Floor care appliance with a plurali

• US 20060101612A1
• Filed: 11/17/2004
• Published: 05/18/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Techtronic Floor Care Technology Limited (Techtronic Industries Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Techtronic Floor Care Technology Limited (Techtronic Industries Company Limited)
• Inventors: Louis, Jeffery S., Burchfield, Brent L., Scheifele, Kevin E., Gordon, Evan A., Morgan, Jeffery A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,987,552 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 15/368
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/34 Machines for treating carpets in position by liquid, foam, or vapour, e.g. by steam
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4011 Regulation of the cleaning machine by electric means; Control systems and remote control systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/225 Convertible suction cleaners, i.e. convertible between different types thereof, e.g. from upright suction cleaners to sledge-type suction cleaners
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/30 with driven dust-loosening tools, e.g. rotating brushes
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/32 with means for connecting a hose hose couplings for suction cleaners A47L9/24
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 5/34 with height adjustment of nozzles or dust-loosening tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0027 specially adapted for holding the suction cleaning tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0494 Height adjustment of dust-loosening tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/0653 with mechanical actuation, e.g. using a lever
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2842 Suction motors or blowers
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2847 Surface treating elements
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 9/2857 User input or output elements for control, e.g. buttons, switches or displays

Abstract

A floor care appliance is provided for cleaning bare surfaces such as tile, marble, linoleum and wood. The floor care appliance is comprised of a base portion having a suction nozzle and a brush block having a plurality of vertical axis rotary agitators for cleaning bare floors. The rotary agitators are driven by an independent motor for agitating the floor surface. With the addition of an accessory hose and tools, the cleaning utility can be expanded to areas wherein the suction nozzle cannot normally reach such as behind the toilet, shower walls, and the grout between tile. While used in the capacity for cleaning bare floors, the floor care appliance can be moved between three modes by a rotating a member located on the upper housing. The first mode is dry mode, the second mode is wet scrub mode and the third mode is wet pickup mode. The accessory tools are stored in an accessory caddy that is placed freestanding over the suction nozzle and in front of the housing.

Claims

1. A floor cleaning appliance, comprising:

a base portion for movement along a surface, said base portion including a suction nozzle;

a brush assembly associated with said base portion;

a lifting assembly operatively connected to said brush assembly and said suction nozzle for moving said brush assembly and said suction nozzle through various positions including a first portion wherein said brush assembly is off the surface and said suction nozzle is elevated over the surface, a second position wherein said brush assembly is off the surface and said suction nozzle is slightly elevated over the surface, and to a third position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface and said suction nozzle is slightly elevated over the surface; and

a control member operatively connected to said lifting assembly for causing said lifting assembly to move said brush assembly and said suction nozzle to said first, second and third positions.

2. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein said suction nozzle further includes a suction inlet and a squeegee ringing the periphery of the suction inlet.

3. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein said floor cleaning appliance further includes an upper housing and said control member is a rotary knob mounted on said upper housing.

4. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein control member is operatively connected to said lifting assembly with a cable.

5. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 1, wherein said brush assembly is comprised of a plurality of rotary agitators powered by a rotary power source.

6. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 5, wherein said rotary power source is an electric motor.

7. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 5, wherein said rotary power source is selectively energized when said control member causes said lifting assembly to move said brush assembly and said suction nozzle to at least one of said first, second and third positions.

8. A floor cleaning appliance having a plurality of cleaning modes, comprising:

a base assembly having at least two features for performing a cleaning operation on a surface either alone or in combination; and

a mode selector operatively connected to said base assembly for selectively causing one of said at least two features to perform a cleaning operation alone or in combination with another feature of said at least two features.

9. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 8, wherein one of said at least two features is a suction nozzle.

10. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 8, wherein one of said at least two features is a at least one rotary agitator.

11. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 8, wherein one of said at least two features is a plurality of rotary agitators.

12. A floor cleaning appliance, comprising:

a base assembly having a suction nozzle for removing dirt and used cleaning solution from a surface;

at least one rotary agitator for agitating the surface;

a lifting assembly operatively connected to said at least one rotary for raising and lowering said base assembly and said at least one rotary agitator relative to said surface either alone or in combination;

a selector operatively connected to lifting assembly for selectively causing said suction nozzle and said at least one rotary agitator to be raised and lowered relative to said surface.

13. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 12, wherein said selector causes said lifting assembly to raise both of said suction nozzle and said at least one rotary agitator a distance above said surface.

14. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 12, wherein said selector causes said lifting assembly to lower said suction nozzle and said at least one rotary adjacent said surface.

15. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 12, wherein said selector causes said lifting assembly to lower said suction nozzle adjacent said surface and raise said at least one rotary agitator above said surface.

16. The floor cleaning appliance of claim 14, wherein said selector causes a rotary power source to rotate said at least one agitator when said lifting assembly lowers said suction nozzle and said at least one rotary adjacent said surface.