Broom-style cleaning appliance

Abstract

There is described herein a broom-style cleaning appliance with built in vacuum assembly that can be activated via an elongate nozzle member located adjacent a bundle of cleaning bristles to eliminate the need for a dustpan. Once the vacuum module is activated the debris is collected in a collection chamber housed above or adjacent to the cleaning bristles or elements.

Claims

1. A cleaning apparatus comprising: a housing enclosing a vacuum assembly, a debris collector, and a power source; a broom portion fixedly coupled to the housing and including a cleaning member, the cleaning member adapted to be in a first use position of contacting a surface to be cleaned; an elongate nozzle member pivotally connected to and extending out from the housing and adapted to be in a non-use position of not contacting the surface to be cleaned when the cleaning member is in the first use position, wherein the vacuum assembly is fluidly connected to the nozzle member at one end adjacent the housing, and wherein the elongate nozzle member is an actuating nozzle member; an activating member operatively connected to the actuating nozzle member at a proximal end adjacent the housing, wherein the activating member is adapted to activate the vacuum assembly with the power source by tipping the broom portion at an angle towards the actuating nozzle member and pressing a distal end of actuating nozzle member against the surface to be cleaned to pivot the actuating nozzle portion relative to the broom portion into a use and activating position; and an elongate handle coupled to a portion of the housing.

2. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the handle is removably attached or coupled to the housing.

3. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is selected from a group consisting of a set of bristles, a sponge-like member, a microfiber cloth, and a disposable microfiber paper cloth.

4. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the debris collector in the housing comprises one of a collection chamber, a disposable collection bag, or both a collection chamber and a disposable collection bag.

5. The cleaning apparatus of claim 4, wherein the housing further comprises a door moveable between an open and a closed position and adjacent the debris collector.

6. The cleaning apparatus of claim 4, wherein the debris collector further comprises a removable canister.

7. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the power source is one of a DC battery, a solar strip and battery assembly and an electric AC motor with an AC power cord.

8. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein the activating member is a microswitch located within the housing and configured to be in contact with the actuating nozzle member.

9. The cleaning apparatus of claim 1, wherein a portion of the housing includes a magnetic prong or member adapted to pick up metal objects.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIGS. 1, 3 and 12 are front, enlarged cutaway front and exploded perspective views of a broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein;

(2) FIGS. 2 and 4 are rear and enlarged cutaway rear views of the broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein;

(3) FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of a head portion only of a vacuum assisted cleaning device according to an embodiment of the invention;

(4) FIGS. 6 and 7 are front and rear perspective views of a push broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein;

(5) FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a push broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein;

(6) FIG. 9 is the bottom view of the cleaning member for the broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein;

(7) FIGS. 10 and 11 are enlarged side and top rear views of a broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein; and

(8) FIGS. 13-18 are front, rear, right and left side perspective, bottom and top views of another embodiment of a broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) Following are more detailed descriptions of various related concepts related to, and embodiments of, methods and apparatus according to the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that various aspects of the subject matter introduced above and discussed in greater detail below may be implemented in any of numerous ways, as the subject matter is not limited to any particular manner of implementation. Examples of specific implementations and applications are provided primarily for illustrative purposes.

(10) Referring to the Figures, FIGS. 1-5 and 10-12 illustrate an example embodiment of a house broom assembly 5 having a housing 10 and a broom portion 20. The housing 10 includes a vacuum assembly 30, a power source 40 and a debris collector 50. The broom portion 20 includes a cleaning member 24 (e.g. bristles). The broom portion 20 can be attached to the housing 10, the cleaning member 24 adapted to be in a first use position for contacting a surface to be cleaned.

(11) In this example embodiment, a handle or pole 22 is connected at an upper portion of housing 10. The broom's cleaning member 24 is left to their natural state—uninhibited, and unaltered, for maximum sweeping performance and usability. A specifically concentrated diameter elongate intake nozzle 25 that vacuums up the debris on the floor is located adjacent bristles 24. To clean the floor, a user simply sweeps the debris into a line and then vacuums up the line of dirt or debris with nozzle 25 located on one side edge of the set of cleaning member 24. Vacuum assembly 30 is activated by tipping the broom portion 20 at an angle towards nozzle 25 and dragging it on the rear bristle edge as the user holds an ON switch 27 (or microswitch), by lowering or angling the small diameter intake nozzle 25 into close proximity with the debris line on the floor. The ON switch 27 can be located in any suitable location within or about the housing of the broom. In some embodiments, the ON switch 27 can be on the handle or pole and can wirelessly (such as Bluetooth®) or electrically activate the power source. In other embodiments, the nozzle is articulated to actuate the power source.

(12) The housing 10 which includes the vacuum assembly 30 further can include a debris collector 50 in the housing 10. In some embodiments, the debris collector 50 can be one of a collection chamber (or collection canister), a disposable collection bag, or both a collection chamber and disposable collection bag. The vacuum assembly 30 can also include a release or debris collection door 38 to empty the debris from the debris collector 50.

(13) Referring to FIGS. 3 and 12, for example, also housed within the housing 10 is a power source 40. In various embodiments, the power source is one or more batteries. In other embodiments, the power source 40 can be one of a DC battery, rechargeable batteries, a solar strip and battery assembly, or an electric AC motor with an AC power cord. The battery assembly can include a charging port (e.g. USB), and charging indicator (LED or LCD).

(14) FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate the front and rear views of the apparatus while FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a cutaway views of the apparatus showing the broom assembly 5, housing 10 with the nozzle 25 at one end of the bristles 24. The nozzle member 25 is in fluid communication with the housing 10 that includes the vacuum assembly 30 with motor and impeller or vacuum device or module. Referring to FIG. 4, which illustrates the broom with at one end of the bundle of bristles including a nozzle 25. The nozzle 25, in this example embodiment, is in fluid communication with the housing of the broom such that it transfers the debris into a collection chamber. The nozzle can be transparent or translucent, providing the convenience of monitoring potential blockages. In one example embodiment, a portion of housing includes a magnetic prong to facilitate picking up metal objects such as bobbie pins or paper clips. FIG. 4 also illustrates the power source 40 in the housing 10 along with a debris collector 50. In some embodiments, the debris collector 50 can include a filter. In this example embodiment, nozzle 25 is selectively actuatable such that the nozzle is in fluid communication with the suction or vacuum in the housing.

(15) FIGS. 1-5 and 12 also show the nozzle at one end of the bristles. In some embodiments, the cleaning member 24 can be selected from a group of a set of bristles, a sponge-like member, a microfiber cloth, and a disposable microfiber cloth or microfiber paper cloth. FIGS. 9 and 12 illustrate embodiments of bristles 26 that have conical or pyramidal configurations to enhance sweeping of the surfaces to be cleaned.

(16) As illustrated in FIG. 5, in this example embodiment, a broom handle device 21 can have handle 22 be removably detached from housing 10 such that only housing 10 and vacuum assembly 30 are used as a handheld sweep/vacuum device for sweeping and vacuuming up workshops or benchtops, and the like.

(17) In a related embodiment, handle 22 is attachable to housing 10 using known mechanical/frictional/screw-on, magnetic or combination of mechanical or magnetic members to attach and detach the handle from the broom housing.

(18) Referring to FIGS. 6-7 and 8, different embodiments of a pushbroom assembly are illustrated. For example, FIGS. 6-7 and 8 illustrate broom assemblies having elongate handles 622, 722 and 822 having a push broom-style configuration wherein each of nozzles 625, 725 and 825 that are adjacent to and protrude or extend from the housing. In some embodiments, the various nozzles protrude from body 610, body 710 and body 810 and are coplanar with the pushbroom-style handles 622, 722 and 822, respectively.

(19) Referring now to FIGS. 13-18, there is illustrated front, rear, right and left side perspective, bottom and top views of another embodiment of a broom-style cleaning apparatus according to the teachings herein.

(20) The following patents are incorporated by reference in their entireties: U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,029,311 and 7,673,371.

(21) While the invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Upon reading the teachings of this disclosure many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the appended claims. It is indeed intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the appended claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon the disclosure in this specification and the attached drawings.