Mop accessory

Abstract

A mop accessory comprises a releasably attachable device which is fitted over an existing mophead and upon which is releasably attached a scrubber element. This has as an advantage that different types or grades of scrubbing pads can be quickly installed. Also, it means that the entire device can be easily removed from a mophead that needs to be changed. In this manner, only one such device is required even if one has several mopheads.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to cleaning equipment but more particularly to an accessory attached to mops.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] There are many types of accessories for mops which have a scrubber pad to a mop. A lot of those accessories are installed to the bottom part of the mop handle, just above the mop itself and consist of a scrubbing pad. Other similar accessories are sown or otherwise permanently attached to the mophead itself. In either cases, this means either a custom made mop handle or a proprietary mophead. The need for a complete proprietary system means the purchasing of an entire line of equipment which can involve great expense for large janitorial service providers or institutions that purchase janitorial equipment for their janitors.

[0003] The advantages of having an incorporated scrubber is abundantly described in other prior art and includes less strain, fatigue, risk of repetitive stress injuries, sick leaves, etc. . . .

[0004] The drawback, of course, for the prior art is that it requires proprietary equipment.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,873 by Moss does present a practical way for installing a scrubber on a mop but again, the invention is advantageously used as part of a proprietary mop wherein the strands are sown together towards the ends. Being sown, the ends can easily pass through the elastic loop as a single entity. Trying to bundle together loose strands and pass them through an elastic loop would be tedious and time consuming, which would defeat any benefits.

[0006] Ease of use very important because in the janitorial trade, time is money and if a system is too complicated, it is not embraced and that is why many of the prior art has never gained mass appeal.

[0007] Moreover, the prior art that incorporates scrubbing pads as part of the mophead has the disadvantage of not being able to change scrubber should the scrubber be worn before the mophead.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] It is a main advantage of this invention to provide for a mop attachment which is fitted on existing mopheads and does not require proprietary equipment.

[0009] It is another advantage to have a simple to install and to use mop attachment.

[0010] In order to do so, the invention comprises a mop accessory for fitting on a mophead of a mop, a stretchable member and an attachment member. The stretchable member has an attachment means and located at one extremity of the stretchable member and which is mated to the opposite extremity of that same stretchable member so that the stretchable member wraps around at least part of the mophead.

[0011] The attachment member is configured so as to be caught in a mophead retainer which forms a standard component of generic mops. The stretchable member has a receiving pad fixedly attached thereof.

[0012] The receiving pad is configured to receive a scrubbing pad and that scrubbing pad is releasably attached to the receiving pad by way of a releasable attachment means.

[0013] The mop accessory has a method of installation consisting in the steps of having the attachment member placed on the mophead retainer. Then, the mophead partition is placed over the mophead accessory. The stretchable member is attached so as to grasp one side of the mophead, and a scrubbing pad can be selectively taken on or off the receiving pad.

[0014] In a preferred embodiment, the attachment means for the stretchable member consists of a hook and loop means. The releasable attachment means for releasably attaching the receiving pad and the scrubbing pad also consists of a hook and loop means.

[0015] There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

[0016] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0017] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0018] Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

[0019] These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter which contains illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1a Isometric view of the mophead with the device installed on a mop.

[0021] FIG. 1b Front view of the mophead with the device installed on a mop.

[0022] FIG. 1c Side view of the mophead with the device installed on a mop.

[0023] FIG. 2a Front view of the device opened and flattened and showing the scrubbing pad.

[0024] FIG. 2b Front view of the device opened and flattened and showing the receiving pad and the scrubbing pad being removed.

[0025] FIG. 2c Rear view of the device opened and flattened.

[0026] FIG. 3a Isometric view of the device.

[0027] FIG. 3b Front view of the device.

[0028] FIG. 3c Side view of the device.

[0029] FIG. 4a Isometric view of the scrubbing pad.

[0030] FIG. 4b Front view of the scrubbing pad.

[0031] FIG. 4c Side view of the scrubbing pad.

[0032] FIG. 4d Rear view of the scrubbing pad.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] A mop accessory (10) is installed over a mophead (12) extending from a mop handle (14). The mop accessory (10) has of an open ended stretchable member (16) and an attachment member (18).

[0034] The stretchable member (16) has an attachment means (20), preferably in the form of hook and loop means located at one extremity (17) of the stretchable member (16) and which is mated to an opposite extremity (19) of that same stretchable member (16) so that the stretchable member (16) wraps around at least a part of the mophead (12) as shown in FIG. 1C, which shows that only one side of the mophead (12) is being used.

[0035] By being open ended, the stretchable member (16) has the advantage of easily encircling the loose strands (11) of the mophead (12)--an advantage over the cited prior art.

[0036] In order to understand the method of installation of the mop accessory (10), a review of basic mop operation is in order: a mop head is a long double ended bundle of loose strands tied together at the middle so as to make two halves. An analogy would be to a long haired wig parted in the middle. The partition is laid over a standard mophead retainer (22) with the strands (11) hanging on each side. Then, the mophead retainer (22) is closed and the mop (not shown) is ready to use.

[0037] The difference in installation of a mophead (12) when installing the mophead accessory (12) is that the mophead accessory (12) is that the attachment member (18) is placed first on the mophead retainer (22) and then the mophead (12) is placed over the mophead accessory (12) in the manner described hereinabove. The stretchable member is attached so as to grasp one side of the mophead (12). When this is done, the mophead (12) is ready to use.

[0038] The mophead retainer (22) is a standard component found, with slight variations, on a variety of mop handles (14) and need not be further discussed here except for the fact that the frictional engagement that it uses also frictionally engages the attachment member (18) so that it holds the mop accessory (10) in place at the top of the mophead (12) while the stretchable member (16) serves to stabilize the sideways motion of the mop accessory (10) by being tightly stretched around the mophead (12) or a substantial part thereof.

[0039] The stretchable member (16) has a receiving pad (24) fixedly attached to it and which is configured to receive a scrubbing pad (26). The scrubbing pad (26) is releasably attached to the receiving pad (24) which consists of a releasable attachment means preferably in the form of hook and loop means. That way, the scrubbing pad (26) can be removed and replaced in seconds should it be worn out.

[0040] Another advantage of a removable scrubbing pas (26) is that different varieties of scrubbing pads (26), from soft to rough, can be interchanged according to the scrubbing requirements.

[0041] As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.

[0042] With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

[0043] Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A mop accessory for fitting on a mophead of a mop comprising: a stretchable member and an attachment member; the stretchable member has an attachment means and located at one extremity of the stretchable member and which is mated to the opposite extremity of that same stretchable member so that the stretchable member wraps around at least part of the mophead; the attachment member is configured so as to be caught in a mophead retainer which forms a standard component of generic mops; the stretchable member has a receiving pad fixedly attached thereof; the receiving pad is configured to receive a scrubbing pad; the scrubbing pad is releasably attached to the receiving pad by way of a releasable attachment means.

2. A mop accessory as described in claim 1 having a method of installation consisting in the steps of: the attachment member is placed on the mophead retainer; then the mophead partition is placed over the mophead accessory; the stretchable member is attached so as to grasp one side of the mophead; a scrubbing pad can be selectively taken on or off the receiving pad.

3. A mop accessory as described in claim 1 wherein: the attachment means for the stretchable member consists of a hook and loop means.

4. A mop accessory as described in claim 1 wherein: the releasable attachment means for releasably attaching the receiving pad and the scrubbing pad consists of a hook and loop means.