Cleaning apparatus with combing unit for removing debris from cleaning roller

• Main Authors: Wenxiu Gao, David Wu, Daniel R Der Marderosian, Patrick Cleary, Gordon Howes, Yao Ming, Jason Boyd Thorne, Daniel Meyer
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.04.2023
• Subjects: COFFEE MILLS; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; DOMESTIC WASHING OR CLEANING; FURNITURE; HUMAN NECESSITIES; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL

A cleaning apparatus 100, such as a vacuum, comprising a housing 110 defining a suction conduit 128 with an opening 127 on an underside 120 of the housing, a brush roller 122 and a leading roller 124 spaced from one another to define an inter-roller air-passageway 146 which forms a flow path into the opening of the suction conduit, and a combing unit including a plurality of debriding protrusions (150, fig 4) which contact the lower portion of the leading roller. The combing protrusions or teeth remove debris from the leading roller and are exposed to the inter-roller air passageway so that the removed debris falls into that channel and into the flow path to the opening of the suction conduit. The brush roller is rotatably mounted to the housing within the suction conduit, with a portion being proximate to the opening. The leading roller is mounted to the housing in front of the brush roller so as not to contact the brush roller. Drive mechanisms are coupled to the rollers to drive them. The debriding teeth may have angled leading edges which contact the cleaning roller within its bottom half and are directed into a direction of rotation of the cleaning roller.