Air duct cleaning apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing duct cleaning systems are bulky, cumbersome, and pose safety risks due to rotating metal shafts, often causing messes and requiring separate equipment for access and vacuuming, while also limiting the size of debris that can be suctioned up.
Innovation Solution
A duct cleaning system comprising a flexible vacuum hose, drive shaft, and camera line, each with independent steering and color-coded for easy maneuverability, along with a portable motor and vacuum source, allowing for separate operation and storage without tangling, and featuring a sheath to protect the drive shaft from entanglement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a flexible metal shaft is used to rotate the brush through the vacuum hose, then the brush can be driven to dislodge particles, but the shaft can contact the hose while rotating, adding weight and inflexibility, and posing safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the dangerous rotating metal shaft from the vacuum hose interior by using a flexible drive mechanism that transmits power through the hose wall externally, eliminating the hazard of shaft contact with hair, string, or fingers while maintaining brush rotation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a flexible drive shaft that rotates within a guide tube or channel in the hose wall, acting as an intermediary that transmits rotational motion from the motor to the brush without exposing the rotating shaft through holes in the nozzle, thus preventing contact with contaminants
2Ease of operation
If a rotating metal shaft extends through the vacuum hose to drive the brush, then the brush can be driven, but the shaft limits the size of debris that can be suctioned up
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the internal rotating shaft from the hose interior and positioning it externally or within the hose wall, the patent eliminates the obstruction that limited debris size, allowing larger particles and objects to be suctioned through the full cross-sectional area of the hose
3Power
If a bulky vacuum source is used for duct cleaning, then sufficient suction power is provided, but the system becomes large and cumbersome requiring separate equipment for access and vacuuming
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the vacuum source, motor for brush rotation, and hose assembly into an integrated unit where the motor and vacuum source are mounted together on the hose or handled as a single assembly, eliminating the need for separate vacuum equipment and access tools
4Ease of operation
If the vacuum hose is inserted within an enclosed space, then cleaning can be performed, but the metal shaft can contact the hose while rotating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the rotating shaft from the interior of the flexible hose and positions it externally or within the hose wall structure, eliminating the risk of contact between the rotating shaft and the flexible hose during insertion and operation in enclosed spaces
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 system effectively cleans ducts by dislodging and suctioning debris while providing visualization, is easy to transport and store, and reduces the risk of entanglement and injury, enhancing user safety and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum source; the distal end of the vacuum hose...configured to be fed into and moved along a duct to be cleaned. The vacuum hose delivers a vacuum to the duct to be cleaned
Data Source
AI summary
A duct cleaning system includes a flexible vacuum hose having a proximal end configured to couple to a vacuum source, a flexible drive shaft having a proximal end configured to couple to a rotating motor, and a distal end configured to couple to a cleaning attachment, and a flexible camera line having a proximal end configured to couple to a power source and a distal end provided with a camera. The distal ends of the vacuum hose, the drive shaft, and the camera line configured to be fed into and moved along a duct to be cleaned, with the vacuum hose delivering a vacuum to the duct to suction up and collect particles and debris in the vacuum source, the drive shaft and cleaning attachment rotating within the duct to be cleaned to loosen particles and debris, and the camera line providing visualization of the duct during the cleaning process.