Vacuum cleaner with improved suction inlet

• US 5,699,586 A
• Filed: 01/11/1996
• Issued: 12/23/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Black & Decker Incorporated (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Black & Decker Incorporated (Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rebres, Robert P., Melito, M. Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Scherbel, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): TILL, TERRENCE R
• Application Number:
  US08/584,846
• Time in Patent Office: 712 Days
• Field of Search: 15/320, 15/347, 15/349, 15/363, 15/377, 15/383, 15/374, 15/375, 15/412, 15/415.1
• US Class Current: 15/383
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/30 with driven dust-loosening tools, e.g. rotating brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0411 driven by electric motor

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner with a floor traveling head having a housing, a rotatable brush, and two motors. The housing has a suction inlet with an entrance at its bottom and a separate pocket in the bottom of the housing for the rotatable brush. A wall of the housing separates the pocket from the suction inlet such that the entrance to the suction inlet has a relatively small area to maximize vacuum pull at the entrance. The suction inlet has a lower section with straight wall sections that are angled to form smaller areas at the lateral ends of the suction inlet. The suction inlet has an exit aperture directly into a collection assembly such that air velocity increases from the lower section to the upper section and then decreases from the upper section into the collection assembly.

Claims

1. A vacuum cleaner comprising:

a housing having a suction inlet at its bottom;

a motor with an impeller located in the housing;

a rotatable brush mounted to the housing in front of the suction inlet in a pocket in the bottom of the housing, the pocket being separated from the suction inlet by a wall of the housing such that suction inlet has a relatively small area at the bottom of the housing;

said suction inlet extending upward from the bottom of the housing substantially entirely perpendicular to the bottom of the housing between an entrance to the suction inlet and an exit aperture in a wall at the top of the suction inlet;

said suction inlet having an upper section with a generally uniform shape and a lower section with a non-uniform shape; and

said lower section has straight front and rear wall sections in which two of the rear wall sections uniformly taper towards the front wall section as they approach lateral ends of the suction inlet, and two straight top wall sections that uniformly taper downwardly from the upper section as they extend towards the lateral ends of the suction inlet.

2. A vacuum cleaner as in claim 1 wherein the lower section is larger in cross-sectional area than the upper section and the upper section has an exit directly into a collection assembly wherein air velocity increases from the lower section to the upper section and then decreases from the upper section into the collection assembly.

3. In a vacuum cleaner head having a housing with a suction inlet at its bottom and a rotatable brush connected to the housing, the improvement comprising:

the housing having a pocket in front of the suction inlet in which the rotatable brush is located, the pocket being separate from the suction inlet with a wall of the housing being located between the pocket and the suction inlet;

at least two motors, the first one of the motors being connected to an impeller and a second one of the motors being connected to the rotatable brush;

said suction inlet extending upward from the bottom of the housing substantially entirely perpendicular to the bottom of the housing between an entrance to the suction inlet and an exit aperture in a wall at the top of the suction inlet;

the suction inlet having an upper section with a generally uniform shape and a lower section with a non-uniform shape; and

the lower section having straight front and rear wall sections in which two of the rear wall sections uniformly taper towards the front wall section as they approach lateral ends of the suction inlet, and two straight top wall sections uniformly taper downwardly from the upper section as they extend towards the lateral ends of the suction inlet.

4. A vacuum cleaner as in claim 3 wherein the lower section is larger in cross-sectional area than the upper section and the upper section has an exit directly into a collection assembly wherein air velocity increases from the lower section to the upper section and then decreases from the upper section into the collection assembly.

5. A vacuum cleaner floor traveling head comprising:

a first motor;

an impeller connected to the first motor; and

a housing enclosing the motor end forming a suction inlet at a bottom of the housing, the entire suction inlet extending upward perpendicular to the bottom of the housing with an exit aperture in a wall at the top of the suction inlet;

a rotatable brush, the housing including a pocket in the bottom of the housing and in front of the suction inlet having the rotatable brush therein, the housing having a wall separating the suction inlet from the pocket;

the suction inlet having an upper section with a generally uniform shape and a lower section with a non-uniform shape; and

the lower section is larger in cross-sectional area than the upper section and the upper section has an exit directly into a collection assembly where air velocity increases from the lower section to the upper section and then decreases from the upper section into the collection assembly.

6. A vacuum cleaner floor traveling head comprising:

wheels; and

a housing having the wheels connected thereto, the housing having a suction inlet at its bottom, the suction inlet having an upper section and a lower section, the lower section having straight front and rear wall sections in which two of the rear wall sections uniformly taper towards the front wall section as they approach lateral ends of the suction inlet, and two straight top wall sections that uniformly taper downwardly from the upper section as they extend towards the lateral ends of the suction inlet.

7. A vacuum cleaner head as in claim 6 wherein the upper section of the suction inlet has a generally uniformcross-sectional shape and an exit aperture at a top of a rear wall.

8. A vacuum cleaner head as in claim 7 wherein the suction inlet extends substantially entirely perpendicularly upward from the bottom of the housing.

9. A vacuum cleaner as in claim 6 wherein the lower section is larger in cross-sectional area than the upper section and the upper section has an exit directly into a collection assembly wherein air velocity increases from the lower section to the upper section and then decreases from the upper section into the collection assembly.