Patent Application
20060037159
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cleaning mop for cleaning aquarium walls and particularly to an aquarium cleaning mop that is adjustable angularly and equipped with a replaceable mophead.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional aquarium cleaning mop 1, referring to
The presser plate 11 and the handle 12 are usually coupled in an integrated manner. The mophead 13 is fixedly bonded to the presser plate 11. Users cannot change the angle of the mophead 13 as desired, and have to exert a greater force to clean the heavily stained spots. Moreover, the mophead 13 generally is made of one type of material (such as sponge or scrubber tissues) that is not always suitable for cleaning every type of aquarium (such as glass, acrylic, etc.). After used for a period of time, the mophead 13 will be damaged, but the presser plate 11 and the handle 12 still remain in a good condition and have to be discarded as well. It is a waste of resources.
In view of the aforesaid disadvantages, the present invention aims to provide an aquarium cleaning mop that is adjustable angularly and equipped with a replaceable mophead. It mainly includes a handle, an anchor seat and a presser plate. The handle has a pivot head on one end that has an arched gear rack on the outer side and two stub shafts on two lateral sides to pivotally couple with a coupling section of the anchor seat. The anchor seat has a tooth corresponding to and engageable with the arched gear rack, and may be adjustable angularly therewith. The anchor seat further has two guiding tracks on two sides to couple with two coupling troughs formed on the presser plate to facilitate replacement of the mophead of different materials.
The bottom of the anchor seat may also be directly coupled with a mophead to substitute the presser plate so that the invention may be fabricated with most simple elements and still provide adjustable angle for cleaning.
The invention changes the angle between the handle and the anchor seat by altering the engaging position between the arched gear rack and the tooth. Therefore users can adjust the angle of the mophead according to requirements to facilitate cleaning. Moreover, by coupling of the guide tracks and the coupling troughs, different types of mopheads may be changed and replaced to suit different types of aquariums to save the cost of purchasing many different types of cleaning mops.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The handle 21 has a stem 210 for hand gripping. One end of the handle 21 forms a pivot head 211 that has an arched gear rack 212 on the outer side and two stub shafts 213 on two lateral sides. The other end of the handle 21 forms a fork type claw 214 to facilitate planting of aquatic plants. The other end of the handle 21 also has a bore 215 for hanging.
The anchor seat 22 is coupled on one end of the handle 21 and has a coupling section 221 with pivot holes 222 on two sides to couple with the stub shafts 213, and a tooth 223 corresponding to and engageable with the arched gear rack 213. The stub shafts 213 may serve as fulcrums to allow the handle 21 to turn relative to the anchor seat 22 for a selected angle. The anchor seat 22 further has two guide tracks 224 on two lateral sides and a flute 226 on a front edge to couple with a scrapper 227 for scrapping mosses.
The presser plate 23 is coupled with the anchor seat 22. It is bonded to a mophead 233 on the bottom side for cleaning. It has coupling troughs 231 on two inner lateral sides to couple with the guide tracks 224 of the anchor seat 22. The coupling troughs 231 have respectively a latch tooth 232 on a upper edge to wedge in the notch 225 of the guide tracks 224 to anchor the presser plate 23 on the anchor seat 22.
By means of the construction set forth above, the handle 21 may be pivotally coupled with the anchor seat 22 through the pivot head 211 and the coupling section 221. With the stub shafts 213 serving as the fulcrums, the angle of the handle 21 may be adjusted by moving the handle upwards or downwards by forces to change the engaging position of the arched gear rack 212 and the tooth 223. The arched gear rack 212 and the tooth 223 are made of plastics and can change the engaging position when subject to a great turning force to change the angle and form an anchoring position (referring to
When change the mophead 233 is desired, push the presser plate 23 outwards from the anchor seat 22 to separate the latch tooth 232 from the notch 225, and remove the presser plate 23 from the guide tracks 224 and the anchor seat 22 (referring to
In addition, different types of mopheads may also be changed (such as sponge or scrubber tissues) to suit the aquariums made of different materials (such as glass, acrylic, etc.) to achieve a desired cleaning and avoid damaging the aquarium chest. For instance, the presser plate 23 with the mophead 233 made of a harder scrubber tissue may be changed and used to improve cleaning results on the aquarium made of glass that is resistant to scraping.
