Working Cleaning Cart

So a while back my wife told me that see wanted a cleaning cart for the kids.  She gave me a couple of pictures to give me inspiration and that was it.  Maybe she thought this would make the kids want to clean.  Of course a traditional cart would not do.  I was walking through a store and one of the Zamboni things was cleaning the floor.  There was the inspiration: I can make it vacuum!  So here is the design.  I am finalizing the drawings for this project now.  The drawings are not going to include the electrical.  I am not going to even pretend that I have any idea of electricity and how to wire this cart up.  I asked a few people and I think it is safe.  At least I know it is grounded.

Basic thought process for this project was put a small shop vacuum on a  platform and use the attachments to turn it into a rolling floor vacuum for kids to push.  I realized there really was not a good attachment for a small shop vacuum for the floor so I designed one.  Thank goodness for the CNC router made it very easy and I could stick to .01" tolerance.  I could have done this by hand but the design would have been simpler and I don't know if the hose would be able to be removed.

Then I figured I might as well have an on/off switch for the vacuum on the cart.  Then the dilemma was if I cut the vacuum cord it would be useless off the cart.  So I needed to install a plug.  This actually gives the cart a little more power because now I can plug another appliance in.

I made sure it had big back wheels.  They are 8" lawn mower wheels.  the front wheels are 2" swivel casters.  I also added a broom and mop holder.

I thought about putting rollers on the vacuum head.  I changed that and put adjustment screws on it.  I am glad I went this route.  I can adjust the head to close to the ground for hardwood floors.  We tried on carpet but it did not work as well.

I did not want to ruin an extension cord so there is a plug installed in the cart to plug an extension cord into.  If I really wanted to I can have a really long cord on this cart.  I was not impressed with the 6' cord that comes on the vacuum.

I know the question that everyone is asking: Does it work? Well....

The suction is not great but it will pick up about  10" of the 15" span.  It rolls and the kids enjoy it.  There are still a couple of things that I would like to do to it.  I have to put the hangers on the back for other accessories.  I probably would have added more buckets.  This allows the kids a place to sort and put their toys in.

Fun project.  Good prototype.  Now what is my next design project?  I don't know but this is what I enjoy.