Toner is a powder mixture used in laser printers and photocopiers to form the printed text and images on the paper, in general through a toner cartridge. Mostly granulated plastic, early mixtures only added carbon powder and iron oxide, however mixtures have since been developed containing polypropylene, fumed silica, and various minerals for triboelectrification. Toner using plant-derived plastic also exists as an alternative to petroleum plastic. Toner particles are melted by the heat of the fuser, and are thus bonded to the paper.
Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot. Introduced in September 2002, Roomba features a set of sensors that enable it to navigate the floor area of a home and clean it. For instance, Roomba's sensors can detect the presence of obstacles, detect dirty spots on the floor, and sense steep drops to keep it from falling down stairs. Roomba uses two independently operating side wheels, that allow 360° turns in place. A rotating, 3-pronged spinner brush can sweep debris from square corners to the cleaning head.
High efficiency particulate air (HEPA), originally called high-efficiency particulate absorber but also sometimes called high-efficiency particulate arresting or high-efficiency particulate arrestance, is a type of air filter. Filters meeting the HEPA standard have many applications, including use in clean rooms for IC fabrication, medical facilities, automobiles, aircraft and homes. The filter must satisfy certain standards of efficiency such as those set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE).
An air purifier or air cleaner is a device which removes contaminants from the air in a room to improve indoor air quality. These devices are commonly marketed as being beneficial to allergy sufferers and asthmatics, and at reducing or eliminating second-hand tobacco smoke. The commercially graded air purifiers are manufactured as either small stand-alone units or larger units that can be affixed to an air handler unit (AHU) or to an HVAC unit found in the medical, industrial, and commercial industries. Air purifiers may also be used in industry to remove impurities such as CO2 from air before processing. Pressure swing adsorbers or other adsorption techniques are typically used for this.
A particulate air filter is a device composed of fibrous or porous materials which removes solid particulates such as dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria from the air. Filters containing an adsorbent or catalyst such as charcoal (carbon) may also remove odors and gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds or ozone. Air filters are used in applications where air quality is important, notably in building ventilation systems and in engines.
Carpet cleaning, for appearance, and the removal of stains, dirt, and allergens is done through several methods. Clean carpets are recognized by manufacturers as being more visually pleasing, potentially longer-lasting, and probably healthier than poorly maintained carpets.
An automated pool cleaner is a vacuum cleaner intended to collect debris and sediment from swimming pools with minimal human intervention. Popularly dubbed a ''creepy-crawly'' or "Kreepy Krauly" in South Africa, it is one of several types of swimming pool vacuum cleaners. Other major types are battery-powered or manually powered wands effective only for very small pools, kiddie or wading pools and small spas and hot tubs, and battery-powered, handheld/extended reach pool and spa vacuums. The latter are powered by rechargeable batteries and can be hand held attached to a telescopic pole used for extended reach. These are used for small to medium-sized pools, larger spas, and to spot clean larger pools. The name ''creepy-crawly'' derives from the vacuum's webbed-nozzle crawling creepily through the underwater mist as well as for its creepy suction noise. ''Creepy crawly'' originally referred to strange creatures that crawl on the bottom of the ocean, as the webbed nozzle of the vacuum slightly resembles an octopus in both appearance and suction ability.
In the United States, the Mercury-Containing and Rechargeable Battery Management Act was signed into law on May 13, 1996. The purpose of the law was to phase out the use of mercury in batteries and to provide for the efficient and cost-effective collection and recycling, or proper disposal, of used nickel cadmium batteries, small sealed lead-acid batteries, and certain other batteries.
Window cleaning, or window washing, is the exterior cleaning of architectural glass used for structural, lighting, or decorative purposes. It can be done manually, using a variety of tools for cleaning and access. Technology is also employed and increasingly, automation.
Many buildings contain asbestos, which was used in spray-applied flame retardant, thermal system insulation, and in a variety of other materials. Asbestos was sometimes "flocked" above false ceilings, inside technical ducts, and in many other small spaces where firefighters would have difficulty gaining access. Structural components like asbestos panels were also used. In residences, asbestos was often a component of a type of flocked acoustic ceiling called popcorn ceiling or "cottage cheese ceiling", until its production was banned in the US in 1978. However, the ban allowed installers to use up remaining stocks, so houses built as late as 1986 could still have asbestos in their acoustic ceilings. The only way to be sure is to remove a sample and have it tested by a competent laboratory.
The Black & Decker DustBuster is a cordless vacuum cleaner that was introduced in January 1979.
Got Mercury? is a public awareness campaign about mercury levels in seafood. It is sponsored by the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) and its parent organization, the Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN). The name of the campaign is a snowclone of the successful Got Milk? advertising campaign.
A hypoallergenic vacuum cleaner is a vacuum cleaner with filters designed to retain the vast majority of particles within the vacuum system. If successful this retention would greatly reduce the amount of potential allergens in the environment in which it is used. Regular vacuum cleaners are unable to retain most very fine dust and many allergens which simply are too small for the system to trap and are released from the system along with the exhaust air.
A central vacuum cleaner is a type of vacuum cleaner appliance, installed into a building as a semi-permanent fixture. Central vacuum systems are designed to remove dirt and debris from homes and buildings, sending dirt particles through tubing installed inside the walls to a collection container in a remote utility space. The power unit is a permanent fixture, usually installed in a basement, garage, or storage room, along with the collection container. Inlets are installed in walls throughout the building that attach to power hoses and other central vacuum accessories to remove dust, particles, and small debris from interior rooms. Most power hoses usually have a power switch located on the handle.
Neato Robotics is a robotics company located in Newark, California. Their product, the Neato XV-series robotic vacuum cleaner, began selling in 2010 for US$399.00. The company has approximately 65 employees. The design work is done in California, with contract manufacturing in China.
Coffeemakers or coffee machines are cooking appliances used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers using a number of different brewing principles, in the most common devices, coffee grounds are placed in a paper or metal filter inside a funnel, which is set over a glass or ceramic coffee pot, a cooking pot in the kettle family. Cold water is poured into a separate chamber, which is then heated up to the boiling point, and directed into the funnel. This is also called automatic drip-brew.
Clean Air Delivery Rate (CADR) is a figure of merit that is the cubic feet per minute (CFM) of air that has had all the particles of a given size distribution removed. For air filters that have air flowing through them, it is the fraction of particles that have been removed from the air times the CFM air flow rate through the device. More precisely, it is the CFM of air in a 1,008-cubic-foot (28.5 m3) room that has had all the particles of a given size distribution removed from the air, over and above the rate at which the particles are naturally falling out of the air. Different filters have different abilities to remove different particle distributions, so three CADR's for a given device are typically measured: smoke, pollen, and dust. By combining the amount of airflow and particle removal efficiency, consumers are less likely to be misled by a high efficiency filter that is filtering a small amount of air, or by a high volume of air that is not being filtered very well.
