Detachable Transport Wheels for Mobile Floor Cleaning Appliances
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing floor cleaning devices lack easy and efficient transportation mechanisms, requiring complex mounting systems and storage solutions for transport wheels, which limits their mobility and convenience.
Innovation Solution
A floor cleaning device with rotatable and releasably fixed transport wheels that can be easily attached and stored without tools, allowing for simple conversion between working and transport positions, enabling easy movement over various surfaces including steps and stairs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If transport wheels are permanently mounted on the floor cleaning device, then the device has continuous mobility, but the device complexity increases and storage space is occupied
Solution Approach 1:
The transport wheels are segmented from the main cleaning device, allowing them to be detached and stored when not in use. The wheel bearing is designed as a separate component that can independently hold or release the transport wheel, enabling the cleaning device to operate without the complexity of permanent wheel mounting mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The mounting system for transport wheels is made dynamic rather than static. The wheel bearing can transition between holding and releasing states, allowing the transport wheel to be easily attached and detached. This dynamic capability provides mobility when needed while avoiding the complexity of permanent mounting structures.
2Ease of operation
If transport wheels are stored on the housing, then they are easily accessible, but the available storage space on the housing is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The transport wheel storage function is extracted from the main housing body and integrated into the wheel bearing component. This allows the wheels to be stored in a dedicated location (the wheel bearing) that is easily accessible during operation, while not consuming additional storage space on the housing since the storage function is combined with the mounting mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The storage function for transport wheels is merged with the wheel bearing structure. The wheel bearing serves dual purposes: it acts as both the mounting mechanism for attaching wheels to enable mobility and as the storage location for holding wheels when not in use. This consolidation eliminates the need for separate storage compartments on the housing.
3Ease of manufacture
If wheel bearings are positioned close to the floor surface for easy wheel attachment, then the attachment is simpler, but the transport wheels interfere with floor cleaning operations
Solution Approach 1:
The position of the wheel bearing relative to the floor surface is made dynamic rather than fixed. The wheel bearing can be positioned at an optimal height that prevents interference with floor cleaning operations, while the transport wheel attachment mechanism remains simple and user-friendly. The dynamic positioning capability allows the system to avoid the harmful effect of wheel-floor interference during cleaning while maintaining ease of wheel attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The wheel bearing is positioned at a specific location and height that is optimized for its dual function: close enough to the floor surface to allow easy wheel attachment by the user, but at a distance that prevents the transport wheels from interfering with the floor cleaning tools during operation. This localized optimization resolves the contradiction between attachment simplicity and cleaning interference.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a floor-cleaning appliance having a housing, on the underside of which is arranged at least one floor-cleaning tool which can be driven in rotation or oscillation, wherein the floor-cleaning appliance, for the purpose of cleaning a floor surface, can be guided manually by the user in an operating direction along the floor surface. In order to develop the floor-cleaning appliance such that it can easily be transported, it is proposed according to the invention that the floor-cleaning appliance has transporting wheels which can be fixed by the user, for the purpose of transporting the floor-cleaning appliance, such that they can be rotated on wheel bearings arranged laterally on the housing.