Apparatus and method for using a compressed air flow and a vacuum to clean surfaces

Abstract

The basic invention uses a positive air pressure port to loosen foreign objects into a cavity and a negative air pressure port to vacuum these objects from the cavity. The positive air pressure port can be used as a substitute for a mechanical beater brush. Removing the beater brush allows the weight of the housing unit to be reduced. The number of positive air pressure ports can be reduced to increase the exit velocity of the air flow out of a single port focusing the energy of the compressed air to a smaller area of the surface which loosens hard to remove foreign objects from the surface. A motor can be used to sweep a single positive air pressure port in a back and fort motion to automatically clean the surface. Finally, the housing unit can be made transparent to view the surface as it is being cleaned.

1 . A surface cleaning system comprising; 
 a housing unit coupled to the surface being cleaned;    a cavity formed between the housing unit and the surface;    a first port of positive air pressure coupled to the housing unit;    a second port of negative air pressure coupled to the housing unit; and    a flow of positive air pressure from the first port that loosens a plurality of foreign objects from the surface into the cavity; whereby    a flow of negative air pressure from the second port removes the plurality of foreign objects from the cavity.    
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the housing unit is transparent.    
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 at least one wheel coupled to the housing unit.    
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 a handle coupled to the housing unit.    
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the surface cleaning unit can be moved to clean at least one additional section of the surface.    
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 a means for agitating the cleaning surface with a beater brush.    
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising 
 a means for agitating the cleaning surface with a liquid stream.    
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein 
 the first port comprises at least one nozzle; and    the second port comprises at least one port opening.    
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising 
 a compressor generating the positive air pressure applied to the first port; and    a vacuum creating the negative air pressure extracted from the second port.    
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein 
 one or more nozzles of the first port are switched between an open or closed state in a sequential order.    
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the first port is in close proximity to the surface and    the second port is in close proximity to the housing unit.    
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the flow of positive air pressure from the first port matches    the flow of negative air pressure from the second port.    
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the flow of air pressure from the first or second port can be independently adjusted.    
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein 
 the flow of positive air pressure from the first port can be adjusted in a preferred direction via a control selected from the group consisting of manual, automatic and computer driven.    
   
   
       15 . A method of cleaning a surface comprising the steps of; 
 forming a cavity between the surface and a housing unit;    applying a flow of positive air pressure to the surface;    loosening a plurality of foreign objects from the surface into the cavity; and    using a flow of negative air pressure to remove the foreign objects from the cavity; thereby    cleaning the surface.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the steps of 
 moving the housing unit to clean at least one additional section of the surface.    
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising 
 a means for agitating the cleaning surface with a beater brush.    
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising 
 a means for agitating the cleaning surface with a liquid stream.    
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the steps of 
 coupling at least one wheel to the housing unit.    
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising the steps of 
 coupling a handle to the housing unit.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein 
 the first port comprises at least one nozzle; and    the second port comprises at least one port opening.    
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of 
 generating the positive air pressure applied to the first port by using a compressor; and    creating the negative air pressure extracted from the second port by using a vacuum.    
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of 
 switching one or more nozzles of the first port between an open or closed state in a sequential order.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein 
 the first port is in close proximity to the surface; and    the second port is in close proximity to the housing unit.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of 
 matching the flow of positive air pressure from the first port to the flow of negative air pressure extracted from the second port.    
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of 
 adjusting the flow of air pressure from the first port; and    adjusting the flow of air pressure to the second port independently of each other.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising the steps of 
 adjusting the flow of positive air pressure from the first port in a preferred direction via a control selected from the group consisting of manual, automatic and computer driven.    
   
   
       28 . An apparatus for cleaning a surface comprising; 
 means for forming a cavity;    means for applying a flow of positive air pressure to the surface;    means for loosening a plurality of foreign objects from the surface into the cavity; and    means for applying a flow of negative air pressure to remove the foreign objects from the cavity.