Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6292977
-
Patent Number
6,292,977
-
Date Filed
Tuesday, September 7, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, September 25, 200122 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 015 301
- 015 310
- 015 314
- 015 339
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International Classifications
-
Abstract
A vacuum fitting for connection to a remote source of vacuum, the vacuum fitting comprising a main body mountable to a fixed structure. The main body includes an inlet opening and an outlet opening; an openable closure mounted to the main body and being moveable between an open position and position covering the inlet opening; a latch member selectively positionable to keep the closure in said covering position when positioned between the main body and the closure and to permit said closure to move to an open position when not positioned between said main body and the closure; and a biaser to urge the closure to an open position. A switch is also provided to initiate the remote source of vacuum when the closure is moved to the open position by the biaser.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to the field of vacuum fittings of the type that are connected to a source of vacuum. One type of vacuum source is a central vacuum system used to clean building enclosures, such as houses. In particular, this invention relates to a vacuum fitting of the type that may be permanently mounted adjacent to a floor so that dust, dirt and debris may be swept along the floor and passed into the vacuum system through the fitting by means of the suction or vacuum.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Attempts have been made in the past to develop a vacuum fitting which is permanently mounted into a wall or floor adjacent to a surface to be swept. Such fittings may be for use in association with either a central vacuum system or a portable vacuum cleaner system. The vacuum fitting ideally opens to permit air suction to flow through the fitting to pick up and carry dirt, debris and the like through the fitting and into a remote collection chamber associated with the vacuum source. Early attempts at such fittings involved cumbersome moving assemblies having nozzles which advanced out into a room to direct the suction to a place where the sweepings were collected. The sweepings would then would then be sucked up through the nozzle and taken away. However, these devices were awkward, expensive, and generally impractical. Examples of these may be found in Canadian patents 642,539, 670,879 and 675,552 to Bierstock.
More lately, there have been a number of devices developed which are somewhat simpler and which provide a fixed vacuum inlet fitting adjacent to a floor to be swept. For example, Klassen Canadian Patent 2,101,484, teaches a device which can be mounted in a floor or a wall and which is connected to the remote source of vacuum so that when a seal in the device is opened, by a foot activated lever, the remote source of vacuum is energized. This causes suction through the opening and removes undesirable sweepings from the surface being swept. Unfortunately, the Klassen device impractically requires that a person maintain their foot on the lever in order to maintain the electrical connection to energize the source of vacuum and also to keep the seal open. This is awkward and impractical as it means that the sweeping must be finished while standing on one foot.
Even more recently, a device to an inventor named Graham has been disclosed in Canadian Patent 2,123,179 which includes a closure member mounted within a housing. A lever extends out through an open front inlet and pivots the closure between two positions which open and close an outlet opening located in a top wall of the housing. A double acting spring is associated with the closure member and acts to hold the closure member in both open and closed positions. In this manner, the unit can be activated by a foot of the user. Sweepings can then be swept up to the mouth of the unit and taken away by the suction. When finished, the operator may again use their foot to move the lever to cause the closure to cover the outlet opening and to disengage the electrical contact. This switches off the remote source of vacuum.
While simple in approach, this device suffers the disability that the foot operated lever or switch extends from the front face of the fitting. Thus the front face must be always open to accommodate the lever. While this may be partially acceptable when the unit is partially hidden, for example, by being installed under a toe rail of a kitchen counter, this opening is not acceptable in, for example a front hall, mud room or other plain view application. The open front means the inside of the device, which often becomes dirty and unattractive over time is in plain view. This require s more maintenance in terms of cleaning and the like.
Further, in use, typically a user will sweep back and forth across the inlet opening to ensure that all of the crumbs or debris are swept up. Such sweeping action often accidentally switches the unit off, because the foot operated lever projects out, unprotected, from the housing. Rapid on/off energization of the central vacuum motor causes undue wear and can lead to premature failure of the motor. Finally, the top outlet opening makes installation awkward, since often the source of vacuum is from below. A top opening requires multiple elbow fittings and short tubing sections to plumb in the connection to a below grade vacuum source.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is desired is a simple to use device which overcomes the limitations of the prior art. Preferably the device should be simple to make and involve a minimum of parts and expense. Further the device should be robust, and not prone to accidental rapid on/off switching during sweeping. As well the device should not provide an open front which both unsightly and a source of dirt collection which requires more maintenance. Also the device should be easy to install either under a cabinet or in a wall. Most preferably the device should be equally easy to plumb to a source of vacuum no matter whether the vacuum tubing leads up, down or sideways from the fitting.
Therefore according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a vacuum fitting for connection to a source of vacuum, said vacuum fitting comprising:
a main body mountable to a fixed structure, said main body including an inlet opening and an outlet opening;
an openable closure mounted to said main body and being moveable between an open position and a closed position;
a latch member selectively positionable between said main body and said closure to keep said closure in a closed position when positioned between said main body and said closure and to permit said closure to move to an open position when not positioned between said main body and said closure;
a biaser to urge said closure to an open position; and
a switch to initiate said remote source of vacuum when said closure assumes said open position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Reference will now be made to drawings of preferred embodiments of the invention, by way of example only, and in which:
FIG. 1
is a front perspective view showing the three main elements of the preferred embodiment of the invention, namely a main body, a door member in exploded position for illustration purposes and a latch member;
FIG. 2
is an equivalent view showing the main body and the door member of
FIG. 1
without the latch member;
FIG. 3
is a side view of the preferred invention with the door member covering a door opening in said main body;
FIG. 4
is a front view of the invention showing the door member in an open position with the latch member removed for ease of illustration;
FIG. 5
is a cross-sectional view of the invention of
FIG. 4
taken along line
5
—
5
with the latch member added;
FIG. 6
is a cross-sectional view of the invention of
FIG. 4
taken along lines
6
—
6
with the latch member added; and
FIG. 7
is a rear perspective view of the invention of
FIG. 4
showing the door member in an open position;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1
shows a vacuum fitting for connection to a source of vacuum generally at
10
. The vacuum fitting
10
is comprised of three main elements, namely, a main body
12
, a door member
14
and a latch member
16
. The door member
14
is shown in exploded position in
FIG. 1
but is normally located under the latch member on the front of the main body
12
. Each of these elements is described in greater detail below.
The main body
12
includes a room facing side
18
and a rear or backside
20
. Beginning with the room facing side
18
there are provided side mounting flanges
22
,
24
on either lateral side of the main body
12
. In each flange
22
,
24
there is preferably provided a mounting aperture such as
25
,
26
to receive a fastener, such as a screw (not shown). Most preferably the mounting aperture is chamfered to permit the fastener
30
to be countersunk into the flange
22
,
24
. In this manner the flange surface is preferable smooth and the fastener head projects very little if at all beyond the outer face of the flange.
It will also be noted that the flanges
22
,
24
are joined across the top of the main body by a top flange
32
which is shown more clearly in FIG.
2
. Extending across the bottom edge of the room facing side is a sweepings ramp
34
. The flanges
22
,
24
,
32
and the ramp
34
are configured so that when an appropriately sized opening is cut into a baseboard of a wall, or a kitchen cabinet, the flanges will cover the rough cut edges of the wall or cabinet opening and the sweepings ramp will lie against the floor being swept.
FIG. 2
also shows the room facing side
18
having a door receiving opening
40
. The door receiving opening
40
is divided approximately into two halves, an upper half
42
and a lower half
44
, by a partition
46
. The partition
46
extends between side walls
48
,
50
, a back wall
52
and a front edge of the door receiving opening
40
. Rising out of the partition
46
is an arch
54
of a rearwardly extending shaped passageway
56
as described in more detail below. The partition
46
and the arch
54
of the shaped passageway form a continuous top wall. The shaped passageway
56
below partition
46
forms a suction chamber through which sweepings may be drawn by suction and then exit the chamber through an opening at the back.
Shown at one side is a hinge slot
60
, ending in a hinge hole
62
which is located above the partition
46
. The hinge slot
60
is to facilitate the installation of the door member
14
as described in more detail below.
Turning now to the door member
14
it is shown in exploded position relative to the main body
12
, but it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in use the door member
14
is mounted out in front of the main body
12
. The door member
14
is comprised of an actuating or toe press section
70
having gripping means
72
and an angled top section
74
. In addition to the door member
14
, there is a hinge section
76
which extends rearwardly from the top section
74
and the toe press section
72
. On each lateral side of the hinge section
76
are located small circular axles
78
which are sized and shaped to be inserted into the hinge hole
62
described above. It will now be appreciated that the hinge section
76
is sized and shaped to be inserted above the partition
46
.
The door
14
is preferably molded with the hinge section
76
from a suitable plastic material and assembled to the main body after molding in a separate manufacturing step. To insert the hinge section
76
into the main body, all that is required is to line up the axles
78
with the hinge slots
60
and then force the hinge section
76
into the front of the main body
122
until the axles
78
rest in the hinge holes
62
. In this manner the hinge holes
62
form, in combination with the axles
78
a pivoting attachment of the door member
14
to the main body
12
with the door member
14
out front of the main body
12
. When so installed, the door member
14
may be pivoted about a horizontal pivot axis to cover and uncover the door opening
40
.
As shown in
FIG. 3
, a seal
79
is also provided to seal the door opening
40
of the suction passageway
56
against suction when the unit
10
is not in use. It will be appreciated that the present unit
10
will be plumbed through the rear facing exit into a central vacuum system (not shown) which will likely have many outlets located throughout a building space. Use of one outlet typically means that a remote source of vacuum is activated, creating suction throughout the system. All of the outlet valves not then in use must be sealed to prevent an unwanted loss of vacuum throughout the system. Hence the desire to provide a seal in the other fittings when not in use.
When the present invention is not in use, but an adjoining outlet is, the vacuum in the system will create a negative pressure behind the door member
14
. This negative pressure will act to either draw the door member
14
closed, if it was open slightly, or most preferably to keep the door closed. The seal
79
is sized and shaped to extend around the preiphery of the door opening and will bear flat against the side flanges
22
,
24
and along the partition
46
. Preferably the seal will project beyond a back face of the door member
14
slightly at a lower edge thereof, so as to engage the surface of the sweepings ramp
34
, which as previously described, forms the lower edge of the door or inlet opening
40
. The projection of the seal
79
may be either in the downward direction or rearward, provided the seal
79
is sized and shaped to seal against the ramp
34
. In this way, when the door
14
is fully closed, a seal can be formed all around the periphery of the lower half
44
of the door opening
40
, thus preserving suction in the suction chamber and in the remote vacuum system.
The preferred form of seal
79
is a single piece of foam rubber which is glued or otherwise affixed to the back of the actuating portion of the door member
14
. The seal
79
can be either fixed in the middle and left free along the edges to permit it to flop outwardly to closed the gap with the door opening
40
, or glued along the edges and of sufficient thickness and resiliency to ensure a good fit against the door member
14
.
It will further be appreciated that the seal
79
can be of any shape provided the same covers any gap between the door member
14
and the door opening
40
. For example, while the preferred seal
79
is a rectangular shape, the seal
79
could also be made with a rectangular cut out, leaving only the perimeter. Further the seal
79
could be mounted to the door
14
or to the main body
12
, depending upon preferences. It is believed that mounting the seal
79
on the door member
14
is preferred, because that way the seal is moved out of the way as the door opens. In this way the sweepings do not come into contact with the seal
79
and thus are less likely to foul the same which could result in a loss of vacuum. Also, it is less preferable to place the seal
79
on the ramp
34
itself, as that would make it more difficult to take the sweepings up into the main body
12
. All that is required is to have a complete seal around the perimeter when the fitting is not in use but the system is in use.
The third element of the device
10
as shown in
FIGS. 1 and 3
is a latch element
16
. It will be noted that the side flanges
22
,
24
of the main body
12
have forward offsets
67
for approximately the upper half of the flange. This provides a securing face
69
behind the flange
32
to secure the latch element
16
. It is preferred for the device
10
to be able to lie flat against a vertical surface such as a toe rail of a kitchen cabinet. Thus it is preferred to include the forward offsets
67
to provide a smooth back surface on the fitting.
The latch element
16
includes an attachment flange
80
, which is preferably integrally molded to a overhanging member
82
, along a continuous edge
83
. In the preferred embodiment the latch element
16
is bonded to the securing face by means of an adhesive, solvent welding or the like. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the latch element
16
could be attached to the main body
12
in a number of ways including separate mechanical fasteners or heat bonding without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
As shown in
FIG. 2
the overhanging member
82
includes a portion
84
, which is gently rounded in plan and extends outwardly (when viewed from above) for approximately one half of the side to side width of the device
10
. The outward extension provides a toe lift latch
85
. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many different shapes could be used for the overhanging portion
84
of the latch element
16
, but the disclosed shape provides easy access and use of both the latch element
16
and the door member
14
as described in more detail below. What is desired is to configure the latch element
16
to allow it to be easily manipulated by the foot or toe of a user. What is also desired is to also keep the door member
14
accessible to the toe of a user. In the preferred design this is accomplished by extending the toe lift portion
85
across approximately one half of the device
10
to expose the door member
14
underneath to easy toe contact on the other half.
FIG. 3
shows the door member
14
in the position the door assumes when the device
10
is not in use, namely the door member
14
is covering the door opening
40
. From
FIG. 3
the inter-action between the door member
14
and the latch member
16
can be appreciated. Extending downwardly and inwardly from the latch
16
is a stop
90
to catch a top of the door at
92
. The stop
90
may be continuous across the latch member
16
or it may be intermittent. What is required is to provide enough of a projection that the stop
90
extends behind the top angled portion
74
of the door
14
to prevent the door
14
from rotating about the horizontal hinge axis to an open position. It can be appreciated that the latch member
16
is resiliently deformable along edge
83
. Thus when a person inserts their toe under the toe latch portion
84
and lifts, the latch member
16
is temporarily raised, causing the stop
90
to come free of the door member
14
freeing the door
14
to rotate to an open position. In this manner the latch member
16
is selectively positionable between the door element and the main body lo keep the door in a closed position or to permit the door to move to an open position.
Turning again to the position of the elements as shown in
FIG. 3
, the seal
79
preferably lies adjacent to the flange
22
,
24
but is not pressed there against when the door member
14
cover the opening. Rather it is prefered if the suction in the main body
12
, which arises when another outlet of the same vacuum system is in use, causes the door
14
to seal shut. In this sense it is preferred if the latch member
16
holds the door
14
in a covering, but not closed position. This has the added benefit of not keeping the compressible seal under constant compression which could over time lead to a loss of resiliency in the seal, by reason of permanent deformation. Rather it is preferred if the seal
79
is under compression only during the operation of the vacuum system, where the sealing force is provided by the suction in the system. This will enable the seal
79
to last longer and because it will not be permanently compressed will have less of a tendency to develop leaks around the edges over time.
Another element of the present invention is the biaser, or spring
100
. The biaser
100
is most preferably in the form of a wire spring as shown, which has one end
102
secured in a hole
104
on the side of the main body
12
. The spring then extends around a first electrical contact post
106
and then doubles back towards a front of the fitting at
107
. This limb
107
of the spring
106
contacts a pin
108
which extends through a slot
110
through the side of the main body. The pin
108
is secured to the door member
14
. The spring continues with a downwardly extending limb
112
with a hairpin section
114
and ends in a contact portion
116
. A second electrical contact
118
is formed on the main body and the spring is preferably made from an electrically conducting material such as metal wire. It can now be appreciated that if the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact are wired to a circuit, the circuit may be closed if the spring
100
extends between the two.
Also shown in
FIG. 3
is the door hinge
120
. The door hinge is comprised of the axle extensions
78
of the door member
14
which are sized and shaped to fit closely within a circular hinge opening
62
in the main body as previously described. As can be seen from
FIG. 3
, the axle extension of the door member
14
is below the spring
100
and does not impede its movement in any way.
It can now be appreciated how the door member
14
, the latch member
16
, the main body
12
and the biaser
100
interact. In the position as shown in
FIG. 3
, the spring
100
is resiliently bent around the first electrical contact post
106
and is trying to return to an unbent position which results in a force in the direction of arrow
124
. The spring
100
acts on the pin
108
urging the pin along (down) the slot
110
. The door covering portion of door member
114
is on the opposite side of the door hinge
120
and thus the door covering portion is urged in the opposite direction, namely up, as shown by arrow
125
by spring force. In other words, the door is being urged by the spring to an opened position. The door is prevented from moving by the stop
90
of the latch member
16
which catches the top
92
of the angled portion
74
of the door
14
. In this position the latch member
16
is operatively positioned between the main body
12
and the door member
14
to prevert the door from assuming a fully opened position.
Thus, when the toe latch is lifted by a toe of a user, the stop
90
disengages from the door
14
and the spring
100
opens the door
14
. At the same time, the pin
108
moves along the slot
110
and the spring
100
then moves to a position where the end contact portion
116
of the spring can contact the second electrical contact post
118
. This completes a low voltage circuit as described and initiates a remote source of vacuum. Because the spring
100
is urging the door member
14
to the open position, the unit will stay in operation until the user is finished, without needing any further contact from the user. It will be appreciated that hair pin section
114
allows the end contact portion
116
of the spring early contact with the electrical contact post, without exerting a reaction force that causes the pin
108
to stop in the slot
110
leaving the door only partly open. The hair pin section
114
permits early electrical contact while permitting a full range of travel along the slot
110
.
When sweeping is finished, the user merely presses with their foot or toe on the exposed part of the door member
14
, on the actuator portion
70
. This will overcome the spring force and cause the door member
14
to rotate about the hinge and to lower to cover the opening
40
. To assist in ease of use the door actuator portion is preferably provided with friction enhancing features such as gripping means
72
. These may be in the form of ridges as shown, stippling or other roughening of the surface to allow the toe of the user to easily grip the door surface to press the same down.
Also shown in
FIG. 3
is the rear opening
140
of the main body
12
which is the exit from suction chamber
56
. It will be noted that the opening is defined by an attachment rim
200
, which is sized and shaped to allow conventional fittings to be attached thereto. The exit or outlet from the main body is directed rearwardly. Thus, the exit can be easily joined to a short elbow fitting and plumbed to connect to vacuum piping whether coming from below or behind with equal ease.
In the most preferred form of the present invention the front to back dimension of the unit is small enough to fit within a standard wall. Thus, to allow room for an elbow, it is preferred if the fitting not exceed four inches in depth and most preferably not more that about three inches.
It can now be appreciated that to achieve such a compact configuration requires certain internal features of the main body
12
. At the front the inlet opening
40
, it is preferred to have a relatively long compared to its height opening to draw the suction through. At the rear it is preferred to have a circular exit to facilitate the connection of the fitting to vacuum piping. Thus the transition must be made from the front opening to the rear opening over a compact body with a continuous top wall, side walls and bottom wall to form the suction chamber.
This is accomplished by providing an internal wall or partition
46
in the main body
12
to define a lower suction chamber and an upper housing area as previously described. The internal configuration of the suction area can be more fully understood with reference to
FIGS. 5 and 6
. As can be seen in
FIG. 5
which is a section along lines
5
—
5
in
FIG. 4
, the vacuum chamber
56
extends upwardly and rearwardly from front opening
40
. In
FIG. 5
it can be seen that apart from the rear outlet
140
the vacuum chamber has a solid back wall
138
at the sides. Most preferably this back wall is also angled (see
FIG. 7
) from back to front to encourage the flow of debris carried by suction to the rear exit
140
.
FIG. 6
shows a section through the outlet
140
, showing the vacuum chamber rising from the ramp under the partition
46
and out the outlet
140
.
It will also be noted that in the open position as shown in
FIGS. 5 and 6
the angled portion lies against the opening of the main body above the partition in such a way that the opening is substantially closed. In this manner short circuiting of the suction, around the partition and then around the top edge of the door is prevented, causing more of the suction to pass through the open front and improving the effectiveness of the device.
It can now be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present invention provides an easy to make and install fitting which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. In particular when not in use the device presents a covered front face which hides the internal workings of the device so that there is no need to have to clean or maintain the same Further the configuration of the latch, holding the door member in a door covering position, while the spring
100
urges the door open, provides for a long lasting seal which is only compressed by the suction in the system.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while reference has been made in the foregoing description to preferred embodiments of the present invention various modifications and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims. Some of these modifications have been discussed above and others will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, there are many forms of toe latch that would provide adequate results, provided that enough of an overhang is present to easily allow the stop to be disengaged from the door member on the one hand and yet not to cover the door so as to prevent a user from being able to easily close the door against the spring when required. Further, while preferred dimensions are provided for a compact device, minor variations will not have too great an input on how the device functions.
Claims
- 1. A vacuum fitting for connection to a source of vacuum, said vacuum fitting comprising:a main body mountable to a fixed structure adjacent to a surface to be swept, said main body including a sweepings inlet opening and an outlet opening; an openable closure mounted to said main body and being moveable between an open position and position covering said sweepings inlet opening; a latch member selectively positionable to keep said closure in said covering position when positioned between said main body and said closure and to permit said closure to move to an open position when not positioned between said main body and said closure said latch member including an outwardly extending toe lift portion; a biaser to urge said closure to an open position; and a switch to initiate said remote source of vacuum when said closure assumes said open position.
- 2. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said openable closure pivots about a horizontal axis, and said latch member extends between a top of said main body and a top of said openable closure in said covering position.
- 3. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said openable closure includes an edge against which said latch catches.
- 4. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latch member is formed from a resilient material which is displaceable out of the path of said openable closure to permit said openable closure to pass thereby.
- 5. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latch member includes a stop element for abutting said openable closure.
- 6. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said openable closure includes a foot contacting surface which includes an anti slip feature.
- 7. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 6 wherein said anti slip feature comprises a roughened surface.
- 8. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 7 wherein said roughened surface comprises a plurality of ridges.
- 9. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said latch member is sufficiently resilient to allow a user to place a toe under said toe tab and to lift said toe tab enough to disengage said stop from said openable closure, and when released, it returns to a position in the path of said openable closure.
- 10. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said spring includes a hairpin for permitting early contact with an electrical connection without creating a reaction force.
- 11. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 1 wherein said main body has a rearwardly facing exit orifice and a front to back distance of less than four inches.
- 12. A vacuum fitting as claimed in claim 11 wherein said front to back width of said main body is less than about three inches.
US Referenced Citations (11)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
642539 |
Jun 1962 |
CA |
670879 |
Sep 1963 |
CA |
675552 |
Dec 1963 |
CA |
2101484 |
Jan 1994 |
CA |
2105554 |
Mar 1995 |
CA |
2125595 |
Jun 1995 |
CA |