ROLLER FOR A CLEANING DEVICE

Abstract

A roller and a cleaning device are provided. The roller may be coupled to a cleaning device for wringing liquid from a hydrophilic member of the cleaning device. The roller includes at least one solid wringing member having at least one opening whereby liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member may pass through the roller via the opening. The cleaning device may include a handle, a hydrophilic member coupled to the handle, and a wringer coupled to the handle for wringing liquid from the hydrophilic member. The wringer may include a hand grip and a roller coupled to the hand grip. Upon activation, the roller may move relative to the hydrophilic member and may be adapted to force liquid from the hydrophilic member upon compression of the hydrophilic member. The roller defines at least one opening therethrough and liquid forced from the hydrophilic member passes through the roller via the opening.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/429,586, filed Jan. 4, 2011.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a cleaning device and, more particularly, to a cleaning device such as, for example, a mop including a hydrophilic cleaning member and a pair of rollers adapted to wring liquid from the cleaning member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mops have had a variety of different configurations over the years. Two popular designs include bucket wringing mops and self-wringing mops. Bucket wringing mops generally require a separate bucket and separate wringing device (otherwise known as a wringer) coupled to the bucket to wring the mop. Such mops are placed into the wringer, the wringer is actuated to wring liquid from the mop, and the mop is removed from the wringer to continue cleaning. Self-wringing mops include a wringing device or wringer integrally formed with or coupled to the mop itself, thereby making a separate wringer unnecessary. Such self-wringing mops are operated by first utilizing the mop to clean, then the wringer coupled to the mop is actuated to wring liquid from the mop. After wringing, the mop may be used again to clean.

The wringer of a self-wringing mop typically comprises a pair of rollers and an actuating mechanism. The rollers may be either affixed to the shaft or movable with respect thereto such that the rollers and the mop head typically are movable with respect to each other over a range of travel between a cleaning position and wringing positions. In the cleaning position, the cleaning implement may be used to apply liquid to a surface, such as, a wall or floor, or to remove liquid therefrom, and in the wringing positions, liquid is expellable from the mop head.

Various configurations have been used for the rollers used in the wringers of such roller mops. One approach uses smooth-walled rollers such as shown in FIG. 15 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,785,927. Another approach, taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,469, utilizes axial serrations around the surfaces of the rollers to increase the gripping purchase or leverage of each roller upon the mop head during a wringing operation. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,263,739 provides a wringer roller having a plurality of longitudinal (axial) or transverse (radial) ribs for enhancing the gripping force of the roller as it expels fluid from the mop. While these rollers are generally acceptable for their intended purposes, they do not provide optimum fluid removal as fluid is expelled from the mop head.

Another roller mop wringer roller design is disclosed in U.S. Design Pat. No. D623,815 and copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/713,241. According to this design, the roller is hollow and generally tear-drop shaped in cross-section. An outer side wall encloses most of the circumference of the roller to define a cavity and a plurality of longitudinal and transverse ribs project from the inner surface of the side wall toward an opening in the roller circumference. The side wall itself is provided with many small perforations for enabling fluid flow through the roller. The roller is rather complex in design and the many small metallic mold parts used to create the roller's perforations have a tendency to suffer stress under elevated molding temperatures and pressures.

An advantage exists, therefore, for a roller mop wringer roller that offers excellent fluid transfer and gripping characteristics.

A further advantage exists for a wringer roller that reduces material and therefore manufacturing costs, while enhancing strength and minimizing warpage.

A further advantage exists for a wringer roller that is simple in design and therefore capable of being manufactured by a simple, minimal and robust arrangement of mold parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one example, a roller for a cleaning device for wringing liquid from a hydrophilic member of the cleaning device may include at least one solid wringing member and at least one opening defined in the at least one wringing member, wherein a liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member passes through the roller via the at least one opening and exits the roller.

In another example, a cleaning device may include a handle, a hydrophilic member coupled to the handle, and a wringer coupled to the handle and moveable axially along the handle for wringing liquid from the hydrophilic member. The wringer may include a yoke and a roller coupled to an actuator. The roller may include at least one opening. Movement of the yoke towards the hydrophilic member causes the roller to move relative to the hydrophilic member and compress the hydrophilic member and a liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member to pass through the roller via the at least one opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of an exemplary cleaning device;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged bottom perspective view of a portion of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side perspective view of a portion of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a roller of the cleaning device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the roller shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the roller shown in FIG. 4.

Before any independent features and embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-3, an exemplary cleaning device 20 is illustrated. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, cleaning device 20 is a hand-operable floor cleaning device, such as, for example, a self-wringing mop, including an elongated handle 24, a hand grip 28 coupled to a first end of the handle 24, a cleaning head 32 coupled to a second end of the handle 24, and a wringer 40 coupled to the handle 24 for wringing liquid from the cleaning head 32. Although not shown, it will be understood that a separate scrubber may be coupled to wringer 40 in the manner known in the art. Exemplary handle 24 is only one of many different types and sizes of handles to which cleaning head 32 may be coupled. For example, cleaning head 32 may be coupled to any other type or size of elongated handle for cleaning a floor surface from a standing position. Also, for example, cleaning head 32 may be coupled to “hand held” type handles commonly characterized as having a shorter handle length than a “stand-up” or “mop” type handle 24 as illustrated in FIG. 1. Further, for example, cleaning head 32 may be coupled to any type or size of handle for cleaning a wide variety of surfaces such as floors, walls, or any other surfaces.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3, handle 24 may be coupled to cleaning head 32 in a variety of known manners. For instance, handle 24 may be coupled to cleaning head 32 via a rigid, non-movable connection such as a threaded connection, which may comprise an unillustrated externally threaded portion extending from a second end of handle and a corresponding unillustrated internally threaded portion defined in cleaning head 32. Alternatively, handle 24 may define an internally threaded portion and cleaning head 32 may include an externally threaded portion for threadable engagement. In other exemplary embodiments, handle 24 may couple to cleaning head 32 via other rigid, non-movable connections such as, for example, other types of threaded connections, fasteners, unitarily forming handle 24 with cleaning head 32, bonding, adhering, etc. In yet other exemplary embodiments, handle 24 may couple to cleaning head 32 via a movable joint such as, for example, a joint allowing a single direction of movement, a universal joint allowing multiple directions of movement, etc.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, cleaning head 32 includes a cleaning member 52 and a bracket 56 secured to a top of cleaning member 52. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, cleaning member 52 is a sponge having hydrophilic properties. Alternatively, cleaning member 52 may be other types of hydrophilic elements and be within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

With continued reference to FIGS. 1-3, wringer 40 includes a body 60, a hand grip 64 disposed in this example at a top end of body 60, a yoke 68 disposed at a bottom end of body 60, and a pair of rollers 72. Wringer body 60 is hollow, which allows handle 24 to extend therethrough to couple to cleaning head 32 and also allow body 60 to move axially relative to handle 24. A user may grip hand grip 64 of wringer 40 and actuate wringer 40. Yoke 68 includes a first member 76 and a second member 80 spaced apart from each other to provide a cavity 84 (FIG. 3) therebetween. One of the rollers 72 is connected to each of the first and second members 76, 80 via a roller connector 88 (FIG. 2), which in this example comprises a semi-circular cutout for receiving a portion of roller 72 and appropriately sized to facilitate retention of roller 72 while allowing rotation of roller 72 therein.

Structurally, rollers 72 are substantially the same as one another and, therefore, only one of the rollers 72 will be described herein. With particular reference to FIGS. 4-6, roller 72 has a longitudinal shape and is rotatable about a longitudinal axis extending longitudinally through roller 72 and substantially aligned with a center of roller connector 88. Roller 72 includes two connectors or axles 100, two exterior wringing members 104, and a middle wringing member 108. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the two connectors 100 are substantially cylindrical in shape and are complementary to the shape of roller connectors 88 defined in yoke 68 in order to facilitate coupling of rollers 72 to yoke 68, while allowing rotation of rollers 72 relative to yoke 68.

According to a preferred embodiment, at least the middle wringing member 108 is solid as opposed to hollow and includes at least one opening 120 for permitting liquid to pass therethrough. At least the middle wringing member 108 is preferably substantially cylindrical in shape and the at least one opening 120 is disposed substantially diametrically therethrough. The at least one opening may assume any desired shape including, but not limited to, circular, rectangular or, as illustrated, oval. Preferably, the at least one opening 120 is a plurality of openings whereby connecting material 122 located between adjacent openings serves as structural reinforcement for resisting warpage of the roller. It will be understood that exterior wringing members 104 may also be constructed substantially similarly to middle wringing member 108. That is, the exterior wringing members 104 may be solid and have at least one opening similar to opening(s) 120 for permitting liquid to pass therethrough. Alternatively, the exterior wringing members 104 may be hollow and may or may not include opening(s) similar to opening(s) 120. Under all circumstances, however, constructing at least the middle wringing member 108 as a solid member as described results in a roller that is inherently strong yet lightweight and which provides effective fluid transfer characteristics. In addition, roller 72 may be readily manufactured by a roller mold having a few robust molding components that can reliably withstand the heat and/or pressure demands associated with the roller molding process. In this regard, roller 72 may be manufactured according injection molding or other molding processes known in the art.

Operation of exemplary cleaning device 20 will now be described. With particular reference to FIG. 1, cleaning device 20 is shown in a cleaning position or non-wringing position. In this position, cleaning device 20 may be used to clean a surface as desired. The shape and material of cleaning member 52 is intended to apply a continuous upward force on rollers 72, which biases rollers 72 toward their cleaning or non-wrung position.

During operation, it may be desirable to wring liquid from cleaning member 52. To wring liquid from cleaning member 52, a user grips hand grip 64 of wringer 40 and pushes wringer 40 downward toward cleaning head 32 while the user either maintains handle 24 in position or pulls handle 24 in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of wringer 40. As wringer 40 moves toward cleaning head 32 rollers 72 begin to roll along outer surfaces of cleaning member 52 whereby the cleaning member becomes compressed between the rollers and moves into cavity 84. The space between rollers 72 is intentionally narrower than the width of cleaning member 52 in order to adequately compress the cleaning member and wring liquid from cleaning member. As the cleaning member 52 is being wrung, liquid passes freely through the at least one opening 120 thereby assuring effective transfer of liquid from the cleaning member.

When in a fully wrung position, the top of cleaning member 52 (or bracket 56) engages a top surface 92 (FIG. 3) of cavity 84 to prevent further downward movement of wringer 40 and also prevent further rolling of rollers 72 down cleaning member 52. After cleaning member 52 has been wrung, wringer 40 can be returned to its cleaning position to allow further use of cleaning device 20. To return wringer 40 to the cleaning position, a user may grip hand grip 64 and pull wringer 40 upward. Wringing of cleaning member 52 may be repeated as desired by repeating these steps.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. The descriptions were selected to explain the principles of the invention and their practical application to enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Although particular constructions of the present invention have been shown and described, other alternative constructions will be apparent to those skilled in the art and are within the intended scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A roller for a cleaning device for wringing liquid from a hydrophilic member of the cleaning device, the roller comprising:

at least one solid wringing member; and

at least one opening in said at least one wringing member wherein a liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member passes through the at least one opening and exits the roller.

2. The roller of claim 1, wherein said at least one opening is a plurality of openings, and wherein a liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member passes through the plurality of openings and exits the roller.

3. The roller of claim 1, wherein said at least one wringing member has a cylindrical shape.

4. The roller of claim 1, wherein said at least one opening is disposed substantially diametrically through said at least one wringing member.

5. A cleaning device comprising:

a handle;

a hydrophilic member coupled to the handle; and

a wringer coupled to the handle and moveable axially along the handle for wringing liquid from the hydrophilic member, the wringer including;

a hand grip; and

a roller coupled to the hand grip, the roller having at least one solid wringing member and at least one opening in said at least one wringing member; wherein

movement of the hand grip towards the hydrophilic member moves the roller relative to the hydrophilic member to compress the hydrophilic member, such that a liquid is wrung from the hydrophilic member and passes through the at least one opening and exits the roller.

6. The cleaning device of claim 5, wherein said at least one opening is a plurality of openings, and wherein a liquid wrung from the hydrophilic member passes through the plurality of openings and exits the roller.

7. The cleaning device of claim 5, wherein said at least one wringing member has a cylindrical shape.

8. The cleaning device of claim 5, wherein said at least one opening is disposed substantially diametrically through said at least one wringing member.