Cleaning device and holding member used for the same
A cleaning tool which is capable of exhibiting an adequate cleaning ability up to the back of a narrow gap when used to clean the narrow gap is provided. The cleaning tool is comprised of a cleaning sheet and a holding member 1. The holding member 1 comprises a leg member 2 for holding the cleaning sheet, an elongated support arm 3, and a handle member 4. The leg member 2 has a holding portion to which the cleaning sheet is attached, and is attached to the front end of the support arm 3. The handle member 4 has a sheath portion formed with a hollow interior to enable to accommodate the support arm 3 and to slide it therein, and a grip portion 42 provided so as to project upward from the sheath portion 41. The support arm 3 is provided at a position which does not project upward from the leg member 2.
The present invention relates to a cleaning tool and a holding member thereof serving as a constitutional component thereof for holding a cleaning sheet to be used to clean furniture, electrical appliances, or the like.
BACKGROUND ARTAs described in a following patent document No. 1, i.e. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-83883 for instance a hand wiper used as a facile cleaning tool for wiping away dust from furniture such as chests, electrical appliances such as personal computers and lighting fixtures, the interior walls of buildings, thresholds, head jambs or lintel, and so on is known. The hand wiper is constituted by a handle, a head portion, and a cleaning cloth. The handle is constituted by a grip portion and a support portion. The head portion is constituted by a central main body portion and a peripheral flexible portion thereof. An insertion portion is formed in the main body portion for inserting the handle, and the support portion of the handle is fitted into the insertion portion.
Further, as described in a patent documents No. 2, i.e. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-165742, as an example, a member serving as a hand wiper holding member in which an attachment portion, a gripping portion, and an arm portion connecting thereof are incorporatively provided is known. The attachment portion is provided with connecting piece forming a pair extend bifurcately toward a tip end side, the arm portion extends obliquely upward from a base portion of the attachment portion, and the gripping portion is formed continuously at the upper end of the arm portion. The gripping portion is formed in a high position away from the lower face of the attachment portion and substantially parallel to the attachment portion. A cleaning tool is formed by attaching a cleaning sheet to the attachment portion of the holding member.
- Patent document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-83883, and
- Patent document No. 2: Japanese patent Application Laid Open No. 2002-165742.
In the cleaning tools described in both Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Nos. 2000-83883 and 2002-165742, the length of the handle is only sufficient for the handle to be gripped by hand. As a result, recesses of portions that cannot be reached by hand cannot be cleaned easily, and hence usability is poor.
Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have proposed a holding member for a cleaning tool formed with an elongatable handle member (Japanese Patent Application 2002-297845, corresponding to WO/2003/070080). As shown in
As shown in
However, although the handle of the cleaning tool using the holding member lengthens, in a case where the cleaning tool is inserted into a narrow gap, such as a gap between pieces of furniture, to clean the gap, the joint portion 104 cannot be inserted into the narrow gap when the cleaning sheet attached to the branch portion 103 is inserted into the gap due to the thickness of the joint portion 104 stepped, and hence the cleaning sheet cannot reach the back of the gap, accordingly, it is impossible to clean this portion.
The present invention has been designed to solve the problems described above, and it is an object thereof to provide a cleaning tool which, when used to clean a narrow gap, is capable of exhibiting an adequate cleaning ability up to the back of the gap, and a holding member used in the cleaning tool.
A cleaning tool of the present invention is comprised of a cleaning sheet and a holding member for holding the cleaning sheet. The holding member comprises a handle member, a support arm provided slidably within the handle member, and a leg member connected to the support arm. The leg member is positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm. Providing the leg member and support arm to be substantially coplanar is not limited to a case in which the two components are perfectly coplanar, and signifies that a slight step may occur between the both components.
In the present invention, the support arm is provided in a position which does not project upward beyond the leg member, and hence a step which is large enough to be obvious is not formed at the connecting portion between the two.
The leg member is removably disposed to the support arm.
The handle member is comprised of a sheath portion for accommodating the support arm, and a grip portion provided in a higher position than the sheath portion. The grip portion is also provided in a higher position than the support arm.
A holding member of the present invention comprises a handle member, a support arm provided slidably within the handle member, and a leg member provided on the support arm. The leg member is positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm.
Effects of the Invention:
In the cleaning tool of the present invention, the arm length of the holding member is able to elongate by the support arm, and the leg member is provided on the support arm such that the leg member is positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm. Hence, when a cleaning sheet is inserted into a narrow gap to clean the portion therein, the cleaning sheet can be inserted up to the back of the gap, enabling an increase in cleaning range and an improvement in cleaning ability.
Further, by providing the leg member on the support arm such that the leg member is positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm, the leg member can be inserted easily into a handle attachment portion of the cleaning sheet.
Further, in a case where the leg member is removabley disposed to the support arm, the entire cleaning tool can be housed in a compact manner when packaged or not in use by detaching the leg member from the support arm. Moreover, a plurality of types of leg members having different shapes and dimensions can be prepared and attached interchangeably, enabling the use of cleaning sheets having various shapes and dimensions.
In a case where the grip portion of the handle member is provided so as to project upward from the sheath portion, the grip portion is positioned above the support arm and leg member. Hence, the cleaning sheet attached to the holding member via the leg member can be pressed against a cleaning surface easily, and favorable operability is achieved when the cleaning tool is held by hand to perform cleaning.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The leg member 2 is constituted by bifurcated two parallel holding portions 21, while a connecting piece 22 for connecting the leg member 2 to the end of the support arm 3 is provided on the end portion of the leg member 2.
The support arm 3 is constituted by a sliding portion 31 formed from an elongated flat plate member, and a receiving member 32 to which the aforementioned connecting piece 22 is fitted. The receiving member 32 is provided on the end of the support arm 3.
As shown in
By fitting and fixing the connecting piece 22 of the leg member 2 in the receiving member 32 of the support arm 3, the leg member 2 is connected to the support arm 3. By releasing the engagement between the connecting piece 22 and receiving member 32, the leg member 2 can be removed from the support arm 3, and thus the support arm 3 and leg member 2 are removably connected.
An end 34 of the support arm 3 is inserted into the interior of the sheath portion 41 of the handle member 4 through the opening, i.e. an insertion port 45 formed in the sheath portion 41, and thus the support arm 3 is accommodated in the interior of the sheath portion 41. The sheath portion 41 has sufficient interior space to accommodate the entire sliding portion 31 of the support arm 3. When the support arm 3 is pulled outward, the support arm 3 slides outward from the interior of the sheath portion 41. Thus the extension length of the support arm 3 from the handle member 4 can be lengthened and shortened.
By connecting the support arm 3 and leg member 2 removably, the leg member 2 can be removed from the support arm 3 when the cleaning tool is packaged or not in use, and hence the entire cleaning tool can be housed in a compact manner, which is convenient for storage, transportation, and so on. Moreover, a plurality of types of leg members having different shapes and dimensions can be prepared and attached interchangeably. In this case, a leg member having an optimum shape for a certain type of cleaning sheet can be selected and used, and thus cleaning sheets having various shapes and dimensions may be employed.
It is noted that the support arm 3 and leg member 2 may be formed incorporatively and inseparably so as not to be separated thereof.
In an aspect shown in
When the support arm 3 is pulled forward from this state, the support arm 3 slides through the interior of the sheath portion 41 and extends outward as shown in
As shown in
Plastic, metal, wood, and so on maybe used as the material for the handle member 4, support arm 3, and leg member 2 constituting the holding member 1, but plastic is preferable due to its light weight and reasonable price. When plastic is used as a material, a polyolefin resin such as polyethylene resin or polypropylene resin is preferable due to its malleability.
As shown in
Outwardly protruding convex portions 27 are provided on the front surface of the holding portions 21 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. As is evident from a plan view, bottom view, and side view of the leg member 2 (see
When a cleaning sheet is attached to the holding member 1, the leg member 2 is inserted into an attachment portion of the cleaning sheet, and during cleaning, the leg member 2 must be prevented from slipping out of the attachment portion and dropping the cleaning sheet. In the present invention, a plurality of convex portions 27 formed on the leg member 2 of the holding member act such that a latching force is applied in the direction in which the leg member 2 slips out from the attachment portion of the cleaning sheet, and hence the leg member 2 is prevented from slipping out from the attachment portion, and is prevented from dropping the cleaning sheet during cleaning.
On the other hand, the leg member 2 can be inserted smoothly into the attachment portion of the cleaning sheet.
As shown in
The receiving member 32 of the support arm 3 has a horizontal width which is formed to be greater than that of the sliding portion 31, as shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As noted above, the stopper 35 is provided at the end portion 34 of the sliding portion 31. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The leg member 2 is formed with a semicircular shape in the vertical cross-sectional view, but may be formed with a circular in the vertical cross-sectional view, as shown in
The leg member 2 may take a form other than a bifurcately or two-pronged form. For example, as shown in FIGS. 25 to 27, the leg member may be formed in a framework form constituted by a combination of framework or bony members. This leg member is used to attach a mitten-form cleaning sheet. In this case, a rib 28 is provided around the peripheral edge of the rear surface (see
In the holding member 1 shown in
The cleaning sheet attached to the leg member 2 is constituted by a mop, a sheet, or a similar object that can be attached to and detached from the leg member 2 and is capable of wiping away dirt, dust, and so on. As shown in
The cleaning sheet 5 include a sheet constituted, as examples, by a sheet-form fiber bundle formed by bundling together a large number of fibers and a sheet having a rectangular or strip-form portion at one side thereof, and a sheet constituted by non-woven fabric, and so on. The fibers constituting the sheet-form fiber bundle may be natural fibers such as cotton or wool, synthetic fibers such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, nylon, and polyacrylic, or compound fibers such as core-in-sheath fibers, sea-island fibers, and side-by-side fibers, for example. The sheet having the strip-form portion, may be made from, for examples, paper, synthetic resin sheet, non-woven fabric, and so on. As the non-woven fabric stated above, spun lace non-woven fabric, spun-bonded non-woven fabric, thermobonded non-woven fabric, air-through non-woven fabric, point-bonded non-woven fabric, and soon are available. As the fibers constituting the non-woven fabric, natural fibers, synthetic fibers, compound fibers, and soon are available. The non-woven fabric preferably has a basic weight of approximately 20 to 100 g/m2.
Claims
1. A cleaning tool comprising a cleaning sheet and a holding member for holding the cleaning sheet, the holding member having a handle member, a support arm provided slidably within the handle member, and a leg member connected to the support arm, and the leg member being positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm.
2. The cleaning tool according to claim 1, the support arm is provided in a position which does not project upward beyond the leg member.
3. The cleaning tool according to claim 1, the leg member is removably disposed to the support arm.
4. The cleaning tool according to claim 1, the handle member is comprises of a sheath portion for accommodating the support arm, and a grip portion provided so as to project upward from the sheath portion.
5. A holding member comprising a handle member, a support arm disposed slidably within the handle member, and a leg member connected to the support arm, and the leg member being positioned substantially coplanar with the support arm.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 28, 2005
Publication Date: Aug 2, 2007
Applicant: YAMADA CHIYOE (TOKYO, JAPAN 141-0022)
Inventor: Kikuo Yamada (Tokyo)
Application Number: 10/590,916
International Classification: A47L 13/10 (20060101);