Cleaning heads and methods of use

Abstract

Cleaning heads for extracting liquid from a surface and methods of use are disclosed herein. A cleaning head may include a head body and/or a neck portion that define an internal chamber. A vacuum hose can couple to an opening into the internal chamber. A bottom wall of the head body can be positioned against the surface from which liquid is to be extracted. The bottom wall defines a floor of the internal chamber, a plurality of suction holes into the internal chamber, and a plurality of ridges and a plurality of depressions disposed on an outer surface of the bottom wall. The depressions form vacuum chambers against the surface as suction is applied through the suction holes. An upper wall defines a top of the internal chamber. A sight portion allows visibility of liquid and other material extracted and/or drawn into the vacuum hose.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cleaning head for extracting liquid from a surface, the cleaning head comprising:
 an internal chamber;   an opening configured to couple to a conduit to a vacuum machine, the opening in fluid communication with the internal chamber;   a bottom wall configured to be positioned against a surface from which a liquid is to be extracted, the bottom wall defining a floor of the internal chamber and defining a plurality of holes through the bottom wall into the internal chamber, the bottom wall further defining a plurality of ridges and a plurality of depressions disposed on an outer surface of the bottom wall; and   an upper wall that is continuous from the bottom wall to the opening and defining a top of the internal chamber.   
     
     
         2 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ridges and plurality of depressions are arranged as rings of progressively increasing diameter. 
     
     
         3 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ridges and plurality of depressions are arranged as a grid pattern. 
     
     
         4 . A cleaning head of  claim 3 , wherein a depression of the plurality of depressions defines a four-sided pyramid-shaped recession away from one or more adjacent ridges of the plurality of ridges. 
     
     
         5 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings through the bottom wall are disposed in the plurality of depressions. 
     
     
         6 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of openings through the bottom wall are disposed at apices of the plurality of ridges. 
     
     
         7 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the upper wall includes threads adjacent to and around the opening to enable coupling of the cleaning head to the conduit to the vacuum machine. 
     
     
         8 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , further comprising a neck portion configured to couple the opening to the conduit to the vacuum machine. 
     
     
         9 . A cleaning head of  claim 8 , wherein the neck portion comprises a sight portion configured to allow a user visibility into a lumen of the neck portion to view the liquid being extracted from the surface and taken into the conduit to the vacuum machine. 
     
     
         10 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the upper wall comprises a sight portion configured to allow a user visibility into the internal chamber of the cleaning head to view the liquid being extracted from the surface and directed toward the conduit to the vacuum machine. 
     
     
         11 . A cleaning head of  claim 10 , wherein the sight portion comprises a upper conical portion of the upper wall and defines a conical region of the inner chamber, the conical region of the inner chamber configured to direct extracted material toward the conduit to the vacuum machine. 
     
     
         12 . A cleaning head of  claim 10 , wherein the sight portion comprises threads configured to couple to threads of the lower portion of the upper wall of cleaning head body. 
     
     
         13 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom wall and a lower portion of the upper wall comprise a circular portion that has a circumference within a plane configured to be positioned during use parallel to the surface from which the liquid is extracted. 
     
     
         14 . A cleaning head of  claim 1 , further comprising a liquid injection system configured to dispense liquid from one or more ports of the cleaning head onto the surface from which the liquid is extracted. 
     
     
         15 . A cleaning head of  claim 14 , the liquid injection system comprising:
 a liquid supply hose to convey liquid from a liquid source to the cleaning head;   a control valve coupled to the liquid supply hose and configured to control passage of liquid from the liquid supply hose;   liquid injection ports in fluid communication with the liquid supply hose and configured to convey liquid from the liquid supply hose to the outer surface of the bottom wall of the head body to dispense onto the surface from which the liquid is extracted; and   an activator to activate the control valve and activate the liquid injection system.   
     
     
         16 . A cleaning head of  claim 15 , wherein the liquid injection ports are disposed on the plurality of ridges on the outer surface of the bottom wall. 
     
     
         17 . A cleaning head of  claim 15 , further comprising a plurality of distribution lines coupled to the liquid supply hose and disposed within depressions on an inner surface of the bottom wall at the floor of the internal chamber, the distribution lines comprising tubular members configured to convey liquid from the liquid supply hose to the liquid injection ports. 
     
     
         18 . A cleaning head of  claim 14 , wherein the liquid supply hose of the liquid injection system enters the cleaning head from the conduit to the vacuum machine and through the opening into the internal chamber. 
     
     
         19 . A cleaning head of  claim 14 , wherein the liquid supply hose of the liquid injection system enters the cleaning head through a port in the upper wall of the cleaning head, the port disposed lateral to the opening into the internal chamber. 
     
     
         20 . A method of extracting liquid from a surface, comprising:
 obtaining a cleaning head configured to extract liquid from a surface, the cleaning head having an internal chamber and comprising:
 an opening in fluid communication with the internal chamber and configured to couple a conduit to a vacuum machine to the internal chamber and transfer suction from the vacuum machine to the internal chamber; 
 a bottom wall defining a floor of the internal chamber and a plurality of openings through the bottom wall and into the internal chamber, the bottom wall further defining a plurality of ridges and depressions on the bottom wall; and 
 an upper wall that is continuous from the bottom wall to the opening and defining a top of the internal chamber; 
   coupling a cleaning head to a conduit to a vacuum machine;   positioning the bottom wall against the surface from which the liquid is to be extracted; and   applying suction from the plurality of openings through the bottom wall to the surface to extract liquid from the surface.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the cleaning head further comprises a sight portion configured to allow visibility into the internal chamber of the cleaning head to view the liquid being extracted from the surface as the liquid is directed toward the conduit to the vacuum machine, wherein the method further comprises:
 viewing the liquid through the sight portion as the liquid is extracted from the surface to confirm the suction is being applied to the surface.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 applying suction from the plurality of openings to the surface until only a nominal quantity of liquid is being extracted from the surface.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21 , further comprising:
 coupling an adapter to the opening, the adapter configured to couple the conduit to the vacuum machine having a different diameter than a diameter of the opening.