US2896235A - Combined mop and wringer with additional cleaning member - Google Patents

Description

July 5 I I A. E. CLEMENTS 2,896,235

COMBINED MOP AND WRINGER WITH ADDITIONAL CLEANING MEMBER Filed May 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Y x INVENTOR z mesm- E. cuemams. mgv :7, $153M- al BY arm M, Mvmm July '28, 1959 A. E. ICLEMENTS COMBINED MOP AND WRINGER WITH ADDITIONAL CLEANING MEMBER Filed May 15, 1957 2 Sheeas-Shieet'Z INVENTOR ALBERT E. CLEMENTS .ATTcRNgK United States Patent COMBINED MOP AND WRHYGER WITH ADDI- TIONAL CLEANING MEMBER Albert Edward Clements, South Harrow, England, as-

signor to A. E. Clements Limited, Chesham, England, a company of Great Britain Application May 15, 1957, Serial No. 659,406

Claims priority, application Great Britain May 25, 1955 3 Claims. (Cl. -116) This invention relates to cleaning devices for cleaning floors and the like of the type used on the end of a handle such as a broom handle.

According to the invention a device for cleaning floors and the like for use with an elongated handle comprises a fixed member to be attached to one end of the handle, and carrying a cleaning surface, a movable member carrying on one side a second cleaning surface (one of these surfaces being an' absorbent pad) and an operating mechanism to be attached to the handle towards the end remote from the fixed member, and connected to the movable member so that, on operation of the operating mechanism, one of the cleaning surfaces is swung into a position overlapping the other cleaning surface and the reverse side of one of the members squeezes excess moisture out of the absorbent pad.

In a preferred construction the first cleaning surface carried by the fixed member is an absorbent pad such as a sponge and the second cleaning surface carried by the movable member is swung over the absorbent pad and the reverse side of the movable member squeezes excess moisture out of the absorbent pad.

The second cleaning surface is preferably of the brush type' though it may be any other form' of cleaning surface such as a squeegee or polishing cloth.

There is thus provided a self-contained dual purpose cleaning device which may be easily converted from one use to the other and the mechanism which is employed for converting the device from one use to the other also squeezes excess moisture out of one of the cleaning surfaces which comprises an absorbent pad.

The movable member is preferably connected to the handle or fixed member in such a way that, on operation of the operating mechanism, the movable member is swung from a position lying adjacent to the handle with the second cleaning surface uppermost to a position in which the second cleaning surface is lowermost and the reverse side of the movable member lies against the absorbent pad, the direction of motion of the movable member when in contact with the absorbent pad being substantially normal to the plane of the absorbent pad. The desired motion may be imparted to the movable member by connecting it to the handle or the fixed member by means of a swivel and slide mechanism, which may be obtained by fixed slots in the fixed member in which a part of the movable member slides and slots in the movable member which slide over a fixed pivot attached to the fixed member.

An advantage of the device is that the absorbent pad is squeezed in a flat position and is not folded over upon itself to squeeze out excess moisture as is the case with some known devices for squeezing sponges. The life of the absorbent pad is therefore not reduced by wear and cracking along the line of the fold. Moreover since the absorbent pad is squeezed by the reverse side of the member carrying the other cleaning surface, this other cleaning surface can be of a type, such as a brush,

Patented July 28, 1959 the brush retracted;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the device shown in Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrow;

Figure 3 is a side elevation similar to that of Figure 1 showing, in fulllines, the position in which the absorbent pad is squeezed and in which the brush is in the operative position and, in dotted lines, an intermediate position between that of Figure 1 and that shown in full lines in Figure 3.

The first and fixing cleaning surface of the device comprises an absorbent pad 1- of foam rubber or similar material which is attached to a metal plate 2 on the back of which is obliquely mounted a short tube 3 into which a broom handle 4 is fixed. Two parallel ribs 5 and: 6 are formed integral with the upper side of the tube, and spaced from the body of the tube to provide a-pair of fixed parallel slots 7.

A movable member Scomprises a flat perforated plate 9" to one side of which a second cleaning surface, in the form of a scrubbing'brush 10, is attached. Two parallel arms 11' and 12-:extend from one edge of the plate on the opposite side of the plate from the scrubbing brush at right angles to the plane of the plate and are arranged to lie'one on each side of the tube 3. The arms are connected at their outer ends by a pin 13 which passes through and can slide in the twofixed slots 7 in the ribs on the tube 3. Parallel slots 14 are formed longitudinally inthe two arms 11 and 12 of the movable member, and the endsof apin 15'fixed in the tube 3 extend through the two slots 14 forming a fixed pivotal axis on which the movable member 8 can-swing and slide.

A lever 16 of channel cross-section is pivoted at one end to a pair of lugs 17 and 18 on a bracket attached to the handle 4 at a point towards the end of the handle remote from the above described mechanism. A connecting rod 19 is pivoted at one end to the lever by means of a pin 20 passing through the flanges of the channel. The opposite end of the conecting rod is connected to the pin 13 which slides in the fixed slots 7.

The operation of the device is as follows. When the lever 16 is lying against the handle in its lowermost position as shown in Figure l the movable member 8 is in its retracted position, the edge of the plate 9 lying against the handle with the brush 10 uppermost and the two arms 11 and 12 lying one on each side of the tube 3. When the lever 16 is pulled towards its upper position the pin 13 which passes through the fixed slots 7 is drawn up the slots by the connecting rod 17 and the movable member 8 swings about the pivot 15 through the intermediate position shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 until the back of the plate 9 is in contact with the surface of the absorbent pad 1. Further movement of the lever will draw the pin 13 yet further up the slots 7 and draw the plate 9 tighter against the pad thus squeezing out excess moisture, until the lever lies against the handle in the upper position as shown in full lines in Figure 3. The scrubbing brush 10 is then in the working position. The described mechanism is such that the motion of the plate when in contact with the absorbent pad is substantially normal to the plane of the pad thus efi'ecting an efficient squeezing action in which all parts of the pad are squeezed substantially the same amount. Small grooves (not shown) are provided in the back of the scrubbing brush to allow moisture squeezed out of the absorbent pad and passing through perforations in the plate 9 to escape.

When the lever 16 is. in either of its extreme positions lying flat against the handle as shown in Figure 1 and in full lines in Figure 3 the pin 20 which attaches the connecting rod 19 to the lever 16 lies closer to the axis of the handle than does the pivot point of the lever 16 in the lugs 17 thus giving a self-locking snap-action to the lever. The movable member is therefore unlikely to be accidentally displaced from its upper or lower positions since any force tending to move the movable member away from either of its extreme positions except by movement of the lever 16 tends to force the lever tighter against the handle.

The absorbent pad may be, for example, a cellulose sponge or a foamed plastic sponge and the scrubbing brush could be replaced by any other type .of cleaning surface, for example, a rubber squeegee, or a polishing cloth.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A device for cleaning floors comprising a fixed member, an elongated handle with a longitudinal axis secured to the fixed member and a head attached to said fixed member and carrying an absorbent pad with a fiat working surface which defines an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of said handle, a movable member including a flat part having a side carrying a member which has a cleaning surface and a reverse side and including at least one arm extending approximately perpendicularly away from said reverse side, said movable member being attached to said fixed member by a pivot and slide mechanism comprising a fixed slot in said fixed member extending approximately parallel with the longitudinal axis of said handle, a pin with a longitudinal axis attached to said movable member and sliding in said fixed slot, a fixed pivot which has a longitudinal axis parallel with the longitudinal axis of said pin and which is attached to said fixed member and a slot in the arm of the movable member between said pin and said reverse side, said slot in said movable member sliding over .4 said pivot, and operating means attached to said handle and operatively connected to said movable member for moving said pin from one end of said fixed slot in said fixed member to the other end whereby the said movable member is swung-from a position lying adjacent said handle with said cleaning surface uppermost to a position in which said cleaning surface is lowermost and said reverse side of said movable member lies against said absorbent pad.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which said cleaning member is a brush.

3. A device for cleaning floors comprising an elongated handle, a fixed member attached to one end of said handle and carrying an absorbent pad with a flat working surface, a movable member having a flat part having a side carrying a member which has a cleaning surface and a reverse side, an operating mechanism for swinging said movable member from a position lying adjacent said handle with said cleaning surface uppermost to a position in which said cleaning surface is lowermost and said reverse side of said movable member lies against said absorbent pad and for moving the said movable member when in contact with said absorbent pad in a direction substantially normal to the plane of the working surface of said absorbent pad, said movable member being attached to said fixed part by means of a swivel and slide mechanism, said swivel and slide mechanism comprising fixed slots in said fixed member, a pin attached to said movable member and sliding in said fixed slots, a fixed pivot attached to said fixed member and slots in said movable member which slide over said pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 603,999 Ballam May 10, 1898 1,818,917 Wolf Aug. 11, 1931 2,695,417 Bathurst Nov. 30, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 155,174, Great Britain May 8, 1920 185,941 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1922 553,287 Great Britain May 14, 1943

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