Orbital scrubber with stabilizer element
First Claim
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1. A floor scrubber to clean hard floor surfaces comprising:
- a solution tank to hold a cleaning solution;
a squeegee to pick up a dirty fluid which is held in a recovery tank; and
a cleaning head assembly comprising;
a pair of opposing lift brackets to raise and lower the cleaning head assembly;
a motor mounted on a motor mounting plate, the motor operatively connected to an eccentric cam;
a cleaning element removably connected to a flexible pad driver, the motor and eccentric cam imparting orbital movement to the flexible pad driver and the cleaning element; and
at least one elongate stabilizer element positioned so as to limit the amount of vertical movement between at least one of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate, which limits the elongation stresses on a plurality of upper vibration dampening elements coupled between the at least one of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate;
wherein the at least one elongate stabilizer element and the upper vibration dampening elements are mounted to the at least one of the lift brackets at distinct, spaced-apart locations.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Vibration dampening elements that are made of rubber and/or an elastomer may fail when subjected to vertical and/or horizontal stresses caused by repeated lifting of the cleaning head assembly and/or unintentional bumping of the cleaning head assembly into door frames, walls or other non-movable objects. The present invention includes, among other things, at least one stabilizer element and preferably two stabilizer elements to reduce damage to certain vibration dampening elements caused by vertical and/or horizontal stress. Alternative embodiments of the stabilizer element are also disclosed.
42 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A floor scrubber to clean hard floor surfaces comprising:
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a solution tank to hold a cleaning solution; a squeegee to pick up a dirty fluid which is held in a recovery tank; and a cleaning head assembly comprising; a pair of opposing lift brackets to raise and lower the cleaning head assembly; a motor mounted on a motor mounting plate, the motor operatively connected to an eccentric cam; a cleaning element removably connected to a flexible pad driver, the motor and eccentric cam imparting orbital movement to the flexible pad driver and the cleaning element; and at least one elongate stabilizer element positioned so as to limit the amount of vertical movement between at least one of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate, which limits the elongation stresses on a plurality of upper vibration dampening elements coupled between the at least one of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate; wherein the at least one elongate stabilizer element and the upper vibration dampening elements are mounted to the at least one of the lift brackets at distinct, spaced-apart locations. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A floor scrubber to clean hard floor surfaces comprising:
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a solution tank to hold a cleaning solution; a squeegee to pick up a dirty fluid which is held in a recovery tank; and a cleaning head assembly having; a motor mounted on a motor mounting, the motor operatively connected to an eccentric cam; a pair of opposing lift brackets each connected to the motor mounting plate by a plurality of upper vibration dampening elements; a cleaning element removably connected to a flexible pad driver, the motor and eccentric cam imparting orbital movement to the flexible pad driver and the cleaning element; and an elongate stabilizer element positioned between each of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate, the elongate stabilizer element and the upper vibration dampening elements being mounted to the lift bracket at distinct, spaced-apart locations; wherein the elongate stabilizer element limits the amount of horizontal movement between the lift bracket and the motor mounting plate, which limits stress on the upper vibration dampening elements. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A cleaning head assembly for use with a floor scrubber to clean hard floor surfaces, the floor scrubber having a solution tank to hold a cleaning solution, a squeegee to pick up a dirty fluid which is held in a recovery tank, the cleaning head assembly comprising:
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a motor mounted on a motor mounting plate, the motor operatively connected to an eccentric cam; a pair of opposing lift brackets to raise and lower the cleaning head assembly; at least one upper vibration dampening element coupled between each of the lift brackets and the motor mounting plate; a cleaning element removably connected to a flexible pad driver, the motor and eccentric cam imparting orbital movement to the flexible pad driver and the cleaning element; and at least one elongate stabilizer element having one end coupled to one of the pair of opposing lift brackets and a free end extending through an aperture in the motor mounting plate to limit the amount of vertical and horizontal movement between the lift bracket and the motor mounting plate; wherein the at least one elongate stabilizer element and the at least one upper vibration dampening element are mounted to the lift bracket at distinct, spaced-apart locations. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A cleaning head assembly for use with a floor scrubber to clean hard floor surfaces, the floor scrubber having, a solution tank to hold a cleaning solution, a squeegee to pick up a dirty fluid which is held in a recovery tank, the cleaning head assembly comprising:
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a motor mounted on a motor mounting plate, the motor operatively connected to an eccentric cam; a pair of opposing lift brackets to raise and lower the cleaning head assembly; a cleaning element removably connected to a flexible pad driver, the motor and eccentric cam imparting orbital movement to the flexible pad driver and the cleaning element; a plurality of upper vibration dampening elements connecting the lift brackets to the motor mounting plate; and a pair of elongate stabilizer elements each having one end secured to one of the pair of opposing lift brackets, and each having a free end extending through an aperture in the motor mounting plate to limit the amount of vertical movement between the lift bracket and the motor mounting plate which limits elongation stress on the upper vibration dampening elements; wherein the elongate stabilizer elements and the upper vibration dampening elements are mounted to the lift brackets at distinct, spaced-apart locations.
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Specification