GB1604448A

GB1604448A - Mops

Info

Publication number: GB1604448A
Application number: GB4414877A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Jani Jack Ltd
Current assignee: Jani Jack Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-31
Filing date: 1978-05-31
Publication date: 1981-12-09

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO MOPS (71) We, JANI-JACK LIMITED, a British Company, of Ilkley House, Brighton Road, Lower Kingswood, Surry, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement:- This invention relates to mops for cleaning and/or polishing and to carriers for the heads of such mops.

It is known to provide mops with replaceable mop heads that can be held detachably on a folding frame-like carrier with hinged sections that can be collapsed for putting the mop head on and removing it from the carrier, the mop head having pockets that engage the hinged sections.

According to the present invention there is provided a mop head carrier comprising a pair of mutually hinged sections that are pivotable towards each other to a collapsed position for replacement of a mop head on the carrier, and means adjacent the region of pivoting of said sections for attaching a handle to the carrier, opposite ends of the hinged sections being provided with rotatable bearing elements so arranged that, when collapsed, with said opposite ends of the hinged sections placed upon the replacement mop head the sections can be spread to a substantially planar operative position by application of pressure through the handle, so as to engage said sections with pockets or like receiving recesses of the mop head.

The carrier may be formed as a frame structure, in which case, preferably, it is provided with plate members on its lower face to bear upon an attached mop head for a more even application of pressure to the mop head in use. In one form of the invention, the carrier is a frame structure of substantially rectangular elongate form with rolling bearing elements in the form of rollers rotatably mounted on end elements of the two frame sections at opposite ends of the longitudinal axis of the frame to assist the spreading action.

A carrier according to the invention is preferably provided with a removable, flexible mop head having at opposite laterally outer regions, opposed pockets or like recesses opening towards each other to receive opposite ends of the carrier, the upper walls of said pockets or recesses comprising a resiliently flexible material shaping their entry edges to hold them spaced from the adjacent lower walls of the pockets or recesses to assist insertion of the ends of the hinged carrier sections.

The carrier will usually have the handle pivotably attached to it so as to permit some swivelling movement in use about an axis extending longitudinally of the carrier. Preferably, a carrier according to the invention has said pivot axis disposed immediately adjacent the plane of the carrier, e.g. not substantially more than three quarters of an inch above the bottom face of the carrier.

By way of example, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figs. 1 and 2 are front and top plan views of a long-handled mop, only the lower part of the handle being shown, with a mop head carrier according td the invention, and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective and front views of a mop head for use with the carrier of Figs. I and 2.

In Figs. 1 and 2, the carrier is in the form of a generally planar rectangular frame, approximately 23ss" long by 4" wide. It has two sections 2, 4 hinged together, the outer periphery of each being formed from a metal rod to give longer front and rear edge portions 2a, 4a continuous with outer edge portions 2b, 4b and with inwardly turned end portions adjacent the middle of the frame. A sheet metal centre member 6 is secured across the rod edge portions 2a of the section 2, the front and rear edges of the member being formed into downwardly curved substantially semicircular section flanges 12 receiving the rod front and rear edge portions and being welded to them.

The centre member 6 overlaps the inner ends of the rod front and rear edge portions in the frame section 4 and has brackets 14 welded to its underside which receive coaxial cranked lengths 16 of the rod inner end portions in the frame section 4. By means of the brackets the sections 2, 4 are thus pivoted together about an axis transverse to the longitudinal extent of the frame. In continuation of the cranked lengths 16, the ends of the rod in the frame section 4 are bent generally parallel to each other to extend beyond the lateral edge of the centre member and have upturned tips 18 that project above the centre member and that are covered by plastics thimbles 20.

In the extended working position shown, the sections 2, 4 are held coplanar with each other, the front and rear rod edge portions 4a of the frame section 4 being located by the arcuate flanges 12 that extend the length of the centre member and the resilience of these portions retaining them firmly in the recesses provided by the flanges.

The cranked portions 16 being longer than the width of the brackets 14, the tips 18 of the frame section 4 can be squeezed together to deform the frame section and release the rod portions 4a from the flanges of the centre member, whereupon the sections can be folded downwardly towards each other, until they are at a limiting angle of not substantially less than 45' to each other, (preferably 50 to 70 ) rod inner tips 22 of the frame section 22 acting as an end stop when the limiting angle is reached.

Folding frame mop carriers are used with fabric mop heads which conventionally have a plan form similar to the frame and with end pockets in which the opposite ends of the frame sections are inserted to hold the mop head for use when the frame is extended. In the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the outer ends of the sections 2, 4 carry freely rotatable rollers 24. These are formed on the rod outer end portions 2b, 4b after the peripheral rods of the frame sections have been bent to shape. With the carrier in its folded state, it is possible to put the mop head on the floor, place the carrier on the mop head with its rollers resting on the mop head between the end pockets, and by simply pressing down the rollers will roll over the mop head allowing the ends of the carrier to spread easily apart and enter into the pockets of the mop head, whereupon the front and rear rod portions 4a, 4b snap into place under their own resilience into the flanges 12 of the centre member to lock the parts ready for use.

The mop head, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, has a rectangular plan form, approximately 24" by 5+". At opposite ends of its upper face there are pockets 42 each extending some 4" from the ends of the mop head and their length in this direction is preferably between 2" and 5". The pockets are formed by folding over portions of a woven nylon backing 44 of the mop head and sewing the folded edges 46 together. At the upper edge of the entry end of each pocket the material has a seam 48 containing a stiffening insert strip of a resilient but relatively stiff material, e.g. a strip of reinforced fabric or whalebone or a plastics material such as nylon or polypropylene. The strip and the pocket edge are approximately 1" longer than the width of the mop head and, as a result, when the folded-over edges of the pocket are sewn down the strip forms an arch holding the pocket open, the opening at the centre of the arch being approximately 1 inch.

In this way, the insertion of the ends of a carrier frame into the pockets as the sections of the frame spread apart is facilitated and once the frame has snapped into its extended position the mop head is safely retained in place and cannot slip off because of the heldopen pockets. These pockets also allow the mop head to fall off more easily when it is to be discarded, by simply folding the carrier frame sections downwards.

It is to be understood that since the pockets are required only to hold the frame ends, they need not be formed by continuous flaps and it may be preferred to provide openings at or near the ends shown closed, e.g. for the easy escape of water, or to provide open retaining recesses for the frame ends.

Handle 26 of the mop is connected to the carrier frame through a swivel connector 28 that has a first swivel connection 30 with the handle and a second swivel connection 32 with a pair of lugs 34 bent up from the centre member 6, this second connection having its swivel axis running longitudinally of the mop head frame and at right angles to the fore and aft axis of the connection 30. It is found that the position of the handle swivel connections can influence the ease with which the collapsed carrier frame can be spread by simply pressing down on the handle. In particular, the lower longitudinally directed connection 32 should be close to the plane of the carrier frame and in the illustrated example its axis is only about half an inch above the frame bottom. The dimension should preferably be less than 1".

The illustrated construction also shows support or pressure plates 36 attached to the underside of each of the frame sections by rolled-over flanges at front and rear edges 38 and outer edges 40. These plates serve to spread the mopping pressure over the area of the mop head in use. The flanges at the front and rear edges do not extend so far around the engaging front and rear portions 4a, 4b on the carrier section 4 that they will restrict the resilient inwards movement of these sections when the tips 18 are squeezed together. The rolled over flanges at the outer edges 40 can extend further and may also assist in locating the rollers 24.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A mop head carrier comprising a pair of mutually hinged sections that are pivotable towards each other to a collapsed position for replacement of a mop head on the carrier, and means adjacent the region of pivoting of said sections for attaching a handle to the carrier, opposite ends of the hinged sections being provided with rotatable bearing elements so arranged that, when collapsed, with said opposite ends of the hinged sections placed upon the replacement mop head the sections can be spread to a substantially planar operative position by application of pressure through the handle, so as to engage said sections with pockets or like receiving recesses of the mop head.

2. A mop head carrier according to claim 1 wherein the carrier has an elongate plan form with shorter sides forming the lateral limits of the carrier, said rotatable bearing elements being formed by rollers mounted at said shorter sides to be rotatable on parallel axes transverse to the longitudinal axis of said plan form.

3. A mop head carrier according to claim 2 wherein the carrier is a frame structure of substantially rectangular elongate form with said rollers rotatably mounted on end elements of the two frame sections at opposite ends of the longitudinal axis of the frame.

4. A mop head carrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the carrier is a frame structure provided with plate members on its lower face to bear upon an attached mop head for a more even application of pressure to the mop head in use.

5. A mop head carrier according to claim 4 wherein said plate members further comprise location elements for said rotatable bearing elements or rollers.

6. A mop head carrier according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said handle attachment means provides a pivot axis for the handle extending longitudinally of the carrier, said axis being disposed immediately adjacent the plane of said hinged sections.

7. A mop head carrier according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said handle attachment means is provided on one of said pair of mutually hinged sections.

8. A mop head carrier according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said pair of hinged sections are pivotable downwardly towards each other to a limiting position at an angle of not substantially less than 45 to each other.

9. A mop head carrier according to claim 8 wherein said sections are at an angle of between 50 and 70 to each other at said limiting position.

10. A long-handled mop having a mop head carrier according to any one of the preceding claims.

11. A long-handled mop according to claim 10 having a flexible mop head having at opposite laterally outer regions, opposed pockets or like recesses opening towards each other to receive opposite ends of the carrier, resiliently flexible material inserts being provided in said pockets or recesses or the upper walls of said pockets or recesses comprising a resiliently flexible material shaping their entry edges to hold them spaced from the adjacent lower walls of the pockets or recesses to assist insertion of the ends of the hinged carrier sections.

12. A mop according to claim 10 wherein said flexible material is in the form of a strip lining an edge or seam of each said upper wall.

13. A mop according to claim 10 or claim 11 wherein said pockets or recesses extend to the lateral extremities of the mop head and have parallel laterally outer ends.

14. A mop head carrier constructed and arranged for use and operation substantially as described herein with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A long-handled mop comprising a mop head carrier and a flexible mop head constructed and arranged for use substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.