Floor tool for a cleaning appliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional floor tools for cleaning appliances are typically limited to straight-line movement due to their wheel configurations, which can lead to difficulty in maneuvering and increased height and weight, causing strain on the user and potential loss of performance when steering.
Innovation Solution
A floor tool design featuring a cleaner head rotatably attached to a conduit carried by a pair of wheels with converging axes of rotation, allowing for movement beyond straight lines while maintaining a flat profile and compact height, achieved through the use of dome-shaped wheels with surfaces coincident with a common sphere and a pivotally attached conduit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional wheel configurations are used, then the floor tool can move in straight lines, but maneuvering in other directions becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dome-shaped wheels with spherical surfaces instead of conventional cylindrical wheels. This curvature allows the wheels to rotate about intersecting axes that converge beneath the conduit, enabling the floor tool to move in arcs and change direction smoothly while maintaining continuous ground contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The floor tool incorporates a pivotally attached conduit that allows dynamic adjustment of the conduit's orientation relative to the cleaner head. This dynamic configuration enables the tool to adapt to different maneuvering directions while maintaining optimal wheel contact with the ground surface.
2Stability of the object's composition
If three wheels are used to provide support, then stability is improved, but the height and weight of the floor tool increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the central support wheel from traditional three-wheel configurations, relying instead on two dome-shaped wheels with converging axes to provide sufficient support stability. This reduction eliminates unnecessary weight while maintaining the floor tool's ability to remain stable during operation.
3Stability of the object's composition
If three wheels are used to provide support, then stability is improved, but the height of the floor tool increases
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the central support wheel and utilizing only two dome-shaped wheels with converging axes, the patent reduces the overall height of the floor tool. The converging wheel arrangement allows the conduit to pass through the space between wheels at a lower height while maintaining support stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The dome-shaped wheels with spherical surfaces converge beneath the conduit, creating a compact support structure that reduces the floor tool's height. The curved surfaces allow the wheels to provide continuous arcuate support while maintaining a low profile suitable for cleaning beneath low-profile structures.
4Ease of operation
If dome-shaped wheels with converging axes are used, then maneuverability is improved, but the complexity of the wheel configuration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dome-shaped wheels with spherical surfaces and converging rotation axes provide intuitive steering capability. As the conduit rotates relative to the cleaner head, the spherical wheels naturally follow arcuate paths, making steering operations simple despite the non-conventional geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The wheels are positioned asymmetrically with converging axes rather than parallel arrangements, creating a configuration that simplifies steering mechanics. The asymmetric placement allows the conduit to pivot naturally, reducing the complexity of steering control mechanisms.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
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AI summary
A floor tool (1) for a cleaning appliance comprising a cleaner head (2) rotatably attached to a conduit (15) carried by a pair of wheels (16) that converge beneath the conduit (15).