Patent ID: 7228589

Claim:
A floor cleaning apparatus comprising: a housing with a bottom portion that is adapted to rest on a surface being cleaned and that defines an opening in an underside of the housing; a fluid delivery system mounted to the housing and including a fluid distributor for delivering a cleaning fluid to the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside the housing and a fluid flow regulator connected to the fluid distributor for controlling the flow of cleaning fluid to the fluid distributor; a fluid extraction system including a suction nozzle connected to a fan driven by a fan motor for recovering soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned beneath the opening in the underside of the housing; a carriage mounting the suction nozzle to the housing for movement with respect to the housing along the surface to be cleaned; a controller operably connected to of the fluid flow regulator and the fan motor for independently controlling the delivery of cleaning fluid to the surface being cleaned and the recovery of soiled cleaning fluid from the surface to be cleaned in a predetermined relationship.