AU739577B2

AU739577B2 - Implement

Info

Publication number: AU739577B2
Application number: AU69849/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Concetta Arena
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-05-30
Filing date: 1998-06-01
Publication date: 2001-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2018-06-01
Also published as: AU6984998A

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT 9* C

C

*5*C

C

Name of Applicant: CONCETTA ARENA Actual inventor: CONCETTA ARENA Address for Service: Chrysiliou Moore Martin CMC Centre 143 Sydney Road Fairlight Sydney NSW 2094 Invention Title: Implement The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: e:\ch\work\1672.docct \\server\e\docs\patents\amendments\691 7.doc ct This invention relates to an implement for collecting or removing pet hair and the like.

It is well known that animals shed hair and other debris. When pet animals are permitted inside premises or vehicles, the debris which is shed can cause problems, leaving an unsightly residue on carpets, upholstery and other surfaces.

This does not only present an aesthetic problem: many humans are hypersensitive or allergic to animal hair or debris.

Various attempts have been made to effectively collect or remove such hair or debris. The use of conventional brooms and brushes is not satisfactory, because io the hair and debris tends to be fine and to cling to carpet and upholstered surfaces.

One prior art attempt to address this problem uses a device intended to be l. :attached to a vacuum cleaner. While this could have some benefit in removing 5 certain types of debris, it would appear to be inadequate to collect or remove most pet hair.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an implement which can i effectively collect or remove animal hair and similar debris from surfaces. It is a further object of this invention to provide such an implement which does not require connection to a vacuum cleaner for its effectiveness, although in one embodiment the implement may be connected to a vacuum cleaner. It is yet a further object of this invention to provide such an implement which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which, in at least one embodiment, has a S•replaceable working surface.

Accordingly, this invention provides an implement for collecting or removing animal hairs and similar debris from a surface to be cleaned, the implement including a working surface having a plurality of nodules of rubber or equivalent material. The working surface is mounted on a resilient insert such as a foam pad which can give a degree of resiliency to the working surface when the implement is used.

In the description below, emphasis will be placed on the use of the implement of the present invention on carpet and upholstered surfaces, because these are the surfaces which have caused most difficulties with removal of animal hairs in the past. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to these uses and may be used on other surfaces.

\\server\e\docs\patents\amendments\6917.doc ct The implement of the invention may be intended to be held in the hand, like a brush, or it may be adapted to be attached to an elongated handle, to form a broom.

The working surface may cover substantially the whole of the implement of the invention, or it may occupy only a part. For example, when the implement of the invention is attached to a handle and forms a broom, the working surface may extend only to that part of the implement which would contact a surface to be cleaned, in normal use.

Preferably, the working surface is replaceable should it become worn or damaged in any way.

In one embodiment, the foam pad can take the form of a rectangular prism. The stretching of the working surface over the foam pad will tend to mould that part of the foam pad which contacts the working surface into a curve. In another embodiment, the foam pad may have the surface which contacts the working 15 surface pre-shaped into a curved form. The foam pad may be made of any suitable material, one example of which is polyethylene foam, particularly that sold under the trade mark MERACEL.

The nodules on the working surface are preferably vulcanised natural rubber.

However, other materials having similar qualities to vulcanised natural rubber may 20 also be suitable, as will be apparent to one skilled in the art. The nodules are preferably in the form of a truncated cone with the height of the cone being a little greater than the diameter of the base of the cone.

This invention also provides a sheet containing a working surface for an implement for collecting or removing animal hairs and similar debris from a surface to be cleaned, the working surface having a plurality of nodules of rubber or equivalent material, and the sheet being adapted to be removably attached to the implement, the working surface being mounted on a resilient insert when attached to the implement.

It may assist positioning of the working surface on the implement when replacing the working surface, if there are positioning marks or other means to help line up the working surface on the implement.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in connection with the attached drawings, which are not limiting on the scope of this invention.

o:\patents\comp\691 7.doc ct In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view from above of an embodiment of the implement of the invention, being intended to be attached to an elongated handle to form a broom; Figure 2 is a plan view from below of the implement of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a nodule; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the implement of Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a conventional broom head which can be used to form the implement of the invention; o**Figure 6 is a plan view of an embodiment of a removable sheet including the 10 working surface of the implement of the invention; Figure 7 shows a padded or foam insert which is inserted between the sheet .:;including the working surface of Figure 6 and the broom head of Figure 5; and Figure 8 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Figures 1 to 4, implement 10 has working surface indicated generally at 12 which contains a number of nodules 14 made of vulcanised rubber. Each nodule 14 is mounted on a backing material 16.

In the embodiment illustrated, nodules 14 and backing material 16 are made from the same vulcanised rubber, nodules 14 being moulded during manufacture of the backing material. It is to be understood, however, that in a different embodiment, nodules 14 may be formed separately from backing material 16 and may be adhered or otherwise fixed to backing material 16. As another option, nodules 14 and backing material 16 may be made of the same material, but nodules 14 may be treated to make them more or less rigid, or more or less tacky, for example, than backing material 16.

As shown in Figures 5 to 7, this embodiment of the invention is constructed from a plastic broom head 18, sheet 30 including working surface 12 and foam insert Plastic broom head 18 is readily available and comprises a base 22 and a hosel 24 for a handle (not shown). It is to be understood, however, that it is not necessary that the implement of the invention has a handle connected, since the \\server\e\docs\patents\amendments\6917b.doc ct implement can be used in a hand-held manner, if desired.

As best seen in Figure 6, working surface 12 is formed in one piece with flanges 26 and 28 in sheet 30, so that sheet 30 can be wrapped around base 22 of broom head 18, with flange 26 overlapping flange 28. Recesses 32 and 34 permit sheet 30 to fit neatly around hosel 24. Female press studs 36, 37, 38 and 39 on flange 26 mate with male press studs 40, 41, 42 and 43 on flange 28, to secure sheet around broom head 18, with flanges 26 and 28 flat and flush.

It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that other methods of securing sheet 30 to head 18 may be utilised without departing from the spirit and scope of io the invention.

To give a degree of resiliency to implement 10 when in use, foam insert 20 is inserted between head 18 and working surface 12 (refer Figure Foam insert 20 has flat surface 44 to align with flat surface 46 of broom head 18, and curved surface 48 around which working surface 12 is wrapped. It is believed that the 15 curved shape thus imparted to working surface 12 is efficient in removing or collecting animal hairs. However, it is to be understood that other shapes of working surface 12 may also be effective.

To use the implement 10 of the invention to collect animal hairs or other debris from a surface, working surface 12 is swept over the surface containing the 20 animal hairs or debris. Nodules 14 act to remove the hairs and debris from the surface being cleaned and collect the hairs and debris into a pile which can be Sopicked up and discarded. In this way, animal hairs, for example, can be removed from carpets, upholstery and other surfaces.

If working surface 12 becomes worn or damaged, sheet 30 may be removed from head 18 by releasing female studs 36, 37, 38 and 39 from male studs 40, 41, 42 and 43, and wrapping a replacement sheet 30 around head 18. Similarly, foam insert 20 may be replaced should it be necessary.

Although there is no necessity to connect the implement of this invention to a vacuum cleaner, it may be adapted for connection to a vacuum cleaner, if desired.

The embodiment in Figure 8 is similar to that described above, except that it is not adapted to be connected with a handle, so as to form a broom. In this second embodiment, the implement of the invention, indicated generally at 110, has a o:\patents\comp\6917.doc ct working surface 112 which contains a number of nodules 114 mounted on a backing material 116. Foam insert 120 provides a degree of resiliency to working surface 112 while base 122 (of wood or plastic, for example) assists in providing stability and the necessary degree of rigidity to implement 110. Implement 110 includes a hand grip 123.

Flange 126 overlaps flange 128. First recess 132 and a second recess, indicated at 134, allow a close fit around grip 123. Flanges 126 and 128 are maintained in position via female studs 137 and 138 on flange 126, by mating with male studs (not shown) on flange 128.

10 This embodiment of the invention is particularly useful for cleaning animal hair and the like from vehicle seats, carpets and upholstery such as on doors, etc.

0 It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the implement and the working surface of the present invention provide an inexpensive and efficient solution to the problem presented by the collection of animal hair.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described but includes other embodiments included in the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. An implement for collecting or removing animal hairs and similar debris from a surface to be cleaned, the implement including a working surface having a plurality of nodules of rubber or equivalent material wherein the working surface is mounted on a resilient insert.

2. The implement claimed in claim 1, in which the resilient insert has a curved surface which contacts the working surface.

3. The implement claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the working surface covers substantially the whole of the implement.

4. The implement claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the working surface covers that part of the implement which is adapted to contact the surface to be cleaned in normal use.

5. The implement claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which the working 0: 0% surface is replaceable on the implement 15

6. The implement claimed in any one of claims I to 5, in which the nodules are vulcanised natural rubber.

7. The implement claimed in claim 6, wherein the nodules are fixed to a backing material.

8. The implement as claimed in claim 6, wherein the nodules are formed 20 integrally with a backing material.

9. The implement claimed in claim 7 or 8, wherein the nodules are of a different rigidity from the backing material.

The implement claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, when attached to an elongated handle to form a broom.

11. The implement claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, which includes a hand grip.

12. A sheet containing a working surface for an implement for collecting or removing animal hairs and similar debris from a surface to be cleaned, the working surface having a plurality of nodules of rubber or equivalent material, and the sheet being adapted to be removably attached to the i mplement, the working surface being mounted on a resilient insert when ZIattached to the implement. server\e\docs\patentsamendments\691 7a.doc ct

13. The sheet claimed in claim 12, in which the nodules are vulcanised natural rubber.

14. The sheet claimed in claim 12 or 13 in which the nodules are fixed to a backing material.

15. The sheet claimed in claim 12 or 13, in which the nodules are formed integrally with a backing material.

16. The sheet claimed in claim 14 or 15, in which the nodules are of a different rigidity from the backing material.

17. The sheet claimed in any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the sheet has a first flange adapted to overlie a second flange.

18. The sheet claimed in claim 17, in which male press studs in the first flange are adapted to fit into female press studs in the second flange.

19. The implement claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described with *l reference to Figures 1 to 7 of the accompanying drawings. 15

20. The implement claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.

21. The sheet claimed in claim 12, substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings. Dated this 11 th day of May, 2001 CONCETTA ARENA By her Patent Attorneys Chrysiliou Law