GB2449463A - Accessory tool for a vacuum cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

An accessory tool for a vacuum or suction cleaner comprises a main body 1 for attachment to a surface, and a connector region 4 for attachment to the hose or wand of the vacuum cleaner. The tool is intended to be used when drilling or chasing a wall for example. In use the tool is placed in the vicinity of the region that is intended to be drilled or chased and when the cleaner is switched on the suction forces produced adhere the tool to the wall. When the drilling or chasing operation is carried out all the dust or debris is sucked into the tool and collected in the vacuum cleaner.

Description

"The Extra Hand"

DESCRIPTION

The Extra hand is a self adhering debris removal attachment tool for both domestic and industrial hoovers and vacuum cleaners.

The Idea for the (Extra Hand) has been going through my mind for the past few years, I am a cabinet maker and I have to fit the products that I manufacture, the problems I had was, drilling into walls to fix brackets, etc. Without allowing debris to disperse from the application and causing damage to the areas that the debris landed.

I had experienced in the past that red brick dust debris and other solid wall waste can cause damage to carpets, wood floors, painted skirting boards, etc. So the obvious option was to hold a standard hoover / Vacuum cleaner tool under the area that was being drilled into; this in turn removed all of the waste debris as the wall was being drilled or cut.

The down side to this was the loss of precision to the handling of the drill or tool being used because one hand was holding the Hoover hose and the other was holding the tool to the application.

This problem increased when trying to drill into surfaces like ceramic tile, where the drill bit slips on the smooth surface extremely easily.

After trying many other methods that would return both hands back to the control of the tool being used, like; using various stickytapes to stick an open envelope or dustpan under the area where the drilling / cutting was taking place, only to find the tape adhesive either damaged the wall or left an adhesive residue behind.

I then thought that this must be an extremely common problem? And that someone out there must have come up with a solution for this.

I searched every known avenue that I could possibly think of to find a tool or Hoover attachment that would solve this problem, but to no avail.

It seems that Hoover / Vacuum cleaner manufacturers are more concerned about reinventing the Hoover / vacuum cleaner itself, than finding new tool attachments for them.

I then came up with an idea of finding some way to somehow adhere the hoover attachment to the area under where drilling / cutting procedures were taking place. This proved more difficult than first imagined due to the weight of the hose and its inflexibility.

It was looking like I would have to resort back to the stickytape scenario? I then started looking at a way that I might be able to use the suction from the hoover to adhere the tool to the wall at the same time that it was removing the debris from the area that was being drilled / cut.

I then began work on the prototype, I began manufacturing the prototype from sections of other products and pieces of hardened plastics that were cut out of other plastic products that I had in my possession.

I was finding that nearly all the hoovers fitted to one particular size of Hoover / Vacuum cleaner tool, whether it was an internal 32mm friction fit or an external 35mm friction fit; this was the size of hose fitting that I chose to use. (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 4, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 4, FIG 3 AEG169c 3/3 No 4) The main body I manufactured using the size of the widest and most compatible tool attachment that I could find; this was 100mm wide, 63mm long and 30mm deep, (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 1, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 1, FIG 3 AEG169c 3/3 No 1) after manufacturing the complete main body of the tool and attaching the hose fitting I was able to create an R50 mouth to the tool which would be the debris intake section.

(Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 10) The base plate to the tool was manufactured from a solid section of hardened plastic that I cut out of the side of a plastic container. This was cut to a slight oversize and then machined and cut with a series of elongated holes that spanned the length and width of the base plate.

(Shown in FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 7, FIG 3 AEG169c 3/3 No 7) I then slightly adjusted the shape and size of the base plate to fit to the underside of the main body; these two parts were then sealed together.

Once the parts were dry, they became ready for the first test.

The first test was very disappointing; the main body would not adhere to the surface that it was applied to. I realised that there had to be some kind of separator that would result in two separate airflows being created through the main body.

I went back to the hardened plastic container and cut another section of plastic that was large enough to fit to the internal section of the main body.

I removed the base plate and shaped the new section of plastic to fit the internal section of the main body, tapering the front edge so that it would sit flush to the base plate without losing any of the P50 mouth where the debris intake would take place.

I housed the internal separator so there was an equal distribution of airflow between the two sections; this was half way across the internal opening of the 32mm hose fitting. This allowed a ratio of 50% to both the base plate and the debris inlet port.

1 put the body back together and after drying time I performed the second test. This test was more successful, I could feel the suction to the base plate as I gently placed it on the surface, and I also noticed that when the tool was placed on the surface the suction to the R50 mouth was increased substantially.

However, the suction to the base plate was still not enough.

The tool would break away from the surface when I tried to let go; the weight of the hose was far too much for the suction ability of the tool.

This then created two new aspects that needed altering, firstly the angle of 30 degrees of the hose fitting that protruded from the main body was far too excessive and needed to be reduced to a maximum of 15 degrees.

(Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 4, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 4, FIG 3 AEG169c 3/3 No 4) This would create minimum weight distribution from the hose and also keep the hose and the hose fitting away from the area it was being adhered to.

The second aspect was that the airflow separator would need to be altered to a different ratio. I then altered this. so that the base plate was receiving 85% of the initial airflow from the suction source and the debris inlet section had been reduced to a bare 15%. (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 5, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 5) Once everything had been put back together the result was unbelievable! The airflow was dramatically altered.

It actually became difficult to remove the tool from the surface once it had been applied; also the suction to the mouth of the tool had increased exponentially. Similar to the way that water pressurises when you would put your finger over the end of a flowing hosepipe and creates a powerful spray. (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 8, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 8) 1 became, very excited at the results that I was seeing, and decided to put the tool to the test on different applications, in circumstances where the idea and secrecy of the tool were not at risk.

The tool surpassed all my expectations over a period of two weeks, the tool was outperforming every application that it had been designed and invented to do, there was even an instance that occurred were I utilised the (Extra hand) and it saved me what could have been a very expensive Public liability insurance claim! I will explain in the next paragraph.

I was at a client's property fitting a cabinet, whilst drilling the holes for the fixing brackets I clipped a hidden, live water pipe with the drill bit; this immediately caused me to panic as the floor was solid timber and I knew the effects that water saturation would have on this. The Hoover I was using was a standard Wet & Dry type that most fitters use, so I simply moved the extra hand over the hole where the water was seeping, and the major suction from the base plate isolated the flow of water directly into the Hoover bucket; this allowed me crucial time to locate the water feed and disconnect it, stopping the flow of water before the Hoover filled to capacity and the water began to penetrate the floor, causing major damage.

This event was I think a little bit of fate, as I never would have thought of this product being used for such an obvious operation.

However, I did find that small amounts of the debris were collecting in the bottom corners of the main body where suction was least effective.

I then devised the idea that if I were to put horizontal guiding plates (directional dividers) either side of the main body that spanned the area from the mouth back to the 32mm internal hose fitting, the debris would then be directed straight into the hose fitting. (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 6, FIG 2, AEG1G9b 2/3 No 6) This would then create a blanked off void either side of the tool, (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 9, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 9) The tool had two last problems and one other aspect that I wanted to identify and cure? This was that the tool was not adhering to uneven surfaces as well as it did on flat surfaces and that the tool was sometimes marking the walls where it was being adhered.

This problem has been overcome with the use of a simple soft rubber tapered seal that is adhered to the base plate; this allows the base plate to self seal to a variety of surfaces whether flat, uneven or embossed.

Also by making the front section of rubber elongated it acts in the same way as the rubber front edge to a dustpan. (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 2, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 2, FIG 3 AEG169c 3/3 No 2) The last thing I had to decide was to design a larger version of the tool for larger applications? Or find another way of accomplishing this.

I came up with the idea of having handed locating pegs and apertures that would lock two or more (Extra Hands) together, (Shown in FIG 1, AEG169a 1/3 No 11, FIG 2, AEG169b 2/3 No 11) and with the use of a simple (Y) shaped hose splitter that are widely available for extraction purposes to the construction industry; this would connect the tools together, allowing them to be utilised for wider applications such as chasing out holes in solid walls for double width metal plug socket Patrice's.

The drawings that accompany the enclosed documents show all the required aspects of the Extra Hand.

Drawing (AEGI69a 1/3 shows the Front Elevation of the Extra Hand with all the key features numbered to correspond with the Part number

description page.

Drawing (AEG169b 2/3 shows the side Elevation of the Extra Hand with all the key features numbered to correspond with the Part number

description page.

Drawing (AEG169c 3/3 shows the Base Elevation of the Extra Hand with all the key features numbered to correspond with the Part number

description page.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS The lExtra Hand) Self adhering debris removal Hoover & Vacuum attachment tool.

1. The (Extra Hand) is a self adhenng Debns removal tool that adheres to both flat and embossed surfaces.

2. The design allows suction from the Hoover/vacuum to be transferred from the base plate to the Debris inlet port when adhered to a surface.

3. The Suction from the base plate allows the user to adhere the [extra Hand) to a surface and freely use both hands to perform the job in hand, knowing that the debris inlet port will remove all waste being created.

4. The Airflow separator fitted inside the tool allows for the main suction to be directed to the base plate, until adhered to a surface; this is then transferred at a greater force to the Debris inlet port, creating superior suction to remove the waste being created.

5. The major suction from the base plate will clean excess debris from drilled holes, without losing adhesive grip.

6. The Extra hand is fitted with a soft rubber tapered seal that allows adhesion to almost any surface.

7. The soft rubber tapered seal prevents scratches and damage to the surfaces that it is adhered to.

8. The (Extra hand) can be cleaned in warm soapy water without the fear of damage to the tool.

9. The standard size of the bore to the hose attachment allows a wide variety of both industrial and domestic vacuum cleaners / Hoovers to be used to power the [extra Hand)

I O.The extraction port dividers that are fitted to the top of the airflow separator, direct the airflow from the entire span of the R50 curved debris inlet port to the mouth of the hose attachment.

II. The (extra hand) is fitted with handed [Left & Right) coupling locking peg locators which enable two or more Extra hands to be joined together for larger area extraction applications.