Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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"CLEANING EQUIPMENT"
The invention relates to cleaning equipment, and
especially to a cleaning bucket for use with a cleaning
element or device, such as a floor mop, cleaning cloth or
chamois leather which is repeatedly wrung out into the
bucket which in use contains a suitable cleaning liquid.
A problem encountered with a cleaning bucket is
that dirt deposited out from the liquid collects at the
bottom of the bucket and disturbance of the liquid, as when
rinsing out a mop for example, washes the collected dirt
back into the main body of liquid. In addition, the mop
can pick up the collected dirt directly.
In order to extend the life of the cleaning
liquid, additives can be used which act to break the bond
between the cleaning agent and the dirt, so that the dirt
or "soil" as it is commonly referred to in the cleaning
industry is deposited out and falls to the bottom of the
container. Whilst this theoretically keeps the liquid
cleaner and extends the useful life thereof, the extra dirt
deposited out increases the foregoing problem so that use
of such an additive can be to some extent self defeating.
To solve the problem it has been proposed in
GB 2 210 804 A that a container of cleaning equipment, such
as a bucket, shculd be provided with a dirt trap comprising
a dirt-receiving element of mat or pad-like form which is
positioned to receive dirt settling under gravity from the
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contained cleaning liquid with the dirt collecting in, or
passing through so as to be trapped below, the element, the
form and structure of the element being such that
disturbance of the liquid in the container cannot wash the
collected dirt bac]c out from or through the element to any
significant extent.
Equipment 1n accordance with this proposal has
markedly improved the efficiency of cleaning systems and
has been well received by the cleaning industry, and
practical use has shown that the mat or pad performs its
intended function very satisfactorily when positioned at
~ the bottom of a mop bucket. The present invention has for
;~ its aim to improve such cleaning systems still further; ;~ ~
firstly, by facilitating changing of the cleaning liquid ~ ;
before the mat or pad requires removal for cleaning or
replacement and, secondly, by increasing the range of mat
; or pad materials which can be used or increasing the
working life expectancy of mats or pads as at present used.
With a view to effecting such improvement a
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cleaning bucket in accordance with the invention has, above
a lower region in which a mat or pad as aforesaid is in use
positioned, a grid, grille or other apertured member - `~
through which the dirt settling out from the cleaning
liquid can pass into the mat or pad. It is a feature of
the invention that said apertured member is normally fixed
in position within the bucket so that the cleaning liquid
when spent can be tipped out of the bucket with the mat or
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pad retained in position by that member, whereas when
removal of the mat or pad for c:leaning or replacement is
desired the apertured member can be removed, or displaced
within the bucket, so as to allow removal and replacement
of the mat or pad.
Thus the invention provides, according to one
aspect thereof, within a cleaning equipment container which
is adapted to contain a cleaning liquid the combination of
an apertured member extending across the container and a
dirt-collecting mat or pad positioned in the container
below the apertured member which is normally fixed in
position but which is removable, or displaceable from the
normal fixed position, to allow removal and replacement of
the mat or pad. -
As a result of the invention, the liquid can be
replaced repeatedly and the bucket or container emptied out
whilst the mat or pad and deposited dirt contained therein
is retained in position below the apertured element. When
; the mat or pad has reached the stage when cleaning or
; 20 replacement is necessary the apertured element is removed
or moved aside, as the case may be, and the mat or pad
removed and replaced as necessary. The cleaning liquid,
typically a water/detergent mixture with an additive as
aforementioned, may be replaced many times during each
day's cleaning operation whereas the mat or pad is
typically cleaned or replaced only after a number of weeks
use, for example monthly, dependent on the quantity of dirt
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collected.
Furthermore, the invention allows a cheap
sponge-like material to be used for the mat or pad so that
it is a low-cost throw-away item after use and thus can
economically be changed more frequently resulting in a
cheaper and more efficient dirt collection system. Such a
desirable material could not be used for the mat or pad
prior to the present invention, as it would have been
compacted and damaged by the mop and its buoancy would have
10 caused it to float or at least to be readily displaced by ;-~
turbulence in the liquid. Thus without the apertured
member of the invention it is necessary to use a more
durable and expensive material. The more buoyant and less
durable material which can now be used may additionally, or
alternatively, be selected for other advantageous qualities
associated with efficient dirt collection and retention.
The mat or pad can be of any suitable form or ~`~
structure satisfying the requirements that on the one hand
the deposited-out dirt can collect in or pass through the
mat or pad, but on the other hand cannot then be washed
back into the main body of cleaning liquid as a result of
` turbulence and disturbances in the latter. Whilst the -~
apertured member of the invention may be in the form of a
plain grid with suitably sized apertures, it preferably has
~5 dirt collecting passages leading through to the mat or pad
and designed adopting the same concept as the latter. That
is to say, the passages are designed so that the dirt once
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collected in the passages is not readily washed back out
into the main body of cleaning liquid before it reaches the
mat or pad below. Thus a symbiosis results with the
apertured member and the mat or pad below it each
reinforcing the dirt-collecting function of the other, with
increased dirt collection efficiency as compared with the
prior art. To this end the apertured member may comprise
an array of funnel-like passages, for example of a tapering
shape which decreases in cross-sectional area from the top
to the bottom at which each passage terminates in a small
suitably-sized hole. These passages may, for example, be
frusto-conical or of rectangular cross-section.
Alternatively, the apertured member may be in the
; form of a grid comprising parallel slats separated by
narrow gaps, and these slats may be of generally arcuate
shape and upwardly convex in transverse section.
The invention will now be further described with
reference to the accompanying generally diagrammatic
;~ ~ drawings which illustrate two embodiments of the invention
; 20 and modifications thereof. In the drawings:
Figs. 1 and 2 are, respectively, a plan view and a
front view of a mop bucket according to one embodiment,
with the apertured member of the invention removed;
Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view on the line III-III
in Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a scrap sectional view on the line IV-IV in
Fig. 1, to a larger scale;
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Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the apertured
member of this embodiment, also to a larger scale;
Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view on the line VI-VI in
Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates modifications
relating to the manner of removably fixing the apertured
member;
Fig. 8 is a side view of the other embodiment, with a
portion of the side wall of the bucket cut away to show the
form of the apertured member in this case;
Fig. 9 is a half plan view of the bucket of Fig. 8;
and
Fig. 10 is a plan view of the apertured member of this ~-
embodiment showing its relationship to adjacent regions of
the bucket
The embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5 comprises a
container in the form of a plain moulded mop bucket 1 of a
generally conventional shape, that shown being chosen
merely by way of example. The invention can be applied to
a bucket of any shape and comprises an apertured member 2
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extending across the bucket a distance above the bottom la
of the bucket so as to define, below the member 2, a lower
region or space 3 to contain a mat or pad 4. In use the
bucket 1 contains a conventional cleaning liquid 5 and dirt
transferred from the surface being cleaned to the bucket 1
by the mop ~not shown) deposits out, under gravity, and
falls through the apertured member 2 into the space 3. At
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the front the bucket 1 has a wall lb which is inclined
downwardly from the rim of the bucket 1 to the level of the
member 2, and the mop can be squeezed out against this wall
lb along which the dirt squeezed out falls into the space 3
through the member 2.
After passing through the member 2 the dirt, as
already described, enters the three-dimensional porous,
cellular or mesh-like structure of the mat or pad 4 and is
~: `thus collected therein, being retained within the mat or
pad 4 against any tendency for it to be washed back out by
turbulence or disturbances in the liquid 5. When the
liquid 5 requires changing it can be poured out of the
bucket 1 into a sink or drain in the usual manner without
tipping out the mat or pad 4, which is retained in the
`15 space 3 by the member 2 which remains fixed in position
:~ `within the bucket 1 above the space 3. In this embodiment
:the element 2 is retained in position at four points by two
spaced internal projections 6 moulded integrally with one
side wall lc of the bucket 1, and two similar and opposite
internal projections 7 moulded integrally with the other
side wall ld. As clearly shown in the enlarged scale
sectional view of Fig. 4, the projections 6 (and 7) have
upper inclined faces such as 6a to facilitate clipping in
of the member 2 past the projections 6 and 7, accommodated
by flexing of the side walls lc and ld of the moulded
plastics bucket 1, and radiused lower faces such as 6b
which provide firm retention whilst still allowing removal
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of the member 2 when required.
In this embodiment member 2 is a polypropylene
moulding, for example of 3 mm thickness, in the form o~ a
grid with a rectangular array of tapering apertures such as
8 providing funnel-like through passages. These apertures
8 are of rectangular, in this case square, cross-section
with a linear taper so that dirt falling on to the grid 2
is funnelled through the apertures 8 into the space 3. For
example and with reference to Fig. 6, the apertures 8 may -;~
have a top dimension A of about 7.5 mm and bottom dimension
B of about 5.5 mm. The bars such as 9 of grid 2, between
which the apertures 8 are defined, are upwardly radiused as
shown in Fig, 6 so that any dirt deposited upon one of them
will slide down into an adjoining aperture 8. The mat or -
pad 4 is here a black polyethylene reticulated foam pad, of
about 20 mm thickness and porosity 20 ppij within which
dirt falling into the space 3 is received and retained.
In addition to allowing the liquid 5 'o be tipped
out and replaced as many times as might be required whilst
the pad 4 is retained in the space 3 by the grid 2, the
latter also protects the mat or pad 4 against crushing or
damage by the mop when the latter is rinsed out in the
bucket 1. This increases the life expectancy of a
re-usable mat or pad 4, or enables a cheaper and less
robust sponge-like pad material to be used for a "use once"
throw-away dirt-collecting mat or pad. Furthermore a
buoyant sponge-like material can be used for the mat or pad
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4 as it is held down by the element 2 against any tendency
to float or to be displaced by disturbance or turbulence in
the liquid 5. Thus the invention facilitates manufacture
of the mat or pad 4 as a cheap disposable item which can be
replaced frequently, providing a cost-effective and
efficient cleaning system.
When it is desired to remove the mat or pad 4 for
cleaning out or replacement, either the same mat or pad
being replaced after cleaning or a fresh mat or pad being
fitted, the member 2 is unclipped and removed, being pulled
out past the moulded projections 6 and 7. This allows
removal and replacement of the mat or pad 4, after which
the element 2 is xeplaced and clipped into its normal fixed
position below the projections 6 and 7.
It will be appreciated that any suitable moulded
or otherwise formed fixings may be used for the apertured
element 2. The essential requirements for these fixings
are that the element 2 should be reliably fixed during
emptying out of the bucket 1, and that it can be removed or
displaced to allow removal and replacement of the mat or
pad 4.
Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates two modified
fixings for the apertured member shown at 11 and 12,
respectively, in the bucket 13 which now has smoothly
moulded side walls. In one modification flexible plastics
clips 15 are clipped on to the opposite side edges of the
member 11, and as shown these resiliently engage the side
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walls 14 reliably to retain the member 11 in position
across the bucket 13 until removal is required. In the
other modification spring steel clips 16, which perform the
same function as the clips 15, are now fixed to opposite
side edges of the member 12 by xivets 17.
The embodiment of Fi~s. 8 to 10 comprises a
moulded bucket 20 designed as part of a combination which
includes a wringer with xollers mounted at the top of he
bucket, and operated through a toggle-operating linkage
10 with a foot pedal inset at the front of the bucket. The -~
elements of the wringer mechanism are omitted from the
drawings and will not be described herein as they are not
germane to the invention and in no way affect description
of the latter. As before an apertured member 21 extends
across the bucket 20 above a lower region or space defined
within a well 22 which contains a foam mat or pad 23. The
base of the bucket 20 at the front immediately below the
non-illustrated wringer rollers has an inclined surface 24,
so that dirt wrung out of a mop tends to fall on to this
~20 surface 24 and is deflected towards the well 22. This
dirt, and any dirt settling by gravity out of the cleaning
liquid, falls through the member 21 into the well 22 and
collects in the pad 23 as with the first embodiment.
The member 21 is again a plastics moulding but in
thls case it comprises a series of parallel slats, shown
for example as four in number referenced 25 to 28, with
gaps 29 between them. These slats are generally arcuate in
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transverse section and upwardly convex as shown in Fig. 8,
presenting a domed upper surface along which any dirt
depositing on a slat 25, 26, 27 or 28 slides down to an
adjoining gap 29 and thus into the well 22. The moulding
21 includes parallel webs 30 wh:ich rigidify the slats 25 to
28 join them together across the gaps 29. In plan view the
bucket 20 is symmetrical about a fore-and-aft centre line C
and, as can be seen from the half-section view of Fig. 9, a
front portion of the well 22 is of reduced width defined
between opposed side walls such as 31. The rear wall 20a
of the bucket 20 is moulded internally with two spaced
pivot support webs 32 which have upper pivot recesses into
which integral pivot stubs 33 of the grid 21 are a snap-in
fit on assembly. Thus the grid 21 is pivotally fixed at
the rear to the bucket 20.
Towards the front the grid 21 has two downwardly
projecting integral legs 34 which resiliently engage the
side walls 31 to hold down the front of the grid 21. It is
as before held securely in position whilst the contents of
the bucket are tipped out, whereas access to the well 22 to
remove the pad 23 can be gained by lifting up the front of
the grid 21 to disengage the legs 34 from the side walls 31
and allow it to pivot upwardly about its pivot fixings
32,33. The grid 21 is replaced by a reverse pivotal ~
25 movement to the normal fixed position illustrated. ;
