US3609049A

US3609049A - Hand shampoo and supply tray

Info

Publication number: US3609049A
Application number: US873814A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald Nation Smyth
Original assignee: Brush Co Ltd
Current assignee: Brush Co Ltd
Priority date: 1968-11-22
Filing date: 1969-11-04
Publication date: 1971-09-28
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-28
Also published as: FR2023874A1; SE364439B; GB1277125A; DE1958579A1; AU4669068A; JPS518263B1; AU469632B2

Abstract

A hand-operated shampoo device for cleaning fabrics or the like comprising in combination a body arranged to be hand held and having on it rolling members on axles which are at an angle to the direction of travel of the said body as it is swept across the surface, the angular disposition resulting in a shearing action between the rolling members and the surface, there being means to apply fluid to the rolling members comprising a tray having a floor which is channelled or shaped to hold a small volume of a foaming liquid supplied to the floor, rolling members when engaged on the floor and rolled on same causing the liquid to foam and thus charging the rolling members with foam rather than a quantity of liquid.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Donald Nation Srnyth South Plympton, South Australia, Australia [21] Appl. No. 873,814 [22] Filed Nov. 4, 1969 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 [73] Assignee S. A. Brush Company Limited Albert Park, South Australia, Australia [32] Priority Nov. 22, 1968 [33] Australia [31 46690 [54] HAND SHAMPOO AND SUPPLY TRAY 10 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] 11.8. CI 401/118, 401/196, 401/23 51 lnt.Cl A461) 11 00 [50] FieldofSearch ..401/118-121, 16, 21, 22, 26,137-140, 9,13, 34 35, 23, 2, 37-39, 41-43;15/257,106,114, 374

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,396,862 3/1946 Linderoth 15/374 X Primary Examiner-Lawrence Charles Attorney0ldham & Oldham ABSTRACT: A hand-operated shampoo device for cleaning fabrics or the like comprising in combination a body arranged to be hand held and having on it rolling members on axles which are at an angle to the direction of travel of the said body as it is swept across the surface, the angular disposition resulting in a shearing action between the rolling members and the surface, there being means to apply fluid to the rolling members comprising a tray having a floor which is channelled or shaped to hold a small volume of a foaming liquid supplied to the floor, rolling members when engaged on the floor and rolled on same causing the liquid to foam and thus charging the rolling members with foam rather than a quantity of liquid.

PATENTED SEP28 Ian 3509,0453

sum 1 or 3 a 1 11 114 7/6 Z.4n/

HAND SHAMPOO AND SUPPLY TRAY This invention relates to hand shampoo and supply tray.

In the cleaning of furniture having fabric or similar surfaces, or during the cleaning of small areas of carpets of the like, it is advantageous to use a shampoo device by means of which the shampoo can be applied and which device will have the necessary brushing or scrubbing as well as picking up action to ensure that the cleaning is effected with a minimum amount of cleaning fluid present at any stage, because if excess fluid, particularly liquid, is used or is left on the fabric or the like, there is a tendency for discoloration or for colors to be brought up from lower layers of the material with consequent damage to the material.

It is thus very important in the shampooing of fabrics or the like to firstly effectively control the amount of shampoo fluid in contact with the surface and secondly to have the right kind of action which will remove the dirt or foreign matter from the surface yet which will leave the surface in a relatively dry and fluid-free condition.

According to the invention cleaning is effected by rolling members which are so arranged that they have the effect of both brushing the surface and of applying and removing fluids used in the cleaning process, this being achieved by having rotary members which moved with their axes at an angle to the direction of travel of the apparatus and preferably utilized alternate brushes and sponges so that while the brushes operated on the surface to remove adhering dirt, the sponges served partly to supply shampoo medium to the surface but also to absorb excess fluid from the surface together with dirt or the like which has been loosened or lifted by the shampoo fluid.

To supply the correct amount of shampoo foam, which should moisten the surface being cleaned but not wet it, the invention comprises the use of an applicator or member used in association with a supply member by means of which the correct amount of cleaning foam is applied to the applicator.

One of the features which we have discovered to be very important in shampooing surfaces is to have good thick foam on the member which is used to effect the cleaning, rather than to simply wet the member with a shampoo liquid. The use of thick, dry foam gives faster and very much more efficient cleaning action and above all prevents or obviates the actual wetting of the surface such as must take place if the shampoo liquid is applied directly. Liquid penetration can have the effect, as stated earlier herein, of bringing up colors from beneath the surface rather than merely cleaning the surface, which is the desired action.

For this reason one of the objects of the present invention is to ensure that the cleaning will be done by means of a shampoo foam, and to this end a special construction of the tray by means of which the foam is generated and applied is an important feature.

Thus according to one form of the invention a shampoo device is provided which is adapted to be held in the hand and which has on it rotatable members preferably consisting of alternate brushes and sponge means, and with this is associated a shampoo tray which is adapted to contain a quantity of liquid in a reservoir, the depth of the liquid being controlled by supply from the reservoir, the arrangement being such that the operative part of the hand unit can be engaged on the floor of the shampoo tray and by moving the unit back and forth a good thick foam is produced and will be picked up from the tray and the hand unit can then be used to clean a surface, recharging of the unit being periodically effected by again applying it to the tray.

While the actual construction of such a device can be very considerably varied, an embodiment will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it is to be clear that the invention need not necessarily be limited to this form.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention showing the tray and applicator,

FIG. 2 is an exploded fragmentary view of part of the tray showing particularly how the liquid container joins to the tray,

FIG. 3 is a central section through the tray and container, FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the applicator,

FIG. 6 is a central section of the applicator moulding,

FIG. 7 is a view of the cleaning assembly with one set of rollers and brushes removed to show the supporting spindle, and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged exploded view of the brush and sponge assembly.

The shampoo device comprises a body 1 formed of plastic or the like having a flattened Vee" shape and having a handle 2 projecting therefrom, said body having on its underside a se ries of circular brushes 3 and sponges 4 alternately placed on shafts 5 which are disposed at an angle of the direction of travel. The shafts engage a plug 6. The brushes 3 and sponges 4 are of varying diameter from a larger diameter at the center to a smaller diameter at the two outer ends of the Vee" and this assembly is arranged to be clipped into a socket 7 of the body 1 but the whole assembly is so arranged that by grasping the handle 8, the brush and sponge assembly can be brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned and by simply moving the member forward and backward over the surface the necessary applying of the cleaning fluid as well as the cleaning and the withdrawing of surplus fluid will be carried out, this being possible because as the brushes 3 and sponges 4 are moved in a direction which is angular to the axes of the shaft 5 of the assembly, a shearing action results at the interface between the brushes 3 and sponges 4 and the surface being cleaned, which action has been found to give ideal cleaning conditions.

The brushes 3, which have centers 9, are interconnected to rotate together by mounting the sponges 4 on reels 10 which, like the centers 9, are free to turn on the shafts 5, but have cooperating pins 11 engaging sockets 12 in the centers of the brushes so that all brushes 3 are rotationally locked together through the nonrotational engagement with the reels 10 and also are held at correct spacing by the reels 10 to ensure that the sponges 4 can operate freely without undue endwise squeezing. The outer ends of the shafts 5 engage sockets 12a in the body 1.

The shampoo tray, in the form shown, comprises the tray 15 itself in which a required depth of shampoo liquid is held, and a reservoir 16 which is held to the tray by clips 17 to maintain the required level of the liquid in the tray 15, but the floor 18 of the tray 15 is provided with a series of longitudinal channels 19 which lead to the reservoir 16 and which are fed by utilizing a reservoir which is sealed and into which the longitudinal channels 19 open so that the feed to the longitudinal channels 19 takes place only to the required depth as the level of liquid in the channels 19 falls to admit air into the reservoir 16. A sealing gasket 20 is engaged in a groove 21 in the end 22 of the tray to seal the open end 23 of the reservoir 16 open only into the channels 19 (see FIG. 2).

The floor of the tray also has transverse channels 25 which serve mainly to ensure that the rolling shampoo members 4 are driven, but these need be only of a very shallow depth in relation to the longitudinal channels, but the whole assembly is such that by appropriate manipulation at least the longitudinal channels can be filled with the cleaning liquid, though a higher level is preferably used, as can be achieved by having the opening 26 to one of the channels 19 higher than the floor l8, and therefore when an applicator in the form of a hand shampoo or the like is run forward and backward over the channelled floor 18 of this tray, it will agitate the liquid to form a foam, so that foarn rather than liquid will be picked up, and thus the work can be done without an oversupply of liquid on the applicator device.

The floor 18 of the tray 15 is surrounded with a marginal wall 27 and at one end this tray is adapted to have clipped to it the reservoir as said, while at the other end it is provided with a grip 28. A pair of low legs 30 can be used at this end of the tray if the floor of the tray is required to have a slight downward slope towards the reservoir to allow back-draining of the liquid. Obviously with a slight slope the liquid level in the channels 19 and tray can be deeper at the supply end, the

end near the reservoir 16, than at the raised end, thus allowing a very exact selection of the amount of liquid present to produce the foam. The liquid can be drained back by lifting the end of the tray having the grip 28 as then the reservoir is at the lower end.

As the chamber is completely sealed excepting for the

channel openings

19 and 26 it will be realized that although the level of the liquid in the reservoir 16, may be well above the level of the liquid in the tray, nevertheless because of atmospheric pressure the tray will only receive its required amount of feed consistent with the height of the apertures in the end 22 of the tray which forms the closure means for the reservoir when it is positioned on the tray.

The handle 2 of the applicator 1 can rest in a depression 30a in the grip 28 when not in use.

From the forgoing it will be realized that the invention comprises a tray which has a controlled level of liquid therein which can be agitated to form a foam, the applicator comprising a member which is provided with means which can pick up the required amount of foam from the tray from time to time as required, and which has rotational members so formed and of such material that a shearing action on the surface of the fabric or the like being cleaned will result in which cleaning will be enhanced because firstly there will be a brushing action due to the shearing force and secondly there will be the application of cleaning foam to the surface through sponges or other means which form part of the rotating means on the applicator and further, because of the shearing force, will have the effect of loosening dirt or the like, and teasing up the surface to ensure that this is done most effectively, and any excess moisture will be automatically lifted from the surface by the sponges or the like due to the particular action.

The shape of the applicator also ensures that the tray can produce a thick foam.

While one complete embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that modification of this particular embodiment of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A hand-operated shampoo device comprising in combination a body adapted to be hand held, rolling members on axles on said body having their axes at an angle to the direction of travel of the said body to result in a shearing action between the rolling members and a surface, and means to apply fluid to the rolling members comprising a tray, a floor in said tray, and means to supply a foaming liquid to said floor,

whereby the rolling members can engage the floor and roll on same to foam the liquid and to be charged by the said foam.

2. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the rolling members are formed of a sponge material to carry the said foam and act to reabsorb foam and matter carried by it due to the said shearing action.

3. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 2 wherein circular brushes are positioned between the said rolling members.

4. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the said body has a flattened Vee" shape with a handle projecting therefrom, a pair of shafts centrally joined to a plug and positioned to follow the Vee shape of the body, a socket in the body to be engaged by the said plug whereby to support the said shafts, sockets in the body to engage the outer ends of the shafts, circular brushes rotatable on said shafts, and sponges between said brushes also rotatable on said shafts.

5. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 4 wherein the brushes and sponges are rotationally joined together.

6. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the rolling members are formed of sponge plastic and are alternated with circular brushes, coupling means to cause the rolling members and brushes to rotate together, and inclined axles to carry said rolling members and brushes in flattened Vee formation.

7. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the tray has channels in the floor to contain the said forming liquid and includes a reservoir for the liquid which releases only sufficient liquid to just cover at least part of the said floor.

8. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 7 wherein the channels are arranged longitudinally in the floor and have one end opening through an end of the tray to communicate with fluid in a reservoir held to the said end.

9. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the said tray has channels in its floor and has an end through which the said channels in the floor of the tray open, wherein which an open end of an otherwise sealed fluid reservoir is adapted to engage and be sealed to the said end on the tray, whereby fluid from the tray will flow into the said channels only when air is admitted to the reservoir through the channels open through said end.

10. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 9 wherein the tray also has transverse channels intersecting the said longitudinal channels.

Claims

1. A hand-operated shampoo device comprising in combination a body adapted to be hand held, rolling members on axles on said body having their axes at an angle to the direction of travel of the said body to result in a shearing action between the rolling members and a surface, and means to apply fluid to the rolling members comprising a tray, a floor in said tray, and means to supply a foaming liquid to said floor, whereby the rolling members can engage the floor and roll on same to foam the liquid and to be charged by the said foam.

4. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the said body has a flattened ''''Vee'''' shape with a handle projecting therefrom, a pair of shafts centrally joined to a plug and positioned to follow the ''''Vee'''' shape of the body, a socket in the body to be engaged by the said plug whereby to support the said shafts, sockets in the body to engage the outer ends of the shafts, circular brushes rotatable on said shafts, and sponges between said brushes also rotatable on said shafts.

6. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the rolling members are formed of sponge plastic and are alternated with circular brushes, coupling means to cause the rolling members and brushes to rotate together, and inclined axles to carry said rolling members and brushes in flattened ''''Vee'''' formation.

9. A hand-operated shampoo device according to claim 1 wherein the said tray has channels in its floor and has an end through which the said channels in the floor of the tray open, wherein which an open end of an otherwise sealed fluid reservoir is adapted to engage and be sealed to the said end on the tray, whereby fluid from the tray will flow into the said channels only when air is admitted to the reservoir through the channels opening through said end.