Surface cleaning apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surface cleaning apparatuses face inefficiencies in motor cooling, as they often lack effective pathways for routing and merging cooling air from multiple motors, leading to suboptimal cooling performance and potential overheating.
Innovation Solution
The surface cleaning apparatus incorporates a housing with a recovery pathway and motor cooling pathways that merge heated cooling air from both the vacuum motor and brush motor, allowing for efficient cooling and exhaust through a shared cooling air outlet, while isolating the brush motor cooling pathway from the recovery pathway.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate cooling pathways are used for vacuum motor and brush motor, then each motor can be cooled independently, but the device complexity increases and cooling efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate cooling pathways for the vacuum motor and brush motor into a single integrated cooling pathway. Heated cooling air from both motors is merged and exhausted together through a common outlet, reducing the number of separate pathways while maintaining effective cooling for both motors simultaneously.
2Device complexity
If cooling pathways are integrated with recovery pathway, then the device structure is simplified, but cooling performance deteriorates due to contamination and pressure interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the cooling pathway from the recovery pathway, creating a completely separate and isolated cooling system. This segmentation prevents contamination of cooling air by dirty air from the recovery pathway and eliminates pressure interference, ensuring optimal cooling performance while maintaining adequate structural integration.
3Reliability
If multiple separate cooling outlets are provided, then each motor cooling can be optimized independently, but the device complexity and air loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the cooling outlets for the vacuum motor and brush motor into a single common outlet. This consolidation reduces the number of outlets while maintaining optimized cooling for both motors by merging their heated cooling air streams before exhaust, thereby reducing device complexity and preventing air loss.
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 configuration enhances motor cooling efficiency, preventing overheating and ensuring effective operation of the vacuum and brush motors, thereby improving the overall performance and reliability of the surface cleaning apparatus.
Implementation Method 1
a vacuum motor cooling pathway comprising a first cooling air inlet in fluid communication with ambient air outside the housing and a cooling air outlet... heated cooling air from the brush motor and the vacuum motor merges within the vacuum motor cooling pathway and is exhausted together through the cooling air outlet
Data Source
AI summary
A surface cleaning apparatus includes a housing having a base adapted for movement across a surface to be cleaned, a fluid delivery system, and a recovery system. Various motor cooling arrangements are disclosed. The surface cleaning apparatus can be configured to clean multiple surfaces, including hard and soft floor surfaces.