US-20260123806-A1 - VACUUM CLEANER WITH DUAL ROTATING AGITATORS AND CORD GUARD

US20260123806A1US 20260123806 A1US20260123806 A1US 20260123806A1US-20260123806-A1

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner includes a first agitator, a second agitator, a suction conduit, and a cord guard that prevents large objects from being drawn into the suction conduit. The housing can have a removable sole plate. Methods for user disassembly of a vacuum cleaner with dual agitators are also provided.

Inventors

Andrew James Brouwers

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 an 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 agitator chamber; a first agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the agitator chamber with at least a portion of the first agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, the first agitator rotatable about a first agitator axis; a second agitator mounted to the housing in front of the first agitator and rotatable about a second agitator axis; a sole plate removably attached on the underside of the housing, the sole plate defining at least a portion of the suction conduit opening; and a cord guard hinged to the housing, the cord guard comprising a first end, a second end, and at least one crosspiece extending between the first end and the second end; wherein the first end of the cord guard is pivotally attached to the housing and defines an axis of rotation of the cord guard; wherein the second end of the cord guard is pivotable between a working position in which the at least one crosspiece traverses the suction conduit opening and an open position in which the first agitator can be removed from the housing; and wherein the axis of rotation of the cord guard is intermediate the first agitator axis and the second agitator axis.
2 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein at least the second end of the cord guard is clamped between the housing and the sole plate to hold the cord guard in the working position.
3 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises an accommodation groove recessed in the underside thereof, wherein the second end of the cord guard is received in the accommodation groove in the working position, and wherein the accommodation groove is covered by the sole plate when the sole plate is attached to the housing to enclose the at least the second end of the cord guard within the accommodation groove.
4 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 3 , wherein the sole plate comprises: an interior side that confronts an interior of the housing when the sole plate is attached to the housing; and a clamp on the interior side, wherein the clamp receives a portion of the second end of the cord guard when the sole plate is attached to the housing to clamp at least the second end of the cord guard between the housing and the sole plate to hold the cord guard in the working position.
5 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein, the housing comprises a wall defining a rear wall of the agitator chamber, the rear wall is formed with at least one guard opening for the cord guard, the suction conduit passes through the rear wall, and the at least one crosspiece passes through the guard opening in the rear wall.
6 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one crosspiece extending between the first end and the second end comprises a plurality of crosspieces extending between the first end and the second end, wherein the first end comprises a first traverse segment extending centrally between the plurality of crosspieces and the second end comprises a second traverse segment extending centrally between the plurality of crosspieces.
7 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the cord guard comprises a first cord guard frame and a second cord guard frame lateral to the first cord guard frame, wherein each cord guard frame comprises a plurality of crosspieces.
8 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the cord guard is formed at least partially of plastic coated rigid metal wire having a diameter of 2.0-3.0 mm.
9 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the sole plate comprises frame including a rear frame wall, a first side frame wall, a second side frame wall, the suction conduit opening being bordered by the rear frame wall, the first side frame wall, and the second side frame wall, wherein the rear frame wall comprises a leading edge that defines a rear peripheral edge of the suction conduit opening, and comprising a plurality of wheels rotatably coupled to an underside of the sole plate.
10 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein: the first agitator axis has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; the second agitator axis has a second clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; the axis of rotation of the cord guard has a third clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; and the third clearance is greater than the first clearance and greater than the second clearance.
11 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , comprising at least one hinge bracket on the housing pivotally connecting the first end of the cord guard to the housing, wherein the hinge bracket is intermediate the first agitator and the second agitator.
12 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the axis of rotation of the cord guard has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned, wherein the second end of the cord guard 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.
13 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the at least one crosspiece wraps around a portion of a circumference of the first agitator that is greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees.
14 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises an agitator comb configured to remove debris from the second agitator, wherein the first end of the cord guard is pivotally attached to the agitator comb.
15 . A vacuum cleaner comprising: a housing having a front side and a back side, the housing defining an 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 agitator chamber; a first agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the agitator chamber with at least a portion of the first agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, the first agitator rotatable about a first agitator axis; a second agitator mounted to the housing in front of the first agitator and rotatable about a second agitator axis; and a sole plate removably attached on the underside of the housing, the sole plate defining at least a portion of the suction conduit opening, the sole plate comprising: a frame comprising at least a rear frame wall behind the first agitator axis; a bridge intermediate the first agitator axis and the second agitator axis; and a cord guard traversing the suction conduit opening to block the suction conduit, the cord guard comprising a plurality of crosspieces extending from the rear frame wall to the bridge to traverse the suction conduit opening, wherein the plurality of crosspieces pass below the first agitator axis; wherein removal of the sole plate from the underside of the housing simultaneously removes the cord guard from blocking the suction conduit.
16 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , wherein the frame comprises: a first side frame wall extending transversely to the rear frame wall; a second side frame wall spaced laterally from the first side frame wall and extending transversely to the rear frame wall; and the suction conduit opening is bordered by the rear frame wall, the first side frame wall, and the second side frame wall.
17 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 16 , wherein the rear frame wall comprises a leading edge that defines a rear peripheral edge of the suction conduit opening, and the plurality of crosspieces are attached to the rear peripheral edge, wherein the bridge traverses the frame from the first side frame wall to the second side frame wall.
18 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , wherein the bridge of the cord guard has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned, wherein the rear frame wall of the cord guard 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.
19 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , wherein the sole plate comprises an agitator comb configured to remove debris from the second agitator, wherein the agitator comb comprises a plurality of teeth supported by the bridge, the plurality of teeth configured to contact to the surface of the second agitator.
20 . The vacuum cleaner of claim 15 , wherein; the plurality of crosspieces comprising at least a first crosspiece having a leading end coupled to the bridge and a trailing end coupled to the rear frame wall; the leading end of the first crosspiece has a first clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; the trailing end of the first crosspiece has a second clearance from the surface to be cleaned when the housing is supported on the surface to be cleaned; and the first clearance is greater than the second clearance.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/717,326, 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 of the challenges with dual agitator vacuum cleaners is accommodating two agitators within the cleaning base. The engagement of the suction conduit with a surface being cleaned is important to provide the desired amount of suction, but if the opening to suction conduit is too large, large objects (e.g., the power cord of the vacuum cleaner) may be drawn into the suction conduit. The vacuum cleaner may be damaged as a result. Cord guards have been proposed as one solution, but it remains challenging to implement a cord guard on a dual agitator vacuum cleaner. BRIEF SUMMARY A vacuum cleaner with dual agitators and a cord guard is provided herein. According to one aspect of the disclosure, a vacuum cleaner includes a housing defining an agitator chamber and a suction conduit with a suction conduit opening on an underside of the housing, a first agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the agitator chamber with at least a portion of the first agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, the first agitator rotatable about a first agitator axis, a second agitator mounted to the housing in front of the first agitator and rotatable about a second agitator axis, a sole plate removably attached on an underside of the housing, and a cord guard hinged to the housing, wherein the cord guard is pivotally attached to the housing, wherein the cord guard is pivotable between a working position in which at least one crosspiece of the cord guard traverses the suction conduit opening and an open position in which the first agitator can be removed from the housing, and wherein an axis of rotation of the cord guard is intermediate the first agitator axis and the second agitator axis. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the cord guard is clamped between the housing and the sole plate to hold the cord guard in the working position. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the cord guard is formed at least partially of plastic coated rigid metal wire. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the cord guard axis is spaced farther from the surface to be cleaned than the axis of either agitator. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, a hinge bracket on the housing pivotally connects the cord guard to the housing, and the hinge bracket is intermediate the first agitator and the second agitator. In this and other aspects of the disclosure, the housing includes an agitator comb configured to remove debris from the second agitator, and the cord guard is pivotally attached to the agitator comb. According to yet another aspect of the disclosure, a vacuum cleaner includes a housing defining an agitator chamber and a suction conduit with a suction conduit opening on an underside of the housing, a first agitator rotatably mounted to the housing within the agitator chamber with at least a portion of the first agitator extending through the suction conduit opening, the first agitator rotatable about a first agitator axis, a second agitator mounted to the housing in front of the first agitator and rotatable about a second agitator axis, and a sole plate removably attached on an underside of the housing. The sole plate includes a frame comprising at least a rear frame wall behind the first agitator axis, a bridge intermediate the first agitator axis and the second agitator axis, and a cord guard traversing the suction conduit opening to block the suction conduit, the cord guard comprising a plurality of crosspieces extending from the rear frame wall to the bridge to traverse the suction conduit opening, wherein removal of the sole plate from the underside of the housing simultaneously removes the cord