Patent ID: 7673371

Claim:
In a vacuum cleaner head, said head including a housing having an upper wall and a shroud which protrudes downwardly from said upper wall, said shroud having a rear wall, a pair of laterally spaced apart side walls and a front wall spaced forward of said rear wall, the improvement comprising a broom block which at least partially obstructs a rear portion of a lower entrance opening to a hollow interior space within said head which communicates with a vacuum plenum within said head, said block having a lower surface from which bristles arranged in a first matrix protrude downwardly, an upper surface which communicates with said vacuum plenum, and a plurality of vacuum passageways disposed between said lower and upper surfaces of said broom block, said vacuum passageways being interspersed with said bristles, said block having a front transversely disposed edge wall located rearwards from said front shroud wall to thus form between said front transversely disposed edge wall of said block and said front shroud wall, a front hollow portion of said interior space forward of said bristles, said front hollow portion of said interior space having a lower opening coextensive with a front portion of said lower entrance opening, and a valve which has a valve plate operable in a first direction in said housing to obstruct air flow between said front portion of said hollow interior space of said housing adjacent to an edge of said block and operable in a second direction away from said edge of said block to enable air flow between said front portion of said lower entrance opening of said housing and said hollow interior space thereof.