Abstract:
A power floor cleaning apparatus includes a length-adjustable handle, and a cleaner unit, which is coupled to the handle and has two sweepers for sweeping floor dust into the inside of the cleaner unit, a dustbin, a dust conveyer for conveying dust to the dustbin, a motor-based transmission mechanism for rotating the two sweepers to sweep dust from the floor onto the dust conveyer, and a power supply unit that provides the necessary working voltage to the motor-based transmission mechanism.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention:  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a floor cleaning apparatus and more particularly, to a power floor cleaning apparatus that can conveniently be moved on the floor by the user to remove dust from the floor automatically.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art:  
         [0004]     When cleaning the floor, we may use a broom to broom up the scraps of paper and other waste substances, and then use a dustpan to collect the gathered scraps of paper and waste substances and carry the gathered scraps of paper and waste substances to a dustbin or dust bag. When cleaning the floor, dust may fly about, and the person who cleans the floor will breathe in dust.  
         [0005]     A floor cleaning apparatus is known for cleaning the floor efficiently, preventing flying of dust when cleaning the floor. This design of floor cleaning apparatus comprises a cleaner unit and a handle pivoted to the cleaner unit. The cleaner unit is equipped with rollers for moving on the floor. When moving the cleaner unit on the floor, the rollers are rotated to drive a transmission gear set to rotate a brush assembly, causing the brush assembly to move dust from the floor into a dustbin inside the cleaner unit. Because the cleaner unit of this design of floor cleaning apparatus is manually operated, the user must employ much effort to move the cleaner unit on the floor and to further rotate the transmission gear set and the brush assembly. When the rollers of the cleaner unit are covered with dust or start to wear, the user shall have to employ much more effort to move the cleaner unit on the floor.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a power floor cleaning apparatus, which can conveniently be moved on the floor in all directions with less effort to automatically remove dust from the floor.  
         [0007]     To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, the power floor cleaning apparatus comprises a housing, the housing comprising a bottom cover shell and a top cover shell covering the bottom cover shell; a handle connected to the top cover shell of the housing; a transmission mechanism mounted inside the housing, the transmission mechanism comprising a gearbox, the gearbox having an input end, a first output end, a second output end and a third output end, an actuator adapted to rotate the gearbox, and a transmission belt coupled between the actuator and the input end of the gearbox; a support mounted inside the housing, the support holding a first axle bearing and a second axle bearing corresponding to the second output end and the third output end; a first sweeper mounted inside the housing, the first sweeper comprising a head, a radial brush fastened to the head, an axle connected to the head and inserted through an axle bush at the bottom cover shell, and a parachute gear mounted on the axle of the second sweeper and meshed with the first output end of the gearbox; a second sweeper mounted inside the housing, the second sweeper comprising a cylindrical sweeper body and two pins disposed at two distal ends of the cylindrical weeper body and respectively coupled to the second output end of the gearbox and the first axle bearing; a dust conveyer mounted inside the housing, the dust conveyer comprising an axle coupled between the third output end of the gearbox and the second axle bearing, and a plurality of arched carrier plates mounted around the periphery of the axle of the dust conveyer; and a dustbin mounted inside the bottom cover shell of the housing at a rear side of the dust conveyer, the dustbin having a cover disposed in flush with an outside wall of the housing.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a schematic elevational view of the transmission mechanism of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  is another schematic elevational view of the transmission mechanism of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention when viewed from another angle.  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the second sweeper of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the dustbin for the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a sectional view of the cleaner unit of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  is a schematic exploded view of an alternate form of the second sweeper of the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention.  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  is a schematic sectional view showing the alternate form of the second sweeper installed in the power floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a power floor cleaning apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a handle  1  and a cleaner unit  2 . When the user operates the handle  1  to move the cleaner unit  2  over the floor, the cleaner unit  2  automatically sweeps floor dust into the inside of the cleaner unit  2  and then gathers the dust. The handle  1  comprises a plurality of rod members  11   a ,  11   b  and  11   c  detachably connected to one another through, for example, a respective screw joint, a handle grip  14  at one end, namely, the top end of the rod member  11   a  for holding by the user to operate the floor cleaning apparatus conveniently, an extension rod  11   d  axially movable in and out of one end, namely, the bottom end of the rod member  11   c , a chuck  12  provided at the bottom end of the rod member  11   c  and adapted to lock the extension rod  11   d , and a swivel connector  13  provided at the outer end of the extension rod  11   d  and coupled to the cleaner unit  2  for enabling the user to conveniently control steering of the cleaner unit  2  on the floor in different directions.  
         [0018]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the cleaner unit  2  comprises a housing  3 , a transmission mechanism  4 , a first sweeper  5 , a second sweeper  6 , a dust conveyer  7 , a dustbin  8  (see  FIG. 6 ), and a power supply unit  9 .  
         [0019]     The housing  3  comprises a bottom cover shell  32 , a top cover shell  31  covering the bottom cover shell  32  and fastened to the swivel connector  13 , a bumper  33  fastened to the connection area between the top cover shell  31  and the bottom cover shell  32 , a power switch  311  mounted inside the top cover shell  31  for power on/off switching control, a button  313  supported on a spring member  312  outside the top cover shell  31  for pressing by the user to alternatively switch on/off the power switch  311 , a locating plate  314  mounted inside the top cover shell  31  for securing the first sweeper  5 , and a plurality of rollers  321  pivotally mounted on the bottom side of the bottom cover shell  32  to make the cleaner unit  2  easy to move on the floor.  
         [0020]     The transmission mechanism  4  comprises a gearbox  41 , an actuator, for example, a motor  42 , and a transmission belt  43  coupled between the motor  42  and a belt pulley  411  at the input side of the gearbox  41 . The gearbox  41  comprises first output end  412 , a second output end  413  and a third output end  414  (see also  FIGS. 3 and 4 ). Further, the bottom cover shell  32  has fixedly mounted therein a support  44 . The support  44  supports two axle bearings  441  and  442 . The axle bearings  441  and  442  are respectively aimed at the second output end  413  and third output end  414  of the gearbox  41 .  
         [0021]     The first sweeper  5  comprises a head  51 , a radial brush  52  fastened to the head  51 , an axle  53  inserted through the bottom cover shell  32  and having one end connected to the head  51  and the other end coupled to the locating plate  314 , an axle bush  54  mounted inside the bottom cover shell  32  and sleeved onto the axle  53 , and a parachute gear  55  mounted on the axle  53  and meshed with the first output end  412  of the gearbox  41 .  
         [0022]     The second sweeper  6  comprises a roller-like brush  61  and a frame  62  (see  FIG. 5 ). The roller-like brush  61  is comprised of a plurality of plate-like brush elements  611 . Each plate-like brush element  611  has a plurality of brush portions  612  extending in different directions. The frame  62  is comprised of an upper clamping frame  621  and a bottom clamping frame  622 . The upper clamping frame  621  and the bottom clamping frame  622  are fastened together to secure the roller-like brush  61 , Further, the upper clamping frame  621  has two pins  623  and  624  respectively extending from the two distal ends thereof and respectively coupled to the second output end  413  of the gearbox  41  and the axle bearing  441 . The second sweeper  6  further comprises a guard  63  mounted inside the bottom cover shell  32  over the roller-like brush  61  to prohibit flying dust from passing to the inside of the housing  3 .  
         [0023]     The dust conveyer  7  comprises an axle  71  coupled between the third output end  414  of the gearbox  41  and axle bearing  442 , and a plurality of arched carrier plates  72  mounted around the periphery of the axle  71 .  
         [0024]     The dustbin  8  is mounted in the bottom cover shell  32  of the housing  3  behind the dust conveyer  7 , having a cover  81  covered therein (see  FIG. 6 ). When installed, the cover  81  is kept in flush with the outside wall of the housing  3 . Alternatively, the dustbin  8  can be provided at one lateral side of the housing  3  or any suitable location at the housing  3 , for example, the location below the connection area between the handle  1  and the housing  3 .  
         [0025]     The power supply unit  9  is a storage battery mounted inside the housing  3  and adapted to provide the necessary working voltage to the transmission mechanism  4 .  
         [0026]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , when in use, the handle  1  is adjusted to the desired length. When pressed the button  313  to switch on the power switch  311 , battery power supply is transmitting from the power supply unit  9  to the transmission mechanism  4  to start the actuator  42  and to further rotate the internal gear trains of the gearbox  41 , and therefore the first output end  412 , the second output end  413  and the third output end  414  are driven to rotate the first sweeper  5 , the second sweeper  6  and the dust conveyer  7  respectively. During rotary motion, the first sweeper  5  and the second sweeper  6  sweep solid waste substances from the floor onto the arched carrier plates  72  of the dust conveyer  7 , and the rotating arched carrier plates  72  carry the collected solid waste substances to the dustbin  8 . When the dustbin  8  is filled up with solid waste substances, the user can open the cover  81  and pour collected solid waste substances out of the dustbin  8  into, for example, a dust bag.  
         [0027]     When cleaning the floor with the power floor cleaning apparatus, the rollers  321  allow the cleaner unit  2  to conveniently be moved on the floor with less effort. Further, the swivel connector  13  allows the user to conveniently control steering of the cleaner unit  2  on the floor in different directions.  
         [0028]     Referring to  FIGS. 8 and 9 , a longitudinal series of rolls  10  may be used and covered with a layer of hook material  101  for the fastening of a cloth pad to substitute the aforesaid second sweeper  6 .  
         [0029]     Although particular embodiment of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.