EP0476413B1 - An automatic swimming pool cleaner - Google Patents
An automatic swimming pool cleaner Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0476413B1 EP0476413B1 EP91114781A EP91114781A EP0476413B1 EP 0476413 B1 EP0476413 B1 EP 0476413B1 EP 91114781 A EP91114781 A EP 91114781A EP 91114781 A EP91114781 A EP 91114781A EP 0476413 B1 EP0476413 B1 EP 0476413B1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- foot
- suction head
- housing
- bristles
- set forth
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E04—BUILDING
- E04H—BUILDINGS OR LIKE STRUCTURES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES; SWIMMING OR SPLASH BATHS OR POOLS; MASTS; FENCING; TENTS OR CANOPIES, IN GENERAL
- E04H4/00—Swimming or splash baths or pools
- E04H4/14—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for
- E04H4/16—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for specially adapted for cleaning
- E04H4/1654—Self-propelled cleaners
- E04H4/1663—Self-propelled cleaners the propulsion resulting from an intermittent interruption of the waterflow through the cleaner
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E04—BUILDING
- E04H—BUILDINGS OR LIKE STRUCTURES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES; SWIMMING OR SPLASH BATHS OR POOLS; MASTS; FENCING; TENTS OR CANOPIES, IN GENERAL
- E04H4/00—Swimming or splash baths or pools
- E04H4/14—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for
- E04H4/16—Parts, details or accessories not otherwise provided for specially adapted for cleaning
- E04H4/1654—Self-propelled cleaners
Definitions
- the invention relates to a swimming pool cleaner suction head as set forth in the preamble of claim 1.
- a suction head of this type is known from DE-A-2 620 119.
- This reference discloses a cleaning device for a water-filled swimming pool consisting of a disc of flexible plastic material and a housing attached at its upper side in the center of and obliquely inclined against the disc, a connecting sleeve for connection of the end of a suction hose being mounted to the upper end of said housing.
- a flap valve pivotally mounted in the housing creates a pulsating motion when a water flow caused by a suction pump connected to the other end of said suction hose passes through said housing, said pulsating motion causing the cleaning device to move about the bottom and wall surfaces of the swimming pool in a random fashion.
- a suction head for a swimming pool cleaner system is known from US-A- 4 275 474 (Woodard) which comprises a housing open at its lower side and to whose upper side a connecting sleeve is mounted for connecting a suction hose in turn connected to a suction pump. Brush bristles extend vertically downwardly from the lower edge of the housing.
- a pole is furthermore attached to the upper side of the suction head which is intended for handling the suction head.
- This suction head can be handled like an ordinary broom or a vacuum cleaner nozzle. It is not capable of moving automatically across the bottom of the swimming pool to be cleaned, but must be manually guided by means of the pole.
- the object of the invention is a suction head which moves automatically in a random fashion through a swimming pool when a suction flow of water is caused to pass through said suction head.
- a still further object of the invention is to provide a suction head which can easily and rapidly be disassembled for cleaning and maintenance purposes and re-assembled without the aid of complex tools.
- At least one foot is displaceably mounted eccentrically in the housing, said foot being movable vertically with respect to the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles.
- a foot driving mechanism is located in the housing and is driven by the suction flow passing through the housing by means of the vibratory element, said foot driving mechanism acting on the at least one foot in a manner that its lower end can be advanced downwardly beyond the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles and can be upwardly returned. In this manner the suction head is temporarily lifted off from the surface to be cleaned one-sidedly by said at least one foot during operation.
- two feet are mounted in the housing, they are disposed on either side of the center of said suction head and are operated in an alternating manner so that the suction head is temporarily partially lifted off from the surface to be cleaned in an alternating manner on either side.
- the driving mechanism for the at least one foot is driven by the vibratory element and comprises transfer means which transfer the pivotal, back and forth going movement of the vibratory element into a unidirectional rotational movement and rotating cam means engaging said at least one foot and driven by said transfer means.
- a special advantage of the invention is that the suction head is operative with a flow of water passing through the suction head which is relatively weak as compared with the prior art and, nevertheless, achieves a good cleaning effect, since the movement of the bristles effects the lifting off of dirt from the surface to be cleaned. It must furthermore be noted that the suction head can also be used for cleaning the walls of a swimming pool.
- a further important advantage of the invention is that the flow of water is substantially continuous and uniform and does not pulsate, which makes for a less noisy operation.
- the suction head 1 comprises a housing 2, which has a dome-like prominence 3 enclosing a chamber at its upper side, to whose top a connecting sleeve 4 is rotatably mounted where a suction hose (not shown) is to be attached to operate the suction head 1.
- the dome-like prominence 3 comprises two parts, a lower part 5 integrally connected to the housing 2 and an upper part 6 detachably mounted thereto, both parts being joined together along a separating line 7.
- a collar of bristles 9 is exchangeably attached to the lower edge 8 of the housing 2. Th free ends of the bristles 9 are in a common plane.
- the housing 2 When viewed from the top, the housing 2 is of substantially rectangular design, but has in the represented example a slightly curved shape, the front side being convex and the rear side being concave, as seen in Fig. 1, or may be more rectangular, comprising rounded corners, the front side corners being greater than those on the rear side, as seen in Fig. 3.
- a vibratory element 11 of crescent-like or airfoil-like cross-section is located in a chamber 32 enclosed by the dome-like prominence 3 and open at its lower side (cf. Figs 1 and 6).
- Said vibratory element 11 has a pivot axis 12 and its convex side points towards the connecting sleeve 4.
- the vibratory element 11 has a projection 13 of out-of-round cross-section at one side in the swivelling axis 12, which is octogonal in the represented example. Said projection extends through an opening 35 in a side wall 31 of chamber 32 into an adjacent gear chamber 33 formed in the dome-like prominence 3 of housing 2.
- a commercially available one-way clutch 14, which has an inner race 15 with an inner opening of octogonal profile is fitted onto the projection 13 in the gear chamber 33.
- Figs. 8 and 8a illustrate the various components of said one-way clutch 14 of which there are numerous ones available in the market. It comprises rollers 42 riding between an inner race 15 and a ramp 54 in an wedge body 51 disposed in an outer cylindrical casing 53.
- Leaf springs 52 hold the rollers 42 in a wedging manner so that when the inner race 15 is turning in one direction the outer casing 53 is driven thereby in the same direction, whereas when the driving direction reverses, the rollers 42 free themselves and the outer and inner components of the clutch may move independent of each other.
- Three further gearwheels 18, 19 and 20 forming a stepdown gear train with the gearwheel 17, and a gearwheel 22 having a projecting tab 21 are also located in gear chamber 33.
- the vibratory element 11 along with one-way clutch 14 and gearwheel 17 and the gearwheels 19 and 22 are mounted on a common first axle shaft 23, while the gearwheels 18 and 20 are supported by a second axle shaft extending parallely to the first axle shaft 23.
- a brush support 26 is also disposed in gear chamber 33 and is movable in vertical direction and supports at its lower end a brush with inclined bristles 27. The inclination of these bristles 27 is opposite to the inclination of the bristles 9 affixed to the housing.
- the brush support 26 has a lug 28 at its upper portion, said lug 28 being located in a partial section of the movement path of the projecting tab 21 of gearwheel 22 so that it can be pressed downwardly by said tab 21 against the biasing force of compression return springs 29 supported in the housing 2.
- Said return springs 29 bias the brush support in a rest position in which the free ends of its bristles 27 are situated in a plane which is upwardly offset from that defined by the bristles 9 attached to the housing 2 so that the bristles 27 are out of contact with the surface to be cleaned.
- the rotary connecting sleeve 4 is mounted rotatably on the dome-like prominence 3 by means of a sealed rotary coupling 30.
- chamber 32 formed in the dome-like prominence 3 is downwardly open and houses the vibratory element 11, the connecting sleeve 4 opening in said chamber 32, whereas gear chamber 33 separated from aforementioned chamber 32 by separating wall 31 is closed at its bottom by a bottom wall 34.
- Gear chamber 33 houses the one-way clutch 14 and all gearwheels which are components of a brush support driving mechanism, and it has an opening in bottom wall 34 to allow for the passage of the brush support 26 with attached bristles 27. The closing of gear chamber 33 effected by the bottom wall 34 prevents dirt from entering into the gear chamber 33 from below.
- Fig. 5 also shows that the separating line 7 between the upper part 6 and the lower part 5 of the dome-like prominence 3 lies in the same plane in which the axis of the axle shaft 23 lies.
- the axle shaft 24 for the gearwheels 18 and 20, which cannot be seen in Fig. 5, also lies in the same plane, see Fig. 7.
- corresponding bearing journals 36 and 37 are integrally formed with the lower part 5 and the upper part 6, respectively, to support the ends of the axle shafts 23 and 24.
- Fig. 6 also shows that the vibratory element 11 can be pivoted between two end positions which are drawn in dash-dotted fashion with 11a and 11b.
- a flow path results in the one end position lla, which passes the right hand side of the vibratory element 11 from the bottom to the top in Fig. 6, while in the other end position 11b a flow path results which passes the left hand side of the vibratory element 11.
- the vibratory element 11 Due to the effect of the flow of water sucked through the suction head, the vibratory element 11 automatically vibrates to and fro between the two end positions 11a and 11b. It does not have a stable position of equilibrium due to the physical phenomena of its crescent-like shaping, whose concave surface points downwardly against the direction of the water flow sucked through the chamber 32.
- the effective cross-sectional area of the flow path is not substantially varied by the pivotal movement of the vibratory element 11, no noticeable pulsations are generated in the water flow passing through the suction head.
- the brush support 26 is guided vertically within the lower part 5 of the dome-like prominence 3.
- the helical compression return springs 29, which are each supported at the bottom on a lug 44 formed at the housing 2, bias the brush support upwardly.
- the gearwheel 22 of the brush support driving mechanism is located adjacent to the brush support 26, and the projecting tab 21 is formed on the side of the gearwheel facing said brush support 26.
- the latter is formed with a lug 28 which is situated in a partial section of the movement path of the tab 21 defined by rotation of the gearwheel 22.
- the time during which the bristles 27 are downwardly advanced beyond the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles 9 is consequently only about 1/8 or somewhat less of the operating time of the suction head.
- the movement path of the suction head is substantially determined by the action caused by the bristles 9 attached to the housing, while a change in the direction of movement is caused in the aforementioned manner by the downward advance of the brush support 26 during relatively short intermediate periods.
- the first axle shaft 23 is extended to the side opposite to gear chamber 33 and traverses another chamber 33a formed in the dome-like prominence 3 symmetrically with respect to gear chamber 33, said other chamber 33a housing the actuation wheel 49, the second brush support 50 and associated return springs 29.
- the gearwheel 22 driving the first brush support 26 by means of tab 21 and lug 28 is fixed to the axle shaft 23 for co-rotation therewith at one of its end portions, whereas the actuation wheel 49 associated to the second brush support 50 is fixed to the axle shaft 23 for co-rotation therewith at the other end portion thereof.
- the tabs 21 at gearwheel 22 and actuation wheel 49 are offset with respect to each other by 180 o .
- the brush supports 26 and 50 are alternately advanced downwardly.
- the suction head 1 is therefore partially lifted at one side and, after return of the respctive brush support in its rest postion, subsequently at the other side and so on.
- suction head a round shape or any other shape of monoplane configuration as the motion producing phenomenon is not affected by the bristle outline configuration.
- the components of the suction head in particular the housing parts, the vibratory element and the wheels of the foot driving mechanism, the connecting sleeve and the brush support consist preferably of plastic material, whereas the axle shafts and rollers consist of stainless steel.
- the suction head 1 is connected at its rotary connecting sleeve 4 to a suction hose which in turn is connected to the suction side of a water pump and it is placed into the swimming pool to be cleaned.
- the vibratory element 11 Under the action of the flow of water created by the water pump and flowing through the chamber 32, the vibratory element 11 performs a vibrating motion.
- the force with which the suction head 1 rests on the surface to be cleaned is pulsating.
- the bristles 9 are bent and straightened repetitively in the frequency of the pulsation. Thereby, the bristles cause the advance effect mentioned in the opening portion of this specification.
- the one-way clutch 14 transfers the to and fro going pivotal movement of the vibratory element 11 in a unidirectional rotation by which the gearwheel 22 is driven via gearwheels 17, 18, 19 and 20 to bring the tab(s) 21 in contact with the lug(s) 28 of the brush support(s) 26 (and 50) to advance it (them) gradually downwardly against the bias force of the return springs 29. Due to this, the suction head 1 is lifted at one side as is shown in Fig. 5 by line A.
- the bristles 9 represented on the lefthand side of Fig. 5, which are still in contact with the surface to be cleaned continue to produce their advance movement, while the bristles 9 represented at the righthand side lose their effect since they are no longer in contact with the surface to be cleaned.
- the brush support 26 does not have bristles 27 but acts as a foot with a preferably high friction coefficient and can be brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned and brakes the movement of the suction head 1 at one side.
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- Architecture (AREA)
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Description
- The invention relates to a swimming pool cleaner suction head as set forth in the preamble of
claim 1. A suction head of this type is known from DE-A-2 620 119. - This reference discloses a cleaning device for a water-filled swimming pool consisting of a disc of flexible plastic material and a housing attached at its upper side in the center of and obliquely inclined against the disc, a connecting sleeve for connection of the end of a suction hose being mounted to the upper end of said housing. A flap valve pivotally mounted in the housing creates a pulsating motion when a water flow caused by a suction pump connected to the other end of said suction hose passes through said housing, said pulsating motion causing the cleaning device to move about the bottom and wall surfaces of the swimming pool in a random fashion.
- A very similar cleaning device is known from US-A-4 351 077, working in the same manner as the cleaning device explained before.
- A suction head for a swimming pool cleaner system is known from US-A- 4 275 474 (Woodard) which comprises a housing open at its lower side and to whose upper side a connecting sleeve is mounted for connecting a suction hose in turn connected to a suction pump. Brush bristles extend vertically downwardly from the lower edge of the housing. A pole is furthermore attached to the upper side of the suction head which is intended for handling the suction head. This suction head can be handled like an ordinary broom or a vacuum cleaner nozzle. It is not capable of moving automatically across the bottom of the swimming pool to be cleaned, but must be manually guided by means of the pole.
- The object of the invention is a suction head which moves automatically in a random fashion through a swimming pool when a suction flow of water is caused to pass through said suction head.
- An additional object of the invention is to provide a suction heac which can change its direction of movement automatically.
- A further object of the invention is to provide a suction head which reliably cleans a swimming pool bottom and side walls.
- A still further object of the invention is to provide a suction head which can easily and rapidly be disassembled for cleaning and maintenance purposes and re-assembled without the aid of complex tools.
- These and further objects of the present invention are accomplished by a suction head for a swimming pool cleaner as set forth in
claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the dependent claims. - When a flow of water is drawn through the suction head by the effect of a suction pump connected to said suction hose, the resulting vibrations of the vibratory element cause the entire suction head to vibrate, including the flexible bristles which project downwardly from the housing and whose free ends end in a common plane and which are inclined in a specific common direction so that they enclose an angle deviating from the vertical onto the plane defined by their free ends. This vibratory movement of the suction head is imparted to the obliquely disposed bristles which bend and straighten repetitively, so that the bristles produce a pushing force acting on the suction head moving it across the surface engaged by the bristles and to be cleaned. At the same time, the bristles also lift off dirt from the surface to be cleaned, said dirt being sucked through the suction head and away through the suction hose into a filter by the effect of the water flow sucked through the housing.
- According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one foot is displaceably mounted eccentrically in the housing, said foot being movable vertically with respect to the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles. A foot driving mechanism is located in the housing and is driven by the suction flow passing through the housing by means of the vibratory element, said foot driving mechanism acting on the at least one foot in a manner that its lower end can be advanced downwardly beyond the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles and can be upwardly returned. In this manner the suction head is temporarily lifted off from the surface to be cleaned one-sidedly by said at least one foot during operation. Where two feet are mounted in the housing, they are disposed on either side of the center of said suction head and are operated in an alternating manner so that the suction head is temporarily partially lifted off from the surface to be cleaned in an alternating manner on either side.
- The result of this partially lifting off the suction head is that the suction head is rotated about an axis extending vertically to the surface to be cleaned. This effect is brought about by said foot lifting off an increasing number of bristles from the surface to be cleaned so that they become inactive, whereas the bristles still in contact with the surface to be cleaned push the suction head one-sidedly. Thus, a change of orientation of the suction head results therefrom so that after the return of the foot in its retracted or upper position the suction head will again move off straighly, but in a different direction.
- In the preferred embodiment, the at least one foot is formed by a brush support to whose lower side brush bristles are attached which are inclined in opposite fashion to the inclination of the bristles attached to the lower edge of the housing. The bristles on the brush support also perform a bending and straightening movement under the effect of the load force of the suction head when downwardly displaced and, thus, brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned. In this downwardly displaced position, under the vibrating movement of the suction head the bristles of the support do not brake, but even cause a thrust which is opposite to the thrust of the bristles attached to the lower edge of the suction head housing. Thus, the combined thrusts of the bristles result in a rotational movement of the suction head about an axis which is vertical to the surface to be cleaned.
- The driving mechanism for the at least one foot is driven by the vibratory element and comprises transfer means which transfer the pivotal, back and forth going movement of the vibratory element into a unidirectional rotational movement and rotating cam means engaging said at least one foot and driven by said transfer means.
- A special advantage of the invention is that the suction head is operative with a flow of water passing through the suction head which is relatively weak as compared with the prior art and, nevertheless, achieves a good cleaning effect, since the movement of the bristles effects the lifting off of dirt from the surface to be cleaned. It must furthermore be noted that the suction head can also be used for cleaning the walls of a swimming pool. A further important advantage of the invention is that the flow of water is substantially continuous and uniform and does not pulsate, which makes for a less noisy operation.
- Further features of the invention, their advantages and their effects are explained in more detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Fig. 1
- shows a perspective view of the suction head according to the invention and an exploded view of details thereof contained in its housing;
- Fig. 1a
- shows a perspective view of a suction head similar to Fig. 1 but having two displaceable feet;
- Fig. 2
- shows a rear view of the suction head of Fig. 1;
- Fig. 3
- shows a top view of a suction head essentially corresponding to that of Fig. 1 but having a more rectangular shape when seen from above;
- Fig. 4
- shows a lateral view of the suction head of Fig. 3 from the left;
- Fig. 5
- shows a front view of the suction head of Fig. 1 as a vertical section along line V-V of Fig. 3;
- Fig. 5a
- shows a front view of the suction head of Fig. la as a vertical section similar to Fig. 5;
- Fig. 6
- shows a lateral view through part of the suction head as a vertical view along the line VI-VI of Fig. 5;
- Fig. 6a
- shows a cross-sectional view of Fig. 6 along the line VIa-VIa of Fig. 6;
- Fig. 7
- shows details of the section through Fig. 5 along the line VII-VII of Fig. 5;
- Fig. 8
- shows a cross-sectional view of the one-way clutch along line VIII-VIII of Fig. 8a;
- Fig. 8a
- shows a cross-sectional view of the one-way clutch along line VIIIa-VIIIa of Fig. 8;
- Fig. 9
- shows a section through Fig. 5 along the line IX-IX of Fig. 5;
- Fig. 9a
- shows a partial view of the lower portion of a modified embodiment of the suction head;
- Fig. 10
- shows a detail of the foot driving meachanism from top with a speed reduction gear train.
- According to Figs. 1 through 5a, the
suction head 1 comprises ahousing 2, which has a dome-like prominence 3 enclosing a chamber at its upper side, to whose top a connectingsleeve 4 is rotatably mounted where a suction hose (not shown) is to be attached to operate thesuction head 1. The dome-like prominence 3 comprises two parts, alower part 5 integrally connected to thehousing 2 and anupper part 6 detachably mounted thereto, both parts being joined together along aseparating line 7. A collar ofbristles 9 is exchangeably attached to thelower edge 8 of thehousing 2. Th free ends of thebristles 9 are in a common plane. The collar ofbristles 9 is surrounded by askirt 10 at the outside, which is also attached to thelower edge 8 of thehousing 2 and is to suppress the flow of water through the gaps between thebristles 9. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 9a, askirt 59 may be disposed inside of the collar ofbristles 9 and may be integrally formed with thehousing 2 or as a separate element attached thereto. - The
bristles 9 are inclined at a small angle of about 8 to 18 degrees against the vertical onto the plane defined by the free ends of thebristles 9. - When viewed from the top, the
housing 2 is of substantially rectangular design, but has in the represented example a slightly curved shape, the front side being convex and the rear side being concave, as seen in Fig. 1, or may be more rectangular, comprising rounded corners, the front side corners being greater than those on the rear side, as seen in Fig. 3. - According to Fig. 5, a
vibratory element 11 of crescent-like or airfoil-like cross-section is located in achamber 32 enclosed by the dome-like prominence 3 and open at its lower side (cf. Figs 1 and 6). Saidvibratory element 11 has apivot axis 12 and its convex side points towards the connectingsleeve 4. - As a means of sealing the
vibratory element 11 to the adjacent side walls ofchamber 32 from bypassing water and yet allowing sand or other small particles to escape so as not to score the walls ofchamber 32 or the edges ofvibratory element 11, soft bristles 58 of plastic or other suitable material are affixed to the side edges of thevibratory element 11. Those bristles 58 are mounted intoframes 56 which are pressed intomating slots 57 in thevibratory element 11. - The
vibratory element 11 has aprojection 13 of out-of-round cross-section at one side in the swivellingaxis 12, which is octogonal in the represented example. Said projection extends through an opening 35 in aside wall 31 ofchamber 32 into anadjacent gear chamber 33 formed in the dome-like prominence 3 ofhousing 2. A commercially available one-way clutch 14, which has aninner race 15 with an inner opening of octogonal profile is fitted onto theprojection 13 in thegear chamber 33. - Figs. 8 and 8a illustrate the various components of said one-
way clutch 14 of which there are numerous ones available in the market. It comprisesrollers 42 riding between aninner race 15 and aramp 54 in anwedge body 51 disposed in an outercylindrical casing 53. Leaf springs 52 hold therollers 42 in a wedging manner so that when theinner race 15 is turning in one direction theouter casing 53 is driven thereby in the same direction, whereas when the driving direction reverses, therollers 42 free themselves and the outer and inner components of the clutch may move independent of each other. - To the
outer casing 53, awheel 16 is affixed, e. g. by press fit, saidwheel 16 having agearwheel 17 of smaller diameter integrally connected thereto.Wheel 16 may be designed as a ratchet, as shown in Fig. 7 into which aflexible detent pawl 41 firmly attached to theupper part 6 of the dome-like prominence 3 engages, preventingwheel 16 to rotate in counter-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 7. - Three
further gearwheels gearwheel 17, and agearwheel 22 having a projectingtab 21 are also located ingear chamber 33. Thevibratory element 11 along with one-way clutch 14 andgearwheel 17 and thegearwheels first axle shaft 23, while thegearwheels first axle shaft 23. - It is evident that the
gearwheels gearwheels spacer 25 can furthermore be recognized, which is disposed on thesecond axle shaft 24. - A
brush support 26 is also disposed ingear chamber 33 and is movable in vertical direction and supports at its lower end a brush withinclined bristles 27. The inclination of thesebristles 27 is opposite to the inclination of thebristles 9 affixed to the housing. Thebrush support 26 has alug 28 at its upper portion, saidlug 28 being located in a partial section of the movement path of the projectingtab 21 ofgearwheel 22 so that it can be pressed downwardly by saidtab 21 against the biasing force of compression return springs 29 supported in thehousing 2. Said return springs 29 bias the brush support in a rest position in which the free ends of itsbristles 27 are situated in a plane which is upwardly offset from that defined by thebristles 9 attached to thehousing 2 so that thebristles 27 are out of contact with the surface to be cleaned. - As can be readily seen in Fig. 5, the
rotary connecting sleeve 4 is mounted rotatably on the dome-like prominence 3 by means of a sealedrotary coupling 30. - It can furthermore bee seen in Fig. 5 that
chamber 32 formed in the dome-like prominence 3 is downwardly open and houses thevibratory element 11, the connectingsleeve 4 opening in saidchamber 32, whereasgear chamber 33 separated fromaforementioned chamber 32 by separatingwall 31 is closed at its bottom by abottom wall 34.Gear chamber 33 houses the one-way clutch 14 and all gearwheels which are components of a brush support driving mechanism, and it has an opening inbottom wall 34 to allow for the passage of thebrush support 26 with attached bristles 27. The closing ofgear chamber 33 effected by thebottom wall 34 prevents dirt from entering into thegear chamber 33 from below. - Fig. 5 also shows that the
separating line 7 between theupper part 6 and thelower part 5 of the dome-like prominence 3 lies in the same plane in which the axis of theaxle shaft 23 lies. Theaxle shaft 24 for thegearwheels separating line 7 between thelower part 5 and theupper part 6 of the dome-like prominence 3corresponding bearing journals lower part 5 and theupper part 6, respectively, to support the ends of theaxle shafts - According to Fig. 6, the separating
line 7 extends in a single plane. Thelower part 5 hasflexible clips 38 elongated upwardly beyond the separatingline 7, which end in locking hooks 39 engaging intoopenings 40 formed in theupper part 6, said hooks retaining theupper part 6 in detachable fashion on thelower part 5. Theclips 38 can be inwardly bent back by pressing the locking hooks 39 from the outside, whereby it becomes possible to detach theupper part 6 from thelower part 5. Thevibratory element 11 and all components of the brush support driving mechanism and thebrush support 26 become freely accessible from above in disengaged condition of the lower andupper parts - It is evident that the assembly of these elements is correspondingly simplified by this structure. For assembly the
vibratory element 11 and the one-way clutch 14 must only be plugged together and the pre-assembled unit formed in this fashion is subsequently slipped ontoaxle shaft 23, then (ratchet)wheel 16 and thegearwheels same axle shaft 23. Thegearwheels spacer sleeve 25 are slipped onto theother axle shaft 24. After thebrush support 26 together with its return springs 29 have been inserted into thegear chamber 33, the aforementioned pre-assembled subassemblies are placed into thelower part 5 by inserting the ends of theaxle shafts shells 36. Theupper part 6 of the dome-like prominence 3 is subsequently placed onto thelower part 5, whereby the bearingshells 37 formed at theupper part 6 engage the axle shaft ends, and theupper part 6 is locked to thelower part 5 by means of the locking hooks 39 locking in theopenings 40. - Fig. 6 also shows that the
vibratory element 11 can be pivoted between two end positions which are drawn in dash-dotted fashion with 11a and 11b. According to Fig. 6, a flow path results in the one end position lla, which passes the right hand side of thevibratory element 11 from the bottom to the top in Fig. 6, while in theother end position 11b a flow path results which passes the left hand side of thevibratory element 11. Due to the effect of the flow of water sucked through the suction head, thevibratory element 11 automatically vibrates to and fro between the twoend positions chamber 32. As the effective cross-sectional area of the flow path is not substantially varied by the pivotal movement of thevibratory element 11, no noticeable pulsations are generated in the water flow passing through the suction head. - The to and fro movement of the
vibratory element 11 is transferred into a unidirectional rotational movement by the one-way clutch 14 mounted to thevibratory element 11. Thus,gearwheel 22 is finally driven in one direction only. - As is shown in the sectional representation in Fig. 9, the
brush support 26 is guided vertically within thelower part 5 of the dome-like prominence 3. The helical compression return springs 29, which are each supported at the bottom on alug 44 formed at thehousing 2, bias the brush support upwardly. Thegearwheel 22 of the brush support driving mechanism is located adjacent to thebrush support 26, and the projectingtab 21 is formed on the side of the gearwheel facing saidbrush support 26. The latter is formed with alug 28 which is situated in a partial section of the movement path of thetab 21 defined by rotation of thegearwheel 22. Thus, upon clockwise rotation of the gearwheel as seen in Fig. 9, the projectingtab 21 is aligned with thelug 28 and thereby presses thebrush support 26 downwardly from the rest position represented in Fig. 9 so that the free ends of thebristles 27 attached to it are downwardly advanced beyond the plane defined by the free ends of thebristles 9 attached to thehousing 2. In the position of the projectingtab 21 shown in dashed lines by 21a in Fig. 9 thetab 21 disengages from thelug 28 so that thebrush support 26 is returned to its rest position by the action of the return springs 29. It can be seen that thelug 28 is in engagement with the projectingtab 21 across about 45o only of the movement path of saidtab 21 so that, based on a full rotation of thegearwheel 22, thebrush support 26 is downwardly advanced during 1/8 only of the entire time of rotation of thegearwheel 22. The time during which thebristles 27 are downwardly advanced beyond the plane defined by the free ends of thebristles 9 is consequently only about 1/8 or somewhat less of the operating time of the suction head. The movement path of the suction head is substantially determined by the action caused by thebristles 9 attached to the housing, while a change in the direction of movement is caused in the aforementioned manner by the downward advance of thebrush support 26 during relatively short intermediate periods. - As may be seen from Fig. 1a, the suction head may be provided with another,
second brush support 50 of similar design as thefirst brush support 26 explained above and havingbristles 27 at its lower end. Saidsecond brush support 50 is positioned symmetrically to thefirst brush support 26 with respect to the center of thesuction head 1 defined by the connectingsleeve 4. Anactuation wheel 49 similar togearwheel 22 but not toothed and being likewise provided with a projectingtab 21 is associated to thesecond brush support 50. In this embodiment of the invention, thefirst axle shaft 23 is extended to the side opposite to gearchamber 33 and traverses anotherchamber 33a formed in the dome-like prominence 3 symmetrically with respect to gearchamber 33, saidother chamber 33a housing theactuation wheel 49, thesecond brush support 50 and associated return springs 29. Thegearwheel 22 driving thefirst brush support 26 by means oftab 21 andlug 28 is fixed to theaxle shaft 23 for co-rotation therewith at one of its end portions, whereas theactuation wheel 49 associated to thesecond brush support 50 is fixed to theaxle shaft 23 for co-rotation therewith at the other end portion thereof. Co-rotation ofaxle shaft 23 andwheels wheels wheels axle shaft 23 is still possible. Other means to fix theaxle shaft 23 towheels gearwheel 22 is transmitted viaaxle shaft 23 toactuation wheel 49. - As is shown in Fig. 1a, the
tabs 21 atgearwheel 22 andactuation wheel 49 are offset with respect to each other by 180o. Thus, upon rotation ofgearwheel 22, the brush supports 26 and 50 are alternately advanced downwardly. Thesuction head 1 is therefore partially lifted at one side and, after return of the respctive brush support in its rest postion, subsequently at the other side and so on. - It is further possible to give the suction head a round shape or any other shape of monoplane configuration as the motion producing phenomenon is not affected by the bristle outline configuration.
- The components of the suction head, in particular the housing parts, the vibratory element and the wheels of the foot driving mechanism, the connecting sleeve and the brush support consist preferably of plastic material, whereas the axle shafts and rollers consist of stainless steel.
- During operation the
suction head 1 is connected at itsrotary connecting sleeve 4 to a suction hose which in turn is connected to the suction side of a water pump and it is placed into the swimming pool to be cleaned. Under the action of the flow of water created by the water pump and flowing through thechamber 32, thevibratory element 11 performs a vibrating motion. The result of this is that the force with which thesuction head 1 rests on the surface to be cleaned is pulsating. And therefore, thebristles 9 are bent and straightened repetitively in the frequency of the pulsation. Thereby, the bristles cause the advance effect mentioned in the opening portion of this specification. The one-way clutch 14 transfers the to and fro going pivotal movement of thevibratory element 11 in a unidirectional rotation by which thegearwheel 22 is driven viagearwheels suction head 1 is lifted at one side as is shown in Fig. 5 by line A. Thebristles 9 represented on the lefthand side of Fig. 5, which are still in contact with the surface to be cleaned continue to produce their advance movement, while thebristles 9 represented at the righthand side lose their effect since they are no longer in contact with the surface to be cleaned. However, in lieu of this, thebristles 27 attached to the brush support 26 (or 50) produce an advance movement in the opposite direction which entails in cooperation with the stillactive bristles 9 that thesuction head 1 rotates about an axis vertical to the surface to be cleaned. - It is obvious that the same result, although with reduced effect, can be attained if the
brush support 26 does not havebristles 27 but acts as a foot with a preferably high friction coefficient and can be brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned and brakes the movement of thesuction head 1 at one side. - By changing the gear train ratios the length of the periods of straight motion and the rotary motion may be varied with respect to each other. Various other modifications may be carried out in the described suction head without leaving the spirit of the present invention, as defined by the appended claims.
Claims (20)
- A swimming pool cleaner suction head (1) of the type having a housing (2) forming a chamber (32) open at its lower side and a rotary connection sleeve (4) for a hose by which a remote suction pump establishes a water flow through the chamber (32) and into the hose, and further comprising
a swivelling element (11) pivotally mounted in said chamber (32) to vibrate the suction head in response to flow of water through the chamber (32), characterized in that said swivelling element is a vibratory element (11) and flexible bristles (9) are secured to the lower edge of the housing (2) and project downwardly therefrom to terminate in free bristle ends arranged in a common plane and adapted to support the suction head on a surface to be cleaned, the bristles (9) being inclined such that, when the bristle ends engage a horizontal surface to be cleaned, such bristles (9) deviate from vertical in a specific common direction;
whereby such bristles (9) and vibratory element (11) work together to cause forward movement of the suction head over the surface to be cleaned, and vibratory cleaning action at the bristle ends is provided. - The swimming pool cleaner suction head of claim 1 wherein the chamber includes a horizontal axis (12) about which the vibratory element is pivotably mounted.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 1 or 2 comprising furthermore at least one movable foot (26) having a lower end and being disposed in the housing (2) offset from a center of the suction head (1) and being displaceable vertically with respect to the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles (9), and a foot-driving mechanism in the housing (2) which is driven by the pivotal movement of the vibratory element (11) via means (14) for transferring said pivotal to and fro movement of the vibratory element (11) into a unidirectional rotational movement, said foot driving mechanism periodically acting on said at least one foot (26) so as to advance it from a raised rest position in which the lower end of said foot (26) is retracted with respect to the plane defined by the free ends of said bristles (9) to a lowered active position in which the lower end of said foot (26) projects beyond said plane so as to lift said suction head (1) one-sidedly from the surface to be cleaned, and further comprising return means (29) for returning said foot (26) into its raised rest position.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 3 wherein said means for transferring the pivotal to and fro movement of said vibratory element is a one-way clutch (14) mounted to a projection (13) of the vibratory element (11) in the pivot axis (12) thereof.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 4 wherein said projection (13) has an out-of-round cross-section and said one-way clutch (14) has a complementary center opening mating therewith, said one-way clutch (14) being plugged onto said projection (13).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 3 wherein said foot driving mechanism (16-25) comprises among other components a gearwheel (22) provided with a projecting tab (21) and rotatably mounted in the housing (2), said tab (21) describing a circular movement path upon rotation of the gearwheel (22), the foot (26) having a lug (28) which is located in a partial section of said circular movement path so that said lug (28) together with the foot (26) is pushed by said tab (21) downwardly in the direction of said plane defined by the free ends of the bristles (9) upon rotation of said gearwheel (22), and further comprising at least one return spring (29) in the housing (2) biasing the foot (26) into the rest position when said tab (21) disengages from said lug (28) upon continued rotation of said gearwheel (22).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 3 wherein the foot is formed by a brush support (26) having flexible foot bristles (27) attached thereto, the foot bristles (27) being inclined in a direction opposite to the inclination of the bristles (9) attached to the housing (2), the free ends of the foot bristles (27) attached to the brush support (26) forming the lower end of the foot.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 3 wherein the foot driving mechanism comprises a stepdown gear train with several pairs of meshing gearwheels (17-22).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 8 wherein the vibratory element (11) and said gearwheels (17-22) are disposed on two axle shafts (23,24) and the housing (2) consists of at least two parts (5,6) which are connected to each other along a separating line (7), which extends through the axes of said axle shafts (23,24).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 9 wherein the two housing parts (5,6) are detachably connected with each other.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bristles (9) are exchangeably attached to the lower edge (8) of the housing (2).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 3 wherein the foot (26,27) is exchangeably supported in the housing (2).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 6 comprising a second movable foot (50) having a lower end and being disposed in said housing (2) symmetrically to said foot (26) with respect to the center of said suction head (1) said second foot (50) being vertically displaceable from raised rest position in which the lower end of said second foot (50) is raised with respect to the plane defined by the free ends of the bristles (9) into a lower position in which the lower end of said second foot (50) projects downwardly beyond said plane, and driving means (49,21) connected to said foot driving mechanism (16-25) for displacing said second foot (50) into the lowered position, and return means (29) biasing said second foot (50) into its raised rest position.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 13 wherein said driving means (49,21) of said second foot (50) comprise, among other components, a wheel (49) fixed for co-rotation with the gearwheel (22) driving the first-mentioned foot (26) on a common axle shaft (23), said wheel (49) having a tab (21) for engaging a lug formed at said second foot (50).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 14 wherein said tabs are offset from each other by an angle of 180° so that said feet (26,50) are alternately displaced by said foot driving mechanism (16-25).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in any one of claims 13 to 15 wherein the second foot is formed by a brush support (50) to which bristles (27) are affixed, said bristles (27) having an inclination opposite to the inclination of the bristles (9) attached to the housing (2), the free ends of said bristles (27) attached to the brush support (50) being the lower end of said second foot.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 1 wherein the housing (2) has a substantially rectangular shape when seen from above, the rotary connection sleeve (4) being disposed approximately in the center of the top of the housing (2) and the angle of inclination of the bristles (9) extending in a plane being in parallel to the narrow sides of the housing (2).
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claims 3 and 17 wherein the movable foot (26) is disposed in the housing (2) between the center of the housing (2) and one of the narrow sides.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claims 13 and 17 wherein a movable foot (26,50) is disposed in the housing (2) to either side of the center of the housing (2) between said center and the narrow sides of the housing (2), respectively.
- A suction head (1) as set forth in claim 6 wherein at least one of the group of individual components comprising the housing (2), the vibratory element (11), the gearwheels (16-22) and the connecting sleeve (4) consists of plastic material.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US58642590A | 1990-09-21 | 1990-09-21 | |
US586425 | 1990-09-21 |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0476413A2 EP0476413A2 (en) | 1992-03-25 |
EP0476413A3 EP0476413A3 (en) | 1992-06-17 |
EP0476413B1 true EP0476413B1 (en) | 1996-12-11 |
Family
ID=24345670
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP91114781A Expired - Lifetime EP0476413B1 (en) | 1990-09-21 | 1991-09-02 | An automatic swimming pool cleaner |
Country Status (9)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0476413B1 (en) |
AU (1) | AU643831B2 (en) |
BR (1) | BR9104046A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2051936C (en) |
DE (1) | DE69123524T2 (en) |
ES (1) | ES2096607T3 (en) |
HK (1) | HK1008060A1 (en) |
NZ (1) | NZ239886A (en) |
ZA (1) | ZA917026B (en) |
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6311353B1 (en) | 1997-07-11 | 2001-11-06 | Brian H. Phillipson | Submerged surface pool cleaning device |
Families Citing this family (11)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5379473A (en) * | 1990-09-21 | 1995-01-10 | Sta-Rite Industries, Inc. | Automatic swimming pool cleaner |
AU663921B2 (en) * | 1992-02-28 | 1995-10-26 | Pavel Sebor | Self propelled submersible suction cleaner |
US5404607A (en) * | 1992-05-11 | 1995-04-11 | Sebor; Pavel | Self-propelled submersible suction cleaner |
NZ245991A (en) | 1992-02-28 | 1995-07-26 | Pavel Sebor | Self-propelled submersible suction cleaner for use in swimming pools - method of cleaning using same |
US5386607A (en) * | 1992-02-28 | 1995-02-07 | Sebor; Pavel | Ground engaging means for a submersible cleaning device |
ES2127246T3 (en) * | 1992-03-04 | 1999-04-16 | Kreepy Krauly Pty Ltd | VALVE ELEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC POOL CLEANER. |
US5197158A (en) * | 1992-04-07 | 1993-03-30 | Philip L. Leslie | Swimming pool cleaner |
US5664275A (en) * | 1992-05-11 | 1997-09-09 | Sebor; Pavel | Vibratory oscillator swimming pool cleaner employing means for facilitating self starting and for avoiding clogging |
US6751822B2 (en) | 1997-07-11 | 2004-06-22 | Pavelssebor Family Trust | Submerged surface pool cleaning device |
US6292969B1 (en) * | 1997-08-21 | 2001-09-25 | Oak Nominees (Pty) Ltd | Swimming pool cleaner |
CN111820814B (en) * | 2019-04-23 | 2022-12-27 | 博西华电器(江苏)有限公司 | Brush head and cleaning equipment |
Family Cites Families (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CA1066462A (en) * | 1975-02-25 | 1979-11-20 | Fernand L.O.J. Chauvier | Apparatus for cleaning submerged surfaces |
DE2620119C2 (en) * | 1976-05-06 | 1985-02-14 | Chauvier, Fernand Louis Oscar Joseph, Selcourt Springs | Device for cleaning surfaces immersed in liquid |
US4275474A (en) * | 1979-04-30 | 1981-06-30 | Woodard Randle C | Vacuum head for swimming pool cleaning system |
US4351077A (en) * | 1979-12-18 | 1982-09-28 | Hofmann Helmut J | Cleaning apparatus for submerged surfaces |
FR2520422A1 (en) * | 1982-01-26 | 1983-07-29 | Tubsud Automation Sa | Cleaner for swimming pool - draws water through oscillating valve to drive wheel creating translational movement |
DE3320922C2 (en) * | 1983-06-09 | 1987-04-02 | Peacock Investments (Proprietary) Ltd., Johannesburg, Transvaal | Suction cleaning head |
FR2584442B1 (en) * | 1985-07-02 | 1988-01-08 | Puech Frederic | APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC CLEANING OF AN UNDERWATER SURFACE |
-
1991
- 1991-09-02 EP EP91114781A patent/EP0476413B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1991-09-02 ES ES91114781T patent/ES2096607T3/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1991-09-02 DE DE69123524T patent/DE69123524T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 1991-09-04 ZA ZA917026A patent/ZA917026B/en unknown
- 1991-09-20 CA CA002051936A patent/CA2051936C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1991-09-20 BR BR919104046A patent/BR9104046A/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1991-09-20 AU AU84612/91A patent/AU643831B2/en not_active Expired
- 1991-09-20 NZ NZ239886A patent/NZ239886A/en unknown
-
1998
- 1998-06-27 HK HK98107242A patent/HK1008060A1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
Cited By (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US6311353B1 (en) | 1997-07-11 | 2001-11-06 | Brian H. Phillipson | Submerged surface pool cleaning device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU8461291A (en) | 1992-03-26 |
NZ239886A (en) | 1994-08-26 |
AU643831B2 (en) | 1993-11-25 |
CA2051936A1 (en) | 1992-03-22 |
EP0476413A3 (en) | 1992-06-17 |
DE69123524T2 (en) | 1997-05-15 |
EP0476413A2 (en) | 1992-03-25 |
CA2051936C (en) | 1994-12-13 |
BR9104046A (en) | 1992-06-02 |
HK1008060A1 (en) | 1999-04-30 |
DE69123524D1 (en) | 1997-01-23 |
ES2096607T3 (en) | 1997-03-16 |
ZA917026B (en) | 1992-05-27 |
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