"What I am picturing is a flap on the floor that you would open up and just sweep the dustings into and the machine would suck the dustings into the system."
You've got it... Essentially. Typically, there's a foot lever with which you can open the outlet, which begins the sucking. This particular outlet is floor mounted so you can just sweep crumbs, animal hair, broken glass, etc. into the opening. Very handy. --Barry
