Floor Cleaning Brush Bearing Layout for Compact Torque Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing self-propelled and self-steering floor cleaning devices face challenges with the large, heavy, and costly drive shafts required for cleaning brushes, which disproportionately stress the battery due to the leverage effect and mass, making them inefficient and costly to manufacture.
Innovation Solution
A cleaning brush design featuring a bearing device axially positioned between the ends of the brush body, allowing for separate mounting and support on the floor cleaning device, reducing the need for a long drive shaft and enabling better dissipation of radial forces, thus enabling a compact and efficient torque transmission system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a long drive shaft is used to support the brush body, then the brush body can be reliably supported, but the manufacturing cost increases and the battery is disproportionately stressed
Solution Approach 1:
The drive shaft is segmented into a first shaft portion and a second shaft portion that are rotatably connected via a bearing. This allows the brush body to be supported at multiple points (first end on the first shaft portion, second end on the second shaft portion) without requiring a single long shaft, reducing material costs and battery stress while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
A bearing is introduced as an intermediary element between the first and second shaft portions, enabling rotational connection and force distribution. This intermediary component allows the system to achieve reliable brush support through distributed loading rather than a single long shaft
2Reliability
If a long drive shaft is used to support the brush body, then the brush body can be reliably supported, but the mass to be moved increases
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the drive shaft into two separate shaft portions connected by a bearing reduces the total mass compared to a single long shaft. Each shaft portion can be optimized independently and the bearing provides efficient rotational support, reducing overall moving mass while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing introduces a new dimensional aspect (rotational freedom) to the connection between shaft portions, allowing the system to achieve support functionality without the mass penalty of a continuous long shaft
3Productivity
If cleaning bristles are arranged to protrude beyond the ends of the brush body, then cleaning performance improves, but the brush body becomes more prone to bending
Solution Approach 1:
Segmenting the shaft support into two portions with a bearing allows the brush body to be supported at both ends, creating a span that can accommodate protruding bristles while the bearing provides rotational support that reduces bending moments on the brush body
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing acts as an intermediary support point that allows the brush body to span between supports, enabling bristle protrusion for better cleaning while the bearing absorbs some of the bending stress through its rotational capability
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 design allows for a smaller, more efficient drive device, reduces the risk of brush bending, and enhances cleaning performance by allowing cleaning bristles to protrude beyond the ends, providing effective and streak-free cleaning without the need for a long drive shaft, thereby improving the overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the cleaning process.
Implementation Method 1
a radial bearing, in relation to the brush axis, for radially supporting the shaft
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a cleaning brush for a floor cleaning device (10), in particular a self-propelled and self-steering floor cleaning device (10), said cleaning brush comprising at least a brush unit (52, 54) having a brush body (60) which is provided with cleaning bristles (56) and a first end (58) and a second end (59) and defines a brush axis (36), wherein the at least one brush unit (52, 54) comprises at the first end (58) or in the region of the first end (58) a torque receiving device (86) for coupling with a drive device (38) of the floor cleaning device (10). In order to provide a cleaning brush that can reliably be mounted on a floor cleaning device in a structurally simple manner, it is proposed according to the invention that the at least one brush unit (52, 54) comprises a bearing device (68) for bearing against the floor cleaning device (10), said bearing device being arranged between the first end (58) and the second end (59). The invention further relates to a floor cleaning device having a cleaning brush, in particular a self-propelled and self-steering floor cleaning device.