GB2488121A

GB2488121A - A cleaning device for narrow areas

Info

Publication number: GB2488121A
Application number: GB1102630.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chima Okafor
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-02-15
Filing date: 2011-02-15
Publication date: 2012-08-22
Also published as: GB201102630D0

Abstract

A cleaning device for cleaning narrow and small places comprises a tongue B9 and a cleaning element B10 consisting of textile or textile like material, which is attached towards the end area on the tongue B9 with the help of a hook and loop type fastener and can be removed to be washed or changed. The cleaning device further includes, on the upper side of an inner pipe B6, a button B1 which will be pushed downwards inside the outer pipe B7 to move the inner pipe B6 and tongue B9 into the in-use position. When button B1 is pushed downwards a metal or aluminium spring bolt B2 will move into a hole B3 on the outer pipe B7 to lock the inner pipe B6 with the tongue B9 in place. The cleaning element B10 consists of textile or textile like material. A screw-thread B12 may be present for a convention cleaning device such a s a mop to be attached. The narrow cleaning element B10 can be used to clean between furniture and behind radiators for example.

Description

Cleaning Device for Cleaning narrow and small nlaces and corners

1. Description

A. Field Of The Invention

B. Background Of The Invention

C. Summary

D. Brief Description Of the drawings

E. Detailed Description Of The Invention

2. Abstract 3. Claims

1 Description

A Field of The Invention

The present invention does not relate to any cleaning element device, however, it can be compared with a mop but instead of cleaning large surfaces it cleans small narrow places that the normal mop cannot reach, for example in-between the pipes that supply gas to radiators and the walls, in-between two legs of kitchen units, under a standing cooking hob, between the stand of sinks and walls. Parts of the cleaning element device that are essential according to the invention are on the hard plastic (hereinafter called "tongue") that holds the textile or textile like material that is fixed on it, the button that pushes down the inner metal pipe (which has hard plastic at both ends) and the spring bolt that secures the inner pipe in place. A special designed mop head can be screwed on the cleaning device outer pipe handle to clean large surface areas, and can be unscrewed to either change it or wash it.

B Background of The Invention

There is no known cleaning element device of this type known to my knowledge; however what is similar is the normal mop which only cleans wide surfaces without reaching the small narrow places mentioned on the field of the invention and the creativeness this invention displays both inside and outside the metal pipe handle of the cleaning element device. Such cleaning device comprises of a long inner metal pipe with hard plastic at both ends, the :1-push button, the metal or aluminium spring bolt and a textile material towards the end of the tongue which is used to clean narrow and small surfaces. This invention came to me when I was cleaning my kitchen and found that a normal mop is not able to clean or reach in-between two legs of my kitchen unit, in-between copper tube that supplies gas to radiators in my house and the walls and behind sink stand in my bathroom.

C Summary

The present invention provides a cleaning element device which has a plurality of cleaning narrow and small places and corners which normal mops cannot reach. In this way the cleaning element device can readily reach all the small and narrow places to meet a variety of cleaning needs.

The present invention provides a cleaning element device having a metal pipe handle with a push button on one side and a hole further below on the other side of the outer metal pipe which allows spring bolt to come out through the hole to the outer metal pipe so that the inner metal pipe with hard plastic at both ends and with the cleaning textile on the tongue is secured and does not push back inside the outer metal pipe handle when in use. The tongue of the inner pipe moves back inside the outer metal pipe handle when the metal or aluminium spring bolt is pushed in and drawn back upwards with the push button.

The present invention further provides a cleaning element device comprising of an outer metal pipe handle and an inner metal pipe with hard plastic at both ends, the tongue that has Velcro fastener glued or sewed permanently towards the end area. The Velcro fastener on the end area of the tongue allows the textile cleaning element or textile like material to be attached on it and be secured correctly for cleaning narrow and small places as mentioned in

the field of invention.

The present cleaning element device has an outer metal pipe handle and one main part inside the metal pipe handle. The metal pipe inside the outer metal pipe handle consists of hard plastic at both ends, it moves downwards when pushed from the button which is connected to it and stops moving when the spring bolt comes out from the hole on the outer handle; the inner metal pipe pushes the cleaning part out from the outer metal pipe handle. The cleaning part (lower end bit of the tongue) with Velcro fastener on the end area of the tongue which holds the textile or textile like material for the cleaning of narrow, corner and small places.

The inner metal pipe is made of one long metal pipe with hard plastic at both ends. The top hard plastic holds both the push button and the aluminium or metal spring bolt firmly and at the hard plastic at the end has the Velcro fastener sewed or glued on it to hold the textile or textile like material. It is possible to develop the said invention without the hard plastic at the top end of the inner metal pipe; hence, both the push button and the aluminium or metal spring bolt will be fastened or attached directly on the inner metal pipe.

D Brief Description of The Drawings

All of the objectives of the invention are described in more detail hereinafter with the aid of diagrams depicting some embodiments. Modifications, improvements and developments of the invention that are also of general interest are described in conjunction with the description of the embodiment.

In the drawings: FIG B shows the perspective view of the cleaning element device when the tongue is inside the outer metal pipe handle, Bi is the push button to move the inner metal pipe up and down, B2 is the metal or aluminium bolt with spring inside it, B3 is the hole on the outer metal pipe handle to allow B2 to anchor and hold the inner metal pipe, B4 is made with hard plastic to hold Bi and B2, B5 is the cylindrical opening on the outer metal pipe handle of the cleaning device which allows Bi to be pushed up and down, B6 is the inner metal pipe, B7 is the outer metal pipe coated with plastic to protect the pipe from rusting, B8 is the area of the inner pipe made of hard plastic where the tongue is attached to, B9 shows part of the area where Velcro fastener is either sewed or glued on the tongue permanently, B10 is the textile or textile like material used for cleaning narrow and small places which is attached to the tongue, B11 shows the area on the outer metal pipe handle made from either plastic material or metal which is threaded to allow a normal special designed mop head to be screwed on the cleaning element device, B12 shows the area made from plastic rubber material which is flexible to allow it to move back and forth and so allows the tongue with textile material fastened on it to come out and be moved back inside the outer metal pipe handle and drain water on the textile material and B13 shows the hole towards the head of the cleaning element device to allow the device to be hanged.

FIG A shows a perspective view when the inner pipe with the tongue as been pushed downwards with the push button Al on the upper part of the device and the metal or aluminium spring bolt A2 comes out through the hole A3 on the outer metal pipe handle of the device.

Fig C depicts the outer metal pipe handle of the device without the inner part, FIG C shows A3, A5, A7, All, A12 and A13.

FIG D depicts the inner part of the cleaning device element without the outer part, FIG D shows Bl, B2, B4, B6, B8, B9 and BlO.

FIG 1 shows a perspective view of a head with a hole at la depicting a round or square hole, FIG 2 shows a perspective view of the upper part of the cleaning device and shows the outer metal pipe handle consisting of, 2a push button, 2b metal or aluminium spring bolt, 2c hard plastic area where 2a and 2b is attached to, 2d a hole on the outer metal pipe handle, 2e a long cylindrical opening on the outer metal pipe handle, and 2f metal pipe inside the outer metal pipe handle, FIG 3 shows the perspective view of the tongue, 3a is the area on the tongue where Velcro fastener is either sewed or glued on the hard plastic permanently and where the textile or textile like material (FIG 6) will be attached to, FIG 4 shows the perspective view of the lower part of the cleaning device made of hard plastic, which is pushed outside the outer metal pipe handle and consists of the tongue with textile or textile like material, 4a is the area on the tongue with Velcro fastener on it, 4b is the textile or textile like material and 4c is the tongue made of hard plastic, FIG 5 shows the perspective view of lower part of the outer metal pipe handle, 5a is the outer metal pipe handle, 5b is the bottom area of the outer metal pipe handle which can be either made with threaded plastic rubber or plastic like material or metal and Sc is plastic rubber or rubber like material which moves in both directions, in and out to drain water from the textile material on the tongue when the inner pipe is pushed out of or into the outer metal pipe handle FIG 6, FIG 6 shows the perspective view of the textile or textile like material which is used to clean narrow and small places and is to be attached to 4a. Ga and 6b are the areas on the textile or textile like material where Velcro fastener is sewed on and area 6c is the synthetic fibre for cleaning narrow and small places.

E Detailed Description of The Invention

The invention is a cleaning element device, colloquially for cleaning narrow and small floor places and corners for example, in-between two kitchen unit legs, under a standing cooker hob, in-between sink stands and walls, in-between copper pipes that supply's gas to radiators and walls, corners of walls, edges of stair cases etc. The cleaning element device may be used for other purposes which need to be cleaned that are not mentioned in this patent.

FIG 1 simply shows the head of the outer metal pipe handle which is made of plastic but can be made with other materials, la shows a hole on the head which serves as hook to hang the cleaning element device handle, lb shows the head of the cleaning element device, the top can be round, flat or any other shape.

FIG 2 illustrates both the inner and outer upper part of the cleaning element device; FIG 2 consists of a hard plastic material, a push button, a metal or aluminium bolt with spring inside it, a rectangular or cylinder like opening, a hole on the outer metal pipe. As FIG 2 depicted, 2a shows the button on the outer metal pipe which is linked/attached to the inner hard plastic material which can be pushed downwards or upwards; 2b is a metal or aluminium spring bolt which comes out to the visible eye through a hole 2d on the outer handle of a cleaning element device when 2a is pushed downwards. 2b anchors on the hole 2d when 2a is pushed down to full length; 2e shows the open area on the outer metal pipe handle of the cleaning element device which allows the push button 2a to move downwards and to retreat back upwards; 2c shows the area on the hard plastic or plastic like material where 2a and 2b are attached firmly; and 2f shows the inner metal pipe which moves downwards when pushed from button 2a and stays down when metal or aluminium spring bolt anchors on the hole on the outer metal pipe handle 2d.

FIG 3 shows the hard plastic or plastic like-material called the tongue depicted on FIG 4 without the textile or textile-like material attached on the tongue, 3a illustrates the area on the tongue covered with one-sided Velcro fastener to allow FIG 6 to be secured and attached on the tongue firmly.

FIG 4 shows a combination of FIGS 3 and 6, 4a is the area which shows part of area 3a on FIG 3 with one-sided Velcro fastener glued or sewed onto it to allow area 6a to be attached around the tongue firmly; 4d is the head of the tongue made from hard plastic where it is connected to the inner metal pipe B6.

FIG S illustrates the lower part of the cleaning element device; Sa is the outer metal pipe handle which runs from top to bottom, Sc is made with plastic rubber or rubber like material that is flexible and moves in both directions in or out to allow FIG 4 to come out or be moved back inside the outer metal pipe handle. The plastic rubber or rubber like material on Sc drains water after use of the textile material of FIG 6 (6c attached to lower end of FIG 4); area Sb is made from plastic or plastic-like material, Sb is screw threaded to allow special designed or any other conventional mop head to be attached onto the area to clean larger surfaces or areas.

FIG 6 shows the textile or textile like-material which will be attached to FIG 3, 6a depicts the area covered with Velcro fastener to allow attachment around the tongue on area 3a; 6b shows area on FIG 6 with Velcro fastener to attach to one part of 6a of the textile or textile-like material; and 6c illustrates the area on FIG 6 with textile or textile-like material made of synthetic fibre material or natural mixed material.

Up to now nothing has been said on how the cleaning element device will be used to clean larger floor surfaces. Sb is made with plastic or plastic-like material which is screw threaded, the screw threaded area allows a special designed mop head to be screwed on cleaning element device handle to clean larger surface areas.

In practice, FIG 2, 2a is attached to hard plastic area 2c, 2b is also attached to hard plastic area 2c, and 2c is of strong material to allow 2a and 2b to hold firmly into 2c, also 2a and 2b can be attached directly to the inner metal pipe, when 2a is pushed downwards it moves hard plastic material 2c and metal pipe 2f downwards; when 2a is pushed to the full length 2b will come out through a hole 2d to anchor 2f and stop it from moving backwards when in use. 2a and 2b are opposite to each other. The metal or aluminium spring bolt 2b compresses down when inside the outer metal pipe handle and comes out when anchored at the hole 2d. In principle, the invention can have 2, 3 or more holes on the outer metal pipe to allow different length settings of FIG 4.

FIGS 3 and 6 in conjunction depicted in FIG 4 when 2f is pushed downwards via 2a, when FIG 4 is coming out from the outer metal pipe it pushes rubber or rubber like material Sc outwards, it is only 4a, 4b and 4c that will project out of outer metal pipe handle; 4d will secure around inside Sa/Sb to allow inner metal pipe to secure firmly. FIG 4 can also be designed in other ways not mentioned in this application. Sb is made with plastic rubber or plastic rubber like material with screw thread on the outer part which allows a mop head to be screwed onto it to clean larger surfaces.

In principle there are no restrictions with respect to the material of the cleaning element handle Sa; textile material like 6a, 6b, 6c; plastic material 2a, 2c, and 2f. The outer pipe handle may for example consist of metal and be coated with plastic rubber to stop rusting, or the outer pipe handle can be made with hard plastic pipe material. For production reasons however it is recommended that the element handle is made with metal and coated with plastic rubber material. FIG 6 can be made with different textile or textile like materials, for example, it is recommended to use high quality textile material for 6a, 6b, 6c and 3a, in all respect there are considerable advantages in using high quality textile or textile like materials to make 6a, 6b, 6c and 3a. The same is true as regards with materials used to make 2a, 2b, 2c and FIG 3.

Normally, the textile or textile material like of both FIG 6 and 3a is a synthetic fibre material or synthetic fibre/natural fibre mixture.

Particularly when attaching 6a onto 3a, which has Velcro fastener glued or sewed on it on FIG 3. This is also the method of application shown in the illustrated FIG 3, 3a.

There are also many other different possible ways to secure 3a on the tongue.

For example, it would be possible to secure 3a on the tongue through stitching since the tongue has a flat surface on one side or more than one side. Stitching of the textile or textile like material on the hard plastic can be performed without any problem because the end of the tongue FIG 3 can be in any shape e.g. square, two flat face or even round.

FIG B shows when the inner part of the device is inside the outer metal pipe handle, and FIG A shows when some part of the inner part of the device (FIG 4) is projected out from the outer metal pipe handle.

FIGS C and D is the separation of outer and inner part of the cleaning element device, FIG C is the outer metal pipe handle, and FIG D is the inner pipe which comprises of a metal pipe with hard plastic material at both ends, plastic material push button, metal or aluminium spring bolt, hard plastic tongue with Velcro fastener glued or sewed to it and textile or textile like material attached to the Velcro fastener on tongue.

In FIG B, Bl is the push button which can be made with different material such as rubber plastic or metal; B2 is the aluminium or metal spring bolt; B3 is the hole on the outer metal pipe handle of the cleaning element device; B4 is made with hard plastic to hold Bl and B2 firmly; B5 is the long opening on the metal handle of cleaning element device which allows Bl to be pushed downwards and upwards; B6 is the inner metal pipe with hard plastic at both ends; B7 is the outer metal handle of the cleaning device; B8 is made with hard plastic or plastic like material, same or different from the material used in B4; B9 is the textile or textile like material made from synthetic fibre or natural mixed material which will be used to clean narrow, small and corner places; BlO is the flat area on the hard plastic with Velcro fastener; B11 is the screw threaded area made with plastic rubber material which allows a special designed mop head to be screwed and unscrewed onto the outer metal pipe handle of the cleaning element device; B12 is the rubber plastic material which goes in and out to drain water on the textile or textile like material B9 and Bl3 is the hook head area which allows the device to be hanged on a hook.

FIG A is the same as FIG B but in FIG A the push button Al has been pushed down, the aluminium or metal spring bolt has come out through the hole on the metal handle cleaning element device A3 to anchor the cleaning element device and the tongue is pushed out from the outer metal pipe handle. The illustrated device FIG A, AS which is the hard plastic area that is designed to fix at the end inside the outer metal pipe handle to hold the tongue which consists of the flat area and textile or textile material like for cleaning. By pushing the push button Bi downwards, it pushes the inner metal pipe B6 downwards and area B9 & B10 are pushed outside the outer metal pipe handle. The area in-between B6 and B7 is tight but not air tight to allow the movement of B6 up and down.

Claims

2 Claims The invention claimed is: 1) The narrow cleaning device comprises: a cleaning element device including an inner metal round pipe inside the outer pipe with hard plastic at both ends. The tongue with Velcro fastener towards the end area projects out of the outer metal pipe when it is pushed from the upper side holder button in a downwards direction. The upper side of the inner metal pipe which has hard plastic at both ends has a metal or aluminium like bolt with spring inside which comes out through the hole on the outer metal pipe and clips to hold the tongue with textile material and allows for the cleaning device to clean narrow and small places. Towards the end area on the tongue Velcro fastener is permanently attached to the area. The metal or aluminium spring bolt inside it will come out through the hole on the outer metal pipe, and will anchor at the hole to hold the projected tongue out; a hard plastic holder called the tongue with Velcro fastener attached to it towards the end area permanently, a cleaning element device of textile material with velcro fastener at both ends of the textile material, one end of the textile material has double-sided Velcro fastener and the other end has one-sided Velcro fastener, the inner part of the textile material is also covered with Velcro fastener. The double-sided end of the textile material will be attached first to the tongue (which has Velcro fastener glued or sewed on it permanently) and then placed around it, the second end of the textile material with single Velcro fastener will be attached on top of the first end of the cleaning element device, the cleaning element device will fix in the correct position; the tongue is secured firmly in the area where it is joined to the inner metal pipe; the tongue will come back inside the outer pipe when the metal or aluminium spring bolt is pushed back in, the inner metal pipe which has hard plastic with a push button and metal or aluminium spring bolt on it and the head of the tongue with Velcro fastener towards the end where the cleaning textile or textile like material is attached on the tongue. The tongue with textile cleaning material will come back inside the outer metal pipe when the metal or aluminium spring bolt is pushed in and the push button is pulled back.
2) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning element device consists of material such as textile or textile like material.
3) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the textile or textile material is a synthetic fibre material or natural mixed material and also consists of Velcro fastener on the inner part and at both ends.
4) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the textile cleaning element device is attached via Velcro fastener to the permanently glued or sewed Velcro fastener at the tongue.
5) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning element device is attached to the tongue is not elastically stretchable in length or any direction.
6) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning element device textile material or textile like material has double-sided Velcro fastener at one end of the cleaning element device and one-sided Velcro fastener at the other end and Velcro fastener that is sewed on the inner part of the textile material.
7) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the textile or textile like material cleaning element device attached towards the end of the tongue comes out from the outer metal pipe when pushed from the top button.
8) The cleaning element device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning element device is in secured position when the metal or aluminium spring bolt comes out through the hole on the outer metal pipe handle, and a second secured position when the spring bolt is pushed back in and the cleaning element, the tongue is drawn back inside the outer pipe via the button towards the top part of the cleaning element device.