Coating implements with material supply – Plural tools with supply to less than all – Including supply container and independent applicator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2002-10-01
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Plural tools with supply to less than all
Including supply container and independent applicator
C401S123000, C401S130000, C401S139000, C401S190000, C401S207000, C401S267000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06457890
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning flat objects, in particular sterile areas in hospitals, laboratories and doctors' practices, whereby the cleaning device has a hollow body provided with at least one flat cleaning surface and at least one outlet and filling opening and filled with a cleaning agent or disinfectant, and on which an absorbent cleaning material is detachably secured.
Cleaning devices of said type representing a combination of a container for a cleaning agent and disinfectant, on the one hand, and an absorbent cleaning material on the other, are known according to the state of the art. Such cleaning devices offer the advantage that they can be handled in a simple manner and that they have a high cleaning effect. For cleaning, the cleaning agent or disinfectant is applied to the flat objects to be cleaned. Adhering dirt or dry residues of dirt can be quickly and simply removed in this way.
A cleaning device for flat objects of said type is known, for example from DE 29 25 658 Al. It has a square hollow body with an outlet and filling opening, which is filled with a cleaning agent, and it is provided with a cleaning material on two sides opposing each other. The cleaning material consists of a block of paper, the sheets of which can be individually separated from the paper block after an object has been cleaned so as to always assure a clean surface of the cleaning material. The cleaning material is absorbent so as to be capable of absorbing as much cleaning water or cleaning agent as possible and to dispense the latter in the cleaning process little by little to the flat objects to be cleaned, and to then absorb after the cleaning as much dirty water as possible from the cleaned flat objects.
The absorptive capacity of the cleaning material is based on the capillary attraction in the tissue pores of the cleaning material. In the course of the cleaning process, the absorbent cleaning material also absorbs germs picked up from the objects to be cleaned together with the dirty water and stores same in the pores of the tissue. The surface of the cleaning material is in fact kept clean by removing the top sheet of the paper block. However, the germs which penetrated the deeper layers of the cleaning material cannot be removed from the tissue pores of the cleaning material. With the known cleaning device, the germs are transferred from one object to be cleaned to the next in spite of the fact that the surface of the cleaning material appears to be clean.
This poses a serious problem in particular in sterile areas in hospitals, laboratories and doctors' offices. Sterility is the prime necessity when objects are cleaned in such areas. Pathogens have to be prevented from spreading from one sickroom to another. Ideally, this could be realized by completely omitting the absorptive capacity of the cleaning material. This, however, would substantially diminish the cleaning effect of the cleaning material. Finally, it is entirely desirable that the cleaning material, when an object has been cleaned, absorbs the dirty water with the germs from the surface of such object and leaves a clean and almost sterile surface.
When sterile areas are cleaned in hospitals, laboratories and doctors' offices, a conflict exists to a certain degree between the objectives to be accomplished, which is to have cleaning materials that have as much absorptive capacity as possible in order to absorb dirty water and germs, on the one hand, and cleaning materials with as little absorptive power as possible in order to prevent germs from getting deposited in the cleaning material, on the other.
Therefore, the problem of the present invention is to further develop a cleaning device of the type specified above for cleaning flat objects in such a way that safe removal of dirt and germs from the flat objects to be cleaned is assured, on the one hand, and that germs are prevented from spreading within sterile areas in hospitals, laboratories and doctors' practices, on the other.
For solving said problem, the invention proposes that the absorbent cleaning material consists of a cleaning pad and can be separated in one piece from the hollow body.
The cleaning pad assures on account of high absorptive capacity that dirty water and germs are safely absorbed and that the flat objects to be cleaned become clean and sterile. After a room or an area in hospitals, laboratories or doctors' offices has been cleaned, the cleaning pad is full with absorbed dirty water and germs. The germs are stored in the finest tissue pores of the cleaning pad. Only a few germs are present on the hollow body of the cleaning device, which consists of nonabsorbent material.
With the cleaning device as defined by the invention, not only the outermost, dirty layer of the cleaning material is renewed, as it is the case according to the state of the art, but all absorbent parts of the cleaning device are separated from the nonabsorbent parts, i.e., the parts loaded with germs are separated from the predominantly germ-free parts. The used cleaning pads are either cleaned, disinfected and reused, or directly disposed of as waste. The hollow body itself can be sterilized in a simple way, if need be, for example by immersing it in a disinfecting solution.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention it is proposed that the cleaning pad has surfaces consisting of stable resistant textile fabric made of natural or synthetic fibers. Such textile cleaning pads made of stable material have a particularly good cleaning effect and can be reused particularly frequently.
Reusability of the textile cleaning pad considerably reduces the amount of waste collected in hospitals, laboratories and doctors' offices. By frequently changing the textile cleaning pad during the cleaning process it is possible to assure extreme freedom from germs without this leading to any increased amount of waste.
According to an advantageous further development of the invention it is proposed that the cleaning pad is arranged only on the cleaning surfaces of the hollow body. Cleaning pads arranged in such a way can be attached to the hollow body and removed again from the latter in a particularly easy manner. The user of the cleaning device can hold the latter in those areas which are not covered by the cleaning pad without getting the hands wet or dirty.
The cleaning device can be used in particularly many different ways if the cleaning pads have different surface materials. Such surface materials are usefully adapted to the area to be cleaned and to the type of dirt to be removed.
It has been found in practical applications that it is particularly advantageous if the hollow body is designed in the form of a square stone, and if a cleaning pad with a surface consisting of a rough scouring cloth is detachably secured on one of two cleaning surfaces opposing each other, and a cleaning pad with a surface consisting of a soft wiping cloth is detachably secured on the other of said two surfaces. Dry edges of dirt can be removed in a particularly simple manner with the rough scouring cloth. The softened dirt particles loosened from the area to be cleaned can then be picked up with the soft wiping cloth.
Therefore, the problem of the present invention is to further develop a cleaning device of the type specified above for cleaning flat objects in such a way that safe removal of the form of a sleeve extending around the entire hollow body. The sleeve is pulled as a whole over the hollow body and mounted and secured against slipping on the latter, for example by means of hook-and-loop closure, such as VELCRO® or adhesive elements. A cleaning pad in the form of a sleeve offers advantages especially if extreme freedom from germs is desired. When a fresh, germ-free sleeve is mounted around the hollow body, the latter is safely free of germs on all sides. Objects to be cleaned can be effectively and without problems cleaned by means of the sleeve also within the area of niches and corners.
The sleeve can be secured on the holl
Griebe Oliver
Kohlruss Gregor
Lersch Ulrich
Wiesner Hubert
Collard & Roe P.C.
Prunner Kathleen J.
Walczak David J.
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