Floor cleaning machine

Abstract

A floor cleaning machine, which comprises a chassis which supports in a lower region at least one cylindrical brush with a substantially horizontal axis, which is functionally connected to drive elements. The cylindrical brush has at least one coupling element which can be detachably engaged by an attachment element connected to the drive elements. The coupling element comprises an annular body which defines axially a fastening seat for the attachment element. The attachment element comprises a movement head which can be actuated by the drive elements with a rotary motion about a rotation axis and can be coupled detachably with the fastening seat, for the rotary entrainment of the cylindrical brush by the movement head about the rotation axis, the movement head comprises expandable engagement means which are adapted to pass between a retracted position and an expanded position, in which they are spaced apart from the rotation axis.

1 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . A floor cleaning machine, comprising a chassis which is configured to move on a floor and supports in a lower region at least one cylindrical brush with a substantially horizontal axis which is functionally connected to drive means for a rotary actuation of said cylindrical brush about an axis thereof, said cylindrical brush having at least one coupling element which can be detachably engaged by an attachment element connected to said drive means, said coupling element comprising an annular body which is fixed coaxially to the axis of said cylindrical brush and defines axially a fastening seat for said attachment element, said attachment element comprising a movement head which can be actuated by said drive means with a rotary motion about a rotation axis and can be coupled detachably with said fastening seat, for rotary entrainment of said cylindrical brush by said movement head about said rotation axis, wherein said movement head comprises expandable engagement means which are adapted to pass between a retracted position, in which they are brought closer to said rotation axis, in order to allow the insertion of said movement head into said fastening seat, and an expanded position, in which they are spaced apart from said rotation axis, in order to allow said expandable engagement means to engage at least one abutment region defined in said annular body, for the rotary entrainment of said cylindrical brush by said movement head. 
     
     
         19 . The machine according to  claim 18 , wherein said expandable engagement means can move between said expanded position and said retracted position, in contrast with or by virtue of the action of elastic means. 
     
     
         20 . The machine according to  claim 18 , wherein in said annular body there are at least two distinct abutment regions which can be engaged selectively by said expandable engagement means according to a direction of rotation of said movement head about said rotation axis. 
     
     
         21 . The machine according to  claim 18 , wherein, with said movement head inserted in said fastening seat, one or another of said at least two abutment regions can be engaged automatically by said expandable engagement means in said expanded position, as a consequence of a starting of the rotation of said movement head about said rotation axis. 
     
     
         22 . The machine according to  claim 18 , wherein said movement head comprises a central body which can rotate about said rotation axis, said expandable engagement means comprising at least one engagement tooth which is supported by said central body, said at least one engagement tooth being integral with said central body in rotation about said rotation axis and being movable with respect to said central body, in contrast with or by virtue of the action of said elastic means, for a variation of its protrusion from the lateral surface of said central body. 
     
     
         23 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said central body can be inserted in said fastening seat with an insertion end thereof arranged along said rotation axis, said at least one engagement tooth having a substantially longitudinal extension with respect to said rotation axis and being connected, with an end thereof which faces toward said insertion end of said central body, to said central body so that the engagement tooth can oscillate about a respective oscillation axis which is substantially perpendicular to a plane that passes through said rotation axis and through a longitudinal axis of said engagement tooth. 
     
     
         24 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said at least one engagement tooth can oscillate about the respective oscillation axis in order to pass, in contrast with said elastic means, from a coupling position, assumed with said expandable engagement means to said expanded position, in which the end thereof that is opposite to the end that is connected so that it can oscillate to said central body is spaced apart from said rotation axis, in order to allow engagement thereof in said at least one abutment region, to an insertion position, assumed with said expandable engagement means in said retracted position, in which the end thereof that is opposite to the end that is connected so that it can oscillate to said central body is brought closer to said rotation axis. 
     
     
         25 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said central body has a substantially axially symmetrical shape with respect to said rotation axis with a lateral surface that extends substantially circumferentially around said rotation axis. 
     
     
         26 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said engagement tooth is accommodated in a respective longitudinal groove defined in a lateral surface of said central body. 
     
     
         27 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said at least one abutment region defines at least one abutment wall which is arranged on a radial plane with respect to the axis of said annular body and is designed to be engaged in abutment by at least one portion of said at least one engagement tooth in said coupling position, for rotary entrainment of said annular body by said movement head. 
     
     
         28 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein in said annular body there are, for said at least one engagement tooth, at least two distinct abutment regions, which can be engaged selectively by said at least one engagement tooth according to the direction of rotation of said movement head about said rotation axis. 
     
     
         29 . The machine according to  claim 22 , wherein said expandable engagement means comprise at least one pair of engagement teeth which are arranged in mutually diametrically opposite positions with respect to said rotation axis, at least one respective abutment region being defined in said annular body for each one of said engagement teeth. 
     
     
         30 . The machine according to  claim 29 , wherein in said annular body there are, for each one of said engagement teeth, at least two respective abutment regions, each one of which can be engaged selectively by one of said engagements teeth according to the direction of rotation of said movement head. 
     
     
         31 . The machine according to  claim 30 , wherein the two abutment regions for each engagement tooth have a shape structure that is substantially mutually symmetrical with respect to a radial plane that passes through the axis of said annular body. 
     
     
         32 . The machine according to  claim 31 , wherein each abutment region comprises a respective accommodation seat for a relevant engagement tooth which is open toward the axis of said annular body, the accommodation seat of each abutment region being delimited radially by a resting surface for the relevant engagement tooth which extends, for at least a part thereof, progressively away from the axis of said annular body proceeding in the direction of rotation about the axis of said annular body that corresponds to the direction of rotation of the movement head that produces the engagement of the corresponding abutment region by the relevant engagement tooth, said resting surface being slideably engageable by the face of the relevant engagement tooth that faces away from said rotation axis, in order to allow the progressive transition of the relevant engagement tooth from the insertion position to the coupling position, by virtue of the action of said elastic means, upon the rotation of said movement head, in the direction of rotation that produces the engagement of the corresponding abutment region by the relevant engagement tooth, with said movement head inserted in said fastening seat. 
     
     
         33 . The machine according to  claim 32 , wherein the resting surface of the accommodation seat of each abutment region is connected, at the end thereof that faces toward the direction of rotation that produces the engagement of the corresponding abutment region by the relevant engagement tooth, to the abutment wall of the corresponding abutment region, the abutment wall of each abutment region facing away from the direction of rotation of said movement head that produces the engagement of the corresponding abutment region by the relevant engagement tooth and being engageable by contact by the side flank of the relevant engagement tooth that faces toward the direction of rotation of said movement head that produces the engagement of the corresponding abutment region by the relevant engagement tooth. 
     
     
         34 . The machine according to  claim 32 , wherein the accommodation seats of the two abutment regions for each engagement tooth are mutually connected by at least one connecting segment which has a shape that is adapted to allow an automatic transition of the relevant engagement tooth from one of said two abutment regions to the other as a consequence of the starting of the rotation in one direction or in the other of said movement head about said rotation axis, with said movement head inserted in said fastening seat.