Floor care apparatus with deep cleaning action
First Claim
1. A floor care apparatus, comprising:
- a cannister assembly including a collection vessel;
a suction generator;
a nozzle assembly, said nozzle assembly including a housing defining an agitator cavity, an agitator mounted in the agitator cavity for rotation in either a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;
a drive motor for driving said agitator; and
an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said agitator.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A floor care apparatus includes a cannister assembly, a nozzle assembly, and a suction generator that draws air, dust, dirt and debris from a carpet or rug to be cleaned through the nozzle assembly to a collection vessel. A rotary agitator carried on the nozzle assembly is driven by a motor in either a rearward bottom-dead-center direction when the floor care apparatus is being pulled rearward or a forward bottom-dead-center direction when the floor care apparatus is being pushed forward by an operator. In this way, the bottom-dead-center portion of the agitator engaging the underlying nap of a carpet or rug being cleaned is moving in the direction of movement of the floor care appliance so that the nap is always brushed from the bottom to the top and dirt and debris is lifted from the nap where it is entrained in the airstream being drawn into the apparatus by the suction generator to provide efficient and effective deep cleaning action.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A floor care apparatus, comprising:
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a cannister assembly including a collection vessel;
a suction generator;
a nozzle assembly, said nozzle assembly including a housing defining an agitator cavity, an agitator mounted in the agitator cavity for rotation in either a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;
a drive motor for driving said agitator; and
an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said agitator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A nozzle assembly of a floor care apparatus, comprising:
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a housing defining an agitator cavity;
an agitator mounted in said agitator cavity for rotation in either a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;
a drive motor for driving said agitator in either of said forward bottom-dead-center direction and said rearward bottom-dead-center direction; and
an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said agitator. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of cleaning a nap of a carpet or rug using a floor care apparatus having a power driven agitator, comprising:
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rotating said agitator in a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward; and
rotating said agitator in a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A floor care apparatus, comprising:
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a nozzle assembly including an agitator cavity and at least one rotary agitator mounted for rotation in the agitator cavity (a) in a first direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and (b) in a second direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;
a cannister assembly connected to said nozzle assembly;
a suction generator carried on one of said nozzle assembly and cannister assembly;
at least one drive motor for driving said at least one agitator, said drive motor being carried on one of said nozzle assembly and said cannister assembly; and
an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said at least one agitator, said actuator being carried on one of said nozzle assembly and said cannister assembly. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification