Patent Grant
7703168
There are no applications related hereto heretofore filed in this or in any foreign country.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to brushes, scrubbers and general cleaning, and more particularly to a protective bumper cleaning attachment for vacuum cleaner heads.
2. Background and Description of Prior Art
Most carpeted interior spaces have mop-boards, or similar moldings, attached to vertical walls adjacent the floor. Mop boards protect the wall adjacent the floor from damage, commonly caused by vacuum cleaners, as well as provide some decoration and contrast between the floor and wall. Unfortunately, because mop boards extend somewhat horizontally from the wall, they tend to collect dust and dirt, and therefore need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Dusting of mop boards generally requires a person to crawl on their hands and knees around the periphery of the room with a cleaning apparatus, or to use a long handled brush type cleaning apparatus. In either case, cleaning the mop boards is a separate task performed independently of other cleaning tasks.
The instant invention eliminates the separate task of cleaning mop boards by providing a resiliently deformable cleaning body of heavy pile fleece on an exterior surface that is releasably fastened to a periphery of the vacuum cleaner head. The body dusts and cleans the mop boards and floor moldings as it is moved therealong at the same time the floor adjacent the mop boards is vacuumed. The body is not a rigid, but tends toward a generally linear extended configuration and is releasably fastened to front and side portions of a vacuum cleaner head with cooperating strips of hook and loop fastener.
A protruding lip extends elongately between opposing end portions of the body, and bending the body around the periphery of the vacuum cleaner head, in order to attach the body thereto, causes the lip to protrude forwardly and outwardly away from the body. The forward and outward protrusion allows the lip to frictionally communicate with the horizontal surfaces and concave depressions of the mop board, as the vacuum carrying the body is operated adjacent the mop board. Friction between the heavy pile fleece and the mop board as the body is moved thereagainst and therealong generates a charge of static electricity in the fleece. The static electricity enhances the dust gathering tendency of the fleece. The body is also machine washable.
My invention does not reside in any one of the identified features individually but rather in the synergistic combination of all of its structures, which give rise to the functions necessarily flowing therefrom as hereinafter specified and claimed.
My bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head generally provides a flexible elongate body having a first end portion, a second end portion, a top edge, a bottom edge, a back surface and a front surface and defines an elongate medial chamber therebetween. The body is formed of material having heavy pile fleece on a first exterior side. The fleece is a soft woolly covering and may be natural or synthetic. Padding, having a retentive memory, is carried in the medial chamber. A protruding lip formed in the front surface extends elongately from the first end portion to the second end portion and protrudes forwardly and outwardly from the front surface when the body is fastened to a vacuum cleaner head. Cooperating strips of hook and loop fastener carried by the back surface of the body and the vacuum cleaner head provide for releasable attachment of the body to a periphery of the vacuum cleaner head.
In providing such an apparatus it is:
A principal object to provide a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that simultaneously dusts mop boards and floor moldings while protecting the mop boards, floor moldings and furniture from damage caused by the vacuum cleaner head.
A further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that uses frictionally created static electricity in the fleece to enhance dust gathering and cleaning effectiveness.
A further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is machine washable.
A further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is unitary and has no detachable parts that may be lost or misplaced.
A further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head having a lip that protrudes forwardly and outwardly from the body when the body is fastened to a vacuum cleaner head.
A still further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that dusts and cleans horizontal, concave and vertical surfaces of mop boards and floor moldings as the vacuum is moved thereagainst and therealong.
A still further object is to provide such a bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is of new and novel design, of rugged and durable nature, of simple and economic manufacture and one that is otherwise well suited to the uses and purposes for which it is intended.
Other and further objects of my invention will appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings which form a part hereof. In carrying out the objects of my invention it is to be understood that its structures and features are susceptible to change in design and arrangement with only one preferred and practical embodiment of the best known mode being illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specified as is required.
In the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and wherein like numbers refer to similar parts throughout:
As used herein, the term “bottom”, its derivatives, and grammatical equivalents refers to the portion of my bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is closest to a supporting surface such as a floor. The term “top”, its derivatives, and grammatical equivalents refers to the portion of my bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is most distant from the supporting surface. The term “rearward”, its derivatives, and grammatical equivalents refers to the portion of my bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is closest to the carrying vacuum cleaner head. The term “forward”, its derivatives, and grammatical equivalents refers to the portion of my bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head that is most distant from the carrying vacuum cleaner head.
My bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head generally provides a flexible elongate body 10 having a first end portion 11, a second end portion 12, a top edge 13, a bottom edge 14, a back surface 16 and a front surface 15 and defines an elongate medial chamber 17 therebetween. The body 10 is formed of mesh type material 23 having heavy pile fleece on a first exterior side 23a and without fleece at a second interior side 23b. The fleece is a soft woolly covering and may be natural or synthetic.
The first end portion 11, the second end portion 12 and the bottom edge 14 of the body 10 are closed with stitching 20. The medial chamber 17 is filled with padding 18 having some retentive memory that provides thickness to the body 10 and spaces the front surface 15 away from the back surface 16.
A protruding lip 19 carried by the front surface 15 extends elongately from the first end portion 11 to the second end portion 12 and extends forwardly and outwardly from the front surface 15 when the body 10 is fastened to a periphery of a vacuum cleaner head 8. The lip 19 is formed in the front surface 15 prior to closing the first and second end portions 11, 12 and bottom edge 14 with stitching 20, by folding the front surface 15 of the body 10 over upon itself at a crease 21 and fastening the folded over portion together with stitching at the crease 21. Upholstery cord 24 may be enclosed within the lip 19 to add rigidity.
Strips of hook and loop fastener 22 are attached, with stitching 20, to the back surface 16 of the body 10 at the first and second end portions 11, 12 respectively, and along the bottom edge 14. Cooperating strips of hook and loop fastener 22 are attached to the front and side portions of the periphery of the vacuum cleaner head 8, preferably with adhesive, to provide a releasable attaching means for fastening the body 10 to the vacuum cleaner head 8.
Having described the structure of my bumper and dusting attachment for a vacuum cleaner head, its operation may be understood.
To install the body 10, the strip of hook and loop fastener 22 along the bottom edge 14 of the back surface 16 of the body 10 is engaged with the cooperating strip of hook and loop fastener 22 on the front periphery of the vacuum cleaner head 8. The strips of hook and loop fastener 22 at the first end portion 11 and the second end portion 12 of the body 10 are engaged with the cooperating strips of hook and loop fastener 22 on the sides of the vacuum cleaner head 8 so that the first and second end portions 11, 12 wrap, at least partially, around the sides of the vacuum cleaner head 8. Attaching the body 10 to the vacuum cleaner head 8 causes the lip 19 to protrude forwardly from the front surface 15 and to extend laterally outwardly from the first end portion 11 and second end portion 12 at the side portions of the vacuum cleaner head 8.
The vacuum is operated as is customary. Frictional engagement between the body 10 and the lip 19 and the mop boards 9 as the vacuum is operated thereagainst and therealong generates friction which responsively generates a charge of static electricity in the fleece. The static electricity enhances the dust and dirt gathering tendency of the fleece.
To remove the body 10 from the vacuum cleaner head 8, the above described steps are generally reversed. The body 10 may be cleaned to remove accumulated dust and dirt by washing and drying as desired.
The foregoing description of my invention is necessarily of a detailed nature so that a specific embodiment of a best mode may be set forth as is required, but it is to be understood that various modifications of details, and rearrangement, substitution and multiplication of parts may be resorted to without departing from its spirit, essence or scope.
Having thusly described my invention, what I desire to protect by Letters Patent, and
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4797968 | Wenzlick et al. | Jan 1989 | A |
| 4831682 | White | May 1989 | A |
| 4876762 | Foster | Oct 1989 | A |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080086832 A1 | Apr 2008 | US |
