Floor-cleaning equipment

[0001] The invention relates to a floor cleaning device comprising a body on which a rotatable brush roller and a dirt container and a canvas holder on which the cleaning canvas is mounted is mounted.

Background Art [0002] Such a cleaning device is known from US 7,013,528 B2. This previously known cleaning device consists of a body on which an electric motor driven rotary roller with a brush is mounted, transporting the collected dirt to a dirt container behind the brush roller. The roller with the brush collects coarse dirt, absorbed and collected by the dirt container. Small dirt, especially dust, can pass the roller with the brush and is collected by the cleaning cloth behind it. This improves the cleaning efficiency relative to the cleaning tool only with a roller with a brush. However, the canvas holder is folded and connected to the body permanently, so that the canvas holder contacts the cleaned floor even when it is rather disturbing, such as for cleaning carpets. In this case, the canvas holder makes cleaning difficult due to the high friction.

[0003] Description of the invention US 2004/0168 281 A1 discloses a floor cleaning apparatus with an electrically driven dust collecting mechanism and a wiping cleaning mechanism disposed on the bottom side of the body of the cleaning apparatus. The wiping cleaning mechanism is detachably mounted on the body.

[0004] Description of the invention GB 2 389 035 A discloses a carpet cleaning device with a body and a rotating roller. A canvas holder is provided, equipped with a flexible surface element for pressing the cleaning cloth against the surface being cleaned. The canvas holder is placed on the body with a hinge.

[0005] The description of the invention GB 2 260 892 A discloses a vacuum cleaner with a removable wiper so that it can simultaneously suck dust and perform floor wiping functions. The body is equipped with rollers so that it can be moved freely in any direction.

[0006] Description of the invention DE 10/2004 009 908 A1 discloses a vacuum cleaner nozzle with a housing having a detachable support plate. The support plate has clamping devices on the inside facing away from the floor for securing the cleaning cloth arranged around the outside.

Presentation of the invention [0007] The basis of the invention is to improve the cleaning device so as to improve the cleaning efficiency, especially when cleaning carpets.

[0008] The solution to this task are the features of claim 1. The preferred embodiments refer to dependent claims.

[0009] In order to solve the task, the canvas holder is detachably mounted on the body. As a result, the canvas holder with the cleaning cloth placed can be attached to the cleaning device or removed as desired. The cleaning jig can therefore be operated with or without a canvas holder. With the canvas holder and cleaning cloth attached to it, the cleaning tool is particularly suitable for cleaning smooth floors, such as carpet tiles or parquet. Without a canvas holder, the cleaning tool is particularly suitable for cleaning rough and soft floors, such as carpet. When cleaning rough floors, it is particularly advantageous that the friction of the cleaning tool is due to the lack of a small canvas holder, which allows ergonomic cleaning work. The canvas holder preferably has a flexible facing on the side facing the floor to be cleaned, allowing the cleaning cloth to be pressed against the floor being cleaned. The lining can be made of foam with open or closed cells. The cleaning cloth is fastened with softclips located on the side of the canvas holder facing away from the cleaned floor. Softclips are made of a discoidal elastomeric material in which there is a starry notch. When the canvas holder is mounted on the body, the canvas holder side facing away from the cleaned floor is covered with the body.

[0010] The body includes rollers entering into the cut-outs inserted into the canvas holder. As a result, the cleaning jig also has good maneuverability without the canvas holder. The rollers can stretch enough in the canvas holder to end flush with the side to be cleaned. As a result, the position of the cleaning tool on the floor being cleaned is identical with the position of the cleaning tool with the canvas holder attached when the canvas holder is removed.

[0011] The canvas holder can be attached to the body by means of a latching device. The latching device is designed in such a way that it can be operated easily and preferably with the foot of the operator, so that the canvas holder can be removed from the body without an additional handle by hand. The latch device allows non-destructive detachment and attachment of the canvas holder on the body.

[0012] The latch device may include adjustable latch noses for attaching the canvas holder to the body. Snap-on tabs engage into the recesses inserted into the body. The snap-on tabs can be adjusted so that they sink into the latch device to remove the canvas holder so that the canvas holder is released.

[0013] The latch device may include an actuation button located in the body cavity. The actuating button is spring-loaded and causes the latching nose to sink into the latching device during actuation and the canvas holder is thus released. The actuation button is made so that it can be

-3 foot operated. The recess is preferably located on the rear wall, on the side facing away from the brush roller, and is made as a cut-out. To remove the canvas holder, the actuation button is actuated with the foot and the foot rests on the actuation button; the body is then removed by pulling on the shaft attached to the body. No additional treatments are needed to remove and attach the canvas holder. When the actuation button projects from the body at least partially on the side facing away from the canvas holder, it is particularly easily accessible and particularly easy to operate.

[0014] The dirt container can be removed. In addition, the dirt container can be guided in the body like a drawer, or it can be immobilized in the body from the upper wall side facing away from the cleaned floor. The dirt container can be easily removed from the cleaning device. For emptying the dirt container, the bottom of the dirt container can be tilted. In this case, for easy production, the bottom is preferably connected to the dirt container body by a flexible hinge and closed with a dust-tight closing device. By releasing the latching device, the bottom opens automatically and releases a very large hole through which dirt can be easily removed from the dirt container. The latching device also serves as a fixation means for fixing the dirt container in the body. In order to improve the tightness, the bottom has an edge at the edge that converts when closed in a congruent cavity of the body. In addition, the bottom of the dirt container has ribs so that the bottom does not deform and closes tightly constantly.

[0015] The dirt container may have a cover, at least partially exceeding the roller with the brush. The cover can be connected to the dirt container in one piece or articulated. The dirt container is always removed from the housing by removing the lid. Since the cover exceeds the roller with the brush, it is at least partly uncovered after removing the cover, which is particularly advantageous when it is to be cleaned.

[0016] The roller with the brush can be moved and removed in a spring direction in the axial direction. The roller with the brush has depressions on both sides of the fronts, in which pins placed on the body engage in seating. To remove, the roller with the brush moves axially relative to the spring. When the pin is released on one face, the roller with the brush can be removed by tilting. When the cover is above the roller with the brush, the roller with the brush can be removed upwards after removing the cover. As a result, the roller with a brush can also be removed in a convenient way for maintenance from the cleaning device on the ground for cleaning or replacement.

[0017] The roller with a brush may have a discoid projection. The projection is preferably located in the area of ​​the front face located opposite the spring front face . It protrudes as a handle and makes it easy to remove the roller with the brush. The radial arrangement of the projection is smaller or as large as the radial arrangement of the brush roll bristles. Short description of the drawings

[0018] An embodiment of the cleaning device according to the invention will be explained in more detail below based on the figures. They show, respectively schematically:

1 is an exploded view of the cleaning device;

Fig. 2 a cleaning device with the canvas holder in a bottom view;

3 shows a cleaning device with a dirt container in place;

Fig. 4 is an exploded representation of the cleaning device of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 a roller with a brush of one of the above cleaning devices.

Embodiment of the Invention [0019] Fig. 1 shows a cleaning device 1 consisting of a body 2 on which the shaft 15 is mounted on the joint 14. The joint 14 has a latch so that the shaft 15 can be locked perpendicularly deflected from the body 2 and cannot fall over. In addition, the handle 15 can be locked by means of a latch to put it in the next position, parallel to the body 2. Thus, the cleaning device 1 can be stored saving space placed against the wall or hung. In the body 2 there is a rotating roller with a brush 3 and a dirt container 4. For this body 2 is open towards the floor being cleaned, so that the roller with the brush 3 is in contact with the floor being cleaned. The roller with brush 3 is driven by an electric motor, powered by rechargeable batteries, namely lithium-ion batteries. For switching on and off the electric motor on the upper side of the body 2 there is a switch 16 so that it can be operated by foot. The battery is charged using an external charging device. For this purpose, a plug socket is provided, which is located inside the body opening 2. The plug socket is retracted to the inside so far that only a charging device suitable for batteries and electronics can be inserted. In addition, the cleaning device 1 is equipped with a load-securing device that automatically switches off the cleaning device 1 when an overload occurs, which happens, for example, when larger objects get stuck in the brush roll 3. The roller with the brush 3 is connected to the dirt container 4 also located in the body 2. The dirt container 4 is made in the shape of a box and can be removed from the body 2 upwards. The dirt container 4 has a lid 12 as an upper end, the lid 12 being so designed that when the dirt container 4 is in the body 2, it partially exceeds the roller with the brush 3. The bottom of the dirt container 4 is mounted on the dirt container 4 flexible hinge and fixed with a ratchet lock. The ratchet lock can be released with a lever so that the bottom can be lowered and the dirt container 4 can be so emptied. Cover 12 is transparent so that the filling level of the dirt container 4 can be controlled without having to open it. In addition, the cleaning jig 1 has a canvas holder 5 on which the cleaning jig can be attached 6. The canvas jig 5 consists of a base plate 17 with cleaning side 18 and a latching device 19, placed on the canvas jig 5 after side facing away from the cleaning side 18. Through the latch device 6 handle on

- canvas 5 is attached to body 2 detachably. For this, the latching device 19 has adjustable latching nose pads 7 which can engage with the recesses in the body 2. The latching nose pads 7 are adjusted by means of an actuating button 8, partly protruding from the body 2 on the side facing away from the canvas holder 5. The cleaning side 18 is made made of flexible foam material. On the other side there are 6 softclips 20 for cleaning. The base plate 17 has cutouts 11 in which the rollers 10 rotatably mounted on the body 2 are inserted.

[0020] Fig. 2 shows the cleaning device 1 described in fig. 1 in a bottom view. It can be seen that the rollers 10 arranged on the body 2 go through the cut-outs 11 provided in the base plate 17 of the canvas holder 5 and thus come into contact with the cleaned floor when there is no cleaning canvas on the canvas holder 5. This is especially advantageous when cleaning on soft surfaces such as carpets. With the rollers 10 it is especially possible to use the cleaning device 1 also without the canvas holder 5.

[0021] Fig. 3 shows a cleaning device 1, consisting of a body 2 on which a handle 15 is mounted by means of a joint 14. A rotatable roller with a brush 3 and a dirt container 4 are arranged in the body 2. For this body 2 is open towards the floor to be cleaned, so that the roller with the brush 3 contacts the floor to be cleaned. The roller with the brush 3 is also connected to the dirt container 4 located in the body 2. The dirt container 4 is box-shaped and can be removed from the body 2 upwards. The dirt container 4 has a lid 12 as an upper end, the lid 12 being so constructed that when the dirt container 4 is in the body 2, it partially exceeds the roller with the brush 3. The bottom 21 of the dirt container 4 is mounted on the dirt container 4 with a flexible hinge 22 and fixed with a latching device 23. The latching device 23 can be released with a lever so that the bottom 21 can be lowered and the dirt container 4 can be so emptied. The latching device 23 simultaneously serves as a fixation means for fixing the dirt container 4 in the body 2. In order to improve the tightness, the bottom 21 has an edge engaging in the closed state in a closed recess in the congruent recess of the body. In addition, the bottom 21 of the dirt container 4 has ribs 24 so that the bottom 21 does not deform and closes tightly. Cover 12 is transparent so that the filling level of the dirt container 4 can be controlled without having to open it.

[0022] Fig. 4 shows the cleaning device 1 according to Fig. 3. It can be seen that the bottom 21 has a plurality of ribs 24, stiffening the bottom 21. Furthermore, it can be seen that the lid 12 has an extension 26, including a roller with a brush 3. Thereby with the brush 3 it is covered with the dirt container 4 mounted, and with the dirt container 4 removed it is easily accessible.

[0023] Fig. 5 shows a roller with a brush 3 for the cleaning device 1 described above. The roller with a brush 3 has a circularly symmetrical core on which elastic bristles 19 are distributed along the periphery. In addition, on the core 48 there is a handle discoid projection 13. On both front sides there are guides 20 through which the roller with the brush 3 can be mounted in the body 2. The guide 20 is spring-loaded so that the roller with the brush 3 can be spring-shifted in the direction

-Axial and removable. In other embodiments, it is also conceivable to flexibly mount the seat in the body 2, so that the roller with the brush 3 can be removed after the seat has been deflected.

Magdalena Pietrosiuk Patent Attorney