Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Versuni Holding B.v.

Matthijs Hendrikus Lubbers

Paulus Cornelis Duineveld

Johannes Tseard Van Der Kooi

Pieter Kingma

Bastiaan Johannes De Wit

Britt Roumen

Jonne Steeman

Ralph Pierre Krebbers

Sepas Setayesh

Marc Alexander Pastoors

Arjan Sander Vonk

Stephanus Jacob Gerardus Tamminga

Wiebe Wierda

Bernardus Lubbertus Kuiper

Klaas Hilverda

Henk Uil

Mark Van Wijhe

Jasper Nicolaas Ten Berge

Wouter Alexander Kuiper

Han Willem Lodewijk Van Lier

Renee Luijkx

Rogier De Vrind

A vacuum cleaner is described. The vacuum cleaner has a dirt inlet and a motor and fan for delivering suction to the dirt inlet. A cyclone unit separates particles from a suction flow. The cyclone unit has a vortex finder extending along a cyclone axis of rotation and an annular chamber formed around outside of the vortex finder. Air is delivered to the cyclone unit in a forward direction (i.e. in a direction from the dirt inlet to the cyclone unit). The cyclone axis of rotation is substantially parallel to the forward direction. An outlet from the vortex finder is at a backward end thereof such that the outlet is in an opposite direction to a forward component. A space beyond the vortex finder is a part of a dirt collection area, thus enabling a more effective collection of hairs and other debris.

Vacuum cleaner

A cleaning device comprises a surface interaction layer (ML), a cleaning fluid supply (CFF) provided with a cleaning fluid channel (CFC) at the surface interaction layer (ML) for supplying a cleaning fluid to a surface (F) through the surface interaction layer (ML) being in contact with the surface (F), and a dirty fluid drain (DFD) having a dirty fluid channel (DFC) at the surface interaction layer (ML) for draining, by means of underpressure, dirty water from the surface (F) through the surface interaction layer (ML) being in contact with the surface (F).

Cleaning device

A vacuum cleaner nozzle (N) has a steering hinge arrangement (H, H) between a body (B) of the vacuum cleaner nozzle (N) and a connector (C) that is connectable to a unit having a handle, wherein the steering hinge arrangement (H, H) comprises first (H) and second (H) steering hinges, the first steering hinge (H) being operational until a first steering angle, and the second steering hinge (H) being operational from the first steering angle, a transmission ratio of the second steering hinge (H) exceeding a transmission ratio of the first steering hinge (H). As a result, a transmission ratio of the steering hinge arrangement (H, H) increases with an increasing steering angle also when the unit is substantially flat. The first steering angle may be determined by edges (E) on the first steering hinge (H) interacting with a protrusion (P) on the second steering hinge (H). A force exercised by a spring (S) between the second steering hinge (H) and the body (B) may hamper the second steering hinge (H) from being fully engaged before the first steering hinge (H) has reached the first steering angle. The first steering hinge (H) may be mounted at a larger angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the connector (C) than the second steering hinge (H). A vacuum cleaner advantageously comprises such a vacuum cleaner nozzle (N).

Vacuum cleaner nozzle

A cordless wet and dry stick vacuum cleaner system has a portable power module, which includes an airflow generator, a battery, and control circuitry. This may be used with either a wet dirt management system and a wet vacuum nozzle or it may be used with a dry dirt management system and a dry vacuum nozzle. The shared power module enables power savings, whereas the other parts remain optimized for their specific function.

Wet and dry vacuum cleaner

A vacuum cleaner comprises a nozzle (N) for cleaning a surface, a suction tube (T) for receiving input air from the nozzle (N), a cyclone device having a cyclone (C) and a dirt container (DC) both oriented substantially perpendicular to the suction tube (T), a cyclone device input coupled to the suction tube (T) from which the input air is transported, following a spiral around a center, in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the suction tube (T) to reach a stage (V) at which dirt is separated from the input air to obtain cyclone output air, from which stage the cyclone output air is conveyed through a conduit in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the suction tube (T) and opposite to the first direction to arrive at a cyclone device output, a filter (F) for filtering the cyclone output air, and an airflow generator (A) for generating an airflow through the suction tube (T), the cyclone (C) and the filter (F), wherein when the nozzle (N) is touching the surface, the suction tube (T) is put in a substantially horizontal position, the first and second directions are substantially perpendicular to the surface, with the notion substantially perpendicular allowing for a deviation of not more than 35 degrees.

A battery-operated vacuum cleaner comprises a handle (H) having a lower end, a battery (B) having an end that is adjacent to the lower end of the handle (H), a dirt management system (DMS) coupled to an inlet (N) for dirt-loaded air; and an airflow generator (AG) for generating an airflow through the dirt management system (DMS), the airflow generator (AG) being positioned adjacent the battery (B) and a lower end of the handle (H). Preferably, the battery (B) is positioned between the handle (H) and the dirt management system DMS. Advantageously, the battery (B) has a first side adjacent to the airflow generator (AG) and a second side adjacent to the dirt management system (DMS).

Battery-operated vacuum cleaner

In a vacuum cleaner nozzle (N) comprising one or more rear wheels (RW), a hinge (H) is arranged to lift all one or more rear wheels (RW) from a floor (F) when a suction tube (ST) connected to the nozzle (N) is rotated around a longitudinal axis of the suction tube (ST), e.g. after the nozzle (N) has been rotated by more than 45&#xb0; by means of a further hinge (H) in order to position a relatively short side of the nozzle at the front of the nozzle in the nozzle's motion direction so that the nozzle is able to clean relatively small spaces that could not be entered if a relatively long side of the nozzle is at the front of the nozzle in the nozzle's motion direction. If the one or more rear wheels (RW) comprise at least two rear wheels, the hinge (H) is arranged for simultaneously lifting the rear wheels (RW) from the floor (F). Preferably, the hinge (H) is bi-stable, to which end the hinge (H) may be provided with magnets (M-, M-) or a bi-stable spring (S) to fix the hinge (H) either in a first position in which the one or more rear wheels (RW) are arranged to touch the floor (F), or in a second position in which the one or more rear wheels (RW) are arranged to be lifted from the floor (F). A vacuum cleaner advantageously comprises such a nozzle.

The present invention relates to a nozzle arrangement () of a cleaning device () for cleaning a surface (), comprising: &#x2014;a nozzle housing (); &#x2014;a rotating brush () that is rotatable about a brush axis () and comprises a substantially cylindrical core element () with flexible brush elements () that are arranged on a circumferential surface () of the core element (), wherein said brush elements () are configured to contact the surface to be cleaned () and pick up dirt and liquid particles () from the surface to be cleaned () during a rotation of the rotating brush (); &#x2014;a drive for driving the rotating brush (); &#x2014;a liquid supplying arrangement () for supplying a cleansing liquid () to the rotating brush (); &#x2014;a wiping element () for wiping dirt and liquid particles () across or off the surface to be cleaned (), wherein said wiping element () extends along a longitudinal direction (), which is arranged substantially parallel to the brush axis (), and wherein said wiping element () is arranged on a first longitudinal side () of the rotating brush () where the brush elements () enter the nozzle housing () during the rotation of the rotating brush (); and&#x2014;at least one side sealing element () for sealing a lateral side () of the nozzle housing (), wherein the at least one side sealing element () is spaced apart from a transverse side () of the core element () that is transverse to the circumferential surface () of the core element (), such that a gap () is defined between said transverse side () of the core element () and the at least one side sealing element (); wherein the liquid supplying arrangement () is configured to also supply cleaning liquid () to said gap ().

Nozzle arrangement of a cleaning device for cleaning a surface

A nozzle arrangement including a brush provided with brush elements having tip portions for contacting a surface and picking up dirt and/or liquid during rotation of the brush about a brush axis, a driving mechanism for rotating the brush, a first deflector element with a first deflector surface that extends substantially parallel to the brush axis and that interacts with the brush during the rotation of the brush for releasing the picked-up dirt and/or the liquid particles, and a second deflector element that is spaced apart from the brush and the first deflector element, the second deflector element having a second deflector surface that is oriented at an angle to the first deflector surface, wherein the second deflector surface deflects the dirt and/or liquid particles, which are released from the brush at the first deflector surface, into an exhaust channel that begins between the first and second deflector elements.

Cleaning device having a nozzle for cleaning a surface

A nozzle () for a floor cleaning device, suitable for both wet and dry cleaning, the nozzle comprising an airflow inlet () at a front end of the nozzle, and a detachable cleaning device () that, if mounted on the nozzle (), lifts a rear end of the nozzle.

Floor cleaning device

Surface cleaning device, comprising a cloth (C) placed on a porous material (PM), a reservoir (R) for collecting liquid absorbed by the cloth (C), and an arrangement (P) for applying under-pressure in the reservoir (R) so as to transfer liquid from the cloth (C) into the reservoir (R). A pore size of the porous material (PM) is between 1 &#x3bc;m and 50 &#x3bc;m.

Surface cleaning device

The present invention relates to a nozzle arrangement () for a cleaning device () for cleaning a surface, the nozzle arrangement comprising: &#x2014;a brush () rotatable about a brush axis (), the brush being provided with flexible brush elements () having tip portions () for contacting the surface to be cleaned () and picking up dirt and/or liquid particles () from the surface () during the rotation of the brush (), wherein the brush () is at least partly surrounded by a nozzle housing () and protrudes at least partly from a bottom side () of the nozzle housing (), &#x2014;a squeegee element () which is spaced apart from the brush () and attached to the bottom side () of the nozzle housing () on a first side () of the brush () where the brush elements () enter the nozzle housing () during the rotation of the brush (), wherein the squeegee element () is configured for wiping dirt and/or liquid particles () across or off the surface to be cleaned () during a movement of the cleaning device () &#x2014;a deflector () for contacting the brush () and deflecting the brush elements () during the rotation of the brush (), and &#x2014;a restriction element () for at least partly restricting air from getting sucked into the nozzle housing () at a second side () of the brush () where the brush elements () leave the nozzle housing (), wherein the restriction element () is, seen in a rotation direction () of the brush (), arranged behind the deflector (), such that the brush elements (), during the rotation of the brush (), contact the deflector () before passing the restriction element () and then leaving the nozzle housing () at the bottom side (), and the restriction element () comprises a mechanically flexible element that is, due to its flexibility, configured to follow an outer surface of the brush () and to contact the tip portions () during the rotation of the brush ().

Growing community of inventors

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Matthijs Hendrikus Lubbers