GB2343617A - Cleaning head for wet/dry vacuum cleaner having foot operable fluid flow control means - Google Patents

Abstract

A cleaning head (10) for cleaning floor surfaces, comprises liquid delivery passageways (30) for delivering a cleaning liquid to the surface to be cleaned, a liquid supply line (32) within the head arranged to convey said liquid to said liquid delivery passageways (30), an air passage (17) extending through the head to an open suction mouth (25) adjacent to said liquid delivery passageways (30) for applying suction to the surface for the collection of liquid therefrom, and a foot-operable valve assembly (40-45) arranged to control supply of said liquid through said liquid supply line (32). In the preferred embodiment, the liquid supply line comprises a tube (32) of flexible material which is compressible to close off the tube, and the valve assembly (40-45) comprises an arcuate support plate (40) on which the tube (32) is located, and a pedal-operated member (41-43) including a cam (45) which is movable between an operative position in which the tube (32) is compressed by the cam (45) against the support member (40) sufficiently to prevent the flow of liquid entirely, and an inoperative position in which the tube is substantially uncompressed so that flow of liquid is effectively unimpeded.

Description

Title: Cleaning heads Description of Invention This invention relates to cleaning heads, for use with or as part of an apparatus for cleaning a surface by application of a cleaning liquid to the surface and removal of the cleaning liquid from the surface by suction.

The invention is applicable to such cleaning heads suitable for in such cleaning of floor surfaces or floor coverings which are of a generally fibrous and absorbent nature, such as carpets, rugs and matting, as well as carpet tiles, and it is also applicable to such cleaning heads suitable for use in cleaning hard an generally non-absorbent surfaces, such as vinyl sheets or tiles, ceramic tiles, rubber based materials and surfaces such as wood, cork of concrete if suitably sealed.

Conventionally the supply of cleaning liquid to the cleaning head is controlled by means of a manually operable valve, which is most usually provided as part of a handle assembly by which the user supports the cleaning head and moves it to-and-fro across the floor being cleaned.

However, the provision of such a manually controlled valve on the operating handle has a number of disadvantages. In particular. it complicates the operation of fitting the required liquid supply pipe to the handle and can interfere with the ergonomics and aesthetics of the handle design.

According to one aspect of the present invention, we provide a cleaning head for cleaning floor surfaces, comprising delivery means for delivering a cleaning liquid to the surface to be cleaned, an air passage through the head having an open suction mouth adjacent to said liquid delivery means for applying suction to said surface for the collection of liquid from said surface thereby enabling the head to be operated in a wet mode in which liquid is applied to, and picked up from, the surface, and in a liquid supply line within the head arranged to convey liquid to said delivery means a foot-operable valve to control die liquid supply.

By providing the flow control valve as a foot operated valve in the cleaning head, the design of the operating handle is considerably simplifie and significant savings in production costs are achievable.

In a preferred arrangement, the supply line comprises a tube of flexible material which can be compressed to close off the tube. The tube may be guided over a fixed support plate formed or provided in the head, and engaged by a pedaloperated member which is movable between an inoperative position in which to tube is substantially uncompressed so that flow of liquid in effectively unimpeded and an operative position in which the tube is compressed sufficiently to prevent the flow of liquid entirely.

This may be achieved by means of a rotary member having thereon a cam which is moveable between said two positions by operation of said pedal. In a preferred arrangement the support plate is of arcuate form, and centered on the axis of rotation of the rotary member. The cam on said rotary member may comprise a rounded protrusion from a circular, or part circular surface of the rotary member which in said inoperative position is out of register with said support plate and is brought into register therewith as it is moved to said operative position to squeeze the tube. It will be understood that the inherent flexibiliy of the tube, and its resilience, may be sufficient to hold the rotary member in its operative position without other means.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which :- Figure 1 is a plan view of a cleaning head having a flow control valve in accordance with the invention ; and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through such cleaning head.

The cleaning head 10 as illustrated comprises a housing 11 comprising a generally horizontal top and bottom walls 12 and 13, and forwardly diverging side walls 14. An articulated connection 15, is provided at me rear of the head for the lower end of a spigot 16 which is configured for attachent of me cleaning head to an upright suction cleaning appliance as shown in Figures 4 and 5 of International Patent Specification WO 97/29675, or to, for example, the hose of a canister type suction cleaning appliance. The spigot 16 is thus able to pivot about a transverse horizontal axis at the rear of the head 10. The top and bottom walls 12 and 13 between them define a passage 17 for air flow which communicates with the spigot 16 through the articulated connection 15.

The articulated connection 15 includes a transversely extending cylinder 18 which forms the rear portion of the housing 11, and has a slot 19 formed therein, and a pair of part-cylindrical walls 20 carried by the spigot 16 and movably located within cylinder 18 within angular limits imposed by the slot 19.

The cylinder 18 extends outwardly of the articulated connection and at its outer ends carries respective rollers 21 to support the rear of the head 10.

At its forward end, the top wall 12 of the housing 11 terminates in a housing front wall 22 which extends downwardly to approximately the level of the rollers 21 and carries a flat lip 22a. The bottom wall 13 terminates rearwardly of the front wall 22 in a downwardly extending intermediate wall 23 which terminates at a level slightly above that of the front wall 22. The walls 22 and 23 in combination with forward extensions 24 of the side walls 14 define a suction slot 25 which extends across the full width of the head and affords a downwardly facing mouth 26 adjacent to the front wall 22 of the head.

Rearwardly of the wall 23, the bottom wall 13 at its underside carries a rearward wall 26 parallel to and spaced from the wall 23. The intermediate wall 23 and the rearward wall 26 in combination define a liquid distribution chamber 27 which is closed at its underside by a closure strip 28. At its forward edge the strip 28 is formed with a thickened bead 29 having a plurality of fine grooves 30 formed at regularly spaced intervals along its length so as to allow liquid to flow in a controlled manner from the chamber 27 into the space behind the lower edge of the intermediate wall 23. The underside of the strip 28 affords a smooth face 31 to assist in movement of the head over the surface being cleaned.

Liquid is supplied to the chamber 27 through a tube 32 connected to an inlet spigot 33 and as seen in Figure 2 the tube extends rearwardly out of the head to run alongside the suction spigot 16 and for this purpose it passes through the cylinder 18 at a position between the suction spigot 16 and one of the rollers 21.

Within the cylinder 18 the tube is guided by and rests on an arcuate support plate 40. A foot pedal 41 is earned by an arm 42 projecting radially from a collar 43 which is arranged rotatably on the axle of the roller 21. The arm 42 extends through a slot 44 in the cylinder 18 and the pedal is movable within angular limits imposed by the slot.

The collar 43 is formed or provided with a radial protrusion 45 of rounded shape such that when the pedal 41 is in the operative position shown in Figure 2 it engages the tube 32 and compress it onto the plate 40 sufficiently to prevent liquid from flowing. The pedal is self-retaining in this position by virtue of the elastic engagement of the tube with the protrusion. However, when required, the user can displace the pedal 41 in the direction indicated by the arrow A so as to bring the protrusion out of register with the plate 40, thus allowing the tube 32 to open.

The arrangement as described and illustrated has the advantage that the precise position of the pedal 41 is not critical, either in the inoperative or operative positions. However, in a case where graduated control of the liquid supply is required, it would be possible to replace the rounded protrusion 45 by a more elongated wedge shaped cam to progressively compress the tube as it is advance between the open and closed positions.

The arrangement described an illustrated also has the avantage that the tube 32 is a formed as a single uninterrupted length. However, it will be appreciated that it would be possible to employ in the head a valve of a kind including a valve spool which is slidable or rotatable within a valve housing having an inlet and an outlet connection for the tube, which would then be formed as two separate lengths, the valve spool being operatively connected to an appropriate pedal accessible to the user.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the accompanying drawing, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilise for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (7)

1. CLAIMS 1. A cleaning head for cleaning floor surfaces, comprising a) delivery means for delivering a cleaning liquid to the surface to be cleaned, b) an air passage through the head having an open suction mouth adjacent to said liquid delivery means for applying suction to said surface for the collection of liquid from said surface thereby enabling the head to be operated in a wet mode in which liquid is applied to, and picked up from, the surface, and

   c) in a liquid supply line within the head arranged to convey liquid to said delivery means, a foot-operable valve arranged to control the liquid supply.
2. 2. A cleaning head according to Claim 1 wherein said liquid supply line comprises a tube of flexible material which is compressible to close off the tube.
3. 3. A cleaning head according to Claim2 wherein said valve comprises a fixed support plate on which the tube is guided, and a pedal-operated member which is movable between an inoperative position in which the tube is substantially uncompressed so that flow of liquid is effectively unimpeded and an operative position in which the tube is compressed sufficiently to prevent the flow of liquid entirely.
4. 4. A cleaning head according to Claim 3 wherein said pedal-operated member comprises a rotary member having thereon a cam which is moveable between said two positions by operation of said pedal.
5. 5. A cleaning head according to Claim 4 wherein said support plate is formed as an arcuate plate having a curvature centered on the axis of rotation of the rotary element.
6. 6. A cleaning head according to Claim 4 wherein said cam on said rotary member comprises a rounded protrusion extending from an at least part-circular surface of the rotary member which in said inoperative position is out of register with said arcuate plate and is brought into register therewith as it is moved to said operative position to compress the tube.
7. 7. A cleaning head according to Claim 4 wherein said cam is wedgeshaped so as to compress the tube progressively and thereby enable the liquid supply to be regulated to differing rates.