US20080155772A1

US20080155772A1 - Cleaning Body And Squeeze Mop Comprising Said Cleaning Body

Info

Publication number: US20080155772A1
Application number: US11/817,485
Authority: US
Inventors: Phu-Dennis Tran
Original assignee: Carl Freudenberg KG
Current assignee: Carl Freudenberg KG
Priority date: 2005-03-03
Filing date: 2005-11-18
Publication date: 2008-07-03
Also published as: WO2006092165A1; DE102005009632A1; GB0718848D0; CA2600126A1; TW200631539A; GB2438568B; CA2600126C; GB2438568A

Abstract

The invention relates to a cleaning body comprising at least two part cleaning bodies (1, 2), each with a cleaning surface (3, 4), whereby the part cleaning bodies (1, 2) are made from differing materials, lie adjacent to each other and are connected to each other. The first part cleaning body (1) has greater flexibility than the second (2) with each in the dry state. A squeeze mop comprises said cleaning bodies and a support body (17), connected to the cleaning body, whereby the support body (17) has two wings (18, 19), connected to each other such as to fold together by means of a hinged joint (20). The joint (20) is exclusively arranged in the region of the surface (13) of the first part cleaning body (1).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention concerns a cleaning body and a butterfly mop that has said cleaning body as a component.

PRIOR ART

Cleaning bodies and butterfly mops with cleaning bodies are generally known.
The cleaning bodies are designed as sponges and consist completely of cellulose or completely of polyurethane, for example. However, with this materially uniform design of the sponge it is disadvantageous that cleaning bodies of cellulose in dry state are difficult to bend or cannot be bent at all without damage and that sponges of polyurethane have only comparably low cleaning performance and therefore cannot absorb dirt particularly well, especially when the cleaning body is used in connection with a butterfly mop.

PRESENTATION OF INVENTION

The invention is based on the task of developing a cleaning body and a butterfly mop with a cleaning body further so that the cleaning body is well matched to the relevant conditions of use and the butterfly mop is easy to handle. In particular, the cleaning body should exhibit good cleaning performance and absorb dirt especially well and have good performance characteristics over a long useful life. The butterfly mop moreover should also be easily operable when the cleaning body is dry or largely dry without the cleaning body becoming damaged or torn.
This task is solved in accordance with the invention by a cleaning body as in claim 1 and a butterfly mop as in claim 13. The dependent claims in each case refer to advantageous embodiments.
To solve the task, a cleaning body is foreseen that consists of at least two partial cleaning bodies each with a cleaning surface, where the partial cleaning bodies consist of different materials and are arranged next to each other and are bonded together, where the first partial cleaning body has greater flexibility than the second, in each case referring to the dry state. Because the sponge-like cleaning body is functionally individualized, the sponge-like partial cleaning bodies are designed so that they are each especially suitable to solve the partial tasks given them. In the region of the first partial cleaning body the cleaning body is especially readily flexible, so that it can be readily used even in connection with a butterfly mop, and the butterfly mop can be operated without problem even when the cleaning body is in dry state without the cleaning body becoming damaged or destroyed.
The material of the second cleaning body can be designed for especially good cleaning performance without having to take into account whether it is flexible in dry state or not.
Excellent functioning of the folding mechanism of a butterfly mop in dry state is also guaranteed through the first partial cleaning body when the cleaning body is dry or only slightly wet.
The first partial cleaning body preferably consists of polyurethane (PU). Here it is advantageous that the first partial cleaning body of polyurethane is always readily flexible/foldable regardless of whether it is dry or wet and therefore even in dry or largely dry state the functioning of a butterfly mop to which the cleaning body is separably attached, preferably nondestructably attached, is not adversely affected. The durability of such a partial cleaning body is good, since polyurethane has comparably high resistance to mechanical stress, even if a high contact pressure is exerted by the user on the first partial cleaning body.
The second partial cleaning body in a first advantageous embodiment preferably consists of cellulose. Here it is advantageous that the second partial cleaning body has good performance characteristics with regard to its cleaning performance, since cellulose does an especially good job of absorbing dirt. Although partial cleaning bodies of cellulose only have very low flexibility in dry state, this is not disadvantageous with the cleaning body in accordance with the invention and its use in a butterfly mop, since the considerably more flexible first partial cleaning body is intended for flexibility.
According to a second advantageous embodiment the second partial cleaning body consists of a polyvinyl alcohol. In contrast to a second partial cleaning body of cellulose the second partial cleaning body consisting of PVA has the advantage that the pore size of the sponge-like second partial cleaning body can be very easily matched to the relevant conditions of the particular type of cleaning. The absorption of water by PVA is, moreover, somewhat higher than the absorption of water by cellulose.
The partial cleaning bodies are in each case monolithic and materially uniform. Such an embodiment is of decisive importance in particular for the first partial cleaning body, since this reliably ensures that each partial region of said first partial cleaning body has the same advantageous flexibility; the disadvantages regarding flexibility that would result, for example, from a material mix in the first partial cleaning body, for example, by it being formed in layers in the direction of the carrier body of the butterfly mop away from the area that is to be cleaned, are avoided in this way.
The partial cleaning bodies can each be made essentially block-shaped and bonded to each other at the faces that are turned toward each other in each case. Through this the cleaning body is overall divided into functional zones, where each functional zone corresponds to a partial cleaning body.
According to an especially advantageous embodiment it can be provided that a third partial cleaning body is arranged on the face side of the first partial cleaning body that is turned away from the second partial cleaning body and said third partial cleaning body is bonded to the first partial cleaning body. Additionally preferably, the second and the third partial cleaning bodies are designed to correspond in shape and/or material. Handling becomes easier because of the symmetry of the cleaning body to the first partial cleaning body. For different cases of use it can be provided that the second and the third cleaning bodies do correspond with regard to their shape, but are different with regard to the material. The second partial cleaning body could, for example, have a more abrasive cleaning effect than the third, where the third partial cleaning body could, for example, have greater flexibility than the second partial cleaning body. In this way the cleaning body is matched to the relevant conditions of the particular use. However, there is also the possibility, for example, of specifying the second and the third partial cleaning bodies to be uniform in material, where the shape is different. For example, the second partial cleaning body could be rounded on the side turned away from the first partial cleaning body, but the third partial cleaning body could be designed to have square edges on the side turned away from the first partial cleaning body.
All of the partial cleaning bodies preferably have a corresponding height between the cleaning surfaces and the surface of the partial cleaning body turned away from the cleaning surface. Through this the cleaning body is easy to make and also easy to install on a butterfly mop.
Both the cleaning surfaces of the partial cleaning bodies and also the surfaces of the partial cleaning bodies are preferably designed to be largely even with each other. Neither the cleaning surfaces of the partial cleaning bodies nor the surfaces of the partial cleaning bodies have abrupt changes of direction.
At least the first partial cleaning body can be designed as an open-pore cleaning sponge and preferably consists of PU, because of the good flexibility of the material. The second and/or the third partial cleaning bodies can also be designed to be open-pore sponges. They preferably consist of cellulose, because of its good cleaning performance.
Only the cleaning surface of the first partial cleaning body can have a microfiber wiper facing on the side turned toward the appropriate surface. The wiper facing is of advantage, since particularly when the first partial cleaning body consists of PU, it has only a comparably lower cleaning performance than when compared to cellulose. In order to combine on the one hand the excellent flexibility of the PU material of the first partial cleaning body with, on the other hand, good cleaning performance, the microfiber wiper facing is advantageous. The microfiber wiper facing has the form of a cloth and has negligibly small thickness compared to the thickness of the first partial cleaning body, so that the flexibility of the first partial cleaning body is not adversely affected by the use of the microfiber wiper facing.
The wiper facing can, for example, also consist of a material other than microfiber. If the use of a material that has greater abrasive effect is necessary, a wiper facing that consists of a portion of microfibers and a portion of viscose can be used.
The first partial cleaning body can have pocket hole recesses on the side turned away from the cleaning surface, which extend in the direction of the cleaning surface in which each have a shape congruent to knobs on the carrier element of a butterfly mop. Here it is advantageous that the cleaning performance of the zone of the first partial cleaning body in which the recesses are situated can be improved. For example, if hard-to-remove dirt is to be removed from floors, the pressure on the butterfly mop is increased, where the comparably thin material of the first cleaning body between the knobs of the carrier element and the surface to be cleaned gives only a little resistance to the pressure by the user. With comparably low force a comparably high force can be applied to the surface to be cleaned in the described region due to the thinness of the material of the first partial cleaning body in the described region; on the other hand, if the first partial cleaning body did not have the recesses in which the knobs are arranged, the specific contact pressure on the surface to be cleaned would be comparably smaller in the region of the knobs. The depth of the recesses preferably corresponds to at least 50% of the thickness of the first cleaning body, more preferably 75-90%.
The invention also concerns a butterfly mop consisting of a cleaning body, as described above, which is bonded to a carrier element, where the carrier element has two wings, which are foldably connected to each other by a hinge-like joint, where the joint is arranged exclusively in the region of the surface of the first partial cleaning body. A butterfly mop with such a cleaning body has the advantage that the folding mechanism of the butterfly mop functions well even when the cleaning body is dry or only slightly wet. This is achieved because the first partial cleaning body of the butterfly mop has flexibility that at least largely is correspondingly good regardless of whether the first partial cleaning body is dry, damp or wet.
The carrier element can preferably have knobs to improve the cleaning performance of the first partial cleaning body only on the side turned toward the surface of the first partial cleaning body. Particularly when the first partial cleaning body consists of PU, which basically would have only comparably lower cleaning performance by comparison with cellulose, is the improved cleaning performance caused by the knobs on the carrier element of emphatic advantage. The cleaning surface of the first partial cleaning body then has a cleaning performance that is at least considerably improved and, for example, corresponds to the cleaning performance of the second and/or third partial cleaning body. The overall cleaning body in this way has correspondingly good cleaning performance and, even in dry state, has good flexibility in the region of the first partial cleaning body.
Particularly in the case of such an embodiment the material PU is especially advantageous for the first partial cleaning body, since PU has considerably higher breaking elongation than cellulose and because of this improved durability even at high mechanical stress is provided by the knobs for the cleaning body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The cleaning body in accordance with the invention and the butterfly mop in accordance with the invention with the cleaning body are shown and described in more detail by means of FIGS. 1-8.

Here:

FIG. 1 shows a view of a first embodiment example of the cleaning body in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the first embodiment example from FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 shows a view of a second embodiment example,

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the second embodiment example from FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 shows a view of a third embodiment example, similar to the embodiment examples from FIGS. 1-4, with a microfiber wiper facing,

FIG. 6 shows a top view of a butterfly mop, which includes one of the cleaning bodies described above,

FIG. 7 shows the butterfly mop from FIG. 6 in a view with locked wings and

FIG. 8 shows the butterfly mop from FIG. 7 in folded state,

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment example of the cleaning body in accordance with the invention, which has recesses for receiving the knobs of the carrier element of a butterfly mop,

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment example, similar to the embodiment example from FIG. 9, where additionally, as in FIG. 5, a microfiber wiper facing is arranged on the side of the first partial cleaning body turned toward the surface that is to be cleaned.

FIGS. 1-10 are schematic representations.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-5 and 9 and 10 show five embodiment examples of a cleaning body in accordance with the invention, where the cleaning bodies shown in FIGS. 1-5 and 9 and 10 form a component of a butterfly mop in accordance with the invention in FIGS. 6-8.
The cleaning bodies in each case consist of three partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8, where the first partial cleaning body in the embodiment examples shown here consists of PU, while the second and third partial cleaning body each consist of cellulose. Other materials for a wet cleaning of surfaces, for example, floors, are likewise possible, where the first partial cleaning body always has the greatest flexibility of all of the partial cleaning bodies that are used and is also readily flexible when the cleaning body is in dry state.
The three partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 each has a cleaning surface 3, 4 and 12, and are arranged next to each other and bonded together. Each partial cleaning body 1, 2 and 8, in and of itself, is in each case monolithic and materially uniform, where the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 as shown here are designed to be essentially block-shaped and are bonded to each other at the side faces 5, 6 and 7 that are turned toward each other.
Each of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 is formed as a foam element, where the partial cleaning bodies have cleaning performance, water release and absorption and/or durability that differ from each other due to their materials, which differ from each other. The advantage of partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 that differ from each other is mainly to be seen in the fact that in this way optimum matching to the relevant conditions of the particular cleaning case is possible in this way.
For example, the first partial cleaning body 1 with the comparably highest flexibility in dry state is arranged at the place in the cleaning body that is exposed to the mechanical bending stresses. Long durability of the cleaning body while the performance characteristics continue to remain good is ensured by this. The second and third partial cleaning bodies 2 and 8 can on the other hand be optimized with regard to their cleaning performance without having to take into account the bending behavior of these partial cleaning bodies 2 and 8.
The cleaning body overall, as can be seen in FIGS. 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 as well as 9 and 10, has matching thicknesses 9, 10 and 11 between the cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12 and the surfaces 13, 14 and 15 of the cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 that are turned away from cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12. In the embodiment examples shown here both the cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12 of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 as well as the surfaces 13, 14 and 15 of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 likewise make a smooth transition from one to the next.
Of course, in a departure therefrom, there is the possibility with all of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 in the embodiment examples shown here to provide the cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12 with a profiling, for example, a roughness increased with a wave-shaped surface profiling; just one, two or even all three of the cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12 can be provided with such surface profiling.
In addition, with all of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 there is the possibility of providing the cleaning surfaces 3, 4 and 12 with a microfiber wiping face 16, where according to an advantageous embodiment only the cleaning surface 3 of the first partial cleaning body 1 has a microfiber wiping face 16, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 10.
A first embodiment example of the cleaning body in accordance with the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. All of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 are essentially block-shaped, where the first partial cleaning body 1, which in this embodiment example consists of PU, has greater flexibility than the two identical second and third partial cleaning bodies 2 and 8, which each consist of cellulose. The cleaning body shown here has a particularly simple structure and can be produced easily and cheaply.
Departing from the embodiment example in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment example, where in the second embodiment example the second partial cleaning body 2 is rounded semicircularly on its face 22 that is turned away from the first partial cleaning body 1. Such a design presents itself, in order to be able to do a better job of cleaning surface areas to be cleaned that are comparably more difficult to reach.
In FIGS. 1 and 3 the relevant embodiment examples are shown in a front view, while in FIGS. 2 and 4 the embodiment examples from FIGS. 1 and 3 are each shown in a top view.
FIG. 5 shows a third embodiment example in a view corresponding to FIGS. 1 and 3. In a departure therefrom only the cleaning surface 3 of the first partial cleaning body 1 has a microfiber wiper facing 16 on the side turned away from surface 13. Here it is advantageous that the cleaning power of the first PU partial cleaning body 1, which is poorer than cellulose, is compensated without the first partial cleaning body 1 losing its significant flexibility.
FIGS. 6-8 show an embodiment example of a butterfly mop that has a cleaning body corresponding to one of the embodiment examples described above. The butterfly mop has a carrier element 17 that is joined to the surfaces 13, 14 and 15 of the partial cleaning bodies 1, 2 and 8 in the usual way. This can occur by the cleaning body and the carrier element 17 being joined to each other by a force-fit or a form-fit connection, where the cleaning body is preferably joined to the carrier element 17 so that it can be separated subsequently without damage.
The carrier element 17 consists of two wings 18 and 19, which are foldably joined to each other by the joint 20, which is designed as a hinge. It is important that joint 20 is situated exclusively in the region of surface 13 of the first partial cleaning body 1, which even in dry state has high flexibility. To compensate the cleaning performance of PU, which is poorer than that of cellulose, the carrier element 17 only has knobs on the side turned toward surface 13 of the first partial cleaning body 1 as surface profiling to improve the cleaning performance of the first partial cleaning body 1.
FIG. 6 shows a top view of the butterfly mop from FIG. 7. The two wings 18 and 19 are foldable downward about axis 23.
In FIG. 7 the ability of wings 18 and 19 to fold downward about joint 20 is shown by arrows 24, where joint 20 is formed, for example, as a film hinge and extends in the direction of the axis 23.
FIG. 8 shows the butterfly mop from FIGS. 6 and 7, where the two wings 18 and 19 are folded downward about joint 20.
FIGS. 9 and 10 show two other embodiment examples of a cleaning body, where the first partial cleaning body 1 has recesses 25, which are designed as pocket holes, on the side turned away from cleaning surface 3. The recesses 25 extend from surface 13 in the direction of the cleaning surface 3, where the recesses 25 each has a shape that is matched to knobs 21 of the carrier element 17, i.e., a congruent shape. Due to the comparably low thickness of the material of the first partial body 1 that remains between its cleaning surface 3 and the end faces of the knobs 21 that are turned toward the cleaning surface 3, pressure for cleaning can be applied particularly efficiently onto the surface being cleaned.
The design of the cleaning body in accordance with the invention can be used not only for carrier elements that are foldable about an axis across the lengthwise axis of the carrier element (shown here), carrier elements that have a joint that runs parallel to the long axis or that corresponds to the long axis can also be provided with the claimed cleaning body; the two or three partial cleaning bodies then extend, for example, parallel to the long axis of the carrier element.

Claims

1. A cleaning body consisting of at least two partial cleaning bodies (1, 2) each with a cleaning surface (3, 4), where the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2) consist of different materials and are arranged lying side by side and are bonded together, where the first partial cleaning body (1) has greater flexibility than the second (2), in each case in dry state.

2. A cleaning body as in one of claim 1 [sic], characterized by the fact that the first partial cleaning body (1) consists of polyurethane (PU).

3. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the second partial cleaning body (2) consists of cellulose.

4. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that the second cleaning body (2) consists of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

5. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-4, characterized by the fact that the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2) are each formed to be monolithic and materially uniform.

6. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-5, characterized by the fact that the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2) are each formed essentially to be block-shaped and are bonded to each other on the faces (5, 6) that are turned toward each other in each case.

7. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-6, characterized by the fact that a third partial cleaning body (8) is arranged on the face (7) of the first partial cleaning body (1) that is turned away from the second partial cleaning body (2) and the third partial cleaning body is bonded to the first partial cleaning body (1).

8. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-7, characterized by the fact that the second (2) and the third (8) cleaning bodies correspond with regard to shape and/or material.

9. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-8, characterized by the fact that all partial cleaning bodies (1, 2, 8) have a matching thickness (9, 10, 11) between their cleaning surfaces (3, 4, 12) and their surfaces (13, 14, 15) of the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2, 8) that are turned away from the cleaning surfaces (3, 4, 12).

10. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-9, characterized by the fact that both the cleaning surfaces (3, 4, 12) of the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2, 8) and also the surfaces (13, 14, 15) of the partial cleaning bodies (1, 2, 8) make a smooth transition from one to the next.

11. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-10, characterized by the fact that at least the first partial cleaning body (1) is designed as an open-pore cleaning sponge.

12. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-11, characterized by the fact that only the cleaning surface (3) of the first partial cleaning body (1) has a microfiber wiper facing (16) on the side turned away from surface (13).

13. A cleaning body as in one of claims 1-12, characterized by the fact that the first partial cleaning body (1) has pocket hole recesses (25) on the side turned away from the cleaning surface (3), which extend in the direction of the cleaning surface (3) and which each have a shape congruent to knobs (21) of the carrier element (17) of a butterfly mop.

14. A cleaning body as in claim 13, characterized by the fact that the depth of the recesses (25) corresponds to at least 50% of the thickness (9) of the first partial cleaning body (1).

15. A cleaning body as in claim 14, characterized by the fact that the depth corresponds to 75-90% of the thickness (9) of the first partial cleaning body (1).

16. A butterfly mop consisting of a cleaning body as in one of claims 1-15, which is joined to a carrier element (17), where the carrier element (17) has two wings (18, 19), which are foldably joined together by a hinge type joint (20), where the joint (20) is arranged exclusively in the region of the surface (13) of the first partial cleaning body (1).

17. A butterfly mop as in claim 16, characterized by the fact that the carrier element (17) has knobs (21) only on the side turned toward the surface (13) of the first partial cleaning body (1), to improve the cleaning performance of the first partial cleaning body (1).