Chapter XV: Portable Vacuum Cleaners

Power Required 228
Weight of Efficient Portable Cleaners 228
Limit of Power Consumption When Attached to Lighting System 229
Disadvantage of Having Dust Bag at Outlet of Fan 230
Portables Equipped with Mechanically-Operated Brushes 231
Portables Exhausting Air Inside of Building 231

TABLES.

PAGE

1. Cleaning Tests of Dirty Carpets 34
2. Cleaning Tests of Carpets Filled with Quicksand 38
3. Cleaning Tests Using 1 oz. of Sand per Square Yard of Carpet 40
4. Comparison of Tests Made by Mr. Reeve and by the Author 48
5. Effort Necessary to Operate Cleaning Tools 51
6. Vacuum Required at Hose Cock to Operate Type A Renovators
Attached to Varying Lengths of Different-Sized Hose 89
7. Air Quantities and Vacuum at Renovator with 1-in. Hose and 10
in. Vacuum at Hose Cock 90
8. Air Quantities and Vacuum at Renovator with 1¹⁄₄-in. Hose and
6 in. Vacuum at Hose Cock 90
9. Vacuum Required at Hose Cock to Operate Type C Renovators with
Various Lengths of Three Sizes of Hose 91
10. Air Quantities Through Floor Brush with Various Sizes and
Lengths of Hose, Operated on Same System with Type A
Renovators 92
11. Horse Power Required at Hose Cock to Operate Bare Floor
Brushes on Same System with Type A Renovators 93
12. Free Air Passing Brush Type of Bare Floor Renovator Operated
on Same System with Type C Carpet Renovators 94
13. Horse Power at Hose Cock with Brush Type of Bare Floor
Renovator Operated on Same System with Type C Carpet
Renovators 94
14. Cubic Feet of Free Air Passing the Felt-Covered Floor
Renovator Operated on Same System with Type A Renovators 96
15. Horse Power Required at Hose Cock to Operate Felt-Covered
Floor Renovators Operated on Same System with Type A
Renovators 96
16. Vacuum at Hose Cock with 2 in. Vacuum at Type A Renovator 97
17. Air Quantities when Bristle Bare Floor Renovators are Used in
Conjunction with Type A Carpet Renovators at 2 in. Mercury 98
18. Pipe Sizes Required, as Determined by Air Passing Renovators 109
19. Friction Loss in Pipe Lines, with Carpet Renovators in Use
Exclusively 109
20. Pressure Losses from Inlet to Separator in System for Cleaning
Railroad Cars 121

ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE.

1. Early Type of Mechanical Cleaning Nozzle Using Compressed Air 6
2. Another Type of Compressed Air Cleaning Nozzle, Supplemented
with Vacuum Pipe 8
3. Separators Used With Combined Compressed Air and Vacuum
Machines 9
4. Piston Type of Vacuum Pump, Mounted Tandem With Air
Compressor 9
5. Mr. Kenney’s First Renovators Vacuum Alone Being Used as
Cleaning Agent 10
6. Air Compressors Arranged for Operation as Vacuum Pumps 11
7. Separators Installed by Mr. Kenney in Frick Building 12
8. Vacuum Renovator With Inrush Slot, Introduced by the
Sanitary Devices Manufacturing Company 13
9. First Portable Vacuum Cleaner, Constructed by Dr. William Noe,
of San Francisco, in 1905 16
10. Late Type of Spencer Vacuum Cleaning Machine, Operated by
Multi-Stage Turbine Blowers 17
11. Type A, the Straight Vacuum Tool 26
12. Type B, with Wide Slot and Wide Bearing Surface 26
13. Type C, with Auxiliary Slot, Open to Atmosphere 28
14. Type D, with Two Cleaning Slots 28
15. Type E, with Inrush Slot on Each Side of Vacuum Slot 31
16. Type F, an Exaggerated Form of Type B 31
17. Tests of Three Renovators on Dirty Carpets 35
18. Cleaning Tests of Carpets Filled with Quicksand 39
19. Cleaning Tests Using 1 oz. of Sand Per Square Yard of Carpet 41
20. Three Series of Tests with Kenney Type A Renovators 45
21. Tests by Mr. Reeve, Using Type C Renovator 46
22. Tests by Mr. Reeve, Using Type D Renovator 47
23. Tests Showing Efficiency of Different Types of Renovators at
Different Degrees of Vacuum 50
24. Early Type of Bare Floor Renovator 55
25. Later Type of Bare Floor Renovator 55
26. Another Type of Bare Floor Renovator 56
27. Bare Floor Renovator with Felt Cleaning Surface 57
28. Bare Floor Renovator with Unusual Form of Slot 58
29. Bare Floor Renovator with Hard Felt or Composition Rubber
Strips 58
30. Bare Floor Renovator with Rounded Wearing Surface 59
30a. The Tuec School Tool 62
31. Round Bristle Brush for Carved or Other Relief Work 62
32. Rubber-Tipped Corner Cleaner for Use on Carved or Other
Relief Work 62
33. Early Type of Upholstery Renovator 63
34. Upholstery Renovator with Narrow Slots to Prevent Damage to
Furniture 64
35. Another Type of Upholstery Renovator with Short Slots 65
36. Hand Brush Type of Renovator 65
37. Form of Swivel Joint Connecting Stem to Renovator 72
38. Swivel Joint Arranged to Prevent Dust Lodging Between the
Wearing Surfaces 73
39. Swivel Joint in Use 74
40. Another Use of Swivel Joint, Showing Possibilities of this
Form 75
41. Operator Cleaning Trim of Door with Swivel Joint 76
42. Swivel Joint, with Screwed Union 76
43. Swivel Joint Having Ball Bearings 76
44. Action of Ball-Bearing Swivel Joint 77
45. Illustration of Defects of Plug Cocks 78
46. Bayonet Type of Hose Coupling, Introduced by the American Air
Cleaning Company 82
47. All Rubber Hose Coupling Used by the Spencer Turbine Cleaner
Company 83
48. Chart for Determining Hose Friction 86
49. Effect of Increase of Velocity on the Friction Loss 88
50. Another Test Showing Friction Loss Due to Velocity 89
51. Inlet Cock to Prevent Air Leakage when Not in Use 101
52. Type of Automatic Self-Closing Inlet Cock 102
53. “Smooth Bore” Pipe Coupling 103
54. Joint Made of Standard Pipe Flanges 104
55. Standard Durham Recessed Drainage Fittings Generally Used in
Vacuum Cleaning Installations 105
56. Friction Loss in Pipe Lines 106
57-60. Diagrams Showing Operation of Brush and Carpet Renovators
Under Different Conditions 110
61. Typical Floor Plan of Office Building Illustrating Number of
Sweepers Required 114
62. Plan of Layout for Office Building Showing Best Location (at
d) for Vacuum Producer 118
63. Vacuum Cleaning Layout for a Passenger Car Storage Yard 122
64. Arrangement of Piping Recommended as Best for Passenger Car
Storage Yard 123
65. Good Location for Dust Separator Where Large Areas Are
Served by One Cleaning System 125
66. Location of Separators at Centers of Groups of Risers for
Large Systems 126
67. Early Type of Primary Separator, Used by Vacuum Cleaner
Company 128
68. Primary Separator Used by the Sanitary Devices
Manufacturing Company 128
69. Primary Separator Used by the General Compressed Air and
Vacuum Cleaning Company 129
70. Primary Separator Made by the Blaisdell Engineering Co. 129
71. Secondary Separator Used by the Vacuum Cleaner Company 131
72. Secondary Separator Used by the General Compressed Air
and Vacuum Cleaning Company 131
73. Secondary Separator Used by the Sanitary Devices
Manufacturing Company 132
74. Type of Dry Separator Used as Secondary Separator 134
75. Form of Complete Separator Used by the Vacuum Cleaner
Company 135
76. Complete Separator Brought Out by the Electric Renovator
Manufacturing Company 136
77. Complete Separator Made by the American Radiator Company 137
77a. Interior Construction of Dunn Vacuum Cleaning Machine 140
78. Power Consumption and Efficiency of Air Compressor Used as a
Vacuum Pump 143
79. Modification of Reciprocating Pump Made by the Sanitary
Devices Manufacturing Company 144
80. Power Consumption and Efficiency of Modified Reciprocating
Pump 145
81 and 82. Indicator Cards for Clayton and Modified Pumps 146
83. One of the Pumps Installed in Connection with the Vacuum
Cleaning System in the New York Post Office, the Largest
Reciprocating Pump Used for this Purpose up to the Present 148
84. Interior Arrangement of the Garden City Rotary Pump 149
85. Power Required to Operate Garden City Type of Rotary Pump 150
86. Arrangement of Double-Impeller Root Type Rotary Pump for
Vacuum Cleaning Work 151
87. Rotary Pump Arranged with Double-Throw Switch for Reversing
Pump 152
88. Power Consumption and Efficiency of Root Type of Pump 153
89. The Rotrex Vacuum Pump, Used by the Vacuum Engineering
Company 153
90. Late Type of Centrifugal Exhauster Made by the Spencer
Turbine Cleaner Company 154
91. Power and Efficiency Curves for the Spencer Machine 155
92. Interior Arrangement of Invincible Machine, Manufactured by
the Electric Renovator Manufacturing Company 156
93. Power Consumption, Vacuum and Efficiency of First Types of
Invincible Machine 157
94. Power Consumption, Vacuum and Efficiency of Invincible
Machine After Valve Was Fitted to Discharge 158
95. Four-Sweeper Invincible Plant Installed in the United States
Post Office at Los Angeles, Cal. 159
96. Centrifugal Pump with Single Impeller, Manufactured by The
United Electric Company 161
96a. Test of Centrifugal Pump with Single Impeller 162
97. Steam Aspirator Used by the American Air Cleaning Company 163
98. Steam Consumption of Steam Aspirator 164
99. First Type of Controller Introduced by the Sanitary Devices
Manufacturing Company, known as the “Unloading Valve” 167
100. Test of Controller Connected to Suction of 8-Sweeper Piston
Pump 168
101. Type of Controller for Use on Pumps Without Valves 169
102. Regulator for Motor-Driven Vacuum Pump, Manufactured by the
Cutler-Hammer Manufacturing Company 170
103. Inspirator Type Vacuum Contactor, Used to Control Pilot Motor
of Cutler-Hammer Controller 171
104. Vacometer for Use in Testing Vacuum Cleaning Systems 190