Abstract
A wet cleaning device, in particular a wet mop, has a cleaning roller mounted rotatably about a roller axis and a roller cover surrounding, at least in part, the cleaning roller in the circumferential direction, which roller cover has at least one movable cover element for elective sealing and/or exposing of an opening region of the roller cover. In order to enable a changeover of the wet cleaning device from a wiping operation to a regeneration operation in a particularly convenient and time-saving manner, according to the invention, the wet cleaning device has a first cover element and a second cover element which, based on a circumferential direction of the cleaning roller, can be moved in opposition to each other in order to seal and/or to expose the opening region from opposite circumferential directions.
Claims
1. A wet-cleaning device (1), in particular a wet wiping device, with a cleaning roller (2) mounted rotatably around a roller axis (3) and a roller cover (4) enveloping the cleaning roller (2) at least partially in a circumferential direction, which has at least one displaceable cover element (5, 6) for optionally closing and/or releasing an opening region (7) of the roller cover (4), wherein the wet-cleaning device (1) has a first cover element (5) and a second cover element (6), which can be displaced in opposition to each other in the circumferential direction of the cleaning roller (2), so as to close and/or release the opening region (7) from opposite circumferential directions, wherein the first cover element (5) and the second cover element (6) are mounted rotatably around a common cover axis (14) that simultaneously corresponds to the roller axis (3).
2. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the displaceable cover elements (5, 6) are coupled by a gearbox (8) with the cleaning roller (2), in particular the roller axis (3), in such a way that the cover elements (5, 6) can be displaced by moving the cleaning roller (2) and vice versa.
3. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 2, wherein the gearbox (8) has a slotted cover guide (9) formed in a housing of the wet-cleaning device (1), into which engaging elements (10, 11) arranged on the cover elements (5, 6) engage.
4. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 3, wherein the slotted cover guide (9) has a first partial slotted guide (12), into which an engaging element (10) of the first cover element (5) engages, and a second partial slotted guide (13), into which an engaging element (11) of the second cover element (6) engages.
5. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning roller (2) is displaceable by means of a displacement drive (15) relative to a housing (17) of the wet-cleaning device (1), wherein the roller axis (3) is arranged on a swiveling arm (18) mounted on the housing (17) of the wet-cleaning device (1) so that the swiveling arm can pivot around a swiveling axis (16).
6. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 5, wherein the housing (17) has a slotted roller guide (19) for guiding the cleaning roller (2) during a displacement.
7. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 6, wherein the slotted roller guide (19) and slotted cover guide (9) are allocated to mutually opposing front sides (20, 21) of the cleaning roller (2).
8. The wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 6, wherein the slotted roller guide (19) and slotted cover guide (9) are allocated to the same front side (20, 21) of the cleaning roller (2), wherein an auxiliary slotted guide (22) is allocated to the slotted cover guide (9), wherein the auxiliary slotted guide (22), as viewed in the longitudinal extension of the cleaning roller (2) is designed to provide a one-to-one guiding direction for the cover element (5, 6) or cover elements (5, 6) given an overlapping of the slotted roller guide (19) and slotted cover guide (9).
9. A method for operating a wet-cleaning device (1), in particular for operating a wet-cleaning device (1) according to claim 1, wherein a rotatable cleaning roller (2) is displaced away from a surface to be cleaned for a regeneration operation of the cleaning roller (2), and wherein at least one displaceable cover element (5, 6) is displaced into an opening region (7) of a roller cover (4) that at least partially envelops the cleaning roller (2) in a circumferential direction, wherein a first cover element (5) and a second cover element (6) can be displaced in opposition to each other in the circumferential direction of the cleaning roller (2), so as to close and/or release the opening region (7) from opposite circumferential directions, wherein the first cover element (5) and the second cover element (6) are mounted rotatably around a common cover axis (12) that simultaneously corresponds to the roller axis (3).
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The invention will be explained in greater detail below based on exemplary embodiments. Shown on:
(2) FIG. 1 is a wet-cleaning device according to the invention,
(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a partial area of the wet-cleaning device during a wiping operation,
(4) FIG. 3 is the partial area according to FIG. 2 during a regeneration operation,
(5) FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a partial area according to a first embodiment during a wiping operation,
(6) FIG. 5 is the partial area according to FIG. 4 in an intermediate position,
(7) FIG. 6 is the partial area according to FIGS. 4 and 5 during a regeneration operation,
(8) FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a partial area according to a second embodiment of a wet-cleaning device during a regeneration operation,
(9) FIG. 8 is the partial area according to FIG. 7 in an intermediate position,
(10) FIG. 9 is the partial area according to FIGS. 7 and 8 during a wiping operation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
(11) FIG. 1 shows a wet-cleaning device 1, which is here designed as a wet wiping device with a base unit 23 and an attachment 24. Arranged on the base unit 23 is a stalk 26 with a handle 27, by means of which a user can guide the wet-cleaning device 1 over a surface to be cleaned. The stalk 26 is here advantageously telescoping in design, so that a user can adjust the height of the wet-cleaning device to his or her height. During a conventional wiping operation, the user displaces the wet-cleaning device 1 in a forward and backward motion over the surface to be cleaned, alternately pushing the wet-cleaning device 1 away and pulling it back.
(12) The attachment 24 has a housing 17, in which is arranged a tank (not shown) for cleaning liquid, for example water. Cleaning liquid can be filled into the tank via a filler neck 25. Also arranged in the housing 17 is a cleaning roller 2, which can be rotated around a roller axis 3. The roller axis 3 is essentially perpendicular to a conventional direction of movement of the wet-cleaning device 1, in which the user alternately pushes the wet-cleaning device 1 away and pulls it back in.
(13) The cleaning liquid can be dispensed from the tank onto the surface of the cleaning roller so as to moisten the latter.
(14) During a wiping operation of the wet-cleaning device 1, the cleaning roller 2 rotates around the roller axis 3, so that the circumferential surface of the cleaning roller 2 continuously rolls onto the surface to be cleaned. The cleaning roller 2 is usually wound with a cleaning pad, possibly with an additional liquid-storing sponge body interspersed. For example, the cleaning pad is here a textile cleaning cloth. During the wiping operation, dirt continuously gathers on the cleaning roller 2, i.e., on the cleaning pad. For this reason, it may be necessary to regenerate the cleaning roller 2 after a certain operating period, wherein dirt and liquid loaded with dirt are removed from the cleaning roller 2 during a regeneration operation. To this end, the cleaning roller 2 is usually rotated at a speed that is higher than the speed of the cleaning roller 2 during the wiping operation. This causes dirt and liquid loaded with dirt to be spun away from the cleaning roller 2. The sprayed liquid can be collected and relayed to a collecting tank.
(15) FIG. 2 presents a perspective view of a partial area of the attachment 24, in which the cleaning roller 2 is held so that it can rotate around the roller axis 3. The position of the cleaning roller 2 here corresponds to the position during a wiping operation of the wet-cleaning device 1. The roller axis 3 is connected with a motor 30 via a drive belt 31, so that the cleaning roller 2 can be rotatably driven during the wiping operation. In addition, the roller axis 3 is mounted to the housing 17 of the wet-cleaning device so that it can be pivoted around a swiveling axis 16 via a swiveling arm 18. A swiveling motion of the swiveling arm 18 around the swiveling axis 16 makes it possible to displace the roller axis 3, and thus also the cleaning roller 2, from the position shown on FIG. 2 during the wiping operation into the position shown on FIG. 3 during a regeneration operation. To this end, the swiveling axis 16 can also have allocated to it a drive, for example an electric motor.
(16) The attachment 24 has a roller cover 4, one part of which is immovably fixed to the housing 17, and the other part of which has two displaceable cover elements 5, 6, which in the illustration on FIG. 2 are displaced over the cleaning roller 2, and thus mostly covered by the latter. The cover elements 5, 6 can be displaced around a cover axis 14, wherein the cover axis 14 here simultaneously corresponds to the roller axis 3. The cover elements 5, 6 correspond to the immovably fixed part of the roller cover 4 in such a way that the latter can optionally close and open an opening region 7 of the roller cover 4. As has yet to be explained later, the cover elements 5, 6 can for this purpose be displaced opposite one another into the opening region 7 relative to a circumferential direction of the cleaning roller 2, so that the opening region 7 can be closed or opened from opposite circumferential directions. In the area of the front sides 20, 21 of the cleaning roller 2, the housing 17 of the attachment 24 also has slotted guides for the cleaning roller 2 and the cover elements 5, 6, which guide the displacement motions given a change from a wiping operation to a regeneration operation and vice versa. As will be explained in greater detail with reference to the following figures, these include a slotted cover guide 9 for the cover elements 5, 6 and a slotted roller guide 19 for the roller axis 3 of the cleaning roller 2.
(17) FIG. 3 shows the partial area of the attachment 24 during a regeneration operation. The cleaning roller 2 is here pivoted into the housing 17 of the wet-cleaning device 1 by means of the swiveling arm 18, and the cover elements 5, 6 are displaced into the opening region 7 of the roller cover 4, so that the immovably fixed partial area of the roller cover 4 and the displaceable cover elements 5, 6 together form a roller cover 4 that is completely closed in the circumferential direction of the cleaning roller 2.
(18) FIGS. 4 to 6 show a first embodiment variant of the invention, in which the housing 17 of the attachment 24 has a slotted roller guide 19 on the one hand and a slotted cover guide 9 on the other in the area of opposing front sides 20, 21 of the cleaning roller 2. Specifically, a slotted cover guide 9 is arranged in the area of the front side 20 facing toward the front in the illustration to guide the displacement motion of the cover elements 5, 6, i.e., on the side of the housing 17 corresponding to the top view on the figure. In the area of the front side 21 lying opposite the front side 20, the slotted roller guide 19 for guiding the displacement motion of the roller axis 3 is arranged on the housing 17, which as shown on the figure lies on the rear side of the depicted partial area of the wet-cleaning device 1. As a consequence, the view corresponds to a view of the housing 17 from the left in relation to FIGS. 2 and 3.
(19) FIG. 4 shows the cleaning roller 2 in a position displaced onto a surface to be cleaned, as well as the roller cover 4 with the displaceable cover elements 5, 6, which here are pivoted out of the opening region 7 of the roller cover and are located behind the cleaning roller 2 as viewed in the direction proceeding from the surface to be cleaned. The roller axis 3 is displaced around the swiveling axis 16 in the direction of the surface to be cleaned via the swiveling arm 18. The swiveling axis 16 has allocated to it a displacement drive 15, for example which here is an electric motor. The cover elements 5, 6 cover a respective quadrant section in the circumferential direction of the cleaning roller 2, i.e., each covers an angular range of 90 degrees. In the direction of the roller axis 3, the cover elements 5, 6 are formed along the entire longitudinal extension of the cleaning roller 2. The cover elements 5, 6 can be pivoted around the cover axis 14, which simultaneously is the roller axis 3. In the area of the (rear) front side 21 of the cleaning roller 3, the roller axis 3 is guided in the slotted roller guide 19, which has a curvature that essentially corresponds to the swiveling radius of the swiveling arm 18 around the swiveling axis 16. In the area of the front side 20 lying opposite the slotted roller guide 19, the housing 17 has a slotted cover guide 9, which forms a gearbox 8 for coupling the displacement motion of the cleaning roller 2 with a displacement motion of the cover elements 5, 6. The slotted cover guide 9 has two partial slotted guides 12, 13, which each have a guiding groove. An engaging element 10 of the first cover element 5 engages into the partial slotted guide 12, while an engaging element 11 of the second cover element 6 engages into the partial slotted guide 13. The engaging elements 10, 11 are designed like sliding blocks.
(20) Proceeding from the wiping operation shown on FIG. 4, the displacement of the cleaning roller 2 into the housing 17 and the encapsulation of the cleaning roller 2 by means of the cover elements 5, 6 for the regeneration operation of the wet-cleaning device 1 shown on FIG. 6 take place in such a way that the swiveling arm 18 is first pivoted clockwise around the swiveling axis 16 by means of the displacement drive 15. As a result, the end area of the swiveling arm 18 carrying the roller axis 3 is displaced further into the housing 17, so that the cleaning roller 2 is simultaneously also swiveled into the housing 17. The displacement motion of the roller axis 3 is guided by the slotted roller guide 19. Due to the displacement of the roller axis 3, which simultaneously corresponds to the cover axis 14 for the cover elements 5, 6, the engaging elements 10, 11 of the cover elements wander upward toward the left inside of the partial slotted guides 12, 13 relative to the illustration on the figure (see intermediate position according to FIG. 5). This causes the cover elements 5, 6 to pivot around the cover axis 14, wherein the cover elements 5, 6 are displaced into the opening region 7 of the roller cover 4 in mutually opposite circumferential directions in relation to the circumferential direction of the cleaning roller 2. As the roller axis 3 is further displaced proceeding from FIG. 5, the roller axis 3 reaches the final position according to FIG. 6 prescribed by the slotted roller guide 19, which corresponds to the position during the regeneration operation of the wet-cleaning device 1. The cover elements 5, 6 are completely displaced into the opening region 7 of the roller cover 4, and the engaging elements 10, 11 have reached an end stop prescribed by the partial slotted guides 12, 13. In this position, the regeneration operation of the wet-cleaning device 1 can be started, wherein the cleaning roller 2 is rotated at a high speed, for example of greater than 2,000 RPM (at an exemplary roller diameter of 45 mm), and dirty liquid inside of the roller cover 4 located on the cleaning roller 2 can be spun away and relayed to a collecting tank.
(21) The change from the regeneration operation to a wiping operation of the wet-cleaning device 1 then takes place in the reverse sequence, wherein the swiveling arm 18 is then first displaced once again by means of the displacement drive 15, specifically relative to the usual orientation of the wet-cleaning device 1, toward the surface to be cleaned. The gearbox 8 is used to simultaneously pivot the cover elements 5, 6 out of the opening region 7 of the roller cover 4 again, so that the cleaning roller 2 comes to lie on the surface to be cleaned. The shape, in particular the pitch, of the partial slotted guides 12, 13 of the slotted cover guide 9 makes it possible to prescribe a chronological progression between the displacement of the cleaning roller 2 and displacement of the cover elements 5, 6. For example, because the pitch of the partial slotted guides 12, 13 is initially relatively slight (proceeding from the wiping operation), the cover elements 5, 6 can first be displaced completely into the opening region 7 before the cleaning roller 2 reaches the end position for the regeneration operation.
(22) FIGS. 7 to 9 show a second embodiment variant of the invention, in which both a slotted cover guide 9 and a slotted roller guide 19 are formed on the housing in the area of both front sides 20, 21 of the cleaning roller 2. This is advantageous in particular to achieve a uniform displacement motion of the cleaning roller 2 and cover elements 5, 6, as well as to prevent tilting during the displacement motions. In this embodiment, however, the slotted roller guide 19 comes to overlap the slotted cover guide 9 as viewed in the direction of longitudinal extension of the cleaning roller 2. Therefore, in order to avoid any uncertainty with respect to displacement motion in the area where the slotted roller guide 19 and slotted cover guide 9 overlap, the housing 17 also has an auxiliary slotted guide 22 in the area of at least one of the front sides 20, 21, into which an additional engaging element 32 of the cover element 5 engages, the partial slotted guide 12 of which overlaps with the slotted roller guide 19 (as viewed in the direction of longitudinal extension of the cleaning roller 2). Such an auxiliary slotted guide 22 is not necessary for the partial slotted guide 13, since the partial slotted guide 13 has no overlap with the slotted roller guide 19.
(23) The auxiliary slotted guide 22 has two guiding areas 28, 29, of which a first guiding area 28 has a larger width than a second guiding area 29. As a result, the engaging element 32 in the guiding area 28 is not guided by the auxiliary slotted guide 22, so that the displacement of the cover element 5 in this area is only guided by the partial slotted guide 12 of the slotted cover guide 9. By contrast, in the area where the slotted cover guide 9 overlaps with the slotted roller guide 19, the engaging element 32 is guided by the guiding area 29, so that the engaging element 10 can run through the overlapping area in a one-to-one displacement direction.
(24) The displacements of the cleaning roller 2 and cover elements 5, 6 from a regeneration operation into a wiping operation take place correspondingly in the reversed direction. Otherwise, the displacement progressions described with respect to the first embodiment variant apply accordingly, which are initiated by displacing the swiveling arm 18 and simultaneously initiate the displacements of the cleaning roller 2 and cover elements 5, 6.
(25) TABLE-US-00001 Reference List 1 Wet-cleaning device 2 Cleaning roller 3 Roller axis 4 roller cover 5 Cover element 6 Cover element 7 Opening region 8 Gearbox 9 Slotted cover guide 10 Engaging element 11 Engaging element 12 Partial slotted guide 13 Partial slotted guide 14 Cover axis 15 Displacement drive 16 Swiveling axis 17 Housing 18 Swiveling arm 19 Slotted roller guide 20 Front side 21 Front side 22 Auxiliary slotted guide 23 Base unit 24 Attachment 25 Filler neck 26 Stalk 27 Handle 28 Guiding area 29 Guiding area 30 Motor 31 Drive belt 32 Engaging element
