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EP-4536051-B1 - VACUUM CLEANER NOZZLE AND VACUUM CLEANER

EP4536051B1EP 4536051 B1EP4536051 B1EP 4536051B1EP-4536051-B1

Inventors

  • KARLSSON, ROGER

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20220610

Claims (19)

  1. A vacuum cleaner nozzle (1, 1') configured to be moved over a floor surface (30), wherein the nozzle (1, 1') comprises a nozzle base (3) configured to face the floor surface (30) during operation of the nozzle (1, 1'), wherein the nozzle base (3) comprises a suction port (5) and a number of flow guiding elements (7, 7') arranged adjacent to the suction port (5), wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') of the number of flow guiding elements (7, 7') has a cross section tapering away from the suction port (5) as seen along a direction (d1, d2) from the suction port (5) towards the flow guiding element (7, 7'), characterised in that each flow guiding element (7, 7') is movably arranged in directions (d3, d4) into and out from the nozzle base (3) between a retracted and an extracted position.
  2. The nozzle (1, 1') according to claim 1, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') is non-air permeable.
  3. The nozzle (1, 1') according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises an elastic material, preferably a portion (16) of the flow guiding element (7, 7') being configured to face the floor surface (30) during operation of the nozzle (1, 1').
  4. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') is configured to be moved towards the retracted position when a force is applied onto the flow guiding element (7, 7') in a direction (d4) into the nozzle base (3).
  5. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein one or more flow guiding elements (7, 7') of the number of flow guiding elements (7, 7') is/are biased towards the extracted position by at least one spring element (8, 8').
  6. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle base (3) comprises a first base portion (31) comprising a first set (s1) of flow guiding elements (7, 7') arranged in front of the suction port (5) as seen relative to a forward moving direction (fd) of the nozzle (1, 1').
  7. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle base (3) comprises a second base portion (32) comprising a second set (s2) of flow guiding elements (7, 7') arranged in front of the suction port (5) as seen relative to a reverse moving direction (rd) of the nozzle (1, 1').
  8. The nozzle (1, 1') according to claim 6 and 7, wherein the flow guiding elements (7, 7') of the second set (s2) of flow guiding elements (7, 7') have identical but mirrored design as the flow guiding elements (7, 7') of the first set (s1) of flow guiding elements (7, 7').
  9. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of flow guiding elements (7, 7') of the nozzle base (3) is an integer within the range of 4 - 52, or within the range of 14 - 30.
  10. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises a wide section (11) facing the suction port (5), and wherein the width (w) of the wide section (11) is greater than the distance (D1) between two adjacent flow guiding elements (7, 7') of the number of flow guiding elements (7, 7').
  11. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises a first and a second side surface (13, 15) arranged such that the cross section of the flow guiding element (7, 7') taper away from the suction port (5) as seen along the direction (d1, d2) from the suction port (5) towards the flow guiding element (7, 1'), and wherein the angle (a1, a2) between each of the first and second side surfaces (13, 15) and one of a forward and a reverse moving direction (fd, rd) of the nozzle (1, 1') is within the range of 10 - 65 degrees, or is within the range of 20 - 40 degrees.
  12. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises a wide section (11) facing the suction port (5) and a narrow section (17) facing away from the suction port (5), and wherein the narrow section (17) comprises an elongated portion (19) having a direction of elongation (de) being substantially parallel to a forward and a reverse moving direction (fd, rd) of the nozzle (1, 1').
  13. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises a wide section (11) facing the suction port (5) and a narrow section (17) facing away from the suction port (5), and wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') comprises a first surface (41) being substantially parallel to the floor surface (30), at least when the guiding element (7, 7') is in one of the retracted and extracted positions, and wherein the narrow section (17) comprises a front surface (23) being angled relative to the first surface (41).
  14. The nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle base (3) comprises a number of apertures (9), and wherein each flow guiding element (7, 7') is arranged at least partially inside an aperture (9) of the number of apertures (9).
  15. The nozzle (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle base (3) comprises a number of indentations (25) each arranged between a flow guiding element (7) of the number of flow guiding elements (7) and the suction port (5).
  16. The nozzle (1) according to claim 15, wherein each indentation (25) of the number of indentations (25) is arranged such that a delimiting surface (25') thereof is substantially flush with a portion (16) of the flow guiding element (7) being configured to face the floor surface (30) during operation of the nozzle (1) when the flow guiding element (7) is in the retracted position.
  17. The nozzle (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each flow guiding element (7) is linearly movably arranged in directions (d3, d4) into and out from the nozzle base (3) between the retracted and extracted positions.
  18. The nozzle (1') according to any one of the claims 1 - 16, wherein each flow guiding element (1') is pivotally arranged between the retracted and the extracted positions.
  19. A vacuum cleaner (20) comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle (1, 1') according to any one of the preceding claims.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a vacuum cleaner nozzle. The present disclosure further relates to a vacuum cleaner comprising a vacuum cleaner nozzle. BACKGROUND A vacuum cleaner, also known as a sweeper or hoover, is a device that uses an air pump, most often a centrifugal fan, to create a partial vacuum at a vacuum cleaner nozzle of the vacuum cleaner in order to suck up dust and dirt from surfaces, such as floors, carpets, beds, and the like. The dust and dirt are collected by a separator unit of the vacuum cleaner, such as a dust bag or a cyclone arrangement, for later disposal. Many types of vacuum cleaners exist, such as canister vacuum cleaners, drum vacuum cleaners, hand-held vacuum cleaners, stick-type vacuum cleaners, robotic vacuum cleaners, central vacuum cleaners, and the like. Most vacuum cleaner nozzles comprise an arrangement at a nozzle base of the nozzle comprising a first section arranged in front of a suction port as seen relative to a forward moving direction of the nozzle and a second section arranged in front of a suction port as seen relative to a reverse moving direction of the nozzle. Such arrangements typically comprise a first section in the form of a first elongated brush assembly and a second section in the form of a second elongated brush assembly, wherein each elongated brush assembly typically comprise a number of brush pockets constituting open sections of the elongated brush assembly. Moreover, such types of arrangements can increase suction, i.e., can increase the partial vacuum between the arrangement and the suction port, by restricting flow towards the suction port, especially when cleaning harder types of surfaces, such as floor surfaces. However, when cleaning softer types of surfaces, such as carpets and the like, these types of arrangement can significantly increase frictional forces between the nozzle and the surface being cleaned which is usually burdensome for users. Moreover, such operation may damage softer types of surfaces, such as delicate carpets, furniture, or the like. Document DE4439427B4 discloses a vacuum cleaner for use on carpeted floors with a specially constructed leading edge in which are formed a series of triangular cavities extending the full width of the intake duct. Each cavity is aerodynamically contoured to generate a vortex having a horizontal axis of rotation resulting in an increased velocity of airflow at the surface and within the pile of the carpet which leads to an enhanced pick-up performance. This kind of solution is mainly suitable for floor with carpets. As a reason thereof, many vacuum cleaner nozzles comprise a mechanism for moving the sections of the above-mentioned arrangement between an extracted position, in which the sections, such as the first and second elongated brush assemblies, protrude out from the nozzle base, and a retracted position, in which the sections are moved to a respective retracted position into the nozzle base of the nozzle. Such vacuum cleaner nozzles require a user to manually change the setting of the mechanism when moving from harder types of surfaces to softer types of surfaces, and vice versa. A typical household comprise several harder and softer types of surfaces which require users to frequently perform manual changes of the setting of the mechanism during a cleaning session, which is burdensome for users. Moreover, when the sections of the above-mentioned arrangement is in the respective extracted position, the sections can prevent objects and particles from reaching the suction port. Moreover, generally, on today's consumer market, it is an advantage if products, such as vacuum cleaners and their associated components, have conditions and/or characteristics suitable for being manufactured and assembled in a cost-efficient manner. Furthermore, generally, on today's consumer market, it is an advantage if products, such as vacuum cleaners and their associated components, are simple and intuitive to use. SUMMARY It is an object of the present invention to overcome, or at least alleviate, at least some of the above-mentioned problems and drawbacks. According to a first aspect of the invention, the object is achieved by a vacuum cleaner nozzle configured to be moved over a floor surface. The nozzle comprises a nozzle base configured to face the floor surface during operation of the nozzle. The nozzle base comprises a suction port and a number of flow guiding elements arranged adjacent to the suction port. Each flow guiding element of the number of flow guiding elements has a cross section tapering away from the suction port as seen along a direction from the suction port towards the flow guiding element, and wherein each flow guiding element is movably arranged in directions into and out from the nozzle base between a retracted and an extracted position. Since the nozzle base of the nozzle comprises a number of a flow guiding elements each having a cross section tapering away fro