Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Combined
Reexamination Certificate
2001-03-26
2002-11-12
Till, Terrence R. (Department: 1744)
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Combined
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477731
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mops. More particularly, the invention relates to a wet mop having a self-contained wringer and unique wringing element which is incorporated on the mop or may be retrofit to a conventional wet mop.
2. Related Art
There exist numerous types of mops in the art, such as twist mops, squeeze mops, wringer mops, etc. Each of these mops will include a handle, mop head material connected to the handle and means for removing water from the mop head material upon demand.
A problem associated with prior mop designs is the way in which to they wring the absorbed liquid from the mop head material connected to the mop handle. In the case of self wringing type mops, there lacks a sufficient means for wringing the mop head material in a manner to permit effective removal of the absorbed liquid while minimizing damage to the mop head material.
Most mechanical wringers fail to adequately provide a way to control the amount of water remains in the mop head. This is because these mechanical wringers are designed to make a single pass across the mop head wringing from the top down and restricting the mop head material into a predetermined amount of space. This is not found to be desirable since it reduces the life of the mop head material and does not provide for any selectivity in the amount of water to be drained from the material. There is a desire to provide a mop wringer which can control the amount of water is squeezed from the mop head and do so in a less deleterious manner.
Another problem with existing mops is that they do not adequately displace the wringer from the mop head to maximize the use of the mop head material. For example, the mop head material of the self wringing mop is connected to a head having a wringer plate hinged thereto. The wringer plate is pivoted in a manner to squeeze the mop head material. This type of wringer is less desirable as it prevents circumferential access to the mop head material.
Other wringing mechanisms, attached and detached from the mop, twist the mop head material in order to remove the liquid therefrom. This is less desirable as it tends to weaken and wear the material.
Other problems associated with conventional mops is that they have a relatively small footprint for mopping, use only a portion of the yarn/mop head material and is easily tangled. These mops and their current wringing mechanisms are relatively expensive to produce.
There remains a need therefore to provide an improved mop, particularly, a mop having a self-contained wringer with improved wringability and positionability of the mop head material. There is also a need to provide a self-contained wringer which retrofitable to a conventional wet mop, such as a deck mop.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to improve mops.
It is another object of the present invention to improve self-contained wringing mops.
It is a further object to improve the wringability of a mop with a self-contained wringer.
It is an object to improve the control amount of water in which mop head material can be removed through a wringer.
It is another object to provide a rubber-glove like wringer to substantially avoid water contact with one's hands.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a mop having a self-contained wringer which includes a handle, a sleeve frictionally movably disposed on the handle such that the sleeve is self supporting along a number of positions of the mop handle, a retainer member connected to an end of the handle and having, a retaining surface, a mop head material having one end connected to the retaining surface of the retainer member, a twistable rubber-like generally fluted housing portion having a first end connected to the sleeve and a second end extending outwardly therefrom creating a mop head receiving surface area between a portion of the handle and an inner surface of the housing. The housing is movable along the handle by way of the sleeve in a manner to removably enclose the mop head material and enable squeezing of the mop head material by virtue of its rubber-like characteristic wherein it can twist over itself to selectively reduce the receiving surface area.
Another aspect of the present invention is directed to a retrofit self-contained wringer for connection to a mop having a handle and mop head connected thereto. The retrofit self-contained wringer includes a sleeve frictionally movably disposed on the handle such that the sleeve is self supporting along a number of positions of the mop handle and a twistable rubber-like generally fluted housing portion having a first end connected to the sleeve and a second end extending outwardly therefrom creating a mop head receiving surface area between a portion of the handle and an inner surface of the housing. The housing is movable along the handle via the sleeve in a manner to removably enclose the mop head material and enable squeezing of the mop head material through its rubber-like characteristic wherein it can twist over itself to selectively reduce space between the handle and the receiving surface area.
Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon viewing the drawings and reading the detailed description hereafter.
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Graham R. William
Till Terrence R.
LandOfFree
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