Cleaning implement

Abstract

A cleaning implement including a foot, a motor, and an eccentric mass. The foot has a foot plate and an oscillation plate movably coupled to the foot plate. The motor is coupled to at least one of the foot plate and the oscillation plate. The motor rotates about a motor axis extending at a non-perpendicular transverse angle relative to the surface. The eccentric mass is coupled to the motor to generate an oscillating force between the foot plate and the oscillation plate upon operation of the motor. The oscillating force has a planar component parallel to the oscillation plate and a perpendicular component perpendicular to the oscillation plate.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cleaning implement for cleaning a surface, the cleaning implement comprising:
 a foot having a foot plate and an oscillation plate movably coupled to the foot plate;   a motor coupled to at least one of the foot plate and the oscillation plate, the motor including a rotor rotatable about a motor axis extending at a non-perpendicular transverse angle relative to the surface when the foot is supported upon the surface; and   an eccentric mass coupled to the rotor to generate an oscillating force between the foot plate and the oscillation plate upon rotation of the rotor, the oscillating force having a planar component parallel to the oscillation plate and a perpendicular component perpendicular to the oscillation plate.   
     
     
         2 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning implement further comprises a vacuum assembly comprising
 a suction motor and impeller configured to generate suction to move dirty air through a dirty air inlet,   a separator configured to separate the dirty air into debris and clean air,   a dust bin configured to collect the debris, and   a clean air outlet configured to outlet clean air to the surroundings.   
     
     
         3 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning implement further comprises a sprayer assembly comprising
 a solution tank configured to store cleaning solution,   an outlet nozzle, and   a sprayer pump in fluid communication with the solution tank and the outlet nozzle, the sprayer pump configured to pump cleaning solution from the solution tank and out the outlet nozzle.   
     
     
         4 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the angle is between 10 and 20 degrees from perpendicular relative to the surface. 
     
     
         5 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the planar component is parallel to the surface and the perpendicular component is perpendicular to the surface. 
     
     
         6 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the motor is coupled to the oscillation plate. 
     
     
         7 . The cleaning implement of  claim 6 , wherein the motor is coupled to a motor mount, and the motor mount is coupled to the oscillation plate. 
     
     
         8 . The cleaning implement of  claim 7 , wherein the motor mount includes a mount surface provided at the non-perpendicular transverse angle, and the motor rests upon the mount surface. 
     
     
         9 . The cleaning implement of  claim 1 , wherein the eccentric mass defines a center of mass offset from the motor axis. 
     
     
         10 . A cleaning implement for cleaning a surface, the cleaning implement comprising:
 a foot having
 a foot plate including a foot plate partition defining a foot plate slot extending transverse to the surface, 
 an oscillation plate including an oscillation plate partition defining an oscillation plate slot extending transverse to the surface, 
 a pin configured to inhibit decoupling of the oscillation plate from the foot plate, the pin being coupled to the foot plate partition with at least a portion of the pin positioned within the oscillation plate slot, 
   a motor coupled to at least one of the foot plate and the oscillation plate, the motor including a rotor rotating about a motor axis;   an eccentric mass coupled to the rotor to generate an oscillating force between the foot plate and the oscillation plate upon operation of the motor.   
     
     
         11 . The cleaning implement of  claim 10 , wherein the foot plate includes a second foot plate partition, and the oscillation plate partition is sandwiched between the foot plate partition and the second foot plate partition. 
     
     
         12 . The cleaning implement of  claim 11 , wherein second foot plate partition includes a second foot plate slot extending transverse to the surface, and the pin includes a second end coupled to the arm opposite the end, the second end being coupled to the second foot plate partition. 
     
     
         13 . The cleaning implement of  claim 12 , wherein the end includes a planar portion which engages the foot plate partition. 
     
     
         14 . The cleaning implement of  claim 10 , wherein the foot has a plurality of pins. 
     
     
         15 . The cleaning implement of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of pins are arranged in a rectangular array when viewed perpendicular from the surface. 
     
     
         16 . The cleaning implement of  claim 10 , wherein the pin is elastic. 
     
     
         17 . The cleaning implement of  claim 10 , wherein the foot plate further comprises a foot plate ball receiver, the oscillation plate further comprises an oscillation plate ball receiver, and the foot further comprises a ball received by the foot plate ball receiver and the oscillation plate ball receiver. 
     
     
         18 . The cleaning implement of  claim 17 , wherein the ball is elastic. 
     
     
         19 . The cleaning implement of  claim 17 , further comprising a sleeve surrounding the ball, the sleeve being positioned between the ball and both the foot plate ball receiver and the oscillation plate ball receiver. 
     
     
         20 . The cleaning implement of  claim 17 , wherein the foot plate comprises a plurality of foot plate ball receivers, the oscillation plate comprises a plurality of oscillation plate ball receivers, and the foot comprises a plurality of balls. 
     
     
         21 . The cleaning implement of  claim 20 , wherein the plurality of balls are arranged in a rectangular array when viewed perpendicular from the surface. 
     
     
         22 . The cleaning implement of  claim 10 , wherein the pin defines an end coupled to the foot plate partition and an arm coupled to the end, the arm being received in the oscillation plate slot. 
     
     
         23 . The cleaning implement of  claim 22 , wherein the oscillation plate slot is larger than the pin to define a gap between the arm and the oscillation plate slot, the gap being adjustable in size as the oscillation plate moves relative to the foot plate. 
     
     
         24 . The cleaning implement of  claim 23 , wherein the gap is adjustable in size between zero and non-zero values. 
     
     
         25 . The cleaning implement of  claim 24 , wherein when the gap is a zero value, the pin contacts the oscillation plate partition to inhibit decoupling of the oscillation plate from the foot plate. 
     
     
         26 . A cleaning implement for cleaning a surface, the cleaning implement comprising: a vacuum assembly comprising
 a suction motor and impeller configured to generate suction to move dirty air through a dirty air inlet,   a separator configured to separate the dirty air into debris and clean air,   a dust bin configured to collect the debris, and   a clean air outlet configured to outlet clean air to the surroundings; and a sprayer assembly comprising   a solution tank configured to store cleaning solution,   an outlet nozzle, and   a sprayer pump in fluid communication with the solution tank and the outlet nozzle, the sprayer pump configured to pump cleaning solution from the solution tank and out the outlet nozzle; and   a user-actuated vacuum switch configured to actuate the suction motor,   a user-actuated sprayer switch configured to actuate the sprayer pump, and
 wherein upon simultaneous actuation of the sprayer switch and the vacuum switch, the suction motor is deactivated. 
   
     
     
         27 . The cleaning implement of  claim 26 , wherein the suction motor will not be operated until the user actuates the vacuum switch to operate the suction motor. 
     
     
         28 . The cleaning implement of  claim 26 , further comprising a vibration assembly including a foot having
 a foot plate and an oscillation plate movably coupled to the foot plate,   a vibration motor coupled to at least one of the foot plate and the oscillation plate,   an eccentric mass coupled to the motor to generate an oscillating force between the foot plate and the oscillation plate when the vibration motor is operated; and   a user-actuated vibration switch configured to operate the vibration motor.   
     
     
         29 . The cleaning implement of  claim 28 , wherein the vibration switch is configured to operate the vibration motor to generate the oscillating force while the sprayer switch is actuated and the sprayer pump pumps cleaning solution out of the outlet nozzle. 
     
     
         30 . The cleaning implement of  claim 29 , further comprising lights which are operated upon actuating either the vacuum switch or the sprayer switch. 
     
     
         31 . The cleaning implement of  claim 26 , wherein the vacuum switch and the sprayer switch are each electrically coupled to at least one electrical component on a common printed circuit board, and the common printed circuit board is configured to selectively supply power from a power supply to the corresponding suction motor or sprayer pump based on operation of the vacuum switch and sprayer switch.