Cleaning apparatus with brush head disengager

A cleaning apparatus comprising:

• a body assembly comprising:
• an elongated body housing having a chamber;
• a motor at least partially disposed within the chamber of the body housing;
• and
• a body drive shaft at least partially disposed within the chamber of the body housing, the body drive shaft being coupled with the motor such that during selective operation of the motor, the body drive shaft is rotated about a rotational axis thereof;
• a head assembly removably coupled with the body assembly, the head assembly comprising:
• a head housing;
• a head drive shaft disposed within the head housing and having a rotational axis about which the head drive shaft rotates;
• and
• a hub having a rotational axis about which the hub rotates, the hub being coupled with the head drive shaft such that rotation of the head drive shaft facilitates rotation of the hub;
• a cleaning head comprising a carrier plate, the cleaning head removably coupled with the hub such that rotation of the hub causes rotation of the carrier plate, the cleaning head further comprising a scrubbing element secured to the carrier plate;
• the hub further comprising:
• a base having a top surface and a bottom surface, with opposing side surfaces extending between the top and bottom surfaces;
• a pair of resilient arms, each extending downward from the top surface along opposing side surfaces so as to form a gap between each arm and its corresponding side surface;
• each resilient arm having a distal end that extends beyond the bottom surface of the base;
• and
• an engaging member disposed at the distal end of each arm, the arms being movable between a first position in which the engaging member engages with the carrier plate and a second position in which the engaging member is disengaged from the carrier plate;
• and
• a disengaging system movable between a first position where the cleaning head is securely engaged to the hub and a second position where the cleaning head is freely removable from the hub.

A method of cleaning, comprising:

• attaching a cleaning head to a distal end of a cleaning apparatus, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
• an elongated housing having a chamber;
• a motor at least partially disposed within the chamber;
• a drive shaft at least partially disposed within the chamber, the drive shaft being coupled with the motor such that during selective operation of the motor, the drive shaft is rotated about a rotational axis thereof;
• a hub having a rotational axis about which the hub rotates, the hub being coupled with the drive shaft such that rotation of the drive shaft facilitates rotation of the hub;
• a cleaning head comprising a carrier plate, the cleaning head removably coupled with the hub such that rotation of the hub causes rotation of the carrier plate, the cleaning head further comprising a scrubbing element secured to the carrier plate;
• the hub further comprising:
• a base having a top surface and a bottom surface, with opposing side surfaces extending between the top and bottom surfaces;
• a pair of resilient arms, each extending downward from the top surface along opposing side surfaces so as to form a gap between each arm and its corresponding side surface;
• each resilient arm having a distal end that extends beyond the bottom surface of the base;
• and
• an engaging member disposed at the distal end of each arm, the arms being movable between a first position in which the engaging member engages with the carrier plate and a second position in which the engaging member is disengaged from the carrier plate;
• and
• a disengaging system movable between a first position where the cleaning head is securely engaged to the hub and a second position where the cleaning head is freely removable from the hub;
• activating a first actuator to rotate the cleaning head;
• deactivating the first actuator to stop rotation of the cleaning head;
• and
• activating a second actuator to remotely disengage the cleaning head from the cleaning apparatus.