Abstract: A wet/dry vacuum cleaner including a tank for the collection of liquid, an inlet socket for connection to a suction head, a cover for closing the top of the tank, and a centrifugal vacuum blower mounted on the cover with an axial air inlet opening to the interior of the tank. A solid matter filter is located in the tank and covers the axial air inlet to the blower. The unit includes a float valve assembly that utilizes an annular seal gasket secured to the bottom of the cover and a bowl-shaped float suspended in the tank below the gasket and having an upwardly facing annular rim adapted to sealingly engage the gasket. The float is shaped to define a downwardly extending recess adapted to surround the filter element so that when the liquid level in the tank reaches a predetermined level, the float is buoyed upwardly until its annular rim engages the seal gasket to interrupt the flow of air to the blower inlet.

Abstract: An automatic floor scrubbing machine provided with a mopping device in the form of a trailing squeegee having a pivotable squeegee bar with adjustable wheels. The adjustable wheels a spring biased toward the floor and are maintained at a certain level above the floor by means of a spring. The trailing squeegee is constrained to follow the movement of the scrubbing machine when it turns without drifting sideways.

Abstract: A high speed floor burnishing machine in which fine particles generated by the burnishing action are confined, having a burnishing disc which is completely enclosed in a housing. The housing has a peripheral domed flange terminating in a sponge rubber skirt in contact with the floor, and is mounted to float in response to unevenness in the floor level. The weight of the housing compresses the skirt to the extent of 0.19 to 0.25 pounds per linear inch of skirt circumference to seal the enclosure. In one form of the invention the housing floats on a pair of sleeves surrounding bolts screwed into the base of the machine. In another form the housing is suspended from a flexible diaphragm surrounding the drive shaft.