Patent ID: 8918941
Filing Date: 2014-12-30
Classification: A47L

Abstract:
1. A floor cleaning machine comprising: three spaced-apart floor facing rotationally drivable cleaning heads, each cleaning head having a working axis of rotation generally perpendicular to a floor surface, wherein the three cleaning heads comprise a central cleaning head and two lateral cleaning heads disposed on opposed sides of the central cleaning head; wheel means for permitting translational movement of the machine along a cleaning path over the floor surface; moveable mounting means for permitting selective adjustment of relative spatial locations of the cleaning heads so that a cleaning path swept by the heads is adjustable from a contracted arrangement in which the cleaning path swept has a contracted width to an expanded arrangement in which the cleaning path swept has an expanded width corresponding to the expanded adjusted relative spatial location of the cleaning heads, wherein the moveable mounting means comprises width selection means for providing at least three selectable discrete cleaning path widths, each respective cleaning path width corresponding to a discrete adjusted relative spatial location of the cleaning heads, wherein the width selection means comprises a plurality of housing portions, each housing portion shrouding a respective one of the lateral cleaning heads and configured to travel with the lateral cleaning head during outward movement thereof to expand the cleaning path, wherein the plurality of housing portions are restricted in their outward travel by a plurality of housing portion width settings, and wherein the plurality of housing portions limit and constrain outward travel of the lateral cleaning heads to an extent dictated by the housing portion width settings, wherein the width selection means limits outward lateral displacement of the lateral cleaning heads but does not prevent inward lateral movement of the lateral cleaning heads, and wherein the width selection means comprises an arrangement in which a lateral displacement of each lateral cleaning head is associated with the engagement of a detent feature with one of a plurality of spaced apart displacement constraint features.