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US 4,288,884 AGranted
Mop having skip slit absorptive element
AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorJerold O. Bahls
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMinnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
InventorJerold O. Bahls
Estimating the term…
An improved mop of the type comprising a conventional handle and frame and including a novel absorptive element comprising a skip slit absorptive sheet in the shape of a lattice. The absorptive element has an unslit portion capable of being fastened by the mop frame and the drapable working portion which has been skip slit to provide a lattice structure. A web may be attached to at least one surface of the fastening portion of the absorptive material so as to extend part way over the drapable working portion to provide a scouring surface and/or to reinforce the fastening portion of the absorptive element.
In a mop comprising at least one absorptive element, a handle and a frame adapted to fasten said absorptive element to one end of the handle, the improvement characterized by said absorptive element comprising a substantially flat strip of absorbent material approximately 3 to 20 mm thick and having a first portion capable of being fastened by said mop frame and at least one drapable portion having an outer end opposite said first portion and being slit from said outer end toward but not into said first portion to provide a pattern of spaced parallel rows of disconnected slits throughout the drapable portion with individual slits being approximately 70 to 250 mm in length and being spaced apart in the same row about 3 to 40 mm and parallel adjacent slits being approximately 3 to 16 mm apart and off-set from one another to provide a lattice formed of side-by-side connected strips of said absorbent material.
In a mop comprising an absorptive element, a handle and a frame adapted to fasten said absorptive element to one end of said handle, the improvement characterized by said absorptive element comprising rectangular substantially flat strips of cellulose sponge material approximately 3 to 20 mm thick, each of said strips having a first portion capable of being fastened by said mop frame and opposed substantially equal drapable portions on either side of said first portion, wherein each of said drapable portions have an outer end opposite said first portion and are slit from said outer end toward but not into said first portion to provide a pattern of spaced parallel disconnected slits throughout the drapable portion, with individual slits approximately 70 to 250 mm long and being spaced apart in the same row about 3 to 40 mm, and with adjacent parallel slits being approximately 3 to 16 mm apart and being off-set from one another to provide a lattice formed by side-by-side connected strips of said cellulose foam material, and a reinforcing web formed of a three-dimensional nonwoven lofty abrasive material partially embedded in one side of said first portion and being coextensive with said one side of said first portion and extending from drapable portion up to 130 mm of the distance from said first portion to said outer end.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
Drawings are temporarily unavailable. Open the PDF at USPTO
No related US applications are recorded in the indexed filing history.
Scrubbing; Scouring; Cleaning; Polishing: mops
Structurally defined web or sheet [e.g., overall dimension, etc.]: including aperture
Domestic washing or cleaning
Technical subjects covered by former us classification
Term ended 13 Feb 2000 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved mop having an absorptive element which has been skip slit.
2. Prior Art
The invention may be better understood by reference to the drawing wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts and:
FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of a preferred mop according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective side view of the mop of FIG. 1;
Referring particularly now to the drawing, in FIGS. 1-3, there is shown a mop 10 comprising a handle 11 (only the end segment thereof being shown), fastened to a mop frame 12 of a conventional type which fastens therein absorbent element 13. Absorbent element 13, as can be seen in FIGS. 1-5, comprises a sheet of absorbent material, e.g., felt, sponge or foam sheeting, and the like, which has been slit to provide a drapable working portion 14 in the form of a lattice and an unslit fastening portion 15 for fastening to the frame.
Web 16 may be attached to absorbent element 13 coextensive with fastening portion 15 and extending part of the way over drapable portion 14. Such attachment may be by actually embedding web 16 into absorbent element 13 if the absorbent element is a cellulose sponge, for example, or by other fastening means, e.g., adhesives or mechanical fastening means such as heat bonding, sewing, stapling and the like. The exposed surface 17 of web 16 may be in the same plane as the exposed surface 18 of absorbent element 13, or surface 17 may extend above surface 18, depending upon the fastening means selected, as will be understood. For example an embedded web may have an exposed surface in the same plane while the surface of a web which is sewn, adhesively bonded or stapled web would extend above surface 18.
The absorbent material is preferably cellulose sponge sheet material. Most preferably, this sheet material is 3 to 20 mm thick. Slitting provides a pattern of spaced parallel rows of discontinuous slits throughout the drapable portion of the absorptive element. Individual slits perferably are approximately 70 to 250 mm in length and are preferably spaced apart in the same row about 3 to 40 mm. Parallel adjacent slits are approximately 3 to 16 mm apart and are off-set from one another to provide the lattice-like structure which is characterized by having a multitude of strands which are connected in a side-by-side pattern.