Patent Application
20110099764
Various cleaning articles have been created for dusting and light cleaning. For example, cloth rags and paper towels used dry or wetted with polishing and cleaning compositions have been used on relatively flat surfaces. But, rags and paper towels are problematic for reasons such as hygiene (the user's hand may touch chemicals, dirt or the surface during cleaning), reach (it may be difficult to insert the user's hand with the rag or paper towel into hard-to-reach places) and inconvenience (cleaning between closely-spaced articles typically requires moving the articles).
To overcome the problems associated with using rags and paper towels, various dust gathering devices having feathers, lamb's wool, and synthetic fibers brushes have been utilized for more than a century as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 823,725 issued in 1906 to Hayden. Such dust gathering devices can be expensive to manufacture, and are therefore designed to be cleaned and reused. Disposable cleaning article have been developed which have limited re-usability. These disposable cleaning articles may include brush portions made of synthetic fiber bundles attached to a non-woven sheet. The dust gathering cleaning article may be elongate along a longitudinal axis, flat, and/or may be “fluffable” to increase the surface area of the fibers. Such devices may be made, for example, according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,047,435; 6,813,801 B2, and/or EP 1,299,026 B1.
These references disclose disposable cleaning articles attachable to and removable from a reusable handle, such as generally illustrated in WO 02/34101 A1 filed Oct. 25, 2001. The handle may have a grip which is held by the user during cleaning and one or more means for removably attaching the handle to the disposable cleaning article. Common means for removably attaching the handle to the duster include one or more elongate tines. The one or more tines may be inserted into one or more respective complementary sleeves disposed on the cleaning article. One common geometry comprises two longitudinally parallel elongate times on the handle which are inserted into complementary longitudinally parallel elongate sleeves disposed on the attachment side of the cleaning article.
Various attempts have been made to improve upon the handle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,509 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,317 teach a handle having a hand grip pivotally secured to the fork and a support member pivotally connected to the front of the handle, respectively. U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,435 teaches a brush body rotatable mounted on a holder. U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,386 teaches a telescopic handle. However, these developments do not assist with retention of the cleaning device on the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,413,673 and D572,813S teach handles having corrugations to frictionally engage the duster. The corrugations generally extend from the top, or wider face, of the tine. This geometry has the disadvantage that the corrugations may tear the duster when it is being inserted on the tines. U.S. D579,615 S, sold by the instant assignee under the name Swiffer Dusters®, and the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,383,602 teach tines having thin, deformable projections extending from the sides, or narrow faces, of the tines. These references further teach a clip, disposed near the proximal ends 20 of the tines. However, the projections and clip can likewise cause tearing of the cleaning article upon insertion.
One attempt in the other direction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,435 which teaches a monotocally increasing head portion. A similar attempt is found in the commercially available Azuma handle. This handle has minor undulations in the vertical direction, which undulations are small compared to the thickness of the tines and do not provide significant friction against the cleaning article. These arrangements do not adequately retain the cleaning device during use. An attempt to overcome this problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,784 which teaches a handle having a dedicated attachment portion. But this approach increases both and complexity of assembly.
Another approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,251,851 which teaches a single spiral member. The front end of the spiral member is biforked. However, this arrangement is even more complex than any previously discussed, as it requires an inflected member. Further, this type of member also contributes to tearing of the cleaning member. Likewise, the planar handle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,622 contributes to tearing of the cleaning device.
While attempts to improve the cleaning characteristics of dust gathering devices have been made, the search still continues to reduce the problems and inefficiencies of dusters, particularly as related to a plural sided duster for cleaning a target surface.
The invention comprises an elongate handle for removably receiving a cleaning implement. The handle has a longitudinal axis and comprises a grip and at least one tine. The tine is attached at a proximal end to the grip. Each tine extends from the proximal end to a respective distal end. Each tine defines a reference plane which is parallel to the longitudinal axis. At least a portion of the tine is non-coplanar with the reference plane.
The cleaning article (not shown) may be generally elongate, having a longitudinal axis, although other shapes are feasible as well. The cleaning article may be removably attachable to a handle 10, as shown.
Referring to
The handle attachment may be removably attached to and attachably removed from the cleaning article attachment system. The handle attachment and cleaning article attachment system are considered complementary if they allow for such removable attachment without destruction or undue distortion of either such component, it being recognized the handle 10 is intended for multiple uses and the cleaning article may be intended for a single cleaning job.
With continuing reference to
The handle 10 may be removably attached to the cleaning article directly or may be indirectly connected through another member using any operative connection, including mechanical and chemical means. By way of non-limiting example, hook and loop fasteners, adhesive, cohesive attachment, or mechanical engagement may be used to removably attach the handle 10 and cleaning article. If mechanical engagement is selected, the cleaning article may have a sleeve complementary to and for receiving one or more tines 14 of the cleaning article. Each tine 14 of the handle 10 may be generally flat, of constant or variable cross section, may be curvilinear in the plane of the grip 12 or the plane perpendicular thereto, and may be of the same or different size, length and geometry.
The tines 14 may be cantilevered from the grip 12. The grip 12 and tines 14 may be unitary/integral or may comprise two or more parts joinable together. The grip 12 may be generally parallel or skewed relative to one another and may be generally oriented parallel the longitudinal axis L-L. While two tines 14 are shown, the handle 10 may comprise a single, concave tine 14, or three or more tines 14 collectively forming a concave geometry or otherwise deviating from a reference plane. Any concave, and prophetically convex, configuration which allows the tine 14 to engage and hold the cleaning article, as described, is suitable. The grip 12 may also be generally longitudinally oriented, parallel to and in line with or offset from the one or more tines 14. The handle 10 may be telescoping, or otherwise extendable/retractable and/or articulating.
The z-direction of the cleaning article is the direction perpendicular to the non-woven layer closest to the handle 10; the x-y plane of the cleaning article is defined as the plane defined by the non-woven layer closest to the handle 10. The length of the cleaning article, sleeve, etc. is taken in the longitudinal direction. The width of the cleaning article corresponds to the direction perpendicular to the length and disposed within the plane of the attachment layers. The thickness 25 is defined as the average dimension in the z-direction. The longitudinal direction is the major direction of the cleaning article, handle 10 or a component thereof. As used herein, longitudinally offset refers to a disposition of two or more components, or points on one or more components, which do not lie on a common position along the longitudinal axis L-L.
The cleaning article may be used for one job and discarded, or may be restored and re-used for more jobs, then discarded. The cleaning article may comprise one or more construction portions. The construction portions may be laminated together. Each construction portion may have a first outwardly facing preferential cleaning side and a second inwardly facing attachment side opposed thereto. An individual construction portion may be usable as a sided cleaning implement, as known in the art. The first layer may comprise a nonwoven sheet. Suitable nonwovens may be made according to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,797,357; 6,936,330, D489,537 and/or D499,887.
Two or more plies may be joined together to create one or more third layers by thermal bonding, autogenous bonding, adhesive or other means known in the art. The bonding joining the two plies may be provided in a pattern which provides a sleeve complementary to and able to receive the tines 14 of the handle 10. The bonding may be provided in a pattern which is generally longitudinally oriented, so that the tines 14 may be inserted into the pocket or sleeve created between adjacent bonds.
The sleeve may have an exposed portion with a longitudinal dimension of at least 5 mm. This length is sufficient for most users to manipulate and attach the handle 10 thereto by inserting the tines 14 into the sleeve.
If desired, one layer may comprise a sheet which has been shrunk in the cross-direction. This process can provide rugosities or wrinkles in that layer. The rugosities/wrinkles space apart the layers, allowing for easier insertion of the tine 14 into the sleeve.
If desired, the cleaning article may optionally be used with a cleaning solution or other solution usable for other purposes such as treating the surface for appearance or disinfectant, etc. The cleaning solution may be pre-applied to the cleaning article, creating a pre-moistened cleaning article or may be contained within a separate reservoir for dosing onto the cleaning article and/or target surface.
With continuing reference to
The grip 12 and tines 14 may or may not be collinear, and either may or may not be generally rectilinear. However, both are generally parallel the longitudinal direction. The tines 14 define a reference plane. The reference plane P-P is the plane through the major portion of the tines 14 and parallel the longitudinal direction. Colloquially, the reference plane P-P may be determined by placing the tines 14 on a flat, horizontal surface, and determining, in profile, the plane intercepted by the major portion of the tines 14. If the tines 14 are a minor image of each other, the reference plane P-P intercepts each tine 14 at equal angles.
Referring to
The embodiment shown in
The embodiment of
In an alternative embodiment, the portion of the tines 14 coplanar with the reference plane P-P need not have a longitudinal extent parallel thereto. Instead the coplanar portion of the tines 14 may simply cross the reference plane. In a degenerate case, the tines 14 may resemble a sine wave, with the coplanar portion as the inflection point disposed coincident the reference plane.
In any of the foregoing embodiments and variations, the tines 14 have a thickness 25 taken perpendicular to the reference plane. The tines 14 also have a width, taken parallel to the reference plane. The deviation between the tine 14 and the reference plane P-P is greater than the thickness 25 of the tine 14 for that portion of the time to be considered non-coplanar therewith.
Referring to
Particularly, each tine 14 has an inboard edge proximate the longitudinal axis and a respective outboard edge transversely spaced away from the longitudinal axis. The outboard edges of the tines are disposed further from the reference plane P-P than the inboard edges of the tines. This geometry provides a generally concave arrangement, wherein the cleaning article is bent to conform to the concavity. The portion of the cleaning article which contacts the target surface is convex. The convex arrangement unexpectedly allows more cleaning fibers to reach into smaller spaces of articles being cleaned. Of course, one of skill will recognize that the opposite arrangement could be used, where in the inboard edges of the tines are further from the reference plane P-P and the outboard edges. Of course a hybrid arrangement combining one of each type of tine 15 could be used as well.
In any case, the distal ends 22 of the tines 14 may be generally parallel to the reference plane. This arrangement provides the benefit that the tines 14 are more readily insertable into the sleeves of the cleaning article. The portion of the tines 14 which extends perpendicularly away from the reference plane P-P provide the fit and friction to prevent unintended disengagement of the cleaning article during use.
Likewise, each tine 14 may be considered to have a shape generally like that of a flat blade. The width of the tine 14 may be generally greater in the center portion and lesser at the respective proximal end 20 and distal end 22 of that tine. Thus, the width of the tine 14 non-monotonically changes throughout its longitudinal extent. The tine 14 may further be provided with a slot therethrough. The slot provides the benefit of reducing stiffness of the tine 14, making it easier to conform to a target surface and to insert and remove the cleaning article.
The tines 14 may be thought of as having respective concave faces 28, facing towards each other and convex faces 28, facing outwardly from each other. Either of these faces 28 may be generally flat, as shown with the convex faces 28 or non-flat, as shown with the concave faces 28. The concave faces 28 may define an included angle A therebetween of about 90 to 140 degrees, and more particular about 110 to 130 degrees.
While
Referring to Table 1 below, a handle 10 comprising each embodiment of the present invention was compared to a control handle, made according to commonly assigned U.S. D579,615 and marketed as a Swiffer Duster® handle. For each sample, 30 commercially available Swiffer Duster® cleaning articles were inserted and removed from that handle 10. The average insertion and removal forces are shown in Table 1.
Table 1 shows that, unexpectedly, the embodiment of
The problem of reduced tearing of the cleaning article is significant. Upon tearing, the user considers the article to be of lesser quality. Furthermore, the cleaning article may even be unusable. The consumer would likely consider such article to be of low value. The situation is exacerbated by tolerances which occurred during manufacturing. A cleaning article which fits properly in theory may not fit well when the sleeves become tighter or looser. If the sleeves are too tight tearing may occur. If the sleeves are too loose, the article may become disengaged from the handle 10 during use. Neither situation is desirable. However, Table 1 above shows a ratio of insertion force to removal force of less than 2 and even less than 1.9, with a removal force of greater than 6 N is achievable.
The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood as being strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead, unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean both the recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding that value. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean “about 40 mm.”
Every document cited herein, including any cross referenced or related patent or application, is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety unless expressly excluded or otherwise limited. The citation of any document is not an admission that it is prior art with respect to any invention disclosed or claimed herein or that it alone, or in any combination with any other reference or references, teaches, suggests or discloses any such invention. Further, to the extent that any meaning or definition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning or definition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, the meaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shall govern.
While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is therefore intended to cover in the appended claims all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
