POOL OR TANK CLEANING VEHICLE WITH A POWERED BRUSH

A pool cleaning vehicle is described comprising a body mounted on wheels such that it can roll over a surface. The body carries a water inlet port and a water outlet port with the inlet port being located on the bottom of the body. It also has a filter mechanism interposed between the inlet and outlet ports. An electric motor mounted is on the body between the two sides of the body with a shaft extending out of it with a propeller mounted on the shaft. The motor is mounted such that the propeller expels water out of the outlet port. A roller brush extends between the same two sides of the body generally transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle and the roller brush is rotated by the electric motor via a linkage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are robotic cleaning vehicles which traverse the bottom of swimming pools and other large liquid containers submerged in the contained liquid, drawing in liquid from ports in their bottoms, passing this liquid through filters in the body of the vehicle and expelling the filtered liquid back into the large container, typically a swimming pool. These vehicles typically travel on wheels which suspend the body of the vehicle above the bottom of the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A pool cleaning vehicle is provided comprising a body mounted on wheels such that it can roll over a surface. The body carries a water inlet port and a water outlet port with the inlet port being located on the bottom of the body. It also has a filter mechanism interposed between the inlet and outlet ports. An electric motor mounted is on the body between the two sides of the body with a shaft extending out of it with a propeller mounted on the shaft. The motor is mounted such that the propeller expels water out of the outlet port. A roller brush extends between the same two sides of the body generally transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle and the roller brush is rotated by the electric motor via a linkage. In another embodiment, a pool cleaning vehicle includes a body mounted on wheels such that it can roll over a surface. The body includes water inlets and outlet ports. The inlet ports are located on the bottom of the body, and the outlet ports direct water flow in two opposing directions. A filter mechanism is interposed between the inlet and outlet ports. An electric motor is mounted on the body between the two sides of the body operatively rotating a propeller. The motor is mounted such that the propeller expels water out of one of the outlet ports. A roller brush extends between the same two sides of the body generally transverse to the direction of travel of the vehicle. The roller brush is rotated by the electric motor via a linkage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIG. 1, there is shown one embodiment of a cleaning vehicle10with a powered roller brush20. It is suspended on front wheels30and back wheels40at a height such that the scraping members29of its powered roller brush20contact the surface on which the wheels30and40travel. In one embodiment, then distal ends of members29just make contact with the surface on which the wheels30and40travel, to minimize the load on the motor as will be discussed below.

In one embodiment the vehicle may be placed in and removed from its use environment by a telescoping handle50. Its internal electric motor80(shown inFIG. 3) receives power from power cord60which connects to a remote power source. The vehicle is propelled by the expulsion of the liquid from one of its outlet ports70. The vehicle10functions to clean the surfaces of a large liquid reservoir, such as a swimming pool, which are covered by the liquid stored in the reservoir. The vehicle10is submerged in the stored liquid and is then propelled by taking in liquid through its inlet ports72visible inFIG. 2and expelling it out one of its outlet ports70visible inFIGS. 1 and 4. The water movement is effected by electric motor80visible inFIG. 3turning its propellers82and84. The direction in which the vehicle10is propelled is determined by the direction of rotation of the electric motor80which is in turn controlled by signals received from the power supply via floating cable60. The propellers82and84are driven by the motor80to expel liquid out of either the outlet port70above the front wheels30(visible inFIG. 1) or the outlet port70(visible inFIG. 4) above the back wheels40. In accordance with the well known physics concept of action and reaction the vehicle10will be propelled in a direction opposite to that in which the liquid is expelled.

As can be seen inFIG. 3, the electric motor80is also used to power the roller brush20. The electric motor80is equipped with a gear box86which translates the rotation of the electric motor80by 90.degrees, or some other angle, and also reduces the number of rotations in some fixed ratio such as 1:30 or any other ratio. A common way to effect these changes is with a combination of a combination of a worm gear with a spur gear. However other types of mechanical connection may be used. The gear box has a takeoff spindle88which carries a pulley89which transmits force to a gear train or drive belt system21. The drive belt21in turn transmits this force to a pulley22on a drive transfer shaft23. This drive transfer shaft23is supported by an elongated bushing24. This drive transfer shaft23carries another pulley25at its other end which transmits force to a second drive belt26. This drive belt26is looped over a fourth pulley27which is free to rotate. This drive belt26frictionally engages the axle28of the roller brush20. This facilitates slippage between the roller brush20and ultimately the electric motor80, should the roller brush encounter some type of obstacle like a large piece of debris on the surface being cleaned. This avoids the vehicle10becoming stalled by such obstacles and allows the vehicle10to pass over them. Where a gear train is used in place of a drive belts, a clutch may be positioned between the motor and the roller brush20. The clutch will allow the motor continue to rotate the propellers if the roller brush is obstructed from rotating by debris within the pool.

The roller brush20and the front wheels30are both mounted to the vehicle10via suspension brackets34. This arrangement allows the front wheels30to be mounted without a transverse axle, thereby facilitating the mounting of the roller brush20between the front wheels30. Among other advantages this positions the roller brush20to aid the vehicle in climbing the side walls of the reservoir being cleaned. The suction created through the inlet ports72by the action of the propellers82and84tends to hold the vehicle to non-horizontal and even vertical side walls so long as these side walls are submerged in liquid. The expulsion of liquid from an outlet port70will propel the vehicle up the side wall but the roller brush20aids in this climbing operation.

Referring toFIG. 4, a telescoping handle50makes it easier to place the vehicle20into and withdraw it from the reservoir in which it is to operate. The handle comprises two side arms52and a cross arm54, which can be readily grasped. The side arms52are accommodated in receiver shafts56which have ends58. The shafts56are long enough that the handle50may be fully retracted so that it is flush with the vehicle as can be seen inFIG. 1. The side arms52and the shafts56interact such that the handle50can support the free air weight of the vehicle10. This is accomplished by providing one or the other or both with locking mechanisms to limit the travel of the side arms52out of the shafts56.

Referring toFIG. 4, the design of the vehicle with longitudinal filters90readily accommodates the shafts56. The vehicle10serves its cleaning function by drawing fluid containing dirt and debris into its inlet ports72and subjecting this fluid to a filtering action before expelling it out of its outlet ports70. The positioning of the electric motor80and its propellers82and84longitudinally above the centerline of the vehicle allows the placement of the filters90parallel to this centerline and in one embodiment filters90are angled to accommodate the shafts56.

The outlet ports70are angled a bit upward from horizontal. This provides a downward force on the vehicle which aids in the vehicle climbing the side walls of the reservoir being cleaned.