A conventional mop assembly includes a mop handle attached to a mop head. In most cases a separate cleaning pad is removably attached to the mop head, enabling it to be removed for periodic cleaning or replacement. Various removable attachment assemblies are known, for example, hook and loop type fastener strips that have oppositely positioned cooperating portions mounted on the mop head and on the mop pad, respectively. One prior art mop head has a bottom face plane formed by a web structure. Hook and loop type fastener strips are mounted in recessed corner regions of the bottom face of the mop head. The bottom faces of the fastener strips protrude outwardly beyond the bottom face plane of the mop head.
A mop head having a bottom face portion adapted to engage a top surface of a mop pad; a first recessed portion recessed from the bottom face portion; and a first fastener strip mounted in the first recessed portion, a bottom surface portion of the fastener strip located in substantially coplanar relationship with the mop head bottom face portion.
A mop assembly includes a mop head having a bottom face portion that includes a first recessed portion. A first fastener strip is mounted in the first recessed portion and has a mop pad attachment face positioned in substantially coplanar relationship with the mop head bottom face portion. A mop handle is attached to the mop head. A mop pad is attachable to the bottom face portion of the mop head by the first fastener strip.
A method of making a mop head includes forming a recess in a bottom face portion of the mop head that has a depth approximately the same as the thickness of a fastener strip assembly to be mounted therein; and securing the fastener strip assembly in the recess such that a lower face of the fastener strip is substantially coplanar with the bottom face portion of the mop head.
As used herein, terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “vertical,” “lateral” “above,” “below,” and other such spacial reference terms are used in a relative sense to describe the positions or orientations of certain surfaces/parts/components of a mop assembly in relationship to other such features of a mop assembly when the mop assembly is in a normal upright operating position. Such terms are not used in an absolute sense, i.e., to indicate orientation with respect to a gravitational field. Thus, used in this relative sense, the “top” surface of a mop head is the surface of the mop head that is remote from the floor when the mop head is in normal floor mopping use. According to this usage, this top surface of the mop head would still be correctly referred to as the “top” surface of the mop head, even if the mop were hung upside down in a broom closet.
Applicants have discovered that an uneven distribution of dirt and contaminants on the bottom surface of some mop pads is caused by mop pad attachment strips that are mounted on the mop head for securing a mop pad thereto. The attachment strips protruded from the bottom face of the mop head and most dust collects on the portion of the mop pad directly above the attachment strips. Applicants have solved this problem by recessing the attachment strips in the mop head so that the mop head bottom surface and the attachment strip bottom surface are generally coplanar, i.e., the attachment strips do not protrude from the mop head bottom surface.
The fastener strips 36, 38 may be hook-type fastener strips that are adapted to pierce the flexible mop pad material 60 and releasably hold the flexible mop pad 60 against the mop head 10. The hook-type fastener strips 36, 38 hold the flexible mop pad 60 with sufficient force to enable normal mopping operations while still enabling the mop pad 60 to be pulled off the mop head 10 by hand. Various hook type fastening materials suitable for this purpose are widely commercially available, as for example from the Velcro Companies or The 3M Company.
As shown by
The lower most edge surface 50 of the webbing structure 40 defines a bottom face plane of the mop head 10 that interfaces with the top surface 62 of a flexible mop pad 60 when the mop pad 60 is attached to the mop head 10, as shown in
The forward and rear elongate recesses 32, 34, the fastener strips 36, 38, and the strip frame portions 37 and 39 are constructed and arranged such that, when the mop head 10 is in a normal operating position, the downward most portion of the fastener strips 36 and 38 are positioned at approximately the same elevation as the lower most edge surfaces 50 of the web structure 40. With this arrangement, the mop pad 60, which has a constant thickness, is provided with a flat bottom face 64 that engages the floor with even pressure thereacross during mopping. Bulging at any portion of the bottom surface 64 of the mop pad has thus been obviated by recessing the attachment strips 32, 34. Excess collection of dirt on areas of the mop pad opposite the fastener strips is eliminated by this construction.
Use of a bottom web structure 40, provides the mop head 10 with relatively high strength and stiffness while requiring a relatively small volume of material. The material from which the mop head 10 is constructed may be a high strength plastic. The web structure 40, in the illustrated embodiment, comprises a plurality of interconnected vertical web portions 46 arranged in a multi-celled, honeycomb-type configuration. These cells 70 are each three sided and have open, triangular, bottom ends,
Example embodiments of a mop head have been expressly described in detail in this disclosure. Alternative embodiments of mop heads employing one or more of the inventive concepts disclosed herein will occur to others after reading this disclosure. It is intended that the language of the appended claims be construed broadly to cover all such alternative embodiments, except insofar as limited by the prior art.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/488,261, filed Apr. 14, 2017, now abandoned, which is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/733,658, filed Jun. 8, 2015 for FLOOR MOP of Paul Fair, Jamie Kummerfield and Kristi Correll, now abandoned, which claims the benefit of each of the following prior filed provisional applications: U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/013,161 filed Jun. 17, 2014 for Floor Mop with Liquid Reservoir in Mop Head of Correll, et. al.; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/015,211 filed Jun. 20, 2014 for Mop Head Assembly with Debris Catcher of Correll, et al.; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/015,202 filed Jun. 20, 2014 for Mop Pad With Stiffening Ring Member of Correll, et al.; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/017,953 filed Jun. 27, 2014 for Mop With Flexible Ears of Correll, et al. U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/017,946 filed Jun. 27, 2014 for Mop Pad With Strips of Material Having Fibers With Different Orientations of Correll, et al.; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/017,659 filed Jun. 26, 2014 for Floor Mop with Multiple Use Collapsible Flexible Bag of Correll et al. This application is also a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 29/564,226, filed May 11, 2016 for MOP HEAD of Paul Fair and Jamie Kummerfield. Each patent application or patent or patent publication listed in this paragraph is hereby incorporated by reference for all that it discloses.
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Entry |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20180042443 A1 | Feb 2018 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62013161 | Jun 2014 | US | |
62015211 | Jun 2014 | US | |
62015202 | Jun 2014 | US | |
62017659 | Jun 2014 | US | |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15488261 | Apr 2017 | US |
Child | 15792067 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14733658 | Jun 2015 | US |
Child | 15488261 | US | |
Parent | 15792067 | Oct 2017 | US |
Child | 15488261 | US | |
Parent | 29564226 | May 2016 | US |
Child | 15792067 | US |