Floor tool for a vacuum cleaning appliance

Abstract

A floor tool for a vacuum cleaning appliance, the floor tool comprising a main body including a suction nozzle comprising a surface engaging skirt that depends downwardly to define an outer periphery of a suction chamber having a suction chamber outlet, the surface engaging skirt including a leading edge, a trailing edge, and side edges extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, and wherein the trailing edge depends downwardly from the suction nozzle by a first distance and the leading edge depends downwardly from the suction nozzle by a second distance that is less than the first distance so as to define a predetermined gap with a floor surface, in use.

1 . A floor tool for a vacuum cleaning appliance, the floor tool comprising a main body including a suction nozzle comprising a surface engaging skirt that depends downwardly to define an outer periphery of a suction chamber having a suction chamber outlet, the surface engaging skirt including a leading edge, a trailing edge, and side edges extending between the leading edge and the trailing edge, and wherein the trailing edge depends downwardly from the suction nozzle by a first distance and the leading edge depends downwardly from the suction nozzle by a second distance that is less than the first distance so as to define a predetermined gap with a floor surface, in use. 
     
     
         2 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the surface engaging skirt member is flexible. 
     
     
         3 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the surface engaging skirt member is defined by at least one of a plurality of bristles, a plurality of filaments and at least one strip of flexible material. 
     
     
         4 . The floor tool of  claim 3 , wherein the surface engaging skirt member is defined by a unitary strip of plastics material. 
     
     
         5 . The floor tool of  claim 4 , wherein the surface engaging skirt member is over-moulded onto a supporting spine of the suction nozzle. 
     
     
         6 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the leading edge depends downwardly from the suction nozzle by a distance that is between 1 and 4 mm less than the distance of the trailing edge so as to define a gap of between 1 and 4 mm with the floor surface. 
     
     
         7 . The floor tool of  claim 6 , wherein the distance is 3 mm. 
     
     
         8 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein a longitudinal wall extends along the suction chamber longitudinally to partition the suction chamber into front and rear suction channels. 
     
     
         9 . The floor tool of  claim 8 , wherein the wall includes one or more openings to allow fluid to flow through the openings between the front suction channel and the rear suction channel. 
     
     
         10 . The floor tool of  claim 8 , wherein the skirt includes a lateral wall that extends between the trailing edge and the longitudinal wall so as to partition the suction chamber into first and second sub-chambers, each having an associated suction chamber outlet. 
     
     
         11 . The floor tool of  claim 10 , wherein the lateral wall extends between the trailing and leading edges approximately in mid-way between the side edges. 
     
     
         12 . The floor tool of  claim 10 , wherein the lateral wall depends downwardly by a distance less than the leading edge and the trailing edge of the skirt. 
     
     
         13 . The floor tool of  claim 9 , wherein the longitudinal wall includes a non-uniform profile along its length. 
     
     
         14 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the skirt includes a lateral wall that extends between the trailing edge and the leading edge so as to partition the suction chamber into first and second sub-chambers each having an associated suction chamber outlet. 
     
     
         15 . The floor tool of  claim 14 , wherein the lateral wall extends between the trailing and leading edges approximately mid-way between the side edges. 
     
     
         16 . The floor tool of  claim 15 , wherein the wall depends downwardly by a distance less than the leading edge and the trailing edge of the skirt. 
     
     
         17 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the trailing edge includes a non-uniform surface-engaging profile along its length. 
     
     
         18 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the side edges includes bristles. 
     
     
         19 . The floor tool of  claim 1 , wherein the main body further comprises a support member adapted to support a cleaning element and wherein the suction nozzle lies adjacent a first edge of the supporting member. 
     
     
         20 . The floor tool of  claim 19 , wherein a further suction nozzle is provided that lies adjacent a second edge of the support member parallel to the first edge. 
     
     
         21 . The floor tool of  claim 20 , wherein the further suction nozzle is configured substantially the same as the first suction nozzle. 
     
     
         22 . The floor tool of  claim 21 , when dependent on  claim 9 , wherein the openings in the longitudinal wall in the first suction nozzle have a flow area that is different to the flow area of the openings in the longitudinal wall of the second suction nozzle. 
     
     
         23 . A vacuum cleaner comprising the floor tool of  claim 1 .