GB2459086A

GB2459086A - Cleaning tool for a surface cleaning machine

Info

Publication number: GB2459086A
Application number: GB0806167A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard William Renwick
Original assignee: BRUSH TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Current assignee: BRUSH TECHNOLOGY Ltd
Priority date: 2008-04-07
Filing date: 2008-04-07
Publication date: 2009-10-14
Anticipated expiration: 2028-04-07
Also published as: GB0806167D0; GB2459086B

Abstract

A floor cleaning tool for a cleaning machine, such as a carpet extraction cleaner, comprises a soft brush with bristles D and at least one flexible abrasive wiping scraper C to clean hard floors. The abrasive wiping scraper C may be made from monomers or polymers such as urethane that contain fillers or fine abrasive particles. In use, when cleaning hard floors I, bristles D can reach into the pores and recesses while flexible scraper C wipes over the floor surface I erasing any surface scuff marks L. Cleaning solution M has the dirt and residue from the scuffmarks held in its suspension to be vacuumed away from floor in the next process.

Description

Intellectual Property Office mm For Creetity and Innovation Application No. GB0806 167.3 RTM Date:28 July 2008 The following terms are registered trademarks and should be read as such wherever they occur in this document: Scotchbrite 3m UK Intellectual Property Office is an operating name of The Patent Office Floor cleaning tool.

There are many different ways to clean and maintain floors. There are also many different types of floor ranging from hard floors made from concrete, stone and ceramic tile, to wood floors, vinyl flooring to soft carpeted floors. All these floors need cleaning frequently.

This invention is designed to work on hard floors, in particular the types found in many commercial properties such as retail shopping malls and supermarkets. Hard floors are never perfectly flat, ceramic tiled floors have recessed areas between tiles filled with grout, concrete floors have recesses for expansion where they join together, even the surface of these floors have tiny recesses and pores where dirt gets trapped.

There are many methods used to clean and maintain hard floors.

Generally the common method used to clean these hard floors involves scrubbing the floor clean using a solution of water or water with detergent, then maintaining them using various cleaning, sterilising and polishing solutions. Industrial scrubbing machines are frequently used to complete these tasks. Generally the scrubber drier machines are the most common method used to clean large areas. First the floor is swept or vacuumed to remove large pieces of loose debris. Then these scrubber driers dispense the cleaning solution onto the floor, then using rotary cleaning brushes or cleaning pads agitates the cleaning solution against the floor, emulsifying any floor dirt into the solution, then the machine vacuums up the solution with the dirt held in its suspension, leaving behind a dry, clean floor. The cleaning solution can either be a liquid or a blend of solutions that has gas added to create a foamed liquid solution. A typical scrubber drier floor machine describing the foamed liquid solutions is described in patent number 6585827.

The cleaning pads used in the scrubber driers are made by various manufacturers. One such type is the Scotchbrite range made by 3m. Pads are constructed using non woven fibres such as polyester mixed with fillers incorporating mild abrasive grit. This type of floor cleaning pad product can be explained in detail by looking at patent number US2007/0298697.

These hard floors frequently have stubborn surface marks such as scuff marks left by rubber soles of shoes or forklift tyre marks. New abrasive cleaning pads are very good at abraded off these scuff marks. The disadvantage of cleaning pads is that they compress easy and clog with dirt fast; this clogging severely reduces the cleaning effect. Therefore, the pads have to be taken off the machine, reversed by turned back to back, then cleaned and replaced frequently. Pads also only wipe against the top surface of the floor, they can not reach into the pores, cracks, expansion joints or between grouted floor tiles in the floor to help emulsify the below surface dirt. Brushes on the other hand use none abrasive bristles consisting of fine diameter flexible monofilaments such as nylon or polypropylene. The bristle brush is very good at flexing into the fine pores and cracks in the hard floor to remove and emulsify the dirt into the cleaning solution. The brushes do not clog with dirt as the cleaning solution, in which the dirt is held in its suspension, is allowed to flow freely between the bristles. However, the soft bristles are not very good at removing any stubborn scuff marks. To sum up: Dirt agitation is best using bristle brushes. Scuff marks are best removed using abrasive cleaning pads. Brushes can be manufactured using pre-extruded or coated abrasive bristles. These abrasive bristles are explained fully in Patent number 5616411 the abrasive brushes would remove any scuff marks, however, the disadvantages of using these abrasive bristles in a floor cleaning brush is that the abrasive bristles reach down into the soft grouting of floor tiles and expansion joints and can abrade the soft floor grout causing premature floor wear.

The invention is a rotary floor cleaning tool made from a combination of fine none abrasive soft bristles that also incorporates flexible abrasive scrapers positioned in between the brush bristles. The cleaning performance of these bristles is improved by splitting the working tips into tiny micro hairs by a flagging technique. The flexible scrapers are either moulded blocks made from monomers or polymers such as urethane that contain fillers of fine abrasive particles, or extruded blocks from polymers containing abrasive fillers. In use the bristle tips flex into the floor surface pores and cracks agitation and helping to emulsify the dirt, while the mild abrasive blocks wipe over the floor top surface erasing any stubborn scuff marks. The erasing performance of the blocks is adjusted by increasing or decreasing the amount, type and grit size of abrasive filler in the final assembled brush. As an example, a floor tool consisting of a disk filled with soft 0.18mm nylon bristles with a set of six evenly spaced PU scraper blocks with a Shore hardness of A80 containing 33% by weight 1000 grit aluminium oxide, rotating at 200 revolutions per minute on a scrubber drier, using just water as the cleaning solution with no other cleaning chemical, removes stubborn forklift tyre scuff marks from a tiled floor without damaging the tiles, the grouted areas, or, the expansion joints and has sufficient agitation to dissolve the dirt, both on the tiles and in the recessed grouted areas between the floor tiles.

It should be clear at this point that applicant does not contend that he has been the first to incorporate abrasive grains into floor cleaning tools.

Sanding and grinding attachments have been fitted to floor maintainer equipment, as has abrasive bristled brushes and abrasive floor cleaning pads. Solid none flexing metal scrapers and steel wire brushes have been used on floor machines to scarify away heavy builds up of ice and compacted debri. What is unique is the combination of soft flexible non-abrasive bristles with an array of flexible wiping action abrasive scrapers.

The invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Figures 1 and 4 shows a flat rotary disk, which is suitable to attach to a floor-cleaning machine. It could be fabricated from wood or plastic sheet.

For volume production, injection molded plastic disks are preferred.

Figures 1 and 4 disk cross section is B' Figures 2 and 5 show a flat rotary retaining disk, its thin cross section is A'.

Figure 3 shows a blown up cross section of B' with brush bristles D' attached and a flexible abrasive scraper C' held together with retaining disk A'.

Figure 6 shows a blown up cross section of B' with brush bristles D' attached and a flexible abrasive scraper E' held together with retaining disk A' and a fastener E'.

Hundreds of soft fine brush bristles 0' are clustered together to form generally round brush tufts of approximately 6mm in diameter. These tufts are positioned in between the flexible abrasive scrapers C and E'. In E' the flexible abrasive scraper is looped two slots G' and held in place with a fastener such as a staple F'. Then retaining plate A' is securely bonded to plate B'. Many cross section shapes of flexible scraper are easy to produce, shown as C' is a T shape scraper, slotted into a T shape slot and held in position by retaining plate A'. The tufts of bristles D' can protrude the same length or slightly longer than the flexible abrasive scrapers C and E'. The rotating or pulsate brushes are mounted to the cleaning machine and cleaning solution flows from the cleaning machine through central hole H' onto the floor.

Figure 3 shows a blown up cross section of the cleaning tool in use. I' is the hard floor with pores J' and a grouted expansion joint K'. Bristles D' can be seen reaching into the pores and recesses J'. Flexible scraper C' is wiping over the floor surface erasing any surface scuff marks L'.

Cleaning solution M' has the dirt and residue from the scuffmarks held in its suspension to be vacuumed away from floor in the next process.

Claims

Claims 1. A cleaning tool for a cleaning machine, consisting of a brush incorporating at least one flexible abrasive wiping scraper.
2. A flexible scraper according to claim 1, made from a mixture of abrasive filler and polymers.