Electrolux Home Care Products, Inc.

Midea America Corp.

Donald Joseph Davidshofer

John C Morphey

Saba Rizzi

Thomas W Hawkins

Thomas Josefsson

Alexander Douglas Goare

Brian Vines

Bradley E Chenoweth

John Curtis Morphey

Gregory James Kowalski

Gregory W Luebbering

Randall A Sandlin

Martin Shawn Egan

Brian Wang Sun

William Reimer

Craig Alan Amick

Jamie Star Perin

Sok-Min Chang

Steven L Knuth

A vacuum cleaner having a handle, a dirt separator and suction motor on the handle, and a nozzle. An elongated suction inlet passes through the bottom face of the nozzle, and a pivot joins the nozzle to the handle at a pivot axis that extends parallel to the elongated suction inlet. The pivot includes first and second pivot connections joining the base to either side of the handle. A base air passage extends from the suction inlet to the first pivot connection, and is fluidly connected, through the first pivot connection, to a first handle air passage located in the handle and extending from the first pivot connection to an inlet of the separator. A second handle air passage located in the handle extends from the separator outlet to the suction motor inlet.

Vacuum cleaner base assembly and air passage system

A mop having a base plate, a handle, a joint connecting the plate to the handle, a first grip at the end of the handle, a scrubbing mechanism in the base, and a cleaning pad attached to the bottom of the base. The scrubbing mechanism includes a scrub bar, and is movable between an inactive position in which the bar is flush with or above the lower surface of the plate, and an active position in which the bar extends through an opening through the plate to be at least partially below the lower surface of the plate. The cleaning pad moves from being flat on the lower surface of the plate when the scrubbing mechanism is in the inactive position, and a second configuration in which at least a portion of the cleaning pad protrudes downwards from the lower surface when the scrubbing mechanism is in the active position.

Floor mop with concentrated cleaning feature

A vacuum cleaner suction head having a housing with a support for movement in the fore-aft direction on a surface. A suction inlet extends through the housing, and has a front edge and a rear edge. A sealing plate is pivotally mounted on the bottom of the housing to rotate about a pivot axis extending in a transverse direction. The sealing plate is movable between a raised position and a lowered position. The sealing plate is mounted in a trailing configuration in which, when the sealing plate is in the lowered position, the pivot axis is at the front of the sealing plate with respect to a fore-aft direction, and a lowermost point on the lower surface of the sealing plate is located behind the pivot axis with respect to the fore-aft direction.

Vacuum cleaner floor seal

A mop having a handle and a base plate. The base plate has a lower surface configured to lie on a surface to be cleaned, and extends in a plane defined by a lateral direction and a longitudinal direction that is perpendicular to the lateral direction. The base plate is elongated in the lateral direction and includes a rigid central region that is connected to the handle, a flexing region, and a stepping region. The flexing region is made with an elastomeric material, and is connected at an inboard edge to a lateral end of the central region and extends to an outboard edge. The stepping region is connected to the outboard edge of the flexing region, and includes a generally flat upper surface configured to be stepped on by a user's foot.

Flexible scrubbing head for a floor mop

A vacuum cleaner having base and handle assemblies. The base has a bottom face, left and right side regions, an opening between the left and right side regions, and a resiliently-deformable crossbeam extending across the opening. The handle is at least partially in the opening and pivotally mounted to the base. The handle is rotatable, relative to the base, between upright and reclined positions. A protrusion extends from the handle and rotates through an arc that intersects the crossbeam. The protrusion contacts one side of the crossbeam when the handle is upright, and is on another side of and spaced from the crossbeam when the handle is reclined. The protrusion deforms the crossbeam when the protrusion is moved past the crossbeam. The cleaner also has a suction inlet on the base, a suction source, a dirt collector, and air passages connecting the suction inlet, suction source and dirt collector.

Vacuum cleaner base assembly

A mop having a base plate, a top plate, a handle, and a lock assembly to connect the top plate to the base plate. The base plate has a lower surface configured to face a surface to be cleaned, and an upper surface opposite the lower surface. The handle has a proximal end connected to the top plate by a joint, and a distal with a grip at the distal end. The lock assembly includes one or more slots on one of the base plate and the top plate, and one or more projections on the other of the base plate and the top plate. The one or more projections are movable between an engaged position in which the one or more projections are in the one or more slots, and a disengaged position in which the one or more projections are not in the one or more slots.

Floor mop with removable base plate

A vacuum cleaner dirt collection assembly having a housing, an air inlet and air outlet connected to the housing and a cyclone chamber inside the housing. The cyclone chamber has top and bottom walls, and an outer wall joining the top and bottom walls to form a generally enclosed space. The outer wall has a helical guide channel extending radially outward from the adjacent portion of the outer wall. An inner wall, located inside the enclosed space, has a generally cylindrical or frustroconical surface having one or more openings fluidly connecting the enclosed space to the air outlet. A separator plate is located inside the enclosed space at a location between the top and bottom walls. The separator plate extends towards the outer wall and is spaced from the outer wall by a gap.

Vacuum cleaner cyclone with helical cyclone expansion region

A vacuum cleaner suction head having a housing, one or more support to support the housing on a surface to be cleaned, a suction inlet and front and rear sealing plates. The front and rear sealing plates extend along the front and rear edges of the suction inlet, respectively. the sealing plates are movable between raised positions in which the lower surfaces of the plates are close to the housing, and lowered positions in which the lower surfaces of the plates are remote from the housing. The front and rear plates are movable from the lowered position to the raised position by contact with debris on the surface to be cleaned.

A vacuum cleaner having a base with an air inlet, a handle, a base pivot connecting the base to the handle to permit the handle to pivot between an upright parked position and a reclined operating position, a movable wheel system and a wheel system drive member. The wheel system has a wheel carriage pivotally connected at one end to the base, and at least one wheel connected to the other end. The wheel carriage pivots between a first position in which the wheel is further from the air inlet, and a second position in which the wheel is closer to the air inlet. The drive member is on the handle and positioned to contact the wheel carriage as the handle moves from the upright parked position to the reclined operating position to thereby move the wheel carriage from the first position to the second position.

Vacuum cleaner with movable wheel

A vacuum cleaner is disclosed having a motor inlet conduit and sound deadening material disposed within the motor inlet conduit for reducing the overall noise level of the vacuum cleaner. The motor inlet conduit fluidly connects a dirt receptacle chamber and a motor inlet, and may have a generally continuous cross-sectional profile and one or more expanded regions for housing the sound deadening material. With the sound deadening material installed in the one or more expanded regions, the motor inlet conduit may form a smoothly changing profile along its entire length and reduce the overall noise level of the vacuum cleaner.

Vacuum cleaner sound reducing device

A vacuum cleaner having a base to move on a surface, an intermediate member having a first and second passages, and a first joint connecting the base to the intermediate member to permit relative rotation between the base and the intermediate member about a first axis that is generally parallel to the surface and perpendicular to a direction of movement. An air passage connects a base inlet to the first intermediate member passage. A second joint connects a handle to the intermediate member and permits rotation between the intermediate member and the handle about a second axis that is parallel to a nominal direction of movement of the vacuum. The handle has a grip a dirt collector to receive and separate dirt from air. First and second passages connect the intermediate member passages to the dirt collector inlet and outlet. A vacuum fan draws air into the base air inlet, through the intermediate member, through the dirt collector, through the second handle air passage, and back into the intermediate member. At least one of the first and second passages jointing the intermediate member to the dirt collector is a flexible hose that is offset from the second axis and is adapted to flex to permit the handle to rotate relative to the intermediate member.

Vacuum cleaner with rotating handle

A vacuum cleaner having a base with a: nozzle opening, rear housing attached to the base, dirt separator with inlet and outlet passages, vacuum fan, accessory hose, and valve system to connect the separator alternately to the nozzle opening and hose. The valve system has a valve body having a first inlet connected to the nozzle opening and a second inlet connected to the hose, a hose connector that pivots with respect to the valve body, a connector passage through the hose connector, and a flexible outlet hose having a first end connected to the connector passage and a second end connected to the separator inlet passage. The valve inlets are generally equidistant from the connector pivot and the hose connector is pivotable to rotate the first hose end relative to the second hose end to selectively place the connector passage in communication with the first and second valve inlets.

Vacuum cleaner accessory valve

Vacuum cleaner bag flange

A vacuum cleaner dirt containment system with a bag chamber having an open end, an outlet adapted to be in fluid communication with a vacuum fan inlet located on the vacuum cleaner housing, and a plurality of locator ribs extending from an inner wall of the bag chamber. Each locator rib has a landing adjacent an inner wall of the bag chamber, and a pin located inward of the landing and extending from the landing towards the open end of the bag chamber. A filter bag assembly is adapted to be inserted into the bag chamber, and has a flange attached to an open end of a permeable filter bag. A flange air inlet passes through the flange into the bag. The flange has openings located to be inserted over the locator rib pins, and support segments located to abut the locator rib landings. The lid is selectively attachable to the open end of the bag chamber, and includes an air inlet mounting tube that extends into the flange air inlet when the lid is attached to the open end of the bag chamber. A bag having locating features and variations of the foregoing are also provided.

Growing community of inventors

Mount Holly, NC, United States of America

Donald Joseph Davidshofer