US20170135540A1

US20170135540A1 - Floor tool

Info

Publication number: US20170135540A1
Application number: US15/323,466
Authority: US
Inventors: Guy Lawrence Newsom; James David Reynolds; Richard David Waters
Original assignee: Techtronic Industries Co. Ltd.
Current assignee: Techtronic Industries Co Ltd
Priority date: 2014-07-07
Filing date: 2015-06-19
Publication date: 2017-05-18
Also published as: EP3166464B1; CN106488730A; GB2528143A; GB201417996D0; CN106488730B; GB201621980D0; AU2015287429A1; AU2015329765B2; AU2015329765A1; GB201412051D0; WO2016005725A1; GB2528051A; GB2542522A; GB2528051B; US20170296009A1; EP3166464A1; CN106998979A; GB2542522B

Abstract

A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface includes a source of suction. The floor tool includes a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamber for receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member. The housing includes a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air, and a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source. The housing is formed of at least two housing portions which provide said interior surface and all of said housing portions are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase of International Patent Application No. PCT/GB2015/051803, filed Jun. 19, 2015, which claims priority to GB 1412051.3, filed Jul. 7, 2014, the entire contents of both of which are hereby incorporated by referenced herein.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface and/or such an apparatus including the floor tool. In particular, this invention relates to an apparatus which utilises a source of suction to draw dirt and/or debris from a floor surface being cleaned for storage in a dirt chamber or bag for emptying by a user. Such apparatus are typically known as “vacuum cleaners”.
The performance of vacuum cleaners is judged on a number of parameters which includes how efficient a cleaner is in extracting dirt/debris for a given suction power, i.e. energy efficiency, and how much noise is generated during use. In order to maximise these efficiencies it is advantageous to reduce suction losses in the suction air flow path and to reduce turbulence in the suction air flow path.
Known vacuum cleaners have a floor tool which has a chamber having a chamber inlet through which dirt/debris entrained air enters the tool and flows towards the dirt chamber. The chamber inlet has a small cross-sectional area compared to the chamber. The suction air flow rate through the inlet and chamber is the same and so the limited inlet cross-sectional area means that the suction air flow has a higher velocity near the inlet in comparison to areas upstream of the inlet. This makes the chamber susceptible to ambient air being drawn into the chamber through any such high velocity areas which are not adequately sealed thereby causing suction losses and/or turbulence in the chamber.
According to a first aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

- a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamber for receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member, the housing including:
  - a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and
- a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,
  - wherein the housing is formed of at least two housing portions which provide said interior surface and all of said housing portions are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.

Further features of the first aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a second aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

- a housing including:
  - a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and
- a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,
  - wherein the housing is a unitary component.

Further features of the second aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a third aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

- a housing including:
  - a floor facing surface having an inlet for receiving dirty air; and
  - at least one passage which extends away from the inlet in a direction transverse to the normal direction of movement of the apparatus;
  - wherein a portion of the passage has a cross-section which is substantially trapezoidal in that the portion has relatively short sides A, B and a relatively long side C; and
  - wherein side A and/or side B forms an angle of between 110° to 122° with respect to side C.

Further features of the third aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, wherein a floor facing surface of the floor tool defines an inlet for receiving dirty air, which surface is positioned in a first plane, and wherein a planar portion of the floor facing surface which is positioned forwardly (in normal use) of the inlet subtends an angle of 5 to 10° with respect to the first plane.
Further features of the fourth aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction;

- wherein a floor facing surface of the floor tool includes forward and rearward portions which define respective portions of the periphery of an inlet for receiving dirty air; and
- wherein the forward portion and/or rearward portion is wedge-shaped and tapers in thickness in a direction towards the inlet.

Further features of the fifth aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention we provide a floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

- a housing including:
- a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air;
- a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source; and
- a cleaning member including cleaning elements having respective distal portions which extend through the chamber inlet so as to engage a floor surface during use;
- at least one floor engaging support element for supporting the floor tool and for spacing, at a predetermined distance, the chamber inlet from the floor surface,
- wherein the distal portion of each of a plurality of the cleaning elements extends further away from the chamber inlet than the pre-determined distance.

Further features of the sixth aspect of the invention are set out in the dependent claims thereto which are appended hereto.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of the second to sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of the second to sixth aspects of the invention.
According to an eighth aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of the first or third to sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of the first or third to sixth aspects of the invention.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of the first, second or fifth to sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of the first, second or fifth to sixth aspects of the invention.
According to a tenth aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the fourth aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of the first to third or fifth and sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of first to third or fifth to sixth aspects of the invention.
According to an eleventh aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of first to fourth or sixth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of the first to fourth or sixth aspects of the invention.
According to a twelfth aspect of the invention we provide a surface cleaning apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the invention including one or more or all of the features of any one of the first to fifth aspects of the invention, and/or including one or more or all of the features set out in the dependent claims relating to any one of the first to fifth aspects of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3a is a rear perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3b is an underside view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a first side view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a component part of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a second side view (opposite to FIG. 4) of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another component part of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a perspective of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with certain component parts removed and other certain component parts shown in exploded view;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with certain component parts removed;

FIG. 10 is a magnified side view of a portion of the floor tool of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a magnified side view of another portion of the floor tool of FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional side view of a component part of a floor tool of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with a cleaning member removed thereform; and

FIGS. 13 (a)-(c) are magnified side views of component parts for use with the floor tool of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to the figures, these show an embodiment of an apparatus 10 embodying various aspects of the invention. The apparatus 10 includes an upright part 12 including a user graspable handle 13 and a floor tool 14. The apparatus 10 includes a source of suction (not shown) which is in fluid communication with the floor tool 14 to provide suction thereto. The floor tool 14 is supported on wheels 15 provided on a rear part thereof and can be pushed and pulled over a floor surface S to clean the surface as required by the user grasping the handle 13 of the upright part 12. The floor tool 14 includes a housing 16 having an interior surface 18 which defines a chamber 20 for receiving a cleaning member 22. The housing 16 further includes a chamber inlet 24 for receiving dirty air and a chamber outlet 26 that communicates with the suction source.
The upright part 12 is pivotably connected to the floor tool 14 remote from a leading edge of the floor tool 14. The upright part 12 contains operative components of the apparatus 10 such as the suction source in the form of a suction motor and fan to provide suction to the floor tool 14, and a dirt chamber (not shown) for receiving any dirt entrained in the suction air flow drawn through the floor tool 14. These operative component parts could be located elsewhere, however, in other embodiments. The upright part 12 includes a dirt separator in the form of a cyclonic separator for separating dirt entrained in the suction air flow from the floor tool 14. These components are not shown in the figures but are well known in the art and so will not be discussed in any further detail. Although this embodiment includes a cyclonic separator, other embodiments of the invention may not have such a separator, but instead rely on a bag for separation/collection of dirt from the air flow.
The floor tool 14 has a main body 17 which provides the pivotal connection to the upright part 12. The housing 16 is a separate part from the main body 17 and is supported by the main body 17. The housing 16 is positioned forwardly of the pivotal connection to the upright part 12, and forms the leading edge of the floor tool 14. The housing 16 provides part of the suction air flow path from the chamber inlet 24, whilst the main body 17 contains no part of the suction air flow path. In other embodiments, the main body 17 may contain part of the suction air flow path. The housing 16 is generally elongate with a curved upper surface thereof (see FIG. 5). The housing 16 extends in a direction transverse to the normal direction of movement of the apparatus 10 with the chamber outlet 26 being positioned at one of the transversely remote ends thereof, to the side of the main body 17. The outlet 26 extends in a rearward direction towards the upright part 12 and has a connector formed thereon for connection to a hose of the apparatus 10 so as to provide fluid communication between the chamber 20 and the source of suction.
An aspect of the present invention is that the housing 16 is formed of first and second housing portions 28, 30 which provide the interior surface 18 that defines the chamber 20 and all of the housing portions 28, 30 are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.
The first housing portion 28 includes a floor facing surface 32 and the chamber inlet 24 is formed therein. The second housing portion 30 has a downwardly facing perimeter which is connected to an upwardly facing perimeter of the first housing portion 28. Laterally facing side walls of the housing portions 28, 30 each have a recess 29, 31 which together form an opening 34 at a nearside position of the housing 16 and through which the cleaning member 22 passes into the chamber 20. The opening 34 is thus formed in a laterally facing side wall 36 of the housing 16. The housing 16 is generally cylindrical in shape with the cleaning member 22 being positioned along an elongate axis thereof. The cleaning member 22 is a brush bar which is rotatably supported at one end of the interior part of the housing 16 and at the other end has a drivable portion 38. When the cleaning member 22 is in position, the drivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22 extends outside of the chamber 20 (see FIG. 9). The floor tool 14 includes a driving device 40, in the form of a motor positioned in the main body 17, for effecting rotation of the cleaning member 22. The device 40 is connected to the drivable portion 38 which is positioned outside of the chamber 20 by a belt in a manner which is known in the art and so is not described in further detail here. Other types of driving connection could be utilised.
The housing 16 further includes a closing member 42 in the form of a plate-like member which is removably connectable to the side wall 36 and co-operates with the cleaning member 22 so as to substantially seal the remainder of the opening 34 in a fluid tight manner. In other words, the closing member 42 separates the chamber 20 from the drivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22 to prevent ambient air flow into the chamber 20 via the opening 34.
The closing member 42 includes two closing member parts 44, 46 which engage each other at respective ends thereof. The respective ends include a recess 45, 47 through which at least a portion of the cleaning member 22 is received. The floor tool 14 includes a removable cover member 48 which, together with the housing 16, forms a space 50 for receiving the drivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22. Positioned between the closing member 42 and the cover member 48 is a substantially disc shaped support member 52. The support member 52 has a central aperture through which a spindle of the cleaning member 22 extends and is rotatably supported thereby.
The housing portions 28, 30 each have a respective threaded projection 51 a, 51 b which is long enough to extend through a respective aperture 53 a, 53 b, 53 a′, 53 b′ of the closing member 42 and the support member 52. The cover member 48 has apertures 49 a, 49 b that align with the threaded projections 51 a, 51 b and through which a user can pass through screws or the like to screw them within the threaded projections 51 a, 51 b so as to fix the cover member 48, support member 52 and the closing member 42 to the housing 16.
The housing portions 28, 30 are ultrasonically welded to each other about their respective perimeters such that the chamber 20 is substantially sealed in a fluid tight manner at this connection. Each of the portions 28, 30 are formed by moulding of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). In embodiments, other materials such as polypropylene, polycarbonate and/or die-cast aluminium may be used.
The permanent connection between the housing portions 28, 30 which define the chamber 20 is advantageous. Chamber 20 forms a highly negatively pressurised part of the suction air flow path and the suction pressure is maintained by sealing the main connection portions of the housing 16 susceptible to suction losses due to inflow of ambient air during operation. In other embodiments, rather than the housing being made of two parts, the housing may be formed of a unitary construction, i.e. as a one-piece component. This could be achieved by, for example, 3-D printing or other manufacture methods known in the art. The connection may take other forms such as a permanent screw-threaded connection. In certain embodiments the housing may be formed of more than two parts and/or only a portion of the connection between the parts is permanently made. In other embodiments, the floor tool may not have a cleaning member and instead, the housing may only have a chamber with a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air and a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source, with the housing being formed as a unitary component. Advantageously, there is no separate sole plate for connection to the flow facing surface 32 of the housing 16. Instead, in this embodiment, surface 32 includes the chamber inlet 24 as an integral part thereof. Known floor tools have a housing to which a sole plate is attached to a floor facing surface thereof and which provides the inlet for dirt/debris entrained air. The connection therebetween is therefore susceptible to ambient air entering therethrough and the present invention has no such problem because it has no separate sole plate.
In use, the user will operate the apparatus 10 in a known manner, i.e. the cleaning member 22 rotates to engage with carpet piles of the floor surface S so as to loosen dirt present therein. The dirt is then entrained in the suction air flow. The dirt entrained air enters the chamber 20 through the chamber inlet 24 and the dirt is separated and collected in the dirt chamber, with the clean air being exhausted to atmosphere. Should the cleaning member 22 need to be replaced or repaired, a user removes the cover member 48 by unscrewing the screws passing therethrough to provide access to the space 50 in which the drivable portion 38 of the cleaning member 22 is positioned. The user removes the support member 52 and pulls the closing member parts 44, 46 in an upward and downward direction respectively away from the cleaning member 22. The cleaning member 22 is then free to move within the chamber 20 and can be pulled in a sideways direction out through the opening 34.
With reference to FIG. 10, a further aspect of the invention will now be described. Laterally facing sidewall 36 and the opposing laterally facing sidewall 37 each have a respective passage 54, 55 which extends away from the inlet 24 in a direction transverse to the normal direction of movement of the apparatus 10. Each passage 54, 55 is identical and so for the purpose of this description, only passage 54 will be described. A portion of the passage 54 has a cross-section which is substantially trapezoidal in that the portion has sides A, B which are relatively short, and a side C which is relatively long. The portion of passage 54 is in the form of a recess which is open in a direction towards the floor surface. The recess is substantially closed by the floor surface S during use and thus the fourth side of the trapezoid is the floor surface S. The portion of passage 54 thus has an open side D opposite side C, and which is longer than side C, whilst sides A and B are relatively short in comparison to D. Side A forms an angle α with respect to side C and side B forms an angle β with respect to side C. It has been found that performance of the apparatus 10 is unexpectedly improved if α and/or β is between 110° to 122°, and more preferably 116°. Similarly, it has been found that performance is improved if C extends a distance of between 18 and 24 mm, and more preferably, extends a distance of 21 mm. Improvements in performance have also been found if D is between 20 and 26 mm, and more preferably, D is 23 mm or about 23 mm.
In other embodiments, the portion of passage 54 may not be formed as a recess but rather as a trapezoidal aperture formed in side walls of the housing and configured to have the shape described above.
With reference to FIG. 11, a further aspect of the invention will now be described. Floor facing surface 32 of the floor tool 14 which defines the inlet 24 is positioned in a first plane 56 and a planar portion 58 of the floor facing surface 32 which is positioned forwardly (in normal use) of the inlet 24 subtends an angle γ of 5 to 10° with respect to the first plane 56. It has been found that performance is unexpectedly improved if γ is in this range. More preferably, it has been found that an angle of 7° is highly advantageous. The floor facing surface 32 also includes a substantially flat portion 60 which extends between the planar portion 58 and the inlet 24. The flat portion 60 is positioned in a second plane 62 which is substantially parallel with the first plane 56.
With reference to FIG. 11, a further aspect of the invention will now be described. The cleaning member 22 is arranged to have cleaning elements 68 which each extend radially away from an elongate axis of the cleaning member 22. The cleaning elements 68 are elongate and made from a standard material such as nylon or the like. The cleaning elements 68 are positioned in a helical pattern on the surface of the cleaning member 22. Each cleaning element 68 may be made of a plurality elements which are closely packed together. All that is required is that one or more cleaning elements extend radially away from the elongate axis of the cleaning member and are positioned thereon. In other embodiments the cleaning elements could be arranged in other patterns on the cleaning member. The cleaning elements 68 have respective distal portions 70 which extend through the inlet 24 so as to engage the floor surface S during use. The floor tool 14 further includes a pair of floor engaging support elements 72, 74 positioned to the rear of the housing 16 and forwardly of the rear wheels 15. Support elements 72, 74 support the floor tool and are in the form of rollers, and arranged to space, at a pre-determined distance X, the chamber inlet 24 from the floor surface S. In other embodiments, the support elements 72, 74 may not be rollers and could be wheels, or a projection (rotatable or non-rotatable) which extends away from the underside of the floor tool 14 to space the chamber inlet 24 a pre-determined distance X away from the floor surface S. It will be seen that a portion of the cleaning elements 68 extends further away from the chamber inlet 24 than the distance X. In use, this arrangement ensures that the cleaning elements 68 extend a further distance into the carpet piles of the floor surface S than the support elements 72, 74. Thus, the cleaning elements 68 can agitate and loosen dirt/debris which may be lodged deep within the carpet piles and not otherwise accessible for cleaning. It has been found to be advantageous for the cleaning elements 68 to extend at least twice as far away from the chamber inlet 24 than the pre-determined distance X and more advantageously for the cleaning elements 68 to extend a distance Y of between 0.7 to 1.3 mm away from the chamber inlet 24, and more preferably a distance of 1 mm. It has been further found to be advantageous for the support elements 72, 74 to extend a distance X of between 0.3 to 0.7 mm and more advantageously a distance of 0.5 mm.
With reference to FIG. 12, a further aspect of the invention will now be described. The floor facing surface of the floor tool 14 includes forward and rear portions 64, 66 which define respective portions of a periphery of the inlet 24. In particular, they define sides of the inlet 24 which extend in a transverse direction to the normal direction of travel of the apparatus 10 in use. The forward portion 64 and rearward portion 66 are substantially wedge-shaped and taper in thickness as they each extend towards the inlet 24. It has been found that having such wedge-shaped portions is advantageous with respect to performance in comparison to portions which are curved or include a curved portion.
With reference to FIG. 13(a)-(c), various configurations of the forward and rear portions 64, 66 may be utilised. FIG. 13(a) shows an embodiment for which the forward portion 64 has an upwardly facing surface 80 and a downwardly facing surface 82. The upwardly facing surface 80 tapers towards the floor surface S as it extends in a direction towards the downwardly facing surface 82.
FIG. 13(b) shows an embodiment for which the downwardly facing surface 82′ tapers away from the floor surface S as it extends towards the upwardly facing surface 80′.
FIG. 13(c) shows an embodiment for which the upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces 80″, 82″ taper towards each other as they extend towards the inlet 24.
It will be appreciated that the forward and rearward portions 64, 66 need not be identical and may each take any of the configurations described above and any combination thereof.
It will be appreciated that the features described in relation to embodiments having one or more aspects of the invention are not necessarily features required in relation to the other of the one or more aspects of the invention as will be understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be appreciated that the invention need not be limited to a floor tool that forms part of an upright floor cleaning apparatus. For example, the invention could be embodied on a floor tool which connects to a wand of a cylinder cleaner or the like. The apparatus may also be a wet cleaning apparatus. Furthermore, the cleaning member described with reference to one or more of the embodiments need not be driven by a motor and could be, for example, driven by a wind-turbine.
When used in this specification and claims, the terms “comprises” and “comprising” and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.
The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, 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, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1-48. (canceled)

49. A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

a housing having an interior surface that defines a chamber for receiving at least a portion of a cleaning member, the housing including:

a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and

a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,

wherein the housing is formed of at least two housing portions which provide said interior surface and all of said housing portions are permanently connected or permanently joined to each other.

50. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein one of the housing portions includes a floor facing surface and the chamber inlet is formed at least partially, and preferably completely, in said housing portion.

51. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein the housing has an opening through which the cleaning member can pass into the chamber.

52. A floor tool according to claim 51, wherein the opening is formed in a laterally facing side wall of the housing.

53. A floor tool according to claim 51, including a cleaning member positioned at least partially in the chamber.

54. A floor tool according to claim 53, wherein a portion of the cleaning member extends outside of the chamber.

55. A floor tool according to claim 53, wherein the housing includes a closing member that co-operates with the cleaning member so as to substantially seal a remainder of the opening in a fluid tight manner.

56. A floor tool according to claim 55, wherein the closing member includes two closing member parts which engage each other.

57. A floor tool according to claim 56, wherein one or both closing member parts include a recess to receive a portion of the cleaning member.

58. A floor tool according to claim 49, including a removable cover member which together with the housing forms a space for receiving a drivable portion of the cleaning member.

59. A floor tool according to claim 53, including a driving device for effecting rotation of the cleaning member, which device is arranged to connect to the portion of the cleaning member which is positioned outside of the chamber.

60. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein all of said housing portions are ultrasonically welded to each other or formed as a unitary construction.

61. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein all of said housing portions are formed by moulding.

62. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein the housing is formed from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

63. A floor tool according to claim 49, wherein the cleaning member is a rotatable brush bar.

64. A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

a housing including:

a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and

a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source, wherein the housing is a unitary component.

65. A floor tool for an apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, said apparatus including a source of suction, the floor tool including:

a housing including:

a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air;

a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source; and

a cleaning member including cleaning elements having respective distal portions which extend through the chamber inlet so as to engage a floor surface during use;

at least one floor engaging support element for supporting the floor tool and for spacing, at a predetermined distance, the chamber inlet from the floor surface,

wherein the distal portion of each of a plurality of the cleaning elements extends further away from the chamber inlet than the pre-determined distance.

66. A floor tool according to claim 65, wherein the distal portion of said cleaning elements extends at least twice as far away from the chamber inlet than the pre-determined distance.

67. A floor tool according to claim 65, wherein the distal portion of the cleaning elements extends a distance of between 0.7 to 1.3 mm from the chamber inlet.

68. A floor tool according to claim 65, wherein the at least one support element spaces the chamber inlet a distance of between 0.3 to 0.7 mm from the floor surface, and more preferably the at least one support element spaces the chamber inlet 0.5 mm or about 0.5 mm from the floor surface.

69. An apparatus for cleaning a floor surface, the apparatus comprising:

a source of suction; and

a floor tool for cleaning a floor surface, the floor tool including:

a chamber inlet for receiving dirty air; and

a chamber outlet for communication with the suction source,