US-20260123800-A1 - VACUUM CLEANER WITH DUAL ROTATING AGITATORS AND DUAL COMBS

US20260123800A1US 20260123800 A1US20260123800 A1US 20260123800A1US-20260123800-A1

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner includes a main agitator, a leading agitator in front of the main agitator, a suction conduit, and an agitator cover that carries a first comb that contacts the main agitator to remove debris from the main agitator and a second comb that contacts the leading agitator to remove debris from the leading agitator. Methods for user disassembly and servicing of a vacuum cleaner with dual agitators are also provided.

Inventors

Andrew James Brouwers
Steven Bromiel

Assignees

BISSELL INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251003

Claims (20)

1 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: a housing having a front side and a back side, the housing defining a main agitator chamber and a suction conduit with a suction conduit opening on an underside of the housing between the front side and the back side and facing a surface to be cleaned, wherein the suction conduit passes through at least a portion of the main agitator chamber; a main agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the main agitator chamber with at least a portion of the main agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, the main agitator rotatable about a main agitator axis; a leading agitator mounted to the housing in front of the main agitator and rotatable about a leading agitator axis; and an agitator cover on the housing, the agitator cover at least partially covering the main agitator and comprising: a first wall defining a portion of the main agitator chamber and spaced outwardly from the main agitator, the first wall having an inner surface confronting an outer surface of the main agitator; a first comb comprising a plurality of teeth extending toward the main agitator and contacting the main agitator above the main agitator axis; and a second comb in front of the first comb, and comprising a plurality of teeth extending toward the leading agitator and contacting the leading agitator above the leading agitator axis.
2 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein: the main agitator axis has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; the leading agitator axis has a second clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; and wherein the first clearance is greater than the second clearance.
3 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 2 , wherein: the first comb has a third clearance from the surface to be cleaned to a point of contact between the first comb and the main agitator; the second comb has a fourth clearance from the surface to be cleaned to a point of contact between the second comb and the leading agitator; the third clearance is greater than the first clearance such that the point of contact between the first comb and the main agitator is above the main agitator axis; and the fourth clearance is greater than the second clearance such that the point of contact between the second comb and the leading agitator is above the leading agitator axis.
4 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein: the first comb has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned to a point of contact between one of the plurality of teeth and the main agitator; the second comb has a second clearance from the surface to be cleaned to a point of contact between one of the plurality of teeth and the leading agitator; and the first clearance is greater than the second clearance.
5 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein: the housing comprises an exterior cover piece defining an exterior surface of the vacuum cleaner; and the agitator cover is interior to the housing, with the exterior cover piece attached over the agitator cover.
6 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first wall is spaced outwardly from at least one of a top side of the main agitator and a leading side of the main agitator.
7 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first and second combs are joined by the first wall, with the first comb at a rear end of the first wall and the second comb at a forward end of the first wall, and wherein the first wall curves from the first comb downwardly and forwardly to the second comb.
8 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein: the leading agitator is mounted to the housing at least partially in a leading agitator chamber; and the agitator cover at least partially covers the leading agitator and comprises a second wall defining at portion of the leading agitator chamber and spaced outwardly from the leading agitator.
9 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 8 , wherein the second wall curves from the second comb upwardly and forwardly to meet a second inside surface of the leading agitator chamber.
10 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the first comb is disposed above of the main agitator axis and the second comb is disposed above and rearwardly of the leading agitator axis.
11 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the agitator cover comprises a unitary, monolithic part including at least the first wall, the first comb, and the second comb.
12 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the agitator cover comprises a second wall separating at least an upper portion of the leading agitator from an upper portion of the main agitator such that the upper portion of the leading agitator is substantially outside of a flow path to the suction conduit, wherein the second comb depends from at least one of a lower end and a rear end of the second wall.
13 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the housing defines an inter-agitator air passageway between the main agitator and the leading agitator, the inter-agitator air passageway being in fluid communication with the suction conduit of the housing, wherein the second comb is disposed above the inter-agitator air passageway, whereby the second comb and does not block airflow through the inter-agitator air passageway.
14 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the leading agitator is spaced from the main agitator such that the main agitator and the leading agitator do not contact each other.
15 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the agitator cover comprises a rear edge that mates with a main chamber wall, the main chamber wall defining an inside surface of the main agitator chamber, wherein at least a portion of the inside surface is rearward of the main agitator axis.
16 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , wherein: the leading agitator is mounted to the housing at least partially in a leading agitator chamber; and the agitator cover comprises a forward edge that mates with a leading chamber wall, the leading chamber wall defining an inside surface of the leading agitator chamber, wherein at least a portion of the inside surface is forward of the leading agitator axis.
17 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein at least one the first comb and the second comb comprises teeth comprising protrusions extending from a supporting surface of the agitator cover, wherein the teeth can have roots at the supporting surface and tips at an opposite end from the roots, wherein at least the tips of the teeth contact the agitator.
18 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein at least one the first comb and the second comb comprises a tooth having a leading edge, a trailing edge, and bottom edge joining the leading edge and trailing edge at a tip, wherein the trailing edge and bottom edge form an acute angle, wherein the trailing edge forms a concave curve.
19 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of teeth of the first comb can be spaced across at least 80% of a length of the main agitator and the plurality of teeth of the second comb can be spaced across at least 80% of a length of the leading agitator.
20 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , comprising a sole plate removably attached on an underside of the housing, the sole plate defining at least a portion of the suction conduit opening wherein the sole plate faces the surface to be cleaned when in a working position, and wherein the sole plate is removable from the housing to permit access to at least the main agitator.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/717,327, filed Nov. 7, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND Vacuum cleaners generally include a suction conduit with an opening on the underside of a surface cleaning base for drawing air and debris into and through the cleaning base. A goal with vacuum cleaner design is to effectively loosen debris and capture the debris in the flow of air into the suction conduit. Vacuum cleaners generally use an agitator to aid in this goal. An agitator is often used in the suction conduit of a cleaning base proximate a suction inlet to cause agitated debris to flow into the suction conduit. If the agitator is unable to loosen the debris or if the debris is too small, the suction conduit may pass over the debris without removing the debris from the surface. In other cases, the surface cleaning head may push or plow larger debris forward without ever allowing the debris to be captured in the flow into the suction conduit. To combat these issues, some vacuum cleaners have dual agitators, with a front or leading agitator configured to prevent plowing of larger debris without scattering smaller debris and a rear or trailing agitator located in the suction conduit. One challenge with a rotating agitator is that debris (e.g., hair, threads, other elongated debris) may become entangled around the agitator. Some solutions have been proposed for single agitator vacuum cleaners, but it remains challenging to implement a solution on a dual agitator vacuum cleaner. As such, there exists a need for a vacuum cleaner that can generally reduce and/or prevent debris from becoming entangled around dual agitators. BRIEF SUMMARY A vacuum cleaner with dual agitators and combs is provided herein. According to one aspect of the disclosure, a vacuum cleaner includes a housing defining a main agitator chamber and a suction conduit with a suction conduit opening on an underside of the housing, a main agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the main agitator chamber with at least a portion of the main agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, a leading agitator mounted to the housing in front of the main agitator, and an agitator cover on the housing. The agitator cover at least partially covers the main agitator and includes a first wall defining a portion of the main agitator chamber and spaced outwardly from the main agitator, the first wall having an inner surface confronting an outer surface of the main agitator, a first comb contacting the main agitator above a main agitator axis, and a second comb contacting the leading agitator above a leading agitator axis. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the second comb is in front of the first comb. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, one or both of the combs include a plurality of teeth extending toward the associated agitator. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the main agitator axis is spaced farther from the surface to be cleaned than the axis of leading agitator. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the point of contact between the first comb and the main agitator is above the main agitator axis and the point of contact between the second comb and the leading agitator is above the leading agitator axis. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the first comb is spaced farther from the surface to be cleaned than the second comb. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the agitator cover is interior to the housing and/or is not configured for disassembly from the housing by the user. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the first and second combs are joined by the first wall. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the agitator cover at least partially covers the leading agitator and defines at portion of a leading agitator chamber in which the leading agitator is at least partially mounted. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the agitator cover is a unitary, monolithic part including at least the first wall, the first comb, and the second comb. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, a sole plate is removably attached on an underside of the housing, and is removable from the housing to permit access to at least the main agitator. According to still another aspect of the disclosure, a method for user disassembly of a vacuum cleaner with dual agitators and dual combs is provided herein. According to still another aspect of the disclosure, a method for servicing a vacuum cleaner with dual agitators and dual combs is provided herein. These and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of particular embodiments, when viewed in accordance with the accompanying drawings and appended claims. Before the embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the