This application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C. 371 of PCT/US2009/032225, filed Jan. 28,2009, which claims priority to China Patent Application No. 200810008772.4, filed Jan. 29,2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its/their entirety herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mop, and particularly to a mop capable of absorbing water from a floor and cleaning the floor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A primary requirement by a customer for a self wringing mop is to absorb water from a floor quickly and completely since the mop is often used in an environment such as a kitchen and a rest room where a lot of water often splashes down. A water absorbing material of the mop is generally made of hydrophilic PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) foam or wood pulp sponge formed by foaming hydrophilic wood pulp fiber.
In order to overcome at least a part of the above defects existing in the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mop of which a cleaning portion is capable of rolling and being braked. It is another object of the present application to provide a self-wringing mop.
In accordance with an aspect of the present application, there is provided a mop comprising A mop comprising a handle, a mounting support forming an axis of rotation, wherein the mounting support is connected with the handle, a cleaning portion connected with the mounting support in such a manner that the cleaning portion is rotatable about the axis, and a pressing member connected with the handle, wherein the pressing member engages with the cleaning portion to inhibit rotation of the cleaning portion.
In one embodiment. one of the pressing member and the cleaning portion mounting support are movably connected with the handle so that when the one of the pressing member and the cleaning portion mounting support moves toward the other of the pressing member and the cleaning portion mounting support, the pressing member is brought into contact with an outer periphery of the cleaning portion to set the cleaning portion in a stationary state or a state of rotation with a rotational resistance. With the above configuration, the cleaning portion of the mop can be rolled and braked.
In accordance with another aspect of the present application, the pressing member comprises a first pressing member and a second pressing member with a predetermined space therebetween. The space has a width less than a width of the cleaning portion in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the cleaning portion so that when the one of the pressing member and the mounting support moves toward the other of the pressing member and the mounting support, the first pressing member and the second pressing member are brought into contact with the outer periphery of the cleaning portion, and when the one of the pressing member and the mounting support further moves toward the other of the pressing member and the mounting support, at least a part of the cleaning portion passes through the space formed between the first pressing member and the second pressing member so as to be squeezed of liquids. Each of the first pressing member and the second pressing member may comprise a roller.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present application, the mop further comprises a moving device for moving the one of the pressing member and the mounting support. The moving device includes a lever with an end rotatably connected with the handle, and a link having an end rotatably connected with the one of the pressing member and the mounting support and the other end rotatably connected to a portion of the lever close to the end of the lever so that when the lever is rotated, the one of the pressing member and the mounting support moves.
In accordance with a still another aspect of the present invention, the mop may further comprise a pressing member connecting part including a first pressing member connecting part and a second pressing member connecting part. The first pressing member connecting part and the second pressing member connecting part respectively have ends mounted through a sleeve to the handle, and the other ends respectively connected with the first pressing member and the second pressing member.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a space is formed between the first pressing member connecting part and the second pressing member connecting part; and the mounting support includes a first portion extending substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the cleaning portion and located between the first pressing member connecting part and the second pressing member connecting part, second portions respectively extending from two ends of the first portion toward a side of the cleaning portion, and a cleaning portion shaft coupled to ends of the second portions on which the cleaning portion is rotatably mounted. The roller may have a rotation axis substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the cleaning portion.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a locking part is formed on a surface of at least one of the first pressing member connecting part and the second pressing member connecting part, and the surface faces the first portion of the mounting support. A latching part is formed at a portion of the first portion of the mounting support corresponding to the locking part so as to lock the cleaning portion in the stationary state or the state of rotation with a rotational resistance.
These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
As shown in
Although the cleaning portion 4 shown in
In one exemplary embodiment, the pressing member comprises a first pressing member and a second pressing member such as the roller 10 with a predetermined space therebetween.
In one exemplary embodiment, each of the first pressing member and the second pressing member may comprise rollers 10 as shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In a further exemplary embodiment, the mop further comprises a pressing member connecting part 7 including a first pressing member connecting part and a second pressing member connecting part. For example,
In the case where the pressing member is movable with respect to the handle 1 or the cleaning portion mounting support 6, the sleeve to which the pressing member connecting part 7 is fixed is movably connected with the handle 1, and a guide groove (not shown) may be formed in the handle 1, and a guide protrusion (not shown) may be formed in the sleeve so that the pressing member connecting part 7 is guided to move by engagement of the guide groove and guide protrusion.
In the case where each of the first pressing member and the second pressing member includes the part having the curved surfaces or planes, the first pressing member and the second pressing member may be directly connected with the handle 1 rather than through the pressing member connecting part 7. For example, the first pressing member and the second pressing member may include respective connection portions formed integrally therewith for connecting the first pressing member and the second pressing member to the handle 1.
In one exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, as shown in
In another exemplary embodiment, each of the rollers 10 may have a rotation axis substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the cleaning portion 4. However, the present invention is not limited to that, and the rotation axis of each of the roller 10 and the rotation axis of the cleaning portion 4 may be appropriately oriented with respect to each other so long as the cleaning portion 4 can be braked and dewatered by the rollers 10.
In a further exemplary embodiment, a locking part is formed on a surface of at least one of the first pressing member connecting part and the second pressing member connecting part, and the surface faces the first portion of the cleaning portion mounting support 6. A latching part is formed at a portion of the first portion of the cleaning portion mounting support 6 corresponding to the locking part so as to lock the cleaning portion 4 in the stationary state or the state of rotation with a rotational resistance. In addition, the cleaning portion 4 may be locked in a state of free rotation in the same manner. For example, as shown in
In the exemplary embodiment shown in
The sponge roller 3 may be formed from a variety of materials that are water absorbent. In one example, synthetic foam such as urethane foam may be used. In another example, the sponge roller 3 may be formed of a cellulose sponge. Other absorbent woven, knitted, or nonwoven materials made from natural, synthetic, or a combination of natural and synthetic fibers may be used on the sponge roller 3. Further, all or a portion of the sponge roller 3 may include a scouring surface. Examples of scouring surface may be brushes, bristles, nonwoven (similar to a Scotch-BriteĀ® scouring pad, available from 3M Company of St. Paul Minn.). For example, the sponge roller may include one or more stripes of a scouring material directly on the roller. As discussed, when the sponge roller 3 is in a locked position, then the scouring surface may enhance the ability to remove dirt from the surface being cleaned.
The handle 1 is a straight rod of which an upper end portion can be used as a hand grip for a user to grip. The straight rod has two rods to form a telescopic straight rod. A user can adjust a length of the straight rod within a certain range according to requirement.
The cleaning portion 4 as a high-efficiency water absorbing tool comprises the circular cylindrical sponge roller 3 and a hard pipe core 5 and can freely rotate. In use, a user can grip the handle 1 and move the handle 1 back and forth so that the cleaning portion 4 rolls back and forth on a surface from which water is to be removed. The water is absorbed quickly from the surface. As schematically shown in
When the sponge roller 3 is to be replaced, as shown in
In order to clean dirt effectively from a surface, as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008 1 0008772 | Jan 2008 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2009/032225 | 1/28/2009 | WO | 00 | 11/19/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2009/097326 | 8/6/2009 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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PCT International Search Report PCT/ISA/210. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110047733 A1 | Mar 2011 | US |