Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
- 1 - 2~ .'3~
I'CLEANING D~:VICES ~ND METHODS"
The invention relates to cleaning devices and
methods of cleaning surfaces, and in particular to devices
and methods which provide smear-free cleaning of surfaces.
Paper "wipes" are commonly used to clean surfaces
as paper or a similar material can wipe clean a surface
without leaving smears. Disposable sweeping systems are
also known in which a sheet of material such as paper torn
or cut off a roll is attached to a broom-like or similar
style holder and is used to collect dust and grit from
floors. When dirty the piece of material is detached and
thrown awayl and replaced by a fresh piece. However, with
such a dry wipe proceduxe the efficiency of dust and grit
collection is limited.
It has also been proposed that a sheet of
paper-like or textile material should be used attached over
a damp or wet backing, the perviousness of the material
being such that a controlled flow of liquid passes through
the material to the surface being wiped. Such arrangements
have been employed either as an applicator to apply a film
of liquid, for example liquid polish, to the surface or as
a damp or wet wipe dirt collection system. Whilst the
eEficiency of dirt collection i9 increased as compared with
a dry wipe system, wetting and smeariny of the surface
being wiped is unavoidable.
The invention has for its object to obtain the
- 2 - i J ~ 7~3
advantages of smear-free wiping of a surface in a much more
efficient manner, particularly so far as cleaning of the
surface being wiped or swept is concerned.
According to its various aspects the invention
provides, or utilises, a sheet of material which when used
with a damp backing for wiping of a surface to be cleaned
collects dust and grit from that surface in a smear-free
fashion; to which end the material is non-absorbent, at
least over a portion of its thickness providing the wiping
surface, and is porous with the property that dampness from
the backing permeates the material only so as to provide a
vapour state at the surface being wiped. As a result of
the vapour state the wiped surface is not damped or wetted
in a manner which leaves smears - so far as the surface is
concerned the effect is as with a dry wipe whereas so far
as the dirt collection is concerned dust and grit adheres
to the sheet more in the manner of a wet wipe material.
The material (hereinafter referred to as "the vapour-wipe
material") also has the property of an outer wiping surface
which, when the material is in contact with the damp
backing, slides freely or glides over the surface being
swept or wipecl to provide what might be termed
"glissability".
The vapour-wipe material is preferably
non-absorbent throughout its thickness and it may be of
laminated form with an outer side layer chosen bearing in
mind the desired glissability and surface cleaning
- 3 ~ 7$
properties, and an inner layer chosen beariny in mind the
requirement for tensile strength. In a preferred
embodiment the vapour-wipe material has a tri-laminate
formation of textile fabric laminae, with an intermediate
layer of meltblown polypropylene fabric sandwiched between
and bonded to layers of spunbond polypropylene fabric.
According to one aspect of the invention a
cleaning device comprises a body or holder providing a
backing for a disposable sheet of the vapour-wipe material
as aforesaid, which backing incorporates moisture absorbent
material such that absorbed liquid produces the required
degree of dampness at the back of the disposable sheet.
The disposable vapour-wipe sheet of the invention
may be attached to the backing particularly when used to
sweep or wipe wall and window surfaces, for example, whilst
for floor cleaning especially it may in some cases not be
so attached but instead freely placed on the floor with the
backing body resting on top. Thus movement of the damp
baclcing over the floor area, conveniently by a handle
attached thereto, moves -the sheet of material beneath it to
collect dust and grit Erom the floor in a srnear-free
manner.
The backing is conveniently provided by a mop as
normally used in a wet mopping procedure, and either a
conventional string mop or a so-called "sweep mop" with a
mop pad attached to a holder may be used. In either case
the mop is fully wrung out as when used for normal wet
- 4 ~ 3.~ 3
mopping, so as ~o be what might be termed "damp dry",
before being placed upon the disposable sheet of
vapour-wipe material in accordance with the invention.
Thus, according to another aspect of the
invention a method of smear-free cleaning of a surface
comprises placing a sheet of said vapour-wipe material on
the surface and applying to the back of said sheet a damp
wet mop, with the weight of the mop and/or applied pressure
holding the sheet against the surface, and orbi~ing or
otherwise moving the mop with the sheet over the surface to
clean the latter. When cleaning a floor in this manner, if
a particularly stained or dirty patch is reached the mop
can be lifted off the vapour-wipe sheet and used by itself
to clean that patch, thereafter the mop being again placed
on the vapour-wipe sheet to continue wiping over the
remaining floor area.
Preferably the holder of a cleaning device in
accordance with the invention is hand held in use, and it
may have a handle mounting to fit either a short handle for
smear-free wiping of window surfaces, for example, or a
long handle for use in floor sweeping. In either case the
backing for the disposable vapour-wipe materlal sheet is
conveniently of elongate shape with end clips, or
individual corner securing devices such as "push-in"
fixings, by which the disposable sheet is secured in
position on the holder. It may be a mop pad holder such as
is conventionally used in a wet or damp mopping system,
,~ v ``~ -Y l 8
with the mop pad providing the absorbent backing material
retaining the liquid by which the attached sheet is
constantly moistened at the back. Thus the same holder
could be used for damp or wet mopping, the vapour-wipe
sheet being attached for smear free wiping of a surface.
Alternatively a mop pad holder may be used for smear-free
wiping with a pad of cotton or cellular sponge, for
example, fitted to the holder in place of the mop pad and
providing the backing of liquid-absorbent material.
10The invention will now be described with
reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings. In
the drawings, which are shown solely by way of example:
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal side view of a cleaning
device in accordance with the invention;
15Fig. 2 illustrates the preferred laminated form of the
disposable sheet of vapour-wipe material of the invention;
Figs. 3 and ~ illustrate alternative cleaning methods
in accordance with the invention;
Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, depicting
a preferred dual-purpose cleaning device in accordance with
the invention; and
Fig. 6 is a partial perspective view showing ona end
of the device of Fig. 5.
Fig. 1 of the drawings illustrates a hand-held
device with an elongate body 1 which is attached, via a
universally-jointed handle mounting 2, to a handle 3 of the
desired length. The body 1 supports a cotton or sponge
-- 6 --
pad-like and liquid-absorbent backing 4 for a sheet 5 of
laminated vapour-wipe material. The sheet 5 is disposable
and easily replaced when soiled, being wrapped tightly over
the backing 4 and retained, at the ends of the body 1, by
hinged end clips 6 pivotable about respective hinge axes at
6a and which are spring loaded to the sheet gripping
positions illustrated in which they engage and hold down
the respective ends of the sheet 5.
The sheet 5 is fitted after the backing 4
material has been dampened with a liquid, in respect of
which it then acts as a moist backing by which the adjacent
back surface 5a of the sheet 5 is kept damp as the latter
is swept or wiped over a surface, such as that of a window
or a floor to be cleaned. This the sheet 5 does with a
"vapour-wipe" action, the material of the sheet 5 bein~
such that a vapour condition exists at the outer contact
surface 5b of the sheet 5 and the floor is not wetted; in
other words, it provides a vapour wipe which leaves the
surface dry and smear free rather than having a mopping
action.
~ he liquid with which the backing ~ is dampened
may be plain water, for example, or it may be a cleaning
liquid such as a detergent solution depending on the degree
of cleaning action required. Elowever, it will be
appreciated that the device is used with the backing ~ in a
"damp-dry" condition so that it merely damps the back
surface 5a of the sheet 5 so that the required vapour
7 ~ 3
condition exists at the front or out~r surface 5b. It must
not be wet enough to "flood" the surface 5a in which case
the sheet would become saturated and the outer surface 5b
would become wet.
As shown in Fig. 2 the preferred vapour-wipe
material sheet 5 is of porous laminated form, being a 3-ply
laminate comprising an inner backing layer 7, an outer
surface-wiping layer 8 and an intermediate layer 9. The
layer 7 is of spunbond polypropylene of 20gm/M2 weight, the
layer 8 also of spunbond polypropylene of l~gm/Ma weight
and the intermediate layer 9 is of meltblown polypropylene
of lOgm/M2 weight. The moisture applied to the surface 5a
permeates the porous non-absorbent sheet 5 to an extent
which provides a non-wetting vapour condition at the wiping
surface 5b. The outer layer 8, providing the wiping or
sweeping surface 5b, in use "glides" over the surface being
swept or wiped with a minimum of drag, i.e. it provides a
high degree of so-called glissability.
Fig. 3 illustrates in perspective view a method
of cleaning using a sweep mop 11 and a rectangular sheet 12
of the 3-ply vapour-wipe material placed freely on the
floor with the mop 11 resting on top of it. The sweep mop
11 may be of any known type with a holder 13 having a
handle 1~ and on which a sweep mop pad 15 can be mounted.
The pad 15 is wetted and wrung out, as if to be used for
wet mopping, before it is placed on the sheet 12. Movement
of the mop 11 over the floor takes the sheet 12 with it, to
~ q~ 3
-- 8
provide the vapour wipe and smear-free cleaning of the
invention. As previously mentioned, the lower surface of
the sheet 12 provides a high degree of glissability and the
wet mop pad 15 has a degr~e of grip with respect to the
upper surface such that with the weight of the mop 11
holding down the sheet 12 there is no tendency for the mop
to slip off leaving the sheet 12 behind.
Fig. 4 similarly illustrates a similar method but
now using a string mop resting on a square sheet 22 of the
3-ply vapour-wipe material. The string body 23 of the mop
21 is, as before, wetted and wrung out as if for wet
mopping, and movement over the floor by the handle 24 takes
the sheet 22 along with it to provide smear-free wiping of
the floor surface. Thus, as in the other illustrated
arrangements, a symbiotic relationship is achieved between
the damp mop and the vapour-wipe sheet.
In the method of either Fig. 3 or Fi~. ~, should
a particularly dirty patch of floor be reached the mop 11
(or 21~ can be lifted off the sheet 12 (or 22) and used in
the normal manner for wet mopping of that patch. The mop
is then re~urned to the sheet and smear-free wiping of the
remaining area of floor continued.
The dual-purpose device of Figs. 5 and 6
comprises a collapsible mop pad holder 30 usable either
without or with the vapour-wipe sheet 31 (shown in ghost
outline in Fig. 6) of the invention attached. In the
former condition, with the sheet 31 not attached as
- 9 -
depicted in Fis. 5, the device can be used as a sweep mop
for damp or wet mopping in the conventional manner and when
the floor ~for example) has heen cleaned the mop pad 32 can
be wrung out and the sheet 31 fitted to provide a final
vapour wipe of the cleaned surface.
A three-section articulated construction of the
collapsible pad holder 30 comprises similax end sPctions
33,34 and a central section 35. The central seckion 35 is
attached to a handle 36 of the desired length via a handle
mounting 37. Means for attachment of the mop pad 32
comprise end attachment bars such as 38, each defined by a
moulded-in rectangular through aperture 39 in the
corresponding end section 33 or 34. Each aperture 39 is
normally filled by a hinged closure flap ~0 which pivots
about a lateral axis at the inner end of the respective
aperture 39 and which is either spring loaded to, or for
example retained by resilient clip means at, the normal
closed position ill~lstrated in Fig. 6.
The mop pad 32 has end attachment tails 42 which
are respectively wrapped around the end bars 38 of the
holder 30. These end tai].s 42 are provided with ~elcro
(TM) type "hook and loop" attachment surfaces so that when
the overlapping sections of a tail 42 are pressed together
they mutually adhere. 't'o allow such attachment the
corresponding flap is hinged upwardly, then being returned
to the illustrated closed position in which it acts to
maintain the overlapping sections of the corresponding end
-- 1 o -- ~ 3
tail 42 in close mutual engagement.
Latch means (not shown) retain the sections
33,34,35 in alignment in the erected holder condition as
illustrated in Fig. 5. These latch means are released to
collapse the holder 30 so that, in known manner, the end
sections 33,3~ hang down from the central section 35 with
the mop pad 32 also hanging draped in a loop below them.
The mop pad can now be wrung out in a conventional wringer
mechanism, again in known manner. When the pad 32 has been
so wrung out and is in a suitably damp condition the holder
30 is re-erected and the vapour wipe sheet 31 attached as
illustrated in Fig. 6.
Separate and independent attachment means are
provided for the sheet 31, these consistîng of "push-in"
securing devices 43. These devices 43 are respectively
positioned adjacent the four corners of the holder 30,
being provided two in each of the closure flaps 40 as shown
in Fig. 6. Each device 43 comprises a flexible resilient
membrane 44 which is cross slotted at ~5. Thus when the
sheet 31 is pushed through the slot 45 the latter tends to
close up and firmly grips the sheet 31, although the latter
can readily be removed when desired.
The vapollr wipe provided by the invention not
only provides efficient pick-up of dirt without wetting the
floox, thereby providing a smear free result, but it
enables a high degree of glissability to be achieved. The
vapour-wipe sheet travels over the floor much quicker than
is the case/ for example, when using a wet mop alone. At
the same time the sheet prevents moisture reaching the
floor in a manner which would wet the latter and result in
smearing. The floor can be swept in such manner that dust
adheres to the sheet without the floor being left damp or
marked, and the efficient dust collection is of particular
value in the cleaning of school and hospital environments
where it is important not to raise dust which might trigger
off allergies or transmit infections.
