FLOOR TOOL FOR A CLEANING APPLIANCE

• US 20100154150A1
• Filed: 12/01/2009
• Published: 06/24/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dyson Technology Limited (Beeswax Holdings UK Limited)
• Original Assignee: Dyson Technology Limited (Beeswax Holdings UK Limited)
• Inventors: MCLEOD, David Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 10,258,211 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/21.100
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/009 Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/02 Nozzles suction nozzles for fluid transport B65G51/00

Abstract

A floor tool for a cleaning appliance including a cleaner head rotatably attached to a conduit carried by a pair of wheels that converge beneath the conduit.

Claims

1. A floor tool for a cleaning appliance comprising a cleaner head rotatably attached to a conduit carried by a pair of wheels that converge beneath the conduit, wherein the wheels have axes of rotation that intersect above a line passing through the wheel centres.

2. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheels are dome-shaped.

3. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheels provide a substantially continuous arcuate support in a plane normal to a longitudinal axis of the conduit.

4. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheels are separated beneath the conduit by a gap that subtends an angle at a centre of the conduit by no more than 20 degrees.

5. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheels have surfaces of spherical curvature.

6. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wheels have surfaces coincident with a common sphere.

7. A floor tool as claimed in claim 6, wherein the conduit has a longitudinal axis that is coincident with the centre of the common sphere.

8. A floor tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the conduit comprises a forward portion pivotally attached to a rearward portion, the cleaner head is rotatably attached to the forward portion, and the wheels are rotatably attached to the forward portion.

9. A floor tool as claimed in claim 8, wherein the wheels are attached to the forward portion at a first set of points, and the rearward portion is attached to the forward portion at a second set of points located above the first set of points.

10. A floor tool for a cleaning appliance comprising a cleaner head rotatably attached to a conduit carried by a pair of dome-shaped wheels, the wheels having axes of rotation that are oriented such that the wheels converge beneath the conduit.

11. A floor tool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the wheels provide a substantially continuous arcuate support in a plane normal to a longitudinal axis of the conduit.

12. A floor tool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the wheels are separated beneath the conduit by a gap that subtends an angle at a centre of the conduit by no more than 20 degrees.

13. A floor tool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the wheels have surfaces of spherical curvature.

14. A floor tool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the wheels have surfaces coincident with a common sphere.

15. A floor tool as claimed in claim 10, wherein the conduit comprises a forward portion pivotally attached to a rearward portion, the cleaner head is rotatably attached to the forward portion, and the wheels are rotatably attached to the forward portion.

16. A floor tool for a cleaning appliance comprising a cleaner head rotatably attached to a conduit carried by two wheels only that converge beneath the conduit.

17. A floor tool as claimed in claim 16, wherein the wheels are dome-shaped.

18. A floor tool as claimed in claim 16, wherein the wheels provide a substantially continuous arcuate support in a plane normal to a longitudinal axis of the conduit.

19. A floor tool as claimed in claim 16, wherein the conduit comprises a forward portion pivotally attached to a rearward portion, the cleaner head is rotatably attached to the forward portion, and the wheels are rotatably attached to the forward portion.

20. A floor tool as claimed in claim 19, wherein the wheels are attached to the forward portion at a first set of points, and the rearward portion is attached to the forward portion at a second set of points located above the first set of points.