The present disclosure relates to vacuum cleaners and more particularly, to a surface cleaning head for a vacuum cleaner including air agitation.
A vacuum cleaner creates a partial vacuum to suck up dust, dirt, and/or particles (hereinafter collectively referred to as debris) from the surface to be cleaned. Some vacuum cleaners also utilize air-agitation in which a pressurized air stream discharged from the vacuum cleaner to dislodge debris. Existing air-agitation vacuum cleaners generally include a single air pump and a single motor which performs both the functional of creating an air agitation (e.g., the pressurized airflow) and vacuum flow to dislodge and suck up debris from the surface to be cleaned. While the existing systems are generally effective, they suffer from several problems. For example, the use of a single motor and single air pump requires complex ducting. In particular, a portion of the air flow from the single motor and single air pump may need to be directed to provide the air-agitation pressure/flow and another portion of the air flow may need to be redirected to provide the vacuum source. As may be appreciated, the primary consideration of the vacuum system is generally the efficient creation of the vacuum source, and this may lead to a situation were a long and/or complex ducting is necessary in order to provide the desired air-agitation pressure/flow to the air-agitation discharge. This long and/or complex ducting may increase the cost of the vacuum, increase the weight, and/or increase the size of the vacuum head, thereby making it unsuitable for some cleaning applications (e.g., but not limited to, cleaning under a couch or the like).
Additionally, the use of a single motor and single air pump to provide both the air-agitation flow as well as the vacuum flow may limit the flexibility and efficiency of the vacuum system. In particular, if the air-agitation pressure/flow is too high, then debris may be blown away from the vacuum inlet, thus reducing the efficiency of the system. On the other hand, if the air-agitation pressure/flow is too low, then debris may not be blow towards the vacuum inlet, again thereby reducing the efficiency of the system. As may be further appreciated, the amount of the air-agitation pressure/flow may depend on the surface and/or the type of debris being cleaned. As such, a single air-agitation pressure/flow may work as efficiently as possible for all cleaning circumstances. The use of a single motor and single air pump to provide both the air-agitation flow as well as the vacuum flow may require the ratio of the air-agitation pressure/flow to the vacuum flow to be static (e.g., fixed). Alternatively, while it may be possible to adjust the ratio of the air-agitation pressure/flow to the vacuum flow, such a design may generally require the inclusion (among other components) of air-flow regulatory valve and control mechanism. The air-flow regulatory valve and control mechanism further increase the cost, complexity, expensive, and size of the vacuum system.
These and other features and advantages will be better understood by reading the following detailed description, taken together with the drawings wherein:
A surface cleaning apparatus, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure, provides a lower profile surface cleaning head by moving at least the suction motor out of the surface cleaning head. The suction motor may be located in an upper portion (e.g., in a wand) pivotably coupled to the surface cleaning head and fluidly connected to a cyclone assembly located in the surface cleaning head. The cyclone assembly may include first and second opposing cyclones with a smaller diameters (e.g., as compared to a single cyclone used in existing “all in the head” vacuums) to provide a lower profile with substantially the same or better performance.
Referring to
With reference to
The surface cleaning head 12 includes a frame/body/enclosure 22 and includes one or more an air-agitation blower assemblies 24. The air-agitation blower assembly 24 is configured to provide a positive pressure air flow (e.g., an air-blast agitation flow) to move (e.g., dislodge) debris. According to one embodiment, the air-agitation blower assembly 24 may be configured to direct the air-blast agitation flow to cause debris to be generally directed towards the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or the vacuum inlet 25 of the surface cleaning head 12.
The air-agitation blower assembly 24 includes one or more air-agitation blowers 30 and one or more nozzles and/or discharge outlets 34 (
In the illustrated embodiment, the surface cleaning head 12 includes a single air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34 that is behind the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or vacuum inlet 25. It should be appreciated, however, that the surface cleaning head 12 may include one or more air-blast discharge outlets/nozzles 34 behind the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or vacuum inlet 25 and/or one or more air-blast discharge outlets/nozzles 34 in front of the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or vacuum inlet 25. As used herein, the terms “behind” and “in front of” are intended to refer to positions relative to the user while holding the upper portion (e.g., handle). As such, the term “behind” is intended to refer to a position between the user and the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or vacuum inlet 25, while the term “in front of” is intended to refer to a position in front both the user and the rotating/agitator member 16 and/or vacuum inlet 25.
With reference to
Turning back to
As discussed above, the air duct 32 may optionally be fluidly coupled to one or more plenums 42. One or more plenums 42 may be fluidly coupled to one or more air-blast discharge outlets/nozzles 34. The plenums 42 may be configured to distribute the air flow to the one or more air-blast discharge outlets/nozzles 34. For example, in an embodiment in which a single air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34 is used, it may be desirable to evenly distribute the pressurized air flow across the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34. As may be appreciated, space available in the surface cleaning head 12 to include an air path for the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34 design is very limited. The plenum 42 may allow for an even distribution of pressurized air to be achieved within the confined space available, preferably without using regular air ducts or hoses. To achieve even distribution of pressurized air to the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34, the plenum chamber 42 is used. The plenum chamber 42 may be a pressurized housing containing fluid at positive pressure. The function of the plenum 42 is generally to equalize pressure of the air flow across the inlet and/or outlet of the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34 such that the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34 discharges air generally evenly. The plenum chamber 42 may also provide acoustic benefits by reducing unwanted/undesirable noises.
In designing a plenum chamber 42, it is generally necessary to understand specific constraints for the application. For a surface cleaning head 12, one constraint is space. A good distribution is preferably achieved within a confined space. A non-dimensional parameter (A/a) is considered; this is the ratio of cross-sectional area of the plenum chamber “A” (
Applicants have performed a set of simulations 1400 to find preferred ‘A/a’ ratios to achieve the desired flow distribution from the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle 34, the results of which are generally illustrated in
The plenum chamber 42 may also optionally include one or more baffles 44 (see, e.g.,
It should be appreciated that it may be desirable to create a generally even air-blast agitation flow across all of the air-blast discharge outlets/nozzle(s) 34, in some instances it may be desirable to have an uneven distribution. For example, it may be desirable to increase the air flow in regions further away from the vacuum inlet 25, such as the lateral edges 48a, 48b (e.g., as seen in
Turning now to
According to one embodiment, the agitator drive motors 14 and/or air-agitation motors 26 may be DC motors, while the suction motors may be AC motors. Using a DC motor for the air-agitation motor 26 may be desirable because it may be smaller, lighter, and/or cheaper than AC motors in typical air-agitation applications, while using an AC motor for the suction motor may be desirable in an application in which the surface cleaning apparatus 10 is powered by an AC source.
Turning now to
As may be appreciated, three pins may go from the wand to the nozzle in the vacuum. One is 110 v AC, one is neutral, and the third is the stepped-down DC (e.g., 20 v AC) that will power the DC powered agitator drive motors 14 and/or air-agitation motors 26. In carpet mode, for example, the rotating/agitator member 16 (e.g., brush bar) may be on, and the air-agitation blower 30 may be off. In hard floor mode (e.g., tile, wood, etc.), the opposite may be true, e.g., the rotating/agitator member 16 (e.g., brush bar) may be off, and the air-agitation blower 30 may be on. It should also be appreciated, however, that a four pin embodiment may allow for the rotating/agitator member 16 (e.g., brush bar) and the air-agitation blower 30 to be powered independently of each other.
According to one aspect, the present disclosure features a surface cleaning apparatus comprising and upper portion and a surface cleaning head. The upper portion includes a handle and a suction motor. The surface cleaning head is pivotably connected to the upper portion and includes a vacuum inlet fluidly coupled to the suction motor and an air-agitation blower assembly. The air-agitation blower assembly comprises at least one air-agitation blower configured to generate a pressurize air flow and at least one discharge nozzle fluidly. The air-agitation blower includes an air pump and an air-agitation motor drivingly connected to the air pump, wherein the air-agitation motor is independent from the suction motor. The discharge nozzle is fluidly coupled to the air pump and is configured to discharge the pressurized air flow to form an air-blast agitation flow.
According to another aspect, the present disclosure features a surface cleaning apparatus comprising an upper portion, a surface cleaning head pivotably connected to the upper portion, and step-down voltage rectifier circuitry. The upper portion includes a handle and a suction motor, wherein said suction motor is an AC motor comprising a plurality of windings. The surface cleaning head includes a vacuum inlet fluidly coupled to the suction motor, an air-agitation blower assembly, and at least one discharge nozzle. The air-agitation blower assembly comprises at least one air-agitation blower configured to generate a pressurize air flow. The air-agitation blower includes an air pump and an air-agitation motor drivingly connected to the air pump, wherein the air-agitation motor is a DC motor. The discharge nozzle is fluidly coupled to the air pump and configured to discharge the pressurized air flow to form an air-blast agitation flow. The step-down voltage rectifier circuitry comprises at least a portion of the plurality of windings of the AC suction motor configured to step down an input AC voltage to the AC motor to a stepped down AC voltage, and at least one rectifier configured to convert the stepped down AC voltage to a DC voltage for supply to the DC air-agitation motor.
According to yet another aspect, the present disclosure features a surface cleaning apparatus comprising an upper portion including a handle, one or more motors configured to provide a vacuum air flow and a pressurized air-agitation air flow, and a surface cleaning head pivotably connected to the upper portion. The surface cleaning head includes a vacuum inlet fluidly coupled to the vacuum air flow, at least one discharge nozzle configured to discharge the pressurized air flow to form an air-blast agitation flow, and at least one plenum fluidly coupled between the one or more motors providing the pressurized air-agitation air flow and the discharge nozzle, wherein a ratio (A/a) of a cross-sectional area (A) of the plenum to a cross-sectional area (a) of the discharge nozzle is greater than or equal to 4:1.
While the principles of the invention have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the invention. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present invention in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.
This application is a 371 of international Application No. PCT/US17/56484 filed Oct. 13, 2017, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/408,147 filed Oct. 14, 2016, both of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US17/56484 | 10/13/2017 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62408147 | Oct 2016 | US |