Floor care appliance with tool caddy

#1. Field of the Invention

#This invention relates to floor care appliances. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a bare floor cleaning appliance having an accessory caddy for storing the accessory hose, telescoping wand, and cleaning implements that are stored above the suction nozzle.

#2. Summary of the Prior Art

#Reference may now be made to the accompanying drawings for a better understanding of the invention, both as to its organization and function, with the illustration being only exemplary and in which:

#FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a floor care appliance having an accessory tool caddy in the storage position above the suction nozzle, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a floor care appliance having an accessory tool caddy removed from the storage position above the suction nozzle, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

#Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, shown is a perspective view of an upright cleaning appliance 10 for cleaning bare surfaces such as floors and tile, according to one embodiment of the present invention. A similar upright cleaning appliance was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,386 owned by a common assignee and incorporated by reference fully herein. The upright floor care appliance 10 comprises an upright housing portion 100 pivotally connected to a base assembly 200 that is propelled over a bare floor surface for cleaning. A pair of trunnions (not shown) formed on the lower end of upright housing portion 100 are journaled into a complementary pair of bores (not shown) in a frame (not shown) partially forming base assembly 200 to form the pivotal connection. The trunnions are secured into the bores by a trunnion cover (not shown).

#A combined air/liquid separator and recovery tank assembly 500 (hereinafter recovery tank assembly 500) and a cleaning solution storage tank assembly 400 are located in cavities (shown in FIG. 3) in the upright housing portion 100. The upright housing portion 100 includes a pivoting handle 120 that pivots for easy storage, a motor-fan assembly 300 (FIG. 4) for generating suction for liquid and soil recovery, a port 175 (FIG. 12A) for connection of an accessory hose 800 (FIG. 12) and telescoping wand 850 (FIG. 12), a cleaning solution delivery assembly 415 (FIG. 4) including a trigger 405 on the pivoting handle 120 and an air turbine pump 425 (FIG. 4) for pressurizing cleaning solution to the accessory hose 800 and telescoping wand 850 (FIG. 12), a cleaning mode selector 150 located on the upright housing portion 100 and various ducts (FIG. 4) for fluidly connecting the motor-fan assembly 300 (FIG. 4) to the recovery tank assembly 500 and a suction nozzle 250 in the base assembly 200 (described further hereinbelow). An electrical switch 25 is located on a pedestal 26 that is formed on the upper end of pivoting handle 120 forward of the looped handle portion 121. The electrical switch 25 controls the electrical power to the motor-fan assembly 300 (FIG. 4) for generating suction for liquid and dirt recovery. The electrical switch 25 also controls electrical power supplied to a drive motor 700 (FIG. 7A) that provides rotary power to a plurality of vertical axis rotary agitators 226 (FIG. 7D) in the base assembly 200. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, the electrical switch 25 could be combined with an electrical circuit breaker (not shown) to shut off the current in case of an overload, which does not reset until the overload condition is removed. A separate microswitch 153 (FIG. 4J) is provided in the upright housing portion 100 for further controlling the operation of the plurality of vertical axis rotary agitators 226 (FIG. 7D), the switch being dependent upon the position of the base assembly 200 relative to the floor surface when the electrical switch 25 is in the “on” position and the motor-fan assembly 300 (FIG. 4) is energized. The separate microswitch 153 (FIG. 4J) is operatively connected to the mode control selector 150 located on the upright housing portion 100. Both the motor-fan assembly 300 (FIG. 4) and the drive motor 700 (FIG. 7A) for the plurality of vertical axis rotary agitators 226 (FIG. 7D) are powered by an electrical power source, such as a conventional alternating current source, or other power source, such as rechargeable batteries.

#The suction nozzle 250 in base assembly 200 is used for the recovery of dirt and used cleaning solution delivered to the floor surface from the cleaning solution storage tank assembly 400. The cleaning solution is agitated on the floor surface to loosen soil and dirt by the plurality of vertical axis rotary agitators 226 (FIG. 7D) located in base assembly 200 behind suction nozzle 250. The cleaning appliance 10 is supported on the floor surface by a pair of wheels 260 at the rear of the base assembly 200 and two pairs of wheels 138 (FIG. 7) mounted on a wheel carriage (FIG. 7).