Butterfly Duster Folding Head for Angled Surface Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dusters are ineffective for cleaning angled or non-planar surfaces and lack a mechanism to prevent dust and debris from being released during transportation and storage, necessitating a duster that can fold for ease of use and compact storage.
Innovation Solution
A butterfly duster design featuring a duster head with two wings connected by a novel alignment mechanism, utilizing a slide coupling with a universal joint and a fork actuator that allows controlled folding without the need for different materials, enabling the duster to be easily closed and opened for cleaning and storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the duster is made rigid to maintain cleaning effectiveness, then cleaning performance is improved, but portability and storage become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The duster head is divided into two separate wings that can be folded relative to each other around a central hinge axis. This segmentation allows the duster to transition from an extended cleaning configuration to a compact folded configuration for portability, while maintaining the rigid structure of each individual wing for effective cleaning.
Solution Approach 2:
The duster incorporates a dynamic folding mechanism with hinges and actuators that allow the wings to move between fixed positions. The duster can be dynamically adjusted between an extended state for cleaning and a folded state for storage, providing adaptability without compromising the rigidity needed for cleaning effectiveness.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the duster is designed to clean angled and non-planar surfaces, then cleaning versatility is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The duster head is segmented into two independent wings that can be positioned at different angles and orientations. This allows each wing to be independently adjusted to access angled surfaces, baseboards, and non-planar areas, providing cleaning versatility without requiring a completely complex multi-component system.
Solution Approach 2:
The wings are designed with asymmetric geometry, featuring different edge configurations and cleaning surface orientations. This asymmetry enables the duster to effectively clean various surface types including angled surfaces, edges, and non-planar areas, enhancing versatility while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
3Ease of operation
If the duster is made collapsible for storage, then portability is improved, but dust and debris may be released during folding
Solution Approach 1:
The duster incorporates a retention mechanism that is activated before the folding action begins. The retention walls and engagement features are positioned to secure the cleaning cloth and trap dust and debris before the wings start to fold, preventing contamination during the transition to compact storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces an intermediary retention mechanism consisting of retention walls and engagement features that act as a barrier between the collected dust and the external environment during folding. This intermediary structure ensures that dust and debris are contained within the duster head during the folding process, preventing release while maintaining portability.
Data Source
AI summary
A butterfly duster is disclosed having a novel folding duster head. The wings of the duster head are opened and closed with a fork actuator arrangement that interacts with a gliding surface and retention walls on each wing to allow each half of the fork actuator to glide along the surface of each wing in a controlled and linear manner without the need for different materials between the wings and each gliding surface. Linear guides and linear guide slots provide further control of the fork actuator as it rides along a slide coupling while opening or closing the wings of the duster head.