Portable wet/dry vacuum cleaner and recharging base

Claim 1

A portable hand held vacuum cleaner comprising a handle base and a nozzle/debris container secured at an inner end to said handle base and having an outer end, top and bottom, said bottom being substantially horizontally directed throughout its length when resting on a substantially horizontally directed supporting surface, said top extending upwardly and rearwardly from said bottom to said handle base, said handle base comprising a housing having a handle permitting a user to lift and control said vacuum cleaner, said housing having a motor, a blower driven by said motor, said blower being in communication which said container for forcibly drawing air and debris entrained in the air into said container for depositing said debris within said container and for exhausting air therefrom, a channel extending from the outer end of and along the top of and within said container and having inner and outer channel ends, the outer end of said channel being proximate the container bottom and constituting an air/debris inlet of said channel adjacent the container bottom of said nozzle/debris container, said channel being in communication with said container and being constructed to extend upwardly and rearwardly from the air/debris inlet adjacent said container bottom toward said housing along the container top, but terminating short of said housing, an air duct within said container in communication with said blower, said air duct having an inlet within said container spaced from the inner end of said channel and being above the bottom of said container, an air conveyed liquid/debris deflector between the inner end of said channel and said air duct inlet for directing air conveyed liquid and debris exhausted into said container via said channel and away from said air duct inlet, and a flexible squeegee removably insertable into the air/debris inlet and extending a predetermined distance into said channel so as to provide an air/liquid passageway of smaller cross section than said channel proximate said squeegee in said air/debris inlet and channel to substantially increase the air velocity in the air liquid passageway of smaller cross section and air convey liquid into the container via said channel while said air conveyed liquid/debris deflector being operative to effectively and efficiently direct air conveyed liquid and debris through said channel into said container and away from said air duct inlet, to facilitate the pick-up of liquid from a surface to be cleaned adjacent the container bottom.