Device For Releasing And Detaching A Floor Cleaning Cloth From The Support Base Retaining It

Abstract

This is a device for releasing and detaching a cleaning cloth from the base that retains it; and in particular the release and detachment device of the invention allows you to release and detach from the base a cleaning cloth that has pockets within which are inserted the lateral ends of said base supporting the cloth.

Claims

1. A device for releasing and detaching a floor cleaning cloth from its a base, where said base comprises: a central element, called a retainer, connected with a handle and two half-frames hinged together or to said retainer, said retainer disposed between said half-frames; a coupling device for keeping the two half-frames in a planar configuration; a release button that works together with said coupling device to release said planar configuration; a floor cleaning cloth with pockets at its transverse ends, into which pocket openings of the ends said two half-frames can enter; where said half-frames are kept in a planar configuration by said coupling device controlled by the release button, and where said half-frames are hinged, and whose free ends can tilt downwards with respect to said retainer; a raised cover with: a side opening, on the longitudinal side of said cover, of such a length that it can allow said base to enter beneath said cover in a planar configuration with a cloth; where said cover has a width equal to at least half the width of the base; a slot in the upper part of the cover in a central position extending further than the length of the retainer and less than the distance between the openings of the pockets of the cloth; one or more connections, on one or more perimeter edges of said cover, to solidly fix said cover to the upper part of a bucket or a trolley.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said slot is shorter than the length of the retainer, increased by the protrusion of the release button from the retainer.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said connection device and the release button are a single piece.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein the cover is a half-cover, namely the section along a vertical plane of a cover.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said side opening of the cover has an edge turned downwards, thereby retaining and centering the base beneath the cover profile.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said cover is configured as a dome or cap or with a truncated pyramidal profile.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein said slot has, on at least one transversal edge, a protruding extension shaped like a claw to connect with the edge of the opening of said pockets.

8. The device of claim 1 wherein the transversal edges of the slot are configured as a protruding claw, to connect with the edge of the opening of said pockets and the relative retention of the cloth.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The technical characteristics of the invention, according to the aforesaid objects, can clearly be seen in the claims below, and its advantages will become more readily apparent in the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment, which is purely exemplary and not limiting, in which:

[0046] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a mop base equipped with two half frames hinged to an intermediate central element and positioned along a planar plane;

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the base of FIG. 1, along a vertical plane arranged parallel to the longitudinal extension of the base;

[0048] FIG. 3 shows the mop base of FIG. 1 with a cloth that has pockets, with the outer ends of the half-frames inserted within said pockets and holding said cloth in a taut manner facing the lower surface of the base;

[0049] FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the mop base with the half-planes tilted downwards with respect to the intermediate central element, with the ends of the half-planes still inserted within the pockets of the cloth;

[0050] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the device of the invention attached to a bucket and with a mop base below said device;

[0051] FIG. 6 shows side plan view of what is shown in FIG. 5 from the open side of the device, through which the base in a planar configuration is inserted inside and below the device;

[0052] FIG. 7 shows a section view of what is shown in FIG. 6 along a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal side of the device;

[0053] FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of the base with its half-planes tilted downwards, after being released, in passing through the slot above the device; and

[0054] FIG. 9 shows a vertical section of what is shown in FIG. 8, highlighting the claw-configured elements on the edges of the slot for the detachment of the cloth in passing through the slot by the base pulled upwards by the handle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0055] With reference to the drawings, it is possible to see an embodiment of the device of the invention 1 over a bucket 2. Other embodiments, without departing from the scope of the invention, provide that the device of the invention can be part of or attached to a trolley or other support device, such as a wall, with the possible modification of the fixing and/or coupling devices on the outside of one or more walls of the device itself.

[0056] In the continuation of the description, reference will therefore be made to the bucket, which should also be understood as an extension of the additional retention and fixing possibilities.

[0057] The device 1 is solidly connected to the bucket 2 by means of the connections 3 on the perimeter edges 4.

[0058] The device 1 has the configuration of a raised cover 9 but could possibly be configured as a cap or dome or have a truncated pyramidal profile to connect better with the bucket 2 and possess, with a minimally thick profile, a structural configuration that is resistant to the upward stresses during the release of the planar part of the base 5 and the subsequent extraction of the base 5 through the slot 6 at the top in a central position 7 on the cover 9.

[0059] The side opening 8 of the cover 9 can be total or partial.

[0060] In the event that the side 8 is completely open, the cover 9 of the invention is in fact a cover sectioned along a vertical plane parallel to the longitudinal side or to the long side of the bucket 2 on which the cover 9 is constrained.

[0061] In the event that the side of the cover 9 is only partially open, the cover 9 of the invention has, in the wall with said lateral opening 8, an edge that is connected with the upper part of the bucket 2 and said opening 8 is greater than the base 5 and at least wide enough that the base 5 with a cloth 13 can enter the planar configuration and be arranged below the cover 9.

[0062] After the base 5 has passed through said side opening 8, the base 5, or part of it, is below the upper part of the cover profile 9 with the central member 10 of the base 5 at the slot 6.

[0063] Through the side opening 8, it is then possible to insert and impose on the cover 9 a base 5 with a cloth 13 in its planar configuration.

[0064] The size of this slot 6 is determined as an extension, to such a degree that it can carry out the function of a release, since the relative edges of the slot 6 can be connected with the release button 12, and is sufficient for the central element 10 and the half-frames 11 folded in a downwardly inclined manner to pass through, and forcing the removal of the cloth 13.

[0065] In fact, the mop base 5 used with said release and detachment device 1 is equipped with a central element 10 connected above the handle, and has two half-frames 11 hinged in such a way that they can tilt downwards with respect to the central element 10.

[0066] Eventually, said inclination, which corresponds to a downward rotation of the half-frames with respect to the intermediate element, is counteracted in its movement by friction in the hinges or by elastic devices that tend to oppose said inclination.

[0067] The base 5 also has a coupling device for maintaining the two half-shells 11 in a planar condition, which in the example of the drawings is a lever connected as a single piece to a pedal button 12, but which could also be detached and/or configured differently, for example in a kinematic system, or which can also consist of a temporary interference coupling, for maintaining the planarity of the two half-shells 11.

[0068] In this planar condition, the base 5 rests on the lower surface 12 the floor cleaning cloth 13.

[0069] The cloth 13 is kept on the base 5 by means of the insertion of the free ends of the half-frames 11 inside the pockets 14 of the cloth.

[0070] In order to remove the cloth 13 from the base 5, the half-frames 11 need to tilt downwards and the free ends of the half-frames 11 need to come out of the pockets 14.

[0071] The operation of the device of the invention

[0072] The cover 9 has a central slot 6 perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the device 1, so that, from the side opening 8, namely from the open side of said cover 9, the base 5 can be set in a planar condition equipped with a cloth 13, making the handle and/or the central element 10 enter the slot 6, in whole or in part, and by pulling the handle upwards the release button 16 is pressed against the walls of said cover 9, near the slot 6, and acting on the kinematic system for maintaining the planarity, releasing the planarity of the two half-shells 11, and in the continuation of the pulling of the handle 20, the two half-shells 11 can, in passing through the slot 6 tilt downwards with respect to the central element 10, and by friction against said walls of the slot 6 or by the steep inclination of said half-shells 11, the extraction of the end part of the said half-shells 11 from the pockets 14 of the cloth 13 occurs, with the resultant detachment of the cloth 13 from the base 5.

[0073] For greater reliability in detaching the cloth 13 from the base 5, after pulling the handle 20, with no relative planar condition, for the release of the release device, and with the continuation of the pulling with the passing through of the half-shells 11 that gradually tilt more downwards passing through the slot 6, the edges 15 of the openings of the pockets 14 come to work together with the extensions 17 configured as a claw on the transverse edges 18 of the slot 6, forcing the end parts of the half-shells 11 to come out of the pockets 14, and retaining the relative cloth 13 and therefore implementing the aforementioned detachment.

[0074] The aforementioned operation and the certainty that the claw-shaped extensions connect with the edges of the pocket openings is explained by the fact that the pulling of the base, by means of the handle, forces the central intermediate part of the base to pass through said slot and the hinged parts of the half-shells to tilt by rotating downwards, but remaining resting, with its surfaces facing upwards, on the edges of the slot, also due to the presence of the aforementioned friction with the rotation of the hinges and/or elastic devices that tend to oppose the downward tilt of the half-shells.

[0075] By continuing to pull the handle, the semi-frames, with an increasing inclination when passing through the slot, carry the edges of the openings of the pockets into juxtaposition with the claw-shaped extensions, and while the passing through continues with a further greater degree of inclination of the semi-frames, the cloth is retained. Therefore the end parts of the base can come out from the pockets, achieving a complete detachment of the base from the mop, which is no longer retained and falls into the bucket onto which the device is fixed.

[0076] Eventually, the edges of the slot can be shaped in a manner corresponding to the claw-shaped extensions, similarly coupling with the opening edges of the pockets, and holding the cloth, while the free ends of the half-frames are removed from the pockets, arriving, as the base continues to move upwards, at being completely extracted and detached from the cloth.

[0077] In order to prevent that said base 5, during the aforementioned pulling of the base 5 by means of the handle, escapes from the side opening 8, it has a downwards turned edge 19 with the function of retaining and centering the base 5 underlying the profile of the cover 9.