US20180110392A1

US20180110392A1 - Dual Sided Foot Mop

Info

Publication number: US20180110392A1
Application number: US15/333,164
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael Dale Sovine; Suzanne Eckert Sovine
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2016-10-24
Filing date: 2016-10-24
Publication date: 2018-04-26

Abstract

An improvement to existing foot floor mopping and cleaning flat soft-material devices comprising a stabilizing porous inner layer of compressible material that is stitched with a variable surface contour design and secured also by stitching between two micro-absorbent layers of flexible material forming a composite foot floor mopping and cleaning device. The inner material layer stabilizes horizontal dimensions of the invention's mopping surface contact area to optimize rate of fluid absorption from the floor surface. The inner stabilizing layer is also stitched with varying surface contouring designs to the outer micro-absorbent top and bottom layers providing surface contour variability for an improved foot force hydraulic pulsing effect to facilitate cleaning of the floor surface while mopping. An attached scrubbing surface provides for additional focal cleaning and an attached hanging loop simplifies storage and drying.

Description

BACKGROUND

This invention is directed to a foot floor mopping and cleaning soft-material device and more specifically to features thereof that improve efficiency compared to existing foot floor flat soft material devices that mop and clean floors using foot force to function as a floor mopping and cleaning device. Foot floor mopping and cleaning devices have been undoubtedly used throughout history by multiple civilizations to remove and clean fluids off a floor surface without engaging the use of the upper extremities or bending at the knees or by using an attached pole or handle. There are multiple types of foot mopping and cleaning devices currently on the market, some of which attach to the foot using multiple means that may have additional attachments, such as hard scrubbing surfaces, that facilitate cleaning and mopping of a surface. However, current foot mopping and cleaning soft-material devices, as described in the prior art, do not optimize contacting the mop's lower material absorbent layer to the floor surface. Also, they do not optimize the use of foot force to help clean the surface area with variable pulsed hydraulic action. There is no device in prior art known to the inventors of the inventive device, also referred hereinto as Dual Sided Foot Mop, that identifies use of a composite foot mopping and cleaning device comprised of three layers of materials attached by stitching having two flexible micro-absorbent outer material layers encapsulating a third central layer of porous, compressible but relatively structurally stable material in the horizontal orientation. The three material layers of the invention are stitched together to stabilize the horizontal shape of the inventive device and to give variable three-dimensional geometric surface contour to the outer micro-absorbent top and bottom material layers; whereby while functioning to clean fluid from a surface the mopping and cleaning device maintains its general horizontal flat shape to optimize absorption and by simultaneously integrating a variable pulsing effect of fluid impulses being ejected from the compressed porous material using downward foot force that varies with the variable contours of both the top and bottom material layers to improve the general cleaning effect of the surface by pulsing and expanding the bottom micro-absorbent surface layer and with hydraulic pulsed wave effect also impacting the floor surface for improved cleaning. The contoured surface also, by virtue of its irregularly contoured and increased surface area with increased coefficient of friction, facilitates maintaining foot contact with the invention's top layer's surface without the need of attachment components, though multiple means of securely attaching the foot to the invention could be added to the invention's structural design for additional foot positional attachment, which could include straps, ties or belts and other methods used and understood by the existing art.

IN SUMMARY OF INVENTION

An improvement to existing foot floor mopping and cleaning flat soft material devices is provided. Existing foot floor mopping and cleaning flat material devices when used are flexible and deformable, decreasing contact area and absorbance between mopping cycles thereby decreasing efficiency of the device to mop and clean the floor. The inventive improvement of the Dual Sided Foot Mop that transforms current foot floor mopping and cleaning flat material device designs comprises:
a) A central porous compressible material layer positioned between and secured by stitching to two micro-absorbent flexible material layers, one on top and one on the bottom, that provides general shape stability to the improved device in order to optimize surface contact of the invention's absorbent material to the floor surface to remove fluid from that surface.
b) A central porous compressible layer of material between two micro-absorbent flexible layers that are secured and stitched together around the border periphery with a variable design of stitching that is centrally placed on the otherwise flat surface, such as in a serpiginous, horseshoe or wave shape, that as a result alters the surface contour with varying thickness of the surface of the outer micro-absorbent material layers. Variable surface geometrical contouring allows repetitive and variable downward foot force transduction, transferring pressure through the top layer surface to the bottom material layer resulting in a hydraulic pulsing effect using the fluid contained within the variably contoured and porous surface of the middle layer to impact the bottom layer of micro-absorbent material, both by expanding the micro-absorbent material surface area with pulsing action and with some fluid passing through the bottom micro-absorbent material as a pulsed fluid energy wave onto the floor surface being mopped that facilitates more efficient hydraulic cleaning action of the floor surface and helps optimize absorbing capacity of material, as compared to simply scrubbing and mopping the floor surface.
Benefit of the Dual Sided Foot Mop with its mopping and cleaning action of a floor surface is that it functions more efficiently, taking less time and with greater effectiveness in mopping and cleaning using a more stabilized absorbing surface integrated with foot power in a more dynamic way than described by prior art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 (Top side View) displays the Top side perspective view of the invention for contact with the foot, thereof the Dual Sided Foot Mop marked with

numbers

1,2,3,4 as follows:

- 1) A border is sewn around all four outer edges, binding the three piece of material together.
- 2) A 5″ piece of nylon cord is sewn and looped in between an outer microfiber and stabilizer giving a finished hanging loop of that is usually between 1″ to 2″ with the a preferred size 1.5″ hanging nylon loop for the purpose of hanging, drying and storing the mop.
- 3) The free flowing wave pattern stitching is applied to generate a variable contoured surface with variable thicknesses of both the top material layer and bottom material layer, which may repeat itself within the dimensions of the borders of the Dual Sided Foot Mop, serving to increase surface area available for absorbing contact and to facilitate foot force hydraulic pulsing effect. It also serves as additional heavy duty binding for the Dual Sided Foot Mop ensuring that everything stays intact and in its entire form, in the embodiment of the preferred 14.75″ length per side while it is being used to mop and clean a surface. It also serves as a guide for foot placement as this wave pattern makes 3 oblong outlines and other designs on the Dual Sided Foot Mop.
- 4) The scrubber located only on the Top side of the Dual Sided Foot Mop. The size of the scrubber can be variable, with a range of 1.5″ to 5″ per side, with the preferred size of 3.25″ per side. The scrubber is sewn and mended onto the Top side only, into the corner of the Dual Sided Foot Mop diagonally across from the nylon hanger.

FIG. 2 (Bottom side View) bottom side perspective view of the invention thereof the Dual Sided Foot Mop is marked with numbers (1,2,3) as follows:

- 1) Two pieces of soft microfiber, micro-absorbent material are used to form the top side and another to form the bottom side of the Dual Sided Foot Mop with a porous stabilizing material sandwiched between the top and bottom layers.
- 2) A 5″ piece of nylon cord is sewn and looped in between an outer microfiber and stabilizer giving a finished hanging loop of that is usually between 1″ to 2″ with the a preferred size 1.5″ hanging nylon loop for the purpose of hanging, drying and storing the mop.
- 3) The free flowing wave pattern stitching is applied to generate a variable contoured surface with variable thicknesses of both the top material layer and bottom material layer, which may repeat itself within the dimensions of the borders of the Dual Sided Foot Mop, serving to increase surface area available for absorbing contact and to facilitate foot force hydraulic pulsing effect. It also serves as additional heavy duty binding for the Dual Sided Foot Mop ensuring that everything stays intact and in its entire form, in the embodiment of the preferred 14.75″ length per side while it is being used to mop and clean a surface. It also serves as a guide for foot placement as this wave pattern makes 3 oblong outlines and other designs on the Dual Sided Foot Mop.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The Dual Sided Foot Mop will save time and money because of its efficiency compared to the prior art, due to its stabilized surface contact area and absorbing ability and its contoured surface that facilitates a pulsing hydraulic cleaning action with foot force. The Dual Sided Foot Mop is laid on a contact surface to be cleaned. The variable contours of the top and bottom layers are in variable contact with the surface to be mopped and cleaned. Neither the top nor the bottom sides are perfectly flat though there is a stabilizing material component that is positioned between the top and bottom absorbent materials with a preferable wave stitching that mends and binds all the materials together and also provides variable contours. The top and bottom surfaces have variable surface geometry between the sewn borders that present variable thicknesses of material in different places. The material surfaces also have increased the total contact surface area by varying the contour, for improved cleaning of the surface using dynamic pulsed foot-generated hydraulic action. The top and bottom layers are reversible for positioning under the foot. The Top side faces the bottom and the top side is where you place your foot. It improves upon the function of prior art of the existing foot mops which tend to fold up and/or not utilize a large surface area efficiently due to the fact that they don't have the stability of optimizing their surface contact. The Dual Sided Foot Mop size is usually sized within a range for normal foot use, with size dimensions usually within 6″ to 24″ per side, with each Dual Sided Foot Mop having a top side, a bottom side and at least being rounded in shape or having at least a three-sided shape or more. A preferred size is 14.75″ length per side in the shape of a square.
All four sides of the preferred size are sewn together (with a preferable wave pattern stitching) with one piece of stabilizing porous compressible material having the preferred size of 14.25″ length per side that is placed between the two microfibers material layers, one layer on top and the other layer on the bottom. Variable terrain allows different pulsing on the dual sided foot mop with pressure on the foot because of the wave stitching that binds all materials and the stabilizing material gives it variable terrain with the wave pattern throughout the mop. It allows multiple variations to works more efficiently than other foot mops because of pressure thresholds and large surface area that stays in its shape and form while in use on the floor. It functions better than the existing foot mops currently available because of the stabilizer that allows for the entire surface area of the dual sided foot mop to maximize the surface area and has variable geography that when pressure is added with a foot. It will allow for pulsating action with variable terrain because of the when you put your weight it introduces variable geometry and lets you manually pulsate variable surfaces and is further facilitated by scrubber. Once it is used it can be washed and hung up to dry or put away, because of the nylon loop hanger that is attached.
Although a detailed description of Dual Sided Foot Mop according to one embodiment of the present invention has been provided, it should be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited thereby. The scope of the invention is to be determined by the claims which follows and any modifications or alternatives apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

Claims

1. Unique Performance: The Dual Sided Foot Mop is highly absorbent and effective because of the heavy duty, thick, and pliable and washable stabilizing material that sandwiched in between 2 the two highly absorbent washable microfiber cloths and installed during the manufacturing process. After it is installed in between the microfibers the Dual Sided Foot Mop is finished off with a special wave pattern. This wave pattern stitching holds and binds the thick stabilizer firmly in-between the 2 microfiber cloths. The stabilizing material allows the Dual Sided Foot Mop to keeps its entire square shape form and surface area of 14.75″×14.75″ and form while in use. This gives the unit a surface cleaning area on the Dual sided Foot Mop a surface area of 14.75″×14.75″ on each side. When pressure is applied to the Dual sided Foot Mop with one's foot maneuvering it around the hard surface floor area, after a spritz, spray or squirt of a liquid cleaner or water, the Dual Sided Foot mop has a manual pulsating effect, due to the fact that all three pieces of material are absorbent and expand and contract with strong regular movement. As the Dual Sided Foot Mop is being maneuvered with one's foot it increases the absorption rate, which makes cleaning more efficient, making this unit unique. The manual pulsating and cleaning effect occurs without the use of any apparatus, snaps, straps, belts, ties, handles, attachments, batteries or electricity. When one side of the Dual Sided Foot Mop is soiled it can then be turned over and the other side of the mop can be used to clean.

2. Unique built in scrubber and hanger: We added a unique and gentle yet very effective square scrubber to one side of the Dual Sided Foot Mop, to get those really tuff caked on dirty and/or sticky areas cleaned as well. We found the scrubbing material to be durable, gentle and effective. One simply places the unit on the floor with scrubber side facing down, and applies pressure with the tip of the foot on top of the unit and maneuvering the unit, with scrubber side down back and forth, it gets those areas clean. Diagonally opposite the scrubber we added a nylon loop hanger so the unit can be hung up and stored after washing.

3. Unique Durability: The Dual Sided Foot Mop is durable, when in use to clean will not bunch or scrunch up as a towel or a microfiber would by itself, because of the heavy duty, thick, firm, absorbent and pliable and unique stabilizing material that is sandwiched in between 2 microfiber cloths. The stabilizing material allows the unit keeps its entire square shape and surface form area of 14.75″×14.75″ and makes the Dual Sided Foot Mop extremely durable. Our first 25 prototypes were made over 2 years ago and after hundreds of washings they are still in use and have kept their shape, form and performance.