Patent ID: 7363680

Claim:
A floor-cleaning machine comprising, in combination: a chassis, with the chassis being mobile on a surface; an agitating mechanism carried by the chassis and which engages the surface; a reservoir carried by the chassis and adapted to receive and contain a fluid; a fluid delivery system that conveys the fluid from the reservoir to the surface proximate the agitating mechanism, with the fluid delivery system including a flow control valve, with the flow control valve having a body and a flow control member contained within the body, with the flow control member rotatable within the body about an axis; an upstream duct and a downstream duct defined interior the body of the flow control valve, with the flow control member intermediate the upstream duct and the downstream duct, with the upstream duct receiving the fluid into the body of the flow control valve and with the downstream duct discharging the fluid from the body of the flow control valve; the flow control member having a first position defining a first passage intermediate the upstream duct and the downstream duct, with the first passage having an entrance and an exit, with the first passage having a cross sectional area generally parallel the axis; and the flow control member having a second position defining a second passage intermediate the upstream duct and the downstream duct, with the second passage having an entrance and an exit, with the second passage having a cross sectional area generally parallel the axis and smaller than the cross sectional area of the first passage, with the flow control member pivotable between a low flow position and a high flow position and governing fluid flow between the upstream duct and the downstream duct, with the entrance to the first passage being in communication with the upstream duct and the exit of the first passage being in communication with the downstream duct in the high flow position and allowing fluid flow from the upstream duct to the downstream duct through the first passage, with the entrance to the second passage being in communication with the upstream duct and the exit of the second passage being in communication with the downstream duct in the low flow position and allowing fluid flow from the upstream duct to the downstream duct through the second passage, with a fluid flow rate through the second passage of the flow control valve being less in the low flow position than a fluid flow rate through the first passage of the flow control valve in the high flow position, with the fluid flow rates in the low flow position and the high flow position each being distinct and repeatable with adjustment of the flow control member between the low flow position and the high flow position.