Bare floor vacuum cleaner
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vacuum cleaners often have inefficient dirt ingestion due to wide suction apertures and lack of effective mechanisms to direct debris towards the suction path, especially when dealing with dirt and hair outside the typical cleaning path.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates counter-rotating agitators mounted on extension arms with a suction inlet positioned between their axes of rotation, creating a converging debris path that directs dust and debris towards a focused suction area, enhanced by a stationary strip brush to ensure effective ingestion into a narrower suction aperture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If a wide suction aperture is used, then more debris can be captured, but airflow velocity decreases and cleaning efficiency is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The suction aperture is designed with non-uniform width along its length, creating regions of different cross-sectional areas. This allows the aperture to be wide at the front to capture debris and narrow at the rear to maintain high airflow velocity, resolving the contradiction between aperture width and airflow speed
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extends the suction path in the longitudinal dimension rather than relying solely on aperture width. By creating a tapered suction passage that extends rearward, the design captures debris through extended path length while maintaining velocity through progressive narrowing, adding a spatial dimension to the solution
2Area of stationary object
If counter-rotating agitators extend beyond housing width, then cleaning coverage is improved, but debris direction control becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Extension arms are introduced as intermediary structures that connect the counter-rotating agitators to the housing. These arms provide mechanical support and positioning, allowing the agitators to extend beyond the housing width while maintaining controlled orientation and effective debris direction toward the suction aperture
Solution Approach 2:
The extension arms are positioned asymmetrically relative to the housing centerline, with each arm supporting an agitator at a specific offset. This asymmetric configuration optimizes the debris flow path from the extended agitators to the suction aperture, maintaining effective debris direction control despite the extended coverage
3Speed
If a focused narrow suction aperture is used, then airflow velocity is maintained, but debris ingestion efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Counter-rotating agitators are positioned upstream of the suction aperture to preliminarily concentrate and direct debris toward the suction path before the air flow reaches it. This preliminary action ensures that when the high-velocity air flow passes through the narrow aperture, debris is already positioned for efficient ingestion
Solution Approach 2:
The suction system utilizes pneumatic principles by creating a pressure gradient through the tapered suction passage. The narrowing passage increases air velocity and creates negative pressure that actively draws debris toward the aperture, compensating for the reduced aperture width and maintaining ingestion efficiency
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration improves dirt ingestion efficiency by creating a higher airflow velocity at the suction aperture, effectively sweeping and directing debris into the vacuum, even when the counter-rotating agitators extend beyond the vacuum cleaner's width, leading to improved cleaning performance and energy efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a suction source associated with the housing, in fluid communication with the suction inlet to produce a working airflow therethrough
Implementation Method 2
The counter-rotating agitators are operable to cooperate with the suction source to direct dust and debris outside the periphery of the housing along a converging debris path, towards the suction inlet
Implementation Method 3
The filtration system is configured to separate the entrained dirt from the working air flow and convey the dirt into a removable dirt cup or a porous filter bag for later disposal
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 3
AI summary
A housing has a suction inlet thereon and a suction source associated with the housing, in fluid communication with the suction inlet to produce a working airflow therethrough and a dirt container in fluid communication with the suction inlet and suction source. The housing further comprises a body defined by a central portion and a pair of extension arms that extend laterally outwardly from the central portion, wherein each extension comprises a mount, which receives a rotatable agitator thereon. A drive assembly is configured to counter-rotate each agitator with respect to the other agitator, and wherein the suction inlet is positioned on the housing rearward of, and between, each of the axes of rotation of each agitator. The counter-rotating agitators are operable to cooperate with the suction source to direct dust and debris outside the periphery of the housing along a converging debris path, towards the suction inlet.