Power driven brush drive control

In a vacuum cleaner having a selectively operable motor driven suction unit, a dirt pickup means including a motor driven rotary brush for brushing the surface to be cleaned for facilitated dirt pickup therefrom by a pickup means, and a handle having a gripping portion to be gripped by a user in a gripping manner as required for moving the dirt pickup means along said surface, the improvement comprising

• control means carried by said handle at said gripping portion for selectively controlling the operation of the driven brush independently of the operation of the motor driven suction unit, said control means including an actuator means for bridging said gripping portion to preclude movement of the user's hand from either end of said actuator means to between said actuator means and said gripping portion, said actuator means being biased to prevent operation of the driven brush, the actuator means being arranged to be engaged by the hand of the user to cause operation of the driven brush whenever the user grips the handle gripping portion as required for moving the dirt pickup means along said surface.