Floor polishing machine

Claim 1

A floor polishing machine, comprising: (a) a housing; (b) a pair of coaxial wheels fixed positionally relative to, and rotatably attached rearwardly of, said housing, mounting said housing for movement over a horizontal floor surface, said wheels having peripheral edges engaging the horizontal surface as they rotate; (c) a generally U-shaped movement imparting handle having first and second ends and a bail portion therebetween, each of said handle ends being operatively connected to said housing at the axis of said wheels; (d) a compressible, circular polishing pad, said pad having a floor engagement surface for engaging the floor substantially along the engagement surface's total area and defining a plane generally tangent to said wheels at locations thereon engaging the horizontal surface, said pad further having a circular aperture, coaxial therewith, formed therethrough; (e) means suspending said pad in a fixed position relative to said housing; (f) means for driving said pad rotationally about a generally vertical axis through its center; (g) a caster disposed in said aperture and for movement toward and away from said housing; and (h) means connecting said caster to said housing and for increasingly urging said caster and said housing away from one another as they progressively approach one another.