Household appliance for cleaning floors, windows and other washable surfaces

Claim 1

A household appliance for cleaning floors, windows and other washable surfaces comprising a handle, at one end of which is hinged a heating sole protected by a cover, said sole and said cover constituting an assembly hereinafter called the sole-cover assembly, in combination with a swab held under this heating sole, the word swab being understood in its widest sense and designating any absorbing substance made from textile, animal, vegetable or synthetic fibres, from paper or from any other material, as well as in combination with means for feeding water to the lower face of the heating sole in contact with the swab, these means comprising a water reservoir placed above said cover and at least one opening provided in the sole-cover assembly, in the direction of the swab, said reservoir comprising at least one appendage housed in said opening, said appendage having at its base at least one flow orifice for the water from the reservoir and means being provided for maintaining this orifice normally closed and for opening it when it is desired to damp the swab in contact with the heating sole, wherein said means for closing and opening the orifice of the appendage of the reservoir are return springs fixed to the upper face of said cover and by means of which the reservoir rests on the cover, so that said appendage of the reservoir extends into said opening of the sole-cover assembly as far as the level of the heating sole; a piston disposed in the reservoir at right angles to said orifice and comprising a rod and a head, the upper end of the rod being slidingly mounted with an easy fit in a guide secured to a wall of the reservoir in the upper region thereof, whereas the head rests like a valve on an internal edge of said orifice; a compressed coil spring fitted over the rod of the piston and bearing under said guide and on the upper face of the head of the piston, and maintaining said head normally applied to the internal edge of said orifice to close the latter; and a stop pin integral with the lower face of the head of the piston passing through said orifice and extending approximately to the level of the heating sole.