Reservoir handle for a cleaning element such as a brush, wiper or similar

A reservoir handle for a cleaning element (2), the reservoir handle comprising:

• a hollow cylindrical part (3′, 7) having an upper end, a lower end, and hollow region located between the upper and lower ends, wherein the bottom end is fastenable to the cleaning element (2);
• a refillable reservoir (15) for liquid located within the hollow region, the refillable reservoir (15) having a reservoir top and a reservoir bottom;
• a lateral filler opening (14) extending through a wall of the upper end of the hollow cylindrical part;
• an outlet (16, 33) located at the reservoir bottom;
• an operable valve (17) that opens and closes the outlet (16, 33);
• an operating button (8) affixed to the upper end of the hollow cylindrical part, the operating button (8) being connected to the valve (17), the operating button (8) being affixed movably in an axial direction on the upper end of the hollow cylindrical part,
• wherein pushing the operating button (8) in the axial direction opens the valve (17) to let liquid out of the reservoir (15), and
• wherein the operating button (8) comprises a stopper (25) that is axially movable in the upper end of the hollow cylindrical part between i) a closed position in which the reservoir (15) is closed off from the environment when the operating button (8) is not pressed in, and ii) a filling position in which the reservoir (15) is connected to the environment via the filler opening (14) in order to be able to fill the reservoir (15).

An extension piece (7) for use on a reservoir handle (3) that forms a refillable reservoir (15), the having a bottom end that is fastenable to a cleaning element (2), the extension piece (7) comprising:

• a tubular cylindrical body having a cylindrical wall that defines, at cross-sections along a longitudinal length of the tubular cylindrical body, an outside diameter (A) and an inside diameter (B) of the tubular cylindrical body;
• a first threaded section (9) located on an exterior surface of the tubular cylindrical body at an upper end of the tubular cylindrical body, an outside diameter (E) of the first threaded section (9) being greater than the outside diameter (A) of the tubular cylindrical body;
• a second threaded section (10) located on the exterior surface of the tubular cylindrical body at the upper end of the tubular cylindrical body, the a second threaded section (10) being spaced apart from the first threaded section (9), an outside diameter (E) of the second threaded section (10) being greater than the outside diameter (A) of the tubular cylindrical body;
• a lateral filler opening (14) extending through the tubular cylindrical body, the lateral filler opening (14) partially overlapping the second threaded section (10);
• a handgrip (6) provided on the exterior surface of the tubular cylindrical body at a lower end of the tubular cylindrical body,
• wherein the first and second threaded sections (9, 10) divide the upper end of the tubular cylindrical body into a top zone (11) at the uppermost end of the tubular cylindrical body, an intermediate zone (12) between the first and second threaded sections (9, 10), and a lower zone (13) between the second threaded section (10) and the handgrip (6), each of the top zone, the intermediate zone, and the lower zone being without screw thread, wherein,
• the inside diameter (B) of the tubular cylindrical body at the lower zone (13) is less that the inside diameter (B) of the tubular cylindrical body at the lower end of the tubular cylindrical body comprising the handgrip (6),
• an interior of the lower end of the tubular cylindrical body comprising the handgrip (6) fits onto a top end of the reservoir handle (3) that forms the refillable reservoir (15) to thereby extend the top end of the reservoir handle (3),
• the first threaded section (9) is engagable to mate with a threaded section (30) located on an interior surface of a cylindrical shell (29) of a cap (24) comprising a stopper (25) with a base that mounts a seal (26), such that when threaded on the first threaded section (9), the lateral filler opening (14) is exposed for accepting liquid, and
• the second threaded section (10) is engagable to mate with the threaded section (30) such that when threaded on the second threaded section (10), the seal (26) seals against an interior of the tubular cylindrical body at a cross-section that includes the lower zone (13).