Patent ID: 7966690

Claim:
A surface cleaning apparatus comprising: a housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor adapted to distribute fluid onto a surface to be cleaned; and a fluid recovery system mounted to the housing and including: a suction nozzle; a recovery tank having an inlet in fluid communication with the suction nozzle and an outlet that lies in a vertical plane; a vacuum source in fluid communication with the outlet of the recovery tank to draw the fluid from a surface to be cleaned through the suction nozzle and into the recovery tank; and a float assembly mounted in the recovery tank and comprising: a closure member pivotally mounted to the recovery tank for movement between an open position spaced from the outlet and a closed position in blocking relationship to the outlet; and a float, separate from the closure member, mounted in the recovery tank for linear vertical movement in response to a level of fluid in the recovery tank and in register with the closure member when the closure member is in the open position, whereby the float is adapted to urge the closure member to pivot from the open position toward the closed position as the float is raised by the level of fluid in the recovery tank.