DISPOSABLE FLOOR CLEANING SWEEPER SLIPPERS

Abstract

Described herein are disposable floor cleaning slippers. The disposable slipper is configured to be worn on a foot of a user, and include a cloth material sized to cover a bottom of the foot of the user and extend to partially surround an inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot of the user, the cloth material further sized to end below an ankle of the user and leave an upper portion of a bridge of the foot of the user exposed, the disposable slipper further comprising an opening defining an edge at least partially comprising elastic material configured to wrap around the foot of the user to hold the disposable slipper in place when worn by the user.

Description

BACKGROUND

Keeping floors and other surfaces clean requires constant effort. Dust under furniture and in corners and other difficult places to access stays undisturbed between all-out cleaning, while dust and debris in trafficked areas are carried-over from one room to another. Current solutions for cleaning and dusting floors have disadvantages. One method of sweeping hard surfaces requires the assembly of a moping device with a dust cloth attached to the device. Another solution attempts to clean floors efficiently through the use of a dust rag, but this fails to meet the needs of the market because the user performing the cleaning needs to use a separate cleaning apparatus or get on his/her hands and knees to utilize a traditional dusting cloth. Yet another solution attempts to use a traditional broom, but this is similarly unable to meet the needs of the market because of the time and effort it takes to clean the floor.

SUMMARY

It would be advantageous to have an apparatus that allows the cleaner to dust or clean a floor while simply walking on it. Furthermore, it would also be advantageous to have an apparatus that provides an easy and disposable option for the person cleaning the floor. Still further, it would be advantageous to have an apparatus that is compact and lightweight.

Accordingly, described herein is an apparatus that provides a hands-free dusting and cleaning device. Aspects advantageously overcome the aforementioned deficiencies by providing disposable floor-cleaning slippers that provide for a hands-free cleaning option. Users can effortlessly maintain traffic areas of, e.g., hard, smooth floors to keep them free of dust, lint, human and pet hair, small particles and debris. Aspects provide an excellent solution for collecting dust, lint, human and pet hair, crumbs, and various other small particles and debris.

In addition, aspects fulfill a need for disposable cleaning slippers, having an advantage of providing a disposable floor cleaning option that does not suffer from problems or deficiencies associated with prior solutions. Aspects can additionally even make cleaning more fun and enjoyable than prior art experiences.

Shortcomings of the prior art are overcome and additional advantages are provided through the provision of a garment that includes a disposable slipper configured to be worn on a foot of a user, the disposable slipper including a cloth material sized to cover a bottom of the foot of the user and extend to partially surround an inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot of the user, the cloth material further sized to end below an ankle of the user and leave an upper portion of a bridge of the foot of the user exposed, the disposable slipper further including an opening defining an edge at least partially including elastic material configured to wrap around the foot of the user to hold the disposable slipper in place when worn by the user.

Further, a method of fabricating a disposable slipper configured to be worn on a foot is provided. The method includes obtaining a flat sheet of cloth material; cutting a single piece of cloth material from the flat sheet of cloth material, the single piece being generally oblong and sized in accordance with a corresponding size of the foot to cover a bottom of the foot and extend to partially surround an inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot, and further sized to end below an ankle of the foot and leave an upper portion of a bridge of the foot exposed; and affixing an elastic material to a perimeter of the single piece of cloth material, wherein the affixed elastic material, when in an unexpanded state, defines an opening and edge of the opening, and the elastic material is configured to wrap around the foot to hold the disposable slipper in place to cover the bottom of the foot and extend to partially surround the inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot.

The affixing can include sewing, gluing, or fastening the elastic material to the perimeter of the single piece of cloth material. Additionally or alternatively, the affixing can include incorporating the elastic material into the edge of the opening by folding the edge of the single piece of cloth material over and around the elastic material and attaching the edge of the single piece of cloth material onto the single piece of cloth material.

The cloth material can include a disposable dry dusting cloth material, a nonwoven dry dusting cloth material, a micro-fiber material, a polyester fiber material and/or a biodegradable cloth material. The cloth material can include folds configured to trap particles.

The cloth material may be sized, and the elastic material and opening may be configured, for the disposable slipper to fit over a bottom, inner and outer sides, heel, and toe portion of a shoe worn by the user on the foot of the user. Additionally or alternatively, the cloth material may be sized, and the elastic material and opening may be configured, for the disposable slipper to fit over a bottom, inner and outer sides, heel, and toe portion of a bare foot of the user.

The cloth material may be a single symmetrical cut of the cloth material.

The elastic material can include an elastic band or rubber tape.

The slipper may be configured for ambipedal use.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the concepts described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects described herein are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed as examples in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGS. 1-4 depict bottom, front, side, and top views, respectively, of example disposable floor cleaning slippers, in accordance with aspects described herein;

FIG. 5 depicts an example cut of material for forming into a disposable floor cleaning slipper in accordance with aspects described herein;

FIG. 6 depicts a left perspective view of an example disposable floor cleaning slipper on a user's foot, in accordance with aspects described herein; and

FIG. 7 depicts a top perspective view of an example disposable floor cleaning slipper, in accordance with aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects described herein relate generally to disposable floor cleaning slippers (hereinafter referred to as “slippers” or singularly as a “slipper”). Provided is a slipper made of any desirable disposable material, such as a disposable nonwoven dry dusting cloth. “Nonwoven” material is sometimes referred to as “spunlace” or “spun lace” fabric. In some examples, the material has been cut as one piece to cover the foot. The material may be a flexible and lightweight material. As is further described, the apparatus can have a comfortable elastic band facilitating wear of the slipper on bare feet or over shoes.

Aspects of the invention are now described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are intended to be read in conjunction with all disclosed aspects of this application. Aspects of the invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example and illustration only and so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the full scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Following are more detailed descriptions of various concepts related to, and embodiments of, methods and apparatuses according to the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that various aspects of the subject matter introduced herein may be implemented in any of numerous ways, as the subject matter is not limited to any particular manner of implementation. Examples of specific implementations and applications are provided primarily for illustrative purposes.

As noted, a disposable dusting and cleaning slipper is provided that may be made of disposable dusting cloth material. In some examples, the disposable wearable sweeper slipper is made of nonwoven lightweight eco-friendly disposable dry dusting cloth fabric. Specifically, in one example, the material may be polyester fiber material.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1-4, shown is example disposable dusting slippers according to aspects described herein and generally referred to as slippers 10. The slippers 10 are adapted for placement on the feet of a wearer and sized and shaped accordingly. The slippers 10 are comprised in this example of a micro-fiber, micro-fiber like, or nonwoven dry dusting cloth material that allows for the mechanical adhesion of dust, dirt, and debris. The examples depicted in FIGS. 1-4 show slippers 10 in an expanded state, i.e. as if being worn on a user's feet (not shown). This is to illustrate properties of the slippers in their expanded state since, as described herein, when each slipper is not operatively positioned on a user's foot, i.e. not in the expanded state, the elastic member (band, rubber tape, etc.) will retract to its unexpanded state causing the slipper to bunch up. FIG. 6 is an example depicting a slipper on a user's foot.

The slippers 10 each include a foot-shaped cover portion 100 with an opening 101 allowing and configured for the placement of the wearers foot. Opening 101 may be preferably secured with an elastic member 110 to ensure an adequate attachment to the user's foot and/or footwear that the user may be wearing. The slippers 10 can be provided in multiple sizes for varying sizes of users and for use on bare feet and/or over footwear.

Referring specifically to FIG. 1, a bottom view of a pair of slippers (disposable floor cleaning slippers) is shown as 10. It is seen that the slippers 10 may be provided and used in pairs, though as described herein the slipper may be worn on either foot since it may be symmetrical in cut. FIGS. 1-4 depict slippers 10 with contours consistent with left and right feet only to illustrate the conformability of the material to the user's feet. The bottoms of slippers 10, showing a bottom portion of cover portion 100, is visible in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of a pair of slippers 10.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of a slipper 10. It is seen that a size of opening 101 (when worn by the user) spans from a front (toe) portion of slipper 10 to a rear (heel) portion of slipper 10 and is substantially larger than half of the overall length of the slipper from front to rear. In the example depicted, opening 101 through which the user inserts his/her foot into slipper 10 is shown to be approximately 80% to 90% the length (front to rear) as the entire slipper 10 itself.

FIG. 4 shows a top view of a pair of slippers 10, showing a profile generally matching a width profile of a user's feet including toe, ball, waist, instep, and heel portions thereof, as if the user was wearing these slippers but omitting from the figure the user's feet for ease of understanding. A size of opening 101 relative to the dimensions of the overall slipper is depicted.

FIGS. 2-4 depict elastic band 110 running around the entirety of an upper edge of opening 101, defining the size of the opening 101 in a stretched configuration as if the slippers were being worn by a user. Elastic material, such as an elastic band or rubber tape, provides stretch to enable the opening to increase in size at least to the size depicted to accommodate the user's foot and allow passage therethrough when the user puts on the slipper and positions the user's foot inside thereof for operative use. The elastic band may retract to some extent when the slipper is in operative position, and generally encircle and conform to the profile of a lower portion of the user's foot (see FIG. 6).

FIG. 5 depicts an example cut of material for forming into a disposable floor cleaning slipper in accordance with aspects described herein. Material 500 is a flat piece of material cut-out and having a perimeter 502 as shown in FIG. 5. During a fabrication process, a fabric material as described herein may be selected and cut as shown (varying the shape and dimensions depending on the size of the slipper being made). Then, an elastic material such as elastic band/rubber tape may be sewn to (or generally attached to), or otherwise incorporated into/on the perimeter 502. The elastic material may be sized smaller in length than the perimeter 502, and therefore it may be stretched when affixing/attaching it to the cut of material. After fabrication, when the elastic material is relaxed and not stretched or expanded, it causes the material 500 to gather and bunch. Consequently, the opening of a slipper not being worn by a user may be much smaller in size than it is when the elastic is expanded. When a user places the slipper on the user's foot, the user stretches the elastic material to expand it and enlarge the opening to enable passage of the foot through the (enlarged) opening and into the interior of the slipper. The elastic material will contract toward its relaxed state but generally conform to the profile of the user's foot as shown in the figures. Also of note is the general symmetry of the cut of material in FIG. 5. The slippers may be fabricated for use on either foot of the user, thus each may be fabricated without regard to whether it will eventually be used on the user's left foot or right foot. Each slipper is equally adapted for use on both the left and the right foot and therefore may be used on either foot (i.e. the slippers are ambipedal). This enables the user the convenience of selecting any two slippers from a package and placing them onto the user's feet without the effort of coordinating which slipper goes on which foot.

FIG. 6 depicts a left perspective view of an example disposable floor cleaning slipper on a user's foot, in accordance with aspects described herein. The cover portion 100 wraps around the entirety of the bottom/sole of the user's foot, extending around the back of the user's foot and extending upward from the heel toward the user's calf. The cover portion wraps partially around the user's toes but does not extend up the front of the user's foot to the upper portion 115 of the bridge 116. The slipper instead covers only a portion of each toe. In this example, the slipper covers approximately from the midpoint of each toe to the end thereof (50% coverage), though in other examples, the slipper covers more or less of the length of each toe. The outer sidewall 120 and heel portion 140 of the slipper in this example extends partially up the side/back of the user's foot but not so far as to reach the user's ankle or cover the entirety of the user's heel. Depicted is the general conformance of the slipper to the shape of the user's foot, though it is noted that the slipper may be looser on individuals with smaller feet relative to the size of the slipper. The slipper therefore differs from traditional slippers and socks that cover substantially the entirety of the user's foot, extending over the toes and the bridge of the foot, up to and perhaps covering the user's ankle. In contrast, example slippers described herein are dimensioned such that they do not extend to the ankle or completely cover the foot/shoe or even extend to an upper portion thereof.

FIG. 7 depicts a top perspective view of an example disposable floor cleaning slipper, in accordance with aspects described herein. Again in this example the slipper is shown in an expanded state to illustrate properties of the slipper in its expanded state when worn by a user. Shown are outer sidewall 120, inner sidewall 130, opening 101, elastic band 110 and cover portion 100 made of, e.g., material disclosed herein.

As described above, an example design of the slippers fabricates each slipper from a one-piece cutout of nonwoven dry dusting cloth. In other words, in some examples, the slipper is (i) a continuous cut of material (see FIG. 5)—i.e. single piece, not a plurality of pieces sewn, glued, fastened, otherwise coupled together, and the single piece cutout sized to envelop portions of the user's foot as described and depicted herein, together with (ii) an elastic band. In some examples, the slipper is offered in multiple different sizes, for instance three common sizes—small, medium and large. Each slipper is secured and held into place on the user's feet/shoes at least in part by way of a stretch elastic band/rubber tape attached to or incorporated into an edge of the opening. The material of the cutout may be a lightweight, nonwoven, disposable, eco-friendly and/or biodegradable dry dusting cloth fabric. In this manner, the two parts of an example design include the cutout pattern (of various sizes) and elastic band/tape (of various sizes) sewn to (or generally attached to), or otherwise incorporated into the edge of the opening to facilitate holding the slippers on the user's foot/shoe. In another particular example, the elastic band is incorporated into the edge of the opening by folding the edge of the cover material back over and around the elastic ban and sewing/attaching the cover material onto itself with the elastic band positioned in the fold.

As is seen, a design of the slippers may be low profile, covering only the sole of the foot/shoe and portions of the tip/toe portion and heel of the foot/shoe. Low profile examples do not obstruct the foot, cover only the sole, the low part of the tip of the foot/shoe, and low part of the heel of the foot/shoe.

Advantageously, aspects described herein enable a user to clean as the user walks. The slipper may be made of a disposable dusting cloth that attracts and/or holds dust, lint, small particles, hair, dirt, etc. making cleaning easier. The user can wear disposable floor cleaning slippers as disclosed herein to clean floors by simply walking as the user normally would, collecting dust and debris as the user walks. No extra effort is required. Since the sole of the foot/shoe is covered with a lightweight, disposable nonwoven dry cloth, it sweeps/cleans traffic areas of the floors (e.g. hard smooth surfaces) as the user walks around, which enables multitasking of everyday activities while cleaning the floor. The dusting cloth can trap and hold dust, crumbs, lint, hair, fur and small particles within the folds of the dusting cloth. When worn on the foot/shoe, it allows effortless sweeping of the floors of any hard smooth surfaces while the user walks around. This can keep the traffic areas free of dust and small particles without bending over to pick up debris or using a sweeping mop. The properties of nonwoven dry dusting cloth fabric trap and hold small particles within the grooves of the fabric, for instance. The user can keep dusting slippers described herein on the user's feet/shoes to perform the cleaning without having to obtain a mop and assemble it to perform daily routine cleaning. This saves the user time and effort. Further, the user need not stop activities (food preparation, for example) to bend over and pick up fallen pieces of food or crumbs, avoiding the need to then wash hands to handle and assemble the mop. This can also help prevent injuries that may otherwise result from the user having to bend over.

In some examples, if large pieces of debris have fallen or are otherwise present on the floor, and they are not easily picked up by the slippers, the user can use the slipper and perform a kicking or other foot motion to sweep these materials aside to one spot or corner to be later picked up. Although the outside of traffic areas (corners, under the furniture, etc.) may accumulate debris over time, the debris can stay there undisturbed for later pickup.

Example slippers may use soft, durable, nonwoven dry dusting cloth material and be one-size-fits-all to easily slip over virtually any shoe or other footwear. Alternatively, example slippers could come in any number of variable sizes (e.g. small, medium, large), in which sizing (length, width, height, and/or profile, etc.) of the slipper varies across sizes.

Since the slipper may be made of disposable material, they may be disposed of, e.g., after each use or after some recommended number of uses or at the discretion of the user. The user may slip off the slippers and toss them in the garbage or dispose of them in any other desired manner. No special care such as washing and drying is required.

Example slippers may be useful on any smooth, hard surface, such as, for instance, wood, laminate, linoleum, marble, or tile, in spaces such as kitchen, bathrooms, labs, and hospitals, as examples. Users may offer a pair to guests who visit and the guests will help clean floors simply by walking around.

Additionally, example slippers may be provided in a variety of colors and/or patterns, enabling users to add flare to their floor dusting experience. Possible colors include white, purple, and black. An example pattern is leopard print.

Accordingly, described herein are hands-free lightweight, easy to slip-on-slip-off slippers. They are compact and do not require special storage considerations or provisions. There is no assembly required, they are easy to use and enable users to clean as they walk. They can help users to eliminate bending over to pick up small debris such as food particles during food preparation, thus preventing possible back injuries. They can also help prevent small debris and food particles from carrying over to other rooms, keeping traffic area of the floors as well as sole of feet/socks/shoes clean. They can help to keep floors clean longer, thus reducing the numbers of all-out cleanings. In some examples, they are used to cover soiled soles of the shoes of visiting guests (e.g. repair persons or other guests) to thereby serve dual purposes of preventing street dirt from entering the house, and helping to clean the floors of existing dirt or soil that is already there.

While aspects of the invention have been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these disclosed embodiments. Upon reading the teachings of this disclosure, many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind of those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and which are intended to be and are covered by both this disclosure and the claims. It is indeed intended that the scope of the invention should be determined by proper interpretation and construction of the claims and their legal equivalents, as understood by those of skill in the art relying upon this disclosure and the attached drawings.

Although various embodiments are described above, these are only examples.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of one or more embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain various aspects and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

Claims

1. A garment comprising a disposable slipper configured to be worn on a foot of a user, the disposable slipper comprising a cloth material sized to cover a bottom of the foot of the user and extend to partially surround an inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot of the user, the cloth material further sized to end below an ankle of the user and leave an upper portion of a bridge of the foot of the user exposed, the disposable slipper further comprising an opening defining an edge at least partially comprising elastic material configured to wrap around the foot of the user to hold the disposable slipper in place when worn by the user.

2. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises a disposable dry dusting cloth material.

3. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises a nonwoven dry dusting cloth material.

4. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises a micro-fiber material.

5. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises polyester fiber material.

6. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises a biodegradable cloth material.

7. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material comprises folds configured to trap particles.

8. The garment of claim 1, wherein the elastic material comprises an elastic band or rubber tape.

9. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material is sized, and the elastic material and opening are configured, for the disposable slipper to fit over a bottom, inner and outer sides, heel, and toe portion of a shoe worn by the user on the foot of the user.

10. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material is sized, and the elastic material and opening are configured, for the disposable slipper to fit over a bottom, inner and outer sides, heel, and toe portion of a bare foot of the user.

11. The garment of claim 1, wherein the slipper is configured for ambipedal use.

12. The garment of claim 1, wherein the cloth material is a single symmetrical cut of the cloth material.

13. A method of fabricating a disposable slipper configured to be worn on a foot, the method comprising: obtaining a flat sheet of cloth material;cutting a single piece of cloth material from the flat sheet of cloth material, the single piece being generally oblong and sized in accordance with a corresponding size of the foot to cover a bottom of the foot and extend to partially surround an inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot, and further sized to end below an ankle of the foot and leave an upper portion of a bridge of the foot exposed; andaffixing an elastic material to a perimeter of the single piece of cloth material, wherein the affixed elastic material, when in an unexpanded state, defines an opening and edge of the opening, and the elastic material is configured to wrap around the foot to hold the disposable slipper in place to cover the bottom of the foot and extend to partially surround the inner side, outer side, heel, and toes of the foot.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the affixing comprises sewing, gluing, or fastening the elastic material to the perimeter of the single piece of cloth material.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the affixing comprises incorporating the elastic material into the edge of the opening by folding the edge of the single piece of cloth material over and around the elastic material and attaching the edge of the single piece of cloth material onto the single piece of cloth material.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the single piece of cloth material comprises a symmetrical piece of cloth material.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the cloth material comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of: a disposable dry dusting cloth material, a nonwoven dry dusting cloth material, a micro-fiber material, a polyester fiber material, and a biodegradable cloth material.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the cloth material comprises folds configured to trap particles.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the elastic material comprises an elastic band or rubber tape.