Dryer for floor mats
A portable machine uses two pairs of rollers to squeeze water from a carpet piece, such as a wet floor mat from a car. A motor provides a driving force to the lower rollers and the upper rollers are driven by frictional engagement with the lower rollers. After passing through the two sets of rollers, the mat exits the back of the machine and falls into a basket. After processing by the machine, the car mat is substantially dry and able to be placed into a car interior without fear of mold formation. The machine may use
This application is a continuation-in-part application of Ser. No. 11/404,926, filed Apr. 17, 2006, which is a continuation is part of Ser. No. 10/155,006, filed on May 28, 2002.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe instant application is based upon provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/330,640, filed Oct. 26, 2001.
Floor mats in a vehicle are used to protect the interior of the automobile. They often match the color of the interior and are subjected to the most wear and tear from the occupants of the vehicle. When completely worn out, they can be easily replaced, unlike the interior carpet.
Occupants of the vehicle often cause the car mats to become dirty, stained and in need of cleaning. When the exterior of the car is washed, the vehicle owner may want to have the car floor mats cleaned. This is especially true when a car is “detailed”, and both the interior and exterior of a car are thoroughly cleaned.
Floor mats are essentially pieces of carpeting and are cleaned similar to carpeting. After cleaning, the floor mat is wet and needs to be dried before being placed back in the vehicle because, once in the vehicle, the enclosed environment of the vehicle interior will cause the mat to dry slowly. In this time, the floor mat can cause a musty, moldy odor in the vehicle.
Often, floor mats have in-grained dirt needing more agitation and cleaning action. In this instance, it is advantageous to use a brush, allowing the bristles to agitate the pile of the floor mat to loosen dirt to result in a more thorough cleaning.
It is therefore necessary to have an apparatus for drying a floor mat after a cleaning process.
It is an object of the invention to provide a machine for drying car mats after they have been cleaned.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for drying car mats that is mobile.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a machine having bristles for removing dirt from car mats.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a machine for quickly and easily cleaning floor mats with roller type bristles.
It is another object of the invention to provide a machine for drying car mats that can be coin operated.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a machine for drying car mats that is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to use.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading the disclosure of the invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe invention is a portable machine using two pairs of rollers to squeeze water from a wet floor mat. A motor provides a driving force to the lower rollers and the upper rollers are driven by frictional engagement with the lower rollers. After passing through the two sets of rollers, the mat exits the back of the machine and falls into a basket. After processing by the machine, the car mat is substantially dry and able to be placed into a car interior without fear of mold formation.
The motor may be used to drive a roller having bristles. A roller in front of the roller having bristles receives the floor mat and pulls the mat through the machine. The roller having bristles moves faster than the front rollers, allowing the bristles to agitate the pile of the car mat. A pressure plate disposed above the rollers having bristles insures contact between the mat and bristles. A second roller having bristles may also be used to further enhance the cleaning effect.
The housing of the mat dryer for car floor mats is seen in the exploded view of
A view of the left side of the dryer for car floor mats is seen in
The front of the dryer for car floor mats is shown in
The right side of the device can be seen in
The bottom roller assembly is clearly seen in
The top rollers are seen in reference to
A water assembly 90 is positioned within the machine between the front cover 25 and the front top and bottom rollers 71, 81. The water assembly has a pipe 91 provided with a valve 92 for controlling the flow of water. The base of the pipe 91 is provided with a swivel joint 93 allowing the assembly to be pivoted out of the machine when the front guide panel 24 and top panel 25 are opened. The pipe 91 leads to a top sprayer 96 and bottom sprayer 98. A mat passes between the top sprayer 96 and bottom sprayer 98 and jets in the top and bottom sprayers are directed toward the mat. If the mat is already cleaned and wet before entering the machine, the spray assembly can be turned off.
Bristles may be provided on the rollers to clean the floor mats. The bottom roller assembly for the device having the bristles is shown in
Similar to the first embodiment, after processing, the floor mat drops into a receiving basket. Also similar to the first embodiment, the driven roller 143 may be substituted with a simple shaft.
The second embodiment of a machine using bristles is seen in
After passing the spray nozzles, the mat passes over brushing rollers 212. The rollers may be driven in any suitable manner. Although two rollers are shown, any number may be used. The brushing rollers agitate the mat in order to remove debris, especially that which may be embedded in the fibers of the mat. After cleaning by the rollers, the mats pass over a final spray nozzle 214 to rinse the mat of any loose debris and residual chemicals.
After the last spray nozzle, the mat passes over a vacuum port 216. The vacuum port leads to a vacuum tank 218 serving as not only the vacuum source but also as a holding tank for liquid removed by the vacuum. An overflow tank 222 receives excess liquid from the vacuum tank. Lastly, before exiting the machine, the mat passes over an exhaust port 220. The exhaust port is for the vacuum tank so that the air passing through the vacuum tank is exhausted at the mat to further the drying process.
While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, variations and modifications would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention encompasses such variations and modifications.
Claims
1. A device for cleaning, comprising
- a housing having a front, rear, left side and right side, said front receiving an article to be cleaned;
- a first roller oriented horizontally in said housing;
- a second roller parallel to and above said first roller;
- a third roller behind said first roller, said roller having bristles;
- a motor rotating said rollers.
2. The device of claim 1, further comprising
- a pressure plate above said third roller for holding said article against said third roller.
3. The device of claim 1, further comprising
- a fourth roller having bristles behind said third roller.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein
- said motor is connected to a first end of said third roller.
5. The device of claim 4, further comprising
- a fourth roller having bristles behind said third roller;
- a first sprocket attached to a second end of said roller;
- a gear reducer;
- a first chain connecting said first sprocket to said gear reducer;
- a second sprocket attached to said first roller;
- a third sprocket attached to said fourth roller; and
- a second chain connecting said gear reducer to said second and third sprockets.
6. The device of claim 5, wherein
- said first and third sprockets are smaller than said second sprocket.
7. The device of claim 1, wherein said second roller is rotated by frictional contact with said first roller.
8. A device for cleaning, comprising
- a housing having a front, rear, left side and right side, said front receiving an article to be cleaned;
- a first plate oriented horizontally in said housing;
- a conveyor belt parallel to and above said first roller;
- at least one roller having bristles below the plate, the bristles extending through an aperture in the plate,
- a first spay nozzle before the at least one roller, and
- a second spay nozzle after the at least one roller.
9. The device of claim 8, further comprising a vacuum port in the first plate, the vacuum plate attached to a vacuum source.
10. The device of claim 9, further comprising a vacuum exhaust in the first plate.
11. The device of claim 10 wherein the vacuum exhaust is after the vacuum port.
12. The device of claim 8, wherein the at least one roller having bristles is two rollers having bristles.
13. The device of claim 8 further comprising a third spray nozzle before the at least one roller.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 25, 2008
Publication Date: Mar 5, 2009
Inventor: Jon Kolquist (Royal Palm Beach, FL)
Application Number: 12/219,685
International Classification: A47L 7/00 (20060101); D06G 1/00 (20060101); A47L 25/00 (20060101);