US3916476A

US3916476A - Vacuum cleaner housing structure

Info

Publication number: US3916476A
Application number: US433919A
Authority: US
Inventors: Milton J Johnson; Paul M Clark
Original assignee: Whirlpool Corp
Current assignee: Panasonic Corp of North America; Whirlpool Floor Care Corp
Priority date: 1974-01-16
Filing date: 1974-01-16
Publication date: 1975-11-04
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-04

Abstract

A housing structure for use in a vacuum cleaner having a belt driving a rotary brush from a motor drive, including a door providing selective access to the belt for facilitated servicing thereof. The door, in the illustrated embodiment, is pivotally connected to the vacuum cleaner nozzle. A belt guide is pivotally mounted to the nozzle for protecting the door and maintaining the belt in force transfer relationship with the motor and brush pulley portions.

Description

United States Patent Johnson et al. [45] Nov. 4, 1975 VACUUM CLEANER HOUSING 2,482,166 9/1949 Gage 15/389 x STRUCTURE 2,517,670 8/1950 Humphrey 15/337 X 2,584,495 2/1952 Osborn 15/391 X [75] Inventors: Milton J. Johnson, Rosemount; Paul M. Clark, St. Paul, both of M1nn Primary Examiner Harvey C HOmsby [73] Assignee: Whirlpool Corporation, Benton Assistant Examiner-Christopher K. Moore Harbor, Mich. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, 22 Filed: Jan. 16, 1974 Stenma & Mccord 21 Appl. No.: 433,919 [57] ABSTRACT A housing structure for use in a vacuum cleaner hav- [52] US. CLz 15/377; 15/325, 15/391 ing a belt driving a rotary brush from a motor drive, [51] lift. Cl. A47L 9/04 including a door providing Selective access to the belt [58] Field of Search 15/325 for facilitated servicing thereof. The door, in the illus- 15/337 trated embodiment, is pivotally connected to the vacuum cleaner nozzle. A belt guide is pivotally mounted [56] References cued to the nozzle for protecting the door and maintaining UNITED STATES PATENTS the belt in force transfer relationship with the motor 1,449,003 3/1923 Hoover 15/389 x and brush pulley portions.

1,995,630 3/1935 Bass 2,079,293 5/1937 Kirby 15/389 x 14 Claims, 3 Dl'awmg Flgures VACUUM CLEANER HOUSING STRUCTURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to vacuum cleaners, and in particular to means for providing facilitated access to the belt drive of a vacuum cleaner.

2. Description of the Prior Art In one conventional form of vacuum cleaner, a rotary brush is provided within the nozzle housing means for loosening dirt in the floor material being cleaned for facilitated suction of the dirt into the dirt-collecting receptacle of the vacuum cleaner. Conventionally, such brushes are driven from an electric motor within the nozzle by means of a pulley and belt drive.

A problem has been found in the conventional vacuum cleaner constructions in that it is difficult and time consuming to service the belt drive. Wear or breakage of the belt may require replacement of the fan belt from time to time. In the conventional vacuum cleaner constructions, the nozzle structure must be at least partially disassembled to provide access to the brush belt. In a number of conventional forms of such vacuum cleaners, such access requires not only removing the entire baseplate structure of the nozzle but also other securing elements.

Further, servicing of such brush belts has been difficult in that, notwithstanding the removal of a covered portion of the nozzle, only limited access is provided to the belt drive structure, making it difficult to remove and replace the belt notwithstanding the provision of the limited access thereto. Conventionally, access is had to the brush belt space in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the pulleys with only limited clearance being available to remove the belt from the pulleys firstly parallel to the axes thereof and then permit withdrawal of the removed belt from the nozzle in a direction perpendicular to the axes.

A number of structures have been developed to provide accessibility to the belt drives in vacuum cleaner constructions. Illustratively, in U.S. Pat. No. 1,829,582 of Jesse F. Carson, a vacuum cleaner is shown having a belt drive disposed outwardly of the vacuum cleaner main housing which is selectively covered by an auxiliary housing which may be secured to the main housing by suitable screws. Floor wheels are provided on suitable supports outboard of the cover. Screw means are provided for adjusting the clearance between the nozzle and the subjacent floor, which screw means overlie the belt cover.

In U.S. Pat. No. 2,657,417 of Frank S. Howard, the baseplate of the vacuum cleaner nozzle must be removed to provide access to the belt drive. The brush must be removed to permit placement of the belt around the midportion thereof, requiring removal of the bearings from the bearing mounting means subsequent to the removal of the bottom plate of the nozzle.

In Joseph F. Kravos et a]. U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,231, a portable electric clothes cleaner is shown having an auxiliary cover similar to that of the Carson patent structure for enclosing a brush belt exteriorly of the main housing. The auxiliary cover is secured to the main housing by suitable screws in a manner similar to securing the cover to the main housing in the Carson patent structure. In each of the Carson and Kravos et al structures, the belt is free to engage the auxiliary cover by movement outwardly from the pulley means and SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprehends a vacuum cleaner construction having an improved means for enclosing the brush belt, permitting facilitated servicing of the belt when required. The belt enclosing means may be selectively opened without the need for conventional tools, such as screwdrivers and the like, while yet normally effectively encloses the belt drive space within the main housing nozzle of the vacuum cleaner.

The invention further comprehends providing means for guiding the belt into maintained association with the motor and brush pulley means in the normal operation of the vacuum cleaner. In the illustrated embodiment, the belt guiding means comprises a metal element which further protects the portion of the housing covering the access providing opening to the belt drive space.

In the illustrated embodiment, the access opening is selectively closed by a door which may be pivotally mounted to the housing to define a side wall of the housing, with the belt drive being disposed within the main housing.

The access door may be biased to an open position by suitable biasing means which, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a portion of the protective bumper means of the nozzle. The door may be locked in the closed position across the access opening against the biasing action of the biasing means by a lock means permitting facilitated manipulation thereof to release the door when desired without the need for conventional tools, such as screwdrivers and the like.

More specifically, the invention comprehends providing in a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, nozzle housing structure including wall means enclosing the brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to the belt for removal and installation thereof. A door is hingedly connected to the wall means for selectively closing and exposing the access opening of the nozzle.

The housing structure of the present invention is extremely simple and economical of construction while yet providing the highly desirable features discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a vacuum cleaner having a housing structure embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged bottom plan view thereof with a portion broken away to facilitated illustration of the inventive structure; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the exemplary embodiment of the invention as disclosed in the drawing, a vacuum cleaner generally designated 10 is shown to comprise a wheeled nozzle housing 11 provided with a suction tube 12 for conducting 3 dirt-laden air picked up by the nozzle to a dirt-collecting receptacle (not shown). The nozzle is provided with a metal bottom plate 13 which is removably secured to the upper portion of the nozzle by suitable means, such as screws 14. Bottom plate 13 defines an opening 15 exposing a conventional rotary brush 16 for loosening dirt on the floor material being cleaned..The brush is rotatably journalled in suitable bearings 17 carried by the nozzle and includes a shaft 18 provided with a pulley 19. Pulley 19 is rotatably driven by a belt 20 which, in turn, is driven by a pulley portion 21 of the output shaft 22 of an electric motor 23 which is suitably energized through a power cord 24 brought out through the rear wall 25 of the nozzle. Shaft 22 extends above the wheeled truck 26 at the lefthand side of the nozzle which, in turn, extends downwardly through a cutout portion 27 in the bottom plate 13. Thus, as best seen in 1 FIG. I, nozzle 11 and bottom plate 13 cooperatively define an access opening 28 at the left side of the nozzle for providing access to the belt 20 when desired.

Access opening 28 is selectively closed by a door 29 pivotally connected to the housing 11 by a pivot mounting means 30 at the front lefthand corner portion 31 of the nozzle. Door 29 is biased to an open position, as shown in FIG. 2, by a bumper strip 32 extending across the front wall 33 of the nozzle, along righthand side 34, and about door 29. The bumper strip may be formed of asuitable resilient material such as a synthetic resin.

Door 29 may be retained in a closed position across access opening 28 by means ofa rotatable lock element 35 carried on the distal end 36 of the door and a catch member 37 mounted to the nozzle 11 at the left rear corner portion 38. Lock element 35 includes an exposed slotted head 39 which may be selectively rotated between locking and released positions by readily available means, such as a coin, eliminating the need for the use of a conventional hand tool, such as a screwdriver, in providing access to the belt 20 when desired.

The door includes a flange portion 40 which under lies the motor pulley portion 21 and the portion of the belt adjacent thereto to cooperate with the bottom plate 13 in closing the bottom of the access opening 28. In the illustrated embodiment, the locking element 35 is carried by the flange portion 40.

Inward movement of the door to the closed position is limited by abutment of a stop shoulder 41 on the distal end 36 of the door 29 abutting the mounting support 42 of the catch member 37. As shown in FIG. 1, bumper strip 32 may be provided with an attaching portion 43 received in a suitable slot 44 in door 29 for use in securing the bumper strip to the door.

The invention further comprehends providing a belt guide 45 across access opening 28. Guide 45 is removably disposed across the opening for maintaining the belt 20 against movement outwardly from the pulley means 19 and 21 in a direction parallel to the axes of the pulleys. As illustrated in FIG. 2, belt guide 45 includes a connector portion 46 pivotally mounted to the nozzle by a pivot 47, permitting the belt guide to be swung outwardly from access opening 28 when access to the belt 20 is desired.

Belt guide 45 includes a turned distal end 48 adapted for fingertip manipulation in swinging the guide. The guide may comprise an elongated metal element which further serves as means for protecting the door 29 from abrasion and damage which otherwise could result 4 from breakage of the belt during operation of the vacuum cleaner.

As shown in FIG. 2, the belt guide may include a recessed portion 49 for receiving attaching portion 43 of bumper strip 32 in the closed positions of the belt guide and door. A stop shoulder 50 is provided on a mounting plate 51 secured to the nozzle 11 outwardly of belt 20 for limiting the inward movement of the belt guide toward the belt. The belt guide may include an upstanding tab 52 which is selectively received behind a downturned peripheral flange 53 of the nozzle when the belt guide abuts the stop shoulder 50. The pivotal mounting of the belt guide to the nozzle is sufficiently flexible to permit tab '52 to be moved vertically to below the nozzle flange 53 in moving the belt guide to and from the closed position of FIG. 1.

The vacuum cleaner structure may further be provided with mechanism generally designated 54 for adjusting the nozzle height to adapt the nozzle for use with different pile height carpeting. Adjusting mechanism 54 includes a foot pedal 55 exposed rearwardly of rear wall 25 of the nozzle and a connecting link 56 extending through a slot 57 in rear wall 25. Mechanism 54 includes an indicator portion 58 exposed through opening 60 in housing 11.

In the illustrated embodiment, pivot 47 is carried by the mounting plate 51 which, in turn, is secured to the nozzle by suitable fastening means, such as screw 59, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus, the belt guide is firmly, yet movably, mounted to the nozzle to provide the desirable belt-guiding and door-protecting functioning discussed above.

The foregoing disclosure of specific embodiments is illustrative of the broad inventive concepts comprehended by the invention.

Having described the invention, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

I. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt including a removable bottom plate for providing selective access to said brush and motor, said wall means defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof; and a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said door providing selective access to said belt with said bottom plate retained in association with said wall means.

2.The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 1 wherein said access opening is at one side of the housing.

3. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof; and a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said motor and brush being provided with belt pulley means rotatable about horizontal parallel axes, said opening providing access to said belt in alignment with said axes whereby said belt may be moved from and to said pulleys through said access opening in a-direction parallel to said axes for facilitated removal and installation thereof.

4. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim I wherein means are provided for biasing the door to an open position exposing said access opening.

5. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 1 wherein selectively manipulatable lock means are provided for selectively locking said door in a closed position across said access opening.

6. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising:

wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof, said motor and brush being provided with belt pulley means rotatable about horizontal parallel axes, said opening providing access to said belt in alignment with said axes whereby said belt may be moved from and to said pulleys through said access opening in a direction parallel to said axes for facilitated removal and installation thereof;

guide means removably disposed within said access opening for maintaining said belt against movement outwardly from the pulley means in a direction parallel to said axes; and

a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said door overlying said belt guide means in the closed position of the door across said access opening.

7. The vacuum cleaner structure of claim 6 wherein means are provided on said housing for movably mounting said guide means to permit selective disposition of the guide means substantially outwardly of said access opening for permitting free access to said belt.

8. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 6 wherein pivot means are provided on said housing for pivotally mounting said guide means to permit selective pivotal disposition of the guide means substantially outwardly of said access opening for permitting free access to said belt.

9. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 6 wherein means are provided on said housing for movably mounting said guide means to permit selective disposition of the guide means substantially outwardly of said access opening for permitting free access to said belt, and means are further provided on said housing for selectively retaining said guide means in a belt guiding disposition outwardly adjacent said belt on said pulley means.

10. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising:

wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof;

a door formed of a synthetic resin hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening; and

guard means in said housing structure for preventing damage to said door by said belt in the event of breakage of the belt.

11. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 10 wherein said guard means comprises a metal element.

12. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 10 wherein pivot means are provided for mounting said guard means to said housing for selective positioning substantially outwardly of said access opening.

13. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 10 wherein said guard means comprises an element pivotally mounted to said housing structure, and means are provided on said housing structure for limiting the pivotal movement of the guard means toward said belt to prevent engagement of the guard means with the belt in the normal operation of the vacuum cleaner.

14. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 10 wherein cooperating means are provided on said guard means and housing structure for selectively preventing movement of said guard means outwardly from said access opening.

UNEIRD STATES PA'lE-JNT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATLNT NO. 1 3,916,476

DATED November 4, 1975 INVENIOWS) Milton J. Johnson and Paul M. Clark It is cerhfied lhat e ror appears in The above-Identified patent and that smd Letters Patent are hereby uorrected as shown below Claim 7, line 30 of column 5, after "cleaner" insert housing.

gigncd and Scaled this eleventh Of May 1976 [SEAL] A Nest.

Claims

1. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt including a removable bottom plate for providing selective access to said brush and motor, said wall means defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof; and a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said door providing selective access to said belt with said bottom plate retained in association with said wall means.

2. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 1 wherein said access opening is at one side of the housing.

3. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof; and a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said motor and brush being provided with belt pulley means rotatable about horizontal parallel axes, said opening providing access to said belt in alignment with said axes whereby said belt may be moved from and to said pulleys through said access opening in a direction parallel to said axes for facilitated removal and installation thereof.

4. The vacuum cleaner housing structure of claim 1 wherein means are provided for biasing the door to an open position exposing said access opening.

6. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof, said motor and brush being provided with belt pulley means rotatable about horizontal parallel axes, said opening providing access to said belt in alignment with said axes whereby said belt may be moved from and to said pulleys through said access opening in a direction parallel to said axes for facilitated removal and installation thereof; guide means removably disposed within said access opening for maintaining said belt against movement outwardly from the pulley means in a direction parallel to said axes; and a door hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening, said door overlying said belt guide means in the closed position of the door across said access opening.

10. In a vacuum cleaner having a rotary brush, a motor, and a belt for driving the brush from the motor, housing structure comprising: wall means enclosing said brush, motor, and belt and defining an access opening providing access to said belt for removal and installation thereof; a door formed of a synthetic resin hingedly connected to said wall means for selectively closing and exposing said access opening; and guard means in said housing structure for preventing damage to said door by said belt in the event of breakage of the belt.