Rinse method and machine

Claim 1

An improved carpet cleaning machine of the type adapted to deposit and retrieve rinse liquid from carpets for the purpose of cleaning the carpet, comprising: a hand-held implement having a handle positioned to be grasped by the operator and having one end adapted to be moved across the carpet being cleaned; means carried by the one end of the implement and adapted to deposit rinse liquid onto the carpet from a source for spraying said liquid onto the carpet; means adjacent said implement for controlling the quantity of rinse liquid being sprayed onto the carpet, said implement also including at said one end channel means adapted to retrieve the rinse liquid from the carpet and transmit the liquid away from the carpet; a portable liquid holding tank attached to the implement to receive the rinse liquid retrieved from the carpet for retaining the majority of said rinse liquid; a suction power unit affixed immediately adjacent to said holding tank for creating a vacuum flow directed through said one end of said implement for pulling the rinse liquid from the carpet and through the implement into the holding tank and for sucking wet air upwardly from said holding tank, said power unit comprising a rigid unitary frame adapted for attachment to the holding tank, the frame including a base plate having an opening centrally thereof and an interior cavity extending from said base plate, a plurality of conduits having the upstream end of each opening into said base plate, said conduits surrounding said interior cavity and serving to prevent a flow of wet air from entering said interior cavity, each of said conduits opening at the downstream end into an exhaust manifold, and a conduit divider plate having openings to accommodate said conduits, said conduit divider plate being positioned intermediate the upstream and downstream ends of said conduits and orthogonally thereto, the second end of said hand-held implement being attached through a flexible hose to said holding tank at a point above the normal full level of liquid within said holding tank, whereby a liquid-air combination is drawn through the one end of the implement, then passed through said second end of the implement and into the holding tank by air being sucked through said implement by the power unit whereby the great majority of the liquid upon entry of the liquid-air combination into the holding tank drops from the air into the container portion of the holding tank while the wet air is sucked upwardly; a first electric motor-fan cOmbination mounted to said base plate with the motor portion thereof within said interior cavity and the fan portion thereof extending outside said interior cavity adjacent the upstream ends of said conduits and in position to pump wet air through said conduits around said interior cavity and into said exhaust manifold, the wet air exiting the fan of said first electric motor-fan combination being thrown out therefrom in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of flow through said conduits; a second electric motor-fan combination rigidly mounted exteriorly to said rigid unitary frame and centrally on said exhaust manifold, to receive and further pump the air from said holding tank, the motor portion of said second motor-fan combination being within a protective housing to prevent contact with the wet air being propelled by the fan portion of said second motor-fan combination; a cover attached over said rigid unitary frame and conforming in mated vapor seal relationship to the edges of said base plate, said conduit divider plate and said exhaust manifold, the space between said cover, said exhaust manifold and said conduit divider plate defining an intake duct and the space between said cover, said base plate and said conduit divider plate defining an exit duct, said cover having discharge openings thereon above the mating of said cover with said exhaust manifold to permit discharge of the flow of wet air driven from said fan of said second motor-fan combination, said cover also having a set of intake openings thereon above the mating of said cover and said conduit divider plate and below the mating of said cover and said exhaust manifold, said cover further having a set of exit openings thereon above the mating of said cover and said base plate and below the mating of said cover and said conduit divider plate, said intake openings permitting inflow and said exit openings permitting outflow of air to cool the windings of said first motor, said cover still further having an opening adjacent the upper end thereof to permit an impeller on the drive shaft of said second motor to draw dry air to cool said second motor, said dry air after cooling said second motor being mixed with the flow of wet air leaving the fan of said second motor-fan combination and exiting therewith through said discharge openings, said cover extending beyond said base plate and being attached to said holding tank.