Swimming bath cleaning device

• US 6,473,927 B1
• Filed: 09/23/1999
• Issued: 11/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: 3S Systemtechnik AG
• Original Assignee: 3S Systemtechnik AG
• Inventors: Sommer, Hans-Rudolf
• Primary Examiner(s): Graham, Gary K.
• Application Number:
  US09/404,203
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 151/17, 153/47, 153/50, 153/52, 153/53, 210/169
• US Class Current: 15/1.7
• CPC Class Codes: E04H 4/1654 Self-propelled cleaners

Abstract

Cleaning device, especially for the cleaning of swimming pools, having a housing (1) and having at least one intake aperture (3) arranged on the base (2) of the housing through which, by means of a pump (4, 4′), a liquid to be cleaned can be conveyed into an inner chamber (5) at least partially enclosed by the housing (1) by a filter (6) which can be arranged in this inner chamber, in order to separate a contamination-exposed part (5′) from a clean part (5″) of the inner chamber, and through an outlet aperture (7), which is characterized in that the filter (6) lies sealingly on the bottom surface (8) of the inner chamber (5) and an underside (9) of a cover (10) which can be arranged over the inner chamber. Preferred embodiments involve the choice of a lamellar filter, the arrangement of the pump (4, 4′) inside or outside the housing (1), at least one motor (14, 14′) for driving running wheels (15) for the movement of the cleaning device, and the provision of a sheet metal insert (18) or a bucket insert (19).

Claims

1. A cleaning device, comprising:

a housing with a base arranged adjacent to a surface of a liquid container containing a liquid to be cleaned, the housing defining at least one intake aperture arranged on the base of the housing and at least one outlet aperture, the housing having an inner chamber with a contamination-exposed part and a clean part, the inner chamber being at least partially enclosed by the housing and having a bottom surface;

a removable cover with an underside arranged over the inner chamber;

a filter arranged in the inner chamber for separating the contamination-exposed part and the clean part of the inner housing, the filter extending between and forming a seal with the bottom surface of the inner chamber and the underside of the cover; and

a pump, an electric motor, and a shaft arranged in the inner chamber, the shaft actively connecting the pump to the electric motor, and the pump pumping the liquid to be cleaned into the contamination-exposed part of the inner chamber, through the filter, through the clean part of the inner chamber and through the at least one outlet aperture.

2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the filter is a lamellar filter.

3. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the electric motor is arranged approximately adjacent to the bottom surface of the inner chamber.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the filter has a cylindrical shape, the electric motor and the pump being arranged coaxially to and within the filter.

5. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one outlet aperture is arranged above the pump.

6. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one outlet aperture is arranged in the removable cover.

7. The cleaning-device according to claim 1, further comprising running wheels for moving the device and at least one additional motor for driving the running wheels.

8. The cleaning device of claim 7, further comprising an axle for mounting the running wheels.

9. The cleaning device of claim 7, further comprising at least one axle for mounting the running wheels, the at least one additional motor including an independent motor for each axle.

10. The cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the housing is designed as a self-supporting plastic frame.

11. The cleaning device of claim 10, wherein the plastic frame is of an integral design.

12. The cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising a membrane insert which serves as a non-return valve for the at least one intake aperture.

13. A cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising a sheet metal insert essentially covering the contamination-exposed part on the bottom surface of the inner chamber.

14. The cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising an insert bucket essentially filling the contamination-exposed part of the inner chamber.

15. The cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the cover comprises transparent material.

16. The cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the housing further defines at least one drainage aperture arranged in the clean part of the inner chamber, the device further comprising at least one membrane valve arranged on the at least one drainage aperture.

17. The cleaning device of claim 1, wherein the pump is arranged in the clean part of the inner chamber.

18. The cleaning device of claim 1, further comprising running wheels and at least one brush arranged on the housing, the running wheels and the at least one brush being operated independently from one another.