The present invention relates to a floor cleaning system. In particular, the present invention relates to a cleaning tool including a cleaning frame that secures to a mop.
Cloths and other wipes are used over mop head for cleaning surface such as floors.
Most wipes, are made from either a woven or nonwoven sheet, and are attached to a tool like a mop handle to move dirt and dust in a desired direction. Typically, most wipes products do not have the ability to effectively capture and retain small and large particles of dirt and debris. During cleaning, when the dirt or dust has been collected, the wipe may be removed from the mop and scrunched up by the user to try to capture the dirt or sand that has been collected so that it can be shaken out in the trash. This process is repeated during cleaning and often requires a user who is attempting to pick up larger particles such as sand to repeat the process several times to pick up all the sand or heavier particles that have been collected. In other cases, the user will use several wipes to entirely pick up the dirt and debris. Many times a user will pickup the debris with a broom and dust pan once it has been gathered into a pile with the wipe.
Adhesive may be incorporated into a wipe to assist with retaining both small and large particle of dirt and debris within the wipe. However, there may not be sufficient quantities of adhesive to capture large particles. Use of an entirely coated adhesive sheet is impractical because due to the tack of the adhesive, the adhesive sheet cannot be easily slid over the surface to be cleaned. Therefore, sufficient spacing between the surface being cleaned and the adhesive layer is necessary to provide sufficient glide of the wipe while still providing sufficient pick-up of the dirt and debris.
The present invention relates to a cleaning tool. In one embodiment the cleaning tool comprises a cleaning frame including a rigid body defining a perimeter surrounding an interior opening and at least one spacer arranged within the interior opening. The cleaning frame secures over a backing.
In another embodiment, a cleaning attachment for a mop head having a cleaning surface is disclosed. The cleaning attachment comprises a frame defining an interior opening, at least one spacer arranged in the interior opening, and a fastener for attaching the frame to the mop head. The spacer is a compliant material with structural integrity to provide distance between the surface to be cleaned and the mop head cleaning surface. When the attachment is attached to the mop head, the spacer is arranged adjacent the mop head cleaning surface; and
In another embodiment, the cleaning tool for cleaning a surface comprises a cleaning frame including (a) a body defining a perimeter at least partially surrounding an interior opening and (b) at least one spacer within the interior. The spacer is linear with a first end connected to the perimeter and a second end connected to the perimeter. The cleaning tool further comprises a backing and a cleaning sheet having a substantially planar working surface. The cleaning frame secures over the backing and the sheet such that a portion of the sheet is between the backing and the cleaning frame.
In another embodiment, the cleaning tool comprises a cleaning frame including (a) a body defining a perimeter surrounding an interior opening and (b) a plurality of parallel spacers within the interior opening. Each spacer is linear with a first end connected to the perimeter and a second end connected to the perimeter. The cleaning tool further comprises a mop head and a stack of cleaning sheets having a substantially planar working surface covering at least a portion of the mop head. The working surface is at least partially covered with adhesive. The cleaning frame removably secures over the mop head and the stack of cleaning sheets such that a portion of the adhesive of the working surface is covered by the spacers and a portion of the adhesive of the working surface is exposed by the interior opening.
While the above-identified drawings and figures set forth embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope and spirit of this invention. The figures may not be drawn to scale.
In the embodiment shown in
A cleaning sheet 300 is attached to the working surface 230 of the backing 220. The cleaning sheet 300 may be a woven, nonwoven, wet or dry wipe. Preferably, the cleaning sheet 300 includes adhesive 312 at its working surface 314. The adhesive 312 may be continuous, discontinuous or interrupted. The cleaning sheet 300 may or may not be fixedly attached to the working surface 230 of the mop 200. To fixedly attach the cleaning sheet 300 to the mop 200, the working surface 230 of the mop may include an adhesive that allows for securing the cleaning sheet 300 but also allows for removal or repositioning of the cleaning sheet 300. A single sheet or a stack of sheets may be used.
Typically, the top (reference
Examples of suitable material for the cleaning sheet backing include a woven, a nonwoven, paper, polymeric and plastic film materials including polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene or propylene, halogenated polymers such as poly(vinyl chloride) and poly(vinylidene chloride) polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethanes, and poly(vinyl acetate) and vinyl acetate copolymers. Polypropylenes can include monoaxially oriented polypropylene, biaxially oriented polypropylene, simultaneously biaxially oriented polypropylene, and untensilized polypropylene including untensilized isotactic polypropylene. Various types of nonwoven synthetic polymeric backings including spun-bond polyethylene could be used. The sheet material can be compostible or degradable, can be colored, can be printed, can be fragranced, and can be of different surface textures or embossed. Each sheet may include a textured adhesive surface having raised portions and recessed portions. A textured adhesive surface is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,865,765 the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.
Suitable adhesives for the layer of adhesive 312 include hot melt-coated formulations, transfer-coated formulations, solvent-coated formulations, and latex formulations. Preferably, the layer of adhesive is a pressure-sensitive adhesive. General categories of pressure-sensitive adhesives can be based on natural rubber, styrene butadiene, butyl rubber and polyisobutylene, styrenic block copolymers, ethylene-vinyl acetate and related copolymers, poly-alpha olefins, acrylic adhesives, silicone, butadiene-acrylonitrile, polychloroprene, polybutadiene, atactic polypropylene, or repulpable pressure-sensitive adhesive. (From the Handbook of Pressure Sensitive Adhesive Technology, Third Edition, Edited by Donatas Satas, Satas & Associates, 1999.) However, other pressure-sensitive adhesives may be used for adhesive layer 320, such as those with the properties described in Adhesion and Adhesives Technology an Introduction, p. 216, Alphonsus V. Pocius, Hanser Gardner Publications, Inc., 1997. The Pressure-Sensitive Tape Council has defined pressure-sensitive adhesives as materials with the following properties: 1) aggressive and permanent tack; 2) adheres with no more than finger pressure; 3) requires no activation by any energy source; 4) has sufficient ability to hold onto the adherend; and 5) has enough cohesive strength to be able to be removed cleanly from the adherend.
Examples of adhesives useful for the layer of adhesive 312 include those based on general compositions of polyacrylates; polyvinyl ethers; diene-containing rubbers such as natural rubber, polyisoprene, and polyisobutylene; polychloroprene; butyl rubber; butadiene-acrylonitrile polymer; thermoplastic elastomers; block copolymers such as styrene-isoprene and styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymers, styrene-diene type block copolymers such as SBS, SIBS, SEBS, and SEPS, or styrene-ethylene-butylene, hydrogenated SBS, hydrogenated SIS, styrene-ethylene-propylene-styrene, ethylene-propylene-diene polymers, and styrene-butadiene polymer; poly-alpha-olefin; amorphous polyolefins; silicones; ethylene-containing copolymers such as those prepared from ethylene vinyl acetate, ethylacrylate, and ethyl methacrylate; polyurethanes; polyamides; epoxies; polyvinylpyrrolidone and vinylpyrrolidone copolymers; polyesters; and mixtures of the above. Additionally, the adhesives can contain additives such as tackifiers, plasticizers, fillers, antioxidants, stabilizers, pigments, diffusing particles, curatives, fragrance, and solvents.
Within a portion of the central opening 420 is at least one spacer 430. The spacer 430 is a compliant material that maintains spacing between the surface to be cleaned and the working surface of the mop 200. The spacer 430 functions to capture and collect dirt and debris and prevents total contact of the adhesive 312 with the surface to be cleaned.
If the adhesive 312 completely contacts the surface to be cleaned, then the mop 200 will not effectively glide on the surface to be cleaned. Without the spacer 430, the cleaning sheet 300 is slid on the surface to be cleaned and essentially just the leading edge is available for picking up dirt and debris. When dirt and debris only collects at the leading edge, then only a limited the amount of dirt and debris can be picked up.
Lifting the cleaning sheet 300 from the surface to be cleaned exposes more surface area of the cleaning sheet 300 for picking up dirt and debris. The dirt and debris are raised from the surface to be cleaned and so the top of the dirt and debris can be retained by the cleaning sheet 300. Therefore, when the working surface 230 of the mop or in particular the working surface 314 of the cleaning sheet 300 is removed from the surface to be cleaned by the spacer 430 more dirt and debris is capable of being captured, collected, and retained on the cleaning sheet.
The spacer 430 provides an open structure that the cleaning sheet 300 can glide on and may be provided in any number of arrangements and materials. One particular embodiment of the spacer 430 will be discussed with respect to
In the embodiment shown in
The spacer 430 is preferably a compliant material so that itself may capture and retain dirt and debris. Preferably, the spacer is at least 5 mils thick. Because the spacer is in direct contact with the surface to be cleaned, preferably, the spacer is of a material that will not damage the surface to be cleaned. Therefore, preferably, the spacer is a compliant material without sharp edges and rough surfaces. However, if the surface to be cleaned is a fabric-like surface like carpet, then the spacer should be smooth to allow for a smooth glide on the surface to be cleaned.
Suitable material for the spacer 430 may be a natural or synthetic material. Examples of material that may be used are nonwovens, wovens, knitted material, foams, sponges, yarns, rows of bristles, extruded polymers, or a fabric surrounded metals, i.e. pipe cleaner. For an extruded strand, suitable materials include polypropylene, polyethylene or olefin copolymers and other thermoplastics. The cross section of the spacer strand may be shaped such as round, oval, star shaped, rectangle, or hollow (i.e., capillary). The plastic may be foamed to make it lighter or more flexible.
The spacer 430 may be permanently secured to the frame 410 or may be removable from the frame 410. If permanently secured to the frame 410, when the spacer 430 has worn then the entire mop 200 is discarded or if the cleaning attachment 500 shown and described with respect to
Overall, the cleaning attachment 400 hingedly connects to the backing 220 of the mop. This allows the cleaning attachment 400 to be partially removable from the backing 220 of the mop 200 so that a cleaning sheet 300 can be placed between the working surface 230 of the mop 200 and the cleaning attachment 400. The cleaning frame 400 attaches to a portion of the mop 200 so that the cleaning frame 400 can hinge between an open position as shown in
When the cleaning attachment 400 is in a closed position,
To use the mop 200 having the cleaning attachment 400, a cleaning sheet 300 is provided between the working surface 230 of the mop 200 and the cleaning attachment 400. The mop 200 is maneuvered over the surface to be cleaned which may include such surfaces as floors, walls having materials such as wood, tile, laminates, and carpet. Dirt and debris are collected and trapped by the spacers 430 and secured to the cleaning sheet 300, and in particular secured to the adhesive 312 if included. When finished, the cleaning attachment 400 is opened and the cleaning sheet 300 may be removed. If a stack 320 of cleaning sheets 300 is included, the next cleaning sheet 300 will be in place and ready for use when the cleaning attachment 400 is closed.
As was discussed above with respect to
In contrast to the cleaning attachment 400 shown in
Although specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the many possible specific arrangements that can be devised in application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the structures described in this application, but only by the structures described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those structures.