Patents by Inventor Todd R. VanTongeren

Todd R. VanTongeren has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200383549
    Abstract: An autonomous floor cleaner can include a housing, a drive system for autonomously moving the housing over the surface to be cleaned, a controller for controlling the operation of the autonomous floor cleaner, a tank adapted to hold liquid, and a carry handle joined with the tank and/or the housing. The carry handle is movable between a stowed position and a carry position. The carry handle can include one or more capturing assemblies such that the carry handle can be selectively rotated between different orientations allowing for one or more of: locking/securing the tank to the housing, activating/deactivating the floor cleaner based on handle position; carrying the entire floor cleaner; ejecting the tank from the housing; carrying the tank separately; and emptying the tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Publication date: December 10, 2020
    Inventors: Nicholas Weigel, Steve M. Johnson, Todd R. VanTongeren, Matthew Haverkamp
  • Publication number: 20200337513
    Abstract: An autonomous floor cleaner can include a housing, a drive system for autonomously moving the housing over the surface to be cleaned, and a controller for controlling the operation of the autonomous floor cleaner. The drive system can include at least one drive wheel for driving the housing across a surface to be cleaned. The drive wheel can be selectively moved from an engaged or in-use position to a disengaged or maintenance position. In the disengaged or maintenance position, the wheel is disengaged from the autonomously moveable housing such that it can be pivoted, extended, removed, or otherwise moved farther away from the autonomously moveable housing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Inventors: Steven M. Johnson, Todd R. VanTongeren, Matthew Haverkamp
  • Publication number: 20200268225
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a surface cleaning apparatus that includes a recovery system that extracts liquid and debris with a drying cycle in which forced air flows through a recovery pathway of the recovery system to dry out components that remain wet and/or retain moisture after normal operation of the apparatus. The post-operation drying cycle can dry out components such as an agitator or brushroll, a brush chamber, a suction nozzle, a recovery tank, a filter, and any of the various conduits, ducts, and/or hoses fluidly coupling components of the recovery system together.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2020
    Publication date: August 27, 2020
    Inventors: Kurt Ashbaugh, Jason W. Pruiett, David M. Miller, Todd R. VanTongeren