Patent Publication Number: US-7591039-B2

Title: Gaskets for floor sweeper

Description:
I. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates to handheld floor sweepers and more particularly to a hand held floor sweeper having a plurality of sweeping brushes powered by an electric motor. The sweeping brushes are located on each side of the sweeper. The floor sweeper has an elongated handle that has a battery pack to supply power to the electric motor that provides the power to rotate the sweeping brushes. This invention is directed to the gaskets that keep hair and debris out of the gear housings mounted at each corner of the sweeper. 
   Handheld sweepers have been used in the past to pick up dust and small items from hard surfaces, such as wood or tile floors, and carpets having varying piles of various heights. One type of handheld floor sweeper that has been used extensively in the past is a manually pushed floor sweeper that is not powered by a motor. The handheld sweeper has brushes mounted on a shaft located in the sweeper head that contact the surface to be cleaned. The brushes rotate as the sweeper is pushed and pulled across the floor surface. The brushes rotate and the bristles sweep the loose material up into a dust canister or similar dust-receiving portion in the sweeper head. A problem with this type of floor sweeper is that it only picks up material in the forward or rearward direction as the user pushes or pulls the sweeper across the floor as the sweeper is designed for movement in just the forward or reward directions. The sweeper head does not rotate about its handle for movement in the left or right directions, nor does it easily change directions for cleaning under low overhanging objects such as under cabinets or furniture. 
   The invention disclosed herein is a floor sweeper which is extremely light and has a very low profile sweeper head. The floor sweeper head is mounted to an elongated handle by means of a universal pivot or universal joint. This allows the floor sweeper head to easily pivot about the handle in any direction for easily picking up loose materials under over hanging cabinets or under furniture. There is an electric motor mounted in the sweeper head that drives a plurality of shafts that have brushes mounted thereon on all four sides of the sweeper head. The shafts are drivingly interconnected at corners of the sweeper head by means of gears mounted in gear housings. Felt gaskets are mounted around the shafts in order to keep hair out of the gear housings. There is a rechargeable battery pack mounted on the elongated handle to provide power to the electric motor. Power is provided to the motor from the battery pack through the elongated handle and the universal pivot or universal joint. The brushes provide cleaning action in any direction, not just in the forward or reverse direction. The motor drives the brushes to direct the dust or loose material into the dust-receiving canister in the sweeper head. Furthermore there are brushes extending out from the sides of the sweeper head that reach into corners to sweep debris into the main brushes. All of the brushes are powered by the electric motor. 
   II. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the invention to provide a handheld sweeper that has sweeper brushes in the sweeper head to clean a surface regardless of which direction the sweeper is moved. Another object is to provide a handheld sweeper that has the sweeper brushes mounted on shafts on all four sides of the sweeper head that are mechanically interconnected and driven by a motor. Yet another object is to provide mechanical gear housings at all four corners of the sweeper head to mechanically connect the shafts to adjacent shafts and provide shaft sealing means to restrict the entrance of hair or other debris into the gear housing and to further prevent hair from lodging between the shaft and the gear housing. 

   
     III. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the handheld sweeper. 
       FIG. 1A  is an enlarged perspective view of the battery pack shown in the encircled portion on  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 2  is a front elevation view with portions removed of the hand sweeper. 
       FIG. 3  is a left side view of the sweeper with portions removed. 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the sweeper. 
       FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view taken along line  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4  showing the sweeper head. 
       FIG. 6  is a partially exploded view of the sweeper head. 
       FIG. 7  is a top view of the sweeper head. 
       FIG. 8  is a rear view of the sweeper head with the elongated handle removed. 
       FIG. 9  is a fully exploded view of the sweeper head. 
       FIG. 10  is an enlarged view in cross section with portions removed of the gear housing at each corner of the sweeper illustrating the internal gears and the gasket to keep debris out of the gear housing. 
       FIG. 11  is a view of the gasket taken along line  11 - 11  of  FIG. 10 . 
   

   IV. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Turning first to  FIG. 1  a sweeper  10  of the present invention is disclosed. There is a sweeper head  12  connected to an elongated handle  14  by means of a universal pivot  16 . Mounted on the elongated handle  14  is a battery box  18  that contains a rechargeable battery  20 . At a top end of the elongated handle  14  is a grasping portion  22  which the user holds to push, pull or otherwise move the sweeper  10 . 
     FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate the outer design of the sweeper head  12 . The sweeper head  12  has a housing comprised of a rectangular top  24 , short sides  26  and long sides  28 . The universal pivot  16  is attached to the top  24 . 
     FIG. 4  illustrates the underside of the sweeper head  12 . Mounted along one of the long sides  28  at the front of the sweeper head  12  is a long brush  30 . Mounted along the other long side  28  at the rear of the sweeper head  12 , are a pair of rear brushes  32 ,  34 . Along one of the short sides  26  is a first side brush  36  and along the opposite short side is a second side brush  38 . Mounted to or integrally formed in the brushes  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36  and  38  are radially extending bristles  39  that are designed to contact the surface to be cleaned and sweep the debris up from the surface. 
   Corner brushes  40  are mounted with the plane of the bristles substantially parallel to the sides  26  at each of the four corners. However, the bristles of the corner brushes  40  are spread out in the plane parallel to the short side  26  so that the bristles actually extend out beyond the short sides  26 . This enables the bristles of the corner brushes  40  to contact and clean a corner formed between the floor and a wall or other upstanding surface. If the bristles do not extend at least under the short sides  26 , the short sides  26  contact the wall or other upstanding surface and will not allow the corners to be swept. All of the brushes are mounted on shafts so that the brushes can freely rotate. 
   The sweeper head  12  slides on high gloss, high polished plastic slides or glides  42  as seen in  FIGS. 2-4 . These are positioned in each of the four corners of the sweeper head  12  and allow the sweeper head  12  to easily glide over both a hard surface and carpet. Rollers may replace these glides. Furthermore the sweeper head can be easily moved in any direction along the surface to be cleaned, and the arrangement of the rollers along the front, rear and sides result in the sweeping of debris from the surface regardless of the direction of movement. 
   The sweeper head  12  has a top casing  44  as seen in  FIG. 6 . The brushes are mounted on a chassis  46 . The universal pivot  16  is also mounted to the chassis  46 . A dust receiving tray  48  is positioned below the chassis  46 . Locating and locking tabs  50  extend upwardly from the dust receiving tray  48 . These tabs  50  extend through receiving slots  52  in the chassis  46 . The slots  52  have locking means to engage and lock the tabs  50  within the slots  52 . Sliding tabs  54  on the chassis  46  can slide outward to engage indentations  55  in the top casing  44 . In this manner the chassis  46  is placed in locking engagement with the top casing  44 . When the dust receiving tray  48  is full and is to be emptied, the tabs  50  are pushed to one side which unlocks them from the slots  52  and the dust receiving tray  48  is released for emptying. Two plastic windows  56  mounted in the top of the chassis  46  allow the user to observe the inside of the dust receiving tray  48  so that it can be emptied when it is full of debris.  FIG. 7  illustrates the dust receiving tray  48  and chassis  46  attached to the casing  44 . 
   As seen in  FIGS. 6 and 9 , each of the brushes  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36  and  38  is mounted on shafts for rotation. The ends of the brushes are mounted in gear housings  58  comprised of a top housing  60  and a bottom housing  62 . There are four identical gear housings  58 , one at each of the four corners of the chassis  46 . The shafts  34 ,  36 ,  30 ,  38  and  32  are mechanically interconnected as described herein. One end  64  of shaft  34  is mounted in a motor housing  65 . Gear  66  is mounted on the one end  64  of shaft  34  and is driven by pinion  68  which, in turn, is mounted on drive shaft  70  of a motor  72 . The motor  72  is mounted in the motor housing  65  and supported by a motor bracket  73 . Other end  74  of shaft  34  passes through a circular opening  75  in the gear housing  58  and is thus supported by the opening  75  and mounted within the gear housing  58 . Bevel gear  76  is mounted on shaft  78  which is connected to other end  74  of shaft  34 . Shaft  78  extends out from the gear housing  58  and has a corner brush  40  mounted at its end opposite the other end  74 . A complementary bevel gear  80  is mounted on shaft  81  of the first side brush  36 , which is an adjacent 90-degree shaft to shaft  34 . Shaft  81  also passes through a circular opening  77  in the gear housing  58  and is supported by the opening  77 . The other end of the shaft  81  passes through a circular opening  79  in the gear housing  58  as previously described. Similarly bevel gear  82  is mounted at the other end of the shaft  81 . Complementary bevel gear  84  mounted on shaft  86  engages bevel gear  82 . These gears are located in a second gear housing  58 . Shaft  86  is connected to one end of long brush  30  which passes through a circular opening  83  in gear housing  58 . In a similar arrangement the other end of long brush  30  has shaft  88  connected to it with bevel gear  90  mounted on it. Complementary bevel gear  92  engages bevel gear  90 . These gears are located in a third gear housing. Gear  92  in turn is mounted on one end of the second side brush  38 . Bevel gear  94  is mounted on the other end of the second side brush  38 . Complementary bevel gear  96  is mounted on shaft  98 , which in turn is connected to one end of the rear brush  32 . These gears are located in a fourth gear housing. The other end of the rear brush  32  is retained within the motor housing  65 . This gear arrangement drivingly interconnects brushes  34 ,  36 ,  30 ,  38  and  32  respectively such that all of the brushes rotate in unison. Although it is only described above for two of the gear housings, all of the gear housings and motor housing  65  have circular openings through which the respective shafts  34 ,  36 ,  30 ,  38  and  32  pass. In an effort to reduce costs, all of the bevel gears are preferably made of plastic material. 
   Shafts  78 ,  86 ,  88  and  98  have an end that extends out from its respective gear housing  58 . Securely mounted on the end of the shaft extending out from the gear housing is a corner brush  40 . Thus the corner brushes  40  rotate with the respective rotating long brush or rear brush to which it is connected. The corner brushes spread outward at their tips such that their bristles are under the bottom of the short side  26  of the sweeper head  12 . This is seen in  FIGS. 2 ,  4  and  5 . 
   The elongated handle  14  is connected to the sweeper head  12  by means of the universal pivot  16 , which is more clearly shown in  FIG. 6 . The universal pivot connection allows the handle  14  to swivel from the front to the back and from side to side with respect to the sweeper head  12 . This allows the sweeper head to easily rotate in any direction to easily move under furniture, ledges, shelves, etc. The universal pivot  16  is comprised of several components as seen in  FIG. 9 . There is a pivot ball top  100  and a pivot ball bottom  102  supported by a pivot ball support  104 . There are two cross arm yokes  106 , which receive the pivot ball top  100  and bottom  102  between the two yokes  106 . The pivot ball top and bottom allow the cross arm yokes  106  to rotate on the pivot ball support  104  from one long side  28  to the opposite long side  28 . This allows the elongated handle  14  to pivot about the sweeper head  12  as seen by the arrow A-A in  FIG. 3 . 
   The yokes  106  have pins  108  at their bottom ends that are rotatably received in the pivot ball top  100  and bottom  102 . This provides a pivot point about which the handle  14  can rotate about the sweeper head  12  from one short side  26  to the other short side  26  as illustrated by the arrow B-B of  FIG. 2 . Other types of universal pivot connections can be utilized as will be apparent to those skilled in the art of mechanical pivot connections. The important point is to allow the handle  14  to freely rotate in all directions about the sweeper head  12 . 
   The elongated handle l 4  is assembled from a series of interlocking pipes or tubes  110 ,  112 ,  114  and  116 . Spring loaded pins or locks  118  are placed in one end of each of the tubes  110 ,  112 , and  114 , which interlock with receiving holes in the next adjacent tube. One end of each of tubes  110 ,  112 , and  114  has a reduced diameter to receive the end of the next tube above it so that the tube slides over the reduced diameter end. 
   The rechargeable battery  20  is also mounted on the elongated handle  14  in the battery box  18 . The battery box  18  has a removable base  120 , which allows access to a switch  122 . The switch  122  turns the motor  72  on and off. Electrical wires  124  connect the motor  72  to the battery  20 . 
   The motor  72  and gear drive mechanism cause each of the brushes to rotate in a direction such that the dust or loose material is swept into the sweeper head  12  where it is received in the dust receiving tray  48 . For example, as seen in  FIG. 9 , rear brushes  32  and  34  rotate in the direction of arrow C. Long brush  30  rotates in the opposite direction as illustrated by arrow D. This enables the sweeper  10  to pick up dust or debris when pushed or pulled in either a forward or backward direction. 
   The first side brush  36  rotates in direction of arrow E and the second side brush  38  rotates in the opposite direction of arrow F. In this manner the side brushes brush debris in a direction under the sweeper head so that it can be swept into the receiving tray  46 . Each of the corner brushes  40  are connected to and driven in the same direction as brushes  30 ,  32 , and  34 . As the brushes  40  are mounted at the outer perimeter of the gear housing  58  and under the short sides  26  of the sweeper head top  24 , the corner brushes  40  can reach into tight corners and sweep the debris or dust out of the corners where it is directed into one of the first or second side brush  36  or  38 . Then the debris is swept by one of the side brushes into the dust-receiving tray  48 . In this manner the corner brushes always sweep the debris toward the center of the side brushes where it is swept into the receiving tray  48 . 
   The overall height of the sweeper head  12  including the brushes and glides  42  is maintained as a very low profile sweeper to allow the sweeper to get under cabinets, chairs and low overhangs. The universal pivot  16  allows the sweeper head to easily rotate in any direction for ease in reaching tight spots and permits cleaning the entire floor surface. The battery  20  can be a conventional rechargeable battery that is recharged by plugging into a battery charger. The motor and battery are selected to provide adequate power to the brushes for enough time to perform a normal cleaning operation. All of the components can be easily and inexpensively manufactured from plastic or metal. Thus the weight of the sweeper  10  can thus be kept at a minimum for ease of maneuvering. Due to the light weight of the sweeper  10 , the universal pivot and the glides  42 , the sweeper head  12  can be very easily moved in any direction. The brush arrangement of having brushes on all sides allows the sweeper head  12  to pick up debris when the sweeper head  12  is moved in any direction. This causes a new problem that is not found when the sweeper only picks up debris when moved forward and back. When the sweeper head is moved side to side, debris, comprised of mainly hair, is forced along the shafts toward the gear housings  58  and motor housing  65 . In prior designs, the hair works its way through the circular openings  75 ,  77 ,  79 , and  83  into the gear housings and the motor housing. The hair wraps around the bevel gears and their respective shafts inside of the gear housings  58  and motor housing  65 . This causes the gears to seize or, if they are made of plastic, the friction of the hair and gears causes the gears to heat up and melt. 
   To solve this problem, applicant added a new gasket design to all of the gear housings  58  and the motor housing  65 . The gasket design is more clearly illustrated in  FIGS. 10 and 11 . The gear housing  58  has the opening  75  formed along one side of the gear housing  58 . A circular collar  125  extends from the wall of the gear housing  58 . There is a gasket  126  formed as a ring or washer that has a central opening  128  that slides over the brush  34  and fits inside of the circular collar  125 . The central opening  128  has a diameter slightly less than the brush  34  so that the gasket  126  rotates with the rotation of the brush  34 . The gasket  126  is preferably made of felt and has a thickness of approximately 2.7 mm. Alternatively the gasket  126  can be made of any soft, cloth like material or can be made of open celled material such as Styrofoam. The gasket  126  has an outside diameter D which is slightly greater than the diameter of the circular collar  125  so that the gasket  126  rubs lightly against the circular collar  125  and provides a seal against the opening  75  to keep dirt, debris and hair out of the gear housing  58 . The gasket  126  actually rotates slightly slower than the shaft  34  due to the frictional engagement of the gasket  126  with the circular collar  125 . There is a locking end ring  130  also on the bush  34  to secure the gasket  126  between the end ring  130  and the gear housing  58 . This keeps the gasket  126  within the circular collar  125  at all times so that the opening  75  is always protected from the entrance of dirt and debris. The locking end ring  130  can be secured to the brush  34  by means of a groove cut into the brush  34  with a locking rim on the end ring  130  that securely engages and rests within the groove. Alternatively the locking end ring  130  can be glued, welded or otherwise firmly secured to the brush  34 . Furthermore there is a positioning ring  132  located on the shaft  78  to keep the brush  34  securely positioned within the gear housing  58 . 
   Brush  36  has a similar design. On shaft  81  there is a locking end ring  130  that secures the gasket  126  between the end ring  130  and the gear housing  58 . This keeps the gasket  126  within the circular collar  125  and protects the opening  77  from the entrance of dirt and debris. A positioning ring  132  is mounted on shaft  81  within the housing  58  that securely positions and retains the shaft  81  within the housing  58 . The same gasket design is provided for all of the gear housings  58  and the motor housing  65 . 
   Thus there has been provided a gasket system for a floor sweeper that fully satisfies the objects set forth above. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.