Patent Application
20050102785
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The principles of the present invention provide for a cloth for cleaning rigid surfaces, and more particularly, but not by limitation, for a cloth having visually apparent openings for cleaning optically translucent surfaces.
2. Description of Related Art
Cloths or chamois for cleaning eyeglasses or jewelry 10 have been used for a long time. Many of these conventional cloths rely on liquid or moisture to aid in the cleaning process. The conventional cloths generally utilize a relatively thick fabric or material that is finely woven to provide for a cloth that has high enough stitch count to form an opaque cloth (i.e., one that has no visually apparent openings). In addition, these conventional cloths are generally smooth to the touch, which in many cases makes the cloth less effective as a glass or jewelry cleaner. Due to the configurations (e.g., thick fabric, finely woven, high stitch count), the cloth is relatively bulky and inconvenient. What is needed is a non-bulky, lightweight cloth that provides good cleaning ability.
To overcome thse problems of conventional cloths, the principles of the present invention provide for a cloth formed of a fabric to include ribs about visually apparent openings having sufficiently small dimensions to limit contact between a user's fingers and a rigid surface. The fabric may be substantially non-absorbent and lightweight. The ribs aid in the cleaning effectiveness of the cloth and the visually apparent openings reduce the weight of the cloth.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
As shown, the fabric 102 is woven in a configuration to include visually apparent openings 104 indicative of a fabric having a weave with a relatively low stitch count (e.g., below 50). In one embodiment, the visually apparent openings 104 should be small enough to limit contact between the user's fingers and the surface when cleaning. In one embodiment, the visually apparent openings 104 have a maximum dimension of {fraction (1/16)}th of an inch. By utilizing such a weave, ribs 106 or ridges are formed about the openings 104 to provide more surface area for cleaning a surface. And, the low stitch count makes the cloth much lighter and flatter ({fraction (1/16)}th of an inch thick) when folded twice (i.e., into quarters) than conventional cloth cleaners. Of course, a cloth with smaller dimensions will weigh less and can be folded fewer times. The weaving process that may be is one as understood in the art. Alternatively, strips of fabric or other material may be configured to form the cloth 100 with visually apparent openings via stitching or other securing mechanism may be utilized.
Although a preferred embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention has been illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth and defined by the following claims.
