Apparatus and method to prevent marring of trim and furnishings by a vacuum cleaner

Abstract

A vacuum cleaner protective guard is disclosed. My invention will save homeowners and business owners a lot of time and money because it eliminates the frequency of repainting, repairing, refinishing, retouching their baseboard, doors, and the bases of their furniture. A padded non-scuff material selected to be resistant to transfer to a finished surface of a structure through a frictional contact with the finished surface has a length corresponding to a front face and at least a portion of a side face of the suction head. Preferably the padded non-scuff material is felt.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A guard for a suction head of a vacuum cleaner, comprising:
 an elongate strip of a padded material dimensioned to fit about at least a forward face and a forward portion of a lateral side of the suction head, the padded material selected from a non-scuff material that will not be transferred to a finished surface of a structure through frictional contact with the finished surface; and   an adhesive layer disposed on an inner surface of the elongate strip; the adhesive layer selected to adhere the elongate strip to the suction head of the vacuum cleaner.   
     
     
         2 . The guard of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a release layer covers the adhesive layer, wherein the release layer is removable from the adhesive layer.   
     
     
         3 . The guard of  claim 1 , wherein the padded material is a felt fabric. 
     
     
         4 . The guard of  claim 3 , wherein the felt fabric has a thickness of at least ⅛ inches. 
     
     
         5 . The guard of  claim 4 , wherein the felt fabric has a width of between ⅝ and ¾ inches. 
     
     
         6 . A method of preventing marring of a finished surface by contact with a suction head of a vacuum cleaner, comprising:
 measuring a length of a padded non-scuff material that selected to be resistant to transfer to a finished surface of a structure through a frictional contact with the finished surface, the length corresponding to a front face and at least a portion of a side face of the suction head.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 applying an adhesive layer on an inner face of the padded non-scuff material to the front face and the at least a portion of the side face of the suction head.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the padded non-scuff material is a felt material. 
     
     
         9 . A suction head for a vacuum cleaner, comprising:
 a front face, a side face, and an opening through which a vacuum source is entrain debris that is drawn through the suction head; and   a protective guard applied to the front face and at least a portion of the side face, the protective guard formed of an elongate length of a non-scuff material resistant to transfer to a finished surface through frictional contact with the finished surface.   
     
     
         10 . The suction head of  claim 9 , wherein the non-scuff material is felt. 
     
     
         11 . The suction head of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 an adhesive layer disposed between the non-scuff material and the front face and the at least a portion of the side face.