Suction Cleaner Head With Liftable Brush to Prevent Jamming
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Driven brushes in suction cleaners often become entangled with elongate items like string or hair, leading to restricted airflow and jamming, especially when using turbines which provide less torque, causing performance degradation.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning head design with a rotatable tool connected by support means containing the transmission means, allowing upward and downward movement to reduce friction and entanglement, featuring flexible driving elements or gears within the support structure, and a tool configuration with flanges and apertures to prevent tangling, along with a removable cover for easy maintenance and observation of blockages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the brush bar is driven by a belt powered by an electric motor or turbine, then the brush can rotate to clean surfaces, but the brush becomes entangled with elongate items like string or hair, causing restricted airflow and jamming
Solution Approach 1:
The brush bar is divided into multiple independent bristle sections that can move relative to each other. When elongate items like string or hair encounter resistance, individual sections can lift or shift independently, preventing the entire brush from jamming and maintaining continuous cleaning operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The brush bar is designed with dynamic characteristics allowing it to flex and adapt to encountered obstacles. The bristle sections can deflect upward when meeting resistance from elongate items, and the brush maintains rotational motion through variable torque transmission, preventing jamming while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.
2Device complexity
If the tool is fixed rigidly to the body, then the structure is simple and stable, but the tool cannot adapt to different surface conditions like carpet pile depth, causing excessive friction and potential stopping
Solution Approach 1:
The support means incorporates pivotal connections that allow the tool to rotate relative to the body about a horizontal axis. This dynamic arrangement enables the tool to tilt upward when encountering carpet piles or obstacles, reducing friction and preventing the tool from stopping, while returning to its normal position when the obstacle is cleared.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool's angular position relative to the body is allowed to vary dynamically based on encountered resistance. The pivotal support means enables changes in the tool's orientation parameter, allowing it to adapt to different carpet pile depths and surface conditions automatically during operation.
3Ease of repair
If the transmission means is located outside the support means, then it is easier to access for maintenance, but elongate items are more likely to tangle in the moving parts
Solution Approach 1:
The transmission means is nested within the hollow interior of the support means. This arrangement protects the transmission components from direct exposure to elongate items in the cleaning path, reducing tangling opportunities while maintaining a compact structure. The support means acts as a protective enclosure for the transmission mechanism.
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
The design reduces the likelihood of jamming and enhances cleaning performance by minimizing entanglement and allowing for easy tool replacement and maintenance, ensuring effective airflow and efficient cleaning across various surfaces.
Implementation Method 1
The turbine may be caused to rotate by an airflow travelling in a direction towards an interior of the suction cleaner, when the head is connected thereto or mounted thereon.
Implementation Method 2
The transmission means may include a flexible driving element, a first pulley driven by the driving means and a second pulley connected to the tool, with the flexible driving element entrained around the first and second pulleys and engaged therewith.
Data Source
AI summary
A cleaning head for a suction cleaner, the head including a body; a rotatable tool connected to the body by support means; driving means; and transmission means providing a driving connection between the driving means and the tool; wherein the support means contains the transmission means, and provides for movement of the tool upwardly and downwardly relative to the body in use.