Vacuum Cleaner and Cleaning Accessory for a Vacuum Cleaner

Abstract

A cleaning accessory for a vacuum cleaner comprises a housing. At least one rotatable cleaning brush is rotatably mounted to the housing and configured to engage a surface to be cleaned. The at least one rotatable cleaning brush comprises at least one flexible cleaning element projecting outwards from a side of the housing. The at least one flexible cleaning element is arranged to rotate in a cleaning position and rotate in a disengaged position whereby the at last one flexible cleaning element engages the surface to be cleaned when rotating in the cleaning position and the at last one flexible cleaning element is remote from the surface to be cleaned when rotating in the disengaged position.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cleaning accessory for a vacuum cleaner comprising:
 a housing;   a rotatable cleaning brush having at least one flexible cleaning element projecting outwards from a side of the housing and the at least one flexible cleaning element is configured to rotate and engage with a surface to be cleaned; and   a rotatable cleaning bar rotatably mounted within the housing;   wherein at least a portion of the rotatable cleaning brush is seated within a drive mechanism coupled to the rotatable cleaning bar.   
     
     
         2 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the rotatable cleaning brush comprises a body having a conical engagement surface and the drive mechanism comprises a reciprocal engagement recess and the conical engagement surface is configured to be seated within the reciprocal engagement recess. 
     
     
         3 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the rotatable cleaning brush is removably mountable on the drive mechanism. 
     
     
         4 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the drive mechanism is coupled between the rotatable cleaning brush and the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         5 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 4  wherein the drive mechanism comprises a drive gear fixable to the rotatable cleaning brush and the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         6 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 4  wherein the drive mechanism is configured to rotate the rotatable cleaning brush and the rotatable cleaning bar at the same rate of rotation. 
     
     
         7 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the drive mechanism comprises a motor. 
     
     
         8 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 7  wherein the motor is mounted within the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         9 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 7  wherein the motor is mounted to the housing adjacent to the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         10 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the rotatable cleaning brush and the rotatable cleaning bar are arranged to rotate about a common rotation axis. 
     
     
         11 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 1  wherein the cleaning accessory comprises a further rotatable cleaning brush seated within the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         12 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 11  wherein the rotatable cleaning bar comprises a first end arranged at a side of the housing and the further rotatable cleaning brush is mounted to the first end. 
     
     
         13 . The cleaning accessory according to  claim 12  wherein the further rotatable cleaning brush comprises a body and at least part of the body is arranged to project through the side of the housing to mount to the first end of the rotatable cleaning bar. 
     
     
         14 . A cleaning accessory for a vacuum cleaner comprising:
 a housing;   a rotatable cleaning brush having at least one flexible cleaning element projecting outwards from a side of the housing and the at least one flexible cleaning element is configured to rotate and engage with a surface to be cleaned; and   a rotatable cleaning bar rotatably mounted within the housing and the rotatable cleaning brush is coupled to the rotatable cleaning bar;   wherein at least a portion of the rotatable cleaning brush is seated within the rotatable cleaning bar,   wherein the rotatable cleaning brush comprises a body which comprises a conical engagement surface, and wherein the rotatable cleaning bar comprises a reciprocal engagement recess and the conical engagement surface is configured to be seated within the reciprocal engagement recess when the rotatable cleaning brush is coupled to the rotatable cleaning bar.