Walk-behind floor treatment
machine comprising: a base portion provided with and supported by at least one rotatable work head for treating the floor, a
handle portion for steering or guiding the
machine along a working direction of travel and adapted to be pivotable with respect to the base portion, drive means for rotating the work head with respect to the base portion, floor-engaging wheel means for supporting the
handle portion, the wheel means having a substantially
transverse axis of rotation so as to permit travel in the working direction, the wheel means being coupled to the base portion by a linkage which permits vertical travel of the base portion and associated work head or heads with respect to the wheel means, but which provides transverse constraint to limit or prevent yawing of the base portion with respect to the wheel means, wherein a lower region of the
handle portion is pivotably connected to the wheel means so that the handle portion may pivot through a generally vertical arc, and wherein a handle pivot lock mechanism is provided in which the adoption of a predetermined handle portion orientation permits one or more locking feature to act on one or more corresponding constraint feature so as to prevent pivoting movement of the handle portion with respect to the linkage, whereby tilting back of the locked handle portion causes a corresponding rise of the linkage and base portion with work head so as to lift them from the floor surface, wherein a squeegee suction device is provided for collecting and entraining liquid lifted from a floor surface over which the
machine travels, the squeegee suction device being attached to the wheel means via one or more
trailing arm which is attached at one end region to the squeegee device and at the opposite end region is pivotably attached to the wheel means for pivoting co-axially about the said
transverse axis of rotation, the arrangement being such that the
trailing arm and squeegee may pivot up or down about the
transverse axis as they trail behind the treatment machine.