FLOOR SWEEPER

Abstract

A floor sweeper includes a sweeper head defining therein a dust chamber, sweeping rollers mounted around all sides of the sweeper head and powered by a motor to direct dust into the dust chamber, and electric fans mounted in the sweeper head for inducing currents of air toward the inside of the sweeper head to offset outward flowing currents induced during the rotation of the sweeping rollers so as to prevent outside dust from flying about to cause secondary contamination.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to floor sweepers and, more particularly, to such a floor sweeper that uses electric fans to induce inward flows of air to offset outward flows of air induced during rotation of the sweeping rollers of the floor sweeper, thus preventing flying of dust and avoiding secondary contamination.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Many sweepers for picking up dust and small items from the floor are known. U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,267 discloses a floor sweeper, which has sweeping brushes mounted around all sides of the sweeper head thereof to provide sweeping action in any direction. Furthermore, there are corner brushes extending out from the sides of the sweeper head that reach into corners to sweep debris toward the main sweeping brushes. All of the brushes are powered by a small electric motor. The motor drives the brushes to direct the debris into a dust-receiving tray in the sweeper head. According to this prior art design, a centrifugal force is produced during rotation of each brush. This centrifugal force forces fine dust out of the brushes toward the outside of the sweeper head, lowering the sweeping efficiency. Further, during fast rotation of the brushes, outward flows of air are produced (see FIG. 11) to cause surrounding dust to fly about during movement of the sweeper head on the floor, resulting in secondary contamination.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide a floor sweeper that eliminates the aforesaid problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a floor sweeper, which prevents flying of picked up dust to avoid secondary contamination.

To achieve this and other objects of the present invention, a floor sweeper comprises a sweeper head defining therein a dust chamber, sweeping rollers mounted around all sides of the sweeper head and coupled to one another, a motor adapted for rotating the sweeping rollers to direct dust from the floor into the dust chamber, and electric fans mounted in the sweeper head and adapted for inducing currents of air toward the inside of the sweeper head to offset outward flowing currents induced during rotation of the sweeping rollers so as to prevent outside dust from flying about in causing secondary contamination.

Further, the electric fans can be mounted in the top side, rear side, or two opposite lateral sides of the sweeper head.

Further, two different types of sweeping rollers, i.e., sweeping brush type sweeping rollers and scraper blade type sweeping rollers are selectively and replaceably installed in the sweeper head for sweeping a carpet floor, or a wooden or tile floor.

Further, the electric fans can be turbo fans or axial-flow fans selectively used to fit different requirements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a floor sweeper in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cutaway view of the floor sweeper in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is another cutaway view of the floor sweeper in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the bottom cover shell of the sweeper head opened.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the floor sweeper in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention, showing the fan bracket of one electric fan opened.

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing of the first embodiment of the present invention, showing an operation status of the floor sweeper.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a sweeping brush type sweeping roller for the floor sweeper according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a scraper blade type sweeping roller for the floor sweeper according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a floor sweeper in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic drawing of the second embodiment of the present invention, showing an operation status of the floor sweeper.

FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing, showing an operation status of a floor sweeper in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic drawing, showing the composition of a floor sweeper according to the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1˜3, a floor sweeper in accordance with the present invention is comprises a sweeper head 1, sweeping rollers 2a (or sweeper rollers 2 shown in FIG. 6) and at least one, for example, two fans 3.

The sweeper head 1 has a top cover shell 11 and a bottom cover shell 12 pivotally connected to the bottom side of the top cover shell 11. A handle 111 is pivotally connected to the top cover shell 11. The top cover shell 11 has a retaining hole 112. The bottom cover shell 12 has a springy hook rod 121 for hooking in the retaining hole 112. When the springy hook rod 121 is disengaged from the retaining hole 112, the bottom cove shell 12 can be opened from the top cover shell 11 (see FIG. 3). The bottom cover shell 12 defines therein a dust chamber 122 for collecting dust. Further, the fans 3 are mounted in the sweeper head 1. According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1˜5, the fans are mounted in the top side of the top cover shell 11.

The sweeping rollers 2a are respectively mounted around all sides of the sweeper head 1 and coupled to one another by, for example, bevel gear mechanisms 4 and powered by an electric motor 5. The electric motor 5 drives the sweeping rollers 2a to direct the debris into the dust chamber 122 in the sweeper head 1. The sweeping rollers 2a may be made in any of a variety of forms. For example, the sweeping roller 2a shown in FIG. 7 is a cylindrical bar having a rubber scraper blade 21a protruded from and elongated along the periphery. Alternatively, the sweeping roller 2 shown in FIG. 6 is made in the form of a sweeping brush having bundles of brushes 21 fastened to the periphery thereof.

The electric fans 3 are mounted in the sweeper head 1 at selected locations. During operation of the floor sweeper, the electric fans 3 are started to draw currents of air into the inside of the sweeper head 1 to offset outward flowing currents induced during the rotation of the sweeping rollers 2a (see FIG. 5).

During the operation of the floor sweeper, the electric fans 3 keep drawing currents of air into the inside of the sweeper head 1 to offset outward flowing currents induced during the rotation of the sweeping rollers 2a or 2, enabling debris to be quickly directed by the sweeping rollers 2a or 2 into the dust chamber 122 in the sweeper head 1 and preventing outside dust from flying about to cause secondary contamination.

In either the scraper blade type shown in FIG. 7 or the sweeping brush type shown in FIG. 6, each sweeping roller 2 or 2a has two coupling pins 22 respectively axially extending from the two distal ends thereof for detachably fastened to the bevel gear mechanisms 4. Therefore, the user can selectively attach different sweeping rollers 2 or 2a to the bevel gear mechanisms 4 to fit different sweeping requirements. For example, the sweeping brush type sweeping rollers 2 can be used for sweeping a carpet floor. The scraper blade type sweeping rollers 2 can be used for sweeping a wooden floor or tile floor that has a hard surface.

Referring to FIG. 4, each electric fan 3 comprises a pop-up type fan bracket 31, a fan blade 32 and a filter element 33. The filter element 33 prevents sucked dust from escaping out of the dust chamber 122. The pop-up design of the pop-up type bracket 31 facilitates cleaning of the fan blade 32 or replacement of the filter element 33.

Besides the installation example shown in FIG. 1, the electric fans 3 may be installed in the rear side or two opposite lateral sides of the sweeper head 1.

Further, the fan blade 32 may be an axial fan blade for causing an axial flow of air. Alternatively, the fan blade 32 can be made in the form of a turbine vane for inducing a vortex or spiral flow of air.

According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, turbo fans 3a are mounted in the rear side of the sweeper head 1. According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, axial-flow fans 3b are mounted in the rear side of the sweeper head 1. Further, the sweeper head 1a or 1b is configured according to the type of the electric fans 3a or 3b used. The shape, structure or installation locations of the filter elements 33a may be changed according to the type of the electric fans 3a or 3b used, thereby effectively preventing sucked dust from escaping out of the dust chamber 122.

During operation of the ordinary electric fans 3, turbo fans 3a or axial-flow fans 3b to induce currents of air, a certain degree of vacuum is produced in the sweeper head 1 to suck in outside dust, enhancing the sweeping efficiency.

A prototype of floor sweeper has been constructed with the features of FIGS. 1˜10. The floor sweeper functions smoothly to provide all of the features disclosed earlier.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A floor sweeper, comprising:

a sweeper head defining therein a dust chamber;

a plurality of sweeping rollers mounted around peripheral sides of said sweeper head and coupled to one another;

a motor adapted for rotating said sweeping rollers to direct dust from a floor into said dust chamber; and

at least one electric fan mounted in said sweeper head and adapted for inducing currents of air toward the inside of said sweeper head to offset outward flowing currents induced when the sweeping rollers are rotated.

2. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sweeper head further comprises a top cover shell having a retaining hole, a handle pivotally connected to said top cover shell, and a bottom cover shell pivotally connected to a bottom wall of said top cover shell and biasable relative to said top cover shell between a closed position and an open position, said bottom cover shell having a springy hook rod adapted for hooking in said retaining hole to lock said bottom cover shell to said top cover shell in said closed position.

3. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electric fan is mounted in a top side of said sweeper head.

4. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electric fan is mounted in a rear side of said sweeper head.

5. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one electric fan is mounted in two opposite lateral sides of said sweeper head.

6. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sweeping rollers each have a plurality of bundles of brushes mounted on the periphery thereof.

7. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said sweeping roller has a rubber scraper blade protruding from the periphery thereof.

8. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said electric fan comprises a pop-up type fan bracket, a fan blade mounted in said pop-up type fan bracket and a filter element mounted in said pop-up type fan bracket over said fan blade.

9. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said electric fan is a turbo fan.

10. The floor sweeper as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said electric fan is an axial-flow fan.