CN113796790B

CN113796790B - Surface cleaning machine

Info

Publication number: CN113796790B
Application number: CN202010536008.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 卞庄
Original assignee: Suzhou EUP Electric Co Ltd
Current assignee: Suzhou EUP Electric Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-06-12
Filing date: 2020-06-12
Publication date: 2022-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-12
Also published as: WO2021248591A1; EP4162854A1; US20230218134A1; EP4162854A4; CN113796790A

Abstract

The invention discloses a surface cleaning machine, comprising a suction device; a cleaning base adapted to move over a surface to be cleaned, the cleaning base including a rotatable cleaning roller; a cleaning liquid supply unit; and a dirty liquid recovery tank in fluid communication with the suction device; wherein the cleaning base further comprises a transfer chamber adjacently arranged at the rear side of the cleaning roller and capable of temporarily storing the solid-liquid mixture; the transfer chamber is configured to be in fluid communication with a suction device such that the surface cleaning machine is capable of transferring at least a portion of the liquid or at least a portion of the solid-liquid mixture within the transfer chamber to the dirty liquid recovery tank via the suction device. The surface cleaning machine of the invention can realize low energy consumption work.

Description

Surface cleaning machine

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a surface cleaning machine, and more particularly, to a surface cleaning machine which performs cleaning by applying a cleaning liquid to a surface to be cleaned and recovers a dirty liquid after the cleaning.

Background

Floor cleaning appliances are known, for example, in the form of floor washers, in which one or more cleaning rollers rotating along a horizontal axis are used as cleaning tools, which contact the floor to be cleaned and clean the floor with the aid of cleaning liquid. The cleaning liquid is stored in a cleaning liquid supply container and applied to the floor surface during the cleaning process. Subsequently, the applied cleaning liquid together with the cleaned dirt (which may include dirt, dust, dirt, mud, hair and other debris) is sucked from the floor surface and transferred into the dirt liquid receptacle by the cleaning roller and the suction unit.

Chinese patent publication No. CN209463915U discloses a surface cleaning apparatus comprising an upright handle assembly and a cleaning head mounted on the upright handle assembly and adapted to be moved over a surface to be cleaned; a fluid delivery system and a fluid recovery system that extracts fluid and debris from the surface. The fluid recovery system generally includes a recovery tank, a nozzle adjacent the surface to be cleaned and in fluid communication with the recovery tank through a working air conduit, and a suction source in fluid communication with the working air conduit to draw cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned and through the nozzle and the working air conduit to the recovery tank. The recovery tank is periodically emptied of the collected fluid and debris, such as by removing the recovery tank from the device and pouring the collected fluid and debris into a sink, toilet, or other discharge device.

The above-mentioned devices have been used more and more widely because they have both the functions of dry dust collection and wet cleaning. But this type of surface cleaning apparatus also has a significant disadvantage in that the suction source in the apparatus is relatively powerful, and as used in battery powered surface cleaning apparatus, the single operation time of the apparatus is typically short, which is a significant disadvantage when a user needs to clean a large area of surface with the apparatus.

Patent document WO2017059600a1 discloses a floor cleaner provided with a cleaning cylinder, a water tank, a clean water supply device, a sewage tank, and an air pump. The water tank sealing cover is buckled on the surface of the cleaning cylinder, and the water tank is clean. The sewage case has the cavity that is used for the storage to retrieve sewage, and the module is last to be equipped with sewage import and extraction opening, sewage import and basin intercommunication, and the induction port of air pump and the extraction opening intercommunication of sewage case. The cleaner replaces the power for pumping sewage by using the pumping motor as the sewage tank through adopting the independent air pump as the power for pumping sewage by the sewage tank. Because the air pump has low power and the energy consumption per unit time is far lower than that of the suction motor, the floor cleaner can greatly prolong the working time when being applied to equipment powered by batteries.

However, the above floor cleaning apparatus has the disadvantage that the dirty liquid and the solid waste on the surface to be cleaned are carried completely by the rotating cleaning drum, the dirty liquid and the solid waste are separately treated, and the containers for holding the dirty liquid and the solid waste are also separated, which makes the apparatus require a great deal of cleaning work by the user after use.

Accordingly, while wet-type surface cleaning apparatuses have advanced in various ways, there is still a desire among consumers for improved surface cleaning machines for reducing the power of the motor during the cleaning operation while maintaining the efficacy of the surface cleaning operation and reducing the cleaning time of the apparatus itself.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above-mentioned technical problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a surface cleaning machine having both a long operating time and cleaning efficiency by improving a surface cleaning machine of the above-mentioned type.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a surface cleaning machine comprising: a suction device capable of providing a suction force; a cleaning base adapted to move over a surface to be cleaned and comprising a rotatable cleaning roller; a cleaning liquid supply unit; and a dirty liquid recovery tank in fluid communication with the suction device; wherein the cleaning base further comprises a transfer chamber adjacently arranged at the rear side of the cleaning roller and capable of temporarily storing solid-liquid mixture; the transfer chamber is configured to be in fluid communication with the suction device such that the surface cleaning machine is capable of transferring at least a portion of the liquid or at least a portion of the solid-liquid mixture within the transfer chamber to the dirty liquid recovery tank via the suction device when performing a surface cleaning operation.

In an advantageous embodiment, the transfer chamber comprises an inlet for the solid-liquid mixture into the transfer chamber, which inlet is arranged next to the scrub roller. In a particularly advantageous manner, the transfer chamber is at least partially located below the axis of rotation of the cleaning roller.

In an advantageous embodiment, the cleaning base comprises a guide ramp adjacent to the cleaning roller, the upper end of the guide ramp extending to the inlet and the lower end being adjacent to the lower end of the cleaning roller.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the guide ramp is arranged in front of the transfer chamber.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the lower end of the guide ramp can also be a flexible part; the lower end of the guide ramp is at least partially in close proximity to the surface to be cleaned during movement of the cleaning base along the surface to be cleaned.

In an advantageous embodiment, the transit compartment comprises at least one bottom wall and a peripheral side wall surrounding said bottom wall.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the bottom wall or the lower part of the peripheral side wall of the transfer chamber is provided with at least one suction opening, which is in fluid communication with the dirty liquid recovery tank.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the suction opening can be arranged at the intersection of the rear peripheral wall portion of the transfer chamber and the rear bottom wall portion.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the inner wall of the bottom wall is a slope and the slope is the lowest point near the suction opening.

In an advantageous embodiment, the cleaning base comprises a removable waste bin, and the transfer chamber is formed in the waste bin.

In an advantageous embodiment, the cleaning base further comprises a wiping roller device, which is in contact with a portion of the cleaning roller to remove at least excess soiling solution from the cleaning roller that is in wetting with soiling solution.

It is particularly advantageous if the wiping roller device is arranged above the transfer chamber, so that the excess dirt liquid removed from the cleaning roller can be transferred at least partially by gravity to the transfer chamber.

It is particularly advantageous if the wiping roller device is arranged in air-flow communication with the transfer chamber, so that at least part of the excess dirt liquid removed from the cleaning roller can be transferred to the transfer chamber by means of the suction force of the suction device.

It is particularly advantageous if the scraper device is configured such that it is simultaneously possible to remove at least part of the solid waste from the cleaning roller which is being adhered by the solid waste.

It is particularly advantageous if the wiping roller device comprises at least one wiping part which is in contact with a part of the cleaning roller, the wiping part extending at least partially in a direction parallel to the axis of rotation of the cleaning roller; the scraping member interferes with a portion of the cleaning roller when the cleaning roller rotates.

It is also particularly advantageous that the cleaning liquid supply unit comprises a cleaning liquid supply tank for storing a cleaning liquid and a liquid distributor arranged at the cleaning base, the liquid distributor being in fluid communication with the cleaning liquid supply tank, the liquid distributor being configured for delivering the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller and/or the surface to be cleaned.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the liquid distributor can be designed to supply cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller; the liquid distributor is positioned at the downstream of the scraping roller device in terms of the rotating direction of the cleaning roller so as to apply the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller scraped with excessive dirty liquid;

in a very particularly advantageous manner, the cleaning device further comprises a body having a handle at an upper portion thereof, the cleaning base is rotatably connected to a lower portion of the body, the suction device is fixedly disposed on the body, and the dirty liquid recovery tank and the cleaning liquid supply tank are detachably disposed on the body.

In an advantageous embodiment, the cleaning base comprises an opening in the lower part facing the surface to be cleaned, and the cleaning roller is at least partially located in the opening.

In an advantageous embodiment, the suction device comprises a suction motor, the transfer chamber, the dirty liquid recovery tank and the suction motor being in fluid communication in that order, and the surface cleaning machine being arranged to pick up dirty liquid and solid waste from the surface to be cleaned and transfer them to the transfer chamber by means of the suction motor and the rotating cleaning roller.

In an advantageous embodiment, the suction device comprises a pump interposed between the transfer chamber and the dirty liquid recovery tank, the surface cleaning machine being arranged to pick up dirty liquid and solid waste on the surface to be cleaned by means of the rotating cleaning roller and transfer them to the transfer chamber.

In an advantageous embodiment, the volume of the waste liquid recovery tank is greater than the volume of the transfer chamber.

In a particularly advantageous manner, the volume of the waste liquid recovery tank is more than 3 times the volume of the transfer chamber.

According to the surface cleaning machine, the transfer bin is arranged, so that the surface cleaning machine can directly sweep at least part of dirty liquid and solid garbage into the transfer bin by virtue of the cleaning roller, and then the suction device sucks at least part of dirty liquid in the transfer bin into the dirty liquid recovery box; this arrangement allows the suction means of the surface cleaning machine to be operated at relatively low power to effect the transfer of surface contaminants and debris, and the surface cleaning machine can thereby be operated at low power consumption.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a first perspective view of a surface cleaning machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, with the machine body in an upright storage position;

FIG. 2 is a second perspective view of the surface cleaning machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, with the body in a rearwardly tilted use position;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a surface cleaning machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the cleaning solution supply tank and the dirty solution recovery tank on the machine body are separated from the housing;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning base of the surface cleaning machine of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a second exploded view of the surface cleaning machine according to one embodiment of the present invention, wherein the cleaning solution supply tank and the dirty solution recovery tank are separated from the housing of the machine body, and the upper cover and the dirty solution box are separated from the housing of the cleaning base;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the waste bin of FIG. 5 from a bottom perspective;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of FIG. 6 at A;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view through the upper cover taken along the direction B-B in FIG. 5;

figure 9 is a perspective view of a waste fluid cassette according to one embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of the waste bin of FIG. 9 taken along the line C-C;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a cleaning liquid supply unit of a surface cleaning machine according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a dirty liquid recovery unit of a surface cleaning machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

For the purpose of illustrating the technical contents, structural features, and objects and functions of the invention in detail, reference will be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1, 2 are schematic diagrams illustrating a surface cleaning machine 10 according to one embodiment of the invention. Surface cleaning machine 10 includes a machine body 11 and a cleaning base 12. The surface cleaning machine 10 of this example is an upright cleaning apparatus that can be held upright after use.

Surface cleaning machine 10 has a cleaning base 12 supported on and movable along a surface to be cleaned during cleaning of the surface to be cleaned. The lower portion of the machine body 11 is pivotally mounted to the cleaning base 12, and the machine body 11 is rotatable relative to the cleaning base 12 between an upright rest position (as in fig. 1) and a rearwardly inclined use position (as in fig. 2).

In other embodiments, surface cleaning machine 10 is not limited to being an upright type, but may be a horizontal, portable, etc. type of device.

The surface cleaning machine 10 is provided with a cleaning liquid supply unit and a dirty liquid recovery unit. And a cleaning liquid supply unit for storing externally supplied cleaning liquid, the cleaning liquid supply unit at least including a cleaning liquid supply tank 3 for storing the cleaning liquid. A dirty liquid recovery unit for removing dirty liquid into which used cleaning liquid is converted from a surface to be cleaned and removing solid waste on the surface to be cleaned, and storing the dirty liquid and the solid waste for a certain time; the dirty liquid recovery unit includes at least a dirty liquid recovery tank 4 for storing dirty liquid and solid waste for a certain period of time.

For purposes of description in relation to the figures, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "rear", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and derivatives thereof are used with respect to the direction in which a user pushes the surface cleaning machine 10 over the surface to be cleaned (i.e., the rear-to-front pushing direction), from a defined positional relationship. As used herein, the term "rear side" refers to a location that is rearward of at least one other component, but does not necessarily mean rearward of all other components. It is to be understood, however, that the invention can assume various alternative orientations, except where expressly specified to the contrary.

Referring to fig. 1, a handle 13 for a user to hold is mounted on the top of the body 11. Handle 13 includes an arcuate grip 14. An operator may hold the surface cleaning machine 10 with one hand using the arcuate handle 14 and thereby push the cleaning base 12 of the surface cleaning machine 10 back and forth across the surface to be cleaned in the condition of fig. 2. In other embodiments, the handle may also include a user interface made up of one or more operating elements, such as, but not limited to, buttons, triggers, switches, etc., by which the surface cleaning machine can control the operation of all of the controlled components in the surface cleaning machine, such as being turned on or off for cleaning operations, delivery regulation of cleaning liquid, power regulation of the suction device, etc. In other embodiments, the user interface may be located elsewhere on the surface cleaning machine, such as on a top wall or side wall of the body below the handle.

Referring to fig. 3, the body 11 further includes a housing 15, and the housing 15 is a skeleton portion of the body 11 and mainly functions to store or carry the rest of the components on the body 11. Such as carrying suction devices, handles, cleaning fluid supply tanks, waste fluid recovery tanks, etc. In this example, the suction device 2 is fixedly provided in the middle of the casing 15, and the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 and the foul liquid recovery tank 4 are detachably supported in the upper and lower portions of the casing 15, respectively.

The suction device 2 is a suction force forming member belonging to the dirty liquid recovery unit, and is used for generating a force for flowing the dirty liquid. The suction device 2 of the present example comprises a suction electric machine constituted by a motor/wind wheel assembly arranged in the casing 15. The suction motor is capable of providing a suction force extending to the cleaning base. The suction device 2 is in fluid communication with the dirty liquid storage tank 4 through an upper suction passage 21 (see fig. 12). Besides the upper suction passage 21, the dirty liquid recovery unit further has a lower suction passage 22 (see fig. 12) passing through the housing 15 and leading to a transfer chamber 190 (see fig. 12) of the cleaning base 12 from the dirty liquid storage box 4, that is, the suction device 2, the suction passage 21, the dirty liquid recovery box 4, the lower suction passage 22, and the transfer chamber 190 of the cleaning base 12 are sequentially communicated.

In other embodiments, the suction device may also comprise a pump, under the action of which the transfer of the dirty liquid or solid-liquid mixture in the transfer chamber mentioned below into the dirty liquid recovery tank is effected, and according to this arrangement the pump will be placed between the transfer chamber and the dirty liquid recovery tank.

The cleaning liquid supply tank 3 comprises at least one chamber for holding cleaning liquid. In other embodiments, the cleaning liquid supply tank may further comprise a plurality of chambers. The cleaning liquid may be water or a detergent mixed solution mixed with a detergent. The cleaning liquid supply tank 3 of this example is detachably mounted to the cabinet 15. The user can replenish the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 with cleaning liquid at any time as required.

The dirty liquid recovery tank 4 is mounted on the lower front side of the cabinet 15, and the dirty liquid recovery tank 4 is detachably mounted to the front of the cabinet 15. This structure can be convenient for the user at any time as required to the dirty liquid collection box 4 evacuation processing. In other embodiments, the dirty liquid recovery tank may be installed at other positions, even at any position on the housing 15.

The body 11 includes the above-mentioned components, and a rechargeable battery pack 5 is mounted on the housing 15. In this embodiment, the battery pack 5 is mounted on the lower rear side of the housing 15, i.e., on the rear side of the waste liquid recovery tank 4. The battery pack 5 can supply power to all components of the surface cleaning machine 10, such as the suction unit 2, which are required to consume electrical energy during operation. In other embodiments, a power plug capable of being electrically connected with the outside may be disposed on the machine body, so as to supply power to the power consuming components of the machine by the external power supply.

Referring to FIG. 3, a cleaning base 12 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown and described. The cleaning base 12 includes a housing 16, the housing 16 having a front side wall 161, a rear side wall 162, left and

right side walls

163, 164, a top wall 165, and a bottom wall 166, i.e., the housing 16 is generally box-shaped.

Referring to fig. 4, the inner wall of the housing 16 defines an inner space in which the cleaning roller 18, the dirty liquid tank 19, and the drive device 7 are at least partially received. The front of the housing 16 has an opening 110 (shown in fig. 1 and 2) extending from the front side wall 161 to the bottom wall 166. In other embodiments, the opening may be located only at the front of the bottom wall, and the front side wall of the housing is a complete wall extending from the top wall to the bottom wall.

As shown in fig. 3 and 5, the housing 16 is pivotally held at a lower portion of the body 11 by the rotary joint 8. The rotary joint 8 includes an upper rotary portion 81 and a lower rotary portion 82, and the upper rotary portion 81 and the lower rotary portion 82 enable the body 11 to be rotatable between an upright rest position and a rearwardly tilted use position.

A part of the lower suction channel 22, a part of the cleaning liquid outlet line and a part of the power supply circuit extend through the rotary joint 8. Dirty liquid and solid waste can be transported from the cleaning base 12 up into the dirty liquid recovery tank 4 via the lower suction passage 22. The cleaning liquid can be fed from the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 down to the cleaning base 12 via the cleaning liquid outlet line. The power supply circuit is able to deliver power from the battery pack 5 located in the upper part down to the power consuming components of the cleaning base 12.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the front side wall 161 and the front portion of the top 165 form a removable cover 167. A cleaning roller 18 is provided in the front of the cleaning base 12 and is accommodated in the roller chamber 17 in the front of the inner space. The cleaning roller 18 is rotatably supported by left and

right side walls

163, 164 of the housing 16, and the cleaning roller 18 is rotatable relative to the housing 22 about a rotational axis X in the direction R. In this embodiment, the roller chamber 17 communicates with the opening 110. As shown in fig. 1-2, the front portion and the lower portion of the scrub roller 18 are located at the opening 110.

In this example, the outside of the scrub roller 18 is covered with cleaning elements, which may have bristles, fabric or other cleaning elements, configured to be wetted by a cleaning liquid, such as water, detergent composition, etc.

As shown in fig. 4, in this example, the driving device 7 is mainly composed of a motor member, and the driving device 7 is installed in the motor chamber 113 at the rear of the internal space. The cleaning roller 18 is operatively coupled to the drive means 7 and driven in rotation by the drive means 7. In other embodiments, the motor chamber may not be separately provided, and the driving device may be built in the cleaning roller.

Referring to fig. 5, 6 and 7, the cleaning base 12 includes the wiper roller device 6. The scraping roller device 6 is installed on the inner wall surface of the upper cover 167 of the shell 16 and is positioned at the upper position of the roller chamber 17, and the scraping roller device 6 is simultaneously positioned at the upper side of the sewage box 19. The squeegee device 6 is configured to contact a portion of the cleaning roller 18. The squeegee assembly 6 is capable of removing excess soil liquid and at least a portion of the solid waste from the scrub roller 18 that is being wetted with soil liquid and adhered to the solid waste. Excess soil and solid waste removed from the scrub roller 18 by the squeegee assembly 6 can then ultimately be drawn into the soil recovery tank 4 via the lower suction path 22.

The scraping roller device 6 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown and described with reference to fig. 6 and 7. The wiping roller device 6 comprises a first wiping part 61 and a second wiping part 62, the second wiping part 62 being located downstream of the first wiping part 61 with respect to the direction of rotation R of the cleaning roller 18. The first scraping members 61 and the second scraping members 61 are substantially parallel, with a space 63 between the first scraping members 61 and the second scraping members 62.

The first scraping member 61 includes a plurality of tooth-like projections 611, the plurality of projections 611 are arranged in a direction parallel to the rotational axis X of the cleaning roller 18, and a gap 612 is provided between adjacent two projections 611. The plurality of protrusions 611 are arranged to partially penetrate into the cleaning roller 18. The rotation of the cleaning roller 18 enables the plurality of protrusions 611 of the first scraping member 61 to remove solid waste such as hair, floe, etc., which are adhered to the outer circumferential surface of the cleaning roller 18, and at the same time, to scrape off a part of the contaminated liquid on the cleaning roller 18. It should be understood that the shape of protrusions 611 is not limited to those shapes shown and/or described in this application, unless specifically so required.

The second scraping member 62 includes a scraping bar 621, the scraping bar 621 being configured to contact a portion of the cleaning roller 18 when the cleaning roller 18 rotates, the scraping bar 18 continuously extending in a direction parallel to the rotational axis X of the cleaning roller 18.

In this example, the second scraping member 62 has a hardness which is greater than that of the first scraping member 61, for example, the first scraping member 61 is made of a plastic material and the second scraping member 62 is made of a metal material.

By means of the structure of the first scraper members 61 and the second scraper members 62 it is achieved that the first scraper members 61 are better at removing solid debris from the cleaning roller 18 than the second scraper members 62, while the second scraper members 62 are better at removing excess liquid from the cleaning roller 18 than the first scraper members 61; and the frictional force between the second scraping member 62 and the cleaning roller 18 is larger than the frictional force between the first scraping member 61 and the cleaning roller 18.

Referring to fig. 8, it can be understood that when excessive solid waste is deposited on the cleaning roller 18 wetted with the dirty liquid, if a scraping member similar to the second scraping member 62 is directly used, the existence of the solid waste may cause the surface of the cleaning roller 18 to slip, and the efficiency of scraping the dirty liquid is reduced; according to the scheme, solid waste and a small part of dirty liquid adhered to the cleaning roller 18 are scraped by the first scraping part 61 in advance, so that when the cleaning roller 18 rotates to the subsequent second scraping part 62, the second scraping part 62 can scrape the residual dirty liquid from the cleaning roller 18 more easily. Moreover, the first scraping part 61 is a multi-tooth-shaped protrusion structure, and is a part similar to a "comb" or "rake" structure, which can break up and fluffy the cleaning elements (such as bristles) on the surface of the cleaning roller 18 when scraping solid garbage, which is more beneficial to the later scraping operation of the second scraping part 62. While the dirty liquid scraped by the second scraping member 62 (which may contain small particles of solid waste) can flow to the outside of the scraping roller device 6 through the spacer 63, the gap 612 on the first scraping member 61; in this example, the dirty liquid and the solid waste discharged from the scraping roller device 6 flow toward the dirty liquid box 19 on the lower side.

Referring to FIG. 4, a dirty liquid cartridge 19 is shown and described according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A dirty liquid box 19 is accommodated in the accommodation chamber 112 in the middle of the inner space between the roller chamber 17 and the motor chamber, the dirty liquid box 19 being arranged to receive dirty liquid and solid waste transferred from the cleaning roller 18 and the wiping roller device 6 and the suction device 2.

The dirty liquid box 19 of the embodiment shown in fig. 9 and 10 has a square structure with an open top, and includes a bottom wall 191 and a peripheral side wall formed by a front side wall 192, a rear side wall 193, a left side wall 194 and a right side wall 195, wherein the bottom wall 191 and the peripheral side wall enclose a transfer chamber 190 capable of temporarily storing dirty liquid and dirt. In this example, the volume of the transfer chamber 190 is much smaller than the volume of the dirty liquid storage box 4; preferably, the volume of the contaminated liquid storage tank 4 is 3 times or more the volume of the transfer chamber 190.

A suction opening 196 is provided at the intersection of the lower portion of the rear side wall 195 and the rear portion of the bottom wall 191, the suction opening 196 being in fluid communication with the dirty liquid recovery tank 4 via a lower suction passage 22 extending through the rotary joint 8 (see fig. 12). Under the suction action of the suction device 2, the dirty liquid or the solid-liquid mixture entering the transfer chamber 190 can be sent to the dirty liquid recovery tank 4. In this example, in order to facilitate the dirty liquid in the transfer chamber 190 to flow to the suction port 196, the inner wall surface of the bottom wall 191 is provided with a sloped surface 1911 inclined rearward, and the sloped surface 1911 is the lowest position near the suction port 196.

Referring to fig. 4 and 10, the positional relationship of the dirty liquid tank 19 and the cleaning roller 18 according to the disclosed embodiment of the present invention is shown and described. Wherein the front side wall 192 of the waste liquid box 19 abuts against the cleaning roller 18. The transfer chamber 190 has an input port 197 for the solid-liquid mixture to enter the transfer chamber 190, and the input port 197 is disposed on the front side wall 192 and disposed adjacent to the cleaning roller 18.

The transfer chamber 190 in this example is partially below the axis of rotation X of the scrub roller 18 and the mouth of the input port 197 is also partially below the axis of rotation X. The front side wall 192 has a guide ramp 1921 adjacent the scrub roller 18, an upper end 19211 of the guide ramp 1921 extending to an input opening 197 and a lower end 19212 adjacent the lower end 181 of the scrub roller 18.

In this example, the lower end of the guiding inclined plane 192 is a flexible portion made of a flexible material, and the lower end 1922 of the guiding inclined plane 192 at least partially abuts against the surface to be cleaned during the movement of the cleaning base 12 on the surface to be cleaned. This makes it possible to form a stable feed opening 1101 between the mouth defined by the lower end 19212 of the "guide slope 192, the lower end 181 of the cleaning roller 18, the lower end of the left side wall 163 and the lower end of the right side wall 164 and the surface to be cleaned. The feeding port 1101 is advantageous in that, on the one hand, the dirty liquid and solid waste on the surface to be cleaned can be pushed to the feeding port 1101 by the lower end 19212 of the guide slope 192, and on the other hand, the feeding port 1101 and the surface to be cleaned can always form a "dynamic seal", which is advantageous in that the dirt suction capacity of the surface cleaning machine can be improved.

As further shown in fig. 4 and 8, the wiping roller device 6 is located above the input port 197, and the second wiping member 62 is located above the first wiping member 61, with the lower portion of the first wiping member 61 being close to the input port 197 of the dirty liquid tank 19. In this case, the dirt, liquid or solid waste scraped by the first scraping member 61 and the second scraping member 62 enters the transfer chamber 190 through the input port 197.

Referring to fig. 11, a schematic diagram of a cleaning liquid supply unit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown and described. As can be seen from this figure, the cleaning liquid supply unit comprises, in addition to the cleaning liquid supply tank 3, a first liquid pump 44, a second liquid pump 45, a control unit 46 for controlling the operation of the first liquid pump 44 and the second liquid pump 45, a first cleaning liquid distributor 42 formed by a plurality of first liquid outlet holes 421, and a second cleaning liquid distributor 43 formed by a pair of outlet holes 198 (see fig. 9) disposed opposite to each other and located below the waste liquid box 19. The flow path control device 41 that supplies the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 to the first cleaning liquid distributor 42 and the second cleaning liquid distributor 43 can be constituted by the first liquid pump 44, the second liquid pump 45, and the control unit 46. The flow path control device 41 may supply the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 to only the first cleaning liquid distributor 42, to the second cleaning liquid distributor 43, or to both the first cleaning liquid distributor 42 and the second cleaning liquid distributor 43.

In this case, the first cleaning liquid dispenser 42 serves to apply clean cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller 18, and thus to the floor surface to be cleaned, by means of the rotating cleaning roller 18. The second cleaning liquid distributor 43 can wash the inner wall surface of the dirty liquid box 19 with clean cleaning liquid, and this washing function can effectively remove solid dirt adhering to the inner wall surface of the dirty liquid box 19.

As shown in fig. 9, a pair of outlet holes 198 in this example are located at the lower portions of the left side wall 194 and the right side wall 195 of the waste tank 19. The outlet opening 198 is configured to direct a spray of cleaning liquid downwardly from horizontal at an angle of 10 deg. -80 deg. so as to be able to spray the cleaning liquid into the inner lower region of the dirt box. The first liquid pump 44 is arranged in the casing 15 of the machine body 11, while the second liquid pump 45 is arranged in the casing 16 of the cleaning foot 12, the control unit 46 being integrated on a control board (not shown) of the machine. In other embodiments, the first cleaning liquid dispenser may alternatively deliver the cleaning liquid directly to the surface to be cleaned.

In this example, the flow path control device 41 of the cleaning liquid supply unit can supply different flow rates of the cleaning liquid to the first cleaning liquid distributor 42 and the second cleaning liquid distributor 43 as required, in addition to supplying the cleaning liquid to the first cleaning liquid distributor 42 and the second cleaning liquid distributor 43 as required. In this example, in order to achieve as little residual soiling solution as possible and as large a flow rate as possible for flushing the inner wall surface of the soiling solution box 19 during floor cleaning, the flow path control device 41 is configured to provide a greater flow rate of liquid when supplying the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 to the second cleaning liquid distributor 43 than when supplying the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid supply tank 3 to the first cleaning liquid distributor 42. In order to meet the requirements of different flow rates, the control unit 46 controls the second liquid pump 45 to operate at a larger flow rate than the first liquid pump 44 in this example.

In other embodiments, a single fluid pump may be used in combination with a three-way valve instead of the two fluid pumps, wherein the three-way valve allows two flow paths to be switched freely, and the flow rate of the single fluid pump is controlled to allow two fluid pumps to operate at different flow rates.

Referring to fig. 12, a schematic diagram of a dirty liquid recovery unit according to an embodiment of the disclosure is shown and described. In terms of the direction of rotation R of the cleaning roller 18, the first cleaning liquid distributor 42 is located downstream of the scraping roller device 6, and the scraping roller device 3 is located downstream of the input opening 197 and upstream of the first cleaning liquid distributor 42.

As the cleaning roller 18 rotates in the direction R, the first cleaning liquid dispenser 42 continuously applies the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller 18, and the cleaning roller 18 loaded with the cleaning liquid performs wet scrubbing of the surface 60 to be cleaned during contact with the surface 60 to be cleaned. During the scrubbing of the cleaning roller 18 against the surface 60 to be cleaned, the used cleaning liquid is contaminated into dirty liquid, a part of which is absorbed by the cleaning elements on the outer surface of the cleaning roller 60, and a part of which is carried upward away from the surface 60 to be cleaned by the centrifugal force generated when the cleaning roller 18 rotates and the suction force of the suction device 2 acting on the feed opening 1101.

At the same time, some solid wastes which are not dissolved in the cleaning liquid will adhere to the cleaning roller 18, and some solid wastes will be carried upward away from the surface to be cleaned 60 by the centrifugal force generated when the cleaning roller 18 rotates and the suction force applied to the feeding port 1101 by the suction device 2. Dirty liquid and solid waste not loaded onto the scrub roller 18 will then be fed directly from the input port 197 into the transfer chamber 190 in the dirty liquid box 19. While the dirty liquid absorbed by the cleaning roller 60 and the solid garbage adhered to the cleaning roller 60 will continue to move downstream (i.e. upward) after passing through the input port 197, when moving to the scraping roller device 6, the first scraping member 61 and the second scraping member 62 will sequentially rub against the cleaning roller 18, so that the excessive dirty liquid absorbed by the cleaning roller 60 and the solid garbage adhered to the cleaning roller 60 are removed from the cleaning roller 18, and under the action of gravity and the suction force of the suction device 2, the scraped dirty liquid and solid garbage will flow back downward to the input port 197 and enter the transfer chamber 190 in the dirty liquid box 19. In other embodiments, the excess soil removed from the scrub roller may simply run by gravity into a transfer chamber in a soil box located below it.

At least a portion of the dirty liquid and solid waste entering the transfer chamber 190 will flow to the suction opening 196 and be transferred by the suction device 2 through the lower suction passage 22 to the dirty liquid recovery tank 4. The dirty liquid and solid waste will be retained in the dirty liquid recovery tank 4 and clean air will flow from the upper suction channel 21 to the suction device 2 and eventually escape to the outside.

Therefore, the dirty liquid recovery unit completes the dirty liquid and solid garbage recovery work in one stage. In the next stage, the "clean" cleaning roller 18, which has been freed of excess dirt and solid waste by the squeegee assembly 6, will continue to rotate about the X-axis and the first cleaning liquid dispenser 42 will continue to deliver clean cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller 18 until all of the surfaces 60 to be cleaned have been cleaned.

The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical ideas and features of the present invention, and the purpose thereof is to enable those skilled in the art to understand the contents of the present invention and implement the present invention, and not to limit the protection scope of the present invention. All equivalent changes or modifications made according to the spirit of the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A surface cleaning machine, comprising:

A suction device capable of providing a suction force;

a cleaning base adapted to move over a surface to be cleaned and comprising a rotatable cleaning roller;

a cleaning liquid supply unit; and

a dirty liquid recovery tank in fluid communication with the suction device;

wherein the cleaning base further comprises a transfer chamber adjacently arranged at the rear side of the cleaning roller and capable of temporarily storing solid-liquid mixture; the transfer chamber is configured to be in fluid communication with the suction device such that the surface cleaning machine is capable of transferring at least a portion of the liquid or at least a portion of the solid-liquid mixture within the transfer chamber to the dirty liquid recovery tank via the suction device when performing a surface cleaning operation.

2. The surface cleaning machine of claim 1 wherein the transfer chamber includes an input port for the solid-liquid mixture into the transfer chamber, the input port being positioned proximate the cleaning roller.

3. The surface cleaning machine of claim 2 wherein the transfer chamber is at least partially below the axis of rotation of the cleaning roller.

4. The surface cleaning machine of claim 2 wherein the cleaning base includes a guide ramp adjacent the cleaning roller, the guide ramp having an upper end extending to the infeed opening and a lower end adjacent the lower end of the cleaning roller.

5. The surface cleaning machine of claim 4 wherein the guide ramp is disposed at a front portion of the transfer chamber.

6. The surface cleaning machine of claim 4 wherein a lower end of the leading ramp is a flexible portion; the lower end of the guide ramp is at least partially in close proximity to the surface to be cleaned during movement of the cleaning base along the surface to be cleaned.

7. The surface cleaning machine of claim 1 wherein the transfer chamber includes at least one bottom wall and a peripheral side wall surrounding the bottom wall.

8. The surface cleaning machine of claim 7 wherein the bottom wall or lower portion of the peripheral sidewall of the transfer chamber is provided with at least one suction port, said suction port being in fluid communication with the dirty liquid recovery tank.

9. The surface cleaning machine of claim 8 wherein the suction port is disposed at an intersection of a peripheral sidewall rear portion and the bottom wall rear portion of the transfer chamber.

10. The surface cleaning machine of claim 8 wherein the inner wall surface of the bottom wall is a ramped surface and the ramped surface is lowermost adjacent the suction opening.

11. The surface cleaning machine of claim 1 wherein the cleaning base includes a removable dirt tray, the transfer chamber being formed in the dirt tray.

12. The surface cleaning machine of claim 1 wherein the cleaning base further comprises a squeegee assembly that contacts a portion of the cleaning roller to remove at least excess soiled fluid from the cleaning roller that is wetted with soiled fluid.

13. The surface cleaning machine of claim 12 wherein the squeegee assembly is positioned above the transfer chamber such that at least a portion of excess soiled fluid removed from the cleaning roller is gravitationally transferable to the transfer chamber.

14. The surface cleaning machine of claim 12 wherein the squeegee assembly is disposed in airflow communication with the transfer chamber such that excess soiled fluid removed from the cleaning roller is at least partially transferable to the transfer chamber by the suction force of the suction device.

15. The surface cleaning machine of claim 12 wherein the scraping roller device is configured to simultaneously satisfy the removal of at least a portion of the solid waste from the cleaning roller being adhered by the solid waste.

16. The surface cleaning machine of claim 12 wherein said wiping roller assembly includes at least one wiping member in contact with a portion of said cleaning roller, said wiping member extending at least partially parallel to the rotational axis of said cleaning roller; the scraping member interferes with a portion of the cleaning roller when the cleaning roller rotates.

17. The surface cleaning machine of claim 12 wherein the cleaning liquid supply unit includes a cleaning liquid supply tank for storing a cleaning liquid and a liquid distributor disposed in the cleaning base, the liquid distributor being in fluid communication with the cleaning liquid supply tank, the liquid distributor being configured to deliver the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller and/or the surface to be cleaned.

18. The surface cleaning machine of claim 17 wherein the liquid distributor is configured to deliver cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller; the liquid distributor is located downstream of the wiping roller device with respect to the direction of rotation of the cleaning roller, so as to apply the cleaning liquid to the cleaning roller from which excess soiling liquid is scraped off.

19. The surface cleaning machine of claim 17 further comprising a body having a handle at an upper portion thereof, wherein the cleaning base is pivotally connected to a lower portion of the body, the suction unit is fixedly mounted to the body, and the dirty liquid recovery tank and the cleaning liquid supply tank are removably mounted to the body.

20. A surface cleaning machine as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cleaning base comprises an opening in the lower part facing the surface to be cleaned, the cleaning roller being located at least partly at the opening.

21. A surface cleaning machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suction means comprises a suction motor, the transfer chamber, the dirty liquid recovery tank and the suction motor being in fluid communication in series, the surface cleaning machine being arranged to pick up dirty liquid and solid waste from the surface to be cleaned and transfer it to the transfer chamber by the cooperation of the suction motor and the rotating cleaning roller.

22. A surface cleaning machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the suction means comprises a pump interposed between the transfer chamber and the dirty liquid recovery tank, the surface cleaning machine being arranged to pick up dirty liquid and solid waste on the surface to be cleaned by means of the rotating cleaning roller and transfer them to the transfer chamber.

23. The surface cleaning machine of claim 1, wherein the volume of the dirty liquid recovery tank is greater than the volume of the transfer chamber.

24. The surface cleaning machine of claim 23, wherein the volume of the dirty liquid recovery tank is more than 3 times the volume of the transfer chamber.