US1139736A - Cleaning-tool. - Google Patents

Description

J. M. STABEL.

CLEANING TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16, 1912.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Jam-(1M 1, M

JOSEPH M.- STABEL, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, ASSIGNOR TO DOMESTIC APPLIANCES COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

cLE NIne-roon Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Application fiIed'October 16, 1912. Serial No. 726,165.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. STABEL, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cleaning- Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cleaning-tools, particularly such as are employed in cleaning floors and floor-coverings, and in which a head or operating-member is mounted upon a long shaft or handle by which it may be moved over the surface to be cleaned.

The invention is particularly applicable to tools, of'the'type in question, such as are employed in connection with vacuum-cleaning systems, although the invention in-certainaspects may be usefully applied to tools of other t pes.

The ob ect of the invention is to'produce a cleaning-tool which may be conveniently used under and around furniture, as well as upon open floor-spaces. To this end I employ, in combination. with a head, and a handle or shaft pivotally connected therewith, so as to be angularly adjustable in a vertical plane, means mounted upon the shaft and manually-operable by the user of the tool to adjust the angle between the head and the shaft, or to fix these parts in adjusted position. In this manner the tool is adapted to be used normally with the handle at a convenient inclination to the floor, while, in working under furniture, the handle may be adjusted to occupy a more nearly horizontal position, and in either position of the handle the tool may be held at the proper angular relation with the handle to cause its operativeextremity to be presented evenly against the floor-surface. y

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a side-elevation of a cleaning-tool embodying the present invention, the figure showing in full lines the normal position of the parts, and in dotted lines the position assumed when the tool is used under low furniture; Fig. 2 is a bottom-view of the tool of Fig. 1, with the parts adjusted to an intermediate position and shown partly in horizontal median section; Fig. 3 is a vertical median section through the pivotal joint which connects the head and the shaft; and Fig. 4 is a section, on the line 4-4 in Fig.2,

looking from right to left in the latter figure. M

v The invention is illustrated as embodied in a vacuum-cleaning tool havinga hollow head, of ordinary form, provided with the usual slot or orifice 6, the tool being intended for use with the lips which surround or define this orifice pressed closely against the surface of a carpet or other floor-covering.

Thishead 5 is provided with the usualtapered nipple 7 for connecting it with a tubular handle or shaft.

Thetubular shaft 8 is of ordinary form, having at its forward end the usual tapered sleeve 9 for connection with the head, and at its rear end atapered nipple 10 for connection with the vacuum-hose. Thenipple 7 and the sleeve 9 are not, however, joined together in the usual manner, but between these parts is interposed a pivotal joint embodying features of the present invention. The joint just referred to comprises asocketmember 11 having atapered sleeve 12 adapted to form a slipjoint with thenipple 7 of thehead 5. This socket-member has a subable upon the periphery of the socket-memher. This ring is connected with the ballmember by two pivot-pins 16, which are fixed in the ball-member at the extremities of a horizontal diameter thereof, the socketmember being recessed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, to receive the pins. Thering 15 has anannular shoulder 17 which bears against the pivot-pins. By means ofscrews 18 passing through the ring and threaded into the socket-member the ring may be drawn 'ainst the pivot-pins in such. a manner as to force the ball-member closely against its seat in the socket-member. pivot-pins thus serve the function of maintaining the bearing-surfaces of the joint in The engagement, while any wear between these surfaces maybe taken up by means of the screws 18'. The pinsserve the further purpose' of limiting the relative movement of the balland socket-members to a pivotal movement about a' horizontal 3X15, slnce movement in any otherdlrection is prevented by the inter-engagement of the pins with the sides of the recesses in the socket-- member. Accordingly, the joint provides 1 for relative angular adjustment-of the shaft and the head in a vertical plane. While the use of spherical engaging surfaces 1s not essential in .a joint having its movements limited as just described, I find that the con-' 'struction in question facilitates the manufacture of the device, since the bearing-sur-' faces may be produced in each case by a. single turning operation, and it has'the furtheradvantage that-lost motion in all directions between the parts of the joint may be-taken up by a single adjustment, thus providing eifectually against wear in the mechanism. The use of the pivot-pins in connection with the spherical bearing-members has the further advantage that it produces less friction between the parts than in the case of the usual spherical joint, wherein the ball-member is retained against its seat by means of a retaining-device hav-' ing an annularbearing or seat against the ball-member.

The pivotal joint just-described is useful 'in connection with cleaning-tools having heads of various forms, including those in which the head has a bearing-surface against the floor which is so wide that it maintains itself in proper enga ement therewith without the necessity of fixing the head and the shaft in their relative angular position. In

connection with comparatively narrow devices, however, such as thehead 5, it is necessary that the proper engagement of the head with the floor-surface be maintained by a fixed connection with the shaft. Accordingly the illustrated tool is provided with manually-operable means for adjusting and fixing the relative positions of the ]OiIlt- 'is bifurcated or recessed to receive the ballshaped rear-end 'of anarm 25 which pro-' jects rearwardly from the fastening-ring 15 on the socket-member of the pivotal joint.

By rotating thesleeve 20 thearm 24 is rocked-in such a manner as to rock thearm 25, and cause a pivotal movement of the members of the joint. After such adjustment there is sufficient friction between the parts to maintain the pivotal joint in its adjusted position. Accordingly, whether the shaft be in either of the positions shown in Fig. 1, or in any intermediate position, thehead 5 is held in its angular relation with the shaft with-sufficient firmness to permit its use in the ordinary manner. In Workmg around furniture, therefore, it 1s necessary, in order that the tool may be used a under such furniture, merely to rotate thesleeve 20 partially upon the shaft, whereupon the shaft may be dropped to horizontal position while the head of the tool still engages the floor-surface properly. Tc pre- By'articulating thearms 24 and 25 in the manner above described, and employing these arms in connection with a shaft and a joint-member having a slip-joint such as that provided by the sleeve 9 and thenipple 14, the pivotal joint is rendered adaptable for use with cleaning-tools of various forms. If, for example, it be desired to sustitute, for thehead 5, a head having a wide, flat bearing-surface, such, for example, as is employed upon a hardwood floor, the shaft may be disengaged from the pivotal joint by disconnecting the slip-joint in question, and by the same operation the arms 24: and 25 are disengaged. The shaft and the pivotal joint may then be connnected again in such a position that the arms are out of enagement with each other. The pivotal oint is then freely movable, thus permitting the shaft to swing freely in a vertical plane, as is desirable in using a floor-cleaning tool of the land above referred to.

My invention is not limited to the embodiment thereof hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

but may be embodied in various other forms within the nature of the invention, as it is defined in the following claims.

t I claim manually-rotatable sleeve surrounding the shaft, and connections between the sleeve and the head adapted to produce angular adjustment of the head when the sleeve is rotated upon the shaft. l

- '2. In a cleanin tool,' the combination,

with a hollow hea and a tubular shaft angularly adjustable in a vertical plane, of a.

manually-rotatable sleeve surrounding the shaft, and inter-engaging arms connected with the head and the sleeve whereby the head is angularly adjusted by rotation of the sleeve.

3. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising two members, the first of said members being adapted for detachable connection with a cleaning-head; a tubular shaft connected, by a slip-joint, with the second of said members; and manually-operable means, mounted upon the shaft, for producing angular adjustment of the joint, said means having operative connections with the first joint-member which are disengageable when the shaft is disengaged from the second member at said slipjoint.

4. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising two members, the first of said members being adapted for connection with a cleaning-head; a shaft connected with the second joint-member; a manually-rotatable member journaled on the shaft; and connections between the first joint-member and the manually-rotatable member comprising inter-engaging arms, for angularly adjusting the head and the shaft about said joint, one of the arms having a recessed extremity which embraces the extremity of the other arm.

5. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising two air-conductin g j oint-members, the first of said members being adapted for connection with a cleaning-head; a shaft removably connected with the second joint-member; a member journaled longitudinally on the shaft and manually rotatable; and interengaging means connecting the first joint-member and the rotatable member whereby rotation of the latter may cause angular movement of the pivotal joint, said connecting means being disengageable when the shaft is removed from the second joint-member.

6. In a cleaning-tool, the combination of a pivotal joint comprising two air-conducting j oint-members, the first of said members being adapted for connection with a cleaning head; a tubular member connected with the second joint-member but rotatable relatively thereto, the outlet passage from said second joint-member extending through said tubular member; and connections between the tubular member and the first joint-member whereby rotation of the tubular member may cause angular movement between the joint-members.

JOSEPH M. STABEL. Witnesses:

C. SOHUYLER DAVIS, D. Gomann.

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