SUPPORT DE RACLOIR ET RACLOIR MUNI DUDIT SUPPORT

HOLDER FOR SUPPORTING A SQUEEGEE AND SQEEGEE ASSEMBLY EMPLOYING SAME

Abrégé anglais

IN THE C A N A D I A N PATENT & TRADEMARK OFFICE
PATENT APPLICATION
entitled: Holder for supporting a squeegee and squeegee
assembly employing same
in the names of: Jean-Jacques POURTAU
Abel THIRIET
Thierry POURTAU
assignee : TOMECANIC
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
This invention relates to a holder for supporting
a squeegee, wherein: a) the holder comprises a front
plate and a rear plate, distinct from each other;
b) the front plate comprises a rib for clamping a
cleaning strip, provided with perforations for passage
of assembly members, and an upper face intended to
overlap the upper edge of the cleaning strip; c)
the rear plate comprises a rib for clamping the clea-
ning strip, provided with perforations for passage
of assembly members, and an upper face intended to
complete the overlapping of the upper edge of the
cleaning strip; d) each front and rear plate supports
a half-sleeve, the two half-sleeves reconstituting,
after assembly of the holder, a sleeve for fixing
a handle.
One application of the invention is the economical
production of a squeegee for cleaning floors.

Revendications

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WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. In a holder for supporting a squeegee, particular-
ly for cleaning floors, comprising a front plate
and a rear plate, distinct from each other,
a) the front plate comprises a rib for clamping
at least one cleaning strip, which is provided with
perforations for passage of assembly members, such
as rivets, and an upper face intended to overlap,
at least partially, the or each upper edge of the
or each cleaning strip;
b) the rear plate comprises a rib for clamping
said at least one cleaning strip, which is provided
with perforations for passage of assembly members,
and an upper face intended to complete the overlapping
of the or each upper edge of the cleaning strips
and extending to that end parallel to the upper face
of the front plate, with at least partial overlapping
of one of said upper faces by the other upper face;
c) each front and rear plate supports a half-
sleeve, these two half-sleeves constituting, after
assembly by assembly members which cooperate with
said perforations, a sleeve for fixing a handle.
2. Squeegee assembly employing the holder of Claim
1, wherein a complementary accessory, such as a scraper
blade, is fixed on the holder by means of said means
for assembling the front and rear plates.
3. The holder of Claim 1, wherein the bottom
of the clamping rib of each plate forms an angle
substantially equal to 90° with the upper face of
said plate, whilst the width of said upper face is
greater than the depth of the clamping rib.

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4. Squeegee assembly employing the holder of Claim
3, wherein a complementary accessory, such as a scraper
blade, is fixed on the holder by means of said members
for assembling the front and rear plates.
5. Squeegee assembly employing the holder of Claim
1, wherein it comprises at least two strips of rubber
clamped between the ribs of the two plates.
6. The holder of Claim 1, wherein the half-sleeve
supported by one of the front and rear plates consti-
tutes a monobloc assembly with said plate.
7. The holder of Claim 6, wherein each half-sleeve,
and the plate which corresponds thereto, are formed
from one sole initial piece.
8. Squeegee assembly employing the holder of Claim
6, wherein a complementary accessory, such as a scraper
blade, is fixed on the holder by means of said members
for assembling the front and rear plates.
9. The holder of Claim 1, wherein the bottom of
the clamping rib of each plate forms an angle substan-
tially equal to 90° with the upper face of said plate,
whilst the width of said upper face is greater than
the depth of the clamping rib.
10. Squeegee assembly employing the holder of Claim
9, wherein a complementary accessory, such as a scraper
blade, is fixed on the holder by means of said means
for assembling the front and rear plates.

Description

03~6~
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a holder made
of metal or rigid plastics material, producing a
squeegee, particularly for spreading a liquid or a powder, for rubbing and sponging over a hard floor.
BACKGROUND OF THE INV~NTION
In this domain, several devices responding to
these functions exist at the present time. For example
squeegees, principally constituted by a metal or
rigid plastic holder having an upturned U section
with a universal sleeve for fixing a conventional
handle and a foam rubber strip fitting in the rigid
upturned U section, which strip of foam is maintained
by a rigid counter-profile fixed to the bottom of
the groove of the upturned U.
This type of holder thus presents an assembly
of constituent parts that may vary from five to three
at a minimum which must be assembled by rivetting
or by welding, and, in addition, allows only one
foam rubber strip to be fixed.
Another type of holder is composed of at least
three parts assembled by rivetting or welding, but
does not present any upturned U sections. This holder
comprises, on the one hand, a half-holder with a
reinforcing shoulder serving as support for fixing
to the universal sleeve, and, on the other hand,
a counter half-holder fixed parallel to the first
half-ho].der, clamping and maintaining one or more
strips of foam or hard rubber.
Such existing holders lead to expensive finished
products and their applications are limited, as either
they are constituted by at least three parts which
have to be assembled, or they are limited in the
number of rubber strips which may be fixed.
In order to reduce the number of parts to be

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assembled, whilst allowing several rubber strips
to be fixed, the invention proposes a holder composed
of only two ribbed and shaped parts, on which may
be fixed a plurality of rubber strips and possibly
one or more complementary accessories.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention therefore firstly relates to a
holder for supporting a squeegee, particularly for
cleaning floors, comprising a front plate and a rear
plate, which are distinct from each other.
According to the invention, this holder presents
the following features: a) the front plate comprises
a rib for clamping at least one cleaning strip which
is provided with perforations for passage of assembly
members, such as rivets, and an upper face intended
to overlap, at least partially, the or each upper
edge of the or each cleaning strip; b~ the rear plate
comprises a rib for clamping said at least one cleaning
strip, which is provided with perforations for passage
of said assembly members, and an upper face intended
to complete the overlapping of the or each upper
edge of the cleaning strips and extending to that
end parallel to the upper face of the front plate,
with at least partial overlapping of one of said
upper faces by the other upper face; c) each front
and rear plate supports a halE-sleeve, these two
half-sleeves constituting, after assembly by assembly
members which cooperate with said perforations, a
sleeve for fixing a handle.
~he following advantageous arrangements are,
in addition, preferably adopted:
- the half-sleeve supported by one of the front
and rear plates constitutes a monobloc assembly with
said plate;
~5 - each half-sleeve, and the plate which corres-

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ponds thereto, are preferably formed from one single
initial piece;
- the bottom of the clamping rib of each plate
forms an angle substantially equal to 90 with the
upper face of said plate, whilst the width of said
upper face is greater than the depth of the clamping
rib.
The invention also relates to a squeegee assembly
employing a holder as defined hereinbefore, and which
70 comprises at least two rubber strips clamped between
the ribs of the two plates.
A complementary accessory, such as a scraper
blade, is advantageously and preferably fixed on
the holder by means of said members for assembling
the front and rear plates.
The principal advantage of the invention resides
in economically producing squeegees which present
a satisfactory resistance.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will be more readily understood
on reading the following description with reference
to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a section through the front plate.
Figure 2 is a section through the rear plate.
Figure 3 is a view in perspective oE an embodiment
according to the invention, before final assembly.
Figure ~ is a view in perspective of an embodiment
according to the invention, after final assembly,
including the fixing of a complementary accessory.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawings, the holder shown
therein comprises two distinct plates: a front plate
10 and a rear plate 11. Each plate 10, 11 is provided
with a half-sleeve 101, 111 which is monobloc with
the corresponding plate. In particular, it is advanta-

4 ;~3~3~68
geous to form the plate 10, 11 and the half-sleeve
101, 111 which corresponds thereto, from a single
initial plece, for example by stamping.
The front plate 10 (Figure 1) comprises:
a) a lon~itudinal ribbing lOB, of which the
vertical rib bottom (lOB) and the horizontal face
lOA of the top of the plate, form an angle of 90;
b) the width LlOA of the horizontal face lOA
is greater than the horizontal depth PlOB of the
rib lOB;
c) a half-sleeve 101, of a sleeve for fixing
a handle, forms an integral part of the front plate
10 and is monobloc with and made of the same material
as the ribbed and perforated longitudinal part, thus
forming the whole of the front plate 10.
The rear plate 11 (Figure 2) comprises:
a) a longitudinal ribbing llB, of which the
vertical rib bottom (llB) and the face llA of the
top of the rear plate 11 form an angle of 90;
b) the width LllA of the horizontal face llA
is greater than the horizontal depth PllB of the
rib llB;
c) a half-sleeve 111, of a sleeve for fixing
a handle, forms an integral part of the rear plate
11 and is monobloc with and made of the same material
as the ribbed and perforated longi.tudinal part, thus
forming -the whole of the rear plate 11.
~ ssembly according to the invention is represented
in Figure 3, in which the plates 10 and 11 are placed
respectively in front of and behind two strips of
rubber 12 and 13, these four pieces being assembled
in one rivetting operation by rivets 19 passing through
perforations 14 made in the bottom of the ribs lOB
and llB. In this way, a squeegee assembly may be
produced, adapted, in particular, for cleaning floors~

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5--
With this assembly, it is possible, and advanta-
geous, to be able to fix together one or more strips
of ruhber, ox other materials, whilst effecting fixa-
tion of plates 10 and 11, thus formin~ the whole
c of the holder according to the invention.
~ igure 4 shows the final assembly with, according
to one possibility of the invention, the fixation
of a complementary accessory 15, constituted in the
example shown by a scraper made of semi-supple or
rigid plastics material, said complementary accessory
15 being fixed by the rivets l9 themselves, simulta-
neously with plates lO and ll and the strips of rubber
12 and 13.
Figure 4 also shows the final position of the
two half-sleeves 101 and lll, of which the assembly
forms the socket for fixing a handle. The handle
is fixed, in conventional manner, by tightening wing
nut 17 on screw 16, thus clamping the two half-sleeves
101 and 111, themselves already fixed together on
the opposite side by a rivet 18.
In the embodiment of Figure ~, a characteristic
of the invention is repres~nted by the particular
arrangement of the horizontal faces lOA and llA,
whereby, after :Einal assembly, horizontal face lOA
is superposed on horizontal face llA and may slide
thereon, so as to adapt itself to the variable thick-
ness of the one or more strips of rubber or other
materials.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments
described, but, on the cont.rary, covers all the va-
riants which may be made thereto without departing
from the scope nor spi.rit thereof.
In particular, the complementary accessors~ 15
and the strips 12 and 13 may be of any material appro-
priate for a particular, determined use, and be made,for example, of rubber, of solid or cellular synthetic

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materials, of supple, semi-xigid plastics matexials,
of fabrics, steel, etc...

Dessin représentatif