JPH03110209A - Vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make lightweight and compact of a cleaner by providing a scraper scraping up cleaning liquid for the running surface in one place located in the direction of the width of the cleaner's body with its running and, at the same time, providing a water absorbing device absorbing the cleaning liquid to be scraped together. CONSTITUTION:When a cleaner is rub with a traveling wheel 1, a sprinkler 5 of a washer A sprays cleaning liquid on the running surface, and revolving brushes 3 are rotated to clean the running surface. After that, the first scraper 6 of a pair of right and left scrapers scrapes up the cleaning liquid inward in the direction of the width of the cleaner's body. Then, a roller 7 of a water absorbing device B having water-absorbing efficiency on the peripheral part thereof absorbs the cleaning liquid. In addition, half-absorbed cleaning liquid by the roller 7 is scraped to the roller 7 side by the second scraper 8, and it is absorbed again by the roller 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner equipped with a cleaning device for cleaning a running surface and a water absorption device for absorbing cleaning liquid after cleaning.

[Conventional technology]

This type of vacuum cleaner has a cleaning device with a wider width.
- Increases work efficiency by expanding the cleaning area per trip. However, there is a limit to how wide the cleaning device can be made.
Generally, the width of the vacuum cleaner is slightly wider than the width of the machine so that it does not get in the way when storing the vacuum cleaner or moving it through areas with many obstacles. Since the width of the cleaning device is thus wide, the cleaning liquid remains on the running surface over a wide area after cleaning. The following two methods have been considered for water absorption devices that absorb this widely left cleaning liquid.

(Conventional Example 1) A slit having a length spanning the entire width of the machine body is formed along the width direction of the machine body at the bottom of the machine body located behind the cleaning device, and this slit is brought close to the running surface. It is also equipped with a vacuum pump and a battery to power it, and the suction port of this vacuum pump is connected to the slit. When cleaning, the suction power of the vacuum pump draws the cleaning liquid through the slit and collects it.

(Conventional Example 2) As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a roller (7) having a length spanning the entire width of the machine is provided at the bottom of the machine located behind the cleaning device, in a posture along the width direction of the machine, This roller (7) is brought into sliding contact with the running surface.

The outer periphery of the roller (7) is covered with a highly water-absorbing sponge (7).
B) is applied, and a water squeezing roller (10) is provided to partially press this sponge (7B). During cleaning, the rollers (7) rotate as the vehicle travels and absorb the cleaning liquid after cleaning. And this sponge (7B)
The absorbed cleaning liquid is squeezed out by pressing with the water squeezing roller (10), and it is transferred to the waste water tank (13).
We will collect it.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

These types of water absorption devices have the following drawbacks and are not satisfactory.

(Conventional Example 1) The opening area of the slit and the suction force by the vacuum pump are inversely proportional, and the larger the opening area of the slit, the lower the suction force. In other words, in a conventional water absorption device in which the slit is long enough to span the entire width of the machine, the opening area becomes considerably large and the suction force is significantly reduced. Therefore, in order to ensure sufficient water absorption capacity, it is necessary to be equipped with a high-capacity vacuum pump and a large battery that can serve as its power source. However, doing so is not only an obstacle to making the vacuum cleaner smaller and lighter, but also causes noise to be generated from the vacuum pump. Furthermore, since the slit is long, the wind noise generated during suction becomes a noise that cannot be ignored.

(Conventional example 2) Since the rollers, pressing oak, collection container, etc. are wide and span the entire width of the aircraft, the water absorption device as a whole becomes larger and larger.
Increased weight is unavoidable and becomes an obstacle in making vacuum cleaners smaller and lighter.

The present invention has been made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a vacuum cleaner that is small, lightweight, and produces less noise.

[Means to solve the problem]

In the vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, a scraper is provided that gathers the cleaning liquid on the running surface to one place in the width direction of the machine body as it runs, and the water absorption device acts to absorb water on the cleaning liquid gathered by the scraper. The first feature is that it is provided so as to.

The water absorption device includes a roller that rotates while absorbing the cleaning liquid collected by the scraper, and a pressing section that presses the roller and squeezes out the absorbed cleaning liquid.
A second aspect of the present invention includes a receiving and collecting means for receiving and collecting the cleaning liquid squeezed out from the roller.
It has a characteristic structure.

[For production]

According to the first feature, the scraper collects the cleaning liquid on the running surface at one location in the width direction of the aircraft as the aircraft travels.

Then, the water absorption device absorbs the collected cleaning liquid.The second characteristic configuration specifies the first characteristic configuration. The roller rotates and absorbs the cleaning liquid collected by the scraper. At the same time, the pressing portion presses the roller to squeeze out the cleaning liquid absorbed by the roller, and the receiving and collecting means receives and collects the squeezed out cleaning liquid.

〔Effect of the invention〕

In the first feature, the scraper collects the cleaning liquid on the running surface in a narrow area, so that the water absorption device can advantageously absorb water. The reason for this will be specifically explained by applying it to Conventional Examples 1 and 2.

In the case of the method of Conventional Example 1, water can be absorbed even if the opening area is reduced by shortening the slit, so a vacuum pump with lower capacity and a smaller battery are required than before, and as a result, the water absorption device can be made smaller and lighter. Furthermore, the vacuum cleaner can be made smaller and lighter.In addition, the smaller the vacuum pump and the shorter slit, the less noise there will be.

In the case of Conventional Example 2, the width of the roller, suppression roller, collection container, etc. can be narrowed to make the water absorption device smaller and lighter, making it possible to make the vacuum cleaner smaller and lighter. .

In addition, by absorbing the collected cleaning liquid with a narrow roller, even if there is only a small amount of cleaning liquid, it can be absorbed in a large amount, making it easier to squeeze out.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the vacuum cleaner has a pair of left and right running wheels (1) on the front side of the machine that are driven separately on the left and right sides.
The aircraft is equipped with a caster-type grounding wheel (2) for steering on the rear side of the aircraft, and is configured to self-propel as well as steer based on given commands.

At the front side of the running wheel (1) is a cleaning device (3) in which three cleaning rotating brushes (3) are arranged in the width direction of the aircraft.
A) is installed, and a water absorption device (B) is installed at the rear side. Although not shown, the rotating brush (
3) is rotationally driven by an electric motor or the like.

The cleaning device (A) includes a water sprinkling device (5) that sprays cleaning liquid onto the running surface in a range that is approximately the same width as the width of the cleaning device (A), that is, at the cleaning action area of the rotating brush (3). This water sprinkling device (5) is constructed by, for example, using a cylindrical member with a plurality of drainage holes drilled on its side surface so that the plurality of drainage holes are lined up in the width direction of the aircraft and face the running surface. , which is attached to the front side of the rotating brush (3) is used.

A pair of left and right first scrapers (6) scrape the cleaning liquid sprayed by the water sprinkling device (5) inward in the width direction of the machine body at a location immediately after the blade side of the cleaning device (A).
is provided in a downwardly biased state. On the rear side of the first scraper (6), a cleaning roller (7) whose outer periphery has water absorption properties is installed, with its outer periphery in contact with the running surface, and as it travels, it moves horizontally along the width direction of the machine. The roller (7) is mounted to rotate around an axis.
A second scraper (8) is provided on the rear side of the second scraper (8) in a downwardly biased state for scraping up the cleaning liquid on the running surface left behind by the roller (7) toward the roller (7). . In addition, in this embodiment, the first and second scrapers (6)
, (8) each corresponds to a scraper in the claims.

That is, the first scraper (6) scrapes the cleaning liquid on the running surface inward in the width direction of the machine body and supplies it to the roller (7), and the second scraper (8) scrapes the cleaning liquid on the running surface inward in the width direction of the machine and supplies it to the roller (7). By scraping up the cleaning liquid left behind by roller (7) to the central part of the front side of the vehicle and sucking it up again, the width of the roller (7) in the width direction of the machine can be reduced, while still being able to absorb the cleaning liquid left behind after traveling. This prevents any unsucked cleaning liquid from remaining.

In addition, in order to ensure smooth scraping by the first and second scrapers (6) and (8), the first scraper (6) is formed in a V-shape that opens at the front in plan view, and the second The scraper (8) is formed into an arc shape that bulges backwards when viewed from above, and its lower end is made thin and sharpened so that it can be easily deformed according to the unevenness of the running surface, as shown in Fig. 3. be. Each scraper (6), (8) is made of sponge rubber formed into a plate shape.

The roller (7) is composed of a cylindrical roller body (7A) and a water absorbent body (7B) attached to the outer circumference of the roller body (7A).
For example, a material made of foamed PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) or the like can be used.

In Fig. 2, (9) corresponds to a roller scraper for scraping off dust etc. adhering to the roller (7), and (lO) corresponds to a pressing part, which comes into contact with the outer peripheral part of the roller (7). The water squeezing roller (11) that presses the water squeezing roller (11) removes dust scraped off by the roller scraper (9) and the water squeezing roller (11).
(12) is an electric tray that collects the cleaning liquid (sewage) squeezed out in the tray (12), and collects the dust and cleaning liquid collected in the tray (11) into the dirty water tank (13) mounted on the upper part of the machine. type pump, (14) is the water sprinkling device (5
) is a cleaning liquid tank for supplying cleaning liquid to

Further, (15) is a battery that supplies operating power to the drive electric motors, actuators, etc. of each part.

In this embodiment, the roller (7), roller scraper (9), water squeezing roller (lO), and saucer (11)
, an electric pump (12), a sewage tank (13), and a battery (15) constitute a water absorption device.
) and the battery (15) constitute a receiving and collecting means (4).

Incidentally, although an aqueous solution of detergent or the like is generally used as the cleaning liquid, various types can be used. However, there are cases where only water is used.

[Another example]

As shown in FIG. 4, at the rear of the cleaning device (A), only - number of arcuate scrapers (8) bulging rearward in plan view are provided. The cleaning liquid scraped at the center of the width by the scraper (8) may be directly absorbed by the electric pump (12). In this way, the water absorption device (B
) space becomes smaller, it becomes possible to make the body smaller by increasing the size of the wastewater tank (13) or shortening the wheelbase.

As shown in FIG. 5, the second scraper (8) may be made of sponge rubber having a stepped bottom tip. In this way, even if the lower point wears out, the middle point will come into contact with the running surface, and even if the middle point wears out, the upper point will come into contact with the running surface. The exchange period can be extended.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the first scraper (6)
Alternatively, if the second scraper (8) is configured by stacking a plurality of thin sponge rubbers (16) with spacers (17) interposed therebetween, the individual sponge rubbers (16) will easily deform according to the unevenness of the running surface. , the cleaning liquid leaking from the first scraper (6) or the second scraper (8) can be reduced.

Moreover, if the amount of downward protrusion of each sponge rubber (16) can be adjusted by rotating the bolt (18) as shown in FIG.
6) If the wear progresses, remove the sponge rubber (16).
) by projecting downward, it is possible to keep everything in good contact with the running surface at all times. In addition, as shown in Figure 7, a water suction pipe (19) that communicates with an electric pump (not shown) is passed through the spacer (17), and its tip is inserted into the gap between the individual sponge rubber (16). If you position it,
The cleaning liquid that has entered the gap between the sponge rubber (16) can be sucked, and the amount of cleaning liquid leaked by the first scraper (6) or the second scraper (8) can be further reduced.

In the above embodiments, the case where the vacuum cleaner is configured as a self-propelled type has been illustrated, but it may also be configured as a hand-push type or with one rotating brush (3
), and the specific configuration of each part necessary for carrying out the present invention can be changed in various ways.

Incidentally, although reference numerals are written in the claims section for convenient comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structure shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of a vacuum cleaner according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view, FIG. 2 is a side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a side view of a scraper. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of another embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional side view of another embodiment of the scraper. FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of a conventional vacuum cleaner, and FIG. 9 is a side view of the same.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum cleaner equipped with a cleaning device (A) that cleans the running surface and a water absorption device (B) that absorbs the cleaning liquid after washing, the vacuum cleaner comprising: Scrapers (6) and (8) are provided to gather the aircraft at one location in the width direction as it travels, and the water absorption device (B) is configured to collect the scrapers (6),
(8) A vacuum cleaner installed to absorb water from the cleaning liquid collected in step (8). 2. The water absorption device (B) includes the scraper (6), (
a roller (7) that rotates while absorbing the cleaning liquid collected by the roller (8); a pressing section (10) that presses the roller (7) and squeezes out the absorbed cleaning liquid; The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1, further comprising a receiving and collecting means (4) for receiving and collecting the squeezed cleaning liquid.