This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0039358, filed on Apr. 4, 2019, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner having a suction head provided with a rotating drum brush, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner having a structure for removing foreign substances wound on the drum brush.
Generally, a vacuum cleaner is a home appliance which performs cleaning by including a suction force generator for generating a suction force, a suction head for sucking air and foreign substances on a surface to be cleaned through the suction force of the suction force generator, and a foreign substance collection chamber for separating and collecting foreign substances from the air sucked through the suction head.
The suction head may include a housing having a suction port and a drum brush for sweeping a surface to be cleaned to induce foreign substances on the surface to be cleaned to be efficiently sucked into the suction port. The drum brush may be rotatably connected to a driver.
The drum brush is composed of a cylindrical drum body, a plurality of brush bristles provided on an outer circumferential surface of the drum body, and as the drum brush rotates, hair, animal fur, and thread among the foreign substances sucked through the suction port may be caught between and wound on the plurality of brush bristles.
It is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a suction head having a structure capable of removing foreign substances from a drum brush by crushing or breaking the foreign substances such as hair, animal fur, and thread wound on the drum brush, and a vacuum cleaner including the suction head.
It is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a vacuum cleaner having a structure capable of easily mounting a plurality of brush bristles and a blade, which prevents foreign substances from being caught between and wound on the plurality of brush bristles, on a drum body.
Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the disclosure.
In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a vacuum cleaner includes a cleaner body including a suction force generator configured to generate a suction force and a foreign substance collection chamber configured to collect foreign substances, and a suction head connected to the cleaner body to suck foreign substances on a surface to be cleaned and guide the foreign substances to the foreign substance collection chamber, wherein the suction head includes a housing having a suction port, a drum brush rotatably installed in the housing such that the foreign substances are sucked into the housing through the suction port, and including a cylindrical drum body and a brush provided on an outer circumferential surface of the drum body, a foreign substance removal pad provided on an inner surface of the housing to remove the foreign substances on the drum brush by friction with the foreign substances wound on the drum brush, and an anti-slip pad provided on the outer circumferential surface of the drum body to prevent the foreign substances from slipping on the drum body.
The foreign substance removal pad may be formed of a material having a higher friction coefficient than the housing.
The foreign substance removal pad may include sand paper having friction particulates.
The foreign substance removal pad may include a friction surface formed with irregularities to increase a friction force.
The housing may include a lower housing and an upper housing, the suction port may be formed in the lower housing, and the foreign substance removal pad may be provided in the upper housing.
The foreign substance removal pad may be provided at a central portion in a longitudinal direction of the housing.
The foreign substance removal pad and the brush may be spaced apart from each other.
The anti-slip pad may be of a material having a higher friction coefficient than the drum body.
The anti-slip pad may be formed of a rubber material.
The anti-slip pad may include a friction surface formed with irregularities to increase a friction force.
The anti-slip pad may include an inclined surface formed to be inclined with respect to the outer circumferential surface of the drum body at opposite ends in the longitudinal direction of the anti-slip pad to allow the foreign substances to be transferred upward on the anti-slip pad.
The brush may include a brush band extending between opposite ends in an axial direction of the drum body, and a plurality of brush bristles protruding from the brush band to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval along the brush band.
The drum brush may include a blade provided in the vicinity of the brush to extend along the brush band such that the foreign substances are prevented from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles.
The drum body may include a coupling groove formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drum body to extend between the opposite ends in the axial direction of the drum body, and the blade may include a blade base inserted into and coupled to the coupling groove.
The blade base may include an installation groove extending between opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the blade base to allow the brush band to be inserted and coupled thereto.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, a vacuum cleaner includes a cleaner body comprising a suction force generator configured to generate a suction force and a foreign substance collection chamber configured to collect foreign substances, and a suction head connected to the cleaner body to suck foreign substances on a surface to be cleaned and guide the foreign substances to the foreign substance collection chamber and in which a drum brush is rotatably installed to induce suction of the foreign substances, wherein the drum brush includes a cylindrical drum body, a brush comprising a brush band extending between opposite ends in an axial direction of the drum body and a plurality of brush bristles protruding from the brush band to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval along the brush band, and a blade provided in the vicinity of the brush to extend along the brush band such that the foreign substances are prevented from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles.
The drum body may include a coupling groove formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drum body to extend between the opposite ends in the axial direction of the drum body, and the blade may include a blade base inserted into and coupled to the coupling groove.
The blade base may include an installation groove extending between opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the blade base to allow the brush band to be inserted and coupled thereto.
The blade may include a blade body extending in a radial direction of the drum body in the blade base such that the foreign substances are prevented from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles, and the blade body may be provided with through holes.
Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.
Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.
These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Configurations shown in the embodiments and the drawings described in the present specification are only the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, and thus it is to be understood that various modified examples, which may replace the embodiments and the drawings described in the present specification, are possible when filing the present application.
It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Shape and size of the elements in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity.
It will be understood that when the terms “includes,” “comprises,” “including,” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, figures, steps, components, or combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, figures, steps, components, members, or combinations thereof.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The cleaner body 10 may include a suction force generator 11 configured to generate suction force, a foreign substance collection chamber 12 configured to separate and collect foreign substances from the sucked air, a handle 13, and a battery 14 configured to supply power to the suction force generator 11.
The suction force generator 11 may include a motor configured to convert an electric force into a rotational force, and a fan rotatably connected to the motor. The foreign substance collection chamber 12 may collect foreign substances through a cyclone method of separating foreign substances using a centrifugal force or through a dust bag method of separating foreign substances by passing air through a filter bag. The air from which foreign substances are removed through the foreign substance collection chamber 12 may be discharged to the outside of the cleaner body 10.
The extension pipe 15 may be formed of a pipe having a predetermined rigidity or a flexible hose. The extension pipe 15 may transmit the suction force generated through the suction force generator 11 to the suction head 20 and may guide air and foreign substances sucked through the suction head 20 to the cleaner body 10.
The suction head 20 may be in close contact with a surface to be cleaned to suck air and foreign substances on the surface to be cleaned. The suction head 20 may be rotatably coupled to the extension pipe 15.
Referring to
The housing 30 may be formed by assembling an upper housing 32, a lower housing 35, a left side cover 39, and a right side cover 40.
The suction port 37 may be formed in the lower housing 35. Air and foreign substances sucked into the housing 30 through the suction port 37 may be discharged to the outside of the housing 30 through the connector 21. The suction port 37 may be formed in the lower housing 35 to extend along a longitudinal direction 31 of the housing 30. The connector 21 may be formed at a central portion of the housing 30 in the longitudinal direction 31.
The upper housing 32 may be provided with a connection opening 34 to which the connector 21 is connected. A foreign substance removal pad 50, which will be described later, may be provided on an inner circumferential surface 33 (
The drum brush 60 may be rotatably provided in the housing 30. The suction head 20 may include a driver providing a rotational force to rotate the drum brush 60. The driver may include a motor 42 generating a rotational force, a pulley 44 having a coupler 45 to which the drum brush 60 is coupled, and a belt 43 transmitting the rotational force of the motor 42 to the pulley 44. The housing 30 may include a motor chamber 38 in which the motor 42 is accommodated.
The drum brush 60 may include a cylindrical drum body 61, and a brush 80 provided on an outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61 to scatter foreign substances by sweeping the surface to be cleaned. A rotating pin 68 may be provided at opposite ends of the drum body 61. The rotating pin 68 can be coupled to the coupler 45.
The brush 80 may include a brush band 81 extending between opposite ends in an axial direction 63 (
The brush 80 may be provided in a substantially ‘V’ shape so as to transfer foreign substances to a central portion of the drum brush 60 when the drum brush 60 rotates.
As such, because the plurality of brush bristles 82 is formed to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval, foreign substances such as hair, animal hair, and thread may be caught between the plurality of brush bristles 82. When the foreign substances are caught between the plurality of brush bristles 82, the foreign substances may be wound on the drum brush 60 when the drum brush 60 rotates. The foreign substances wound on the drum brush 60 may be stuck to the drum brush 60 despite the suction force of the cleaner body 10. Therefore, the cleaning efficiency of the vacuum cleaner 1 may be lowered, and furthermore, the rotation of the drum brush 60 may be restrained.
In order to prevent the phenomenon of foreign substances being wound on the drum brush 60 in this way, the drum brush 60 may include a blade 90 provided in the vicinity of the brush 80 to extend along the brush band 81.
Because the blade 90 is provided in the vicinity of the brush 80 to block between the brush bristles 82, the phenomenon of foreign substances being caught between the brush bristles 82 may be prevented or reduced. The blade 90 may be formed of a material having elasticity and flexibility such as rubber.
The blade 90 may include a blade base 91 inserted into and coupled to a coupling groove 67 formed on the outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61, and a blade body 96 extending in a radial direction of the drum body 61 from the blade base 91. The coupling groove 67 may be formed on the outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61 to extend between the opposite ends in the axial direction of the drum body 61.
As illustrated in
The blade base 91 may include an installation groove 92 formed to allow the brush band 81 of the brush 80 to be inserted and coupled thereto. The installation groove 92 may be formed to extend between opposite ends in a longitudinal direction of the blade base 91.
Through this configuration, as illustrated in
Next, as illustrated in
As described above, due to the configuration of the blade 90, foreign substances may be prevented or reduced from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles 82. However, foreign substances such as hair, animal fur, and thread may still be wound on the drum brush 60, and thus the suction head 20 according to an embodiment of the disclosure may include the foreign substance removal pad 50 to remove foreign substances wound on the drum brush 60 from the drum brush 60.
As illustrated in
To this end, the foreign substance removal pad 50 may be formed of a rough material having a high friction coefficient. The foreign substance removal pad 50 may be formed of a material having a higher friction coefficient than the housing 30. As an example, the foreign substance removal pad 50 may include sand paper having friction particulates. The foreign substance removal pad 50 may be attached to the inner surface 33 of the housing 30 via an adhesive or other fastening member.
The foreign substance removal pad 50 may be provided at the central portion in the longitudinal direction 31 of the housing 30.
Because the extension pipe 15 is connected to a central portion of the suction head 20, foreign substances sucked into the housing 30 through the suction port 37 may be transferred to the central portion of the housing 30 by a suction force. In addition, due to the ‘V’ shape of the brush 80 as described above, the foreign substances may be transferred to the central portion of the housing 30.
Therefore, it is sufficient that the foreign substance removal pad 50 is provided at the central portion in the longitudinal direction 31 of the housing 30. However, unlike the present embodiment, the foreign substance removal pad 50 may be provided on the entire inner surface of the housing 30.
As illustrated in
The drum brush 60 may include the anti-slip pad 70 provided on the outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61 to prevent foreign substances from slipping on the drum brush 60 upon friction with the foreign substance removal pad 50.
Because the frictional force between the foreign substance removal pad 50 and the foreign substances may be reduced when foreign substances slip on the drum brush 60 upon friction with the foreign substance removal pad 50, the foreign substances may be more effectively removed by the configuration of the anti-slip pad 70 preventing the foreign substances from slipping.
To this end, the anti-slip pad 70 may be formed of a material having a high friction coefficient. The anti-slip pad 70 may be formed of a material having a higher friction coefficient than the drum body 61. For example, the anti-slip pad 70 may be formed of a rubber material. The anti-slip pad 70 may be attached to a mounting groove 66 formed on the outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61 via an adhesive or other fastening member.
Because the anti-slip pad 70 is configured to prevent foreign substances from slipping upon friction with the foreign substance removal pad 50, the anti-slip pad 70 may be provided at a position corresponding to the foreign substance removal pad 50. That is, the anti-slip pad 70 may be provided at the central portion in the axial direction of the drum body 61.
The anti-slip pad 70 may include an inclined surface 72 (
Hereinafter, a foreign substance removal pad of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the disclosure will be described with reference to
Unlike the above-described embodiment, a foreign substance removal pad 250 may be integrally formed with the housing 30. That is, the foreign substance removal pad 250 may be formed of the same material as the housing 30.
The foreign substance removal pad 250 may include a friction surface having a predetermined shape capable of increasing a friction force. For example, the foreign substance removal pad 250 may include a friction surface having a shape of irregularity, embossing, bead, or the like. The foreign substance removal pad 250 may be post-processed after molding the housing 30 or molded together with the housing 30.
Hereinafter, an anti-slip pad of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the disclosure will be described with reference to
Unlike the above-described embodiment, an anti-slip pad 270 may be integrally formed with the drum body 61. That is, the anti-slip pad 270 may be formed of the same material as the drum body 61.
The anti-slip pad 270 may include a friction surface having a predetermined shape capable of increasing a friction force. For example, the anti-slip pad 270 may include a friction surface having a shape of irregularity, embossing, bead, or the like. The anti-slip pad 270 may be post-processed after molding the drum body 61 or molded together with the drum body 61.
Hereinafter, a blade of a vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the disclosure will be described with reference to
The blade 90 may include the blade base 91 inserted into and coupled to the coupling groove 67 formed on the outer circumferential surface 62 of the drum body 61, and the blade body 96 extending from the blade base 91 to prevent foreign substances from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles 82.
The blade body 96 may be provided with a plurality of through holes 97 formed to be spaced apart by a predetermined interval along a longitudinal direction of the blade 90. The through holes 97 may increase the flexibility of the blade body 96, and because foreign substances pass through the through holes 97, the phenomenon in which the foreign substances are wound on or entangled with the drum brush 60 may be reduced.
Operations of the vacuum cleaner according to an embodiment of the disclosure will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As is apparent from the above, according to the disclosure, foreign substances such as hair, animal fur, and thread can be crushed or broken by friction with a foreign substance removal pad. The crushed or broken foreign substances can be sucked smoothly into a cleaner body.
According to the disclosure, a brush having a plurality of brush bristles and a blade provided to prevent foreign substances from being caught between the plurality of brush bristles can be easily mounted on an outer circumferential surface of a drum body.
While the disclosure has been particularly described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood by those of skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.
Although the present disclosure has been described with various embodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to one skilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompass such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2019-0039358 | Apr 2019 | KR | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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10045672 | Eriksson | Aug 2018 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2253258 | Nov 2010 | EP |
3342323 | Jul 2018 | EP |
10-2008-0086690 | Sep 2008 | KR |
2018218157 | Nov 2018 | WO |
Entry |
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European Search Report dated Oct. 2, 2020 in connection with European Patent Application No. 20 16 7195, 5 pages. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200315416 A1 | Oct 2020 | US |