Floor Scrubber Dryer

Abstract

A hand-guided walk-behind floor treatment machine, for scrubbing, polishing, sanding or burnishing floors comprising a base portion 18, at least one floor-facing rotatable tool 2, drive means 19 for r

Description

The present invention relates to the field of floor treatment machines for scrubbing, polishing, sanding or burnishing floors. In these machines one or more driven rotatable work heads (such as scrubbing brushes) are provided for agitating the floor surface. In particular the invention relates to a walk-behind machine provided with a handle for steering and guiding the machine as it travels over a floor surface. EP2832277 (i-mop GmbH) discloses a walk-behind floor scrubber drier having two side-by-side work heads, each comprising disc-shaped floor brushes. There is a trailing squeegee and associated suction drive and reservoir for collecting used liquid from the floor surface. The brushes support the entire weight of the machine and counter-rotate with a small amount of dihedral so that the brushes tilt inwardly and provide net propulsion in a working direction. The suction drive is disposed on a handle portion of the machine, along with a clean water reservoir for feeding a cleaning-liquid dispenser. The hand has dual pivot axes permitting up / down handle movement as well as side-to-side movement of the handle. This allows steering of the machine by applying torque to the handle. US2949619A (Holt William) discloses a walk-behind floor scrubbing machine which has a disc-shaped work head supported at a rear end region thereof by a pair of side-by-side wheels disposed at the base of an upstanding handle portion. WO2019207290A2 (Numatic International Ltd) discloses a floor treatment machine which is provided with a guide wheel having a fixed transverse axis of rotation for supporting an articulating handle portion, and for assisting travel of the machine over a floor being treated. WO2022 / 129900A1 (Numatic International Ltd) discloses a floor treatment machine in which the weight of the machine is shared between two side-by-side rear rollers having a common axis of rotation (disposed at the rear of the machine), and two floor-facing disc-shaped work head brushes towards the front of the machine. A deployable castor wheel at the front of the machine is used to relieve weight from the brushes when the machine is stored or transported over a floor surface between cleaning tasks. A problem with known machines is that the wheels / rollers can hinder manoeuvrability of the machine as the guide wheels constrain free movement. The present invention seeks to improve mobility / manoeuvrability of floor scrubbing machines, without doing away with the support conferred by guidewheels. These aims and others are met by the present invention in its various aspects, as will be evident from the following description. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a hand-guided (preferably walk-behind) floor treatment machine comprising a base portion comprising: at least one floor-facing rotatable tool for treating a floor surface; drive means for rotating the tool or tools on the floor surface; floor-engaging wheel means for supporting the base portion, wherein the base portion is configured so that in use the weight of the machine is shared between the treatment tool or tools and the wheel means; the machine further comprising an upright portion, a lower region of which is attached to the base portion in a manner which permits pivoting of the upright portion relative to the base portion, so as to facilitate guiding of the machine by a user manipulating an upper region of the upright portion. The machine may be characterised in that the wheel means comprises one or more wheels, balls or rollers that are configured and disposed to roll in a manner which permits travel of the machine over the floor surface in a primary longitudinal direction of the wheel means in a first wheel configuration, and in opposite transverse directions to the left or right of the primary longitudinal direction in a second wheel configuration. The wheel means preferably comprises one or more omniwheels, or one or more ball rollers each with an associated cup, or one or more castor wheels. The omniwheels, typically have a primary axis of rotation that is transverse of the base portion defining the primary longitudinal travel direction. In a preferred arrangement there are two transversely paced apart omniwheels in the base portion, or one omniwheel disposed centrally in the base portion. The wheels means are preferably disposed at a rear region of the base portion. The rotatable floor tool is preferably disposed at a front region of the base portion. The wheel means may comprise two transversely spaced apart castor wheels, which castor wheels preferably each have a directional lock or bias so that each castor can be configured between a first configuration in which each castor is locked or biased against free swivelling about an associated vertical castor axis, and a second configuration in which the castors are both free to swivel. The directional lock or bias typically tends to align the wheels along the longitudinal working direction. There may be two floor treatment tools disposed in a front region of the base portion. The tools may be configured and arranged to counter-rotate with respect to one another, so as to avoid unwanted torque steer. The treatment tools may comprise floor facing disc-type tools which, in use, rotate about a vertical, or substantially vertical, axis. Such tools usually have replacement treatment pads or discs, usually annular in form with a central bore form mounting over a tools hub. One or more rotatable treatment tool is configured to act to propel the machine during agitation of the floor. Typically by traction of the tools on the floor surface. The wheels means may be configured to be driven so as to propel the machine over the floor surface in the primary longitudinal direction. In which case the tools are not usually used for propulsion. Floor facing tools can be used to propel by means inclining the treatment tool transversely from the horizontal so as to increase the local pressure exerted by the tool on the floor surface. As such the tools may adopt an anhedral or dihedral configuration as viewed from the front or rear, and preferably counter-rotate for both to propel the machine in a forward or rearward direction. The wheel means are preferably disposed to the rear of the treatment tool or tools in the base portion. A squeegee suction collector may be disposed to the rear of the treatment tool or tools. The tools collects used cleaning solution from the floor as the machine works in a primary treatment direction. There may be two spaced apart, support wheels or rollers are provided on the squeegee collector. A lower region of the upright portion is preferably attached to the base portion via an articulated joint which permits up / down pivoting of the upright portion about the joint. The articulated joint may also permits side-to-side pivoting of the upright about the joint. This allows the machine to be steered from side-to-side on the floor surface. The machine base portion may be provided with deployable transport wheels which are deployed for travel between cleaning locations. The side-to-side pivoting of the upright portion maybe provided by a pivot axis of the articulated joint. The joint may be provided at a location vertically above the up / down pivot axis. A distal end of the upright (handle) portion may be provided with a transversely oriented handle bar for the user to grip with a hand on each side of the bar. Preferably the pivots are arranged as a Cardan joint which allows steering by twisting the handle at the upper end of the upright portion. Forward propulsion of the machine may be provided by floor tool work head rotation on the floor surface being treated. The drive means for the floor tools may comprise one or more electric motors carried by the base portion and coupled to the rotatable tool or tools. As foreshadowed above, there may be two generally disc-shaped floor tools disposed side-by-side and oriented to rotate about a respective vertical axis of rotation, with two electric motors, each disposed above its associated floor tool. The squeegee collector may be provided with a lift mechanism with latch. The lift mechanism my comprise one or more trailing arms, with the arms being pivoted up for lifting the squeegee. A latch may act to hold the squeegee (or arm) in the up-pivoted configuration. The squeegee lift may be used when the machine is moved from side to side, so that the squeegee doesn’t reduce mobility by frictional contact with the floor. The handlebar may be provided with a speed control lever and cleaning fluid dispensing actuator. A cleaning liquid reservoir may be provided on the upright portion, as may be one or more power cells or batteries. A dirty water tank may be provided on the Following is a description by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings of one mode for putting the present invention into effect. In the drawings: Figure 1A is a rear view of a floor scrubbing machine in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention. Figure 1B is a side view of the machine of figure 1 A. Figure 2A Is a side view of the machine of figure 1 with an upright portion of the machine tipped forwards. Figure 2B is a side view consistent with Figure 1B. Figure 2C is a side view of the machine with the upright portion tipped backwards. Figure 3 is an enlarged version showing detail from figure 2B. Figure 4 is a view of the underside of the machine. Figure 5 is an underside view of a machine in accordance with a second embodiment of the machine. Figure 6A is a rear view of a machine in accordance with a third embodiment. Figure 6B is a side view of the machine of the third embodiment. Figure 7 is an underside view of the machine of the third embodiment. First embodiment In Figure 1 A, a floor scrubber dryer machine in accordance with the present invention is shown generally as 10. The machine comprises an elongate rectangular section vertical upright portion 11. An upper region 12 of the upright portion carries a cross-bar handle 13 with integrated control box 14 and two laterally projecting handle grips 15. The upright portion has a lower region which is attached to a base or deck portion of the machine. In figure 3, the lower region of the upright portion is formed with a bore which receives a pin / axle forming a first pivot 40. This permits the upright portion to be reclined (figure 2C) from the vertical (per figure 2B) (or beyond per figure 2A) about the pivot 40 (figure 3), to a suitable height for the user. There is also a further pivot 41 formed in a lower region of the upright portion. This pivot permits side to side articulation of the upright portion about the axis E-E’. During use the user walks behind the machine and guides it over the floor surface to be cleaned using the handle grips 15. This dual pivot arrangement acts as a universal joint which assists in steerability by rotating the handle cross bar about the longitudinal axis of the upright portion. A lower mid region of the upright portion is provided with a housing 16. The housing includes a clean water reservoir and a dirty water collection tank (not shown, but within housing). A suction motor is provided which is in gas fluid communication with the dirty water tank. The tank is in gas communication with a squeegee collector 17 at a bottom end of the machine. The housing also includes a detachable rechargeable battery or cell for driving the floor tools and powering the suction motor. The squeegee collector shown in the figures is angled upwards, away from the floor surface F (see figure 1B). In normal use, the squeegee collection would be placed down onto the floor and trailed behind the floor tools so as to collect dirty or used cleaning solution (water or water with additive such as detergent or disinfectant). The bottom region of the machine comprises a generally horizontal deck 18 which carries two transversely space apart motor housings 19 and 20. The housings each contain a vertically oriented electric motor (not visible). Eachj motor is provided with a chuck (21,22 -,see figure 4) which projects to an underside of the deck. The chuck can be driven by an intermediate transmission acting between the motor rotor and the chuck. Each chuck carries a respective floor tool, in the form of an annular scrubbing brush 23, of a type well known in the art and available from Numatic International Limited’s distributors. The chucks may be undone so as to permit replacement of the tools. A range of attachable tools may be provided, including floor facing scrubbing brushes, polishing pads, abrasive pads, grinding wheels and the like. A transversely extending axle 24 is provided across a rear region of the machine. At each opposed end of the axle there is mounted a respective omniwheel 25, 26. The wheels are free to rotate with respect to the axle. Omniwheels are known in the field of transport, so are not described in great detail herein. Briefly, each wheel has a central hub 27 portion (see figure 3). The circumference of the hub carries two parallel offset circumferential loops of rollers 28. The rollers permit rolling travel of the wheel in the transverse direction T-T’ in figure 4. The primary axis of rotation of the wheel permits travel of the wheel in the forward or backward working directions W-W’ and P-P’. The omniwheels support the rear of the machine (including the upright handle position 11 and superstructure), with the floor tools 23 supporting the front region of the machine. In use, the omniwheels permit travel of the machine which has a forward / backward component W-W’ (or P-P’) or a transverse component (T-T’). Purely transverse motion moves the machine sideways (in either the left or right directions). Purely forward or backward rotation of the wheels about the primary axis 24 corresponds to the behaviour of conventional guide wheels in machine such as wo. The machine can be moved in diagonal directions in accordance with the user’s guiding efforts. The primary axis for wheeling is favoured so that the machine tends to follow the conventional working direction. However, the user can swing the machine left or right on the omniwheel rollers to permit a 90 change in the cleaning direction. This manoeuvrability makes the machine very convenient to use and bypasses the need to steer the machine along constrained arcs dictated by guid wheels steered by the upright handle, as in the manner set out for example in GB2586164A. Second embodiment A machine in accordance with the second embodiment is shown generally as 30 in figure 5. With reference to the machine of the first embodiment, the same features are given the same reference numbers. The essential difference is the provision in the third embodiment of a single central omniwheel 32, rather than two transversely spaced apart wheels as per the first embodiment. The single wheel has a transverse primary axis of rotation S-S’, and of course the sideways crabbing ability conferred by the circumferential roller. As an optional feature, within the wheel hub of the omniwhell 32 there may be provided an electric hub drive which drives the omniwheel wheel to rotate about the primary axis (i.e. providing forward or backward traction). This assists the user in forward or backward cleaning travel. Third embodiment In the third embodiment the omniwheel(s) is / are replaced by castors, as shown in figures 6 and 7. In this specific embodiment by two spaced apart castor wheels are disposed to the rear of the floor tools on either side of the upright portion of the machine. Each castor 36,37 is carried by an associated rearwardly projecting bracket 38,39. Each bracket has a leading edge which is fixed to a rear region of the deck 18. Each castor wheel is disposed depending from the bracket to engage the floor, with a swivel axle penetrating the bracket in a vertical direction. The castor wheels support the rear portion of the machine and share the weight with the floor tools. The castors permit the machine to be move in transverse directions, with the castor angle providing some direction stability during travel. In an alternative arrangement, the castor wheels may be lockable so as to be selectively fixed aligned with the forward or rearward travel directions. Such directionally specific castors are known. Preferably they may each be provided with a foot-operated latch / lock. In this way a user can re-configure the machine for side-to-side cleaning by releasing the lock / latch so that the castors can freely swivel in response to the user’s manipulation of the handle and upright portion. In typical machines, whether or not in accordance with the specific embodiment 5 embodiments, when transverse travel is desired it may also be required or preferred to cause the squeegee collector to adopt a lifted configuration in which the squeegee is raised off the floor behind the machine by a suitable latching mechanism. This means that the sgueegee collector does not have to be dragged sideways by the machine when the machine crabs in the transverse direction. A suitable squeegee latching 10 arrangement is described in GBGB2586164A (Numatic International, Ltd). The latch is preferably foot activated or activated by rocking the upright portion 11 back towards the squeegee collector so that a latch is brought into engagement (such as by a tooth engaging with a slot or indent) so as to hold the squeegee collector at an acute angle with respect to the upright portion. 15

Claims

1. A hand-guided walk-behind floor treatment machine comprising a base portion comprising:at least one floor-facing rotatable tool for treating a floor surface;drive means for rotating the tool or tools on the floor surface;floor-engaging wheel means for supporting the base portion,wherein the base portion is configured so that in use the weight of the machine is shared between the treatment tool or tools and the wheel means,the machine further comprising a handle portion, a lower region of which is attached to the base portion in a manner which permits pivoting of the handle portion relative to the base portion, so as to facilitate guiding of the machine by a user manipulating an upper region of the handle portion;characterised in that the wheel means comprises one or more wheels, balls or rollers that are configured and disposed to roll in a manner which permits travel of the machine over the floor surface in a primary longitudinal direction of the wheel means in a first wheel configuration, and in opposite transverse directions to the left or right of the primary longitudinal direction in a second wheel configuration.

2. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the wheel means comprises one or more omniwheels, one or more ball rollers each with an associated cup, one or more castor wheels.3 A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the wheel means comprises one or more omniwheels, which omniwheel or wheels have a primary axis of rotation that is transverse of the base portion defining the primary longitudinal travel direction.

4. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein there are two transversely paced apart omni wheels in the base portion, or one omniwheel disposed centrally in the base portion.

5. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the omni wheel or wheels are disposed at a rear region of the base portion.

6. A floor treatment tool as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the wheel means comprises two transversely spaced apart castor wheels, which preferably each have a directional lock so that each castor can be configured between a first configuration in which free castor swivelling about a vertical castor axis is permitted, and a second configuration in which the castors are both fixed against swivelling.

7. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 wherein there are two treatment tools disposed in a front region of the base portion.

8. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the treatment tools comprises floor facing disc-type tools which, in use, rotate about a vertical, or substantially vertical, axis.

9. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 8 wherein the treatment tools are arranged to counter-rotate with respect to one another.

10. A treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein one or more treatment tool is configured to act to propel the machine during agitation of the floor.

11. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the wheels means are configured to be driven so as to propel the machine over the floor surface in the primary longitudinal direction.

12. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the wheel means are disposed to the rear of the treatment tool or tools in the base portion.

13. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein a squeegee suction collector is disposed to the rear of the treatment tool or tools.

14. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein a lower region of the handle portion is attached to the base portion via an articulated joint which permits up / down pivoting of the handle about the joint.

15. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 14 wherein the articulated joint also permits side-to-side pivoting of the handle about the joint.

16. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of claims wherein the side-to-side pivot of the articulated joint is provided at a location vertically above the up / down pivot.

17. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 13 wherein two spaced apart, support wheels or rollers are provided on the squeegee collector.

18. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein forward propulsion of the machine is provided by work head rotation on the floor surface being treated.

19. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding machines wherein the drive means comprises one or more electric motors carried by the base portion and coupled to the rotatable tool or tools.

20. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 19 wherein there are two generally disc-shaped floor tools disposed side-by-side and oriented to rotate about a respective vertical axis of rotation, with two electric motors, each disposed above its associated floor tool.

21. A floor treatment machine as claimed in claim 22 wherein the motors are configured and / or controlled to cause the work heads to counter rotate with respect to one another with one tool inclined with respect to the other in a manner which provides an anhedral or dihedral effect, thereby to provide a propulsive force.

22. A floor treatment machine as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein a distal end of the handle portion is provided with a transversely oriented handle bar for the user to grip with a hand on each side of the bar.

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