. The air passage closing-up part may also include a power switch part disposed on the lower casing of the brush casing, the power switch part being configured to come in contact with the surface to be cleaned and to disconnect a power supplied to the driving motor when the power switch part is not in contact with the surface to be cleaned.
The lifting plate-operating part may include a first cylinder formed on a lower part of an end of the first conversion air passage guide so that an upper end of the first cylinder is in fluid communication with the conversion air passage and so that a lower end of the first cylinder is open, a second cylinder formed on a lower part of an end of the second conversion air passage guide so that an upper end of the second cylinder is in fluid communication with the conversion air passage and so that a lower end of the second cylinder is open, a first piston projected upward at a first end of a front lifting plate configured to be inserted and slidably disposed in the first cylinder, the first piston being movable to a lifted position that closes the upper ends of the first cylinder or a lowered position that opens the upper end of the first cylinder according to air pressure in the main air passage applied to the first cylinder through the conversion air passage when the air passage closing-up plate is in the open position or the close position, a second piston projected upward at a second end of the front lifting plate configured to be inserted and slidably disposed in the second cylinder, the second piston being movable to a lifted position of closing up the upper ends of the second cylinder or a lowered position that opens the upper end of the second cylinder according to air pressure in the main air passage applied to the second cylinder through the conversion air passage when the air passage closing-up plate is in the open position or the close position, and an elastic member disposed between the upper casing and the lifting plate to elastically urge the lifting plate such that the first and the second pistons are maintained in the lowered position when no air pressure is generated in the main air passage.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a height adjusting method of a suction brush for use in a vacuum cleaner includes detecting a kind of a surface to be cleaned; and adjusting a distance between a bottom surface of the suction brush and the surface to be cleaned according to the detected kind of the surface to be cleaned using air pressure.
The above and other aspects and/or advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Reference will now be made in detail to non-limiting embodiments of the present invention by way of reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, components and structures.
Referring to
The brush casing 110 includes an upper casing 111 and a lower casing 115. The upper and lower casings 111 and 115 are fixed and joined to each other through screws (not illustrated) and fixing bosses 116 (only fixing bosses of the lower casing illustrated). The lower casing 115 is disposed to face a surface to be cleaned in a cleaning operation. As illustrated in
Referring to
The sensing member 122 is disposed on a fixing plate 121, and includes an optic sensor 124, such as an infrared sensor, having a light emitting part and a light receiving part. The optic sensor 121 is electrically connected to a controller (not illustrated) in a control panel (not illustrated) of a cleaner body (not illustrated) through a wire, a connecting socket, etc.
The rotating member 123 is rotatably installed on the fixing plate 121 through a rotating axis 123a. The rotating member 123 at one end thereof has a contact part 123b that is capable of coming in contact with the surface to be cleaned, and at the other end thereof has an operating part 123c that is rotatably locatable between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the optic sensor 124.
As illustrated in
The rotating member 123 is formed so that the distance L1 from the rotating axis 123a to the operating part 123c is larger than the distance L2 from the rotating axis 123a to the contact part 123b. In the exemplary embodiment of
In the above description, although the detecting unit 120 has been explained and illustrated as having the sensing member 122 including of the optic sensor 124, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, a detecting unit 120′ may be constructed as illustrated in
In another exemplary embodiment, a detecting unit 120″ may be constructed as illustrated in
In yet another exemplary embodiment, a detecting unit 120′″ may be constructed as illustrated in
Referring again to
The two ribs 145 are installed to project below installing grooves in front and the rear of the lower surface of the lifting plate 141. In
As illustrated in
The driving unit 160 is operated according to a signal generating when the optical sensor 124 of the detecting unit 120 is turned on or off and causes the lifting unit 140 to move the bottom surface of the lower casing 115 away from or close to the surface to be cleaned via the controller (not illustrated). As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The air passage closing-up part 161 is configured to open and close the upper end of the joining guide 128c so as to allow or prevent a suction force to be generated in or from the conversion air passage 129. The air passage closing-up part 161 includes a driving motor 163 and an air passage closing-up plate 165. The driving motor 163 is disposed on one side of the lower casing 115 and operated by the controller (not illustrated) according to the signal generated when the optic sensor 124 of the detecting unit 120 is turned on or off. The driving motor 163 is connected to an external power source or a battery installed in the cleaner body through a power control part (not illustrated) of the controller (not illustrated). The air passage closing-up plate 165 is configured to rotate between a closed position (see
To control the angle that the air passage closing-up plate 165 rotates to open and close the upper end of the joining guide 128c, a stop controlling part 167 is disposed at one end of the second supporting rod 165b. The stop controlling part 167 includes a cam 168 having a cam protrusion disposed at the one end of the second supporting rod 165b and a limit switch 169 configured to be switched on and off by the cam 168. The limit switch 169 includes first and second switches that have switch terminals disposed at an angle of 90 degrees with respect to each other so that they are switched on by the cam protrusion whenever the cam 168 rotates through an angle of approximately 90 degrees. Accordingly, when under the control of the controller (not illustrated), the driving motor 163 is rotated in, for example, a counterclockwise direction or a clockwise direction to position the air passage closing-up plate 165 in the closed position or the open position, respectively, according to the signal generated at the optic sensor 124 of the detecting unit 120, and the cam protrusion of the cam 168 operates the first or the second switch of the limit switch 169 so that the controller (not illustrated) stops driving the driving motor 163 when the air passage closing-plate 165 reaches the closed position or the open position.
Referring to
The lifting plate-operating part 171 is configured to lift and lower the lifting plate 141 as the air passage closing-up part 161 respectively opens and closes the upper end of the joining guide 128c so as to allow or prevent a suction force to be generated in or from the conversion air passage 129. The lifting plate-operating part 171 is disposed between the lifting plates 141 and between the first and the second conversion air passage guides 128a and 128b. As illustrated in
The first and the second cylinders 173a are formed at lower parts of an end of each of the first and the second conversion air passage guides 128a and 128b, respectively. Each of the first and the second cylinders 173a is in fluid communication with the conversion air passage 129 at the upper end of each cylinder. The lower end of the first and the second cylinders 173a is opened. The first and second pistons 175a and 175b project upward at the ends of the front lifting plate 141 and are slidably disposed within the first and the second cylinders 173a, respectively. The first and second pistons 175a and 175b may be moved to a lifted position (see
The suction force of a suction motor (not illustrated) of the cleaner body, i.e., the air pressure generated in the main air passage 117, may be applied to the first and the second cylinders 173a through the conversion air passage 129 when the driving motor 163 is rotated such that the air passage closing-up plate 165 is in the open position, the suction force thereby causing the first and second pistons 175a and 175b to move to the lifted position (see
The elastic member 177 elastically urges the lifting plate 141 so that the first and the second pistons 175a and 175b are maintained in the lowered position when the suction force is removed from the first and the second cylinders 173a. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
By contrast, as illustrated in
Hereinafter, a height adjusting operation of the suction brush 100 for use in the vacuum cleaner constructed as described above is explained in detail with reference to
When the suction motor of the cleaner body is operated after the vacuum cleaner is turned on, the suction brush 100 is placed on a surface to be cleaned (S1). As a result, dust and/or dirt located on the surface to be cleaned is drawn in through the suction opening 119 and the main air passage 117 due to the suction force generated by the suction motor.
The detecting unit 120 detects what kind of the surface is to be cleaned, i.e., whether the surface to be cleaned is a carpet or a hard floor (S2). If the surface to be cleaned is detected as a carpet, the controller (not illustrated) carries out a carpet cleaning mode wherein the bottom surface of the lower casing 115 of the brush casing 110 is moved closer to the top surface of fibers “W” of the carpet (S3). Specifically, the optic sensor 124 generates an ON signal, and the controller (not illustrated) determines whether the position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 stored in a previous cleaning operation was the open position corresponding to the ON signal. If the stored position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 is determined to be the open position, the controller (not illustrated) controls the driving motor 163 not to operate, but to stand by. If the stored position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 is determined to be the closed position, the controller (not illustrated) controls the driving motor 163 to drive in one direction, for example, a clockwise direction in order to rotate the air passage closing-up plate 165 to the open position as illustrated in
As the air passage closing-up plate 165 is positioned in the open position as described above, the suction force in the main air passage 117 is applied to the first and the second cylinders 173a through the conversion air passage 129. Accordingly, as illustrated in
With the lifting plate 141 maintained in a lifted position, a user may move the suction brush 100 along the carpet (S5) so as to clean the carpet. While cleaning the carpet, the user may temporarily lift up the suction brush 100 to move away from the carpet, wherein the detecting unit 120 is changed from a state as illustrated in
By contrast, if, at step S2 of detecting the kind of the surface to be cleaned, the surface to be cleaned is determined to be a hard floor, the controller (not illustrated) carries out a floor cleaning mode of moving the bottom surface of the lower casing of the brush casing 110 away from the upper surface of the hard floor (S4). Specifically, the optic sensor 124 of the detecting unit 120 generates an OFF signal and the controller (not illustrated) determines whether the position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 stored in the previous cleaning operation was the closed position corresponding to the OFF signal. If the stored position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 is determined to be the closed position, the controller (not illustrated) controls the driving motor 163 not to operate, but to stand by. If the stored position of the air passage closing-up plate 165 is determined to be the open position, the controller (not illustrated) controls the driving motor 163 to drive in the other direction, that is, a counterclockwise direction in order to rotate the air passage closing-up plate 165 to the close position as illustrated in
As the air passage closing-up plate 165 is positioned to the close position as described above, the suction force in the main air passage 117 is not applied to the first and second cylinders 173a through the conversion air passage 129. Accordingly, the lifting plate 141 is maintained in a lowered position where it is pressed down and lowered by the elastic member 177 and the ribs 145 are projected downward to come in contact with the upper surface of the hard floor so that the bottom surface of the lower casing 115 is maintained a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the hard floor. By maintaining the lower casing 115 predetermined distance from the upper surface of the hard floor, the likelihood of the lower casing becoming stuck to the surface to be cleaned due to the suction force is reduced, and thus an operation resistance of the suction brush 100 is reduced.
With the lower casing 115 maintained a predetermined distance from the upper surface of the hard floor, the user may move the suction brush 100 along the hard floor (S5) so as to clean the hard floor. While cleaning the hard floor, the controller (not illustrated) determines whether the vacuum cleaner is turned off (S6). If the vacuum cleaner is turned off, the controller (not illustrated) finishes the cleaning operation. If vacuum cleaner is not turned off, the controller (not illustrated) repeats the operations of the steps S2 through S5.
As is apparent from the foregoing description, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the suction brush for use in the vacuum cleaner and the height adjusting method thereof can automatically adjust the distance between the surface to be cleaned and the bottom surface of the brush casing in which the suction opening is formed, according to whether the surface to be cleaned is either the carpet or the hard floor.
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to certain embodiments thereof, additional variations and modifications of the embodiments may occur to those skilled in the art once they learn of the basic inventive concepts. Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims shall be construed to include both the above embodiments and all such variations and modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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| 10-2007-0090680 | Sep 2007 | KR | national |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090064446 A1 | Mar 2009 | US |
