IE903552A1 - Floor polishing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for use in conjunction with the wheel (14) of a vehicle comprises a foot (10) for contacting the kerb, mounted on an arm (12), the arm being attached via two links (16, 18) to the vehicle suspension. On contacting a kerb the foot lifts the vehicle wheel until the latter contacts the kerb, after which the foot retracts to its original position. The purpose of the two links is to minimise the vertical acceleration as the device lifts the vehicle wheel. The arm, and thus the foot, is spring biased (22) to enable it to retract to its original position.

Description

FLOOR POLISHING MACHINE This invention relates to floor polishing machines.

A typical floor polishing machine comprises an assembly including a body portion, a handle, and a motor having a drive shaft arranged to rotate a disc. The disc is adapted to carry a pad or brush and to maintain it in polishing or scrubbing contact with a floor. When the machine is orientated in its operative position on a floor the brush or pad rests on the floor with the motor body portion and handle positioned above the pad with the motor's drive shaft orientated orthogonal to the floor. In operation, the motor drives the disc which rotates the pad in contact with the floor.

Such machines are currently manufactured in two common 20 types. One is a low speed machine in which the weight of the assembly produces pressure on the pad or brush and thus on the floor that is being cleaned or polished. - 2 Such a machine is arranged to drive its disc at speeds between 100 RPM and 500 RPM and may have one disc rotating a single brush, two discs rotating a pair of brushes (in this case the brushes are usually counter-rotated) or three discs rotating three brushes .

The other type of machine is a high speed machine which drives a single disc and is of similar construction to low speed machines except that the assembly including the motor and disc is supported from the ground on a series of wheels or castors. Such machines polish floors, by rotating the pad or brush at high speed (usually between 500 and 3,000 RPM) to create friction on the floor surface being cleaned.

The friction produces heat, and the combination of the speed of rotation of the pad or brush and the heat produces a good shine upon the floor surface. The force the brush or pad exerts upon the floor can be varied by adjusting the height of the machine relative to the floor by adjusting the wheels or castors. The force exerted on the floor also varies with the thickness of the pad or brush. - 3 One problem with the latter type of machine is that the machine requires adjustment whenever the pad or brush is changed to keep the force exerted by the pad or brush on the floor within the operating limits of the machine and to produce the required polishing effect. This adjustment is fairly critical and is essential for optimum results in service.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a floor polishing machine including: a body portion; support means arranged to support the body portion from a floor or surface; and a motor means accommodated within the body portion; and a carrier member capable of being driven by said motor means and adapted to receive a brush or pad, characterised in that the carrier member is displaceable towards or away from the body portion so that, in operation, with the body portion supported from the floor by the support means, the carrier member is free to move relative to the body portion. - 4 According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a floor polishing machine having a plurality of carrier members each of which may be free to move independently of the others relative to the body portion of said machine.

The floor polishing machine may include a brush or pad mounted on the carrier member(s).

According to one aspect of the present invention, the brush or pad may be fastened to said carrier by fastening means, disposed around the periphery of said pad. In high speed machines as hereinbefore described, the pad is liable to become deformed as a result of the large centrifugal force acting thereon and, according to this aspect of the present invention, the peripheral fastening of said pad to said carrier may serve to mitigate this deformation, thereby prolonging the operational life of the pad or brush.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the pad or brush may be releasably fastened to said carrier by means of a strip of hook-type material, such as that - 5 commercially available under the Trade Mark VELCRO, disposed around the periphery of said pad, and arranged to cooperate with a strip of loop-type fastening material disposed on said carrier.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the motor is fixed relative to the body portion and the carrier member is free to move relative to the motor.

Preferably the carrier member is weighted so that in operation when the carrier member rests on a floor the brush or pad exerts a consistent pressure on the floor.

The pressure the pad exerts on the floor may be altered by altering the weight of the pad and carrier member for example by adding weights to it.

In one embodiment of the present invention, spring means may be provided between the motor and the carrier member to exert pressure on the floor being cleaned or polished. - 6 In some embodiments of the present invention, a peg may extend laterally from the drive shaft of the motor and may locate in a slot in a cylinder surrounding the drive shaft. The cylinder may be attached to the carrier member. Thus when the drive shaft is rotated the cylinder and carrier member also rotates, while the peg may move along the slot thus allowing the carrier member to move relative to the motor.

According to a different aspect of the present invention, the motor is fixed relative to the carrier member and the motor and carrier member may be free to move relative to the body portion.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present invention, therefore, the machine body portion is in a substantially constant spaced relationship to the surface to be cleaned, but the drive disc may float up and down and thus move in a direction perpendicular to the surface at the same time as rotating. For a given weight of the carrier member assembly and pad, a given pressure will be applied to the floor surface. Moreover, the carrier member will be free to float, or move in a vertical axis, to allow for unevenness of - Ί the surface being cleaned. This ensures that the load upon the motor is not materially varied and results in an automatic adjustment to compensate for varying floor surface conditions and to accommodate different thicknesses of polishing disc of whatever material they are manufactured when they are changed.

The following is a description by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of methods of carrying the invention into effect.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a section through the head of a floor 15 polishing machine; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view through a pad carrier for use with the floor polishing machine of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through a different pad carrier for use with the floor polishing machine of Figure 1; and - 8 Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through a different pad carrier for use with the floor polishing machine of Figure 1.

The floor polishing machine has a motor assembly 2 which incorporates a drive motor having an output shaft 3 which, in its normal operating mode, is orientated such that its axis is substantially vertical i.e. orthogonal to a generally planar surface to be polished. An output shaft extension piece 4 depends from the motor assembly 2 and carries, towards its lower end, a peg 6 which projects radially outwards from extension piece 4. The lower end of shaft extension piece 4 is accommodated within a cylinder 8 having an annular cross section, in which there is provided an axially disposed elongate slot 9 which receives the peg 6. A linear bearing is provided between the cylinder 8 and the shaft extension piece 4 to reduce friction and allow relative movement there between. The peg 6 is capable of relative axial movement within slot 9 thereby allowing the cylinder 8 to move towards and away from the motor along the central axis of the motor assembly 2. - 9 The peg 6 serves to retain cylinder 8 and pad carrier 10 carried thereby on shaft extension 4 when the machine is lifted from floor 1.

A body portion of the machine (not shown) in which the motor is housed, together with various controls and handles for an operator, is located around and above the motor.

The body portion and associated drive motor assembly 2 are supported by a wheel assembly (not shown) attached to the underside of the body portion of the machine to maintain the body portion and motor assembly 2 in spaced relationship with floor 1.

Secured to the cylinder 8 is a generally circular pad carrier 10 having a depending circumferential wall 13. A generally cylindrical cleaning pad 12 is fixed to the pad carrier 10, and the pad carrier/pad assembly is protected by a casing 14, carried by motor assembly 2. -10In one embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning pad 12 is provided with a strip of a hook-type fastening material 21, such as that commercially available under the Trade Mark VELCRO, which is disposed circumferentially around the outer wall of pad 12 towards the upper surface thereof, and is arranged to cooperate with a strip of a loop-type fastening material 22 disposed on the inner cylindrical surface of wall 13 of carrier 10 to releasably fasten said pad 12 to said carrier 10.

In a different embodiment of the present invention, the upper surface of the pad 12 may be provided with an annular strip of hook-type fastening material 31 arranged to cooperate with a corresponding annular strip of loop-type fastening material 32 disposed on the lower surface of pad carrier 10.

In yet a further embodiment of the present invention, the pad 12 may be releasably fastened to said carrier 10 by means of pad fixing means 40. Said fixing means 40 comprises a cylindrical portion 41 which is provided at one end with an outwardly directed annular - 11 flange 42, and which terminates at a second end, remote from said one end, in a circular edge 43.

In order to secure said pad 12 to said carrier 10, the second end of fixing means 40 is entered into a cylindrical recess 44 which is provided coaxially towards the centre of pad 12 and which penetrates therethrough, until said flange 42 abuts the lower surface of pad 12. Fixing means 40 is fastened to the carrier 10 by any convenient method known to a man skilled in the art, and is drawn upwards towards said carrier 10 to secure said pad 12, and such that flange 42 deforms pad 12 around the periphery of recess 44 until said flange 42 is disposed above the plane of the lower surface of pad 12.

In operation the body portion and motor are supported from the floor by the wheel assembly; the pad carrier is free to move towards and away from the motor. As the motor rotates the cylinder and pad carrier, the pad carrier is free to move towards or away from the floor floating on the bearing to allow for any unevenness of the floor and depending on the amount of - 12 friction. This has the effect of automatically reducing the variation in load on the motor.

The pressure the pad exerts on the floor can be 5 altered by adding weights to the pad carrier.

Alternatively a spring can be placed between the motor and the pad carrier to exert pressure on the floor.

The above described embodiment has the advantage that 10 the machine can be left running when unattended and it will not tend to move. Start up loading of the motor, which in existing machines can be sufficient to damage the motor, is controlled since the friction load is substantially constant since the bulk of the machine is supported by castors or wheels.

Claims (10)

1. CLAIMS: 10

1. A floor polishing machine including: a body portion; support, means arranged to support the body portion from a floor or surface; a motor means accommodated within the body portion; and a carrier member capable of being driven by said motor means and adapted to receive a brush or pad, characterised in that the carrier member is displaceable towards or away from the body portion so that, in operation, with the body portion supported 15 from the floor by the support means, the carrier member is free to move relative to the body portion.

2. A floor polishing machine including: a body portion; 20 support means arranged to support the body portion from a floor or surface; a motor means accommodated within the body portion; and a plurality of carrier members, each capable of - 14 being driven by said motor means and adapted to receive a brush or pad; characterised in that each carrier member is 5 displaceable towards or away from the body portion so that, in operation, with the body portion supported from the floor by the support means, each carrier member is free to move relative to the body portion. 10

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that said machine includes a brush or pad mounted on the carrier member(s).

4. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim 15 characterised in that said motor is fixed relative to the body portion, and the carrier member is free to move relative to the motor.

5. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim 20 charaterised in that the carrier member is weighted so that in operation the brush or pad exerts a constant pressure on the floor. - 15

6. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the pressure exerted by the pad on the floor can be adjusted by altering the weight of the pad and carrier member.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 4 characterised in that said machine includes spring means disposed between said motor and said carrier member to exert pressure on the floor.

8. A machine as claimed in any of claims 4 to 7 characterised in that said motor means includes a drive shaft having a laterally directed peg which is adapted to be located in a slot provided in a cylinder 15 on said carrier member, the arrangement being such that rotation of said drive shaft by the motor means is transmitted to said cylinder by the peg thereby causing said carrier 20 member to rotate whilst permitting said carrier member to move freely towards and away from said body portion.

9. floor polishing machine constructed and arranged substantially as described herein with reference to and as shown in Figure 1, in Figure 2, in Figure 3 and in Figure 4 of the drawings.

10. The features described in the foregoing specification, or any obvious equivalent thereof, in any novel selection.