Cleaning Pad with an abrasive portion and a non-abrasive portion

Abstract

A pad for cleaning surfaces may include a low abrasive pad portion including a first flexible material to clean a surface of non-stick plastic coating, a high abrasive pad portion including a second flexible material to clean a surface other than non-stick plastic coating and an insert to be positioned between the low abrasive pad portion and the high abrasive pad portion.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to processes for forming pads of woven material and to pads formed by such processes, and, particularly, a cleansing pad having a low abrasive surface on a first side and a high abrasive surface on an opposing side.

BACKGROUND

Scouring and polishing pads for use at home and in various industrial applications are well known in the art. Initially, metal wool, such as steel wool, was widely used for scouring household articles such as pots, pans and the like. Similar scouring and polishing pads made of steel wool strands which have been mated together or interwoven into a mass of filaments have also been employed in the industrial field for the removal of substances from surfaces. The metal wool pads had the advantage of deriving their abrasive characteristics and their scouring action from the relative hardness of the metal. Metal wool pads, and particularly steel wool, however, had several disadvantages, including but not limited to, unsightly oxidation (e.g., rusting), breaking or splintering and inability to retain their form and shape.

In today's kitchen, Teflon has been used to coat the insides of many kinds of pans or pots in order to prevent or reduce the tendency of the food to stick to the inside of the pan or pot. Furthermore, Teflon has been used on other types of cooking devices such as grills in order to prevent the food being cooked on the cooking device from sticking to the cooking device. This coated surface is commonly termed “non-stick”.

However in today's world, there is a need for a single pad having a low abrasive surface and a high abrasion surface in order to clean both Teflon surfaces and non-Teflon surfaces.

SUMMARY

A pad for cleaning surfaces may include a low abrasive pad portion including a first flexible material to clean a surface of non-stick plastic coating, a high abrasive pad portion including a second flexible material to clean a surface other than non-stick plastic coating and an insert to be positioned between the low abrasive pad portion and the high abrasive pad portion.

The non-stick plastic coating may be Teflon.

The insert may be a permeable insert.

The second material may be a metallic scouring material.

The first material may be a sponge material.

The first material may be a cloth material.

The first material may be a woven material.

The second material may be a woven material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the pad of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the pad of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the pad of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the pad of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an end view of an end (front or back) of the pad of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the pad with the permeable insert partially inserted;

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a first and second pad of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates the first pad portion being joined to the second pad portion;

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of an end of the pad of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention may include a pad 100 which may include a first pad portion 101 which may be formed from a first flexible material which may be a low abrasion material and a second pad portion 103 which may be formed from a second flexible material which may be a high abrasion material. The first flexible material may have a hardness equal to or lower than the value of 120 on the Rockwell ‘R’ scale, and the second flexible material may have a hardness equal to or higher than a value of 60 on the Rockwell ‘B’ scale.

The first pad portion 101 including the first flexible material may be woven using a substantially circular knitting process and maybe formed into a long longitudinal tube of first flexible material. The long longitudinal tube may be cut radially to correspond to the approximate size of the desired pad. The radial cut portions of the first flexible material may be longitudinally cut into substantially equal halves. One of the halves of the first flexible material may be the first pad portion 101 which may be reversed and connected to the second pad portion 103.

The first flexible material may be a sponge material, a woven cloth material or any other such material.

The second pad portion 103 including the second flexible material may be woven using a substantially circular knitting process and maybe formed into a long longitudinal tube of second flexible material. The second flexible material may include metallic scouring material which may be woven into the second pad portion 103. The long tube of the second material may be cut radially to correspond to the approximate size of the desired pad. The radial cut portions of the second flexible material may be longitudinally cut into substantially equal halves. One of the halves of the second flexible material may be the second pad portion 103 which may be reversed and connected to the first pad portion 101.

The first pad portion 101 may be connected around the periphery of the first pad portion to the periphery of the second pad portion 103 to form the pad 100 which may be substantially hollow and may cooperate with a permeable insert 105 which may absorb liquid including water and soap. The first flexible material and the second flexible material may transmit the liquid including the soap and water through the respective first flexible material and the second flexible material in order to aid in the cleaning process. The permeable insert 105 may be positioned within the hollow of the pad 100 and remains in position by virtue of the connection of the first pad portion 101 to the second pad portion 103 around the periphery of the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103.

FIG. 1 illustrates the pad 100 which may include the first pad portion 101 which may be connected to the second pad portion 103 along the seam 107 which may extend around the periphery of the pad 100. FIG. 1 illustrates a substantially rectangular pad 100, but the pad 100 may be rectangular with rounded corners, square, oval, circular, or any other shape.

FIG. 1 illustrates that the first pad portion 101 may be a low abrasion pad including a first flexible material which is sufficiently soft that surfaces such as non-stick plastic pan coatings Teflon perfluoroethylene polymer or other sensitive surfaces may not be scratched by the first pad portion 101.

The second pad portion 103 may be a high abrasion pad which may include a second flexible material which is sufficiently abrasive that surfaces such as Teflon will scratched so that the second pad portion 103 may be used on metallic or ceramic surfaces.

The first pad portion 101 may include a first top wall 109 which may be connected or may be integral with the first sidewall 111, the first front wall 113 and the first back wall 115. The first front wall 113 may be connected or may be integral with the first top wall 109 and the first sidewall 111. The first sidewall 111 which may be a pair of opposing side walls 111 may be connected or may be integral with the first top wall 109, the first front wall 113 and the first back wall 115. The first back wall 115 may be connected or integral with the first sidewall 111 and the first top wall 109.

The second pad portion 103 may include a second bottom wall 117 which may be connected or may be integral with the second sidewall 119, the second front wall 121 and a second back wall 123. The second sidewall 119 may be connected or may be integral with the second bottom wall 117, the second front wall 121, and the second back wall 123. The second front wall 121 may be connected or may be integral with the second sidewall 119 and the second bottom wall 117. The second back wall 123 may be connected or may be integral may be integral with the second sidewall 119 and the second bottom wall 117.

The seam 107 may be formed from the connection of the first sidewall 111 with the second sidewall 119, the connection of the first front wall 113 with the second front wall 121 and the connection of the first back wall 115 with the second back wall 123.

The first pad portion 101 may be connected to the second pad portion 103 to form a cavity 125 in the hollow pad 100 to allow the personable insert 105 to be inserted into the cavity 125.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the pad 100 and illustrates that the first pad portion 101 which may be a low abrasion pad including a first flexible material which may be sufficiently soft that surfaces such as non-stick plastic pan coatings Teflon perfluoroethylene polymer or other sensitive surfaces may not be scratched by the first pad portion 101.

The first pad portion 101 may include a first top wall 109 which may be connected or may be integral with the first sidewall 111, the first front wall 113 and the first back wall 115. The first front wall 113 may be connected or may be integral with the first top wall 109 and the first sidewall 111. The first sidewall 111 which may be a pair of opposing side walls 111 may be connected or may be integral with the first top wall 109, the first front wall 113 and the first back wall 115. The first back wall 115 may be connected or integral with the first sidewall 111 and the first top wall 109.

FIG. 3 illustrates a bottom view of the pad 100 and illustrates the second pad portion 103 which may be a high abrasion pad which may include a second flexible material which is sufficiently abrasive that surfaces such as Teflon may be scratched so that the second pad portion 103 may be used on metallic surfaces. The second material may be a metallic scouring material or may partially include the metallic scouring material.

The second pad portion 103 may include a second bottom wall 117 which may be connected or may be integral with the second sidewall 119, the second front wall 121 and a second back wall 123. The second sidewall 119 may be connected or may be integral with the second bottom wall 117, the second front wall 121, and the second back wall 123. The second front wall 121 may be connected or may be integral with the second sidewall 119 and the second bottom wall 117. The second back wall 123 may be connected or may be integral may be integral with the second sidewall 119 and the second bottom wall 117.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the pad 100 and illustrates the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103. The first pad portion 101 may be connected to the second pad portion 103 by sewing, gluing or other forms of joining to form a seam 107.

FIG. 5 illustrates an end view which may be a front end or a back end of the pad 100 and illustrates the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103 which may be connected to the first pad portion by a seam 107.

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of the permeable insert 105 being inserted into the open end of the pad 100 and into the cavity 125 formed by the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103.

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a first and second pad 100 which may include the permeable insert 105 positioned in the cavity 125 and illustrates that the end of the pad 100 has been sealed in order to retain the permeable insert 105. FIG. 7 additionally illustrates that the seam 107a which extends along the sides and one end has been turned inwards in order to provide a more finished appearance and that the seam 107b which may extend only along one end may be turned outwards to facilitate construction.

FIG. 8 illustrates the permeable insert 105 being inserted between the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103.

FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of the first pad portion 101 and the second pad portion 103 and illustrates the first pad portion 101 being connected to the second pad portion 103 along the opposing first side wall 111 and second sidewall 119 and the first back wall 115 and a second back wall 123. The first front wall 113 may not be connected to the second front wall 131 to allow the permeable insert 105 to be inserted.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.

Claims

1) A pad for cleaning surfaces, comprising:

a low abrasive pad portion including a first flexible material to clean a surface of non-stick plastic coating;

a high abrasive pad portion including a second flexible material to clean a surface other than non-stick plastic coating;

an insert to be positioned between the low abrasive pad portion and the high abrasive pad portion.

2) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the non-stick plastic coating is Teflon.

3) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the insert is a permeable insert.

4) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the second material is a metallic scouring material.

5) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the first material is a sponge material.

6) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the first material is a cloth material.

7) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the first material is a woven material.

8) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the second material is a woven material.

9) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein first flexible material has a hardness equal to or lower than the value of 120 on the Rockwell ‘R’ scale.

10) A pad for cleaning surfaces as in claim 1, wherein the second flexible material has a hardness equal to or higher than a value of 60 on the Rockwell ‘B’ scale.