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US-20260123803-A1 - AGITATOR FOR A SURFACE TREATMENT APPARATUS AND A SURFACE TREATMENT APPARATUS HAVING THE SAME

US20260123803A1US 20260123803 A1US20260123803 A1US 20260123803A1US-20260123803-A1

Abstract

An agitator for a vacuum cleaner including an elongated main body extending along a pivot axis and having first and second opposite lateral ends, one or more soft cleaning elements extending from elongated main body between the first and second opposite lateral ends, one or more channels formed within the one or more soft cleaning elements and disposed between the first and second opposite lateral ends, and one or more deformable flaps disposed within the one or more channels and extending from the elongated main body.

Inventors

  • Daniel R. Der Marderosian
  • Nathan HERRMANN
  • Steven GACIN
  • Xavier F. CULLERE
  • Adam UDY
  • Vignesh GNANASEKARAN
  • Kai Xu

Assignees

  • SHARKNINJA OPERATING LLC

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20251229

Claims (20)

  1. 1 - 20 . (canceled)
  2. 21 . An agitator for a vacuum cleaner comprising: an elongated main body extending along a rotation axis and having first and second opposite lateral ends; one or more soft cleaning elements extending from elongated main body between the first and second opposite lateral ends; one or more channels formed within the one or more soft cleaning elements and disposed between the first and second opposite lateral ends; and one or more deformable flaps disposed within the one or more channels and extending from the elongated main body, wherein the one or more deformable flaps include a first face and a second face extending from the elongated main body which terminate at a cleaning edge, and at least one hole extending from the first face to the second face.
  3. 22 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more channels is configured to allow the one or more deformable flaps to move forward and backward as the agitator rotates about the rotation axis.
  4. 23 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the at least one hole includes a plurality of holes.
  5. 24 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more soft cleaning elements extend over a substantial portion of a generally cylindrical portion of the elongated main body.
  6. 25 . The agitator of claim 24 , wherein the one or more soft cleaning elements extend over the entire generally cylindrical portion of the elongated main body except where the at least one channel is formed.
  7. 26 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more channels includes a first and a second channel and wherein the one or more deformable flaps includes a first and a second deformable flap disposed within the first and second channel, respectively, the first channel extending from the first lateral end to a central region of the agitator and the second channel extending from the second lateral end to the central region of the agitator.
  8. 27 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more channels extends from the first lateral end to the second lateral end of the agitator.
  9. 28 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the first face and the second face extend from a base configured to be secured to the elongated main body.
  10. 29 . The agitator of claim 28 , wherein the at least one hole is located closer to the base than to the cleaning edge.
  11. 30 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more deformable flaps have a height extending radially outward from the elongated main body that is equal to a height of the one or more soft cleaning elements.
  12. 31 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more deformable flaps have a height extending radially outward from the elongated main body that is less than a height of the one or more soft cleaning elements.
  13. 32 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the one or more deformable flaps have a height extending radially outward from the elongated main body that is greater than a height of the one or more soft cleaning elements.
  14. 33 . The agitator of claim 21 , further comprising one or more bristle disposed within the one or more channels.
  15. 34 . The agitator of claim 21 , wherein the at least one hole has a length extending generally along the cleaning edge and a height extending generally transverse to the cleaning edge, wherein the length is greater than the height.
  16. 35 . An agitator for a vacuum cleaner comprising: an elongated main body extending along a rotation axis and having first and second opposite lateral ends; and at least one deformable flap extending from the elongated main body, wherein the at least one deformable flap includes a first face and a second face extending from the elongated main body which terminates at a cleaning edge, and at least one hole extending from the first face to the second face.
  17. 36 . The agitator of claim 35 , wherein the at least one hole includes a plurality of holes.
  18. 37 . The agitator of claim 35 , wherein the first face and the second face extend from a base configured to be secured to the elongated main body.
  19. 38 . The agitator of claim 37 , wherein the at least one hole is located closer to the base than to the cleaning edge.
  20. 39 . The agitator of claim 35 , wherein the at least one hole has a length extending generally along the cleaning edge and a height extending generally transverse to the cleaning edge, wherein the length is greater than the height.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/497,182 filed on Oct. 8, 2021, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. U.S. application Ser. No. 17/497,182 claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/089,376 filed on Oct. 8, 2020, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. The U.S. application Ser. No. 17/497,182 also is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/466,242, filed on Sep. 3, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/074,719 filed on Sep. 4, 2020, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 63/077,386 filed on Sep. 11, 2020, all of which are fully incorporated herein by reference. The U.S. application Ser. No. 17/497,182 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 16/656,930 filed on Oct. 18, 2019, which is fully incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates generally to a vacuum cleaner, and more particularly, to a vacuum cleaner including a system to migrate and/or remove debris from an agitator. BACKGROUND A vacuum cleaner may be used to clean a variety of surfaces. Some vacuum cleaners include a rotating agitator (e.g., brush roll). While the known vacuum cleaners are generally effective at collecting debris, some debris (for example, elongated debris such as hair, fur, or the like) may become entangled in the agitator. The entangled debris may reduce the efficiency of the agitator, and may cause damage to the motor, bearings, support structure, and/or drive train that rotates the agitator. Moreover, it may be difficult to remove the entangled debris from the agitator because it is entangled in the bristles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying figures, in which like reference numbers indicate similar parts, and in which: FIG. 1 is a bottom view of one embodiment of a vacuum cleaner, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 taken along line II-II, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 3 generally illustrates one example of a hair migration system, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 generally illustrates a perspective cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a combing unit taken along lines IV-IV of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 generally illustrates a cross-sectional view of the combing unit of FIG. 4 taken along lines IV-IV of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 generally illustrates a cross-sectional view of the combing unit of FIG. 4 taken along lines VI-VI of FIG. 2; FIG. 7 generally illustrates a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the combing unit taken along lines VI-VI of FIG. 2; FIG. 7A shows a perspective view of an example of a combing unit having teeth in a central region with a length that measures greater than teeth in a lateral (or end) region, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 8 generally illustrates a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of a plurality of sectioned agitator chambers of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1 taken along line II-II; FIG. 9 is a side schematic view of an agitator capable of being used with the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of a plurality of ribs configured to engage (e.g., contact) the agitator of FIG. 9, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 11 shows a schematic view of a plurality of ribs configured to engage (e.g., contact) an agitator, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 12 shows a schematic cross-sectional end view of a surface cleaning head, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 13 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of the surface cleaning head of FIG. 12, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of a surface cleaning head, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 14A shows a perspective view of an example of an agitator cover, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 14B shows a perspective view of a portion of a robotic cleaner having the agitator cover 14A coupled thereto, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 15 shows a perspective view of an agitator cover which is capable of being used with the surface cleaning head of FIG. 14, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 16 shows a bottom view of the agitator cover of FIG. 15, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 17 shows a perspective view of an agitator cover which is capable of being used with the surface cleaning head of FIG. 14, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG. 18 shows a bottom view of the agitator cover of FIG. 17, consistent with embodiments of the present disclosure; FIG.