Air induction hard surface cleaning tools with an internal baffle
AssigneeDri-Eaz Products, Inc.
InventorPaul Kappos
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for cleaning surfaces, particularly solid surfaces, includes an outer housing and an inner housing configured to substantially encapsulate a surface being cleaned, a vacuum source traversing the outer housing, a rotating coupler, an impeller, at least one fluid jet coupled to the impeller, and at least one air induction port. The vacuum source is configured to induce air through the air induction ports past the impeller blades causing the impeller to rotate, which causes the rotating coupler and the fluid jets to rotate. Because the rotation of the fluid jets is due to induced air, the fluid jets can be positioned at any angle desired, including a negative angle.
Claims21
An apparatus for cleaning surfaces, comprising:
- a housing having at least one air induction port traversing the housing;
- a rotating coupler;
- an impeller coupled to the rotating coupler;
- at least one fluid jet coupled to the rotating coupler;
- wherein rotation of the impeller by a flow of air through the at least one air induction port causes the rotating coupler and the at least one fluid jet to rotate;
- and
- wherein
- a baffle carried by and rotatable with the impeller and extending circumferentially around a rotation volume of the impeller, the baffle being positioned to further direct the flow of air to said impeller.
An apparatus for cleaning a surface, comprising:
- a housing:
- a rotating coupler coupled to the housing;
- an impeller coupled to the rotating coupler and positioned in the housing;
- an air induction port positioned in the housing and above the impeller, to direct a flow of air to the impeller and cause the impeller to rotate;
- a liquid jet coupled to the rotating coupler and the impeller;
- and
- a baffle carried by and rotatable with the impeller, the baffle extending circumferentially around a rotation volume of the impeller, the baffle being positioned to further direct the flow of air to the impeller.
An apparatus for cleaning a surface with a cleaning solution, the apparatus comprising:
- a housing having a vacuum port;
- an air induction port positioned in the housing;
- an impeller rotatably positioned below the air induction port;
- a fluid jet coupled to the impeller to rotate with the impeller and positioned to dispense the cleaning solution on the surface;
- an upper baffle carried by and rotatable with the impeller and extending circumferentially around a rotation volume of the impeller, wherein the upper baffle is positioned to guide a flow of air through the air induction port to the impeller;
- and
- a lower baffle carried by and rotatable with the impeller to further direct the flow of air.
A method for manufacturing a surface cleaner, comprising:
- forming an air induction port in a housing;
- forming a vacuum port in the housing, wherein the vacuum port is coupleable to a vacuum source;
- coupling rotating coupler to the housing;
- positioning an impeller inside the housing, wherein the impeller includes a plurality of blades;
- coupling the impeller to the rotating coupler, wherein at least one of the plurality of blades is positioned adjacent to the air induction port;
- coupling a fluid jet to the rotating coupler, wherein the rotating coupler is coupleable to a fluid source;
- and
- connecting a baffle to the impeller, wherein the baffle extends circumferentially around a rotation volume of the impeller and is positioned to direct a flow of air through the air induction port to the impeller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.