Patent Application
20240081590
The present invention relates to a vacuum-cleaner nozzle.
A vacuum-cleaner nozzle with a housing and a suction mouth on a lower face of the housing and bounded by a front mouth edge and a rear mouth edge. A pivotable suction fitting connected to the suction mouth is provided on a rear end of the housing.
Here reference to the front or rear suction-mouth edges refers to a normally horizontal working direction perpendicular to the vertical. In particular, the mouth extends in a transverse direction perpendicular to both the vertical direction and the working direction.
Vacuum-cleaner nozzles are used to shape the suction air stream of a vacuum cleaner and guide it along a surface to be cleaned, normally a floor surface. The vacuum cleaner has a blower for generating this air stream and a filter for separating dirt particles entrained by it. The vacuum cleaner can be connected to the vacuum-cleaner nozzle via a suction hose. Vacuum cleaners include in particular, but are not limited to, household vacuum cleaners, upright vacuum cleaners, hand-held vacuum cleaners, stick cleaners, and vacuum systems permanently installed in buildings, and the like.
It is common practice to displace the vacuum-cleaner nozzle by the suction hose. For this purpose, the suction hose can comprise a handle and/or a rigid suction tube connected to the suction fitting. Due to the mechanical handling of the suction hose, movements are transferred to the vacuum-cleaner nozzle via the suction fitting.
Since the suction mouth is connected to the suction fitting, a subatmospheric pressure generated in the vacuum cleaner also is also present inside the nozzle housing and at the area of the mouth. As a result, the suction air stream is drawn in from the surroundings and can loosen and remove dirt particles in and on the surface to be cleaned. These are sucked in with the suction air flowing through the suction mouth into the interior of the housing and are passed on to the vacuum cleaner via the suction fitting and the suction hose.
Regulatory requirements for suction cleaning equipment have become increasingly stringent in the past with regard to energy consumption. As a result of the ever decreasing permissible electrical power of the suction blower, an ever decreasing physical suction power (the product pressure drop X volume flow) is also available. This can have negative effects on the cleaning efficiency. To compensate for these negative effects, increasing optimization of the efficiency of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle is required.
If possible, the cleaning power should be concentrated on the surface to be cleaned or, in the case of air-permeable materials, below it. For this reason, vacuum-cleaner nozzles are increasingly designed in such a way that when they are placed against a smooth floor surface, they form a very small floor gap and thus a small air gap of a few millimeters through which the suction air flow from the surroundings can enter the suction mouth.
However, this has the disadvantage that so-called “coarse dirt particles” (especially with a diameter of more than 1 mm) can no longer follow the suction air flow without problems in all operating situations. It can happen that one or more coarse dirt particles are too large for the air gap and are therefore mechanically prevented from entering the mouth. As a result, coarse dirt particles accumulate in front of and around the mouth and thus not only impair the cleaning effect, but can also damage the surface material to be cleaned, for example a wooden floor.
It is therefore known to vary the vertical spacing of vacuum-cleaner nozzles as required. Such a solution is known, for example, from EP 2 989 953 A1. It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 9,955,853 to provide an additional cleaning device under the rear edge of the housing in order to raise it. Even though this creates a sufficient floor clearance of the suction mouth, this solution is not very flexible. Another disadvantage is that the additional cleaning device, for example a wet-cleaning attachment, is in constant contact with the floor. Such additional wet cleaning is not intended or desirable in all cases.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved vacuum-cleaner nozzle.
Another object is the provision of such an improved vacuum-cleaner nozzle that overcomes the above-given disadvantages, in particular in which the aspiration of coarse dirt particles is simplified.
In particular, a particularly high level of operating convenience is to be achieved and the floor material is to be optimally protected.
A vacuum-cleaner nozzle has according to the invention a housing formed with a downwardly open suction mouth on a lower face of the housing and having a front mouth edge and a rear mouth edge. A suction fitting on a rear end of the housing and opening into the housing serves for drawing air in through the mouth. A floor-engaging support rearward of the rear mouth edge is vertically displaceable relative to the housing between upper and lower positions. A spring biases the support into one of the positions, normally the lower position.
The support is intended to contact the surface to be cleaned and to support the vacuum-cleaner nozzle. Because the support is spring-loaded downward in the vertical direction, it exerts a downward force that lifts the rear end of the housing due to its position relative to the rear suction-mouth edge. As a result, the base spacing of the suction mouth can be increased.
Preferably, the housing can be displaced between a lower position and an upper position while the downwardly biased support remains permanently in contact with the surface to be cleaned. Particularly preferably, the spacing of the rear suction-mouth edge to a (hard) floor surface in the upper position is at least 2 mm, in particular at least 5 mm. In particular, the lower face of the housing has no contact with the floor on hard floors in the upper position.
The spacing between the lower and upper positions is clearly noticeable to a user and is also relevant for the suction air flow on the lower face of the housing. In particular, the spacing, i.e. the difference in height of the rear suction-mouth edge above a hard floor surface to be cleaned in the upper position to the lower position, is at least 2 mm, preferably at least 5 mm.
By introducing compressive forces via the suction fitting that is also located at the rear end of the housing, the rear of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle can be displaced down against the mechanical biasing of the support, thereby reducing the spacing from the floor of the suction mouth. This adjustment is made in a particularly convenient manner for the user and is essentially intuitive. Separate control of the vertical spacing, in particular via separate operating elements, is not required.
In order to ensure the intended tilting effect, it is provided in particular that no supports movable in the vertical direction are provided on the vacuum-cleaner nozzle in front of the suction mouth. The support in this front area is provided in particular by means of static sliding surfaces and/or rollers that are exclusively rotatable relative to the housing and form a front support area with a fixed spacing.
According to a preferred embodiment, rollers are provided in front of the front suction-mouth edge and project downward in the vertical direction above a suction mouth plane in which the front suction-mouth edge and the rear suction-mouth edge run at least partly.
Preferably, the support is designed as an arm that projects backward from a rear end of the housing. This shifts the support point of the support to the rear, increases the stability of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle, and simplifies handling. In particular, the horizontal spacing in the working direction between a front support area formed in front of the suction mouth and the rear support area formed by the support is increased. Tilting of the housing to the front and the lifting of the mouth can thus be more finely controlled. The front support area can be formed in particular by a roller forward the front edge of the mouth and/or a sliding surface formed in front of the front edge of the mouth, for example a sliding surface or sloping surface.
Particularly preferably, the support has at least one running wheel. This reduces the sliding resistance and the wear on the support and the floor compared to a sliding surface. The running wheel can in particular have a rolling bearing, e.g. a ball bearing. This further reduces the sliding resistance. Likewise, it may be provided that the running wheel is formed with a running surface of a soft elastic material such as rubber.
It is particularly preferred that the support is mounted on the housing so that it can be pivoted about an axis. By pivoting the support, the position of the rear support point (formed by the support) can be varied in the vertical direction. Here, the axis is particularly preferable transverse.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the pivoting movement of the support about the pivot axis is limited to an angular range. Here, the support can be pivoted between an upper stop and a lower stop. The application of force exerts a force effect in the direction of the lower stop, so that the support moves through an acute angle automatically to the lower stop without counterforce or latching.
Particularly preferably, the support is spring-loaded downward. The support is coupled with a mechanical spring element. The spring element can be made of metal in particular and can be shaped, for example, as a leaf spring, coil spring or spiral spring.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the spring element is integrated into and enclosed on all sides by the support. The spring element interacts in particular with a projection of the housing or a receptacle connecting the housing to the support.
Particularly preferably, the support has at least one contact area for contact with a floor surface. The contact area is movable between an upper position and a lower position by a vertical spacing of at least 5 mm, in particular at least 10 mm and especially preferably between 15 and 20 mm. The contact area of the contact element can in particular be formed by an outer surface or a roller. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the contact area has a horizontal spacing from the rear edge if the mouth in the working direction of at least 60 mm both in the upper position and in the lower position.
According to a preferred embodiment, the housing has two rear corner areas. One or only two supports are provided in each of these corner regions. The two supports are particularly preferably provided mirror-symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal center plane of the housing.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the support can be latched in an upper position. Here, the mobility of the support is restricted or completely prevented and/or the application of force or mechanical biasing is reduced or eliminated in the downward direction. As a result, the support remains in the upper position due to the latching effect and/or the dead weight of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle. Such a latch can be used in particular to adopt a suction configuration particularly suitable for smooth floors, a so-called smooth floor position. In this position, the suction mouth is located in the immediate vicinity of a support plane or to the surface of a smooth floor against which the vacuum-cleaner nozzle is placed. In the locked position, the vacuum-cleaner nozzle according to the invention can be used analogously to a conventional vacuum-cleaner nozzle.
Preferably, the vacuum-cleaner nozzle has a latch that is effective in the upper position and can be activated and/or released by the application of force. This can simplify the overall operation of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle. For example, the rear end of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle can be lowered by user action against the mechanical bias or downward biasing action of the support. This causes the support to be displaced upward relative to the housing. When a predetermined mechanical resistance is exceeded, the support is locked in the upper position. Subsequently, the vacuum-cleaner nozzle can be operated in the smooth-floor position.
Likewise, it is preferred to release the latch from the upper locked position by applying force. In this way, the support can be actively moved downward by direct user action and thus leave the latch.
This is particularly possible with easily accessible supports, such as an extension arm projecting backward over the housing. These can then be actively moved downward, e.g. with the foot. In order to simplify operation, movement of several supports provided separately from one another is coupled by at least one coupling element, for example a connecting axle or a connecting beam. By moving or latching or unlatching one of the supports, this movement is then also automatically transferred to other supports.
Preferably, a fastening extension is provided on the lower face for connection to a cleaning attachment. The fastening extension is used to releasably connect the vacuum-cleaner nozzle to an attachment that can, for example, provide an additional cleaning function, in particular damp mopping. The attachment extension is designed in particular in the shape of a tongue. Preferably, the fastening extension projects beyond the rear end of the housing. This allows it to engage particularly easily and detachably with the cleaning attachment.
In order to ensure that the fastening extension causes little disruption when the vacuum-cleaner nozzle is operated on its own without a cleaning attachment, it is provided below the suction fitting. This applies in particular to any area projecting to the rear so that it is completely covered by the suction fitting.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the vacuum-cleaner nozzle has at least one movably driven cleaning element. This serves to come into contact with the material of the floor surface to be cleaned and to loosen adhering dirt and/or move it in the direction of a suction opening. In particular, this can be a cleaning roller driven to rotate about a transverse axis. The cleaning roller can act in particular as a brush roller with a roller body centered on its axis of rotation and carrying cleaning bristles.
The cleaning roller is provided in particular in a roller chamber that directly adjoins the mouth in the vertical direction. The cleaning roller is preferably positioned in such a way that it projects downward from the mouth at least in sections and/or at times.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a cleaning arrangement comprising a vacuum-cleaner nozzle as previously described. Furthermore, the cleaning arrangement comprises a cleaning attachment which can be connected to the vacuum-cleaner nozzle to form another cleaning configuration. In particular, it is provided according to the invention that the support of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle projects further downward than the cleaning attachment in the extended cleaning configuration. The vacuum-cleaner nozzle alone can provide one or more cleaning configurations, for example a smooth floor position and/or a variable height adjustable configuration.
The cleaning attachment can be used to provide additional cleaning functions. In particular, this can be a damp and/or dry-wiping function. In addition to the suction cleaning determined by the vacuum-cleaner nozzle, it can also be used to loosen and/or remove dirt particles adhering to a floor surface.
In the cleaning arrangement according to the invention, the support of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle projects further downward than the elements. Thus, it can at least partially absorb the weight forces of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle and/or the entire cleaning arrangement. Compared with known cleaning arrangements, in which the vacuum-cleaner nozzle rests on the cleaning attachment, the latter is thus relieved or raised.
Since the support is spring-loaded downward (and movable upward) on the housing of the vacuum-cleaner nozzle, the contact pressure exerted by the cleaning attachment on the floor can be varied by applying force. By pushing down via the suction fitting, the support is moved against the mechanical biasing, intensifying ground contact of the cleaning attachment.
By relieving the suction fitting or pulling on the suction hose, the intensity of the ground contact by the cleaning attachment is reduced. In particular, the cleaning arrangement is designed physically and with regard to the downward biasing of the support in such a way that the cleaning attachment can be lifted completely off the floor. This also reduces the sliding resistance on the floor induced by the cleaning attachment.
By varying the contact pressure, it is possible to influence the intensity of floor cleaning during operation and, if necessary, the discharge quantity of cleaning liquid in the case of a damp-cleaning attachment.
According to a preferred embodiment, the cleaning attachment is designed as a wet-cleaning attachment with a wet-cleaning wiping element and a liquid reservoir. The wet-cleaning wiping element is provided in particular on the lower face of the wet-cleaning attachment and is connected to the liquid reservoir by a liquid distribution system. A cleaning liquid stored in the liquid reservoir, in particular water with or without additional active substances can be delivered to the wet-cleaning wiping element. It is intended for direct contact with the floor.
With the cleaning arrangement, combined suction and wet wipe cleaning can be performed in a single operation with a combination of the corresponding advantages. The spatially and temporally upstream suction cleaning serves to remove coarse dirt particles and easily loosened dust particles and fibers. Subsequent wet cleaning then leads to thorough removal of additional fine dirt particles and/or those strongly adhering to the floor surface. By combining the wet-cleaning attachment with the vacuum-cleaner nozzle according to the invention, the contact pressure of the wet-cleaning wiping element can be precisely controlled. The moist cleaning wiping element is preferably provided on the lower face of the cleaning attachment. This can be detachably connected to the cleaning attachment, in particular for exchange and/or cleaning purposes.
The releasable connection is preferably released with a hook-and-loop fastener, a clamp connection, a magnetic connection, and/or by a positive grip around the cleaning attachment by the wet-cleaning wiping element. These methods and combinations thereof allow easy and tool-free connection as well as disconnection of the wet-cleaning wiping element and the wet-cleaning attachment.
The wet-cleaning wiping element is designed to hold a liquid, in particular a cleaning liquid, and to bring it into contact with the floor surface to be cleaned. The action of the cleaning liquid can chemically and/or physically dissolve dirt particles adhering to it and transport them away with the liquid.
In particular, the wet-cleaning wiping element can at least be partly made of foam. The damp-cleaning wiping element may also have textile components. In particular, the wet-cleaning wiping element has at least one preferably woven textile substrate. In particular, this can have loops and/or protruding fiber ends to achieve and improve the cleaning effect.
According to a particularly preferred design, at least one additional liquid-distributing layer is formed, in particular as a spacer fabric or knitted spacer fabric. This serves to distribute the cleaning liquid over the entire surface of the damp cleaning wiping element even in the case of a punctual feed by the liquid-supply system.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the wet-cleaning attachment has a liquid supply system with a liquid reservoir and at least one liquid-distribution system. The liquid-distribution system preferably uses gravity, capillary forces, an electric pump, and/or a mechanically, for example by foot switch, actuated pump to transport liquid from the liquid reservoir into the wet-cleaning wiping element. Particularly preferably, the fluid distribution system has a control mechanism, for example a valve, to control the flow of cleaning fluid into the wet-cleaning wiping element. Particularly preferably, automatic control of the moisture level is envisioned.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the cleaning attachment has at least one cutout through which the support passes. The mechanically biased support can thus develop its support effect particularly advantageously in the area of the cleaning attachment. At the same time, the available cleaning area is not significantly reduced.
In embodiments with a latchable support, it is particularly preferred that the vacuum-cleaner nozzle with a support locked in the upper position cannot be connected to the cleaning attachment. Furthermore, in the extended cleaning configuration, the support cannot be moved to the upper (lockable) position and/or cannot be locked there. This ensures that the support always remains in contact with the floor during use and can thus have its supporting effect. Ground contact of the wipe cleaning element without the additional support of the support is prevented.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
As seen in
On the rear end of the housing 2 relative to the working direction x there is a suction fitting 4 connected to the mouth 3. The suction fitting 4 is hinged to the housing 2 so that it can be pivoted about an axis k extending transversely y and is connected to the housing 2 by a corrugated hose 5. The front end of the housing 2 is supported on a pair of rollers 16.
A fastening extension 2b for connection to a damp-cleaning attachment 12 is provided rearward of the rear suction-mouth edge 3b. The fastening extension 2b projects in the working direction x past the rear end of the housing 2 below the suction port 4.
The housing 2 forms a suction chamber 7 holding a cleaning roller 6. Here, the cleaning roller is rotated the suction chamber 7 about an axis of rotation d extending transversely y. The brush roller 6 has a body 6a centered on the axis d and tufts of radially outwardly extending bristles 6b on its surface. As can be seen from the side views of
According to the invention, two movable supports 8 are provided on the housing 2 rearward of the rear suction-mouth edge 3b that are biased downward in the vertical direction z by a spring such as the torque spring illustrated schematically at 15. These supports 8 are pairs of cantilevered arms 8a mounted on the housing 2 so that they can pivot about a pivot axis s extending transversely. As can be seen from
As can be seen from a comparison of
In
Furthermore, the supports 8 can be locked in the upper position shown in
It is also an object of the invention to provide a cleaning arrangement 11 shown in
Furthermore, the cleaning arrangement 11 according to the invention comprises a damp-cleaning attachment 12 that is shown in
In the embodiment shown, the attachment 12 is designed for damp or wet cleaning and has a housing 13 and a wet-cleaning wiping element 14 provided on the bottom face of the housing 13. Inside the attachment housing 13 there is a liquid reservoir 13a connected to the damp cleaning wiping pad or element 14 by an unillustrated liquid distribution system.
As can be seen in particular from
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022123513.0 | Sep 2022 | DE | national |
| 102022128259.7 | Oct 2022 | DE | national |
| 202023101664.2 | Mar 2023 | DE | national |
