WO2013083551A1

WO2013083551A1 - A multifunctional cleaning trolley

Info

Publication number: WO2013083551A1
Application number: PCT/EP2012/074336
Authority: WO
Inventors: Edilberto MALDONADO
Original assignee: Maldonado Edilberto
Priority date: 2011-12-05
Filing date: 2012-12-04
Publication date: 2013-06-13

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of professional cleaning machines and the use thereof, and especially to a multifunctional cleaning trolley comprising a plurality of cleaning devices and functions, thereby improving the quality of the cleaning operation itself while at the same time the duration of a cleaning operation is minimized. Different operational units or functions being of the same nature in the respective plurality of integrated cleaning devices and functions are shared between the respective devices and functions.

Description

A MULTIFUNCTIONAL CLEANING TROLLEY

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of professional cleaning machines and the use thereof, and especially to a multifunctional cleaning trolley comprising a plurality of cleaning devices and cleaning functions, thereby improving the quality of the cleaning operation itself while at the same time the duration of cleaning operations are reduced.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cleaning is a major part of our life providing a better, healthy and more attractive environment in our homes, at our work places and in public areas. In fact cleaning is a major business and there is an estimate that several million m² of floor is cleaned every day worldwide.

Equipment and logistics of the cleaning operation is a major challenge for the professional cleaning industry. The quality of the result, and to be able to provide cleaning to a certain defined standard, and still be able to compete and to make money, is a challenge. Cleaning has long been associated with low paid unskilled personal. However, the demands on the quality of the cleaning, the use of different chemicals etc. has for a long time made it necessary to have skilled persons and therefore better paid personal in the cleaning industry. Wrong cleaning procedures and wrong chemicals can harm the surface materials, for example on floors, which can imply that rehabilitation and replacement of materials must take place more often. Further, damaged surfaces and scratches may provide preferred conditions for increased growth of bacteria. To maintain profitability it is a trend to develop robots that can provide a cost effective supplement to the traditional cleaner. However, manual cleaning operations is still necessary, for example when cleaning the surface of an office desk etc.

In prior art there are a plurality of apparatus and machines that can help improve the quality of the cleaning at the same time as the physical stress the cleaner experience is decreased. For example, in professional cleaning there is usually a cleaning trolley comprising a cleaning brush, a bucket with water, soap and chemicals, different clothes and a garbage can, etc. In an office environment the cleaner may pushe the cleaning trolley from one office to another through interconnecting hallways for example. The cleaner stops in front of each

respective office and may empty the trash can in the office, clean the office desks and wash the floors etc. If a vacuum cleaner is necessary, the cleaner may need to walk in the hallway to the last location the vacuum cleaner was left, carry or push the vacuum cleaner back to the location the vacuum cleaner now has to be used on, and the cleaning continues but the operation of collecting the machine and then perform the vacuum cleaning is time consuming. When the offices are done, the hallway has to be cleaned. It is important to note that if the hallway is cleaned for example in parallel with the cleaning of the offices it would imply that the cleaner walking back to collect the vacuum cleaner would cross over already cleaned surfaces and probably contaminate the recently cleaned surfaces again. Therefore, it is a challenge to optimize the sequence of respective cleaning operations and a sequence of walking directions and destinations from one room to another when performing the cleaning. Optimization of these aspects would be beneficial from an economical point of view, but it would also be beneficial for the cleaner that the work would be performed quicker thereby reducing some of the known stress factors cleaners are subject to.

In general, there exist typically scrubbing machines, water suction machines, floor polishing machines, carpet cleaning machines, low pressure containers for dispensing chemicals on surfaces, steam cleaning machines and a combination machine combining a floor cleaning machine with a water suction machine, in addition to the above mentioned cleaning trolley and vacuum cleaner.

CN 200951433 Y discloses a multifunctional machine comprising three functions. One function is cleaning with water; another is cleaning with chemicals; and a third one is cleaning with steam. It is a common water tank in the machine and a steam generator. The water is distributed between the functional units via pipes.

Professional cleaning comprises two types of operations: 1) a daily cleaning operation, and 2) a periodic maintenance cleaning. The periodic maintenance cleaning is usually intensive and time consuming. The daily cleaning can be less intensive. The use of the different machines as listed above is related to different factors such as the size of the floors that has to be cleaned, the width and length of hallways, and it is also necessary to take into account how many sq uare meters of floor a costly machine must be used on to the make the investment in such a machine profitable. Besides the selection of machines to be used on a specific cleaning operation, it is also necessary to plan the operation, the logistics of the operation, how to move the machines and how the cleaners should perform the operation, seq uence of the operation etc. to be able to provide a cost effective cleaning of specific premises.

In a sense the different types of machines makes it difficult to achieve the planning goal of an effective use of machines and cleaners. As described with the example with the vacuum cleaner above, the operation of walking and finding different machines, transporting them to the different points of operations can be demanding in time and stressful for the cleaner doing the cleaning job in add ition to contaminate already cleaned surfaces if operations are performed in parallel .

Therefore, there is a need for an improved multifunctional cleaning apparatus that can simplify the cleaning operation not only through the multifunctional character of the machine itself but wherein the multifunctional machine can have an impact on how the cleaning operation is actually performed .

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art.

In particular, it may be seen as an object of the present invention to provide a multifunctional cleaning trolley that solves the above mentioned problems of the prior art, wherein a plurality of respective functions and/or cleaning devices are being integrated into a standard cleaning trolley, thereby improving the quality of the cleaning operation itself while at the same time the duration of cleaning operations are minimized . It is further an object of the present invention to reduce or eliminate the need for periodic maintenance cleaning.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, the above described object and several other objects are intended to be obtained in a first aspect of the invention by providing a plurality of cleaning functions and/or cleaning devices being integrated into a common cleaning trolley wherein common operational units or operational functions are shared between different respective cleaning functions or cleaning devices, for example like a common vacuum source and a common water source, a common waste bin etc.

The invention is particularly, but not exclusively, advantageous for obtaining a multifunctional cleaning trolley comprising a conventional set of cleaning tools, wherein the multifunctional cleaning trolley further comprises a plurality of respective cleaning devices and/or functions integrated into the multifunctional cleaning trolley, wherein operational units or functions arranged in the respective plurality of integrated cleaning devices that are of the same nature are shared between the respective plurality of devices and functions, wherein at least one of the shared functions is a common vacuum source being in communication with respective cleaning devices and/or functions via common pipes connectable to vacuum connection joints of the respective cleaning devices and/or functions, wherein pipes are connectable in one end to debris collecting openings of the respective cleaning devices and/or functions and in another end to a squeegee assembly located on a bottom surface of the cleaning trolley, wherein the squeegee assembly comprises an adaptable squeegee wherein a stiffness of the adaptable squeegee may be adapted to respective material features of a floor being cleaned and/or which device and/or functions that are operational in the cleaning trolley.

The individual aspects of the present invention may each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the following description with reference to the described embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The multifunctional cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figures. The figures illustrates one way of implementing the present invention and is not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.

Figure 1 illustrates some typical prior art cleaning machines. Figure 2 illustrates an example of embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a dismantled assembly of the example depicted in figure 2. Figure 4 illustrates an example of floor layout of an office area.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of movement of an combined cleaning machine according to the present invention.

Figure 6 illustrates a cross section of an example of embodiment of an adaptable squeegee according to the present invention.

Figure 7 illustrates an arrangement of a squeegee as illustrated in figure 6.

Figure 8 illustrates an arrangement with a common vacuum source according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is to be interpreted in the light of the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms "comprising" or "comprises" do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as "a" or "an" etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.

Figure 1 illustrates some examples of prior art machines used in professional cleaning industry. Typically, these machines are designed and used for special functions. For example, the carpet cleaner machine in figure lc is such a typical machine. A water suction machine is illustrated in figure lb. Figure If illustrates a typical cleaning trolley in prior art used for manual cleaning tasks performed by a cleaner. The cleaning trolley is usually equipped with a garbage bin, a water bucket, cleaning chemicals, cleaning brush etc. As readily understood, a cleaner may operate all the machinery including the cleaning trolley, but of course not on the same time.

During a cleaning operation of a typical office environment the cleaner may walk from one office to another through an interconnecting hallway or a path in an open office space. Therefore the cleaner may need to walk back and forth to collect the different equipment from the position the equipment was last used. For example, it is common to use a vacuum cleaner before using a floor brush with water and soap. When an office is cleaned the cleaner will walk with the vacuum cleaner to a next office, use the vacuum cleaner and then walk back to the other office the cleaning trolley was left and then walk back to the office and wash the floors, for example. The cleaner may start with emptying garbage bins but can then spill some dust on the floor the cleaner just recently has cleaned with the vacuum cleaner. Further, if the hallway floor has been washed the cleaner will walk back on cleaned surfaces and drag equipment across the same newly cleaned floor surfaces.

The simple cleaning operation as described above illustrates an important issue with respect to efficient cleaning. The amount of walking done by the cleaner should be reduced significantly and cleaned surfaces should not be contaminated during further cleaning steps. One way of reducing the walking could be to use several cleaners in the same operation, for example one cleaner starting first by emptying garbage bins, a second cleaner doing the vacuum cleaning, a third washing the floors etc. One problem connected to this approach is that the example of using a plurality of people in an operation has to be performed in sequential steps, i.e. one cleaner has to wait for a cleaner in front of him to finish his part of the job before he himself can start on his part of the job. Of course there can be some overlapping in time of operations, for example when an office has been emptied of garbage the office can be vacuum cleaned while a next office upstream is emptied for garbage at the same time. However, there is still a sequential nature in the operation since it is the slowest operation that will govern the progress of the cleaning operation, and usually a cleaner that is quicker (or has less to do) must wait for another cleaner to finish before continuing with his own cleaning. However, the cost of manpower usually limits the number of people hired to do a specific cleaning job. There are of course different types of cleaning operations also. There is typically the daily routine of emptying garbage, cleaning frequently used areas etc. and there is a periodic maintenance cleaning operation. During a main cleaning or periodic operation, heavy duty chemicals and machines are usually used. The combinations of different cleaning routines are necessary to maintain a certain standard of the results and at the same time keeping the cost down. In the example of an office layout depicted in figure 4 the common area is about 867m² and the office area is about 1503m². Professional cleaning companies has standard routines to calculate the time used for cleaning this type of areas.

According to such a routine provided by one of the leading operating companies of this industry, the typical time would be 6.08 hours for an ordinary cleaning operation. A periodic maintenance cleaning operation would take much longer time. Therefore, the cost of manpower is a significant factor for providing cost effective cleaning operations. Out of this reason it is evident that using for example three cleaners to obtain a certain overlap in time of the cleaning operation as described above would still probably make this into more than 18 hours (6.08 hours point 3 cleaners) of cleaning because it is the slowest cleaning operation that governs the speed. Even if it is possible to make more effective routines it may still be impossible to get below 15 hours of work for this cleaning operation. If one for example reduces the standard of the daily cleaning routine, the periodic maintenance cleaning operation must be much more thorough, or be performed more times a year, to maintain a certain standard of the result of the cleaning.

Therefore, the challenge for an improved multifunctional cleaning apparatus is at the same time to lower the walking distance covered by a cleaner during a typical cleaning operation and at the same time provide an optimized sequence of respective cleaning steps of cleaning operations.

The inventor has realized that many prior art machines designed for special cleaning steps like the examples depicted in figure 1, is usually characterized in using water and vacuum, or water or vacuum separately. For example, the carpet cleaner, the floor scrubber and the cleaning trolley have water in common. Since it is always necessary to do manual cleaning the cleaning trolley should be part of any cleaning operation. Therefore it is within the scope of the present invention to integrate a plurality of cleaning equipment and cleaning functions in a cleaning trolley.

According to an aspect of the present invention a common vacuum source may be used to provide suction for both a vacuum cleaner and a water suction machine. However, a common vacuum source is usually not sufficient to enable a vacuum cleaner and a water suction machine to function properly. There may be

consequences for example for a squeegee design that usually are adapted to the type of floor surface and machine type to be used . For example, when water is collected from a hard floor surface a soft squeegee would be beneficial, while a hard squeegee may be preferable on carpet surfaces. Therefore, it is within the scope of the present invention to provide an adaptable squeegee design as part of a multifunctional cleaning trolley according to the present invention.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of embodiment of an adaptable squeegee. The figure illustrates a cross section of a squeegee provided for by shaping a piece of rubber into a rubber blade by bending a sheet of rubber into a U shaped body 61. Inside the U shaped body 61 of the rubber blade there is arranged a blade of steel 60 than can be lowered down into the U shaped body or be retracted from the U shaped body. In figure 6 a hydraulic pump 62 with an oil reservoir and motor on top may be used to push and lift the blade 60 up and down, as known to a person skilled in the art. In other examples of embodiments a mechanical motor driven mechanism may be used instead of an hydraulic system. When the steel blade 60 is completely down the rubber squeegee 61 may be completely stiff. When the steel blade 60 is retracted the rubber squeegee will be more and more softer dependent on how far the steel blade has been retracted. In this simple manner the rubber squeegee may be adapted to the purpose and/ or quality of the surface it is going to be used on. For example if the surface is a carpet or a floor with ceramic tiles or is made out of wood. According to an example of embodiment of the present invention, the adaptable squeegee comprises a U shaped rubber body (61), wherein a vertical oriented steel blade (60) is arranged inside the U shaped rubber body, and wherein the vertical oriented steel blade can be lowered or respectively be raised by a motor (62) located above and connected to the vertical oriented steel blade.

Figure 7 illustrates an arrangement of a squeegee, as illustrated in figure 6, on a bottom surface facing towards the floor on a cleaning trolley according to the present invention. The reference numerals 60 and 61 refer to the same functional elements as illustrated in figure 6. The squeegee is connected and supported by rods 70 in each respective end of the squeegee. At the same rods there is also attached a soft rubber curtain 71. The soft rubber curtain 71 is facing the front of the cleaning trolley, and when the cleaning trolley is moved forward the soft rubber curtain 71 meets the dirt or water first. In the space 71 between the soft rubber curtain 71 and the squeegee 61 there may be provided a vacuum from a common vacuum source. If the floor is a hard floor (tiles, wood etc.) a soft squeegee 61 would be beneficial since the soft squeegee would provide a tight sealing action towards the floor. Then the vacuum provided for in the middle section 72 is more efficient. However, if the floor is a carpet it would be beneficial to have a stiff squeegee that could seal against the bottom of the carpet.

According to an example of embodiment of the present invention, the squeegee assembly comprises a rubber curtain (71) located opposite the adaptable squeegee (61) thereby providing a middle space (72) in between the rubber curtain and the adaptable squeegee, wherein the middle space is in fluid communication with the pipes (81) being connectable to debris collecting openings of the cleaning devices or functions (84, 85, 86) of the multifunctional cleaning trolley.

An example of a common operational function and embodiment of the same is illustrated in figure 8. In this example of a cleaning trolley, a vacuum cleaner 86, a water suction machine 84, and an auxiliary vacuum machine 85 are all connected to a common vacuum source 87. The vacuum source 87 itself may comprise a fan moving air from one side of the fan to the other side as known to a person skilled in the art. Parallel pipes 82 are connected in one end to the vacuum source 87 and in another end to respective vacuum connection joints of the vacuum driven machinery 84, 85, 86. In the respective parallel pipes 82 there are arranged vents 88, 89, 90 that can be opened or closed thereby enabling vacuum, or stopping the vacuum in any corresponding associated machine 84, 85, 86. In an example of embodiment of the present invention, the common vacuum source can be respectively activated or deactivated in connectable devices or functions by an arrangement of respectively opening or closing vents (88, 89, 90) located in the respective parallel pipes (82) in between the common vacuum source and respective vacuum connection joints the parallel pipes are connectable to.

The squeegee arrangement illustrated in figure 6 and 7 may be in fluid

communication with respective associated machinery 84, 85, 86. Pipes 81 as illustrated in figure 8 may be in fluid communication with the middle section 72 between the soft rubber curtain 71 and the adaptable squeegee and in another end to debris collecting openings of the respective associated machines 84, 85, 86.

The illustrated example of machine 84 is a water suction machine wherein the vent 89 may turn on or close the suction force from the vacuum. Inside the collecting water tank there is a floating body 83 that will seal the opening towards the pipe 82 when the water tank is full.

In addition there may be an auxiliary vacuum machine 85. It is for example possible to use the vacuum force to drive auxiliary tools like a rotating scrubber The illustrated machine 86 is a vacuum cleaner with a dust collecting bag 91 which may be filled with dust collected from the middle section 72 at the bottom of the cleaning trolley if the vent 88 is opened and the vacuum source 87 is enabled. In an alternative embodiment the vacuum cleaner may optionally be equipped with a standard flexible vacuum cleaner hose with a vacuum cleaner head as known to a person skilled in the art. For example, a connectable joint may be located on an outside surface of the multifunctional cleaning trolley (or the vacuum cleaner itself) thereby providing a connection point for the optional flexible vacuum cleaner hose, thereby enabling vacuum cleaning of respective surfaces around a location of the multifunctional cleaning trolley.

A carpet cleaner machine is usually providing cleaning via an entry point under the machine itself wherein brushes and soap water is used to clean the carpet while a squeegee collects the water and soap from the carpet surface. In a cleaning trolley according to the present invention, the debris from the respective vacuum cleaner and the carpet cleaner may be collected in a common waste bin, or in separate waste bins. Both these solutions are known in prior art. However, when the vacuum cleaner and the carpet cleaner are located in the same machine (cleaning trolley) the carpet and open floor areas for example between the carpet edges and the walls of a room may be cleaned almost simultaneously. Both the respective vents 88, 89, 90 (ref. figure 8) are opened in the respective pipes 82 thereby enabling both the vacuum cleaner and the carpet cleaner. While the cleaner moves the cleaning trolley the surface beneath the cleaning trolley will be cleaned. The cleaner can at the same time, or when the cleaner stops moving the cleaning trolley, clean the part of the floor that is cleaned with the vacuum cleaner if the vacuum cleaner has an optional vacuum cleaner hose for example.

The vents 88, 89, 90 illustrated in figure 8 may be electronically operated . The operation of a vent may then be performed by a cleaner when the cleaner is switching a switch between on and off positions respectively. However, it is also within the scope of the present invention to provide vents with variable openings. With this feature it is possible to optionally vary the suction force of specific associated vacuum driven machinery 84, 85, 86. The vacuum source 87 may be providing maximum suction force, but maybe the vacuum cleaner needs less suction force if the cleaner is cleaning for example curtains via an optional flexible vacuum cleaner hose. At the same time an auxiliary vacuum machine 85 may need the maximum vacuum provided for by the vacuum source 87. In an example of embodiment of the present invention, the vents are of a type with adjustable openings, and wherein an adjustment of the openings is varying the suction force due to the vacuum generated by the common vacuum source in the respective cleaning devices or cleaning functions the respective vents are operationally connected to.

In an example of embodiment of the present invention, control and control signals are generated via a touch sensitive control panel located on a top surface of the cleaning trolley, wherein the control panel is in communication with a

programmable micro controller (not illustrated). The control panel may display symbols related to respective functions and/or machines in the specific cleaning trolley. If the cleaner touches the symbol for the vacuum cleaner for example, the vent 88 in figure 8 may be opened by a control signal issued from the controller to the vent 88. If the vent is a variable vent as discussed above, the control panel may display a variable setting of the vent opening. This can be controlled by for example moving a finger up and down along an indicator. The position of the finger on the indicator can be read by the micro controller. The position of the finger will be proportional to a specific opening of the vent, and the controller may issue a control signal wherein the amplitude of the signal is proportional to the specific setting of the opening of the vent.

It is also further within the scope of the present invention to be able to

automatically control vacuum settings. For example, if two or more vents 88, 89, 90 are opened up simultaneously, the vacuum source 87 may need to increase its performance. A controller as discussed above may detect such an event and increase the vacuum source performance. On the other hand, if a vent is closed it might be beneficial to automatically lower the performance of the vacuum source. The variation of the vacuum source may be controlled by controlling the speed of a fan in the vacuum source, for example. In an example of embodiment of the present invention, the respective devices and functions of the multifunctional cleaning trolley are configurable via control sequences being executable in a micro controller, wherein the micro controller is issuing control signals and respective adjustments of the respective devices and functions via electronic signals.

In another example of embodiment there is a touch sensitive interactive display in communication with the micro controller, wherein respective control sequences can be activated by touching an associated symbol for the respective control sequences being displayed as graphical symbols on the touch sensitive display.

For example, the common vacuum source and/or corresponding vents can be controlled via the interactive touch sensitive display by touching respective associated graphical symbols being displayed.

Further, a specific adaption of the stiffness of the adaptable squeegee is adapted to respective material features by touching graphical symbols on the interactive touch sensitive display resembling different floor materials. If the cleaning trolley accidently uses a vacuum cleaner on a floor a water suction machine usually should have been used on, the machinery may be harmed . To avoid such possible hazards it is within the scope of the present invention to have sensors sensitive to water located for example on the squeegee on a surface facing towards the middle section 72 (ref. figure 7). If the sensor detects water a signal is issued to for example the controller discussed above. If the vacuum cleaner is on, which the micro controller can remember, the micro controller can be programmed to correlate these signals and respective status of associated machines thereby shutting down a machine if necessary to avoid damage to the machine itself. In this example the controller may shut the vent 88 thereby disabling the vacuum cleaner from functioning. Then no water may enter the vacuum cleaner. Similar combinations of sensor signals and status of respective associated machines may be handled according to a preprogrammed predefined scheme. If the multifunctioning cleaning trolley comprises a vacuum cleaner, the distance the cleaner has to walk compared with the prior art solution will be significantly reduced since the cleaner does not need to walk back in the hallway to collect the vacuum cleaner from the position of its last use. Further, since the floor of the hallway may be cleaned instantly while walking with the cleaning trolley according to the present invention in the hallway, the process of cleaning involves a movement in a single direction in a sequential manner providing overlapping of cleaning steps, as readily understood by a person skilled in the art. In the example depicted in figure 5 the time calculated by the help of utilizing industry standards indicated a 6.08 hours for the cleaning of this surface. By using the same standard but applied on an example with a multifunctioning cleaning trolley according to the present invention the time has been calculated to be 3.43 hours, i.e. an improvement of 44%. Practical test performed by the inventor supports these results. In the figure 5 it is illustrated how the movement of an example of embodiment of the present invention provides an almost direct movement forward across the surface being cleaned. The significant reduction in cleaning time may be utilized to provide routine cleaning more often. When the time span between cleaning operations are reduced there will be less debris and dirt on surfaces. By performing a quality cleaning regularly the need for costly periodic main cleaning is reduced . Sometimes the main cleaning operation may be eliminated completely.

Figure 2 illustrates an example of a multifunctioning cleaning trolley according to the present invention. The cleaning trolley has the standard equipment associated with a prior art cleaning trolley. In addition there are integrated several other functions and machines as outlined above. In figure 3 a waste water reservoir and a common water tank has been dismantled from the multifunctional cleaning trolley.

Claims

1.

A multifunctional cleaning trolley comprising a conventional set of cleaning tools, wherein the multifunctional cleaning trolley further comprises a plurality of respective cleaning devices and/or functions (84, 85, 86) integrated into the multifunctional cleaning trolley, wherein operational units or functions arranged in the respective plurality of integrated cleaning devices that are of the same nature are shared between the respective plurality of devices and functions, wherein at least one of the shared functions is a common vacuum source (87) being in communication with respective cleaning devices and/or functions (84, 85, 86) via common pipes (82) connectable to vacuum connection joints of the respective cleaning devices and/or functions (84, 85, 86), wherein pipes (81) are

connectable in one end to debris collecting openings of the respective cleaning devices and/or functions (84, 85, 86), and in another end to a squeegee assembly (63) located on a bottom surface of the cleaning trolley, wherein the squeegee assembly comprises an adaptable squeegee (61), wherein a stiffness of the adaptable squeegee may be adapted to respective material features of a floor being cleaned and/or which device and/or functions that are operational in the cleaning trolley.

2.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 1, wherein the adaptable squeegee comprises a U shaped rubber body (61), wherein a vertical oriented steel blade (60) is arranged inside the U shaped rubber body, and wherein the vertical oriented steel blade can be lowered or respectively be raised by a motor (62) located above and connected to the vertical oriented steel blade.

3.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 1, wherein the squeegee assembly comprises a rubber curtain (71) located opposite the adaptable squeegee (61) thereby providing a middle space (72) in between the rubber curtain and the adaptable squeegee, wherein the middle space is in fluid communication with the pipes (81) being connectable to the debris collecting openings of the cleaning devices or functions (84, 85, 86) of the multifunctional cleaning trolley.

4.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 3, wherein the common vacuum source can be respectively activated or deactivated in connectable devices or functions (84, 85, 86) by an arrangement of respectively opening or closing vents (88, 89, 90) located in the respective parallel pipes (82) in between the common vacuum source and respective vacuum connection joints the parallel pipes are connectable to.

5.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 4, wherein the vents are vents of a type with adjustable openings, and wherein an adjustment of the openings is varying the suction force due to the vacuum generated by the common vacuum source in the respective cleaning device or cleaning function the respective vents are operationally connected to.

6.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 1, wherein a cleaning device in the multifunctional cleaning trolley is a vacuum cleaner, and a connectable joint located on an outside surface of the multifunctional cleaning trolley is providing a connection point for an optional flexible vacuum cleaner hose, thereby enabling vacuum cleaning of respective surfaces around a location of the multifunctional cleaning trolley.

7.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to any claim 1 to 6, wherein the respective devices and functions of the multifunctional cleaning trolley are configurable via control sequences being executable in a micro controller, wherein the micro controller is issuing control signals and respective adjustments of the respective devices and functions via electronic signals.

8.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 7, wherein a touch sensitive interactive display is in communication with the micro controller, wherein respective control sequences can be activated by touching an associated symbol for the respective control sequences being displayed as graphical symbols on the touch sensitive display.

9.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 7, wherein the common vacuum source and/or corresponding vents can be controlled via the interactive touch sensitive display by touching respective associated graphical symbols being displayed.

10.

The multifunctional cleaning trolley according to claim 1 and 7, wherein a specific adaption of the stiffness of the adaptable squeegee is adapted to respective material features by touching graphical symbols on the interactive touch sensitive display resembling different floor materials.