WO2000076385A1

WO2000076385A1 - Brush holder for cleaner

Info

Publication number: WO2000076385A1
Application number: PCT/KR2000/000614
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hag-Yeol Kim
Original assignee: Kim Hag Yeol
Priority date: 1999-06-11
Filing date: 2000-06-12
Publication date: 2000-12-21
Also published as: KR100352613B1; AU5113300A; KR20010049524A

Abstract

A brush holder for a cleaner is disclosed. The brush holder comprises a shaft, at least two holders respectively having spiral grooves formed on the surface of the holders and holder fixing members. The holders are combined through the shaft and brushes are mounted on the grooves. The brush holder can be easily manufactured and the thickness of the brush holder and the spiral grooves are managed with ease. Also, the length of the brush holder can be pertinently controlled through combining the holders according to the size of the cleaner. Furthermore, the maintenance cost of the cleaner is reduced since the damaged or deformed holders can be changed when some holders are partially damaged or deformed.

Description

BRUSH HOLDER FOR CLEANER

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a brush holder for a cleaner in which a plurality of brushes, and more particularly to a brush holder for a cleaner including a plurality of brush holders which have identical dimensions and shapes in order to simplify the manufacturing process of the brush holder while enhancing the efficiency of the cleaner.

Background Art In general, most of cleaners including vacuum cleaners have a dirt collection receptacle for receiving dust or debris, a suction unit for sucking the dust or debris and a plurality of connection pipes for connecting the suction unit to the dirt collection receptacle. FIG. 1 is a perspective view for showing a suction unit of the conventional cleaner. Referring to FIG. 1, the suction unit of the conventional cleaner includes a brush cover 10 having a suction opening 15 defined in a longitudinal direction thereof, a circular brush holder 20 rotatably installed in the suction opening 15, a brush 25 inserted into the circular brush holder 20 and a rotation unit 60 for rotating the circular brush holder 20 in the proceeding direction of the cleaner.

The brush cover 10 has a connecting portion 35 thereon for connecting a connection pipe 30 to the brush holder 10.

The rotation unit 60 includes a motor 40 mounted in the brush cover 10, a driving member 45 inserted into the rotation shaft of the motor 40, a driven member 55 corresponding to the driving member 45 and a belt 50 wound around the driving member 45 and the driven member 55 for transmitting the power of the motor 40 from the driving member 45 to the driven member 55.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the brush holder in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the circular brush holder 20 is typically made of synthetic resin and is manufactured by the injection molding process in order to have a pertinent length for the cleaner. The circular brush holder 20 has 2 opposite spiral grooves 70 formed in the surface thereof. Two brushes 20 are generally inserted into the opposite grooves 70.

The spiral grooves 70 are formed to run from one end of the circular brush holder 20 to the

other end of the circular brush holder 20 by means of winding with an angle of 180°. In other words, the spiral grooves 70 run from one end of the circular brush holder 20 to the other end of the circular brush holder 20 by one-second rotation.

A fixing axis 75 is mounted to the circular brush holder 20 and the driven member 55 is fixed to the fixing axis 75 wherein the belt 50 (see FIG. 1) is wound around the driven member 55.

As for the circular brush holder 20 having the above-described construction, after the circular brush holder 20 having the two brushes 25 is mounted in the brush cover 10, the circular brush holder 20 is rotated by the rotation power transmitted from the driving member 45 to the driven member 55 through the belt 50 when the power is applied to the cleaner.

With such operation of the circular brush holder 20, the materials such as dust, debris or etc. attached on the carpet in particular are drawn upwards by the brush 25 rotating in the proceeding direction of the cleaner, and then sucked into the suction opening 15 to be carried into the dirt collection unit through the connection pipes 30.

However, the circular brush holder of the conventional cleaner has some problems: it is difficult to uniformly define the thickness of the circular brush holder and the depth and the spiral angle of the spiral grooves during the injection molding process for manufacturing the circular brush holder since the circular brush holder is manufactured by using a mold to have a predetermined length in accordance with the size of the cleaner.

Also, the circular brush holder cannot smoothly rotate as well as the brushes which may frequently escape from the spiral grooves of the circular brush holder because the circular brush holder may deform in shape as the cleaner is used for a period of long time.

Furthermore, the circular brush holder cannot be compatible since the circular brush holders should be separately manufactured to have pertinent dimensions according to the dimensions of the cleaners when the cleaners have different sizes. Also, the maintenance cost of the cleaner may increase because the circular brush holder should be replaced even though the circular brush holder is partially broken or worn.

Disclosure of the Invention

The present invention is intended to overcome the above-described disadvantages. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a brush holder for a cleaner including a plurality of holders having identical shapes in order to be easily manufactured while the thickness of the brush holder and spiral grooves formed thereof can be managed easily.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a brush holder for a cleaner widely applied to a plurality of cleaners having different sizes by means of adjusting the length of the brush holder.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a brush holder for a cleaner with low maintenance cost by means of easily replacing the partially broken or damaged parts when the brush holder is partially broken or damaged while in use with the cleaner.

To accomplish the objects of the present invention, there is provided a brush holder for a cleaner comprises a shaft, at least two holders respectively having spiral grooves formed in surfaces of the holders and holder fixing members combining with the shaft in order to fix the holders. In this case, the holders are coupled with the shaft.

Preferably, the holders respectively have identical shapes and dimensions by an injection molding process and the holders respectively have penetrating holes for passing the shaft in order to connect the holders.

Also, the holders have escape-proof thresholds on surfaces of the holders in order to prevent the brush from detaching and the holder fixing member includes a first holder fixing part having an insertion hole and a second holder fixing parts having a boss wherein the first holder fixing part is mounted on the first end of the shaft and the second holder fixing parts is mounted formed on a second of the shaft.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the holders respectively have connecting protrusions formed on first ends of the holders and connecting grooves formed on the second ends of the holders. The connecting grooves correspond to the connecting protrusions. At that time, the holders respectively have two corresponding spiral grooves and the spiral grooves run from one end of the brush holder to the other end of the brush holder by winding with an angle of approximately 180°. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the holders respectively have four spiral grooves. The spiral grooves run from one end of the brush holder to the other end of the brush holder by semi-circular rotation. In this case, the holders have a plurality of protruding portions formed on the surfaces of the holders and the spiral grooves are formed at the protruding portions of the holders. Also, the holders have first connecting protrusions formed on the first ends of the holders, first connecting grooves formed on the first ends of the holders, second connecting protrusions formed on the second ends of the holders and second connecting grooves formed on the second ends of the holders. According to the present invention, the brush holder can be easily manufactured by simplifying the injection molding process for manufacturing the brush holder as well as easily managing the thickness of the brush holder and the spiral grooves formed in the holder. Also, the length of the brush holder can be easily controlled by pertinently combining the holders in accordance with the size of the cleaner and the maintenance cost of the cleaner can be reduced by means of replacing partially damaged or worn holder with new one. Furthermore, the holders can have various modifications in shape and configuration so that the suitable brush holder can be selectively used according to the cleaner and the connection stability between the holders can be enhanced as well as the efficiency of the cleaner can be improved according to various modifications of the holders.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by detailed describing preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view for showing a suction unit of the conventional cleaner;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a brush holder of the conventional cleaner in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a brush holder for a cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a brush and the brush holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are side views of the holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a cleaner having the brush holder mounted therein according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a brush holder for a cleaner according to second embodiment of present the invention; FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a brush and the brush holder in FIG 9;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a holder according to the second embodiment of present the invention; and

FIGS. 12 and 13 are side views of the holder according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Best Modes for carrying out the Invention

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it is understood that the present invention should not be limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a brush holder for a cleaner according to the first embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a brush and the brush holder according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a brush holder 100 for a cleaner according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of holders 105 having first and second spiral grooves 110, 111 oppositely formed on the surface of the holders 105, a shaft 120 for combining the holders 105 by penetrating the holders 105, and first and second holder fixing members 140, 141 respectively mounted on both ends of the shaft 120 to fix the holders 105.

After the predetermined number of holders 105 are inserted in the shaft 120 in accordance to the size of the cleaner, the brush holder 100 for the cleaner having a different size according to the size of the cleaner can be assembled by fixing the holders 105 inserted in the shaft 120 through the holder fixing members 140, 141 respectively mounted on both ends of the shaft 120.

The first and second driven members 130, 131 are respectively mounted on the outer sides of the first and second fixing members 140, 141 in order to rotate the brush holder 100 in the same direction as the cleaner. The rotational power from the motor is transmitted to the first and second driven members 130, 131 through the driving member and the belt as described in the conventional cleaner.

The first and second spiral grooves 110, 111 respectively formed at the outer circumferential portions of the holders 105 have a configuration running from one end of the brush holder 100 to the other end of the brush holder 100 by winding with an angle of

approximately 180° when the holders 105 are fitted around the shaft 120. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the first and the second spiral grooves 110, 111 run from one end of the brush holder 100 to the other end of the brush holder 100 by one-second rotation according as the holders 105 are connected to form the brush holder 100.

First and second brushes 150, 151 having the shapes which bands are inserted in the first and second spiral grooves 110, 111.

Two insertion holes 165 are formed in the inside of the first holder fixing member 140 having a cap shape and two corresponding bosses 170 are formed at the inner peripheral portion of the second holder fixing member 141 which also has the cap shape. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the holders 105 are manufactured by the injection molding to have identical lengths and shapes, respectively. Penetrating holes 175 are formed in the central portions of the holders 105, so the shaft 120 passes the penetrating holes 175 to connect the holders 105 to one after another. Also, connecting protrusions 180 are formed on one end of the holders 105 and connecting grooves 190 are formed in the other end of the holders 105 to receive the adjacent connecting protrusion of the adjacent holder. The connecting protrusions 180 correspond to the first holder fixing member 140 and the connecting grooves 190 also correspond to the second holder fixing member 141. Escape-proof thresholds 195 are respectively formed at the ends of the first and the second spiral grooves 110, 111 defined in the holders 105 so as to prevent the first and the second brushes 150, 151 mounted in the first and the second spiral grooves 110, 111 from escaping.

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are respectively showing a left side view and a right side view of the holder according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, the first and second spiral grooves 110, 110 formed in

the holders 105 of the present embodiment have the spiral angle θ calculated from the following equation:

θ = 180°÷P wherein, θ means the spiral angle of the spiral grooves 110, 111 with respect to the vertical axis, 180° indicates the angle for increasing the sectional area of the brush up to the largest value with respect to the bottom surface, and P means the number of the overall holders suitably selected according to the size of the cleaner to form the brush holder.

For example, when two holders 105 having predetermined lengths are interconnected to form the brush holder for the cleaner, P becomes 2 according to the

above equation. Hence the spiral angle θ of the spiral grooves 110, 111 are formed in the holders is determined 90° with respect to the horizontal axis. In the meantime, when the brush holder is composed of 3, 4, 5 or 10 holders 105,

the spiral angle θ of the spiral grooves 110, 111 formed in the holders 105 is determined as 60°, 45°, 36° or 18°, respectively. In this case, the number of the overall holders 105 is preferably selected so that the spiral angle θ may not have any decimal in order to easily manage the spiral grooves 110, 111. Hereinafter, the cleaner having the brush holder mounted therein according to the present embodiment will be described in detail. In the present embodiment, the brush holder includes 10 holders and the angle of the spiral grooves formed in the holders is determined 18° in accordance with the number of holders as shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the cleaner having the brush holder according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 8, the members identical to those in FIG. 3 have the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 8, in order to manufacture the brush holder 100 having the predetermined length according to the size of the cleaner, the holders having identical shapes and lengths are connected to one another. In other words, after the connecting protrusion formed on the first end of the holder 105 is inserted into the connecting grooves of the adjacent holder, the connecting protrusion of the adjacent holder is inserted into the connecting groove formed in first end of the holder 105, thereby connecting a plurality of holders 105 as shown in FIG. 4. In this case, since the spiral grooves of the holders 105 are

formed with an angle of approximately 18°, the spiral grooves of the overall holders 105 run by winding with an angle of approximately 180°, that is, in a semi-circular rotation when 10 holders 105 are connected to one another.

Successively, when two brushes 150, 151 are respectively inserted into the spiral grooves, the brushes 150, 151 are trapped on the escape-proof thresholds formed on the holders 105 (see FIG. 5), so the brushes 150, 151 can be prevented from escaping from the spiral grooves while the brush holder 100 is rotating during the operation of the cleaner.

Then, the shaft 120 passes the penetrating holes of the holders 105 to connect the holders 105, the first and the second holder fixing members are mounted on both ends of the shaft 120. At the same time, the connecting protrusion of the first holder 105 is inserted into the insertion hole of the first holder fixing member and two bosses of the second holder fixing member are inserted in the connecting groove of the final holder, thereby finishing the connection of the holders. In this case, an adhesive or the like can be applied onto the insertion hole of the first holder fixing member to enhance the fixing force of the holders 105. After the brush holder 100 is rotatably mounted in the cleaner according as the brush holder is assembled by connecting the holders 105 as described above, the brush holder 100 removes foreign materials such as dust or debris lodged on the floor while the brush holder 100 rotates in the proceeding direction of the cleaner during the operation of the cleaner. Meanwhile, in the case that the brush holder 100 is mounted in the suction unit having a rotation unit 200 installed therein, the driven members 131 rotate through the driving member 210 and the belt 215 connected to the rotation axis of the motor 205 when the motor 205 is operated after the driven members 131 are installed on the first and the second holder fixing members for fixing the holders 105. As a result, the brush holder 100 draws up dust or the like from the floor while the brush holder 100 rotates in the proceeding direction of the cleaner by the rotating force transmitted through the belt 215.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a brush holder for the cleaner according to second embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a brush and the brush holder in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the brush holder 300 for the cleaner of the present embodiment includes a plurality of holders 305, a shaft 320 for combining the holders 305 by penetrating the holders 305 and first and second holder fixing member 340, 341 respectively installed on both ends of the shaft 120 to fix the holders 305. Each of the holder 305 has four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 correspondably formed at the circumferential portions of the holders 105.

As for the present embodiment, the brush holder 300 for the cleaner can have different dimensions in accordance to the size of the cleaner by fixing holders 305 inserted in the shaft 320 with the first and the second holder fixing member 340, 314 formed on both ends of the shaft 320 after the holders 305 are pertinently inserted in the shaft 320 according to the size of the cleaner.

First and second driven members 330, 331 are respectively mounted on the outer sides of the first and the second holder fixing members 340, 341 in order to rotate the brush holder 300 in the same direction that the cleaner moves.

The four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 formed on the surfaces of the holders 305 have the configuration as the spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 run from one end of the brush holder 300 to the other end of the brush holder 300 by winding with an angle of

approximately 180° after the holders 305 are fitted around the shaft 320. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, the four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 run from one end of the brush holder 300 to other end of the brush holder 300 by the semi-circular rotation according as the holders 305 are connected to form the brush holder 300. Four brushes 350, 351, 352, 353 having band shapes are respectively inserted in the four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313.

In the present embodiment, the cleaner having the brush holder 300 have enhanced efficiency since the holders 305 have four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 formed on the surfaces of the holders and four brushes 350, 351, 352, 353 are inserted in the four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313. In other words, when four brushes 350, 351, 352, 353 are provided in the brush holder 300, the number of sweeping-up operations of dirt from the floor as well as the suction force increases, so the amount of dirt drawn up by the suction unit increases also. Therefore, more efficient cleaning can be possible within the same amount of time. The first and second holder fixing members 340, 341 have a similar configuration as the first embodiment. In other words, the first holder fixing member 340 has a cap shape that an insertion groove 365 formed in the inner side of the first holder fixing member 340 corresponds to the first connecting protrusion 400 and the first connecting groove 405 of the holder 305 (see FIG. 12). The second holder fixing member 341 also has the cap shape as two bosses 370 protruded from the inner peripheral portions of the second holder fixing member 341. The first holder fixing member has two insertion grooves in the first embodiment, however, the first holder fixing member 340 has one insertion groove 365 corresponding to the first connecting protrusion 400 of the holder 305 and the dimensions of the insertion groove 365 of the first holder fixing member 340 and the bosses 370 of the second holder fixing member 341 are decreased as the size of the holder 305 is reduced.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the holder according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Though the holders of the present embodiment have identical sizes and shapes by the injection molding process like the holders of the first embodiment, the holders of the present embodiment have different dimensions and shapes from those of the holders of the first embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the holders 305 of the present embodiment respectively have four protruding portions 380, 381, 382, 383 formed on the circumferential surface of the holders 305. Four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 are respectively formed at the four protruding portions 380, 381, 382, 383 and four escape- proof thresholds 390, 391, 392, 393 are also respectively formed on the ends of the four protruding portions 380, 381, 382, 383. Hence, when four brushes 350, 351, 352, 353 are inserted in the four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313, the four escape-proof thresholds 390, 391, 392, 393 prevent the four brushes 350, 351, 352, 353 from detaching from the four spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 during the operation of the cleaner.

Penetrating holes 385 for passing the shaft 320 are formed in the central portion of the holder 305 so that the holders 305 are connected to one another by means of the shaft 320 through the penetrating holes 385. Each of the holder 305 of the present embodiment has a cross section of the cross including four protruding portions 380, 381, 382, 383, however, the number of protruding portions of the holders may be increased or decreased on occasions, so the holder has a cross section of a triangle or a pentagon. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 respectively show a left side view and a right side view of the holder according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, round-shaped first connecting protrusions 400 are formed on the first end of the holders 305 and round-shaped first connecting grooves 410 are formed in the second end of the holder 305 for receiving the first connecting protrusion of the adjacent holder. Also, linear-shaped second connecting grooves 405 are formed in the first connecting protrusions 400 and second connecting protrusions 415 are formed at the opposite inner portions of the first connecting grooves 410. The second connecting protrusions 415 correspond to the second connecting grooves 405. Thus, the first connecting protrusion of one holder is inserted in the first connecting groove of the adjacent holder and the second connecting protrusion of one holder is inserted into the second connecting groove of the adjacent holder, thereby connecting the holders to one another.

The first connecting protrusions 400 are corresponded to the first holder fixing member 340 and the first connecting grooves 410 are corresponded to the second holder fixing member 341.

In the case of the first embodiment, two connecting protrusions of one holder are rotationally inserted into two connecting grooves of the adjacent holder, so the holders may not be smoothly connected and the holders may become loose while the cleaner is working as well. However, in the present embodiment, the holders are easily connected to one another as well as the connection stability between the holders can be enhanced because the holders are connected by the connecting protrusions and the connecting grooves which are provided at the central portions and shaped to match each other.

The holders 305 of the present embodiment have diameters and lengths that are respectively about 2/3 of the holders of the first embodiment. Therefore, the holders 305 of the present embodiment can be easily connected and the length of the brush holder 300 can be easily controlled by means of coupling the holders 305 in accordance to the size of the cleaner. Also, the size of the holders 305 decreases so that the air volume absorbed through the suction holes of the suction unit increases, thereby improving the efficiency of the cleaner.

Spiral angles θ of spiral grooves 310, 311, 312, 313 formed in the holders of the present embodiment are determined according to the above-mentioned equation, so the detailed description will be omitted.

Also, in the present embodiment, the manufacturing process of the brush holder 300 by connecting the holders 305 are identical to that of the first embodiment with exception to the configurations of the connecting protrusions and the connecting grooves, so the description of the manufacturing process will be omitted.

Industrial Applicability According to the brush holder of the present invention, the brush holder can be easily manufactured by simplifying the injection molding process for manufacturing the brush holder as well as the thickness of the brush holder and the spiral grooves formed in the holder can be easily managed.

Also, the length of the brush holder can be easily controlled by pertinently combining the holders in accordance to the size of the cleaner and the maintenance cost of

the cleaner can be reduced by means of replacing partially damaged or worn holder with

new one.

Furthermore, the holders can have various modifications in shape and configuration so that a suitable brush holder can be selectively used according to the cleaner and the connection stability between the holders can be enhanced as well as the efficiency of the cleaner can be improved according to various modifications of the holders.

While this invention has been described and shown as having multiple designs, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.

Claims

1. A brush holder for a cleaner comprising: a shaft; at least two holders respectively having spiral grooves formed in surfaces of said holders, said holders being coupled by said shaft; and holder fixing members combining with said shaft in order to fix said holders.

2. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders respectively have identical shapes and dimensions by an injection molding process.

3. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders respectively have penetrating holes for passing said shaft in order to connect said holders.

4. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders respectively have connecting protrusions formed on first ends of said holders and connecting grooves formed on second ends of the holders.

5. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders have escape-proof thresholds on surfaces of said holders.

6. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders respectively have two corresponding spiral grooves and the spiral grooves run from one end of said brush holder to the other end of said brush holder by winding with an angle of approximately 180°.

7. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders respectively have four spiral grooves and the spiral grooves run from one end of said brush holder to the other end of said brush holder by semi-circular rotation.

8. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders have a plurality of protruding portions respectively formed on surfaces of said holders and the spiral grooves are formed at the protruding portions.

9. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holders have first connecting protrusions formed on first ends of said holders and first connecting grooves formed in the first ends of said holders, and said holders have second connecting protrusions formed on second ends of said holders and second connecting grooves formed on the second ends of said holders.

10. The brush holder for a cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein said holder fixing member comprises a first holder fixing part having an insertion hole, said first holder fixing part being mounted on a first end of said shaft, and a second holder fixing parts having a boss, said second holder fixing parts being mounted on a second end of said shaft.