DUSTER

Abstract

Provided is a duster having a body attachable to a handle and a cleaning head attached to the body. The cleaning head is an elongate tubular member that is resiliently flexible to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface. In this way, the cleaning head can conform to a floor, corners, and/or walls and increase a surface area coming in contact with the surfaces.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/578,914 filed Oct. 30, 2017, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a duster, and more particularly to a duster with a flexible cleaning head.

BACKGROUND

Dusters have been used for many years to clean hard surface floors and related surfaces. The term mop, duster, and sweeper all refer to similar cleaning devices, and such terms are often used interchangeably. Dry mopping or dusting is convenient in situations where the surface requires a light cleaning, and is not heavily soiled. Dusters and sweepers collect dust and small particles with a cleaning edge of a cleaning surface. When the cleaning surfaces of mops and dusters became soiled, the cleaning surfaces were themselves cleaned by shaking or tamping the cleaning surface, rinsing the cleaning surface, or the cleaning surfaces disposed when the cleaning surface is a removable and disposable pad.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present application provides a duster having a body attachable to a handle and a cleaning head attached to the body. The cleaning head is an elongate tubular member that is resiliently flexible to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface, and can be covered by a cleaning cover. In this way, the cleaning head can conform to a floor, corners, and/or walls, increase a surface area coming in contact with the surfaces, and the cleaning cover can have multiple cleaning edges coming in contact with the surfaces utilizing more of the cleaning cover.

According to an aspect, a duster is provided that includes a body, and a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, the cleaning head being an elongate tubular member and resiliently flexible to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface.

According to another aspect, a duster is provided that includes a body, and a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, the cleaning head being an elongate tubular member and including a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending peaks on an outer surface of the cleaning head that are spaced from one another by circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending valleys that allow the cleaning head to flex to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface.

According to still another aspect, a duster is provided that includes a body, a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning to cover, and first and second wings pivotably attached to the body, wherein the first and second wings are each biased in a first position against the body by a respective biasing member, and wherein the first and second wings are each movable to a second position away from the body to allow insertion of the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body, and movable back to the first position by the biasing member to trap the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body.

The foregoing and other features of the application are described below with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary duster.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the duster.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the duster.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the duster.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the duster.

FIG. 6 is a left side view of the duster.

FIG. 7 is a right side view of the duster.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an cleaning head of the duster.

FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of a body of the duster.

FIG. 10 is a top perspective view of the body.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the body.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the body and cleaning head.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the duster with a wing removed.

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of a swivel member of a pivot assembly of the duster.

FIG. 15 is a rear perspective view of the swivel member.

FIG. 16 is a top perspective view of the wing.

FIG. 17 is a bottom perspective view of the wing.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the duster with one of the wings in a second position.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of another exemplary duster.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The principles of the present application relate to a cleaning device, such as a duster, and thus will be described below in this context. It will be appreciated that the principles of the application may be applicable to other cleaning applications.

Turning initially to FIGS. 1-8, an exemplary duster or sweeper is shown generally at reference numeral 10. The duster 10 includes a body 12 and a cleaning head 14 attached to the body 12 and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, such as a suitable dust cloth. The duster 10 also includes a pivot assembly 16 attached to the body 12 for attachment to a handle, such as a handle shown in FIG. 19, made of any suitable material such as metal, plastic, wood, etc., and first and second wings 18 and 20 attached to the body 12 for securing the cleaning cover to the body 12.

The cleaning head 14 may be made of any suitable material, such as rubber, and attaches to the body 12 in any suitable manner, such as by over molding. In such an embodiment, the cleaning head 14 would have an opening 30 when shown separated from the body 12, as in FIG. 8, and the cleaning head 14 overlaps the body 12 such that the opening 30 is closed by the body 12. The cleaning head 14 is formed as an elongate tubular member with open ends that is resiliently flexible to conform to a surface, such as a floor, corner, baseboard, etc., when pressed against the surface. It will be appreciated that the tubular member is a hollow member allowing the cleaning head to flex. Although the cleaning head 14 is shown as a substantially circular member in cross-section, it will be appreciated that other suitable shapes, such as polygons, such as a triangle, square, or hexagon, may be used.

The cleaning head 14 includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending peaks or ribs 32 on an outer surface 34 of the cleaning head 14 that are spaced from one another by circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending valleys or channels 36. As shown, the peaks 32 and valleys 36 alternate over a majority of the outer surface 34 of the cleaning head 34 and are on a substantially circular portion of the cleaning head 14, and a curved portion of the cleaning head 14 without peaks and valleys contacts the body 12. The peaks 32 and valleys 36 allow the cleaning head 14 to flex to conform to the various surfaces, and also allow for an increased surface area to come in contact with the surfaces to utilize various points of curvature rather than two edges to spread dirt/dust more evenly on the cleaning cover. For example, the cleaning head 14 could conform to surfaces such that the baseboard, floor, and corner between them are cleaned at the same time.

Turning now to FIGS. 9-13 and the body 12 in detail, the body 12 includes a curved main portion 40 having a lip 42 around its circumference that is abutted by the cleaning head 14, a plurality of grooves 44 each having a plurality of teeth 46, a pair of slots 48, a raised portion 50 extending upward from the main portion 40 in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body 12, and a projection 52 extending upward from the raised portion 50 in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the body 12. The projection 52 includes a pair of pivot projections 54 and 56 extending from sides of the projection 52. As shown, the pivot projections 54 and 56 are circular in shape, but it should be appreciated that any suitable shape may be used. The teeth 46 extend in each groove 44 in a direction away from a top surface of the curved main portion 40 such that contact with the top surface of the body, for example by a user's hand, does not result in contact with the teeth 44.

The raised portion 50 includes a pair of openings 60 on one side for engaging with the first wing 18 and a pair of openings 62 on another side for engaging with the second wing 20. The raised portion 50 also includes openings 64 on an outer side of each opening 60, 62 that open to the openings 60 and 62 for receiving respective pivot pins and openings 66 on an inner side of each opening 60, 62 that open to the openings 60 and 62 for receiving respective pivot pins. The raised portion 50 additionally includes ledges 68 on an underside of the raised portion 50 and adjacent the inner side of each opening 60, 62 against which respective biasing members 78 abut, such as resilient members, such as the spring shown in FIG. 13.

Turning additionally to FIGS. 14 and 15, attached to the projection 52 is the pivot assembly 16, which includes first and second swivel members 70 and 72 and a sleeve 74 surrounding a top portion 76 of each swivel member 70 and 72. The first and second swivel members 70 and 72 are the same, and thus the same reference numerals are used and for each and both are represented in FIGS. 14 and 15. The pivot assembly 16 is movable relative to the projection 52 in first and second directions opposite one another along the longitudinal axis of the body 12 to move the handle in the first and second directions. An interaction between the pivot assembly 16 and the projection 52 prevents movement of the handle in directions perpendicular to the first and second directions. In this way, the duster 10 is easier to maneuver for higher surfaces such as baseboards because the duster does not pivot, and thereby does not collapse, in the direction perpendicular to the first and second directions when lifted off of a surface.

The swivel members 70 and 72 each include a channel 80 that corresponds to and receives the pivot projections 54 and 56, such as a circular channel 80 as shown in FIG. 15 to allow the swivel members 70 and 72 to abut the projection 52 and move relative to the projection 52. The sleeve 74 is placed over the top portion 76 of each swivel member 70, 72 to hold the swivel members 70 and 72 against the protrusion 52, and the sleeve 74 may be secured to the swivel members 70 and 72 in any suitable manner. As shown, the swivel members 70 and 72 each have a threaded inner surface 82 that when adjacent one another form an area to allow the handle to be threadably connected to the pivot assembly 16. It will be appreciated that the handle may be secured to the pivot assembly 16 in any suitable manner.

Turning additionally to FIGS. 16-18, the first and second wings 18 and 20 are shown. The first and second wings 18 and 20 are the same, and thus the same reference numerals are used and for each and both are represented in FIGS. 16 and 17. The first and second wings 18 and 20 are pivotally attached to the body 12 and biased in respective first positions against the body 12 by the biasing members 78 as shown in FIG. 1. The first and second wings 18 and 20 are each movable to respective second positions away from the body 12 to allow insertion of the cleaning cover between the respective wing 18 and 20 and the body 12. The second wing 18 is shown in the second position in FIG. 18. When a user releases the first and second wings 18 and 20, the respective biasing member 78 moves the first and second wings 18 and 20 back to the respective first positions to trap the cleaning cover between the first and second wings 18 and 20 and the body 12.

Each of the first and second wings 18 and 20 includes a main portion 90 configured to abut the curved main portion 40 in the first position, a grip portion 92 extending upward from the main portion 90, a pair of pivot portions 94, a guide 96 that is received in the respective slot 48, and a pair of tongues 98 projecting downward from a bottom of the main portion 90 that is configured to be received in the respective groove 44. The grip portion 92 is provided for a user to grip when moving the first and second wings 18 and 20 from the respective first position to the respective second position. As shown, the grip portion 92 forms an area for a user's fingers, and the area can be covered by a suitable grip, such as an over molded rubber grip 100. The pivot portions 94 each having an opening 102 extending therethrough for receiving the respective pivot pin, and a downwardly extending portion 104 configured to abut an end of one of the biasing members 78 extending into the opening 60 or 62 and to move against the biasing member.

To assemble the first and second wings 18 and 20 to the body 12, the guides 96 are inserted into the respective slots 48 and the pivot portions 94 are aligned in the respective openings 60 and 62 such that the openings 102 in the pivot portions 94 align with the respective openings 64 and 66 in the raised portion 50. The biasing members 78, one or more of which may be used with each of the first and second wings 18 and 20, are positioned in the ledges 68 and then the pivot pins are inserted through the openings 62, 102, and 64 to pivotally attach the wings 18 and 20 to the body 12. In an embodiment, one biasing member 78 is used for each of the first and second wings 18 and 20, and in another embodiment, two biasing members 78 are used for each of the first and second wings 18 and 20 such that one of the biasing members 78 is positioned in each of the four ledges 68.

To attach a cleaning cover to the duster 10, the user grips the first wing 18, for example at the grip portion 92, and moves the first wing 18 to its second position, thereby pivoting the first wing 18 relative to the body 12 and moving the first wing 18 against the biasing force of the one or more biasing members 78. The user then inserts an end of the cleaning cover in-between the first wing 18 and the top surface of the main portion 40 of the body 12. The user then releases the first wing 18, which is moved back to its first position by the one or more biasing members 78. As the first wing 18 moves back to its first position, the tongues 98 extend into the grooves 44 in the body 12 and urge the cleaning cover into the grooves 44. When the cleaning cover is in the grooves 44, the teeth 46 bite into the cleaning cover to resist removal of the cleaning cover when the first wing 18 is in its first position to provide additional securement along with pressure from the first wing 18.

The cleaning cover can then be wrapped around the cleaning head 14 to cover the cleaning head 14 until another end of the cleaning cover is near the second wing 20. The user can then grip the second wing 20, for example at the grip portion 92, and move the second wing to its second position, thereby pivoting the second wing 20 relative to the body 12 and moving the second wing 20 against the biasing force of the one or more biasing members 78. The user then inserts the other end of the cleaning cover in-between the second wing 20 and the top surface of the main portion 40. The user then releases the second wing 20, which is moved back to its first position by the one or more biasing members 78. As the second wing 20 moves back to its first position, the tongues 98 extend into the grooves 44 and urge the cleaning cover into the grooves 44. When the cleaning cover is in the grooves 44, the teeth 46 bite into the cleaning cover to resist removal of the cleaning cover when the second wing 20 is in its first position to provide additional securement along with pressure from the second wing 20.

Once the cleaning cover is secured, the user can use the duster 10 to clean a surface. After use, the user can move the first and second wings 18 and 20 to their second positions to remove the cleaning cover. When the tongues 98 are out of the grooves 44, the cleaning cover will tear away from the teeth 46 to allow for removal. It will be appreciated that the above steps may be performed in any suitable order.

Turning now to FIG. 19, an exemplary embodiment of the duster is shown at 110. The duster 110 is substantially the same as the above-referenced duster 10, and consequently the same reference numerals but indexed by 100 are used to denote structures corresponding to similar structures in the dusters. In addition, the foregoing description of the duster 10 is equally applicable to the duster 110 except as noted below.

The duster 110 includes a body 112, a cleaning head 114 attached to the body 112 and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, and a pivot assembly 116 attached to the body 112 for attachment to a handle 122. To secure the cleaning cover to the body 112, the body 112 may include a plurality of cover attachment devices 124, such as an attachment device adjacent each corner of curved main portion 140. The attachment devices 124 can be formed in the curved main portion 140, such as of a flexible membrane having a plurality of slits 126 that serve as teeth to bite into and hold the cleaning cover inserted through the slits 126.

To attach a cleaning cover to the duster 110, the user inserts two of the corners of the cleaning cover into respective cover attachment devices 124 on the same side of the curved main portion 140 unit the slits 126 bite into and hold the cleaning cover to resist removal. The cleaning cover can then be wrapped around the cleaning head 114 to cover the cleaning head 114 until the other corners of the cleaning cover are near the attachment devices 124 on the other side of the curved main body 140. The user then inserts the other corners of the cleaning cover into respective cover attachment devices 124 until the slits 126 bite into and hold the cleaning cover to resist removal.

Although certain embodiments have been shown and described, it is understood that equivalents and modifications falling within the scope of the appended claims will occur to others who are skilled in the art upon the reading and understanding of this specification.

Claims

1. A duster including:

a body; and

a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, the cleaning head being an elongate tubular member and resiliently flexible to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface.

2. The duster according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning head includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending peaks on an outer surface of the cleaning head that are spaced from one another by circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending valleys, and wherein the peaks and valleys allow the cleaning head to flex to conform to the surface.

3. The duster according to claim 2, wherein the peaks and valleys alternate over a majority of the outer surface of the cleaning head.

4. The duster according to claim 1, further including a pivot attached to the body and configured to be coupled to a handle, wherein the pivot is movable relative to the body in first and second directions opposite one another along a longitudinal axis of the body to move the handle in the first and second directions, and wherein an interaction between the pivot and the body prevents movement of the handle in directions perpendicular to the first and second directions.

5. The duster according to claim 4, wherein the body includes a projection extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and wherein the pivot is attached to the projection such that the pivot is movable relative to the projection.

6. The duster according to claim 1, further including first and second wings pivotably attached to the body, wherein the first and second wings are each biased in a first position against the body by a respective biasing member, and wherein the first and second wings are each movable to a second position away from the body to allow insertion of the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body, and movable back to the first position by the biasing member to trap the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body.

7. The duster according to claim 6, wherein the body includes a plurality of grooves and each wing includes at least one tongue projecting downward from a bottom surface of the respective wing that is configured to be received in one of the plurality of grooves when the respective wing is in the respective first position, and wherein the tongues are configured to urge the cleaning cover into the respective grooves.

8. The duster according to claim 7, wherein each groove includes a plurality of teeth configured to bite into the cleaning cover.

9. The duster according to claim 8, wherein the teeth extend in each groove in a direction away from a top surface of the body such that contact with the top surface of the body does not result in contact with the teeth.

10. A duster including:

a body; and

a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover, the cleaning head being an elongate tubular member and including a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending peaks on an outer surface of the cleaning head that are spaced from one another by circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending valleys that allow the cleaning head to flex to conform to a surface when pressed against the surface.

11. The duster according to claim 10, wherein the peaks and valleys extend an entire length of the cleaning head.

12. The duster according to claim 10, wherein the peaks and valleys alternate over a majority of the outer surface of the cleaning head.

13. The duster according to claim 10, wherein the cleaning head has an opening at a top thereof, and wherein the opening is closed by the body.

14. The duster according to claim 10, further including first and second wings pivotably attached to the body, wherein the first and second wings are each movable from a respective first position abutting the body a respective second position away from the body to allow insertion of the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body.

15. The duster according to claim 10, further including a pivot attached to the body and configured to be coupled to a handle, wherein the pivot is movable relative to the body in first and second directions opposite one another along a longitudinal axis of the body, and wherein the pivot is prevented from movement relative to the body in directions perpendicular to the first and second directions.

16. A duster including:

a body;

a cleaning head attached to the body and configured to be covered by a cleaning cover; and

first and second wings pivotably attached to the body,

wherein the first and second wings are each biased in a first position against the body by a respective biasing member, and

wherein the first and second wings are each movable to a second position away from the body to allow insertion of the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body, and movable back to the first position by the biasing member to trap the cleaning cover between the respective wing and the body.

17. The duster according to claim 16, wherein the body includes a plurality of grooves and each wing includes at least one tongue projecting downward from a bottom surface of the respective wing that is configured to be received in one of the plurality of grooves when the respective wing is in the respective first position, and wherein the tongues are configured to urge the cleaning cover into the respective grooves when the wings are in the first positions.

18. The duster according to 17, wherein each groove includes a plurality of teeth configured to bite into the cleaning cover.

19. The duster according to claim 18, wherein the teeth extend in each groove in a direction away from a top surface of the body such that contact with the top surface of the body does not result in contact with the teeth.

20. The duster according to claim 16, wherein the body has a longitudinal axis and wherein each wing pivots about a respective axis parallel to the longitudinal axis.