Vacuum cleaner nozzle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11019968-B2
Application number	US-201916976784-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2019
Priority date	Mar 5, 2018
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

In a vacuum cleaner nozzle (N) comprising one or more rear wheels (RW), a hinge (H3) is arranged to lift all one or more rear wheels (RW) from a floor (F) when a suction tube (ST) connected to the nozzle (N) is rotated around a longitudinal axis of the suction tube (ST), e.g. after the nozzle (N) has been rotated by more than 45° by means of a further hinge (H2) in order to position a relatively short side of the nozzle at the front of the nozzle in the nozzle's motion direction so that the nozzle is able to clean relatively small spaces that could not be entered if a relatively long side of the nozzle is at the front of the nozzle in the nozzle's motion direction. If the one or more rear wheels (RW) comprise at least two rear wheels, the hinge (H3) is arranged for simultaneously lifting the rear wheels (RW) from the floor (F). Preferably, the hinge (H3) is bi-stable, to which end the hinge (H3) may be provided with magnets (M1-2, M3-4) or a bi-stable spring (S) to fix the hinge (H3) either in a first position in which the one or more rear wheels (RW) are arranged to touch the floor (F), or in a second position in which the one or more rear wheels (RW) are arranged to be lifted from the floor (F). A vacuum cleaner advantageously comprises such a nozzle.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vacuum cleaner nozzle comprising:
a suction tube connected to the vacuum cleaner nozzle body,
at least two rear wheels,
a hinge arrangement comprising:
a first hinge configured and arranged to allow the suction tube to be rotated around a longitudinal axis of the suction tube,
a second hinge configured and arranged to allow the vacuum cleaner nozzle body to be rotated in a horizontal plane, and
a third hinge configured and arranged to allow all of the at least two rear wheels to be simultaneously lifted from a floor when the nozzle body is rotated by the second hinge in the horizontal plane.

2. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein when the vacuum cleaner nozzle body is rotated by more than 45°, a side of the vacuum cleaner nozzle becomes a front of the vacuum cleaner nozzle in a motion direction of the vacuum cleaner nozzle.

3. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the third hinge is bi-stable.

4. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the third hinge is provided with magnets to fix the hinge either in a first position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to touch the floor, or in a second position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to be lifted from the floor.

5. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the third hinge is provided with a bi-stable spring to fix the hinge either in a first position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to touch the floor, or in a second position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to be lifted from the floor.

6. The vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 .

7. The vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , when once the nozzle is rotated, a corresponding rotation of the suction tube will lift the at least two rear wheels via a force/torque on the third hinge.

8. The vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , when each of said first and second hinges are arranged to enable steering.

9. The vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , when the third hinge is arranged to enable lifting of the at least two rear wheels.

10. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the nozzle is supported by supporting elements at the front of the nozzle body, wherein the supporting elements are selected from the group consisting of: wheels constructed of a low friction material, caster wheels, bristles.

11. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one front wheel arranged to support the weight of the nozzle and prevent a bottom side of the nozzle from touching and scratching the floor and being further arranged to reduce motion resistance when moving the nozzle back and forth across the floor.

12. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the suction tube is rotated by the second hinge around the suction tube's longitudinal axis by at least 45°.

13. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an axis of the first hinge is substantially parallel to the floor and perpendicular to an axis of the second hinge.

14. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an axis of the first hinge is substantially parallel to the floor and to an axis of the third hinge.

15. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 1 , wherein an axis of the second hinge is perpendicular to the axes of the first and third hinges.

16. A vacuum cleaner nozzle comprising:
one or more rear wheels,
a hinge for lifting all one or more rear wheels from a floor when a suction tube connected to the vacuum cleaner nozzle is rotated around a longitudinal axis of the suction tube, and
wherein the hinge is provided with magnets to fix the hinge either in a first position in which all of the one or more rear wheels are arranged to touch the floor, or in a second position in which all of the one or more rear wheels are arranged to be lifted from the floor.

17. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the one or more rear wheels comprise two rear wheels, and the hinge is arranged for simultaneously lifting the two rear wheels from the floor.

18. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 16 , wherein the hinge provided with said magnets is bi-stable.

19. A vacuum cleaner nozzle comprising:
one or more rear wheels,
a hinge for lifting all of the one or more rear wheels from a floor when a suction tube connected to the vacuum cleaner nozzle is rotated around a longitudinal axis of the suction tube, and
wherein the hinge is provided with a bi-stable spring to fix the hinge either in a first position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to touch the floor, or in a second position in which the one or more rear wheels are arranged to be lifted from the floor.

20. The vacuum cleaner nozzle as claimed in claim 19 , wherein the one or more rear wheels comprise two rear wheels, and the hinge is arranged for simultaneously lifting the two rear wheels from the floor.

Assignees

• Koninklijke Philips Nv

Inventors

• Lubbers Matthijs Hendrikus
• Steeman Jonne
• Hilverda Klaas
• De Wit Bastiaan Johannes

Classifications

• A47L9/242

  Hose or pipe couplings · CPC title

• A47L9/0416

  driven by fluid pressure, e.g. by means of an air turbine · CPC title

• A47L9/02 Primary

  Nozzles (suction nozzles for fluid transport B65G51/00) · CPC title

• A47L9/009

  Carrying-vehicles; Arrangements of trollies or wheels; Means for avoiding mechanical obstacles · CPC title

• A47L9/248

  Parts, details or accessories of hoses or pipes (nozzles A47L9/02) · CPC title