Abstract: A clutch control mechanical device is disclosed for the brush axle of a vacuum cleaner. The clutch control mechanical device is located at the undercarriage of the machine with a pressure control shaft extending out of the inner sides of the undercarriage. At the corresponding position, the underside of the upper body joining the undercarriage is equipped with a pressure control piece so that when the upper body is in a vertical position to the undercarriage, the pressure control piece shall press down on the pressure control shaft of the clutch control mechanical device which suspends rotation of the brush axle. When the upper body is in a slanted angle to the undercarriage, the removal of external force shall return the pressure control shaft to its original position by a spring bias which rotates the brush axle.

Abstract: An electric vacuum cleaner comprising a floor nozzle connected to a lower part of a main body of the electric vacuum cleaner and having a suction opening opened on a lower surface of the floor nozzle, a rotary brush disposed in the suction opening, a driving source, a power transmission system which transmits power from the driving source to the rotary brush, and a changeover unit which connects or disconnects power transmission of the power transmission system, wherein the changeover unit is provided with an operation pedal, which is manipulated to connect or disconnect the power, on a rear portion of the floor nozzle. It is possible for an operator to instantaneously turn on and off the driving of the rotary brush only by stepping down or lifting up the pedal while gripping the handle at rear side of the main body of the cleaner without stopping the movement of the cleaner.

Abstract: A hand-held vacuum cleaner includes a housing, a source of vacuum, a hose removably connected to an intake section of the housing, a rotatably driven brush located at the intake section, and a system to automatically stop the brush from being driven when the hose is disconnected from the intake section. The hose is located on an exterior of the housing and connects the intake section to the source of vacuum. The hose is flexible and expandable with a relatively compact, free-standing, curved shape when connected between the intake section and the source of vacuum, but can be expanded in general accordion-like fashion when the hose is removed from the intake section to expand to about four times its compact length. The system to automatically stop the brush can also automatically reengage driving of the brush when the hose is reconnected to the intake section.

Abstract: A floor nozzle for a vacuum cleaner which includes a housing, and an agitator, a driving motor for the agitator, and a switch for changing over rotating directions of the motor which are accommodated in the housing, and a coupling pipe connected to the housing so as to be displaceable at least back and fourth, and communicated with a suction passage to a vacuum cleaner main body, and an associating device for transmitting the back and forth displacement of the coupling pipe to the switch. The associating device is adapted to be held at two stabilized positions with respect to a boundary dead point and provided with a movable member arranged to be displaced through quick action, to one of the stabilized positions after passing through the dead point, with the movable member being associated with the switch.

Abstract: A clutch mechanism for use in the drive mechanism for a vacuum cleaner floor cleaning rotary brush is provided which prevents damage to the drive belt in the event the brush becomes jammed and is prevented from rotating. A cam ring having external bumps carried on resilient beams is nested inside a driven sprocket with the bumps positioned in valleys between ridges formed on the interior of the sprocket. A pair of end caps sandwich the assembly of the cam and sprocket. The cam is keyed to the rotary brush and thus when the brush becomes jammed, the sprocket will continue to rotate, and the torque applied between the sprocket and cam will cause the ridges to push radially inwardly against the bumps and beams of the cam permitting the bumps to pass over the ridges dissipating the energy of the rotating sprocket.

Abstract: A self-propelled, upright suction or vacuum cleaner includes a base unit and a handle assembly pivotally extending therefrom that can be pivoted from an upright position to a comfortable operating position. The handle assembly includes a handle grip at one end and a drive system housing at its other end containing a drive system including a cleaner motor for propelling the cleaner. The drive system includes a transmission for transferring power from the cleaner motor to a pair of drive wheels fixedly secured to a drive axle. The transmission is remotely disposed from the drive axle and is connected thereto by a drive belt. The transmission includes an actuator that is controlled by a cable extending from the handle grip. As long as the handle grip maintains the actuator in a neutral position, the drive wheels are not rotated.

Abstract: The invention comprehends a belt shifting arrangement for an upright cleaner in which belt shifting to an intermediate idler pulley is occasioned by either handle movement or pedal actuation. Either of these movements functions to cam the belt onto the idler pulley or to permit its movement back to an agitator drive pulley.

Abstract: A vacuum cleaner having the combined features of a canister and upright type vacuum cleaner with the canister mounted for tilting movement on a housing of a floor or nozzle unit which contains a rotatably mounted brush. A single motor is used to power a fan which creates the vacuum in the canister and to apply power to the brush through a belt and pulley assembly mounted in the floor unit housing. A hose extending from the canister is connectable and disconnectable from the floor unit housing so as to provide for above the floor cleaning when the hose is disconnected and the appropriate tools are attached thereto. When the hose is connected into the housing, the vacuum is applied to the vicinity of the brush. A mechanism for disengaging the motor from the belt and pulley assembly when above the floor cleaning is selected is provided by a cam member rotatable with the canister and a pulley asembly which is part of the belt/pulley brush drive assembly.

Abstract: A temperature responsive fuse is provided for use in a vacuum cleaner brush dowel drive clutch mechanism to prevent overheating of the clutch mechanism upon a continued rotation of the drive belt after the brush dowel has stalled due to jamming or similar occurances. The friction clutch is provided to prevent damage to the cog drive belt if the brush dowel becomes stalled and the fuse, which is a meltable spacer positioned between a loading spring and the engaging friction drive surfaces, is provided to prevent excessive heat build-up in the clutch mechanism in case a safety circuit, which normally detects stoppage of the brush dowel and deenergizes the dowel drive motor, should fail. The fuse spacer will melt at a temperature in the range of 300.degree. F. to 400.degree. F. to unload the spring thereby reducing friction between the engaging surfaces of the clutch mechanism and thus lowering the amount of heat generated.

Abstract: A vacuum cleaner comprising a dust intake portion, a rotary brush provided in the intake portion, a drive motor for driving the rotary brush, a fan motor for suction of dust, a dust collector for the dust taken in, a dust transfer passage extending from the intake portion to the dust collector, a rotary brush pulley, a drive motor pulley, a belt coupling the above mentioned two pulleys for transmitting the power of the drive motor, at least one of the pulleys being frustoconical, and drive motor stopping means disposed at one side of the belt toward which said one pulley is diametrically smaller and pushable by the belt when the belt is displaced, which can provide to surely protect the belt and the drive motor for driving the rotary brush even if the rotary brush becomes stalled.

Abstract: In a vacuum cleaner of the type arranged to stop a motor when a driven brush is overloaded due to engagement with carpet or other obstacles, a starter circuit responsive to a manually operable power switch is employed to start the motor. The rotation of the rotary brush is detected by way of a sensor which produces a voltage. The starter circuit produces another voltage for a given period of time after the power switch is turned on, and these voltages are fed to a latching circuit which produces a control voltage when neither of the first nor second voltage is applied thereto, and the control voltage causes a control unit to interrupt power to the electric motor. As a result, once the latching circuit is put in a latching state after the brush has stopped, the motor is prevented from starting again unless the power switch is turned on again.

Abstract: An upright vacuum cleaner has a removable powered brush vacuum nozzle which can be removed and replaced without operation of a belt lifter. The power linkage from the cleaner's fan motor to the nozzle brush includes a positive-drive clutch, and control means active at the inception of each operation of the cleaner in the brush-and-vacuum mode to engage the clutch prior to starting the fan motor and active at the conclusion of operation of the cleaner in the brush-and-vacuum mode to disengage the clutch only after stopping the fan motor.

Abstract: An upright vacuum cleaner includes a floor nozzle having a rotatable brush housed therein for operative contact with a surface to be cleaned, a main cleaner assembly coupled with the floor nozzle and accommodating a motor-driven fan having a motor shaft and a filter therein, a flexible power transmitting shaft for transmitting rotative power from the motor-driven fan to the rotatable brush along a power transmitting path between the motor shaft and the rotatable brush, and an intermediate power transmitting mechanism including a torque limiter mechanism disposed in the power transmitting path for cutting off power transmission from the motor shaft to the rotatable brush when the rotatable brush is subjected to a torque greater than a preset torque.

Abstract: The invention is directed to a replaceable brush assembly for a floor cleaning device such as an electric carpet sweeper. The cleaning device is equipped with a so-called central drive. Replaceable brush assemblies are pushed over respective ends of the output shaft. Each brush assembly is equipped with a tubular brush having a ring-shaped cavity disposed in surrounding relationship to a slot formed in the end face of the output shaft. An S-shaped spring has two arms connected to each other by a straight segment which seats in the slot of the shaft when the brush assembly is mounted on the shaft. The arms are resiliently biased against the wall of the ring-shaped cavity.

Abstract: An upright vacuum cleaner includes a rotary brush 12 disposed at a suction port in a floor nozzle 4 and capable of being rotated or stopped by shifting a motor-driven belt toward a drive pulley 17 or an idle pulley 18. The upright vacuum cleaner can conveniently be used for cleaning flat noncarpeted floors as well as carpeted floors.

Abstract: In a portable cleaning apparatus, at least two rotatable cleaning members are mounted within a casing and contra-rotationally driven by an electrical motor and step-down gearing arranged between the motor and the cleaning members with a releasable clutch connecting the driving motor to the cleaning members. A cover is mounted over the rotatable cleaning members and the electrical motor and the casing includes a vent channel communicating with the cover. Suction from the at least two cleaning members to a dust collector, mounted at the end of the vent channel formed as a handhold, is provided by a blower driven by the electrical motor. The axes of the driving motor and the at least two cleaning members are parallel with one another and a blower rotor connected to a shaft of the driving motor is arranged behind an opening out of the cover into the casing as viewed from the direction of air flow.

Abstract: An override clutch device is disclosed for use in a vacuum cleaner having a powered rotary brush. The override clutch device is arranged such that should the torque require to rotate the brush exceeds a predetermined level, the drive mechanism is disengaged from the brush thereby allowing the drive belt to continue to operate without damage. An audible signal is emitted to alert the operator of the malfunction.

Abstract: A safety clutch for the drive of floor cleaning machines comprises at least one first dog and at least one second dog which are in engagement with one another and oppose each other and the input and output for transmitting torque. One of the dogs is arranged axially resilient so that it upon exceeding a predetermined torque is capable of being brought from the engagement into the disengagement position and vice versa by an axial force thereby resulting.

Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, the agitator brush in the suction nozzle of an upright vacuum cleaner is positively driven by the high speed fan motor through reduction gearing, including a torque-limiting magnetic drive, which will disengage in the event the agitator brush is stalled or overloaded to thus prevent damage to the motor and conversely will limit the value of the torque transmitted to the agitator in order to minimize the damage done to whatever has stalled the brush. In some cases the value of the torque at which the magnetic drive is designed to disengage may be lower than that required to overcome the frictional resistance to turning of the agitator on the rug being cleaned plus the inertia load of the driven system during the rapid acceleration from start to full speed, which results if the motor is initially supplied with full line voltage.

Abstract: An upright vacuum cleaner is disclosed providing a belt lifter operable to connect and disconnect the floor brush belt from the motor drive shaft. The belt lifter combines a viewing window allowing the user to easily observe the position of the belt and/or its operation. The belt lifter is provided with a tubular shaft portion pivotally mounted in the forward wall of the floor nozzle housing and a transparent plastic cup shaped member positioned within the tubular shaft section in which the end wall provides the viewing window. A face plate is keyed to the tubular shaft section to rotate the belt lifter for connecting and disconnecting the belt. A pair of triangular shaped snap rings secure the belt lifter assembly in its assembled position.