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Transport cleaning deviceRelated Patent Categories: Brushing, Scrubbing, And General Cleaning, Machines, With Air Blast Or Suction, With Liquid Or Other Cleaning Material Application To WorkTransport cleaning device description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060191097, Transport cleaning device. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CLAIM OF PRIORITY [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of United States Nonprovisional Application No. 11/126,419 filed on May 11, 2005, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/569,966 filed on May 11, 2004. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a device for cleaning various surfaces and, in particular, relates to a cleaning device having three aligned cylindrical agitators which can be manually driven, moved, or self propelled over variously leveled hard or soft surfaces to collect waste particles, liquids and/or chemical cleaning products. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] Cleaning floors and other pedestrian surfaces is well known. In recent years, cleaning pedestrian surfaces has become a complex combination of making certain such surfaces are clean and doing so in the most expeditious manner. The cost of labor has placed a premium on the development of both new cleaning processes and chemicals, as well as on machines that clean in one rather than multiple passes. [0004] Many devices have been developed for removing soil and debris or liquids from vertical and horizontal surfaces. Typically, cleaning devices employ rotating brushes in combination with suction for the collection of waste, such as with a vacuum cleaner. Other devices utilize brushes having bristled bodies that are swivelably mounted on a member for sweeping. Street sweepers, for example, are commonly provided with an intake broom and suction carriage that collect and transmit the suctioned waste to a hopper. A few devices use belts or drums as a transport tool to remove and collect waste. However, such devices tend to be susceptible to abrasion and wear, work on limited types of surfaces, and have compromised efficiencies. Some of these devices are capable of applying and removing cleaning solutions along with soils from a carpet or hard surface to accomplish chemical cleaning. [0005] For commercial and large public floors, some of the most common high efficiency cleaning machines incorporate the use of one or two cylindrical brushes which are mounted to rotate at high revolutions per minute to lift and deposit the debris in removable containers. These newer devices operate on hard surfaces such as concrete, wood, marble, and tile, as well as softer surfaces such as mats and carpeting of various pile depths and stiffness. Some of these prior art cleaning machines, utilizing one or two cylindrical rotating brushes, work with dry cleaning chemicals by agitating the chemicals into and out of the carpet or surface and into a hopper for disposal. Others utilize liquid cleaning tanks to dispense cleaning agents on the surface either by a sprayer or through the rotating brushes themselves. A vacuum is often required on prior art machines to affect removal of cleaning agents and soils. OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0006] While many of these known cleaning machines are adequate for small commercial applications, they do not provide the efficiencies and cleaning capabilities to adequately handle large commercial spaces and public facilities. Accordingly, in an example it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device that is useful on carpeting as well as other types of surfaces and applications to provide increased efficiencies and cleaning capabilities. [0007] It is a further object in an embodiment of the invention to provide a cleaning device that can provide reduced cleaning costs for large commercial floors and public pedestrian ways and buildings. [0008] It is another object in an embodiment of the invention to provide a cleaning device that can remove soil and debris from a surface quickly. [0009] It is another object in an embodiment of the invention to provide a cleaning device that has at least one agitator that may also work to propel the device along the surface to be cleaned. [0010] It is yet a further object in an embodiment of the invention to provide a rotating agitator system that efficiently and effectively collects waste from any type of indoor or outdoor surface, or any vertical, horizontal, or sloped surface, without the need for a vacuum or other mechanical belt means to remove the debris from the surface being cleaned. [0011] It is yet another object in an embodiment of the invention to provide an improved cleaning device that utilizes a rotating arcuate surface area to collect and remove waste from surfaces having irregularities, such as texture. [0012] It is yet another object in an embodiment of the invention to provide a cleaning device having a waste container that is easy to handle and replaceable, unlike prior art devices that use vacuum cleaner bags that can be a challenge to attach and require frequent replacement. [0013] The present invention is directed to a device for removing soils or debris from a surface, comprising a housing and first and second agitators attached thereto. First agitator has a contact surface area for contact with the surface to be cleaned. The second agitator has an arcuate contact surface area for contact with the surface to be cleaned. The second agitator has a second direction of rotation. In an example, first and second agitators rotate towards each other to direct debris inward to where it can be removed from the surface to be cleaned. In an example, the first agitator has a counterclockwise rotation and the second agitator has a clockwise rotation, as shown in the figures. The invention further comprises a third agitator that is interposed between the first and second agitators and rotates in the opposite direction as the second agitator. Preferably, the third agitator is more proximate to the second agitator. The third agitator has an arcuate surface contact area and a diameter that is preferably smaller than the diameter of either the first or second agitators. [0014] In the present invention, the first agitator transports debris to the second agitator, and the second agitator, in conjunction with the third agitator, transports the debris away from the surface. Preferably, it is transported into a hopper or waste container. The employment of the third agitator provides unique advantages in the efficiency of the device, both in the removal of soil and debris from the surface to be cleaned, as well as the required number of passes over such debris, to reduce the time required to clean a surface. Additionally, the third agitator may also work to assist in propelling the device along the surface to be cleaned. [0015] Transport wheels or a lift mechanism may be used alone or in combination to support or transport the device when not in use. Transport wheels and/or lift mechanism may be adjustably retractable to permit raising and lowering the agitators from and to the surface to be cleaned. At least one set of transport wheels may optionally be stationary. The agitators substantially support the device when the transport wheels and/or lift mechanism are retracted. When fully extended for transport or storage, the wheels and/or lift mechanism substantially support the weight of the device. In an embodiment, the transport wheels and/or lift mechanism are adjusted to a midpoint so that the transport wheels and/or lift mechanism and the agitators carry the weight of the device together. [0016] The device can be used to clean a variety of surfaces, both indoor and outdoor, and horizontal, vertical, or sloped. For example, the device may be used to clean floors, floor surfaces of a variety of materials, walls, carpet, brick, stone, grouted tile, wood, tile, vinyl, rubber, concrete, pavement, or asphalt surfaces, or a combination thereof, as well as such surfaces as escalators and conveyor belts. [0017] The present invention represents a substantial advance over prior art cleaning devices by providing a unique means for removing and transporting soil and debris from the surface to be cleaned, wherein the removal and transport means are substantially more efficient and effective than conventional two-brush cleaning machines of the prior art. Further benefits from the invention entail not only the removal of typical cleaning solutions and soils, but also large and small waste items such as papers, washers, nails, sand, and cigarette ashes from the surface. The removal is substantially continuous without repetitive motion on both flat and irregular surfaces such as bricks, slate and the like. [0018] Those and other details, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood or apparent from the following description and drawings showing embodiments thereof. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DETAILED DRAWINGS [0019] The accompanying drawings illustrate examples of embodiments of the invention. In such drawings: Continue reading about Transport cleaning device... Full patent description for Transport cleaning device Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Transport cleaning device patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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