Unattended spot cleaning apparatus
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
- a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing;
a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing and a fluid flow regulator connected to the fluid distributor for controlling the flow of cleaning fluid to the fluid distributor;
a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing;
a carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing along the surface to be cleaned;
a controller operably connected to of the fluid flow regulator and the fan motor for independently controlling the delivery of cleaning fluid to the surface being cleaned and the recovery of soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned in a predetermined relationship.
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Abstract
A spot cleaning apparatus comprises a housing, a fluid distribution system, a fluid recovery system, an agitation system, and a controller system to automatically monitor and control inputs and outputs to said systems for removal of spots and stains from a surface without attendance by a user. A suction nozzle and agitation device are mounted to the housing for movement over the surface to be cleaned relative to a stationary housing. Optionally, the spot cleaning apparatus can be operated in a manual mode.
42 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing and a fluid flow regulator connected to the fluid distributor for controlling the flow of cleaning fluid to the fluid distributor; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; a carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing along the surface to be cleaned; a controller operably connected to of the fluid flow regulator and the fan motor for independently controlling the delivery of cleaning fluid to the surface being cleaned and the recovery of soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned in a predetermined relationship. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing and with respect to the surface to be cleaned; a carriage motor mounted to the housing and connected to the carriage for driving the movement of the carriage with respect to the housing; a power supply connected to the carriage motor and to the fan motor; a controller mounted to the housing and to the power supply for controlling the power supply to the carriage motor and to the fan motor; and the controller is programmed to supply power to the carriage motor for a first and second predetermined period of time and supply power to the fan motor for the first period of time and to discontinue power to the fan motor for a second predetermined period of time. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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46. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing and with respect to the surface to be cleaned; a plurality of floor condition sensors mounted to the housing for detecting the level of soil on the floor to be cleaned and for generating a control signal representative thereof; and the controller is adapted to adjust the delivery of cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned responsive to the control signal.
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47. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing and with respect to the surface to be cleaned; a carriage motor mounted to the housing and connected to the carriage for driving the movement of the carriage with respect to the housing; power supply connected to the carriage motor and to the fan motor; a controller mounted to the housing and to the power supply for controlling the power supply to the carriage motor and to the fan motor; and the controller is programmed to supply power to the carriage motor the fan motor for a predetermined period of time and to discontinue power to the carriage motor and the fan motor subsequent to the predetermined period of time.
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48. A floor cleaning apparatus comprising:
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a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor and a fluid flow regulator connected to the fluid distributor for controlling the flow of cleaning fluid to the fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing and with respect to the surface to be cleaned; a scrubbing implement mounted to the carriage for translational movement in scrubbing contact with the surface to be cleaned; a carriage motor mounted to the housing and connected to the carriage for driving the movement of the carriage with respect to the housing; a power supply connected to the carriage motor and to the fan motor; a controller mounted to the housing and connected to the power supply for controlling the power supply to the carriage motor and to the fan motor, and the controller is operably connected the fluid flow regulator; and wherein the controller is programmed with multiple duty cycles to vary the fluid delivery, scrubbing, and suction dwell times. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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Specification