Nozzle arrangement with brush and squeegee

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9265394-B2
Application number	US-201414432588-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 4, 2014
Priority date	Feb 5, 2013
Publication date	Feb 23, 2016
Grant date	Feb 23, 2016

Abstract

Nozzle arrangement ( 10 ) of a vacuum cleaning device ( 100 ) for cleaning a surface ( 20 ), comprising: —a nozzle housing ( 28 ); —a brush ( 12 ) rotatable about a brush axis ( 14 ), said brush ( 12 ) being provided with flexible microfiber brush elements ( 16 ) having tip portions ( 18 ) for contacting the surface to be cleaned ( 20 ) and picking up dirt and liquid particles ( 22, 24 ) from the surface to be cleaned ( 20 ) during the rotation of the brush ( 12 ); —a drive means for rotating the brush ( 12 ); —a single squeegee element ( 32 ) for wiping dirt and liquid particles ( 22, 24 ) across or off the surface to be cleaned ( 20 ) by contacting said surface ( 20 ) with its free end ( 33 ), wherein said squeegee element ( 32 ) extends along a longitudinal direction ( 48 ), which is arranged substantially parallel to the brush axis ( 14 ), and is attached with its fixed end ( 33 ) to the bottom side ( 30 ) of the nozzle housing ( 28 ) on a side of the brush ( 12 ) where the brush elements ( 16 ) enter the nozzle housing ( 28 ) during the rotation of the brush ( 12 ).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A nozzle arrangement of a vacuum cleaning device for cleaning a surface, the nozzle arrangement comprising:
a nozzle housing;
a brush rotatable about a brush axis, said brush being provided with flexible microfiber brush elements having tip portions for contacting the surface to be cleaned and picking up dirt and liquid particles from the surface to be cleaned during the rotation of the brush, wherein the brush is at least partly surrounded by the nozzle housing and protrudes at least partly from a bottom side of said nozzle housing;
a drive means for rotating the brush;
a single squeegee element for wiping dirt and liquid particles across or off the surface to be cleaned by contacting said surface with its free end, wherein said squeegee element extends along a longitudinal direction, which is arranged substantially parallel to the brush axis, and is attached with its fixed end to the bottom side of the nozzle housing where the brush elements enter the nozzle housing during the rotation of the brush, wherein the squeegee element comprises a synthetic material with a hardness between 25 and 60 Shore-A and a force-displacement-behavior of 0.02 N/mm<F/d<0.27 N/mm, wherein F is a force acting on the free end of the squeegee element perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and d is a displacement of said free end perpendicular to the longitudinal direction that is caused by the force F.

2. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a linear mass density of a plurality of the brush elements is, at least at the tip portions, lower than 150 g per 10 km, and wherein the drive means are adapted to realize a centrifugal acceleration at the tip portions which is, in particular during a dirt release period when the brush elements are free from contact to the surface during the rotation of the brush, at least 3,000 m/s 2 .

3. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the synthetic material of the squeegee element has a force-displacement-behavior of 0.02 N/mm<F/d<0.13 N/mm.

4. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the squeegee element comprises a flexible rubber lip between its fixed and its free end and a plurality of protrusions for flexing the flexible rubber lip around the longitudinal direction between an open and a closed position depending on a movement direction of the nozzle arrangement, wherein said protrusions are arranged near the free end of the squeegee element and protrude from a backside of the flexible rubber lip that faces away from the brush.

5. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the flexible rubber lip is made of polyurethane.

6. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the flexible rubber lip has a thickness (t) of 0.5 to 3 mm.

7. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the flexible rubber lip) has a height (h), measured between the free end and the fixed end, of 5 to 20 mm.

8. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the protrusions force the rubber lip to flex in the open position, in which dirt and liquid particles can enter the nozzle arrangement through openings between the protrusions, the flexible rubber lip and the surface, when the nozzle arrangement is moved on the surface in a backward direction, in which the squeegee element is, seen in the movement direction, located in front of the brush, and wherein the rubber lip flexes in the closed position, in which the rubber lip is adapted to wipe dirt and liquid particles across or off the surface to be cleaned, when the nozzle arrangement is moved on the surface in a forward direction, in which the squeegee element is, seen in the movement direction, located behind the brush, wherein a contact angle (α) between the rubber lip and the surface, measured at a contact point of the rubber lip with the surface, is in said closed position adapted to be between 35° and 50°.

9. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a distance (d 1 ) between a front end of the protrusions that faces away from the rubber lip and the backside of the flexible rubber lip is between 0.5 and 4 mm.

10. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a distance (d 2 ) between two of said protrusions is between 5 and 15 mm.

11. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 4 , wherein at least one of the protrusions comprises at least one tapered face and rounded edges.

12. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the drive means are adapted to realize an angular velocity of the brush which is in a range of 3,000 to 15,000 revolutions per minute, more preferably in a range of 5,000 to 8,000 revolutions per minute, during operation of the device.

13. A nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the brush has a diameter which is in a range of 10 to 100 mm, more preferably in a range of 20 to 80 mm, most preferably in a range of 35 to 50 mm, when the brush elements are in a fully outstretched condition, and wherein the length of the brush elements is in a range of 1 to 20 mm, preferably in a range of 8 to 12 mm, when the brush elements are in a fully outstretched condition.

14. A vacuum cleaning device for cleaning a surface, the vacuum cleaning device comprising:
a nozzle arrangement as claimed in claim 1 ; and
a vacuum aggregate for generating an under-pressure in a suction-area between the nozzle housing and the brush.

15. A vacuum cleaning device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein the vacuum aggregate is configured to generate an under-pressure in a range of 3 to 70 mbar, preferably in a range of 4 to 50 mbar, most preferably in a range of 5 to 30 mbar.

Assignees

• Koninkl Philips Nv

Inventors

• Van Der Kooi Johannes Tseard
• Lubbers Matthijs Hendrikus
• Setayesh Sepas

Classifications

• A47L11/4041 Primary

  Roll shaped surface treating tools · CPC title

• A47L11/4044

  Vacuuming or pick-up tools; Squeegees · CPC title

• A47L9/0606

  rigidly anchored brushes, combs, lips or pads · CPC title

• A47L9/0477 Primary

  Rolls · CPC title

• A47L9/0626

  Rigidly anchored lips, e.g. nozzles adapted for picking up liquids · CPC title