Floor treatment machine

1 . A floor treatment machine comprising a base portion provided with two or more rotatable generally disc-shaped floor-facing work heads which are arranged side by side on the floor and each having a generally vertical axis of rotation, the machine being provided with drive means for rotatably driving the side by side work heads in counter-rotation with respect to one another, and wherein the rotational axes of both side by side work heads are tilted transversely from their respective verticals so that the axes are convergent or divergent in opposite transverse directions thereby causing the work heads to adopt dihedral or dihedral configurations when viewed from a front of the machine, which configurations in use provide propulsion of the machine over the floor surface, wherein the respective work head axes are also both tilted backwards away from the vertical so that both work heads are tilted-up at front end regions thereof and depressed at rear end regions thereof with respect to the floor surface.

2 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transverse tilt of work head axes is convergent so that work head pressure is enhanced at inner adjacent regions of each side-by-side work head.

3 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transverse tilt of work head axes is divergent so that work head pressure is enhanced at opposite outer regions of each side-by-side work head.

4 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the work heads are carried underneath a deck portion.

5 . A machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein the deck portion is configured to be tiltable with respect to the floor.

6 . A machine as claimed in claim 5 wherein the deck portion is provided with biasing means which act to tilt the deck portion up at a front region and down at a rear region thereof, thereby to provide at least a portion of the backwards tilt of the work head axes.

7 . A machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein the deck portion is configured to be tiltable with respect to a portion of the machine that is supported on the floor by wheel means.

8 . A machine as claimed in claim 6 wherein a spring and/or weight moment provides or supplements or modifies the deck portion tilt biasing.

9 . A machine as claimed in claim 8 wherein the drive means is disposed on the deck portion and provides or contributes to the weight moment.

10 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein each work head is attached to a drive shaft of a motor assembly for each work head.

11 . A machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein the motor assemblies are attached to a deck portion, and one or more distributed spacer features interposed between the motor assembly and the deck portion act to provide a tilting effect of the attached drive shaft and work head with respect to the deck portion.

12 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the machine is configured as a scrubber drier with scrubbing brush attachments provided on an underside of each work head, a cleaning liquid reservoir, a cleaning liquid dispenser provided in advance of, or under, each work head, and a suction squeegee device configured to be trailed behind the work heads for collecting liquid-entrained dirt.

13 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transverse tilt is in an amount within the range of 0.5 to 3 degrees.

14 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the backwards tilt is within the range of 2.0 to 5.0 degrees.

15 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transverse tilt is in an amount within the range of 0.8 to 1.5 degrees.

16 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the backwards tilt is within the range of 2.5 to 4.0 degrees.

17 . A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the backwards tilt is within the range of 3.0 to 3.5 degrees.