GB2539525A

GB2539525A - Cleaning device made from closed-cell, latex-free elastomer foam

Info

Publication number: GB2539525A
Application number: GB1603791.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sullivan David
Original assignee: Sullivan Dev Ltd
Current assignee: Sullivan Dev Ltd
Priority date: 2015-05-22
Filing date: 2016-03-01
Publication date: 2016-12-21
Also published as: JP2018515318A; BR112017024915A2; CA2986353A1; EP3297509A1; WO2016189290A1; WO2016189290A4; GB201603791D0

Abstract

A cleaning device 10 suitable, in use, for picking up pet hair and particles, the cleaning device 10 comprising a unitary, elastomeric main body 12 that includes a face 14 that has an integrally formed wiper blade 24 and an integrally formed channel 26 adjacent the wiper blade 24. The main body portion 12 is manufactured from a closed-cell elastomer foam. In use, the cleaning device's face 14 can be inverted and moved across a surface to be cleaned. By so doing, the wiper blade 24 lifts hairs and/or other dirt particles off the surface, and the hairs and/or dirt particles are retained and/or accumulated in the channel 26 adjacent the wiper blade 24.

Description

Title: Cleaning device made from closed-cell, latex-free elastomer foam

Description:

This invention relates to a cleaning device made from closed-cell, latex-free elastomer foam, and in particular, but without limitation, to a device suitable for collecting pet hair.

Pets, such as cats and dogs, are prone to shedding their hair throughout the year, which can find its way anywhere and everywhere, including floors, furniture, bedding, clothing etc.. Pet hair can be difficult to clean up, especially from clothing or fabric furnishings, for example in residential and/or commercial areas, or car interiors, because it has a tendency to stick to, and bed into, fabrics. Various devices have been developed to help deal with unwanted pet hair.

Where possible, the use of a vacuum cleaner is considered to be one of the most efficient methods for removing pet hair. However, not only is this relatively time consuming, in some situations, the use of a vacuum cleaner is either not possible (e.g. if the user is not near a power source), or is contraindicated (e.g. vacuuming can sometimes damage clothing). Certain vacuum cleaners have been developed that are cordless and specially adapted for hair removal from clothing, but these can be costly and not very versatile.

Alternative devices, which do not require an electrical power supply, include brushes, rollers, and mitts etc., which are described in more detail below.

Firstly, brushes can be used to remove pet hair from animals before they are shed, i.e. at source. Indeed, regular brushing can reduce the deposition of unwanted hair, but brushes are generally inefficient at cleaning surfaces.

Secondly, rollers, for example lint rollers, can be used, which comprise a tacky or adhesive surface to which pet hair and other debris adheres in use. A drawback of lint rollers is that they often lose stickiness quickly, especially when used on dirty surfaces. Unless the adhesive surface can be replaced (which can be costly), the roller quickly loses efficacy.

Thirdly, mitts, which are adapted to be worn by a user glove-like, are often used to remove pet hair from animals, surfaces and clothing. The user wearing the mitt presses and rubs the mitt against a surface, e.g. clothing. Where the mitt is manufactured from an electrically insulative material, static charge builds-up on the mitt, thus attracting hair and dirt particles to the mitt via electrostatic attraction. Mitts are often made of rubber, and so can be washed and re-used, but suffer from the drawbacks of dexterity (left-or right-handedness) and sizing issues (a "one size fits all" mitt rarely fits every possible user).

It will be appreciated from the foregoing, that although cleaning devices exist that can be used to pick up pet hair and other debris, they can suffer from a lack of versatility, high ongoing cost, and a lack of efficiency. Thus, many pet owners tend to need a number of different devices for different scenarios i.e. a vacuum cleaner for removing hair from household surfaces and a roller for removing hair from clothing. This can lead to potentially unnecessary duplication.

A need therefore exists for a solution and/or alternative to the above problems associated with pet hair pick-up devices.

Various aspects of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

The cleaning device comprises a wiper blade, by which we mean an edge that engages with a surface, and acts upon pet hair and other particles. The wiper blade may therefore comprise a blade, and/or an edge and/or a tread or any other configuration of the like.

In use, the cleaning device's face can be moved across a surface to be cleaned. By so doing, the wiper blade lifts hairs and/or other dirt particles off the surface, and the hairs and/or dirt particles are retained and/or accumulated in the channel adjacent the wiper blade.

In certain and/or preferred embodiments of the invention, there is more than one wiper blade and/or more than one channel.

The cleaning device comprises a unitary main body portion, that is to say, manufactured from a single piece of elastomer. Conveniently, therefore, the main body portion can be manufactured by a moulding process, which may reduce manufacturing cost and/or complexity, and/or improve the durability of the device (e.g. as there are no parts to detach from the main body portion).

The main body portion is manufactured from a closed-cell, latex-free, elastomer foam. Elastomers have several useful properties. First, they are resiliently deformable, which enables the main body portion, and in particular, the wiper blade or blades to conform, in use, to uneven surfaces, which may improve the efficacy of the device. Second, elastomeric materials, especially foamed elastomers, are relatively lightweight, and sometimes have a relatively high-friction surface, thus facilitating manual manipulation of the device. Third, elastomeric materials are generally good electrical insulators, which may facilitate the build-up of static charge on the face, blade or channel, which may facilitate picking-up and/or retaining hairs and/or dirt particles.

The use of a closed-cell elastomer foam/resin may be advantageous for several reasons. First, the closed-cell nature prevents or inhibits the device from absorbing water and/or moisture, which may facilitate cleaning the device (e.g. enabling it to be rinsed-off under running water) and/or improve its longevity (i.e. its surface may dry more quickly where water is not retained in the bulk of the material). Second, by using a closed-cell foam material, if/when the surface wears away, the fresh surface exposed underneath has the same closed-cell structure as the original surface, thus enabling the device to be used even after it has been damaged, worn-down, abraded, etc..

An advantage of using a closed-cell, latex-free elastomer foam is that it is hypoallergenic, and moreover is latex-free, enabling it to be used by latex-allergic users.

Suitably main body portion has anti-bacterial qualities. The body portion is manufactured from a closed-cell material, which may prevent bacterial growth. It is considered that bacteria generally culture poorly on non-porous surfaces, and usually will not survive longer than a few hours. Suitably, the body portion is provided with an anti-bacterial additive, which may further improve the anti-bacterial properties of the device.

The channel is formed adjacent the wiper blade, and such a configuration may suitably facilitate retaining collected hair and/or dirt particles. In other words, hair and/or dirt lifted by the wiper blade can be immediately transferred into the channel, where it is retained, at least temporarily.

The wiper blade may comprise any one or more of the group comprising: a square edge; a tapered edge; a chamfered edge; and a rounded edge.

In certain and/or preferred embodiments of the invention, the channel typically may have a depth of between -2 and -20mm, which has been found to be sufficient to accommodate hair and/or dirt particles collected during a typical cleaning operation.

The peripheries of the channel or channels may be sloped, which may facilitate guiding collected debris into the channel when the device is slid across a surface. The edges may be sloped at angles ranging from -30° to -50°, or any angle of the like, in which the slopes provide a shallow area around the channel. The sloped, shallow area, in use, may collect debris from wiper blade and facilitate the transfer of the debris from the shallow area to an area of relatively increased depth, e.g. near or at the midpoint of the channel. Suitably, the or each channel may be oriented in a variety of ways, and in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wiper blade and channel extend both laterally and longitudinally such that the device can be used in any direction.

Advantageously, the main body portion may comprise a relatively narrow portion, such that the narrow portion can be fitted into "nooks and crannies" to remove debris from these usually hardto-reach areas. This may offer an advantage over, for example, lint rollers, which are often unable to fit into small corners.

Preferably, the main body portion of the device comprises an ergonomic shape and/or dimensions, to facilitate a user grasping and using the device in one hand. The device may be approximately 5cm in width and 17cm in length, but it is appreciated that different dimensions may be used, and that different embodiments of the invention may be of completely different sizes, for example, smaller (e.g. pocket-sized) embodiments of the device may be 3cm in width and 6cm in length.

S

Advantageously, the device is reusable, by which it is intended that the device can be hand-wiped clean with a cloth to remove collected hair and/or dirt, or simply rinsed under running water. This is a much easier operation than separating hair/dirt from the bristles of a brush. The perpetual reusability of the device is considered to be advantageous both in terms of waste/material usage, and economic terms.

Embodiments of the invention shall now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from above and one side of an embodiment of a cleaning device in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view from below and a second side of the cleaning device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view from below and a first side of a second embodiment of the cleaning device; Figure 4 is a perspective view from above and a first side of a third embodiment of a cleaning device in accordance with the invention; and Figure 5 is a perspective view from below and a second side of the cleaning device of Figure 4.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a cleaning device 10 in accordance with the invention comprises a main body portion 12 manufactured from injection moulded, closed-cell, latex-free foam.

The main body portion 10 is approximately 17 cm long, approximately 5cm wide and approximately 3cm thick, enabling it to be grasped comfortably single-handedly, in use.

The main body portion 12 comprises a slightly convex, generally smooth upper face 14 leading to a nose portion 16, which comprises a series of slightly undercut grooves 18 extending in the lateral direction from one side 20 of the device 10 to the other 22. The slightly undercut grooves 18 form a series of wiper blades defined by edges 24 that project slightly beyond corresponding channels 26.

In use, the main body portion can be inverted (compared to how it is shown in Figure 1) and the convex face 14 used to wipe a surface to be cleaned (not shown The collected hair and dirt particles so collected can be readily removed, for example by wiping, or by rinsing the device under running water subsequent to the cleaning operation.

Alternatively, the device 10 can be canted slightly such that the nose portion 16 can be rubbed against a surface to be cleaned, in which case the series of edges 24 will facilitate lifting hair and dirt particles off the surface, where they are collected in the channels 26 immediately adjacent each respective wiper blade edge 24. Again, the collected hair and dirt particles so collected can be readily removed by hand, for example by wiping, or by rinsing the device under running water subsequent to the cleaning operation.

It can also be seen in Figure 1 that the side walls 20, 22 of the device comprise an array of nodules, 28, which facilitate hand-gripping the device, in use, and which can also be used to facilitate lifting hair and dirt particles off a surface to be cleaned if, say, the device 10 is canted on its side and the side walls 20, 22 of the device 10 are rubbed against the surface to be cleaned.

It will be appreciated that the configuration illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawings offers a user various options when it comes to cleaning a surface, for example a gently wipe using the convex face 14, more intense cleaning in nooks and crannies using the nose portion 16 of the device; or intermediate cleaning, using the side walls 20, 22 of the device 10.

The underside of the device 10 of Figure 1 is shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, from which it can be seen that the device 10 has a generally planar lower face 30, which forms the main cleaning face of the device 10. The lower face 30 comprises a pair of elongate channels 32, which define the longitudinal wiper blades 34, and a pair of lateral wiper blades 36.

The channels 32 comprise a relatively deep central portion 38, which slopes 40 at an angle of about 30 degrees at its ends to meet the lateral wiper blades 36. The side walls 42 of the channels 32 are substantially square to the longitudinal wiper blades 34. This configuration provides for two slightly different cleaning modes, namely: a more aggressive cleaning mode where the device 10 is moved side-to-side 46, whereby the square edges of the longitudinal wiper blades 34 scrape hair and dirt particles off a surface to be cleaned; and a less aggressive mode where the device 10 is moved longitudinally 48, in which the sloped surfaces 40 leading to the lateral wiper blades 36 lift hair and dirt particles more gently from the surface to be cleaned. In either case, collected debris accumulates in the channels 32, from where it can be wiped away, or rinsed from, the channels, using, for example, a cloth or running water, respectively.

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of the device 10 in which the underside has a generally planar face 30, similar to that described previously. In the embodiment of Figure 3, however, there is a generally straight, central channel 32 surrounded by a loop-shaped channel 50, thus defining four longitudinal wiper blades 34 and four lateral wiper blades 36. The function and operation of the wiper blades 34, 36 and channels 32, 50 is as described previously.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings, in which the device 10 is shaped in the form of an animal, in this case, a crocodile. The outer profile of the side walls 20, 22 of the device 10 has the shape of a crocodile, having a ridged "back" 60 and "snout" 62.

The ridges 18 so formed create the series of lateral blade 24 and channels 26 described previously, in relation to Figure 1 of the drawings.

Viewed from the underside, as shown in Figure 5 of the drawings, it can be seen that the "feet" 64 of the crocodile form generally smooth, flat surfaces 14 that can be used as described previously for gentle wiping operations. Further, the underside of the "snout" 62 and the underside of the "tail" 66 are provided with laterally-extending grooves forming the wiper blades 24 and channels 26 described previously. It will be appreciated that the profile of the device can be shaped to resemble a range of animals, such as a cat, dog, rodent etc., which may appeal to owners of those animals. The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments, which are merely exemplary of the invention. For example, the shapes, sizes and dimensions, where indicated or inferred, are exemplary only, and other shapes and dimensions may be selected to suit different applications. Also envisaged by, and falling within the scope of the invention, is the combination of features from different embodiments of the invention, for example, the channels illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings on one side of the device, and the channels of, say, Figure 3 on another surface of the device.

Claims

Claims: 1. A cleaning device suitable, in use, for picking up hair and particles, the cleaning device comprising a unitary, elastomeric main body comprising a face comprising an integrally-formed wiper blade and an integrally formed channel adjacent the wiper blade wherein the main body portion is manufactured from a closed-cell elastomer foam.
2. The cleaning device of claim 1, comprising a plurality of integrally-formed wiper blades and a plurality of integrally formed channels.
3. The cleaning device of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the elastomer is electrically insulative.
4. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the elastomer comprises an anti-bacterial () additive.
5. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the or each channel typically has a depth CD of between -2 and "20mm. Cr)

(NJ
6. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein a side wall or an end wall of the channel leads into the wiper blade at an angle of substantially 90 degrees.
7. The cleaning device of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein a side wall or an end wall of the channel leads into the wiper blade at an angle of substantially 30 to 50 degrees.
8. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the wiper blade comprises any one or more of the group comprising: a square edge; a tapered edge; a chamfered edge; and a rounded edge.
9. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the channel comprises an undercut groove.
10. The cleaning device of claim 9, wherein the undercut groove extends in a lateral direction from one side of the device to the other.
11. The cleaning device of claims 9 or claim 10, comprising a plurality of undercut grooves forming a series of wiper blades defined by edges that project slightly beyond their corresponding channels.
12. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein a surface of the main body portion comprises an array of nodules.
13. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the main body portion comprises a plurality of elongate channels, which define a set of longitudinal wiper blades, and a set of lateral wiper blades.
14. The cleaning device of any claims 1 to 12, wherein the main body portion comprises a generally Ostraight, central channel surrounded by a loop-shaped channel, defining four longitudinal wiper CO blades and four lateral wiper blades. C\J
15. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the main body portion further comprises a convex, generally smooth surface.
16. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the main body portion comprises a relatively narrow portion and a relatively wide portion.
17. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the main body portion comprises an ergonomic shape and/or dimensions.
18. The cleaning device of claim 17, wherein the main body portion measures approximately 5cm in width, 17cm in length and 3cm in height.
19. The cleaning device of any preceding claim, wherein the main body portion comprises a side profile shaped to resemble an animal.
20. The cleaning device of claim 19, wherein the animal comprises any one or more of the group comprising: a crocodile; a cat; a dog; and a rodent.
21. A cleaning device substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as illustrated, in the accompanying drawings. (3)CO