Patent Application
20230210337
The present invention is in the field of household and industrial cleaning in applications for cleaning toilets. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cleaning system with a dissolvable cleaner block and a handling tool for the dissolvable cleaner block.
Cleaning systems have been proposed for facilitating certain cleaning tasks. For example, toilet bowl cleaning systems have been proposed for cleaning inside a toilet and below the water line. These systems can make the cleaning process easier, more sanitary, etc.
Toilet brushes are typically used to swirl cleaning chemicals around a toilet bowl and then to scrub the sides of the bowl with those chemicals and water, so as to assist in removing stains along the bowl sides. After using such brushes, a consumer will typically attempt to rinse off the brush by swirling it in the bowl water. However, cleaning chemicals, feces, urine, and stray bits of paper typically found in the toilet can be retained on the brush or in its holder.
Various mechanical devices have been proposed to overcome disadvantages of a toilet brush having a permanently affixed head. Several commercially available products include a removable head that must be thrown away in the trash. Such conventional systems suffer from certain deficiencies. For example, the cleaning unit may not be robust enough to properly withstand the cleaning process because the water in the toilet, associated cleaning agents, and/or the scouring and scrubbing action may prematurely degrade the cleaning unit such that the system fails to clean the bowl to the user's satisfaction. Additionally, some cleaning systems suffer from poor ergonomics and are not user-friendly. Furthermore, the user may need to handle the cleaning unit after it is used (e.g., for disposal), which can be unsanitary and unpleasant. The use of these conventional systems may also generate undesirable amounts of waste when the cleaning units are flushed after use, thereby negatively impacting septic systems. Yet another disadvantage of the conventional systems is that they often include a large number of parts, which makes the manufacturing process inefficient and costly.
Many conventional cleaning systems utilize flushable heads that are water degradable as opposed to dissolvable. For example, GB 738,299 discloses a toilet cleaning device where the head is slipped into a swab and a toilet is then cleaned by wiping the swab around the surface of the bowl of the toilet. Removal of the swab is achieved by shouldering the swab against the rim of a toilet bowl and pulling the holder away to cause the swab to slip off, into the bowl, and dissolve prior to being flushed away. Other flushable and replaceable brush head elements are disclosed in e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,755,497, 4,031,673, 5,630,243, and 6,094,771 and GB 2,329,325. U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,663 discloses flushable heads that are insertable in a permanent type of wand. The brush head may be a stack of sheets of water-dissolvable material. The sheets are compressed to bind them together into a stack. Surface indentations and piercing of layers at the indentations are used to bind the brush head layers together securely without the need for binding adhesives, and to facilitate clamping. The heads, releasable from the wand, and are said to break up and behave like toilet paper, so they are flushable after use.
With such water degradable cleaning systems, oftentimes consumers will opt to discard these heads in their garbage for fear of clogging their toilets, as flushable heads take longer to break up and/or have the tendency to degrade incompletely. Water solubility (as opposed to degradability) is a desirable feature for a toilet cleaning “brush” because it allows the head to be flushed immediately after use, thereby avoiding the need to transport the dripping head to a garbage can and avoiding any odors that may develop if the brush head were left in a garbage can for some time period after use. It also avoids the potential for clogging that can occur when ingredients of a pad dissolve incompletely and/or take a long time to break up.
Thus, there exists an ongoing demand for improved cleaning systems, such as toilet bowl cleaning systems, that are highly robust and effective and that utilize solid unit dose cleaning compositions that can be attached to a wand apparatus to mechanically clean a toilet bowl surface and that are dissolvable in toilet water after they are used to clean the bowl. There is also a need for such cleaning systems to have improved ergonomics for facilitating use. Furthermore, there is a need for these cleaning systems to generate less waste and/or provide other environmental benefits. Moreover, there is a need for these cleaning systems to be manufactured efficiently. It is an object of the invention to provide improved cleaning systems that address these issues.
The foregoing objectives are achieved by provision of a cleaning system including a cleaner head and a wand for removable attachment to the cleaner head. The cleaner head has a top surface, a bottom surface, and a height extending from the top surface to the bottom surface. The cleaner head may include an indentation having a depth that is the same as the height of the cleaner head, or less than the height of the cleaner head, and may be dissolvable. The wand has a first end and a second end and includes an attachment arrangement adjacent the second end and movable between an engaged position, in which the wand may be removably coupled to the cleaner head, and a disengaged position, in which the wand may be released from the cleaner head. The wand may also include a first sealing member configured to engage with and seal against the top surface of the cleaner head when engaged with the attachment arrangement to impede liquid intrusion toward the attachment arrangement. Furthermore, the wand may include a second sealing member configured to engage with and seal against an inner surface of the indentation of the cleaner head when engaged with the attachment arrangement to impede liquid intrusion toward the attachment arrangement.
In some embodiments, the cleaner head may comprise surfactant, organic acid, and an organic acid buffering agent.
In certain embodiments, the wand includes a biasing member that biases the attachment arrangement in its engaged configuration.
In some embodiments of the cleaning system, the attachment arrangement includes an actuation member supported by the wand for axial movement between the first and second ends of the wand. The axial movement of the actuation member may move the attachment arrangement between the engaged position and the disengaged position. In some of these embodiments, the system also includes a control member slidably supported by the wand, wherein the control member is configured for manually moving the actuation member. In additional embodiments, the attachment arrangement may include a resilient outer sleeve coupled to the actuation member, wherein the axial movement of the actuation member results in radial expansion and contraction of the outer sleeve. The outer sleeve may engage with the cleaner head when in its radially expanded configuration and disengage from the cleaner head when in its radially contracted configuration. The axial movement of the actuation member towards the first end of the wand may move the outer sleeve into its radially expanded configuration engaged with the cleaner head. Further, the axial movement of the actuation member towards the second end of the wand may move the outer sleeve into its radially contracted configuration disengaged from the cleaner head.
In some embodiments, the first sealing member includes a terminal outer edge that is elastically resilient to conform to the top surface of the cleaner head.
In certain embodiments, the cleaner head further includes a retainer lip extending inwardly from the inner surface of the indentation. In some of these embodiments, the attachment arrangement removably engages with at least a portion of the retainer lip when in the engaged configuration. The second sealing member may engage with and seal against the retainer lip when engaged with the attachment arrangement to impede liquid intrusion from a bottom of the indentation toward the attachment arrangement.
In some embodiments, the wand extends along a wand axis and the wand includes a distal section supporting the attachment arrangement and having an axis, wherein the axis of the distal section is inclined with respect to the wand axis.
The cleaning system may also include a plurality of cleaner heads and a storage system for housing the wand and the plurality of cleaner heads.
The stated objectives are also achieved by provision of a wand for removable attachment to a dissolvable cleaner head. The wand includes an elongated shaft having a first end, a second end and an axis, and an attachment arrangement coupled to the second end and movable between an engaged position and a disengaged position. The attachment arrangement may include an outer sleeve configured to expand radially to engage the dissolvable cleaner head when in the engaged position, wherein the outer sleeve is configured to move radially inwardly when in the disengaged position to release the dissolvable cleaner head from the wand. The wand may also include a first sealing member configured to engage with and seal against a first portion the cleaner head when engaged with the attachment arrangement to impede liquid intrusion toward the attachment arrangement. Furthermore, the wand may include a second sealing member configured to engage with and seal against a second portion of the cleaner head when engaged with the attachment arrangement to impede liquid intrusion toward the attachment arrangement.
In some embodiments, the attachment arrangement includes an actuation member coupled to the outer sleeve and supported by the wand for axial movement between the first and second ends of the wand. The axial movement of the actuation member may move the attachment arrangement and the outer sleeve between the engaged position and the disengaged position. In certain of these embodiments, the wand may include a control member slidably supported by the wand, wherein the control member is configured for manually moving the actuation member. The control member may include a thumb slide configured for axial movement when engaged by a user's thumb. The wand may further include a linkage system extending along the axis that operatively connects the actuation member and the control member such that a manual selection input to the control member results in the actuation member moving between the engaged position and the disengaged position. In additional embodiments, the linkage system includes a biasing member, wherein the biasing member biases the actuation member into the engaged position with the dissolvable cleaner head without any manual input to the control member. The manual input to the control member may overcome a spring force of the biasing member to move the actuation member into the disengaged configuration releasing the dissolvable cleaner head from the wand.
The foregoing statements are provided by way of non-limiting example only. Various additional examples, aspects, and other features of embodiments of the present disclosure are encompassed by the present disclosure and described in more detail below.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; however, the drawings are merely provided for reference and illustration, without any intention to be used for limiting the present disclosure.
The following description provides specific details, such as materials and amounts, to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. The skilled artisan, however, will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced without employing these specific details. Indeed, the present invention can be practiced in conjunction with processing, manufacturing or fabricating techniques conventionally used in the homecare industry.
Except in the operating and comparative examples, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers in this description indicating amounts or ratios of material or conditions of reaction, physical properties of materials and/or use are to be understood as modified by the word “about”.
The term “about” as used in connection with a numerical value throughout the specification and the claims denotes an interval of accuracy, familiar and acceptable to a person skilled in the art. In general, such interval of accuracy is +−10%. Thus, “about ten” means 9 to 11. All numbers in this description indicating amounts, ratios of materials, physical properties of materials, and/or use are to be understood as modified by the word “about,” except as otherwise explicitly indicated.
“Cleaning” means to perform or aid in soil removal, bleaching, microbial population reduction, or combination thereof.
As used herein, the term “comprising” means including, made up of, composed, characterized by, or having.
Generally, the present disclosure relates to a cleaning system, such as a cleaning system for cleaning a toilet bowl. The system may generally include a handling tool (wand) and a removably attached cleaning head. The cleaner head may be a dissolvable unit, such that it begins dissolving when exposed to liquid (e.g., water in a toilet bowl). The shape, construction, material characteristics, etc. of the cleaner head may allow it to be scrubbed, scoured, and rubbed against the inner surface of the toilet bowl for cleaning purposes. The cleaner head may dissolve eventually, but slowly enough to maintain sufficient scrubbing, scouring, rubbing, or other cleaning action during use.
The cleaner head may be made with a solid cleaning composition, which refers to a cleaning composition in the form of a solid for example, a granule, a pellet, a tablet, a lozenge, a puck, a briquette, a brick, a solid block, or a unit dose. The term “solid” refers to the state of the cleaning composition under the expected conditions of storage and use of the solid detergent composition. In general, it is expected that the cleaning composition will remain in solid form when exposed to temperatures of up to about 100° F.
In some embodiments, the solid cleaning composition may be a stable solid, which means that retains its shape under conditions in which the composition may be stored or handled.
The cleaner head may be a solid unit dose, which refers to a cleaning composition unit sized so that the entire unit is used during a single cleaning cycle. When the cleaner head is provided as a unit dose, it is preferably provided as a compressed solid, such as a tablet having a size of between about 1 gram and about 50 grams. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the solid unit dose head can be provided so that a plurality of the solids will be available in a package having a size of between about 40 grams and about 1,000 grams. The solid unit dose may be in various compressed, cast, or extruded forms including, for example, pellets, blocks, and tablets.
The cleaning system also includes features that improve manufacturing efficiency and produce less waste. For example, the cleaner head may be constructed from dissolvable material, which dissolves during and after use, and which may be flushed away safely. Furthermore, the handling tool may include relatively few parts and may be reusable. Additionally, manufacture of the handling tool and the cleaner head may be relatively simple and inexpensive for increased efficiencies.
An exemplary cleaning system 10 of the present invention is shown in
An exemplary embodiment of the cleaner head 14 is shown in
The cleaner head 14 comprises a indentation or indentation 16 in at least one of its surfaces that is adapted to receive and engage the wand 12, as shown in
The indentation may include a retainer lip 24 adjacent the top surface 18 of the cleaner head 14, as shown in
In certain embodiments, the solid unit dose cleaner head 14 weighs about 1 to about 70 grams, more preferably about 10 to about 50 grams, most preferably about 20 to about 40 grams. In some embodiments, the solid unit dose cleaner head has height of about 0.5 cm to about 10 cm, more preferably about 0.8 cm to about 1 cm. In other embodiments, the cleaner head has a height of about 5 to about 10 cm. In yet other embodiments, the cleaner head has a height of about 0.45 to about 0.8 inches, preferably 0.5 to 0.7 inches, more preferably 0.55 to 0.65 inches. Typically, the solid unit dose cleaner head will have a diameter of about 1.5 to about 3 inches, preferably 1.75 to 2.5 inches, more preferably 2 to 2.375 inches. In certain embodiments, the solid unit dose cleaner head has a height to diameter ratio between 0.2 and 0.3.
In some embodiments, the solid unit dose cleaner head is a tablet having a hardness of at least 15 N, more preferably at least 20 N, most preferably at least 30 N. In preferred embodiments, the tablet has a hardness greater than 50 N.
The cleaner head 14 may be in various forms including, for example, pellets, blocks, and tablets, but not powders. In some embodiments, the material of the cleaner head 14 may be dissolvable upon contact with liquid, such as toilet bowl water. This material may include powder or other solid material that has been compacted (e.g., in a mold, press, etc.) to define the shape of the head 14, including the indentation 16 and the lip 24. The material included in the cleaner head may include one or more cleaning agents, disinfecting agents, abrasive agents, perfume or fragrant materials, surfactants, nonionic surfactants, acids, bases, antimicrobial active ingredients, preservatives, chelating agents, polymers, colorants, builders, bleaching agents, corrosion inhibitors, flush regulators, active ingredients to reduce stickiness, and/or enzymes.
The material on the outer surface of the cleaner head 14 may begin dissolving, foaming, or otherwise reacting as the head 14 is exposed to liquid. As the head 14 is scrubbed against the interior of the toilet bowl, the head 14 may continue to break down and reduce. The material used to construct the head 14 may be configured so that it dissolves eventually and at a controlled rate. Furthermore, as discussed below, the wand 12 may include features that protect its removable attachment to the cleaner head 14 to prevent premature dissolution and disintegration of the head 14.
In preferred embodiments, the cleaning composition of the cleaner head 14 provides cleaning efficacy, a foaming visual cue, fragrance sensorial experience and slowly dissolves so one does not have to re-store or throw away the cleaner head portion of the product. The toilet cleaner head is advantageously dissolvable, which negates the need for the consumer to store an unpleasant, bacteria filled cleaning tool.
The cleaner head 14 may be ergonomically attached to the wand 12, may remain securely attached to the wand 12 during use, and then may be selectively detached and released from the wand 12 when manual scrubbing of the toilet is complete. The cleaner head 14 may thus be released from the wand 12 into the toilet bowl water to further dissolve and the material may be flushed away in some embodiments. The wand 12 may be reused later and removably attached to a replacement cleaner head 13. Accordingly, the cleaning system 10 produces little-to-no solid waste.
Further details of an exemplary embodiment of the wand are shown in
The wand 12 may further include a grip portion 34 disposed adjacent the first end 28. The grip portion 34 functions to provide a gripping surface for a user's hand when handling the cleaning system. The grip portion 34 may include features that improve gripping such as, e.g., contoured surfaces, compressible material, high-friction material or other features that correspond to the hand and fingers and assist with gripping.
As shown in the enlarged view in
The attachment arrangement may include an outer sleeve 38, as shown in the cross-sectional view in
The outer sleeve 38 may further includes an attachment portion 52 that attaches the attachment arrangement 36 to the wand 12. In some embodiments, the attachment arrangement 36 may be attached to the wand 12 by pulling the outer sleeve onto the wand 12 like a sock. The outer sleeve 38 may have material resiliency for compressing onto and frictionally attaching to the wand 12. In additional embodiments, the attachment arrangement 36 may be attached to the wand 12 via a snap- or screw-type arrangement, or other suitable attachment mechanisms.
In some embodiments, the side wall of the outer sleeve 38 has a middle section 50 of a larger diameter, wherein the sidewall tapers inwardly from the middle section towards each end of the outer sleeve. Such design assists with the radial expansion of the outer sleeve 38 when the sleeve is compressed axially via the actuation member 40.
The outer sleeve 38 may also include one or more notches in the sidewall that further facilitate the radial expansion of the sleeve. For example, the sidewall of the outer sleeve 38 may have a notch 44 adjacent the distal end 46 of the sleeve and may further have a notch 42 adjacent the sealing collar 48. When the actuation member 40 is moved axially in the direction “Y” shown in
The sealing collar 48 may be a relatively thin sheet or membrane and preferably is resilient and elastic. As shown in
As shown in
Additionally, the upper portion of the outer sleeve 38 may abut against the retainer lip 24 of the cleaner head 14 when the attachment arrangement 36 is in its engaged configuration, as shown in
The actuation member 40 is movably arranged inside the outer sleeve 38 and is capable of axial movement in X and Y directions, as shown in
As shown in
The linkage system 76 may include a cable or other elongate and flexible member. One end of the cable may be connected to the control member 80 and the other end may be connected to the actuation member 40. The linkage system 76 may also include a biasing member 82, such as a helical spring, a leaf spring, a resiliently bendable member, or other suitable biasing mechanism. The biasing member 82 may be positioned adjacent the control member 80 inside the wand shaft or at another suitable location inside the wand shaft. The biasing member may be seated against a shaft seat 84 at one end and against the control member 80 at the other end. The shaft seat 84 may be annular and the cable may pass through the seat 84 (and the biasing member 82) to attach to the control member 80.
The control member 80 may include a thumb slide 88 movably received in the wand shaft. The thumb slide 88 is configured to translate axially when engaged by the user's thumb, which in turn causes axial movement of the cable of the linkage system 76, causing axial movement of the actuation member 40 in the directions X and Y shown in
The cleaning system 10 of the present disclosure may be supplied to the consumer with the cleaner head 14 already attached to the wand 12. In this case, the attachment arrangement 36 is in the engaged configuration with the cleaner head 14, as shown in
In other embodiments, the wand 12 may be supplied separately from the cleaner head 14. For example, the user may purchase one or more cleaner heads and the wand separately or as a part of the cleaning kit. For example, as shown in
While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope of the subject matter as set forth in this application.
