Patent Publication Number: US-9848746-B2

Title: Vacuum cleaner and suction nozzle thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a U.S. national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT/CN2011/084730 filed Dec. 27, 2011 and claims foreign priority benefit of Chinese Application No. 201110023709.X filed Jan. 14, 2011 in the Chinese Intellectual Property Office, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a cleaner, in particular relates to a vacuum cleaner and suction nozzle thereof. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A cleaner available nowadays generally includes a dust barrel, a filter assembly and a motor assembly which are all located within a housing, and the motor assembly is communicated with the dust barrel through the filter assembly. The motor assembly includes a motor and a fan, and blades of the fan have a certain angle, so that the blades look like airplane propellers. The motor drives the fan blades to operate at a high speed when it is powered on, such that vacuum state is instantly formed inside the cleaner, and air pressure inside the vacuum cleaner is significantly lower than the pressure outside. Under this air pressure difference, dust and filth may enter into the dust barrel of the cleaner with the airflow through a nozzle and a air duct and then are filtered by the filter assembly, the grime may stay in the dust collection bag of the filter assembly, and the purified air is effused back to the room through the motor, by which the motor is chilled down and the air is purified. 
     To improve the cleaning efficiency against the ground, in addition to using the vacuum cleaning described above, a concave cavity is usually provided in the cleaner, and inside of which a roller brush is arranged. There are two objectives to arrange the roller brush, one is to increase the degree of vacuum in the dust suction port; the other is to slap against the ground so as to make the dust on the ground raised in the air, so that the raised dust is collected into the cleaner. 
     The detail will be shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1  is a diagram of the local spatial structure of a conventional cleaner, and  FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a roller brush assembly of the conventional cleaner of  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the cleaner mainly consists of a housing  100  and a roller brush assembly  3 , wherein the roller brush assembly  3  consists of a brush body  32  and multi-group tufting  311 , the brush body  32  also has brush shafts  321 ,  321 ′ thereon, and a synchronous pulley  33  on which a synchronous belt (not shown) is disposed is mounted on the brush shaft  321 , and the synchronous belt is driven by the motor or other drive mechanism provided in the cleaner. The roller brush assembly  3  is disposed in a concave cavity  12  of the housing  100 , and two ends of the roller brush assembly  3  are mounted on the end portions of the concave cavity  12  by means of bearing  35  which is disposed over the brush shaft  321 ′. A bearing rubber  34  is arranged on the end portion of the bearing  35 , and a wool felt  36  of the roller brush and a felting retaining ring  37  are arranged on the end portion of the brush body  32 . The multi-group tufting  311  are spirally arranged on the brush body  32 . By the driving of the motor or other drive mechanism provided in the cleaner, the brush body  32  rotates at a high speed, such that the tufting  311  thereon may slap against the ground, by which the dust is raised in the air and easy to be collected into the cleaner. However, since there are always some soft materials, such as hair, thread of sewing, on the ground to be cleaned, especially on the floor of some families, and these soft materials may be prone to stick on the bristles of the roller brush, then move towards the ends of the roller brush while the brush is rotating, and finally get into the gap between the roller brush and the cleaner housing. In view of this, when there are too much of these soft materials in the gap between the roller brush and the cleaner housing, on the one hand, the flexibility of the brush shaft may be affected; on the other hand, these soft materials may get around the bearing and entangle the synchronous belt, which may also affect the flexibility of the brush shaft, such that, at least, the dust collection efficiency may be lowered and the burden of the driving mechanism (such as motors) may increase; to be severe, the brush shaft may get stuck or the synchronous belt may be tangled deadly so as to damage the shaft, motor and so on. 
     In addition to the above mentioned in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2  that the bristle brush in the prior art may be tangled in bearing, shaft or synchronous belt, likewise, the similar problem may also happen to the leather brush in the prior art.  FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a leather brush assembly of the ordinary cleaner in the prior art. The leather brush assembly includes a brush body  32  and brush leather facing  31 ; similar to the bristle brush, both ends of the brush body  32  are respectively provided with a bearing  35 , a bearing rubber  34  and brush shafts  321  and  321 ′, and a synchronous pulley  33  is disposed on the brush body  32  and connects with a driving mechanism (such as motor) provided in the cleaner via a synchronous belt (not shown). Because of the gap between the synchronous pulley  33  and brush body  32 , most hair on the ground may tangle around the outer circular face of the roller brush and finally get the bearing, shaft stuck or the synchronous belt tangled deadly while the brush is conducting the rotation operation. 
     The situation described above not only happens to the cleaner, the same situation but also occurs to an independent part—the suction nozzle. 
     In view of the above problem, Chinese patent CN1768674A discloses a suction nozzle structure for preventing foreign object, such as hair, thread, from tangling the synchronous belt, as shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , which provides a disc-shaped foreign object blocking plate  48  on one end of the roller brush that is near the synchronous belt. However, in the practical manufacturing, it is hard for foreign object blocking plate and the bottom housing of the suction nozzle to perfect match or be completely sealed with each other, there is still small space between foreign object blocking plate and the cleaner housing, foreign object, such as hair, still can tangle the synchronous belt through this space, and finally make the roller brush disabled. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     For the technical problem to be solved by the present invention, it is based on the deficiencies in the prior art, and a vacuum cleaner and suction nozzle thereof are provided, so as to prevent soft materials such as hair, thread for sewing, from tangling the synchronous belt or jamming the bearing on the end portion of the roller brush or the shaft. 
     To settle the above technical problem, the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner comprising a housing, a dust collecting unit, a filter assembly, a motor assembly and a roller brush assembly; 
     The dust collecting unit, the filter assembly and the motor assembly are located in the housing, and the motor assembly is communicated with the dust collecting unit via the filter assembly; 
     the housing has a concave cavity communicating with outside, and the roller brush assembly is disposed in the concave cavity which communicates with the dust collecting unit via a duct; the roller brush assembly includes a roller bush including a brush part and a brush body, and the brush part is disposed on the brush body; end portions of the brush body connect to the housing via bearings, and a transmission component is arranged in the brush body which connects to a driving mechanism; 
     a separation piece is provided on a housing defining the concave cavity and the location of the separation piece corresponds to the transmission component, a fixed end of the separation piece is fixed on the housing and a free end thereof extends towards the longitudinal direction of the brush part, the free end of the separation piece at least reaches to a free end on the longitudinal direction of the brush part, such that a seamless and closed separation face is formed by a circular face formed while the roller brush is rotating in conjunction with the separation piece, so as to block foreign object out of the transmission component. 
     In addition, the present invention further provides a suction nozzle of vacuum cleaner, comprising a bottom housing, a front cover and a roller brush part, the bottom housing whose bottom is provided with a opening communicating with outside latches with the front cover to form a chamber, and the roller brush assembly is disposed inside the chamber; the roller brush assembly includes a roller bush including a brush part and a brush body, and the brush part is disposed on the brush body; end portions of the brush body are connected with the bottom housing via bearings, and the brush body is provided with a transmission component connecting to a driving mechanism; 
     a separation piece is provided on a housing defining the chamber and the location thereof corresponds to the transmission component, a fixed end of the separation piece is fixed on the housing and a free end thereof extends towards the longitudinal direction of the brush part, the free end of the separation piece at least reaches to a free end on the longitudinal direction of the brush part, such that a seamless and closed separation face is formed by a circular face formed while the roller brush is rotating in conjunction with the separation piece, so as to block foreign object away from the transmission component. 
     As for the vacuum cleaner and suction nozzle thereof provided in the present invention, while they are operating, a seamless and closed separation face is formed by a circular face formed while the roller brush is rotating in conjunction with the separation piece, which can effectively block soft materials, such as hair, thread for sewing, away from the gap between the transmission component of the roller brush and the housing, as well as the gap between the end portion of the roller brush and the housing, such that drawback such as the dust collection efficiency being lowered, damage of the components due to the tangled synchronous belt or jamming in shaft of the brush bearing can be avoided. 
     Hereinafter, the technical solution of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments and the appended drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram of the local spatial structure of an ordinary cleaner in the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of a roller brush assembly of the ordinary cleaner of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of a leather brush assembly of the ordinary cleaner in the prior art; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram of the spatial structure of a suction nozzle in the prior art having a foreign object blocking plate; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram of the structure of the roller brush assembly of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a side cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a diagram of the local spatial structure of the vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a partial cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram of a suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner of the first embodiment of the present invention with the roller brush assembly removed; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram of a separation piece, a roller brush, a transmission component and so on of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram of the spatial structure of the vacuum cleaner of another specific embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 12A  is a partial perspective of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 12B  is a partial perspective of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner of the second embodiment of the present invention with bottom housing removed; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram of the separation piece, the roller brush, the transmission component and so on of another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram of the separation piece, the roller brush, the transmission component and so on of yet another embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The First Embodiment 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , the present invention provides a vacuum cleaner, and  FIG. 6  is a side cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention. The vacuum cleaner in the embodiment comprises a housing  100 , a dust collecting unit  200 , a filter assembly  300 , a motor assembly  400  and a roller brush assembly  3 . The dust collecting unit  200 , the filter assembly  300  and the motor assembly  400  are located in the housing  100 . The motor assembly  400  is communicated with the dust collecting unit  200  via the filter assembly  300 . 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram of the local spatial structure of the vacuum cleaner in the embodiment;  FIG. 8  is a local cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention. With reference of that shown in  FIG. 6  to  FIG. 8 , the housing  100  is provided with a concave cavity  12  communicating with outside, and the roller brush assembly  300  is disposed in the concave cavity  12 , such that a part of the roller brush assembly  300  is exposed to outside through an opening of the concave cavity  12 , and the other part thereof is inserted into the concave cavity  12 . A brush cover  39  is secured outside the concave cavity  12  by a fastener, such that the roller brush assembly  3  will not draw any large objects, such as pens, into the vacuum cleaner. The concave cavity  12  communicates with the dust collecting unit  200  via a duct  11 . In the embodiment, the dust collecting unit  200  is a cylinder. In addition, the dust collecting unit  200  may also be in the form of the dust collection bag generally used by the vacuum cleaning products, such as a paper bag, a cloth bag and so on. 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the roller brush assembly  3  includes a roller bush  30  which includes a brush part  31  and a brush body  32 , wherein one end of the brush part  31  is fixed at the brush body  32 , which is referred to as a fixed end, and the other end thereof is a free end. The roller brush  30  in the embodiment uses the same roller brush with the prior art in  FIG. 2 , and the brush part  31  is bristle which is in form of multi-group tufting  311  spirally arranged on the brush body  32 . In addition to the tufting-type roller brush used in the embodiment, a leather roller brush can also be used, e.g. the brush part  31  may be leather facing symmetrically arranged relative to the central axis of the roller brush body  32 . With reference of that shown in  FIG. 2 , there are brush shafts  321  and  321 ′ in both ends of the brush body  32 , the brush shaft  321  in one end of the brush body  32  connects with the housing  100  via bearings  35 . Meanwhile, the brush shaft  321  extends to connect with a synchronous pulley  33 . The brush shaft  321 ′ in the other end of the brush body  32  connects to the housing  100  via the bearing  35 . The synchronous pulley  33  connects with the driving mechanism via a synchronous belt (not shown), wherein the synchronous pulley  33  and the synchronous belt together form a transmission component  320 . The driving mechanism here is a motor disposed in the relevant position of the housing (not shown). 
       FIG. 9  is a diagram of the vacuum cleaner of the present invention with the roller brush assembly removed.  FIG. 10  is a diagram illustrating the relationship among a separation piece, the roller brush etc. in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 9  and  FIG. 10 , at both end portions inside the concave cavity  12 , separation pieces  2 ,  2 ′ are provided on the housing which defines the concave cavity  12 , specifically, the separation piece  2  is arranged at the housing defining the concave cavity  12  corresponding to inner side of the transmission component  320 . In the present invention, said “inside/inner side” and “outside/outer side” are referring to a reference of the roller brush  30 , the outside/outer side relates to the directions towards both ends of the roller brush  30 , and the inside/inner side relates to the direction towards the middle area of the roller brush  30 . Accordingly, with respect to the present invention, the transmission component  320 , e.g. the synchronous pulley  33  and the synchronous belt, is located at the outer side of the bearing  35 , and the separation piece  2  is disposed on the housing defining the concave cavity  12  corresponding to the tufting  311  inner side of the bearing  35 . In the embodiment, there are two separation pieces  2  and  2 ′, the separation piece  2  corresponding to the tufting  311  inner side of the bearing  35  on the right end portion of the brush body  32  is used to protect the synchronous belt in transmission component  320  as well as the bearing in the right end portion. The separation piece  2 ′ corresponds to the tufting  311  inner side of the bearing  35  on the left end portion of the brush body  32 , and it is for protecting the bearing in the left end portion. 
     Each separation piece has one fixed end and one free end, the fixed end is secured on the housing  100 , and the free end thereof extends towards the longitudinal direction of the brush part  31 . The free end of the separation piece at least reaches to a free end in the longitudinal direction of the brush body  31 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , the opening of the concave cavity  12  against the housing  100  is substantially formed as a rectangle, four sides of which respectively are A, B, C, D, wherein sides A, B and sides C, D are two sets of opposite sides, the end where side A is located is End A, and the end where side B is located is End B, one end of End B is referenced as BC, and the other end of End B is referenced as BD, likewise, one end of End A is referenced as AC, and the other end of End A is referenced as AD. The separation piece  2  located in End B extends at the fixed end inside the concave cavity  12  from said one end BC of End B in the opening of the concave cavity  12  to the other end BD. At the fixed end inside the concave cavity  12 , the separation piece  2  located in End A extends from said one end AC of End A in the opening of the concave cavity  12  to the other end AD. 
     The driving mechanism drives the synchronous belt, by means of the synchronous belt the roller brush  30  is further driven with high speed rotation and the tufting  311  on the roller brush  30  also rotates at high velocity, such that the rotating roller brush  30  forms a circular face. As the free end of the separation piece  2  extends towards the longitudinal direction of the brush bristle  31 , which means the cross-section of the separation piece  2  is tangent to that of the tufting  311  and perpendicular to the axis of the brush body  32 . Moreover, the free end of the separation piece  2  at least reaches to the free end in the longitudinal direction of the brush bristle  31 , that is, the free end of the separation piece  2  at least reaches to the free end of the tufting  311  or inserts into the tufting  311  as shown in  FIG. 8 . Accordingly, a seamless and closed separation face is formed by the circular face formed while the roller brush is rotating in conjunction with the separation piece  2 , such that foreign object, such as hair, can be completely blocked out of this closed face and impossible to move towards the synchronous belt at one end of the roller brush and the bearing at the other end, which can finally avoid the tangled synchronous belt and jamming to the bearing and shaft of the roller brush. 
     In the embodiment, the closed face can be formed when the free end of the separation piece  2  right reaches to the terminal of the brush bristle  31 , preferably, the free end of the separation piece  2  may be inserted into the tufting with a certain length, such that foreign object, such as hair, can be desirably blocked by the separation piece  2  and impossible to move towards both ends of the roller brush along free end of the bristle. 
     Here in the embodiment, housing of both ends in the concave cavity  12  is respectively provided with one separation piece  2 , whose location in the housing  100  corresponds to the first group tufting  311  on the periphery of the end portion of the roller brush body  32 . As it should be, it is also feasible to make the separation piece  2  correspond to the bristle on the periphery of the end portion of the brush body if the roller brush  30  employs other types of structure. 
     The location arrangement of the separation piece  2  described above is merely for exemplary, but is not limited to so. For example, the arranged location of separation piece  2  may either correspond to the bristle  31  on the periphery of the end portion of the brush body  32 , or to the bristle having appropriate distance away from the end portion of the brush body  32 . Taking the structure of the roller brush shown in  FIG. 8  for example, the arranged location of separation piece  2  may correspond to the first group tufting on the end portion of the brush body  32  that is inner side of the bearing, or it may also correspond to the second or third group tufting from the end portion. 
     In the above embodiment, the number of the separation piece arranged at one end of the concave cavity  12  is one, but it can also be a plurality. If a plurality of separation pieces are provided, each separation piece may correspond to a certain amount of bristle and extends towards the longitudinal direction of the brush bristle. The blocking effect to soft materials, such as hair, may be well enhanced when a plurality of separation pieces are provided. 
     In the embodiment, the separation pieces  2  are disposed on both ends of the concave cavity  12 . In addition, the separation piece may be merely on the end where the transmission component is provided, as shown in  FIG. 13 , while at the other end sealing protection is performed to the bearing thereon by equipping a bearing cap  7  outer side of the bearing. 
     When the transmission component provided in the roller brush is arranged at the middle area thereof, while as shown in  FIG. 14  two sides of the roller brush are connected with each other merely by means of the bearing and the housing. With respect to such structure, relative to both sides of the transmission component, each separation piece is respectively provided to the housing so as to protect the synchronous belts. Preferable, relative to both ends of the roller brush, each separation piece is respectively provided to the housing again so as to protect the bearing, in this case, there are four separation pieces in this structure. As it should be, if a bearing cap is equipped outer side of the bearing in both ends of the roller brush, separation pieces are not necessary to be provided at the ends, and only two separation pieces are enough for such structure. 
     The vacuum cleaner described in the present invention is a horizontal cleaner, and as it should be, the present technical solution can be also used in type of upright cleaner.  FIG. 11  is a diagram of the spatial structure of the vacuum cleaner of another specific embodiment, and this vacuum cleaner therein is an upright cleaner. 
     As the shape and size of the vacuum cleaner may be varied in terms of needs, the present invention merely specifically exemplifies the key components relative to the corresponding location of the roller brush assembly in the vacuum cleaner, with respect to the shape of the vacuum cleaner as well as the transmission component of the roller brush, in terms of practical demand, ones skilled in the art may perform them with reference of the prior art. 
     In addition, the fixing structure described above between the separation piece  2  and the housing inside the concave cavity  12  may use any structures in the prior art, e.g. forming the separation piece  2  and the housing into one piece, using the structure of groove and snap, by means of intermediate component or using structure like bolt, screw and so on. Meanwhile, since friction is generated between the separation piece  2  and the brush bristle while the brush bristle is rotating, the separation piece  2  in the present invention accordingly is made of some rigid and wear-resistant materials, such as steel, POM and other materials. 
     The Second Embodiment 
     This embodiment refers to a suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.  FIG. 12A  is a partial perspective of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner in the present invention;  FIG. 12B  is a partial perspective of the suction nozzle of the vacuum cleaner in the present invention with the bottom housing removed. As shown in  FIG. 12A  and  FIG. 12B , the present invention provides a suction nozzle  10  of the vacuum cleaner, comprising a bottom housing  1 , a front cover  4  and a roller brush part  3 , the bottom housing  1  with a opening communicating with outside arranged in the bottom thereof latches with the front cover  4  to form a chamber  12 ′, and the roller brush assembly  3  and a driving mechanism are disposed inside the chamber  12 ′. The driving mechanism may be a motor, and it also could be a rotating turbine as used in  FIG. 4 . The roller brush assembly  3  includes a roller bush  30  which includes a brush part  31  and a brush body  32 , and the brush part  31  is disposed on the brush body  32 ; the end portions of the brush body  32  is connected with the bottom housing  1  via bearings, and the brush body  32  is provided with a transmission component  320 , a separation piece  2  is provided on the housing defining the chamber  12 ′ where the transmission component  320  and the driving mechanism are connected. In the embodiment, the roller brush assembly  3 , the locations of the separation piece  2  in the housing, the structure like the transmission component may be the same as the cases in the first embodiment, and the chamber  12 ′ is equivalent to the concave cavity  12  in the first embodiment and will not be described here. 
     Since the other structures of the vacuum cleaner in the present invention may employ any kind of technique in the prior art, here will not be described. 
     By means of the vacuum cleaner or the vacuum suction nozzle of the present invention, it can effectively block soft foreign object, such as hair, thread, away from the gap between the transmission component of the roller brush and the housing, as well as the gap between the end portion of the roller brush and the housing, such that drawback such as the dust collection efficiency being lowered, damage of the components due to the tangled synchronous belt or brush shaft can be avoided.