REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present application relates and claims priority to U.S. Provisional

Application Serial Number 62/305081, filed March 8, 2016, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present disclosure is directed to vacuum cleaners in general and to brush assemblies for a vacuum cleaner in particular.

2. Background of the Art

[0003] Since their introduction, autonomous vacuum cleaners have largely been limited to consumer settings, while commercial industries— such as the hospitality industry— have continued to rely on human-run, plug-in vacuum cleaners. Autonomous vacuum cleaners have failed to find widespread adoption in commercial settings, in part, because of their design as supplemental— rather than replacement— cleaning devices. Indeed, the majority of autonomous vacuum cleaners are slow, low-powered, and lack any means of evaluating visual cleanliness, which is the standard to which most commercial settings are held to.

[0004] In order for autonomous vacuum cleaners to find effective use in hospitality and commercial contexts, they must perform at levels equal to or better than commercially available plug-in vacuums. However, design restraints have traditionally prevented autonomous vacuum cleaners from operating with the same effectiveness as plug- in vacuum cleaners. Chief among these, autonomous vacuum cleaners must be battery- powered, which limits the amount of power, and thus power available for suction, that the vacuum can provide. While the diminished suction power may be accounted for by reducing the size of the vacuum cleaner's intake area and moving the brush closer to the interior edge of the housing, current brush assemblies are unsuitable for use in vacuum cleaners with smaller intake areas for several reasons.

[0005] First, current brushes are relatively large in diameter, resulting in a portion of the floor between a wall or obstacle and the centerline of the roller that is not cleaned as effectively. This missed area is equal to approximately half the diameter of the brush plus the thickness of the housing that encloses the intake area. While plug-in vacuum cleaners may account for the missed portion by increasing suction, the suction of a battery- powered vacuum cleaner may not be similarly increased without significantly impact other performance characteristics.

[0006] Second, current brushes are driven by a motor via a mechanical linkage, such as a belt drive (brush 200) or a gear drive (brush 100). The mechanical linkage must be accommodated by shortening the brush width 300 or by removing bristles on a portion of the brush, as shown in FIG. 1, both of which reduce the effective cleaning area of the brush (which is particularly costly with an already reduced intake area and brush size). In addition, the linkage greatly increases the complexity of replacing or removing the brush as the mechanical linkage must be detached and reattached.

[0007] Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for brush assembly which provides effective cleaning with a vacuum cleaner having reduced power available for suction and intake area. Additionally there is a need in the art for a brush assembly that may be easily removed and replaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present disclosure is directed to inventive embodiments of a vacuum cleaner apparatus having a brush assembly which provides effective cleaning with reduced suction and intake area. Various embodiments are directed to a brush assembly housed within an intake area and containing a motor subassembly. In an embodiment, the brush assembly may rotate freely with respect to the motor subassembly contained within the brush assembly. In an embodiment, the diameter of the brush assembly may be less than 2 inches to fit within a smaller intake area, and the brush core may be between 1 and 1.75 inches in diameter to accommodate the motor.

[0009] The various embodiments described herein allow the brush core to be removed from the motor subassembly with minimal effort, as it is not attached in the linear direction. The housing may be constructed to constrain the brush when it is installed. The brush core itself may contain no electronics or bearings, which allows it to be washed or cleaned easily and without risk to the mechanisms that drive the device. This has the incidental benefit of allowing the motor to be easily cleaned or replaced if necessary due to wear and tear on the machine over its lifetime.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0010] The present invention will be more fully understood and appreciated by reading the following Detailed Description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram of area losses for common brush drives.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a schematic of a brush assembly and a motor subassembly according to an embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic of a housing defining an intake area according to an embodiment.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a schematic of a brush core assembly and a motor subassembly within a housing according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Referring now to the figures, there is shown in FIG. 2 an embodiment of an integrated motor subassembly 13 and brush assembly 12 that may be positioned near the interior edge of the housing 10, (such that the brush assembly 12 may agitate dirt that is positioned near a wall or obstacle) that may employ the full width of the intake area, and that may be easily removed for maintenance and cleaning.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 4, the brush assembly 12 may be positioned within a housing 10 defining an intake area (i.e. an inner cavity that contains the brush assembly and through which dirt and debris may be drawn). As shown in FIG. 3, in an embodiment, the housing 10 may define the intake area 11 near to the edge of the front of the autonomous vacuum cleaner 9. Furthermore, in an embodiment, the brush assembly 12 may be positioned near to the wall of the housing 10, such that the distance between the center line of the brush assembly 12 and the outer wall of the housing 10 is minimized.

[0017] Returning to FIG. 2, the brush assembly 12 may comprise a brush core

1, to which agitators may be attached. In alternate embodiments, the agitators may be bristles, rigid plastic or rubber ridges or some other geometry intended to protrude into a carpeted surface (or to brush against a hard surface) to lift the particles upward into the flow of the intake. In an embodiment, the diameter of the brush core 1, including the agitators, may be less than two inches; however, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that any diameter of brush may be used according to varying applications. Additionally, brush core 1 may include a bearing 2, or a cavity for receiving a bearing, such that brush core 1 may rotate freely inside the housing 10. Accordingly, brush core 1 may be detachably mounted within and rotate freely with respect to housing 10. [0018] Brush core 1 may be driven by a motor 4 that is housed within brush core 1, but is independently supported and fixed relative the rotation of brush core 1. As shown in FIG. 4, motor 4 may be contained within brush core 1. As shown in FIGs. 2 and 4, in an embodiment, motor 4 may be operatively connected to a power connector 5 to receive power necessary to drive motor 4. Motor 4 may be connected to power connector 5 via a motor support 3. Power connector 5 may thus function as a cantilever, supporting motor 4 on one side, independent of brush core 1, allowing brush core 1 to rotate freely about motor 4. Brush core 1, as described above, may be detachably and rotationally mounted to housing 10 on one side, while the other side of brush core 1 may be supported by and rotate with respect to motor subassembly 13 via a bearing 6 or other similar structure.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 4, power may be transmitted from motor 4 to brush core 1 via a motor adapter 7. In an embodiment, motor adapter 7 may include a spider coupling 8 (shown in FIG. 2), wherein one piece of the spider coupling 8 may be mounted to motor adapter 7 and engage with a second piece of the spider coupling 8 mounted within brush core assembly 12. One of ordinary skill will appreciate that any other coupling may be used that may transmit power to brush core 1, such as a geared linkage or other structure. Thus, motor 4 may be housed within the brush assembly 12 and transmit power to the brush assembly 12 via motor adapter 7 without a mechanical linkage that would consume space along the outer surface of brush core 1. In an embodiment, the diameter of brush core 1 may be between 1-1.75 inches to allow enough room for motor 4. In alternate embodiments, brush core 1 may be any diameter suitable for receiving and housing motor 4.

[0020] While various embodiments have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and/or structures for performing the function and/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantages described herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications is deemed to be within the scope of the embodiments described herein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations described herein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters, dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon the specific application or applications for which the teachings is/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able to ascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein. It is, therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presented by way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereto, embodiments may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individual feature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems, articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent, is included within the scope of the present disclosure.