Cleaner head for a vacuum cleaner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10004370-B2
Application number	US-201414909399-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 24, 2014
Priority date	Jul 31, 2013
Publication date	Jun 26, 2018
Grant date	Jun 26, 2018

Abstract

A cleaner head for a vacuum cleaner including an agitator in the form of a brush bar, the brush bar including a plurality of radially extending bristles and a sealing material disposed between the bristles. The sealing material extends over substantially the entire circumferential and axial extent of the regions of the brush bar between the bristles. The cleaner head further includes a housing defining a chamber which at least partially surrounds the brush bar, a dirty air inlet in a lower part of the chamber and a front opening that exposes the brush bar at the front of the housing. The brush bar is supported for rotation with respect to the housing and arranged in the chamber such that the brush bar seals against the housing thereby restricting flow of air through the front opening.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cleaner head for a vacuum cleaner, comprising:
an agitator in the form of a brush bar, the brush bar comprising a plurality of radially extending bristles and a sealing material disposed between the bristles, the sealing material extending over substantially the entire circumferential and axial extent of the regions of the brush bar between the bristles, wherein the sealing material comprises a tufted material;
a housing defining a chamber which at least partially surrounds the brush bar, a dirty air inlet in a lower part of the chamber and a front opening that exposes the brush bar at the front of the housing, the brush bar being supported for rotation with respect to the housing and arranged in the chamber such that the brush bar seals against the housing thereby restricting flow of air through the front opening.

2. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the sealing material is a deformable material.

3. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the brush bar substantially occludes the front opening.

4. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the radial extent of the bristles is equal to the radial extent of the sealing material.

5. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the radial extent of the bristles is greater than the radial extent of the sealing material.

6. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the cleaner head is provided with a support for supporting the cleaner head on a surface being cleaned, the brush bar being arranged such that, in use, the bristles contact the surface being cleaned.

7. The cleaner head of claim 6 , wherein the bristles extend below the support.

8. The cleaner head of claim 6 , wherein the sealing material is arranged such that, in use, the sealing material is spaced away from the surface being cleaned by the support.

9. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the front opening is defined by an upper front edge and opposing side edges of the housing.

10. The cleaner head of claim 9 , wherein the upper front edge is above the rotational axis of the brush bar.

11. The cleaner head of claim 9 , wherein the upper front edge is below the top of the brush bar.

12. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the front opening extends in a plane which is forward of the longitudinal axis of the brush bar.

13. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the brush bar protrudes through the front opening.

14. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein a top portion of the housing extends forwardly over the top of the brush bar to form a guard that prevents debris from being flung upwardly by the brush bar away from the housing.

15. The cleaner head of claim 14 , wherein the sealing material seals against an inner surface of the front portion of the housing.

16. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the bristles are arranged in a plurality of rows extending longitudinally with respect to the brush bar.

17. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the bristles comprise carbon fibre bristles having a stiffness which is greater than the stiffness of the sealing material in a radial direction.

18. The cleaner head of claim 1 , wherein the cleaner head further comprises a rear roller.

19. A vacuum cleaner comprising the cleaner head of claim 1 .

20. A brush bar comprising a plurality of radially extending bristles and a sealing material disposed between the bristles, the sealing material extending over substantially the entire circumferential and axial extent of the regions of the brush bar between the bristles, wherein the radial extent of the bristles is greater than the radial extent of the sealing material, and the sealing material comprises a tufted material.

21. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the sealing material is a deformable material.

22. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the sealing material has a surface resistivity in the range from 1×10 5 Ω/sq to 1×10 12 Ω/sq.

23. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the bristles comprise carbon fibre bristles having a stiffness which is greater than the stiffness of the sealing material in a radial direction.

24. The brush bar of claim 23 , wherein the carbon fibre bristles have a surface resistivity between 1×10 3 Ω/sq and 1×10 6 Ω/sq.

25. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the diameter of each bristle is not greater than 10 μm.

26. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the bristles are arranged in a plurality of rows extending longitudinally with respect to the brush bar.

27. The brush bar of claim 26 , wherein the width of each row is not greater than 5 mm.

28. The brush bar of claim 26 , wherein the rows of bristles are arranged in a generally helical configuration extending around, or partially around, the brush bar.

29. The brush bar of claim 26 , where the bristle density of the bristles is not less than 10,000 bristles per 10 mm in length.

30. The brush bar of claim 20 , wherein the length of each bristle is between 4 mm and 8 mm.

Assignees

• Dyson Technology Ltd

Inventors

• Isley David Andrew
• Mcvey Thomas Michael
• Courtney Stephen Benjamin

Classifications

• A47L9/068

  Nozzles combined with a different cleaning side, e.g. duplex nozzles or dual purpose nozzles · CPC title

• A46B7/06

  movably during use {, i.e. the normal brushing action causing movement (driven brush bodies A46B13/00)} · CPC title

• A47L9/04 Primary

  with driven brushes or agitators · CPC title

• A46B9/026

  where the surface of the brush body or carrier is not in one plane, e.g. not flat (A46B9/005 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A46B2200/30

  Brushes for cleaning or polishing · CPC title