AU2008100668A4 - The Scouring Mop Attachment - Google Patents

Description

00 Description 0 0 tcl b Background of the invention 1. Field of invention 0This invention generally relates to the class of devices associated with cleaning floors O and other surfaces i.e. mops, scourers, scrubbers and other abrasive materials. The 0invention presented strives to improve the life, efficiency and financial viability of the 00 osimilar cleaning devices presently available. An object of this invention is to provide a 0 simply constructed but efficient way of abrasively cleaning large areas of tiled and/or stoneware flooring. This device is made solely of the synthetic nylon/poly material commonly called scourer. This device is easily attachable to a mop and has an exceptionally long life span.

2. Description of prior art Cleaning devices such as mops and scourers are common cleaning tools and have been in use for many years. But they are generally presented as separate identities with the mop consisting of a handle with highly absorbent cellulose/sponge head and the synthetic made scourer/scrubber is presented as a hand held tool or a small attachable strip located on the sponge mop head or mop handle.

First the Scourer is common place in both domestic and industrial settings. Scourers are generally presented in prior art forms as a small piece of woven nylon material that is, sold on its own as a single small handheld unit, attached to a highly absorbent nylon/cellulose/rubber sponge, offered as a Velcro adhered strip fixed to an absorbent sponge mop handle or offered as a slip/tie on attachment that covers the existing sponge mop. The present format lets the user remove small marks or stuck on items from kitchen floors etc. Although the current form of the scourer has its place, its general purpose as a hand used device or as a small tool/strip attached to a mop handle have its limitations. The current art with an attached scouring strip is meant to be used in the removal of small marks and food stuffs that are found in general kitchen/tile situations. In situations where you need to clean large areas of tiles or 00 such materials you have to scrub with a broom/brush or worse scrub it on your hand 0 o and knees with hand held scouring pads/brushes. Scrubbing with brooms/brushes can damage and scratch some tiles and flooring materials as well as the problem with the deterioration of brooms/brushes leading to the dropping of bristles onto the floor.

Brooms and brushes also hold water and deteriorate very quickly.

0Secondly, prior art in cleaning devices the sponge/string/strip mop head is subject to I water rot/deterioration because they are attached to a piece of soft easily damaged sponge or the scouring strip is very small and requires constant replacement. Other 00 odevices that have scouring materials that are held on by Velcro or strapped on or slipped over the sponge mop like a sleeve also have there limitations. Velcro is renowned for a quick reduction in adherence as dust and grime also adhere to it reducing its effectiveness. The slip or tied on versions do not allow for strong connection with the cleaning surface because of slippage and movement of the scouring sleeve/cover. Further more, many of these devices can be complicated to use as well as time consuming to attach and can be expensive to replace.

Another problem with prior art is that the sponge attachments are forced out of shape by the squeezing together of the pad by mops such as the butterfly mop. This although great for removing excess water, the constant squeezing of the sponge material leads to a misshaped surface which reduces its contact with the floor or cleaning surface. This type of mop heads also dries slowly and tends to become slimy and smelly thus becoming a breading ground for various types of bacteria, This scourer mop attachment strives to address many of the above limitations. Firstly being made solely from a nylon/synthetic material, means there is no sponge inlay or segment that can rot, slime up, smell and ultimately reduce the life of the attachment, making it long lasting and as such financially viable. Additionally due to the inflexibility of the plastic backing that connects the scouring pad to the handle, contact with the cleaning surface is much stronger making the cleaning of balconies, large tiled and outside areas quick and easy. The scouring material is compact and interlinked which eliminates the dropping or leaving of any part of itself on the cleaning surface as is the case with traditional methods of cleaning large outside/tiled area such as do traditional mops and brooms.

00 C This attachment also dries very quickly reducing the development of harmful bacteria. In its basic form this invention is simple in its construction and consists of only two components: the first a piece of scouring material that measures r, and one single piece of thick hardwearing plastic material that is adhered to the top of the scouring material. The invention has a series of six holes in the plastic top placed 00 00in strategic positions to allow for the attachment to both two and four pronged generic Ibutterfly mop handles.

00 The preferred embodiment of this product is very basic and easily constructed. It consists of two parts: a scouring pad and a hard plastic backing. It comes in three fluro colours to represent level of usage i.e yellow is non-scratch, orange is medium strength and red representing heavy duty.

Other embodiments are it can have a solid soap/detergent/disinfectant insert that is softened and released when the mop head is wet. The mop head can also be accompanied with its own handle. Although the above description is a description of the preferred embodiment, this invention is not limited or restricted thereto.

Claims (4)

1. An improved adhesive/scourer hard surface cleaning pad in the form of a removable mop head, consisting of only two components the pad and a solid 0inflexible backing with a number of holes positioned on each side of the backing to o allow the scouring/scrubbing attachment to be applied to a large variety of two/four pronged mop handles. 00

2. An improved adhesive/scourer pad as claimed in 1 that is solely made of a 0 c, synthetic/abrasive or similar material.

3. An improved non-flexible hard plastic or similar material as in claim 1 that stops the product from being squeezed via butterfly mop action, thus maintaining the shape of mop pads and the strong contact with the cleaning surface.

4. An improved backing as in claim 3 with holes strategically positioned that allows that allows for the connection to a variety of mop handles.