Floor cleaner

• US 3,871,047 A
• Filed: 12/22/1972
• Issued: 03/18/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Hoky
• Original Assignee: Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Yasuo Kaburaki
• Inventors: Kobayashi, Kiyoshi, Kaburaki, Yasuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Roberts, Edward L.
• Application Number:
  US05/317,833
• Time in Patent Office: 816 Days
• Field of Search: 15/41R,41-48
• US Class Current: 15/42
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/33 having means for storing dirt
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/40 Parts or details of machines not provided for in groups A47L11/02 - A47L11/38, or not restricted to one of these groups, e.g. handles, arrangements of switches, skirts, buffers, levers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4013 Contaminants collecting devices, i.e. hoppers, tanks or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4041 Roll shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4069 Driving or transmission means for the cleaning tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4072 Arrangement of castors or wheels

Abstract

A floor cleaner comprising a rotating brush adapted to rotate in liaison with rollers supporting a housing onto the floor in a suitable manner, dust receivers disposed on the front and the rear side of said rotating brush respectively so as to receive the dust swept off from the floor by said rotating brush, and hindering members located over said dust receivers adapted to permit the dust to be introduced into said dust receivers but to prevent the dust from being drawn out to the outside again.

Claims

1. A floor cleaner, comprising:

housing means defining a downwardly opening compartment;

roller means rotatably supported on said housing means and adapted for rolling engagement with a support surface, such as a floor, for movably supporting said housing means thereon;

brush means disposed within said compartment and rotatable in response to rotation of said roller means for sweeping the dust off of said support surface, said brush means including an elongated brush rotatably supported on said housing means and extending transversely across said compartment in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction in which said housing means is moved during a cleaning operation, said rotating brush having a rotational axis which is substantially parallel to the rotational axes of said roller means;

first and second dust receiver means mounted on said housing means and positioned for receiving therein the dust swept off of said surface by said rotating brush, said first and second dust receiver means each having an edge thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said rotating brush, and said first and second dust receiver means being positioned on substantially diametrically opposite sides of said brush so that dust will be deposited into either said first or second dust receiver means depending on the rotational direction of said brush;

each of said dust receiver means comprising an upwardly opening boxlike tray mounted on said housing means, said tray having one sidewall thereof positioned closely adjacent the periphery of said brush, and one-way means associated with each said dust receiver means for permitting the dust deposited within said receiver means to move in a direction away from said brush in response to inertia caused by the back-and-forth movement of said housing means on said surface, said one-way means tending to prevent the dust within said receiver means from moving back towards said brush;

said one-way means including a sloped wall portion formed on the bottom of said tray and extending upwardly in a direction away from said brush, said sloped wall terminating in a substantially vertical wall which projects downwardly to form an abutment which tends to prevent the dust from moving backwardly towards the brush after the dust has passed over said sloped wall, said vertical wall being located between said one sidewall and the middle of said tray as measured between the front and rear ends thereof; and

hindering means associated with each of said dust receiver means for preventing the dust deposited therein from moving backwardly out of said dust receiver means so as to again contact said rotating brush, said hindering means including a hindering member positioned over each tray and disposed above said sloped wall in the vicinity of said vertical wall, said hindering member having a plurality of projections which extend downwardly toward the bottom of said tray but are spaced upwardly therefrom to prevent the dust collected within said tray from moving back towards said brush, said projections being spaced from one another in a direction extending transversely across said compartment, the spacing between said projections enabling dust to move therebetween when deposited into said tray by said brush, whereupon the dust as deposited into said tray then contacts the dust previously collected within said tray to form a larger mass which is of substantial transverse width so that said larger mass of dust is prevented by said projections from moving backwardly toward the brush.

2. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, further including first and seconD comb means disposed within said compartment and positioned for engagement with the periphery of said brush for removing the dust therefrom, said first and second comb means being disposed on opposite sides of said brush and positioned adjacent said one edge of said first and second dust receiver means, respectively, the comb means associated with each dust receiver means being positioned between said brush and the respective hindering member.

3. A floor cleaner according to claim 2, wherein said comb means associated with the respective tray is spaced upwardly from the upper edge of said one sidewall whereby fine dust particles picked up by said brush will move over said one sidewall and beneath said comb means for deposit into said tray, said comb means causing the fibrous dust to be removed from the brush with said fibrous dust then being deposited into one of said trays by passing over the top of one of said comb means.

4. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said hindering member is disposed in substantial alignment with the upper edge of said sloped wall, and the lowermost point of said projections being spaced upwardly a relatively small distance above the upper edge of said sloped wall.

5. A floor cleaner according to claim 1, wherein said hindering member comprises an elongated rodlike member which extends transversely across the width of said compartment and has the opposite ends thereof mounted on said housing means, said rodlike member having an intermediate portion thereof provided with said plurality of projections thereon, said projections being of a large and upwardly opening V-shaped configuration whereby said projections point downwardly, said projections being formed in said rodlike hindering member by bending same.