AU2008200292A1 - Mop head and mop - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention title: Mop head and mop The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 00 Mop head and mop (Ni SField of the Invention ct The present invention relates to a mop head and to a mop including such a mop head. In particular, the present invention relates to a mop head with improved.

5 means for moving the mop head between a mopping orientation and a squeezing (-i orientation, wherein a sponge mounted thereon may be squeezed and emptied.

Background of the Invention 0 In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or Sdiscussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date: part of common general knowledge; or (ii) known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

'Butterfly sponge mops', as they are known in the art, incorporate a hand-operable squeeze mechanism that squeezes a sponge mounted on the mop head, to enable liquid collected in the sponge to be expelled therefrom. Butterfly sponge mops have found favour, particularly in the household market, because of their ease of use in comparison to traditional mops, which must be squeezed, using foot action, between rollers which are located on a mop bucket.

A known butterfly sponge mop is described in US Patent No. 6,698,056, assigned to the present applicant. The mop head, which has a sponge removably mounted thereon, includes a pair of hinged planar wings that are arranged in an aligned horizontal coplanar orientation for mopping, and may be pivoted out of the common plane about a respective pivot axis into a squeezing orientation, to thereby squeeze the sponge and expel any collected liquid therefrom.

The wings are biased into the mopping orientation by a spring, which is arranged transverse to each wing's pivot axis and resiliently interconnects the upper surface of the wings. A certain amount of force is required to overcome both the spring's bias, and an amount of resilience in the sponge itself, in order to move the wings into the squeezing orientation. Once this force is removed, the spring returns to its natural position to return the wings to the mopping orientation.

arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 00 2 The described mop also provides a means by which rotation of the mop handle Ssets the handle at a desired angle with respect to the wings.

Whilst the butterfly squeeze mop described in US Patent No. 6,698,056 is a very successful consumer product, it is nevertheless reasonably complex and S 5 accordingly somewhat expensive to manufacture.

Summary of the Invention C According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mop head 00 comprising: (Ni a pair of wings pivotable between a mopping orientation wherein the wings lie in a common substantially horizontal plane, and a squeezing orientation, wherein said wings lie outside of said horizontal plane; and fulcrum means which are movable by an actuator to selectively move the wings between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mop comprising a handle, a mop head according to the first aspect of the invention attached or attachable thereto, and an actuator operatively coupling the mop head to the handle, the actuator being configured to move the fulcrum means to selectively pivot the wings between a squeezing orientation and a mopping orientation.

The location of the fulcrum means on the wings is such that as the wings are moved by the actuator from the mopping orientation into the squeezing orientation, the fulcrum means consequently move into a return position at which the actuator may interact with the fulcrum means to move the wings from the squeezing orientation into the mopping orientation.

The present invention provides a simple, yet very effective mop head which may be selectively pivoted between a mopping orientation and a squeezing orientation using comparable force to the prior art butterfly sponge mop noted above.

Importantly, mop heads according to the present invention do not require a biasing spring to pivot the mop head from the squeezing orientation to the mopping orientation. Removal of a spring from the design of the mop head arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008 00 3 allows for a simpler manufacturing process, with attendant cost savings and less Srisk of failure.

In particular, the inclusion of a spring in designs of the prior art undoubtedly adds to the costs of manufacture, and therefore there is a cost advantage in having a N. 5 mop head for a butterfly sponge mop that can be easily moved between a mopping orientation and a squeezing orientation that does not require the use of a spring to do so.

00 The fulcrum means may be provided in any suitable manner, and in any location on the mop head, such that interaction between the actuator and the fulcrum means effects pivoting of the wings both between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation, and between the squeezing orientation and the mopping orientation. Preferably the fulcrum means includes one or more projections. Typically a projection extends out of the plane of each wing in a substantially orthogonal direction, the actuator being configured to act against the or each projection to effect the necessary pivoting of the wings.

Typically, the actuator includes a first side which contacts the wings when the mop head is in the mopping orientation and an opposed second side, the projections being configured such that a portion thereof is moved into a return position at which the projection contacts the second side of the actuator as the mop head is moved from the mopping orientation into the squeezing orientation, the actuator being operable to move the projections when in the return position so as to return the mop head to the mopping orientation.

Optimally, the projection defines a curved surface which move against the actuator to pivot the wings between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation. A curved surface allows the projection to make an essentially tangential contact with the actuator, thereby reducing friction and providing a smooth levering action between actuator and projection.

Moreover, a curved projection also allows the actuator to remain in contact with the projection throughout the entire levering action.

In preferred embodiments, the actuator comprises a member which is rotatably attachable to the mop head, the member including a first force applying surface arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008 00 4 for enabling a manual force to be applied to the wings in a direction substantially perpendicular to the wings when in the mopping orientation, and a second force applying surface, for enabling a manual force to be applied to the fulcrum means N, in a direction substantially parallel to the wings when in the mopping orientation, said forces combining to move the wings between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation.

Preferably, the actuator is formed by a part of a clevis member actuatable by a user (-i 00 to rotate relative to the mop head.

SBrief Description of the Drawings The invention will now be further explained and illustrated by reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mop head in accordance with an aspect of the present invention; Figure 2 is a detailed plan view of the mop head illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevation view of the mop head illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, shown in the squeezing orientation; Figure 4 is a plan view of the mop head illustrated in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of the mop head illustrated in Figures 1 to 4; Figure 6 is an elevation view of a mop, comprising a handle and an attached mop head, as illustrated in Figures 1 to Detailed Description of the Drawings Turning to Figure 1 a mop head 10 of the butterfly sponge mop variety is illustrated. The mop head 10 is manufactured from a suitable plastic material such as polypropylene, and comprises first 12 and second 14 wings, a connecting sleeve 16, a pivot nodule 18 and a clevis member The clevis member 20 is an integrally formed component, which comprises a generally C-shaped member 28 from which a pair of arms 30, 32 extend. A connecting pin 34, is integrally formed between the ends of the arms, so as to close the clevis member 20. The connecting pin 34 is formed from a pair of cylindrical members 36, 38 which are joined by a rod 40 of smaller diameter than arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008 00 N, the cylindrical members 36, 38. The rod 40 is snap-fitted into a channel (not shown) formed within the connecting sleeve 16, to enable the clevis member 20 to Ct rotate in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1, about an axis defined by the connecting pin 34.

N 5 An acuate bridge member 42 is formed between the cylindrical members 36, 38 and extends along the front of the connecting sleeve 16, so as to partially obscure the channel.

0 The clevis member 20 has a generally L-shaped cross section, wherein a wall 44 Sand a substantially orthogonally projecting floor 46 are defined throughout the arms 30, 32 and C-shaped member, of the clevis member Indentations 48, 50, extend through the depth of the wings 12, 14, and have keyhole shaped openings 52, 54 (Figure 5) in the base thereof, which are adapted to receive attaching elements (not shown) of a sponge 56 (Figure to enable the sponge to be replaceably attached to the mop head As illustrated in Figure 5, each wing 12, 14 is attached to the base 22 of the connecting sleeve 16 at a region of reduced thickness. Each wing is bendable about the region, as described in greater detail below.

As illustrated in Figure 2, a pair of projections 55, 57 are formed near the inner edge 61, 64 of each wing 12, 14, and project in a substantially orthogonal direction out of the plane of the wings 12 and 14. Each projection 55, 57 has a generally arcuate cross section, with the arc length of the cross section diminishing as the distance from the wing 12, 14 increases.

In use, the mop head 10 is connected to a handle 58, which screws into, or is otherwise retained within the pivot nodule 18, which is in turn, located within the sleeve 16. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 6, the mop head 10 occupies a mopping orientation when the wings 12, 14 lie in a common, substantially horizontal plane.

Of course the sponge 56, occupies a similar orientation when the mop head 10 is in the mopping orientation, enabling the sponge 56 to be pushed and pulled with the handle 58 along the surface being cleaned.

Mopping involves absorbing dirt and grime from the surface being mopped onto a detergent and water-soaked sponge, with the dirt-entrained liquid then being arsm A0109791152vl 305929980 21.1.2008 00 6 NI periodically squeezed out of the sponge. In this regard, according to the present embodiment of the invention, the sponge 56 is squeezed by pivoting the mop head 10 into a squeezing orientation, when the sponge is caused to fold in half upon itself, as illustrated in Figure 3.

5 This squeezing action is effected by a user pushing a slidable sleeve member (Figure 6) along the handle 58 in the direction of the mop head 10. The slidable (Ni sleeve member 60 is attached to a motion transferring rod 62, which is in turn 00 connected to the clevis member 20 at the midpoint of the C-shaped member 28.

Motion is thus transferred to the clevis member arms 30, 32, causing the bottom (Ni of the floor 46 to apply a downwards force on each wing 12, 14. At the same time, the edge of the floor 46 turns against each projection 55, 57, which in a levering action with the projections acting as a fulcrum cause the wings to pivot out of the horizontal plane (as illustrated in Figure 1) and into the squeezing orientation (as illustrated in Figure 3).

As the projections 55, 57 are curved, the edge of the floor 46 makes an essentially tangential contact with the projection and may smoothly roll over the projections 57 during the levering action.

To return the mop head to the mopping orientation, after the dirt-entrained liquid is expelled, the reverse series of actions to those just described is taken. First, the slidable sleeve 60 is pulled back along the handle 58 to its original position. When in the squeezing orientation, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, a portion 63, 65 of each projection 55, 57, lies across the floor of the clevis arms. Therefore, when motion from the slidable sleeve 60 is transferred to the clevis member, the projections 57, 59 again act as fulcrums against which the clevis arms 30, 32, turn, to lever the wings 12, 14 back into the mopping orientation.

The word 'comprising' and forms of the word 'comprising' as used in this description and in the claims do not limit the invention claimed to exclude any variants or additions. Modifications and improvements to the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such modifications and improvements are intended to be within the scope of this invention.

arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008

Claims (9)

1. A mop head comprising: C a pair of wings pivotable between a mopping orientation wherein the wings lie in a common substantially horizontal plane, and a squeezing orientation, wherein said wings lie outside of said horizontal plane; and fulcrum means which are movable by an actuator to selectively move the 00 wings between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation. oO

2. A mop head according to claim 1 wherein the fulcrum means includes one or more projections extending out of the plane of the wings.

3. A mop head according to claim 2 wherein the or each projection extends out of the plane of each wing in a substantially orthogonal direction, wherein an actuator may move the or each projection to effect pivoting of the wings.

4. A mop head according to claim 2 or claim 3, further including an actuator having a first side which contacts the wings when the mop head is in the mopping orientation and an opposed second side, the projections being configured such that a portion thereof is moved into a return position at which the projection contacts the second side of the actuator as the mop head is moved from the mopping orientation into the squeezing orientation, the actuator being operable to move the projections when in the return position so as to return the mop head to the mopping orientation.

A mop head according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the projection defines a curved surface against which the actuator is movable to pivot the wings between the mopping orientation and the squeezing orientation.

6. A mop comprising a handle, a mop head according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and an actuator operatively coupling the mop head to the handle, the actuator being configured to move the fulcrum means to selectively move the wings between a squeezing orientation and a mopping orientation.

7. A mop according to claim 6, wherein the actuator includes a member which is rotatably attachable to the mop head, the member including a first force arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008 00 8 applying surface for enabling a force to be applied to the wings in a Sdirection substantially perpendicular to the wings when in the mopping orientation, and a second force applying surface, for enabling a force to be applied to the fulcrum means in a direction substantially parallel to the wings when in the squeezing orientation. (N

8. A mop head substantially as herein described and with reference to the (N accompanying drawings. 00

9. A mop substantially as herein described and with reference to the Saccompanying drawings. arsm A0109791152v1 305929980 21.1.2008