Upright floor surface treating apparatus

Abstract

In a vacuum cleaner which is an example of an upright floor surface treating apparatus, a suction nozzle is provided forward relative to a lower portion of a body section such that an angle of a lower surface (Su) is changed, and a handle is attached to an upper portion of the body section. A steering wheel which determines a movement direction (M) is provided relative to the lower portion of the body section, and the handle and the steering wheel are coupled together by means of a steering coupling section including a handle shaft, a steering wheel adjustment shaft and a rotation transmission section. In this configuration, without using a complicated configuration, a direction of the suction nozzle can be easily changed without moving the entire body section.

1 . An upright floor surface treating apparatus comprising:
 a columnar body section;   a floor surface treating section having a lower surface facing a floor surface which is a treated target and mounted to a lower portion of the body section;   a holding section provided at an upper portion of the body section and held by a user;   a steering wheel which is provided on the lower portion of the body section in a location at which the steering wheel is able to contact the floor surface and determines a movement direction of the floor surface treating section, according to its angle; and   a steering coupling section which is provided in the body section between the holding section and the steering wheel and changes the angle of the steering wheel according to a manipulation of the holding section, independently of the body section and the floor surface treating section,
 wherein the steering wheel is provided with a cover member covering the steering wheel from above; and a plate-shaped stopper is provided at a front portion of the cover member such that the stopper extends forward relative to the cover member. 
   
     
     
         2 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the steering coupling section includes:   a rotary shaft rotatably mounted to the body section, the holding section being fastened to an upper end of the rotary shaft; and   a rotation transmission section for coupling a lower end of the rotary shaft to the steering wheel to change the angle of the steering wheel according to a rotational position of the rotary shaft.   
     
     
         3 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 2 ,
 wherein the steering coupling section further includes:   a gear mechanism or a joint mechanism coupled to the lower end of the rotary shaft; and   a second rotary shaft coupled at an upper end thereof to the gear mechanism or the joint mechanism and coupled at a lower end thereof to the rotation transmission section;   wherein the holding section fastened to the upper end of the rotary shaft is positioned in a forward location in the movement direction relative to the body section.   
     
     
         4 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the steering wheel includes a plurality of steering wheels; and   wherein the plurality of steering wheels are arranged in one row along a direction perpendicular to the movement direction of the floor surface treating section.   
     
     
         5 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the rotation transmission section includes at least:   a cam member fastened at one end thereof to the lower end of the rotary shaft; and   an arm member for coupling the other end of the cam member to the steering wheel.   
     
     
         6 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 5 ,
 wherein the steering wheel is provided with a cover member supporting a rolling shaft of the steering wheel with the cover member covering the steering wheel from above; and   wherein the arm member couples a forward portion or a rearward portion of the cover member in the movement direction to the other end of the cam member.   
     
     
         7 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the steering coupling section includes:   a wheel angle adjusting section for adjusting the angle of the steering wheel in response to an electric signal received as an input; and   an angle adjusting signal generating section for converting a manipulation of the holding section into the electric signal input to the wheel angle adjusting section.   
     
     
         8 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein the steering wheel is mounted to the body section in such a manner that an outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel is apart from the floor surface with the body section being in an upright state, while the outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel is in contact with the floor surface with the body section being in a slanted state in which the body section is slanted in a rearward direction in the movement direction, with respect to the upright state.   
     
     
         9 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 , comprising:
 a treating section support shaft provided at the lower portion of the body section to support the floor surface treating section such that the floor surface treating section is pivotable in a direction to change an angle of the lower surface with respect to an extending direction of the body section; wherein   the steering wheel is provided at the lower portion of the body section such that the steering wheel is positioned rearward in the movement direction, relative to the floor surface treating section.   
     
     
         10 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 4 ,
 wherein the steering wheel has a shape in which an outer peripheral surface thereof is entirely flat or a peripheral portion of the outer peripheral surface protrudes more than a center portion thereof.   
     
     
         11 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 ,
 wherein at least an outer peripheral surface of the steering wheel is made of an elastic material.   
     
     
         12 . The upright floor surface treating apparatus according to  claim 1 , being a vacuum cleaner.