FA 1 tL JM ArN D 1 KADEMAKK U t b IL, Ji- I. CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is based on and claims the priority of United States provisional application 61/206,314 filed on January 28, 2009.
II. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to hand held cleaning implements and more particularly to a motor driven hand held sweeper that uses a roller with a blade on the roller to sweep dust, loose particles and elongated particles into a dust receiving bin. Ventilation fans assist in drawing the dust and particles into the receiving bin.
III. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Handheld sweepers have been used in the past to pick up dust and small items from hard surfaces, such as wood or tile floors, and carpets having varying piles of various heights. One type of handheld floor sweeper that has been used extensively in the past is a manually pushed floor sweeper that is not powered by a motor. Other types of electrically powered hand sweepers have been designed that use a motor to rotate the rollers. In both instances the rollers have brushes extending from the circumference of the roller. The brushes contact the surface to be cleaned and "flick" loose particles that are to be removed from the surface into a dust receiving bin or canister. The loose particles can include any particles that sit freely on the top of the surface to be cleaned. Typical loose particles include crumbs, food particles such as cereal and grains, paper, sand, gravel, grass, pebbles and the like. However, there are other particles that are also picked up by the brushes that are not easily "flicked" into a receiving bin. These include mainly hair, thread and fibers. These elongated particles tend to wrap themselves around the rotating brush. As more and more of the elongated particles wrap around the brush, the ability of the brush to pick off loose particles becomes encumbered. The elongated particles further get entangled around the roller's shaft. If enough elongated wrap around the roller's shaft, it can eventually cause the roller to stop rotating. It is an unpleasant task for the user to remove the entangled elongated particles from the brush which often requires using a sharp cutting tool or at the very least using ones fingers to pull out the entangled particles. This is a common complaint of all users of sweepers having bristles on the roller. Examples of various sweepers that describe the problem of hair or elongated particles becoming entangled in the brushes are seen in US 7,152,267 and published application US 2005/0181968, wherein it describes the difficulty of removing loose soils and soils capable of entanglement from soft surfaces. However in the specification in US 2005/0181968 in paragraph [0006] it states that rotating blades do not solve the problem of picking up elongated fibers. In an attempt to solve this problem, the applicants in US 2005/0181968 attach a cleaning sheet to the bottom of the device. The cleaning sheet, through various means, attracts and holds the elongated fibers against the cleaning sheet. The cleaning sheet with the trapped elongated fibers is then discarded after use. Various other attempts have been made to solve the problem of elongated fibers becoming entangled with sweeper brushes, although the problem has previously never been solved.
IV. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Applicant has solved the problem of minimizing elongated fiber entanglement around the cleaning roller used on hand held electrically driven sweepers. The solution is found in a combination of a unique roller used in the sweeper head with an air flow design that directs the air from the roller to the dust receiving bin and out the top of the sweeper head. The roller is mounted at the front of the sweeper head and has preferably a flexible single rubber blade extending radially out from the surface of the roller. This blade picks up or "flicks" loose particles from the surface but inhibits the elongated fibers from becoming entangled on the blade and roller. Furthermore the single blade tends to sweep the elongated fibers into the receiving bin. The air flow path directs air from the front mounted roller to the dust receiving bin and out the top of the sweeper head. The air current assists in keeping the elongated fibers from tangling around the roller. Any elongated fibers that are not swept into the receiving bin but manage to wind around the roller are directed by the blade toward an end of the roller where they accumulate on a spindle for easy removal when the roller is removed from the sweeper head.
V. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the floor sweeper. Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the head of the floor sweeper with the handle removed. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the sweeper head with portions removed to illustrate the roller releasing mechanism to allow easy removal of the roller. Fig.4 is a bottom view of the sweeper head with portions removed to illustrate the motor and gear drive. Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 3 showing the front roller and blade and direction of air flow through the sweeper head. Fig. 6 is an end view with portions removed and partially in cross section illustrating the corner blades as they are adjacent to a wall. Fig. 7 is a front view of the roller and blade assembly. Fig. 8 is a front view of the inventive roller and blade assembly of Fig. 7 except with the roller rotated approximately 90 degrees. Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an alternate embodiment of the inventive roller and blade assembly with the blade in a different configuration. Fig. 11 is another alternate embodiment of the inventive roller and blade assembly with the blade in a second alternate configuration. Fig. 12 is a cross sectional view taken along line 12-12 of Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the floor sweeper with one front roller and one side roller. Fig. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the head of the floor sweeper illustrated in Fig. 12 with the handle removed. . Fig. 15 is a top plan view of the sweeper head of Fig. 14. Fig. 16 is a perspective view of second alternate embodiment of the floor sweeper with a triangular head and rollers mounted on two sides of the head. Fig. 17 is an enlarged perspective view of the head of the floor sweeper illustrated in Fig. 16 with the handle removed. Fig. 18 is a top plan view of the head of the floor sweeper illustrated in Fig. 17 with portions removed to illustrate the gear mechanism that provides power to the rollers.
VI. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Fig. 1 illustrates a hand held sweeper 10 of the present invention. The sweeper 10 is closely related to the hand held sweeper that is more fully described in U.S. Patent No. 7, 152,267 and U.S. Patent No. 7,340,795 both owned by Bryan Kaleta, one of the inventors of the present invention. Many of the drive components, the electrical wiring and the connection of the handle to the sweeper that are described in these two patents can be utilized in the instant invention. Thus, U.S. 7,152,267 and U.S. Patent No. 7,340,795 are incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore throughout this application the word "debris" shall mean loose particles such as dirt, dust, sand, grains, gravel and other loose particles and also elongated fibers such as hair, thread yarn, string and similar fibers. In Fig. 1 there is a sweeper head 12 connected to an elongated handle 14 by means of a universal pivot 16. Mounted on the elongated handle 14 is a battery box 18 that contains a battery, which may be of any conventional design and may be disposable or rechargeable. At a top end of the elongated handle 14 is a grasping portion 22 which the user holds to push, pull or otherwise move the sweeper 10. An on-off switch 24 is mounted on the grasping portion 22. Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views with portions removed of the sweeper head 12. The sweeper head 12 has a housing comprised of a rectangular top 26, short sides 28 and long sides 30. The universal pivot 16 is attached to the top 26. Mounted along one of the long sides 30 at the front of the sweeper head 12 is a front roller 32. Along one of the short sides 28 is a first side roller 36 and along the opposite short side 28 is a second side roller 36. The front roller and side rollers have an outer cylindrical surface or body. Also, these rollers are preferably mounted on or have shafts 37 on which the rollers rotate. Mounted to or integrally formed in the outer surface of the front roller 32 is a front blade 38 extending radially out from the roller 32. Similarly mounted to or integrally formed with the first side roller 34 and second side roller 36 are side blades 40, 42 respectively extending radially out from their respective rollers. One can design the sweeper to have only one side roller, however, two side rollers are preferred. The blades 38, 40 and 42 are preferably made from a flexible rubber or elastomeric material that can have a proximal end 44 rigidly attached to the roller body yet have a flexible body that allows a distal end 46 to easily bend when the blades contact the surface to be cleaned as will be described herein. There are front corner rollers 48, 50, and rear corner brushes 52 and 54. Each of the corner rollers 48-54 has a flexible radially extending corner blade 56 mounted to the corner roller. The corner blades 56 extend from the corner roller to contact the surface to be cleaned and are especially helpful to contact and clean a corner formed between the floor and a wall or other upstanding surface. All of the corner rollers 48-54 are mounted on shafts so that the corner rollers and their blades 56 can freely rotate. There is also an air chamber door 58 on the top 26. There are ventilation holes or slots 60 cut in the air chamber door 58. One edge of the chamber door 58 can be pivo tally connected to the top 26. On the opposite edge of the chamber door is a finger latch 62, which is attached to an opposite edge of the pivotal connection. Thus the chamber door 58 can be latched in the closed position or unlatched and pivoted to an open position. The rollers 32, 34 and 36 are mounted to the sweeper head 12 by each of the roller shafts 37 being connected to corner gear boxes 64 such as known in the prior art patents. The gear boxes 64 are in turn mounted to or integrally formed with the sweeper head 12. Inside the gear boxes 64 are gears that transmit rotational power from one shaft to another adjacent shaft. As seen in Fig. 4, power is supplied to the rollers by means of a small electric motor 66. The motor 66 turns a pinion 68 which engages and drives a bevel gear 70. The gear 70 is mounted on drive shaft 72 which enters gear box 64 and through the gears internal to gear box 64, drives shaft 37 connected to side roller 36. Through the other corner gear boxes 64, the rollers 32 and 34 are simultaneously driven. The rollers 32, 34 and 36 can be made of metal, plastic or any material suitable for the intended purpose. It should be light but strong enough to support itself between the gear boxes 64 located at each corner of the sweeper head 12. In the preferred embodiment there is only one blade member 38, 40 42 on each of the rollers 32, 34 36. However, depending on the speed of rotation of the rollers 32, 34 36, there may be a second blade member mounted on the roller. As seen in Fig. 5 the sweeper head 32 has a front housing 74 that wraps around the front blade 38 and terminates at a housing bottom 76 above a surface 78 that is to be cleaned. The housing bottom 76 is generally about 8-10 mm above the surface 78. Between the housing bottom 76 and the surface 78 is an air entranceway 80. In the prior art it was discovered that if the roller 30 spins too fast, or has spinning brushes, air currents are created that actually blow the debris away from the sweeper head instead of into the sweeper head. Applicant discovered that by using only one blade on a roller, air currents are not created that blow the dust away from the front or sides of the sweeper head. Rather the blade 38 rotates and draws the dust and elongated particles into the sweeper head as seen by arrow A in Fig. 5. The front blade 38 is long enough to touch the surface 78 so that it can flick or project loose soils and elongated particles from the surface 78 through an opening 82, as shown by arrow "B". The loose soils and elongated particles are blown into an air chamber 84 and then deposited into a debris receiving bin 86. The receiving bin 86 has a pivoting drop down door 87 to discharge debris collected in the receiving bin 86. There is an air filter 88 mounted to the underside of the air chamber door 58 which is otherwise substantially open by means of the ventilation slots 60 which allows air to pass through it. The air filter 88 is mounted so it can be removed for easy cleaning. A ventilation fan 90 is attached to the air chamber door and when turned on, assists in creating a negative air pressure in the air chamber 84, opening 82 and air entranceway 80. This assists in creating an air current flowing from the air entranceway 80 to the ventilation holes 60 which aids in pulling the loose soils and elongated particles into the debris receiving bin 86. The elongated fibers do not entangle themselves around the blade 38. The spinning front roller 32 and blade 38 appear to create an air pocket or cushion about the roller and blade which assists in keeping the elongated fibers from securely winding around the blade 38. Furthermore the design of the blade 38 inhibits the elongated fibers from catching on rough and ensnaring bristles that are found in the prior art brushes. As seen in Fig. 6, when the sweeper 10 is pushed against a wall 92 with a quarter round molding 94, the short side 28 of the sweeper head 12 strikes the quarter round 94. The front corner roller 48 and corner blade 56 sweep any debris toward the first side roller 34. The first side roller 34 and blade 40 sweep the debris into the sweeper head and into the air chamber 84 where it drops into the debris receiving bin 86. The corner blade 56 and side blade 40 are illustrated as having their distal ends 46 above the surface 78. However, in the preferred embodiment, the distal ends 46 will contact the surface 78 to more effectively sweep debris into the receiving bin 86. Fig. 7 is a front view of the front roller 32 and blade 38. The blade 38 has a height "H" extending from its proximal end 44 to its distal end 46. Fig. 8 is similar to Fig. 7 except the front roller 32 is rotated approximately 90 degrees. The height H should be sufficient to allow the distal end 46 of the blade 38 to contact the surface 78 to be cleaned so that the blade 38 can pick up loose particles and propel them into the debris receiving bin 86 in the sweeper head 12. Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the front roller 32 illustrating the blade 38 extending over a portion of the surface of the front roller 32. Alternate blade arrangements are illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11. Fig. 10 illustrates a blade 38 that is mounted on the front roller 32 in a straight across nature. The blade 38 is parallel to the long axis of the front roller 32. Fig. 11 has the blade 38 mounted in a curved arrangement, with the beginning and ending points 96, 98 being on approximately the same axially line which is parallel to the shaft 37 extending on the surface of the roller 32. A single blade can also be configured in a "V" shape. Yet another embodiment is to have a blade 38 that is mounted to the surface of the roller 32 at an acute angle with respect to a line parallel to the shaft. Figs. 13-15 illustrate an alternate embodiment that is very similar to the preferred embodiment as illustrated in Figs. 1-6 except that there is only one side roller, which as illustrated in Fig. 14, is the side roller 36. The first side roller 34 is eliminated. The front roller 32 is still used and one or more corner brushes can also be used. Figs. 16-18 illustrate another alternative embodiment in which the sweeper head is configured as a triangular head 104. In operation, the triangular head 104 operates substantially the same as the preferred rectangular head configuration. There are two side rollers 106, 108 having flexible blades 110, 112. There are at least two corner rollers 114, 116 with corner blades 118, 120 respectively. Other corner rollers 122, 124 with blades mounted thereon can be placed at the other corners of the sweeper head 104. Power from the motor 66 is transferred to all of the rollers 106, 108 by means of the drive shaft 72 which is connected to the rollers 106, 108 by means of gears 126 placed at each of the gear boxes 128 in each corner of the head 104. A debris receiving bin is mounted in the sweeper head 104 as described in the previous embodiment. One or more fans can be placed in the sweeper head 104 to assist in creating an air flow from the sweeper blade through the top of the sweeper head 104. It has been found that the inventive roller and blade assembly does not work as well with two blades on the rollers as compared to only using a singular blade. When using more than two blades on the roller, it results in a device that works even less efficiently. It is believed that the reason is more clearly illustrated in Fig. 5. As the front roller 32 spins, the blade 38 forces air to push out from the underside of the sweeper head 12 in the direction opposite of arrow "A". Other airflow is directed back into the air entranceway 80 in the direction of arrow "A". If the blade 38 spins too fast, or in the alternative if there are multiple blades 38, the air flow created in front of the sweeper head tends to blow the dirt and dust away from the front of the sweeper head 12. Obviously this is undesirable as it blows the dirt away instead of sweeping it into the debris receiving bin 86. The end result is that the sweeper 10 does not accomplish its intended function, which is to pick up loose particles and elongated fibers. It is desirable to create as little of an air curtain blowing away from the sweeper head 12 as possible to minimize this blowing effect. The blade member is made of flexible and/or elastomeric material so that it bends or deforms when it contacts the surface 78 to be cleaned. The blade is preferably smooth so that elongated particles do not catch on rough edges on the blade. The design of the blades 38, 40 and 42 also tends to direct any loose elongated fibers toward one end of the roller 32, 34, and 36. This may be due to the flow of air around the roller or because of the configuration or mounting of the blade. In any event, elongated fibers that are not swept into the debris receiving bin tend to migrate toward one end or the other end of the respective roller 32, 34, and 36. To accommodate for these elongated fibers that tend to migrate toward the ends of the roller, the rollers 32, 34 and 36 have the shaft 37 extending out from the roller at each end. This is illustrated in Fig. 3. The diameter of the shaft 37 is preferably less that the diameter of the rollers 32, 34 and 36. The shafts 37 are received in the corner gear boxes 64 at opposite corners of the sweeper head 12. One of the shafts, which is illustrated as shaft 37a, is retractable along its long axis. The retraction mechanism is shown in the cut out portion of front roller 32. The shaft 37a is connected by a mechanical linkage 100 to a slide mechanism 102 that is telescopically received in the front roller 32. As the slide mechanism 102 is pushed to the right, the mechanical linkage 100 moves in the same direction and the shaft 37a is retracted into the front roller 32 a sufficient distance to release the shaft 37a from the gear box 64 in which it is mounted. This allows the front roller 32 to be removed from the sweeper head 12. Any elongated fibers that have wound themselves around the shafts 37a or 37 can be slid off the end of the shafts without the need to cut them off the shaft or roller. The opposite end of the same roller can be provided with a similar sliding mechanism so that both ends of the roller can have its shaft retracted and removed from its respective gear box. Thus, the elongated fibers can easily be removed as opposed to the elongated fibers that wound themselves around bristles on the rollers found in the prior art. Upon releasing the slide mechanism 102, a spring 104 pushes the shaft 37a back into its extended position once it is properly positioned adjacent to the gear box 64 in which it is to be mounted. In another embodiment, the roller itself is telescopic and spring loaded to allow the roller to telescope within itself, thereby withdrawing the shaft 37a or 37 from the gear box 64. This mechanism can be utilized on all of the rollers 32, 34 and 36 so that any of them can be removed for easily removing any elongated particles wound around the shaft. The above described invention is particularly well suited for hand held sweepers that use an electric motor to rotate the roller 32. However, it can also readily be seen that the invention can be used on vacuum sweepers that use a vacuum system to draw dust and debris into a canister or other dust receiving container. These vacuum sweepers oftentimes use a roller with brushes or bristles on them to agitate dirt and debris from a carpet so that the vacuum can draw the dirt into the dust receiving container. Thus, Applicant's invention can easily be used on these types of vacuum sweepers. In another application, Applicant's invention can be used on air driven attachments that are used in vacuum cleaners. A typical example is in a central vacuum system where a central motor supplies a vacuum through tubes extending throughout a house. A vacuum hose is plugged into a vacuum receptacle located in the room to be cleaned. The vacuum passes through the hose and into an attachment placed on the end of the hose. The attachment can be an air driven rotating roller with a brush or bristles mounted thereon. The roller used in these air driven attachments can be replaced with Applicant's inventive roller. Thus there has been provided a floor sweeper that uses a new roller and blade configuration and ventilation system to minimize the possibility of elongated particles becoming entangled on the roller. While the invention has been described in conjunction with a specific embodiment, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.