Surface cleaner

Abstract

A wet surface cleaner operable to draw liquid and debris from a surface to be cleaned into a recovery tank. The recovery tank includes a cover that is removable from the recovery tank. where the cover is capable of surrounding at least a portion of a tank outlet.

1 . A surface cleaner comprising:
 a body;   a handle positioned on the body;   a suction inlet;   an air exhaust;   a suction source configured to generate a suction airflow along an airpath between the suction inlet and the air exhaust;   a recovery tank along the airpath in communication with the suction inlet and the suction source;   the recovery tank including
 an upper portion, 
 a cover removably connected to the upper portion, the recovery tank further including 
 a lower portion, 
 side walls connecting the upper portion and the lower portion, 
 a tank inlet in communication with the suction inlet, and 
 an outlet duct within the recovery tank in communication with the air exhaust, wherein the outlet duct extends from the lower portion toward the upper portion, and wherein the cover forms an outlet chamber adjacent the outlet duct when the cover is connected to the recovery tank. 
   
     
     
         2 . The surface cleaner of  claim 1 , further comprising a supply tank in communication with a distributor. 
     
     
         3 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the outlet duct includes a tank outlet in the upper portion, the tank outlet being in the airpath between the recovery tank and the outlet duct. 
     
     
         4 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the tank inlet includes an inlet chamber formed by inlet walls where the inlet walls are a part of the recovery tank. 
     
     
         5 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 4 , wherein the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber are separated by at least one of a cover wall and an inlet wall. 
     
     
         6 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the outlet duct is surrounded on 3 sides by the cover. 
     
     
         7 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the outlet duct is surrounded on 4 sides by the cover. 
     
     
         8 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the outlet duct extends above an outlet sidewall of the recovery tank. 
     
     
         9 . The surface cleaner of  claim 8 , wherein the outlet duct extends between 1 and 20 millimeters above the outlet sidewall. 
     
     
         10 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein a top portion of the outlet duct is accessible from the top when the cover is removed from the recovery tank. 
     
     
         11 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 4 , wherein the lower portion of the recovery tank includes a baffle wall positioned between the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber. 
     
     
         12 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the recovery tank includes a front portion and a back portion. 
     
     
         13 . The surface cleaner of  claim 12 , wherein the tank inlet is positioned in one of the front portion and the back portion and the outlet duct is positioned in the other of the front portion and the back portion. 
     
     
         14 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein a baffle wall is positioned between the tank inlet and the tank outlet. 
     
     
         15 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 4 , wherein the inlet chamber and the outlet chamber are formed in the recovery tank. 
     
     
         16 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 1 , wherein the recovery tank includes a second tank inlet in communication with the suction inlet. 
     
     
         17 . The surface cleaner of  claim 16 , wherein the tank inlet and the second tank inlet are positioned such that liquid and debris flows generally tangentially to the air flow through an inlet duct. 
     
     
         18 . The surface cleaner according to  claim 16 , wherein the inlet duct includes a flow splitter.