Nozzle adapter

The present invention is directed to a nozzle adapter for a vacuum cleaner. A plenum chamber housing is adapted for engaging receipt on a vacuum cleaner nozzle. An inlet housing extends from the plenum chamber housing. A slide surface is situated on the inlet housing and is suited for receipt of the slide member thereon. The slide member includes locking tabs and laterally extending biasing means which operatively cooperates with the plenum chamber housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention pertains to the art of vacuum cleaners, and more 
particularly to vacuum cleaners that can be selectively modified by way of 
nozzle attachments or cleaning tools. The invention is particularly 
applicable to a nozzle adapter that is readily useable in conjunction with 
a hand held vacuum cleaner such as a Dirt Devil.RTM. electrical hand held 
vacuum cleaner. The nozzle adapter provides a connecting junction between 
a hand-held vacuum cleaner and its accessory cleaning tools. 
In the past, whenever it became desirable to use accessory tools in 
conjunction with a hand held vacuum cleaner such as the Dirt Devil.RTM. 
hand-held vacuum cleaner, it was necessary to disengage the brush roller 
belt. Because the belt is stiff and sized to provide a tight fit around 
the roller, it can be difficult and inconvenient to replace without an 
appropriate tool. Even with the aid of a tool, replacement of the belt can 
be difficult. A nozzle adapter circumvents the need for removing and 
replacing the brush roller belt. 
Nozzle adapters for hand held vacuum cleaners have been known in the art. 
One such adapter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,537 owned by The 
Hoover Company. The adapter disclosed in that patent requires a user to 
physically deflect the walls of the converter body and tabs in order to 
disengage the adapter from the cleaner. The deflection occurs when a 
suitable force is applied to a fulcrum point located on the converter 
body. Such method of disengagement is undesirable. The deflection that 
occurs upon applying the required force is very slight, thus making it 
difficult for a user to know when the tabs have disengaged from the nozzle 
of the cleaner. As a result, a user often applies a greater force than 
necessary to disengage the adapter. 
Another adapter known in the art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,015 
owned by Black & Decker Inc. The adapter shown in that patent uses a 
spring to move the tabs and gasket to allow the adapter to be removed from 
the cleaner. The number of parts needed and the assembly steps required 
for this adapter are not sufficiently economical. 
The present invention contemplates a new and improved nozzle adapter which 
overcomes all of the above problems and others and provides for a nozzle 
adapter which is economically manufactured and simple for a user to 
operate, particularly with respect to engaging and disengaging the adapter 
from the vacuum cleaner unit. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a nozzle 
adapter for a vacuum cleaner. 
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the invention, a nozzle adapter 
assembly comprises a converter body and a slide member. The converter body 
includes a plenum chamber housing and an inlet chamber housing. The plenum 
chamber housing is formed or defined by upwardly extending front and rear 
walls joined together by flared side walls. The walls terminate in an 
outwardly extending lip adapted for engaging a vacuum cleaner nozzle 
housing. The inlet chamber housing includes a slide surface on an exterior 
portion thereof. The slide surface has a pair of guide rails extending 
therefrom. The slide member is received on the slide surface. A pair of 
L-shaped guides extending from the slide member track the guide rails on 
the inlet chamber housing. Laterally extending biasing means extend from 
the slide member and communicate with the front wall of the plenum chamber 
housing. A locking tab, also part of the slide member, secures the nozzle 
adapter to the vacuum cleaner nozzle. 
The nozzle adapter is mounted to a vacuum cleaner by sliding the slide 
member along the inlet housing slide surface to temporarily position the 
locking tabs over the plenum chamber. An engagement tab which extends from 
the plenum chamber housing is placed between a vacuum cleaner nozzle guard 
and the vacuum cleaner nozzle. The locking tabs are then engaged between 
the nozzle guard and the vacuum cleaner housing. The locking tabs are 
biased against the vacuum cleaner housing to lock the adapter in place. 
A principal advantage of the invention is that it is economically and 
easily assembled. Two molded parts (i.e., the slide member and the body 
which is made up of the inlet housing and the plenum chamber housing) are 
assembled together by hand with the application of a small force, 
resulting in relatively low manufacturing and assembly expenses. 
Another advantage of the present invention is that it is relatively simple 
for a user to understand and operate. The nozzle adapter is shaped like 
the nozzle of a hand held vacuum cleaner. A user can readily join or match 
the adapter to the vacuum cleaner suction nozzle and lock it in place in a 
quick motion. The steps are reversed to remove the adapter from the vacuum 
cleaner. 
Still other advantages and benefits of the invention will become apparent 
to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the 
following detailed description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings wherein the showings are for purposes of 
illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for 
purposes of limiting the same, the FIGURES show a nozzle adapter for use 
in conjunction with a hand-held vacuum cleaner. The purpose of the nozzle 
adapter is to permit accessory tools to be used with the hand-held vacuum 
cleaner without the need for disengaging the brush roller belt. 
With attention focused on FIG. 1, a hand-held vacuum cleaner 10 is shown 
with a nozzle adapter 12 mounted thereto. In that position, as shown in 
FIG. 1, the nozzle adapter is poised for receipt of accessory tools 
thereon. The accessory tools are not shown. A perspective view of the 
nozzle adapter 12 is displayed more readily in FIG. 2. The nozzle adapter 
is designed specifically to mount on an external wall of a hand-held 
vacuum cleaner suction nozzle such that a nozzle guard on the vacuum 
cleaner participates in securing the nozzle adapter in place. 
The nozzle adapter includes a converter body 13, the body being comprised 
of a plenum chamber housing 14 and an inlet housing chamber 16. The nozzle 
adapter also includes a resilient slide member 18 which is shown in detail 
in FIG. 3. The plenum chamber housing 14 is defined by a plurality of 
walls which together define a plenum chamber 20. The walls extend upward 
and terminate in a peripheral flange of lip 22 which is substantially 
planar and discontinuous on an outer surface thereof, and configured to 
engage or laminarly meet with an outer wall of a vacuum cleaner suction 
nozzle or nozzle guard 23. A pair of engagement tabs 24 extend upward from 
the housing rear wall 26. The engagement tabs serve the purpose of holding 
or securing the plenum chamber housing to the suction nozzle of the 
hand-held vacuum cleaner. A gasket 28, shown more readily in FIG. 3, is 
configured to fit on the plenum chamber housing lip 22 to seal the laminar 
mating joint between the vacuum cleaner suction nozzle 23 and the nozzle 
adapter 12. The inlet housing or inlet connector 16 extends outwardly from 
a front wall 30 of the plenum housing chamber. The inlet housing or inlet 
connector means is designed to receive or connect an accessory tool such 
as a vacuum cleaner hose to the plenum chamber. Fluid flows through the 
inlet chamber, into the plenum chamber and through the vacuum cleaner 
suction nozzle during use of the vacuum cleaner with the nozzle adapter 
attached thereto. The rear wall 26 and front wall 30 of the plenum chamber 
housing are joined together by a pair of outwardly flared side walls. 
The inlet connector housing 16 is substantially circular in configuration 
with the exception of an upper arc portion which is replaced by a raised 
member 31 that runs longitudinally along the length of the inlet housing 
16. A slide surface 32 is positioned just above the inlet housing means on 
an exterior wall of the raised member. The raised member, which includes 
the slide surface, is molded with or joined to the inlet housing by two 
extender walls 34 which are directed upward from the circular connector 
housing. The slide surface runs longitudinally along the entire length of 
the inlet housing means. A pair of parallel and symmetrical rails or 
flange like runners 36 frame the slide surface and run along the 
respective sides thereof. The runners 36 are shown to extend outward in 
the plane of the slide, although it is fully within the scope of this 
invention for the runners to extend in another direction such as upward, 
downward or in any direction about the slide surface. A slide pocket or 
void 38 is defined within and by the slide surface 32. An opening 40 is 
defined in the connector on the raised member for the purpose of joining 
accessory tools thereto. 
Slide member 18 is adapted for receipt on slide surface 32. The slide 
member includes a pair of downwardly extending L-shaped guides 42 which 
are adapted for mounting on rails 36. The guides comprise a groove which 
is slightly larger than the size of the rails 36 to permit ease of sliding 
movement back and forth along the rails 36. Slightly raised from the level 
of the guides is a handle or release tab 44 which a user may depress in 
order to mount the nozzle adapter to a vacuum cleaner nozzle or to 
dismount the nozzle adapter therefrom. A connecting table surface 46 
extends form the handle 44 and is molded thereto. The molded table surface 
46 terminates in two upwardly extending locking tabs 48 situated opposite 
the handle. A pair of laterally extending biasing means or leaf springs 50 
extend outward from each of the slide assembly guides 42. The leaf springs 
are designed to communicate operatively with the front wall 30 of the 
plenum chamber housing. 
Before the nozzle adapter can be mounted to a vacuum cleaner nozzle 
opening, the slide member 18 is in its rest or unloaded position. In this 
position, the biasing means 50 are not stressed and the locking tabs are 
in substantially the same plane as the front wall 30 of plenum chamber 20. 
This is evident in FIG. 4. A vertical portion 43 of the locking tabs 
effectively extends a portion of an interior surface of the front wall 30 
of the plenum chamber. 
In order to use the nozzle adapter and mount it to a vacuum cleaner, 
release tab 44 is depressed and the entire slide assembly moves forward, 
guided by rails 36, such that the vertical portion of each locking tab 48 
slides beyond the plane of the front wall 30 of the plenum chamber to a 
position above the plenum chamber 20. The engagement tabs 24 are then 
placed above a vacuum cleaner nozzle guard 51 which comprises an external 
surface of the hand held vacuum cleaner nozzle. The nozzle guard is then 
sandwiched between the engagement tabs 24 and the top surface or lip 20 of 
the nozzle adapter plenum chamber housing. The front of the adapter is 
then brought up toward the nozzle until the locking tabs engage the vacuum 
cleaner nozzle. Here again, the nozzle guard 51 fits between locking tabs 
48 and lip 20. The release tab 44 is released and the locking tabs become 
temporarily locked to the nozzle surface 23. The biasing means 50 are then 
slightly loaded. The shape of the locking tabs is such that they will 
cause the slide to move inward, thus deflecting the leaf springs without 
any other outside force. A stop tab 52 which extends downward from the 
planar connecting table 46 is in a cooperating arrangement with slide 
pocket 38. As the entire slide assembly moves forward to place the locking 
tabs over the plenum chamber, the stop tab reaches a back wall 54 of the 
slide pocket and this prevents the slide assembly from moving too far 
forward. Similarly, a front wall 56 of the slide pocket prevents the slide 
assembly from sliding off of the slide surface 32. 
In order to disengage the adapter from a vacuum cleaner, the release tab 44 
is depressed so that the entire slide is pushed forward until the leaf 
springs are fully compressed. The locking tabs disengage from the vacuum 
cleaner nozzle, and the adapter is removed from the nozzle by sliding the 
engaging tabs out from the nozzle guard 51 of the cleaner. 
In order to assemble the adapter, the slide member 18 is placed at the back 
edge of the slide surface 32, located on the inlet housing 16 of the 
adapter body, in such a way that the guides 42 are mated with the 
underside of the rails 36. The slide is then forced along the rails until 
the stop tab rests in the slide pocket and the top surface of the slide is 
flush with the top of the adapter body. When the slide is in the unloaded 
position, there is no force or deflection on the leaf springs 50. 
The present invention is advantageous in its ease of use and assembly. 
There is a range of movement of the slide that is limited in such a way 
that the disengagement point is easily seen and felt by a user. This 
provides a user with a sure signal that the adapter can be removed from 
the cleaner. Since the deflection in the biasing means is away from the 
locking tabs, the wear on them is greatly reduced, increasing their life. 
The assembly, as described above, is a simple two step process which only 
requires two parts, the slide member 18 and the converter body which 
comprises a combined inlet chamber and plenum chamber housing. 
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred 
embodiment. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others 
upon a reading and understanding of the specification. It is intended to 
include all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within 
the scope of the appended claims or the equivalent thereof.