ITMI20091761A1 - DEVICE FOR THE IMPREGNATION OF FRINGES WITH A SOLUTION, PARTICULARLY FOR THE IMPREGNATION OF CLEANING FRINGES TO BE USED IN THE HOSPITAL SECTOR. - Google Patents

Description

DEVICE FOR THE IMPREGNATION OF FRINGES WITH A SOLUTION, ESPECIALLY FOR THE IMPREGNATION OF CLEANING FRINGES FOR USE IN THE HOSPITAL SECTOR.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a device for impregnating mops with a solution, particularly for impregnating cleaning mops to be used in the hospital sector.

As is well known, in the hospital sector, the cleaning and sterilization of environments are of fundamental importance in the prevention of diseases and in limiting the spread of pathogenic germs. In this context, the washing of the floors of the rooms is of great importance.

In the most advanced countries, the cleaning of floors in the hospital sector is performed following very specific techniques whose primary purpose is to avoid, as much as possible, the danger of bacterial contamination.

For this reason, the floors are washed using mops, usually in microfibre, impregnated with a detergent / disinfectant solution, which guarantee a very high level of dirt removal. These fringes are used only once to wash about 20 m <2> of surface and are then collected and subjected to washing in the washing machine at high temperature (95 ° C) before being reused. The high temperature washing guarantees the release of the collected dirt and the sterilization of the fringes.

This technique, which has become a registered system, involves the use of a large amount of mops impregnated with a detergent / disinfectant solution, used only once for a few square meters of surface, which must however undergo, in their life, many washing cycles in high temperature washing machines.

The impregnation of the fringes can be performed with an impregnation technique "on the spot" by placing a plurality of fringes contained in a steel grid in a rectangular-shaped bucket. The fringed grid is dipped in a solution prepared in the bucket, so that the fringes become impregnated with the solution, and then raised and anchored above the bucket in such a way as to allow the fringes to drain.

The "on the spot" impregnation technique has the advantage of being very practical and fast, but it denotes the drawback of requiring the transport of the solution with the trolley for transporting the cleaning tools and leaving the fringes excessively wet at the time of 'use.

To obviate this drawback and ensure high productivity by the operators assigned to washing the floors, the mops can be pre-impregnated, i.e. impregnated before use with a solution of water and detergent / disinfectant substance, in such a way as to calibrate the wetting of the fringe without requiring rinsing or wringing, operations which, in addition to compromising the antibacterial safety, would slow down operations with a consequent decrease in productivity.

The precaution of pre-impregnating the fringes allows to have an adequate quantity of fringes prepared in advance and therefore ready for use, avoiding the transport of water in the trolleys for transporting cleaning tools and with a considerable saving of water and detergent substance. / disinfectant.

Currently, two main techniques are followed to perform the pre-impregnation of the fringes:

manual pre-impregnation;

pre-impregnation in the washing machine. The manual pre-impregnation technique consists in placing a plurality of dry or wet fringes in a rectangular bucket in which a predefined quantity of solution is poured directly onto the fringes. The bucket is closed with a hermetically sealed lid. The bucket is then turned upside down in such a way that the fringes absorb the solution making it ready for use.

This technique, which is widely used, has the drawback of requiring a lid which, with repeated use, loses its hermetic capacity, easily causing loss of solution. Furthermore, the bucket, loaded with numerous fringes and solution, is heavy and therefore impractical to handle.

In recent times, a plastic grid has been introduced on the market, crossed by holes, to be placed on the fringes to be impregnated and on which the solution is poured. The purpose of this grid is to let the "rain" solution fall on the underlying fringes to obtain a uniform impregnation. In fact, uniform impregnation does not take place since the solution passes through the holes in correspondence with the area on which it is poured to a much greater extent than the other areas of the grid, thus achieving an impregnation result that is not fully satisfactory.

The pre-impregnation technique in the washing machine is certainly the most effective system as it eliminates any manual pre-impregnation operation. Quite recently, industrial washing machines have been placed on the market, equipped with a washing, rinsing and impregnation program, which use specific detergent dosing devices that perform each operation during the washing cycle.

With the use of these machines, the fringes come out of the washing machine already adequately impregnated with solution, ready to be transported to the places of use and used.

However, these industrial washing machines are expensive and require adequate environments to be installed and operated by properly trained personnel.

The main aim of the present invention is to solve the above problems, realizing a device for the impregnation of mops with a solution, particularly for the impregnation of cleaning mops to be used in the hospital sector, which allows to perform a pre-impregnation of manual fringes with fully satisfactory results as regards the uniformity in the impregnation of the fringes.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device which is simple and easy to use even by unskilled personnel.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structurally simple device which can be produced at low costs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device which ensures a long life.

This task, as well as other purposes which will appear better later, are achieved by a device for the impregnation of mops with a solution, particularly for the impregnation of cleaning mops to be used in the hospital sector, comprising a grid that can be supported on top to a container intended to accommodate the fringes to be impregnated, said grid defining a compartment suitable for receiving the solution with which the fringes must be impregnated, said compartment being delimited below by a bottom wall crossed by a plurality of holes for the passage of the solution poured into said compartment, characterized by the fact that said holes have different diameters depending on the conformation of the area of said bottom wall in which they are defined and their distance from the area in correspondence with which the solution is intended to be poured on said bottom wall to uniform distribution distribution and of said solution below said bottom wall.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the device according to the invention, illustrated, by way of non-limiting example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device according to the invention;

Figure 3 illustrates the device according to the invention, sectioned along the line III-III indicated in Figure 2, resting on a bucket;

Figure 4 illustrates the device according to the invention, sectioned along the axis IV-IV indicated in Figure 2, resting on a bucket.

With reference to the aforementioned figures, the device according to the invention, globally indicated by the reference number 1, comprises a grid 2 which can be placed above a container 3, for example a bucket, intended to accommodate the fringes 4 to be impregnated. Grid 2 defines a compartment 5 which is suitable for receiving the solution with which the fringes 4 must be impregnated.

The compartment 5 is delimited at the bottom by a back wall 6 which is crossed by a plurality of holes 7 for the passage of the solution poured into the compartment 5.

According to the invention, the holes 7 have different diameters depending on the conformation of the area of the bottom wall 6 in which they are defined and their distance from the area in correspondence with which the solution is intended to be poured onto the bottom wall 6 in such a way as to uniform the distribution of the dispensing of the solution below the bottom wall 6 and that is on the fringes 4 placed in the container 3 below the grid 2.

Preferably, the holes 7 have an increasing diameter as the slope, relative to a theoretical horizontal plane, of the area of the bottom wall 6 in which they are defined increases.

Preferably, the holes 7 have an increasing diameter as the distance from the area in which the solution is intended to be poured onto the bottom wall 6 increases.

More particularly, the bottom wall 6 preferably has a substantially rectangular shape, concave at the top, with a raised central area 8 which gradually degrades towards the perimeter sides.

The compartment 5 is delimited at the bottom by the back wall 6 and laterally by side walls 9, 10, 11, 12 of the grid 2 which extend above the perimeter sides of the back wall 6.

The area where the solution is intended to be poured onto the back wall 6 is constituted by the central area 8 of the back wall 6.

Conveniently, the central area 8 is delimited by a jet break frame, consisting of fins 13 side by side along a cylindrical surface, which rises from the back wall 6 and which is interrupted by openings 14 to allow the solution to pass. , as it will appear better later.

The jet break frame, consisting of the fins 13, has the effect of limiting and slowing down the spreading of the solution while this is poured onto the grid 2, preventing it from overflowing from the grid 2 and regulating its distribution on the back wall 6.

The holes 7 which cross the bottom wall 6 in correspondence with the central area 8 and near the perimeter sides 9, 10, 11, 12 of the bottom wall 6, where the solution dispensed remains longer or has a lower transit speed , have a smaller diameter than the diameter of the other holes 7 which pass through the bottom wall 6.

The grille 2 has, on the external side of at least two of its opposite side walls, constituted in the embodiment illustrated by the two side walls 10, 12 of lesser extent, supporting flaps 15, 16 which are engageable with the upper edge or mouth of the container 3 intended to accommodate the fringes 4 to be impregnated. The bottom wall 6 has a substantially constant thickness along its development and is convex above and concave below.

Grid 2 is preferably made of molded synthetic material.

The extremely simple use of the device according to the invention is as follows.

The fringes 4 to be impregnated are superimposed in the container 3 on the mouth of which the grid 2 is then placed.

The solution, with which the fringes 4 must be impregnated, is poured onto the back wall 6 in correspondence with the central area 8 from which, through the openings 14, it is distributed over the entire back wall 6. During its diffusion over the whole the bottom wall, the solution passes through the holes 7 falling below the grid 2 and thus impregnating the fringes 4 arranged in the container 3 below.

It should be noted that, according to the invention, the holes 7 have a diameter sized according to the conformation of the area of the bottom wall 6 in which they are defined and according to the distance from the area in which the solution is poured in such a way that where the solution remains for longer there are holes of smaller diameter and where the solution remains for less time there are holes of larger diameter.

This means that the solution falls "like a rain" below the grid 2, distributing itself evenly over the entire area on which grid 2 is superimposed, that is, the area occupied by the fringes 4.

Thanks to this uniform distribution of the dispensed solution, a uniform impregnation of the fringes is obtained 4.

In practice it has been found that the device according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim, since it allows to carry out a pre-impregnation of fringes manually with fully satisfactory results as regards uniformity in the impregnation of the fringes.

A further advantage of the device according to the invention is that it has a low cost and can be used without problems even by unskilled personnel.

The device thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, all the details can be replaced by other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials employed, although the use of synthetic material is preferred, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

Claims (8)

R I V E N D I C A Z I O N I 1. Device for the impregnation of mops with a solution, particularly for the impregnation of cleaning mops to be used in the hospital sector, comprising a grid (2) that can be placed on top of a container (3) intended to accommodate the mops (4) to be impregnated, said grid (2) defining a compartment (5) suitable for receiving the solution with which the fringes (4) must be impregnated, said compartment (5) being delimited below by a bottom wall (6) crossed by a plurality of holes (7) for the passage of the solution poured into said compartment (5), characterized by the fact that said holes (7) have different diameters depending on the conformation of the area of said bottom wall (6) in which they are defined and their distance from the area in correspondence with which the solution is intended to be poured on said bottom wall (6) to uniform the distribution of the dispensing of said solution below said wall background tea (6). 2. Device, according to claim 1, characterized in that said holes (7) have an increasing diameter as the slope, with respect to a theoretical horizontal plane, increases, of the area of said bottom wall (6) in which they are defined. 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said holes (7) have an increasing diameter as the distance from the area in correspondence with which the solution is intended to be poured on said bottom wall (6) increases. 4. Device, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said bottom wall (6) has a substantially rectangular shape, convex at the top, with a central zone (8) raised and degrading towards the perimeter sides of said back wall (6). 5. Device, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the area in correspondence with which the solution is intended to be poured onto said bottom wall (6) is constituted by said central area (8) of said bottom wall (6), said central zone (8) being delimited by a jet-breaking frame rising from said bottom wall (6) and with openings (14) for the passage of the solution. 6. Device according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holes (7) passing through said bottom wall (6) in correspondence with said central area (8) and in proximity to the perimeter sides of said bottom wall ( 6) have a smaller diameter than the diameter of the other holes (7) passing through said bottom wall (6). 7. Device, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said grid (2) has side walls (9, 10, 11, 12) extending above from the perimeter sides of said bottom wall (6). 8. Device, according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said grid (2) has, on the external side of at least two of its opposite side walls (10, 12), supporting flaps (15, 16) which can be engaged with the container (3) intended to house the fringes (4) to be impregnated.