Abstract:
A floor cleaning machine with dust control apparatus can assist in capturing dust created as a by-product during normal operations. The dust control apparatus is particularly applicable to propane-powered burnishers that use rotating pads to remove built up wax from hard surface floors. A floating scoop is attached to a floating hoop assembly to direct dust away from the rotating pad. The scoop is located tangentially to the housing that surrounds the rotating pad. An inlet to the housing facilitates airflow through the housing to pick up dust, which exits through the scoop. A containment canister with removable filter is in communication with the scoop. The air and entrained particulate (dust) swirls around the filter in a circular flow path to help separate the particulate from the air. The filtered air exits the canister and returns to the atmosphere.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0001]    Floor cleaning machines often create dust as a by-product of normal operations. For example, burnishers are used to remove one or more layers of wax or other coatings from a hard surface floor, such as composition tile. A rotating pad in the burnisher is in contact with the built-up wax on the floor. As the pad rotates, one or more layers of wax are removed from the floor, restoring the shine to the surface. Dust is normally created as a by-product of this wax removal process. The dust can be troublesome as it settles on almost everything in the surrounding environment. For example, in a grocery store, the dust accumulates on canned goods, bottles, produce, and shelving. In an office, the dust accumulates on furniture, bookshelves, word processing equipment, and other office equipment. In a warehouse, the dust accumulates on boxes, racks and other products. Cleaning personnel spend extra time dusting after a floor has been burnished with prior art burnishers that do not have any kind of dust control apparatus. The industry has recognized a need for burnishers with some type of dust control apparatus.  
           [0002]    Pioneer EclipseÂ® of Sparta, N.C. (www.pioneer-eclipse.com) sells at least two burnishers with dust control apparatus. One model with dust control apparatus is called the Speed Starâ□¢ and the other is called the Revolutionâ□¢.  
           [0003]    The Speed Starâ□¢ burnisher from Pioneer EclipseÂ® attempts to collect dust in a dust bag. A non-floating scoop is rigidly attached to the underside of the pad housing above the pad driver and the pad. The scoop is curved and feeds up through the pad housing to a throat that attaches to the dust bag. The dust bag can be removed from the throat to be emptied. A propane-powered engine drives a belt, which causes the pad to rotate. The belt connects to a drive pulley. A pulley cover isolates the belt and the drive pulley. In other words, there is no inlet into the pad housing to facilitate airflow through the scoop and throat and into the dust bag. As a result, there is only a modest amount of dust collected in the cloth dust bag.  
           [0004]    The RevolutionÂ□ burnisher from Pioneer EclipseÂ® attempts to collect dust in a removable filter, instead of a cloth dust bag. A non-floating scoop is rigidly attached to the underside of the pad housing above the pad driver and the pad. The scoop is curved and feeds up through the pad housing into a plastic throat, which feeds into a filter housing. The filter can be removed from the filter housing for cleaning or to be replaced. A propane-powered engine drives a belt, which causes the pad to rotate. The belt connects to a drive pulley on top of the pad housing. In other words, there is no inlet into the pad housing to facilitate airflow through the scoop and the throat into the filter housing. As a result, there is only a modest amount of dust collected in the filter and the filter housing. There is still a need for a floor cleaning machine that does a better job of dust control.  
           [0005]    Dust control is also a concern in the design and manufacture of sanders for hardwood floors. The Information Disclosure Statement filed concurrently herewith includes an advertising brochure from Clarke American Sanders entitled “Dust Control Floor Sanders.” The brochure has a picture of an orbital sander showing the vacuum fan and a disposable paper filter/collection bag. The apparatus includes a floating skirt to contain dust. The inlet for the dust is positioned on the top of the deck of the sander, not on the side of the sander. This Brochure also pictures a disk sander with a vacuum adapter that connects to any vacuum system with an 1Â½ inch diameter vacuum hose. This sander also has a floating skirt that directs the dust to a pick-up chamber. Again, the inlet or pick-up chamber for the dust is positioned on the top of the deck and not on the side of the sander. Also included in the Information Disclosure Statement, is brochure from Clarke American Sanders entitled “Professional Dust Control Sanding System.” This Brochure shows a disk sander with vacuum adapter connected to a portable vacuum cleaner. Again, the inlet for the dust is on the top of the deck of the sander and not on the side of the sander. There still is a need for improved dust control systems in floor cleaning machines.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0006]    The present invention is a floor cleaning machine with an improved dust control apparatus. This dust control apparatus can also be sold separately as an after-market addition for existing floor cleaning machines that lack any dust control apparatus, or for floor cleaning machines that have inadequate dust control capabilities. This invention is particularly suited for use with propane-powered burnishers that create dust as a by-product during normal operations.  
           [0007]    Floor cleaning machines typically have a rotating circular pad in contact with the floor. These pads sometimes travel at relatively high rates of speed, i.e., about 2,000 rpm or more. These pads wear over time and the height of the pad may vary by Â½ inch or more during the useful life of the pad. Because the pads wear down over time and for other reasons, some floor cleaning machines have a floating hoop assembly that is sometimes referred to in the industry as a skirt. The floating hoop assembly helps to contain dust during operation of the machine. The present invention includes a floating scoop attached to the floating hoop assembly so the hoop assembly and the scoop will move up and down in tandem over irregularities in the floor and as the pad wears.  
           [0008]    The floating scoop directs at least a portion of the dust away from the pad. The scoop is in communication with a throat and a circular canister. In one embodiment, a removable filter is placed in the circular canister. The dust moves through the scoop, the throat, and into the circular canister, where it swirls in a circular motion around the filter. The circular canister and the filter act as a separator to assist in removal of the entrained dust from the air.  
           [0009]    A housing surrounds the pad and also helps to contain the dust. The housing includes a generally vertical sidewall around the outer circumference of the pad. A drive belt passes through an opening in the sidewall of the housing to rotate the pad driver, which is connected to the pad. This opening operates as an air inlet during operation of the floor cleaning machine of the present invention. Unlike the Speed StarÂ□ and the RevolutionÂ□ from Pioneer EclipseÂ®), ambient air passes through this inlet and becomes entrained with particulate (dust). This air with entrained particulate (dust) exits the housing through the scoop on the way to the circular canister. This upper flow path allows a constant stream of air to enter the housing, pick-up dust, exit the housing with the dust and move to the canister where the dust is separated from the air.  
           [0010]    The scoop acts as an outlet for the housing. The scoop is in communication with an upper flow path of entrained particulate (dust) and air. The upper flow path is generally defined by the housing and the pad driver. The scoop is also in communication with a circumferential flow path of entrained particulate (dust) and air. The circumferential flow passageway is generally defined by an outer edge of the pad and the floating hoop assembly.  
           [0011]    These are merely illustrative aspects of the present invention and should not be deemed an all-inclusive listing of the innumerable aspects associated with the present invention. These and other aspects will become apparent to those skilled in the art, in view of the following disclosure and accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floor cleaning machine;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a section view of the bottom portion of the floor cleaning machine of FIG. 1 showing the air flow path from the housing to the containment canister;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevation view of a portion of the cleaning machine of FIG. 1 including the scoop, the boot and a portion of the throat;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a section view, taken along the line  4 - 4  of FIG. 3, showing the scoop, the boot and a portion of the throat;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a section view, taken along the line  5 - 5  of FIG. 2, showing portions of the housing, the pad driver, the pad and the floating hoop assembly. The pad in FIG. 5 is new and the floating hoop assembly is fully extended to accommodate the full height of the new pad;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 is a section view, similar to FIG. 5, showing portions of the housing, the pad driver, the pad, and the floating hoop assembly, except the pad has been worn and is thinner than the new pad in FIG. 5. The floating hoop assembly in FIG. 6 is compressed because the worn pad is thinner than the new pad in FIG. 5;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 is a section view of a portion of the housing, a portion of the pad and a portion of the floating hoop assembly showing the scoop in overlay. This figure shows that the scoop is in communication with the upper flow passageway and the circumferential flow passageway; and FIG. 8 is a section view, taken along the line  8 - 8  of FIG. 2, showing the circular containment canister and removable filter. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a floor cleaning machine generally identified by the numeral  10 . The invention is applicable to various types of floor cleaning machines, but is particularly suited for burnishers. The floor cleaning machine  10  is a propane-powered burnisher.  
         [0021]    The floor cleaning machine  10  has a propane-powered engine  12 . The propane fuel is stored in a propane tank  14 . The operator grips the handle  16  to control the direction of the machine. Rotation of the pad  52 , better seen in FIG. 5, pulls the machine forward because the pad  52  is slightly inclined, as known to those skilled in the art.  
         [0022]    A housing  18  surrounds the pad  52 , not seen in this view. A floating hoop assembly, generally identified by the numeral  20  is positioned about the outer circumference of the housing  18 . The floating hoop assembly  20  moves up and down over irregularities in the floor and also accommodates wear in the pad  52 . The height of the pad  52  may vary by as much as Â¼ inch due to wear.  
         [0023]    A floating scoop  22  is attached to the floating hoop assembly  20  so they both float up and down in tandem. A flexible boot  24  connects the scoop to a throat  26 . The throat  26  is in communication with the containment canister  28 . Entrained particles (dust) are captured by the housing  18  and the floating hoop assembly  20 . The entrained particles (dust) pass through the floating scoop assembly  22 , the flexible boot  24 , and the throat  26  and then swirl around in the circular containment canister  28  where they are separated from the air stream.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 2 is a section view of the bottom portion of the floor cleaning machine of FIG. 1 showing the airflow path from the housing  18  to the containment canister  28 . The pad  52  rotates clockwise as indicated by the arrows. An air inlet  30  is formed in the sidewall  54  of the housing  18 . (The sidewall and housing  18  are better seen in FIG. 5.) Ambient air from the atmosphere surrounding the floor cleaning machine  10  enters the housing  18  through the inlet  30 . The rotation of the pad  52  causes the air to spin in the housing  18  in a clockwise fashion and to pick up the dust. The entrained particles (dust) exit the housing  18  through the floating scoop  22 . The floating scoop  22  is connected by a flexible boot  24  to a throat  26 . The floating scoop  22  is arranged generally tangentially to the circular pad  52 . The combination of the floating scoop  22 , the flexible boot  24 , and the throat  26 , create an air conduit in the preferred embodiment, however, virtually any type of air conduit that removes air and entrained particles (dust) from the housing  18  will suffice. The throat  26  provides a venturi-effect in that the throat  26  causes an increase in the velocity and a corresponding decrease in pressure for creating suction. This is an advantage in removing entrained particles (dust) from the housing  18  without an additional pump or vacuum, which is present in other prior art devices.  
         [0025]    The container canister  28  is circular and holds a removable filter  56 . The throat  26  is arranged generally tangentially to the containment canister  28 . The floating scoop  22 , the throat  26  and the containment canister  28  are all in communication with the housing  18 . Air enters the housing  18  through the inlet  30 , circulates in the housing  18  and becomes entrained with particles (dust). The air stream with entrained particles (dust) exits the housing  18  through the floating scoop  22 , passes through the throat  26  and into the containment canister  28 . The air stream with entrained particles (dust) circulates in a circular clockwise motion about the removable filter  56  as shown by the arrow in the drawing. The swirling motion around the removable filter  56  facilitates separation of the air and the particles (dust) as will be discussed in greater detail concerning FIG. 8.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevation view of a portion of the cleaning machine of FIG. 1 including the floating scoop  22 , the boot  24  and a portion of the throat  26 . A wheel  30  supports the floor cleaning machine  10  and facilitates movement of the floor cleaning machine  10  when not in operation. The floating scoop  22  is connected to the hoop  76  so the floating scoop  22  and the hoop  76  float up and down in tandem. The throat  26  is rigidly connected to the mainframe  68  of the floor cleaning machine  10 . The flexible boot  24  allows the floating scoop  22  to attach to the non-floating throat  26 . It is not necessary that the throat  26  be rigidly connected to the floor cleaning machine  10 . All that is necessary is for the floating scoop  22  and the throat  26  to be in communication with the housing  18  on one end and the containment canister  28  on the other end.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 is a section view along the line  4 - 4  of FIG. 3 showing the flow path through the floating scoop  22 , the boot  24  and the throat  26  as shown by the flow arrows. The floating scoop  22  is connected to the hoop by the fasteners  23  and  25 . The floating scoop  22  acts as an outlet for air and entrained particles (dust) leaving the housing  22 .  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 5 is a section view, taken along the line  5 - 5  of FIG. 2, showing portions of the housing  18 , the pad driver  50 , the pad  52  and the floating hoop assembly generally identified by the numeral  20 . The housing  18  includes a vertical sidewall  54 , which surrounds the pad  52  and the pad driver  50 . A bumper  70  is positioned about the outer edge of the housing  18 . The floating hoop assembly  20  includes a clamp  72 , a flexible nylon skirt  74 , the circular hoop  76  and the felt follower  78 . The clamp  72  attaches the skirt  74  to the bumper  70  and the housing  18 . The skirt  74  can be formed from Nylon, or other flexible material such as but not limited to canvas.  
         [0029]    The floating hoop assembly  20  is fully extended because the pad  52  is new and has not yet been worn down by operations. The height of the pad  52  may vary as much as Â¼ inch due to wear. The housing  18 , the sidewall  54  and the pad driver  50  define an upper flow passageway  80 , only a portion of which is shown in this drawing. The upper flow passageway  80  includes all of the area between the pad driver  50  and the housing surrounded by the sidewall  54 . Ambient air from outside the machine  10  enters the upper flow passageway  80  through the inlet  30 , shown in FIG. 2. Due to the rotation of the pad  52 , the air swirls around in a clockwise fashion in the upper flow passageway  80  and becomes entrained with particulate (dust).  
         [0030]    A circumferential flow passageway  82  is generally defined by an outer edge  84  of the pad  52 , the floating hoop assembly  20  and the floor. Air passing through the inlet  30  likewise passes into the circumferential flow passageway  82 . Due to the rotation of the pad  52 , the air swirls around in a clockwise fashion in the circumferential flow passageway  82  and becomes entrained with particulate (dust). The floating scoop  22  defines an outlet for the air and particulate (dust), the floating scoop  22  being in communication with both the upper flow passageway  80  and the circumferential flow passageway  82 .  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 6 is a section view, similar to FIG. 5, showing portions of the housing  18 , the pad driver  50  and the floating hoop assembly  20 , except the pad has been worn and is thinner than the new pad  52  in FIG. 5. The worn pad is given a new numeral  86  to differentiate it from the new pad  52 . The area of the circumferential passageway  82  decreases with wear of the pad  86 . For this reason, it is important to have a scoop  22  that floats up and down with the hoop assembly  20 . The scoops of the dust control apparatus in the Speed StarÂ□ and the Revolutionâ□¢ floor cleaning machines by Pioneer EclipseÂ® are filed in position and do not float up or down with pad wear.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 7 is a section view of a portion of the housing  18 , a portion of the pad  52  and a portion of the floating hoop assembly  20  showing the floating scoop  22  in overlay. This figure shows that the floating scoop  22  is in communication with the upper flow passageway.  80  and the circumferential flow passageway  82 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 8 is a section view, taken along the line  8 - 8  of FIG. 2, showing the circular container canister  28  and the removable filter  100 . The canister  28  includes a lid  102 , a circular wall  104 , a shoulder  106  to support the filter  100 , and a valley  108 . A filter lid gasket  110  is positioned under the lid  102 . The filter is sealed in the canister  28  by the gasket  10 , the wall  104  and the shoulder  106 . A propane bottle carrier  112  holds the propane tank  14 .  
         [0034]    Air and entrained particles (dust) enter the canister  28  through the throat  26  and swirl around the canister passageway  120 , as better seen in FIG. 2. Heavier particles (dust) fall to the valley  108  as shown by the arrows in FIG. 8. This helps to enhance filter life. Air then passes through the filter  100  as indicated by the flow arrows. After passing through the filter  100 , air is exhausted back to atmosphere through the outlet  122  as indicated by the flow arrows in FIG. 8.  
         [0035]    To remove the filter, an operator first removes the propane tank  14  from the machine  10 . The lid  102  is then opened and the filter  100  can be removed from the canister  28 . The filter  100  can either be cleaned and replaced or a new filter  100  can be installed.  
         [0036]    Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing specification with considerable detail, it is to be understood that modifications may be made to the invention, which do not exceed the scope of the appended claims and modified forms of the present invention done by others skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be considered infringements of this invention when those modified forms fall within the claimed scope of this invention.