Enabling an airflow at the position of a cleaning field of an agitator of a suction head

Abstract

An agitator that is rotatably arranged in a suction head of a vacuum cleaner and includes flexible cleaning elements arranged on a core element for touching a surface to be cleaned. The cleaning elements are arranged along the length of the agitator in a cleaning field, where the cleaning field is interrupted by at least one air passage that is to enable an airflow between internal edges of the cleaning field delimiting the at least one air passage. Outside of the at least one air passage, the cleaning elements are arranged at close range relative to each other whereby an airflow between the cleaning elements is disabled or at most enabled to a significantly smaller extent than at the position of the at least one air passage.

1 . An agitator configured:
 to be used in a suction head that is configured to be applied in a vacuum cleaner and to perform a cleaning action on a surface when the suction head is in an operational cleaning position relative to the surface; and   to be rotatably arranged in the suction head and includes a core element and flexible cleaning elements arranged on the core element,   wherein an outer portion of each of the cleaning elements is configured to be moved over the surface during a part of each revolution of the agitator when the agitator is arranged in the suction head and the suction head is in the operational cleaning position,   wherein the cleaning elements are arranged along the length of the agitator in a cleaning field,   wherein the cleaning field is interrupted by at least one air passage that is configured to enable an airflow between internal edges of the cleaning field delimiting the at least one air passage,   wherein outside of the at least one air passage, the cleaning elements are arranged at close range relative to each other whereby an airflow between the cleaning elements is disabled or at most enabled to a significantly smaller extent than at the position of the at least one air passage, and   wherein the cleaning field spans a major part of the core element in a peripheral direction around the core element.   
     
     
         2 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein either the at least one air passage is free from the cleaning elements or the at least one air passage does include the cleaning elements but at a significantly lower packing density than the cleaning field. 
     
     
         3 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one air passage includes elements extending from the core element along a shorter radial distance than the cleaning elements. 
     
     
         4 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one air passage extends in a peripheral direction around the core element. 
     
     
         5 . The agitator according to  claim 4 , wherein the at least one air passage extends perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the core element. 
     
     
         6 . The agitator according to  claim 4 , wherein the at least one air passage spans an entire periphery of the core element. 
     
     
         7 . The agitator according to  claim 6 , wherein the cleaning field spans the entire periphery of the core element. 
     
     
         8 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning elements comprise fiber hairs, and wherein a linear mass density of the cleaning elements is lower than 300 g per 10 km. 
     
     
         9 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning elements are arranged on the core element in tufts. 
     
     
         10 . The agitator according to  claim 9 , wherein a packing density of the cleaning elements in the cleaning field outside of the at least one air passage is at least 15,000 cleaning elements per area of 1 cm by 1 cm. 
     
     
         11 . The agitator according to  claim 1 , wherein the agitator comprises at least one agitator element in addition to the cleaning elements, wherein the at least one agitator element is significantly less flexible than the cleaning elements, and wherein an outer portion of the at least one agitator element is configured to be moved over the surface during a part of each revolution of the agitator when the agitator is arranged in the suction head and the suction head is in the operational cleaning position. 
     
     
         12 . The agitator according to  claim 11 , wherein the at least one agitator element is arranged on at least one strip-shaped body, and wherein the at least one strip-shaped body is arranged to spiral around the core element at a position of outer portions of the cleaning elements. 
     
     
         13 . A suction head configured to be applied in a vacuum cleaner and to perform a cleaning action on a surface when the suction head is in an operational cleaning position relative to the surface, the suction head comprising:
 a housing including a coupling area configured to enable coupling of the housing to an air suction source of the vacuum cleaner, and   the agitator according to  claim 1 ,   wherein the agitator is arranged in the housing and the housing is configured to expose a portion of the agitator to the surface,   wherein the agitator is rotatable in the housing about a rotation axis (R) extending in a direction of a longitudinal axis of the core element,   wherein the agitator is configured to enable an airflow passing the agitator from a position on the surface upstream of the agitator in a direction towards the coupling area of the housing at a position of the at least one air passage in the cleaning field of the agitator when the suction head is in the operational cleaning position, and   wherein the agitator is configured to disable or at most enable to a significantly smaller extent an airflow passing the agitator from the position on the surface upstream of the agitator in the direction towards the coupling area of the housing at the position that is outside of the at least one air passage when the suction head is in the operational cleaning position.   
     
     
         14 . The vacuum cleaner, comprising an air suction source and the suction head according to  claim 13 . 
     
     
         15 . The vacuum cleaner, comprising an air suction source and the agitator according to  claim 1 .