EP0412060A1

EP0412060A1 - Variable-configuration broom for cleaning and/or washing floors

Info

Publication number: EP0412060A1
Application number: EP90830339A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Enrico Spinelli
Original assignee: Fimm Di Spinelli Ing Enrico & C Sas
Current assignee: Fimm Di Spinelli Ing Enrico & C Sas
Priority date: 1989-08-01
Filing date: 1990-07-19
Publication date: 1991-02-06
Also published as: IT218364Z2; IT8933812V0

Abstract

This invention relates to a "variable-configuration broom for cleaning and/or washing floors", of the type having a handle (12) and a supporting member for the cleaning and/or washing fibres (4), said member being coupled to the lower end of said handle, in which broom said support is made up of at least two members (1, 2, 3), of which members, in the embodiment comprising three members, one member is central (1), the handle (12) being coupled to the same, while the two other members are lateral (2, 3), the two lateral members (2, 3) being coupled respectively at one end substantially to the extremity of the central member (1), so that they can rotate about the coupling axis, taking thus two extreme positions, i.e., a closure position in which the size ratio of the width and the length of the support is close to unity, and an open position in which the support has a definitely elongated configuration.

Description

This invention relates to a "variable-configuration broom for cleaning and/or washing floors".
More particularly, this invention relates to an article of the type mentioned above, whose structure is characterized by a very high adaptability or flexibility and lends itself to a practical employment.
Brooms made up of one or more bundles of wool or cotton or synthetic yarn, or of bundles of strips or anyway of any material suitable for cleaning and/or polishing floors are commonly employed for cleaning floors. Such brooms are commonly called "mops".
This kind of tool employed for cleaning gives many practical advantages, the most important of which being the possibility of washing and squeezing said mop in a bucket so that the user has not to wet his/her hands, The cleaning effect is good and the employment of such tool is very simple and cheap.
Such kind of tool is however affected by a drawback. Indeed, due to its abundant bunch or bundle of material, it can wet a wide area of a floor, but, as the material itself is fastened to a very small support, the largest portion of the same is just merely laid on the floor without being pressed against the same, so that the cleaning effect obtained is very limited.
In order to obtain an efficient cleaning action, the user has to pass the mop over the floor a number of times, to cause the small surface of the support, which is the only surface on which the user can exert a strong pressure, to wipe each point of the floor itself.
Quite clearly, the realization of a broom having a larger support would solve such problem, but it would cause a heavier drawback by making the whole tool much less manoeuvrable. Moreover, this would prevent the mop to reach the most difficult parts of the floor; finally, this would give problems as regards the washing and squeezing of the mop itself in the bucket, which operations, as already mentioned above, are one of the best features that make it practical to employ the tool itself.
Moreover, some brooms commercially available have a two-part support which is rectangular in shape, the two parts being hinged to one another at an end in a scissors-like way; said brooms are employed for cleaning large rooms or large reception-rooms and, by closing said so-called "scissors", it is possible to cause the broom to pass through narrow spaces. In such type of broom, even though said "scissors-like" member is closed, the support is again of elongated shape so that it is impossible to wash and/or squeeze the broom in a bucket.
The object of this invention consists in the obtainment of a broom whose support, which is made up of a number of member, each of the same bearing a part of the cleaning fibres, can take various sizes and configurations, merely under control of the user. More particularly, the two fundamental configurations are those of "closed" and open.
In such context, the advantages deriving from the possibility of having at disposal a broom like that of the present invention are quite evident, the support of such broom consisting of a number of members, whose reciprocal positions can be changed according to the actual needs, merely under control of the user, each one of said members bearing in a fixed or removable way a part of the fibres that perform the cleaning and/or washing action.
In particular, the broom according to the present invention can take two extreme positions, i.e., the "closed" and the "open" position, as well as any inter mediate positions if that is suitable. In the "closed" position, the members of the support are gathered in the smallest space so that the broom can be employed in a way similar to that of the small-support brooms of the present time, and so that the most difficult points can be reached and the broom can be very easily washed in a bucket.
In the "open" position of the broom, the members of the support are so arranged as to increase one dimension, so as to supply the cleaning and/or washing fibres with a wider support, and so that a wide area can be efficiently washed with a powerful action in a limited number of strokes.
It is quite evident that the solution according to the present invention allows the user to exploit the advantages of both kinds of brooms (i.e., the small-support and the large-support brooms) without undergoing the drawbacks of the same, as the employer can "transform" the tool into the configuration which is the most convenient in that moment, by means of a simple movement.
For instance, the user will employ the broom in the "closed" state for washing and squeezing the same in the bucket, or for performing a cleaning operation in small spaces; while the user will employ the broom in the "open" state for cleaning wide areas of a floor in a small number of strokes, so saving both time and labour.
Accordingly, it is a specific object of the present invention a so-called "variable-configuration broom for cleaning and/or washing floors", of the type having a handle and a support bearing the cleaning and/or washing fibres, which support is coupled to the lower end of said handle, and it is made up of at least two members, and preferably of three members, the handle being coupled to the first one of the same, while the other ones are connected to the first member and/or to each other by means of hinges, of guides or other kinematic chains which are suitable to cause the broom to take two extreme positions, i.e., respectively the closure position in which the size ratio of the width to the length of the support is close to one and the open position in which the support has definitely elongated configuration.
Again according to the present invention, a pipe can be provided coaxially and external to said handle, which pipe is fastened to said central member, the motion of said members being controlled by means of said pipe.
Preferably, according to the present invention, the movable coupling between said three members of the support can be realized by means of a first toothed wheel which is supported by said central member, and two further toothed wheels or sector gears which are supported by said lateral members, at the point corresponding to the axis of hinging with the central member, a member being also provided for allowing the user to cause the motion to occur, said driving member being possibly made up of said coaxial pipe.
The handle of the broom can be connected to the central member of the support in a fixed or a removable way, or through a ball-and-socket joint or a hinge that allows the handle to be sloped.
Again according to the present invention, the coupling between the handle and a member of the support can be controlled and limited both in sloping and rotation by a cam and by a corresponding conjugated surface, which are supported respectively by said member of the support and by the handle or member which is integral with the same, or also vice-versa.
If desired, the broom according to the present invention can take also the intermediate positions between those of opening and closing.
Further according to the present invention the fibres that perform the cleaning action can be coupled to the support in an unremovable way.
Such fibres can also be coupled to the supporting members in a removable way, for instance by means of a guiding member provided within each member and a corresponding slider that bears the fibres and couples with said guiding member.
The present invention will be disclosed in the following just for illustrative and not for limitative purposes according to a preferred embodiment of the same as shown in the figures of the enclosed drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the broom according to the present invention, in the "open" position.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the broom shown in Figure 1, in the "closed" position;
Figure 3 is a top view of the opening and closing device of the broom according to the present invention; and
Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the device of the broom according to the present invention.

With reference now to Figures 1 and 2, it can be observed that the broom according to present invention is provided with a central member 1 and with two side members 2 and 3 acting as a support of the cleaning fibres 4.
The reciprocal hinging between the members 1 and 2 and the members 2 and 3, whose structure and action will be better disclosed in the following with reference to Figure 3, allows the rotation of such members about the axes 5 and 5′. By merely acting on the pipe 6, which is represented as reduced in sizes in the same figure, but which can obviously be also longer, whose lower end, owing to a number of suitable raised portions, causes a toothed wheel 7 to rotate, said wheel coupling with the toothed wheels 8 and 9 which are integral with the members 2 and 3, the motion of said members 2 and 3 is realized so that the broom is adjusted from the "open" position and the "closed" position and vice-versa, passing through the various intermediate positions.
In the embodiment shown in the figure, the handle 10 is coupled to the central member 1 by means of a ball-and-socket joint 11 so that the broom can be oriented at will.
The reference numeral 12 points out an inclined position of the handle 10.
The pipe 6 also takes a position like that of the handle 10. The three portions of the cleaning fibres 4 are coupled in a slidable way along grooves (not shown) to the members 1, 2 and 3, so that such portions can be substituted in case of wear with other ones of a different kind. Anyway, they can also be made unremovable.
With reference now to Figure 3, the mechanical device consisting of the central toothed wheel 7, which is integral with the member 1, and of the toothed wheels 8 and 9, which are integral with the members 2 and 3, can be observed in a more detailed way. It is sufficient to cause the pipe 6 to rotate to obtain the shifting of the members 2 and 3 from the open position shown in Figure 3 to the closed position and vice-versa.
Obviously the two toothed wheels 8 and 9 can be made up of two sector gears whose toothed portion is just at the points corresponding to the coupling zone with the wheel 7.
The whole device is protected by the carter 13 in order to prevent dirtiness and the like from entering.
While in the embodiment shown in the Figures 1 and 2 the handle 12 of the broom is provided with the ball-and-socket joint 11 for taking all possible positions, in the embodiment shown in Figure 4 said handle is coupled to a member 14 which is in turn fastened at the bottom to a vertical arm 16 through the pin 15, the wheel 7 being rotatable on the axis of said arm, so that the handle can oscillate on the vertical plane at right angles to said pin 15. A cam 17 which is shaped at the top and on whose top surface a surface 18 borne by said member 14 is coupled, is arranged integrally with the wheel 7 around said vertical arm 16.
By causing the pipe 7 to rotate, it causes the cam 17 to rotate, and, owing to the coupling between the cam 17 and the surface 18, the member 14 rotates passing from a vertical position when the broom is closed, to an inclined position when the broom is open. Thus the two positions are well determined and fixed during the use of the broom.
This invention has been disclosed according to a preferred embodiment of the same, but it is to be understood that modifications and/or changes can be introduced by those who are skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention for which a priority right is claimed.

Claims

1. A variable-configuration broom for cleaning and/or washing floors of the type comprising a handle and a support of the washing and/or cleaning fibres, said support being coupled to the lower end of said handle, said broom being characterized in that said support is made up of at least two members, said handle being coupled to the first one of the same, while the other members are connected to the first member and/or to each other by means of hinges, or of guiding members or other kinematic chains suitable to cause the broom to take two extreme positions, i.e., respectively, a closure position in which the size ratio of the length and of the width of the support is close to unity, and an open position in which the support has a definitely elongated configuration.

2. A broom according to claim 1, characterized in that said support is made up of three members.

3. A broom according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the movable coupling between said members making up the support is realized by means of a first toothed wheel which is supported by said central member, and two further toothed wheels or sector gears which are supported, at the points corresponding to the hinging axis with the central member, by said side members; a member being additionally provided for allowing the user to drive said members.

4. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a pipe is provided co-axially with said handle in the external position, through which pipe the motion of said members making the support is controlled.

5. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said handle is connected to the central member of the support in a fixed way, directly or through a connection member.

6. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that said handle is connected to the central member of the support in a removable way, directly or through a connection member.

7. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said handle is coupled to said central member of the support by means of a ball-and-socket joint or by a hinge that allows the same to be inclined.

8. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims 1-4, characterized in that the coupling between said handle and the central member of the support comprises a cam which is coupled to said first member and also comprises a conjugate surface which is borne at the lower portion by the handle or by a member connected to the same, which surface slides on said profile of the cam.

9. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said cleaning fibres are coupled to said support in an unremovable way.

10. A broom according to any one of the preceding claims 1-8, characterized in that said cleaning fibres are coupled to said support in a removable way.

11. A broom according to claim 10, characterized in that said cleaning fibres are coupled in a slidable way to guiding members which are borne at the lower portion by each one of the members of said support.