Cross-Reference To Related Applications

This patent application is related to Italian patent application No. 102019000018212 filed on 08/10/2019 and to European patent application no. 20200894.2 filed on 8/10/2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a floor cleaning device.

Background

In the floor cleaning sector, floor cleaning devices are known comprising a stick with a cleaning head at one end thereof; a tank for a cleaning liquid normally consisting of a mixture of water and detergent; and a basket mounted on the tank and fluidically connected to the tank to allow the cleaning head to be wrung.

Generally, the cleaning head comprises a stick attachment flange to allow the cleaning head to be attached to the stick and multiple bristles; and the basket has multiple openings to fluidically connect the tank and the basket.

The above-described know floor cleaning devices have some drawbacks mainly due to the fact that the cleaning liquid contained in the tank is contaminated by dirt discharged from the cleaning head when the latter is rinsed inside the tank and when it is wrung inside the basket.

As a result, the cleaning action is compromised by rinsing the cleaning head into the contaminated/dirty cleaning liquid contained in the tank.

A cleaning device that offers, in part, a solution to the above-described drawback is disclosed in US 2006/151054 A1 and comprises a stick with a cleaning head at one end thereof, an upper tank for a cleaning liquid, a lower tank, and a basket for rinsing the cleaning head. The upper and lower tanks are separated, and the basket can be fluidically connected to the upper tank to receive the cleaning liquid and can be emptied into the lower tank after the cleaning head has been rinsed in the basket. This solution, although better than solutions in which the cleaning head is rinsed in the same tank that contains the clean cleaning liquid, still has limitations, both in terms of rinsing effectiveness and in terms of operation complexity. Subject and Summary of the Invention

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaning device free from the above-described drawbacks and simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

According to the present invention, a floor cleaning device is provided, as claimed in the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings showing a non-limiting embodiment thereof, wherein:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view, with parts removed for clarity, of a preferred embodiment of the floor cleaning device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view, with parts in cross-section and parts removed for clarity, of the floor cleaning device shown Figure 1 ; and

Figures 3 and 4 are two cross-sections along the line III-III of a detail of the floor cleaning device shown in Figure 1, in two different operating positions.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments of the Invention

With reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, reference numeral 1 references as a whole a floor cleaning device comprising an elongated stick 2 provided with a cleaning head 3 at one free end thereof.

The cleaning head 3 comprises a flange 4 to attach the cleaning head 3 to the stick 2, and multiple cleaning bristles 5 fixed to the flange 4.

The floor cleaning device 1 further comprises a lower tank 6, which, in the embodiment shown, has a cup shape and is delimited at the bottom by a substantially flat and horizontal bottom wall 7, and laterally by a substantially vertical side wall 8.

The floor cleaning device 1 further comprises an upper tank 9, which is removably inserted into the tank 6, extends into the tank 6, and is designed to contain a cleaning liquid consisting, for example, of a mixture of water and detergent.

The upper tank 9 is delimited at the bottom by a substantially flat bottom wall 10 and laterally by a substantially vertical side wall 11.

The upper tank 9 is slidably coupled to the lower tank 6 and is locked in a substantially vertical insertion direction 12 by at least one tooth 13, which protrudes from the side wall 8 inside the lower tank 6, and extends along the side wall 8 so as to stop the side wall 10 at a specified distance from the bottom wall 7.

The upper tank 9 is provided with a first basket 14, which, in the embodiment shown, has a cylindrical shape and extends through the upper tank 9 and the side wall 10 in the insertion direction 12, and projects into the lower tank 6.

The first basket 14 is fluidically separated from the upper tank 9, and has multiple connecting holes 15, which are formed on the outside of the upper tank 9, and fluidically connect the basket 14 and the lower tank 6.

The upper tank 9 is also provided with a body 16, which, in the embodiment shown, has a cylindrical cup shape, extends through the upper tank 9 in the insertion direction 12, and has a height, measured parallel to the insertion direction 12, lower than the height of the upper tank 9, also measured parallel to the insertion direction 12.

The body 16 is delimited at the bottom by a bottom wall 17 arranged at a determined distance by the bottom wall 10.

The floor cleaning device 1 further comprises a second basket 18, which, in the embodiment shown, has a cylindrical shape and is carried by the upper tank 9, extends through the body 16 and the bottom walls 17 and 10 in the insertion direction 12, and projects into the lower tank 6.

The basket 18 is provided with multiple upper connection holes 19 and multiple lower connection holes 20.

The basket 18 is slidably coupled to the body 16 to move between a raised rest position (Figure 3), where the upper connection holes 19 are arranged inside the body 16 and outside the upper tank 9, the lower connection holes 20 are arranged inside the lower tank 6, and the lower and upper tanks 6, 9 are mutually fluidically separated by the basket 18, and a lowered operating position (Figure 4), where the upper connection holes 19 are arranged outside the body 16 and inside the tank 9, the lower connection holes 20 are arranged inside the tank 6, and the lower and upper tanks 6, 9 are mutually fluidically connected by the basket 18,

The basket 18 is moved, and normally kept, in the raised rest position by the thrust exerted by multiple springs 21 arranged between the body 16 and the basket 18.

The basket 18 is moved from the raised rest position to the lowered operating position by the thrust exerted on the basket 18 by the flange 4 of the cleaning head 3.

In use, the bristles 5 of the cleaning head 3 are wrung into the basket 14 in order to feed the contaminated/dirty cleaning liquid into the lower tank 6 through the connection holes 15.

At this point, the head 3 is moved inside the basket 18 and the basket 18 is moved from the raised rest position to the lowered operating position by means of the flange 4 so as to mutually fluidically connected the lower and upper tanks 6, 9 and cause the uncontaminated/clean cleaning liquid in the upper tank 9 to flow from the upper tank 9 to the lower tank 6, through the basket 18, so resulting in the bristles 5 being rinsed.

In other words, when the basket 18 is moved to the lowered operating position, the uncontaminated/clean cleaning liquid in the upper tank 9 first flows into the basket 18 through the upper connection holes 19 and then into the lower tank 6 through the lower connection holes 20.

The floor cleaning device 1 is advantageous compared to the known floor cleaning devices mainly due to the fact that basket 18 prevents the bristles 5 from immersing into the contaminated/dirty cleaning liquid both in the lower tank 6 and in the uncontaminated/clean cleaning liquid in the upper tank 9, and allow the bristles 5 to be rinsed only with the uncontaminated/clean cleaning liquid in the upper tank 9.

In alternative embodiments not shown, the basket 14 may be omitted and the bristles 5 may be wrung and rinsed inside the basket 18; the basket 18 may be moved from the raised rest position to the lowered operating position directly by a user, e.g., via a foot pedal mechanism; and the cleaning head 3 may be replaced with a cleaning head with cleaning elements other than the bristles 5.