An accessory tool for use with a vacuum cleaner. The accessory tool has a hair removal system configured to collect hair from various surfaces to be cleaned, including soft surfaces such as upholstery, dog beds, pillows, and automobile interiors. The collected hair is gathered by the hair removal system and ingested via the vacuum cleaner.

A surface cleaning apparatus includes a rotatably mounted brush associated with a dirty air inlet. A plurality of bristles extend outwardly from a radial outer surface of the rotatably mounted brush. A leading hair blocking member is provided adjacent a forward rotational side of the bristles, and a trailing hair blocking member is provided adjacent a rearward rotational side of the bristles.

A cleaner head comprises an agitator supported for rotation about a rotation axis. The cleaner head has a spool which comprises a narrowed waist positioned axially between two radially enlarged portions. The axial end of the agitator terminates in a rim positioned radially outward from and axially in line with the narrowed waist, and is configured to allow hair wrapped around the agitator to travel axially along it and slip off the rim onto the narrowed waist.

A robotic cleaner may include a body, an agitator chamber within the body, an agitator disposed within the agitator chamber, a dust cup removably coupled to the body, the dust cup including a debris inlet, the debris inlet fluidly coupling the dust cup to the agitator chamber, and a shutter configured to transition between a cleaning position and an evacuation position in response to rotational movement of the agitator.

An autonomous cleaner includes a side brush that is provided to a bottom face of a body and sweeps up dust on a floor surface and a napped cleaning fabric that is provided in a rotating region of the side brush and wipes off the dust attached to the side brush. The side brush includes a brush shaft disposed at a position that is a predetermined distance above the floor surface and a pair of bristle bundles having different lengths. A shorter bristle bundle in the pair has a length that is sufficient to bring at least a tip end portion of the shorter bristle bundle into contact with the napped cleaning fabric. In this way, the dust attached to the side brush is wiped off by the napped cleaning fabric, which prevents the dust from being swept outside the body due to a centrifugal force. In addition, by disposing the brush shaft at a predetermined distance from the floor surface, it is possible to suppress entanglement with a carpet and the like and avoid a collision with a step. As a result, it is possible to provide the autonomous cleaner having a longer life and requiring infrequent maintenance.

An example of an agitator for a vacuum cleaner may include a body and at least one deformable flap extending from the body. The deformable flap may include at least one taper. The at least one taper causes a cleaning edge of the deformable flap to approach the body.

A vacuum accessory may include a head including a head body defining an inlet and a fitting interface, the head body extending from a fitting interface to a base and enclosing a cavity. A fitting includes a fitting body symmetrically disposed about a longitudinal axis of the fitting. The fitting body defines a fitting inlet, an outlet, and a flow path connecting the fitting inlet and the outlet. The fitting is connected to the head at the fitting interface and a fluid flow path fluidly connects the inlet and the outlet. A blade is removably coupled to the head and at least partially disposed within the cavity of the head. The blade includes a flat blade body that is coplanar with a reference plane dividing the fitting body and containing the longitudinal axis of the fitting.

A surface cleaning head includes a housing having a front side and back side, a brush roll rotatably mounted to the housing within a suction conduit and having at least a portion proximate the opening of the suction conduit, a leading roller mounted to the housing in front of the brush roll, and a drive mechanism operatively coupled to the brush roll and the leading roller for driving the brush roll and the leading roller at same time. The brush roll includes an agitator body and a first bristle/flap arrangement comprising a first deformable flap extending from the agitator body and a first bristle strip and/or row of tufts extending from the agitator body and disposed adjacent to the first deformable flap. The first deformable flap is disposed at an aggressive angle and the first bristle strip and/or row of tufts is arranged at a passive angle.

A robotic cleaner includes a housing, a suction conduit with an opening, and a leading roller mounted in front of a brush roll. An inter-roller air passageway may be defined between the leading roller and the brush roll wherein the lower portion of the leading roller is exposed to a flow path to the suction conduit and an upper portion of the leading roller is outside of the flow path. Optionally, a combing unit includes a plurality of combing protrusions extending into the leading roller and having leading edges not aligned with a center of the leading roller. Optionally, a sealing strip is located along a rear side of the opening and along a portion of left and right sides of the opening. The underside may define side edge vacuum passageways extending from the sides of the housing partially between the leading roller and the sealing strip towards the opening.

A cleaning device includes a body having an inlet and an opposing outlet. Each of the inlet and outlet has peripheral edges. The body includes a hollow interior between the inlet and the outlet. The outlet is adapted to be connected to a vacuum cleaner or a handle and the inlet is adapted to make contact with a cleaning surface. The inlet includes a support member extending from the inlet peripheral edge. The cleaning device also includes an elongated member having a contact surface and an attachment surface. The attachment surface is formed within a channel which is coupled with the support member. The contact surface is adapted to come in contact with the cleaning surface. The contact surface includes a plurality of flanges extending radially throughout the length of the elongated member such that the flanges penetrate the cleaning surface to dislodge and collect debris.