FLOOR CLEANING TOOL

Abstract

The disclosed floor cleaning tool has a working surface with an elevated portion, sloping side surface and ribs that provide structure to an overlying cleaning sheet to improve the surface area utilized for cleaning. The ribs can also provide some stability during use of the tool. In one embodiment, the floor cleaning tool comprises a working surface of a first material having an elevated portion and a recessed point adjacent a perimeter forming a height, a sloping surface extending from the elevated point to the recessed point, and a plurality of ribs of a second material, which is more deformable than the first material, wherein the ribs are raised on the sloping surface.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application 61/669,876 filed Jul. 10, 2012.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a floor cleaning tool comprising a working surface having an elevated portion and a sloping side surface.

BACKGROUND

There are many different types of floor cleaning tools. Mops with sponge or strip of fabric are commonly used for wet cleaning floors. Brooms with bristles are used for dry cleaning. Floor cleaning tools with an overlying cleaning sheet have become a common way of cleaning floors. In these types of cleaning systems, the wipe may be wet or dry for either wet cleaning or dry cleaning. Floor cleaning tools with overlying cleaning sheets are pushed over the floor, and one common problem is that the leading edge of the cleaning sheet becomes loaded with dirt and debris while the inner portions of the cleaning sheet are not fully utilized for cleaning. Structured sheet can be used to give localized lift to allow for more utilization of the cleaning sheet, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,691,760. However, structured sheets can be more expensive to make that flat sheets.

SUMMARY

The disclosed floor cleaning tool has a working surface with an elevated portion, a sloping surface, and ribs that provide structure to an overlying cleaning sheet to improve the surface area utilized for cleaning. The ribs can also provide some stability during use of the tool, which has a sloping surface.

In one embodiment, the floor cleaning tool comprises a working surface of a first material having an elevated portion and a recessed point adjacent a perimeter forming a height, a sloping surface extending from the elevated point to the recessed point, and a plurality of ribs of a second material, which is more deformable than the first material, wherein the ribs are raised on the sloping surface.

In one embodiment, the floor cleaning tool comprises a working surface comprising a first sloping side, a second sloping side, and a linearly extending elevated portion separating the first sloping side from the second sloping side, a first rib on the first sloping surface, nonparallel with the elevated portion, a second rib on the second sloping surface, nonparallel with the elevated portion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a floor cleaning tool;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the floor cleaning tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is bottom view of the floor cleaning tool of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floor cleaning tool with an overlying cleaning sheet;

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a second embodiment of a floor cleaning tool;

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of a third embodiment of a floor cleaning tool.

While the above-identified drawings and figures set forth embodiments of the invention, other embodiments are also contemplated, as noted in the discussion. In all cases, this disclosure presents the invention by way of representation and not limitation. It should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art, which fall within the scope and spirit of this invention. The figures may not be drawn to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a floor cleaning tool 100. FIG. 2 is a front view of the floor cleaning tool 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is bottom view of the floor cleaning tool 100 of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the floor cleaning tool 100 with an overlying cleaning sheet 200. FIGS. 5 and 6 are alternative embodiments of the working surface 110 of a floor cleaning tool 100, where similar reference numbers for similar item are used.

The floor cleaning tool 100 includes a working surface 110 that is the surface intended to make contact with the surface to be cleaned. It is understood that a cleaning sheet 200 (FIG. 4) is applied over the working surface 110 such that the cleaning sheet 200 is the portion making actual direct contact with the surface being cleaned.

The working surface 110 includes a perimeter 150. It is understood that any number of sizes and shapes for the perimeter 150 could be used for the cleaning tool 100, such as round, square, triangular, rectangular. In this embodiment, the perimeter 150 includes a leading edge 152 forming a point 154 and a trailing edge 156 that is a concave portion 158. It is understood that the floor cleaning tool 100 can be used in any number of directions but that generally the leading edge 152 is the typical edge that is leading during cleaning. The point 154 allows the cleaning tool to easily clean into corners. The concave portion 158 allows for scooping and retention of large particles of dirt or debris and to clean up against curved surfaces such as toilets.

To better allow for full utilization of the entire working surface 100 during cleaning, the working surface 110 is not overall in a flat plane, but has a sloping surface 120 to prevent dirt and debris from only loading at a leading edge of the cleaning sheet. The working surface 110 has an elevated portion 130 and a recessed point 132. In one embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is the lowest or most protruded part on the working surface 110. In one embodiment, the recessed point 132 is adjacent a perimeter 150 of the working surface 110. A height forms between the elevated portion 132 and the recessed point 132 on the working surface 110. In one embodiment, the height is at least 1 mm; in one embodiment, the height is at least 5 mm; in one embodiment, the height is at least 10 mm.

The elevated portion 130 can be in a number of arrangements. In one embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is a single point on the working surface, such as shown in FIG. 6. In one embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is a line, such as shown in FIG. 1, which may be a straight line, curved line, zig-zag, or any other shape. Specifically, in the embodiment shown in in FIG. 1, the elevated portion 130 continuously extends in a straight line from the leading edge 152 to the trailing edge 156. In this embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is a. In one embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is a shaped area, such as shown in FIG. 5, which may be square, rectangular, circular, oval, triangular, or any number of decorative shapes.

In one embodiment, there may be one elevated portion 130, such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. In one embodiment, there may be more than one elevated portion 130, such as shown in FIG. 5 where there are three elevated portions 130. The elevated portion 130 may be centrally located at the working surface 110 such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6.

The elevated portion 130 may extend entirely across the working surface 110, such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. The elevated portion 130 may extend from front to back, side to side, diagonally, or in a nonlinear manner In one embodiment, the elevated portion 130 is contained in the working surface 110 and does not extend to the perimeter, such as shown in FIG. 6, where the elevated portion 130 is a point. The sloping surface 120 extends from the elevated portion 130 to the recessed point 132.

Depending on the arrangement of the elevated portion 130, the sloping surface 120 can have a variety of configurations. For example, the sloping surface 120 may be planer. Also, one or more sloping surfaces 120 maybe included. As shown in FIG. 1, the working surface 110 includes a first sloping side 120 and a second sloping side 140. The first sloping side 120 is separated from the second sloping side 140 by the elevated portion 130, which is a straight line ridge. Extending out from the elevated portion 130 is the first sloping side 120, which can be planar. Extending out from the elevated portion 130 is the second sloping side 140, which can be planar. As can be best seen in FIG. 2, the elevated portion 130 is the lowest portion of the working surface 100 with the sloping sides 120, 140 recessing upward from the ridge 130 towards the perimeter 150 of the cleaning tool 100. If FIGS. 5 and 6, as the views are bottom views, the lighter, thinner lines are intended to show surface contouring.

In the embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 5, the working surface 110 include three elevated portion 130 from which the sloping surfaces 120 receding in flat planes from the elevated portion 130. In one embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 6, the working surface 110 includes an elevated portion 130 that is a single point and the sloping surfaces 120 could recede in a way from the working surface 110 is cone-line or pyramid like.

At least one rib 122 is raised on the sloping surface 120. If there are more than one sloping surfaces 120 typically each sloping surface 120 will include at least one rib 122. The ribs 122 extend outward from the sloping surface 120 to provide some stability to the working surface 110 to prevent pivotal rocking about the elevated portion 130. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend from the sloping surface 120 less than the height created between the elevated portion 130 and the recessed point 132. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend at least 0.5 mm. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend at least 1 mm. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend at least 1.5 mm. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend less than 50 mm. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 extend less than 10 mm.

The ribs 122 can take on a number of constructions. In one embodiment, the working surface 110 is constructed of a first material and the ribs 122 are constructed of a second material, which has material properties different than the first material. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 are constructed of a material that is more deformable than the first material of the working surface 110, which is desirable as the ribs 122 make contact with the surface being cleaned. In one embodiment, the ribs 122 are constructed of foam, sponge, woven, knitted, nonwoven, or resilient plastic. In one embodiment, the working surface is constructed of foam, sponge, plastic, metal, or wood. In one embodiment, unlike typical cleaning tools used with overlying cleaning sheets, the sloping surface 120 of the cleaning tool 100 is generally rigid and does not include a cushioning foam. This significantly helps to reduce cost of manufacturing the cleaning tool 100.

The ribs 122 can take on a number of different arrangements on the working surface 110. In one embodiment, such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, the ribs 122 are symmetrically arranged about the elevated portion 130 to further aid in stability. In one embodiment, when the elevated portion 130 is linear, the ribs are non parallel with the elevated portion. This helps with stability and to provide cross direction low points for catching debris.

Specifically for FIG. 1, on the first sloping side 120 is a first rib 122. In this embodiment, there are three ribs 122 on the first sloping side 120. On the second sloping side 140 is a second rib 142. In this embodiment, there are three ribs 142. As shown, the ribs 122, 142 are non parallel with the elevated portion 130. In this embodiment, the ribs 122, 142, make direct contact with the elevated portion 130. Also, with the ribs 122, 142 are non parallel with the elevated 130 so they can provide a block to the passage of dirt and debris from the leading edge 152 to the trailing edge 156.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the ribs 122 do not make direct contact with the elevated portions 130, and are non parallel with the elevated portion 130. The ribs 130 on each sloping surface 120 are parallel with one another.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the ribs 122 do not make direct contact with the elevated portion 130. The ribs 122 are circular and are symmetrical about the elevated portion 130. This embodiment is useful in multi-directions.

It is understood that various combinations of the different structures and arrangements of working surfaces, sloping surfaces, ribs, and elevated portions can be interchangeable used together.

The cleaning tool 100 typically would be used with an overlying cleaning sheet. The cleaning sheet maybe a woven, knitted, foam, nonwoven material or combinations of one or more material. The cleaning sheet may include oils or adhesives to aid in picking up and retaining dust, dirt and particles. The cleaning sheet may be reusable, disposable, or semi-disposable. The cleaning sheet may be provided dry for dry cleaning, wet for wet cleaning, or dry that the user adds water to for wet cleaning. If used for wet cleaning the cleaning sheet will typically include a surfactant, which may be anionic, nonionic, cationic or a combination thereof. Anionic surfactants include alcohol sulfates and sulfonates, alcohol phosphates and phosphonates, alkyl sulfates, alkyl ether sulfate, sulfate esters of an alkylphenoxy polyoxyethylene ethanol, alkyl monoglyceride sulfate, alkyl sulfonate, alkyl benzene sulfonate, alkyl ether sulfonate, ethoxylated alkyl sulfonate, alkyl carboxylate, alkyl ether carboxylate, alkyl alkoxy carboxylate. Nonionic surfacetants include ethoxylated alkylphenol, ethoxylated and propoxylated fatty alcohols, polyethylene glycol ethers of methyl glucose, ethoxylated esters of fatty acids Alkyl polyglucoside—capryl glucoside (Glucopon 215UP), decyl glucoside (Glucopon 225DK), coco-glucoside (Glucopon 425N), lauryl glucoside (Glucopon 625UP), an aqueous solution of alkyl glucosides based fatty acid alcohol C9-C11 (APG 325N), and sodium laureth sulfate & lauryl glucoside & cocoamidopropyl betaine (Plantapon 611L), Fatty alcohol polyglycolether—Dephypon LS54, Dehypon LT104. Cationic surfactants include aminoamide, quaternary ammonium salt, Aminoamides—stearamidopropyl ethyldimonium ethosulfate, stearamidopropyl PG-dimonium chloride phosphate, Quaternary ammonium salts—cetyl ammonium chloride, lauryl ammonium chloride, ditallow dimethyl ammonium chloride.

Although specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described herein, it is understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the many possible specific arrangements that can be devised in application of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be devised in accordance with these principles by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the structures described in this application, but only by the structures described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those structures.

Claims

1. A floor cleaning tool comprising:

a working surface of a first material having an elevated portion and a recessed point adjacent a perimeter forming a height;

a sloping surface extending from the elevated point to the recessed point;

a plurality of ribs of a second material, which is more deformable than the first material, wherein the ribs are raised on the sloping surface.

2. The floor cleaning tool of claim 1, wherein the ribs are symmetrically arranged about the elevated portion.

3. The floor cleaning tool of claim 1, wherein the first material is a rigid plastic, metal, or wood and wherein the second material is a foam, sponge, woven, knitted, nonwoven, or resilient plastic.

4. The floor cleaning tool of claim 1, wherein the elevated portion is a point centrally located on the working surface.

5. The floor cleaning tool of claim 1, wherein the elevated portion is a line.

6. The floor cleaning tool of claim 5, wherein the line is a straight line extending from across the entire working surface.

7. The floor cleaning tool of claim 1, wherein the elevated portion is a shaped area contained within the working surface.

8. The floor cleaning tool any one of claim 1, comprising two sloping surfaces separated by the elevated portion.

9. The floor cleaning tool any one of claim 1, wherein the height is at least 1 mm.

10. The floor cleaning tool any one of claim 1, wherein the ribs each contact the elevated portion.

11. The floor cleaning tool any one of claim 1, wherein the elevated portion is a straight line, and further comprising:

a first rib on a first sloping surface, which is nonparallel with the elevated portion;

a second rib on a second sloping side, which is nonparallel with the elevated portion.

12. The floor cleaning tool any one of claim 1, wherein the ribs are raised on the sloping surface less than the height.

13. A floor cleaning tool comprising:

a working surface comprising a first sloping side, a second sloping side, and a linearly extending elevated portion separating the first sloping side from the second sloping side;

a first rib on the first sloping surface, nonparallel with the elevated portion;

a second rib on the second sloping surface, nonparallel with the elevated portion.

14. The floor cleaning tool of claim 13, wherein the working surface is rigid and the ribs are deformable.

15. The floor cleaning tool of claim 13, wherein the first sloping side and second sloping side are each planar.

16. The floor cleaning tool of claim 13, wherein the elevated portion extends entirely across the working surface.

17. The floor cleaning tool of any one of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of discrete ribs on the first sloping side.

18. The floor cleaning tool of any one of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of discrete ribs on the second sloping side.

19. The floor cleaning tool of claim 13, wherein the ribs are directly adjacent the elevated portion.

20. The floor cleaning tool of claim 13, further comprising a cleaning sheet applied over the working surface.