Floor care apparatus with deep cleaning action

Abstract

A floor care apparatus includes a cannister assembly, a nozzle assembly, and a suction generator that draws air, dust, dirt and debris from a carpet or rug to be cleaned through the nozzle assembly to a collection vessel. A rotary agitator carried on the nozzle assembly is driven by a motor in either a rearward bottom-dead-center direction when the floor care apparatus is being pulled rearward or a forward bottom-dead-center direction when the floor care apparatus is being pushed forward by an operator. In this way, the bottom-dead-center portion of the agitator engaging the underlying nap of a carpet or rug being cleaned is moving in the direction of movement of the floor care appliance so that the nap is always brushed from the bottom to the top and dirt and debris is lifted from the nap where it is entrained in the airstream being drawn into the apparatus by the suction generator to provide efficient and effective deep cleaning action.

In the claims  
     
         1 . A floor care apparatus, comprising: 
 a cannister assembly including a collection vessel;    a suction generator;    a nozzle assembly, said nozzle assembly including a housing defining an agitator cavity, an agitator mounted in the agitator cavity for rotation in either a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;    a drive motor for driving said agitator; and    an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said agitator.    
     
     
         2 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said drive motor is positioned within said agitator.  
     
     
         3 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said drive motor and said agitator are coaxial.  
     
     
         4 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a belt and pulley assembly connecting said drive motor to said agitator.  
     
     
         5 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a gear drive assembly connecting said drive motor to said agitator.  
     
     
         6 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a controller programmed to drive said drive motor in either of said forward direction and said rearward direction dependent upon a signal received from said actuator.  
     
     
         7 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 6  wherein said controller is programmed upon a change of state of the actuator signal to remove power from said drive motor and to reapply power to said drive motor such that the agitator is rotated in a different direction.  
     
     
         8 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 7  wherein said controller is programmed to delay the reapplication of power to said drive motor.  
     
     
         9 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 8  wherein the delay in the reapplication of power to said drive motor is between 0.1 second and 1.0 second.  
     
     
         10 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 7  wherein the power reapplied to said drive motor is incrementally increased to a normal operating level.  
     
     
         11 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said collection vessel is selected from a cup and a bag.  
     
     
         12 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 1  wherein said floor care apparatus is cyclonic.  
     
     
         13 . A nozzle assembly of a floor care apparatus, comprising: 
 a housing defining an agitator cavity;    an agitator mounted in said agitator cavity for rotation in either a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;    a drive motor for driving said agitator in either of said forward bottom-dead-center direction and said rearward bottom-dead-center direction; and    an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said agitator.    
     
     
         14 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 13  wherein said agitator drive motor is positioned within said agitator.  
     
     
         15 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 13  wherein said agitator drive motor and said agitator are coaxial.  
     
     
         16 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 13  further comprising a belt and pulley assembly connecting said drive motor to said agitator.  
     
     
         17 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 13  further comprising a gear drive assembly connecting said drive motor to said agitator.  
     
     
         18 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 13  further comprising a controller programmed to receive an actuator signal and drive said drive motor in either of said forward direction and said rearward direction.  
     
     
         19 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 18  wherein said controller is programmed upon a change of state of said actuator signal to remove power from said drive motor and to reapply power to said drive motor such that the agitator is rotated in a different direction.  
     
     
         20 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 19  wherein said controller is programmed to delay the reapplication of power to said drive motor.  
     
     
         21 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 20  wherein the delay in the reapplication of power to said drive motor is between 0.1 second and 1.0 second.  
     
     
         22 . The nozzle assembly of  claim 19  wherein the power reapplied to said drive motor is incrementally increased to a normal operational level.  
     
     
         23 . A method of cleaning a nap of a carpet or rug using a floor care apparatus having a power driven agitator, comprising: 
 rotating said agitator in a forward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward; and    rotating said agitator in a rearward bottom-dead-center direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward.    
     
     
         24 . The method of propelling a nozzle assembly of a floor care apparatus of  claim 23  further comprising the step of sensing operator input to determine a direction of desired nozzle assembly movement; and 
 driving said agitator in a selected bottom-dead-center direction in the desired direction of said nozzle assembly movement.  
 
     
     
         25 . A floor care apparatus, comprising: 
 a nozzle assembly including an agitator cavity and at least one rotary agitator mounted for rotation in the agitator cavity (a) in a first direction as said floor care apparatus is pulled rearward by an operator and (b) in a second direction as said floor care apparatus is pushed forward by the operator;    a cannister assembly connected to said nozzle assembly;    a suction generator carried on one of said nozzle assembly and cannister assembly;    at least one drive motor for driving said at least one agitator, said drive motor being carried on one of said nozzle assembly and said cannister assembly; and    an actuator for controlling operation of said drive motor and rotation direction of said at least one agitator, said actuator being carried on one of said nozzle assembly and said cannister assembly.    
     
     
         26 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  wherein said at least one drive motor is positioned within said at least one agitator.  
     
     
         27 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  wherein said at least one drive motor and said at least one agitator are coaxial.  
     
     
         28 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  further comprising a belt and pulley assembly connecting said at least one drive motor to said at least one agitator.  
     
     
         29 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  further comprising a gear drive assembly connecting said at least one drive motor to said at least one agitator.  
     
     
         30 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  further comprising a controller programmed to receive a signal generated by said actuator and drive said drive motor in either of said first direction and said second direction.  
     
     
         31 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 30  wherein said controller is programmed upon a change of state of the actuator signal to remove power from said drive motor and to reapply power to said drive motor such that said agitator is rotated in a different direction.  
     
     
         32 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 31  wherein said controller is programmed to delay the reapplication of power to said drive motor.  
     
     
         33 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 32  wherein the delay in the reapplication of power to said drive motor is between 0.1 second and 1.0 second.  
     
     
         34 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 33  wherein the power reapplied to said drive motor is incrementally increased to a normal operating level.  
     
     
         35 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  wherein said collection vessel is selected from a cup and a bag.  
     
     
         36 . The floor care apparatus of  claim 25  wherein said floor care apparatus is cyclonic.