Floor cleaning apparatus and method

Abstract

A floor cleaning apparatus includes a discharger for discharging cleansing solution and/or steam to a floor surface, a receptacle, and a sweeping member operatively associated with the discharger and the receptacle for sweeping used liquid on the floor surface into the receptacle.

1 . A floor cleaning apparatus comprising: 
 a discharger for discharging cleansing solution and/or steam to a floor surface;    a receptacle; and    a sweeping member operatively associated with the discharger and the receptacle for sweeping used liquid on the floor surface into the receptacle.    
     
     
         2 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sweeping member includes a rotary sweeping member.  
     
     
         3 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sweeping member is positioned posterior to the discharger and anterior to the receptacle.  
     
     
         4 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sweeping member comprises at least one row of bristles.  
     
     
         5 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sweeping member comprises at least one sweeping strip.  
     
     
         6 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the sweeping member comprises two rows of bristles and two sweeping strips.  
     
     
         7 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a slant wall disposed between the sweeping member and the receptacle, so that the used liquid on the floor surface can be swept into the receptacle via a top surface the slant wall.  
     
     
         8 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein a bottom surface of the slant wall and the floor surface define an acute angle when the floor cleaning apparatus is in use.  
     
     
         9 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the acute angle is about 45 degrees.  
     
     
         10 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the acute angle is in the range of about 20 degrees to about 70 degrees.  
     
     
         11 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the receptacle includes a slanted panel configured to abut against a bottom surface of the slant wall when the floor cleaning apparatus is in use.  
     
     
         12 . The floor cleaning apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the receptacle includes a top panel slanted downwardly towards a central portion of the receptacle.  
     
     
         13 . A method of cleaning a floor surface, the method comprising: 
 discharging cleansing solution and/or steam to the floor surface by a discharger; and    sweeping used liquid on the floor surface into a receptacle by using a sweeping member, wherein the discharger, the receptacle and the sweeping member are operatively associated with each other in a floor cleaning apparatus.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein sweeping used liquid comprises sweeping the used liquid on the floor surface into the receptacle via a slanted wall between the sweeping member and the receptacle.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein sweeping used liquid comprises sweeping the used liquid on the floor surface into the receptacle by using a rotary sweeping member.