Floor cleaning unit with a brush assembly

A floor cleaning device comprising:

• a base portion for movement along a surface, said base portion including a suction nozzle;
• a brush assembly associated with said base portion;
• a lifting mechanism operatively connected to said brush assembly for moving said brush assembly relative to said suction nozzle from a first position wherein the brush assembly is off the surface to a second position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface;
• and
• a slide switch slidably mounted on said floor cleaning device and operatively connected to said brush assembly, wherein said slide switch is slid to a first sliding position to move said brush assembly to one of said first and second positions.

A floor cleaning device comprising:

• a base portion for movement along a surface, said base portion including a suction nozzle;
• a brush assembly associated with said base portion;
• a brush lifting mechanism operatively connected to said brush assembly for moving said brush assembly relative to said suction nozzle from a first position to a second position which is closer to said surface than said first position;
• a nozzle lifting mechanism operatively connected to said base portion for raising said suction nozzle off of the surface;
• and
• a locking mechanism operatively connected between said brush lifting mechanism and said nozzle lifting mechanism to lock said brush assembly in said first position when said suction nozzle is raised off of said surface.

A floor cleaning device comprising:

• a base portion for movement along a surface, said base portion including a suction nozzle;
• a brush assembly associated with said base portion,
• a brush lifting mechanism operatively connected to said brush assembly for moving said brush assembly relative to said suction nozzle from a first position to a second position which is closer to said surface than said first position;
• and
• wherein said brush assembly comprises a plurality of vertical axis brushes, each of said brushes configured as a spur gear having gear teeth wherein the gear teeth of each said brush drivingly intermesh with the gear teeth of adjacent said brushes.