The present invention relates to a running wheel for an object, in particular, a vacuum cleaning device, a vacuum cleaning tool or the like, to be moved on a floor surface, wherein the running wheel has an outer running surface and a hub, wherein the running surface is supported on the object so as to be rotatable about an axis of rotation.
Running wheels are known in general. Pieces of furniture as well as shelves, chairs, armchairs, tables or the like as well as tools such as vacuum cleaners or other vacuum cleaning devices, vacuum cleaning tools, floor nozzles or the like have running wheels with which the objects can be moved on a floor surface.
When floor nozzles are provided with running wheels for cleaning hard floor surfaces such as parquet, linoleum floors, tiled floors or marble floors, the running wheels generated on the hard floor surfaces significant noise, in particular when crossing joints. It can also happen that dirt particles that are present between the running wheels and the floor or improper use of the vacuum cleaning tool will cause damage to the floor surface. The operator therefore is required to be particularly careful when using the vacuum cleaning tools, especially in the case of sensitive hard floor surfaces.
It is an object of the present intention to design running wheels for objects to be moved on hard floor surfaces in such a way that damage to the floors is substantially prevented.
This object is solved in accordance with the present invention in that a fiber layer is attached to the running surface and forms an intermediate layer between the floor surface and the running surface.
By arranging a fiber layer between the floor surface and the running surface, an intermediate layer is effectively provided that reduces not only the rolling noise but also prevents damage to the floor surface to be cleaned. Vacuum cleaning tools such as floor nozzles or the like can therefore be guided across hard and smooth floor coverings in a noise-reduced and gentle way.
It has been found to be expedient to form the fiber layer by flocking the running surface. Flocking is the application of fine particles such as fibers on a surface that has been made adhesive.
In one embodiment of the invention, the flocking is comprised of short fibers that are secured essentially with one of their ends in an adhesive layer that has been applied to the running surface. The fibers have a length of approximately 0.3 mm to 3 mm, preferably of 0.5 mm to 2 mm; they have, depending on their length, a thickness of approximately 0.5 decitex to 7 decitex, preferably approximately 1 decitex to 6 decitex. As materials, fibers made from viscose, cotton, rayon, polyamide, polyester and/or acrylic fibers have been found to be expedient; in particular, polyamide such as nylon or PerlonĀ® are advantageous.
According to the invention, the running surface of the running wheel is formed by an approximately cylindrical running ring wherein the running ring is a separate component mounted on a carrier. The carrier is connected to the hub; expediently, the carrier itself provides the hub of the running wheel.
The hub is comprised of two hub halves between which the running ring is secured, preferably fixedly (non-rotatably). The hub halves of the assembled hub engage one another by means of a mounting projection and are locked positively with one another by means of locking tongues in the mounted position. The hub halves are configured as identical parts; this is advantageous in regard to manufacture as well as assembly. It can be expedient in this connection to produce the hub halves from a first plastic material and the running ring from a second plastic material having different properties or from a metallic material.
When producing a running ring as a separate component, it is possible to apply a fiber layer onto a cylinder having any length, for example, by flocking or by gluing, winding, welding or fusing or similar means of attachment. After application of the fiber layer onto the cylindrical base member, a running ring of the desired width is separated from it, for example, by cutting, trimming, cropping, or the like. The running ring manufactured in this way is pushed onto the wheel rim of the first hub half and, subsequently, the second hub half is pushed on. The wheel rim section of the second hub half also engages the running ring so that the running ring is securely held on the wheel rim between the beads of the wheel rim. Advantageously, the running ring is secured fixedly on the hub halves for which purpose gluing, welding or fusing to the hub but also a positive locking engagement within the hub is expedient.
In another constructive embodiment of the invention, the running surface and the hub constitute together a monolithic component that is preferably comprised of plastic material and represents the running wheel. The running surface is expediently configured as an approximately cylindrical circumferential surface; it can be advantageous to design the circumferential surface to be slightly spherical. In particular, the hub and the running surface can adjoin one another by a curved portion that is of a spherical or dome shape.
In particular, the flocking extends across the circumferential rim of the running surface so that also across the edges of the running surface a fiber layer is present; this, on the one hand, contributes to a gentle rolling action and to noise damping and, on the other hand, provides an impact protection for furniture, walls, strips or moldings and the like. Protective strips that are made from rubber or plastic material and are provided on floor nozzles lead to streaks on light-colored surfaces; streaking or scratching can be safely prevented in accordance with the present invention by not only flocking the running wheels but also the outer housing surfaces.
The fiber layer of the flocked material extends in one embodiment up to the spherical or dome-like curved portion between the hub and the running surface but can also extend to the center of the hub in order to provide a protective action in the case of axial impact.
The running wheel according to the invention is comprised expediently of plastic material, metal or other suitable materials.
The vacuum cleaning tool 1 illustrated in
The vacuum cleaning tool 1 is placed onto a floor surface 13 to be cleaned and is supported on the floor surface 13 by means of the running wheels 8, 10. In the illustrated embodiment of the vacuum cleaning tool according to
As shown in
For protecting the floor surface 13 across which the vacuum cleaning tool 1 is guided, the running surface 11 has a fiber layer 15 that forms an intermediate layer between the floor surface 13 and the running surface 11 when rolling on the floor surface 13. In the illustrated embodiment, fiber layer 15 is formed by flocked material (flocking) 14 that can be applied directly onto the running surface 11.
As can be seen in the enlarged schematic illustration of
The fiber thickness is preferably between 0.5 decitex to 7 decitex, in particular between 1 decitex to 6 decitex, depending on the selected length of the fibers 17. Decitex is an international unit of measure for textile fibers and is defined as the weight (mass) in g per 10,000 meters of a running length of the fiber. One tex corresponds to 1 gram per 1 kilometer. The higher the decitex number, the coarser the fiber. For example, cotton has fibers of 1.5 decitex to 2.5 decitex.
Viscose, cotton, rayon, polyamide, polyester and/or acrylic fibers have been found to be advantageous as a suitable material for use as a fiber layer that is produced, for example, by flocking on the running wheel. In particular, materials from the group of polyamides, in particular nylon or PerlonĀ®, have been found to be expedient.
In order to ensure gentle rolling or gliding across a hard floor surface 13, it is expedient when the flocking or flocked material 14 extends past the lateral circumferential rim 19 of a running surface 11 (flocking 14a). In the embodiment of
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The running wheel 10 itself or the base element of the running wheel 10 can be made from plastic material, metal or other materials. A fiber layer, for example, in the form of flocked material 14, can be applied permanently on many materials. Depending on the material of the base element of the running wheel 10 a suitable adhesive for the adhesive layer 16 must be selected. In the illustrated embodiment, the running wheel is comprised of plastic material; the adhesive of adhesive layer 16 can partially dissolve the running surface 11 in order to ensure an intimate connection of the adhesive layer 16 and the running surface 11 of plastic material.
In the embodiment according to
The hub 12 itself is comprised in the illustrated embodiment of two hub halves 12a, 12b between which the running ring 20 is secured. In this connection, the running ring 20 can be rotatably arranged on the carrier 21; in the illustrated embodiment, the running ring 20 is fixedly connected to the carrier 21 and the hub 12, for example, by gluing, welding or fusing or by positive locking engagement. The hub 12 has a central receptacle 22 for receiving, for example, an axle stub which determines the axis of rotation 9 of the running wheel 10.
For manufacturing a running wheel 10, basically a carrier 21 for the running ring 20 and a hub part 12a or 12b are sufficient. For example, one hub half 12a can be used that has a wheel rim 23a formed integrally thereon. The running ring 20 is pushed onto the wheel rim 23a and secured thereon, for example, by an adhesive, by fusing or the like attachment means. The open side of the running wheel 10 is mounted so as to face the housing 2 so that towards the exterior the hub half 12a of the running wheel 10 is visible.
The running ring 20 of the running wheel 10 that is advantageously produced as a component separate from the running wheel 10 is separated as a partial ring from a cylindrical base member 30 (
The cut-off width b of the running ring 20 is selected such that a minimal oversize relative to the width B is provided that is determined by the wheel rim beads 29 of the carrier 21. When assembling the hub 12, the wheel rims 23a, 23b engage approximately fittingly the running ring 20 so that the running ring 20 is aligned relative to the axis of rotation 9 (
The ring 20 can be additionally glued and/or fused or welded to the wheel rim 23a, 23b.
The instant application incorporates by reference the entire disclosure of German priority application 10 2005 043 848.2 having a filing date of Sep. 13, 2005.
While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2005 043 848.2 | Sep 2005 | DE | national |