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(11) | EP 4 074 235 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | ADJUSTABLE PRESSURE WRINGER FOR FLOOR MOPS |
| (57) This is an adjustable pressure wringer for floor mops with the mop placed between
the pressure surface that has a rectilinear translational movement and the support
wall.
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Prior art
[0002] As is well known, cleaning operations continually require floor cleaning mops to be to washed and wrung.
[0003] Depending on the circumstances or the personal preferences of the operator carrying out the above-mentioned operations, the cloth must retain a certain amount of water.
[0004] However, this amount is very difficult to replicate for each wringing, and is based on the experience and capacity of the operator alone.
[0005] However, very often the operator prefers the maximum wringing of the mop, which corresponds to the minimum amount of water that the mop can retain after the wringing has been carried out with the operator's maximum effort.
[0006] Even in this case, however, it is not possible to state that the water content of the mop is actually at an acceptable level and that this water content is constantly maintained for the entire duration of the cleaning.
[0007] In fact, the degree of moisture achievable varies according to the maximum force that can be exerted when wringing and will depend on the texture and thickness of the mop.
[0008] There are, therefore, many types of wringers on the market, with varying degrees of efficiency, some dedicated to a single type of mop and others that allow varied mops to be wrung.
[0009] Among the types of wringers that allow generic mops to be wrung, the most versatile models are pressure mop wringers.
[0010] Said wringers are generally operated by a grip, at the end of which there is a handle for manual gripping; said handle rotates a shaft on which arms are fixed, whose ends are hinged to connecting rods that push a surface in a rectilinear manner. Said mop to be wrung is placed between said surface and a support wall.
[0011] It is well known that the maximum wringing that can be obtained is directly connected to the physical strength of the operator, who presses on the handle that moves the mobile part of the wringer, but above all it is connected to the structural configuration of the wringer, according to its kinematic efficiency.
[0012] The maximum kinematic efficiency, which corresponds to maximum effectiveness, is achieved when the arms and the relative connecting rods align with each other.
[0013] With the aforementioned alignment between the arms and billets, the thrust surface reaches a predetermined distance from the counter wall within which the mop to be wrung is placed.
[0014] It is quite clear that there must be a correspondence between the thickness of the mop to be wrung and the aforementioned distance in order to obtain maximum wringing.
[0015] However, even if an operator uses the same type of mop, with regard to the material, thickness and weight, it is clear that over time wringing becomes less efficient due to the modification of the characteristics of the cloth.
[0016] In fact, with continuous washing and wringing and repeated use, the cloth loses texture and volume, losing a degree of thickness compared to how thick it was initially.
[0017] The operator in these cases is, therefore, forced to dispose of a cloth that could still be validly used for cleaning purposes, due to the simple reason that the wringer cannot further wring it to the required degree.
[0018] There are also additional reasons why it would be desirable to have a pressure wringer, namely with a pushing surface with rectilinear movement against a fixed support wall, with at least two or more residual spaces with a different distance and not just a single space corresponding to a single distance.
[0019] In fact, an operator could use different types of mops with different thicknesses, so they can obtain the desired degree of squeezing with the same squeezer.
[0020] Or else it is conceivable that the different cleaning operations can be carried out with the same mops that have been wrung with a different degree of water retention/dampness.
[0021] Even if the operator surely appreciates the aforementioned desirable characteristics, they are not reciprocated by the difficult and complicated modifications to be made to the wringer, or by the replacement of pieces or parts of the wringer itself.
[0022] So that its residual space can be modified, the operator needs any changes to the wringer to be easily implemented and practicable, without the need for separate parts that would get lost over time.
Objects of the invention
[0023] The object of the present invention is to make available a pressure mop wringer with an adjustable wringing residual space that overcomes one or more of the above disadvantages.
[0024] A further object of the present invention is to make available a pressure mop wringer that allows you to obtain an adjustable wringing residual space without any additional and/or external parts.
[0025] Another object of the present invention is to make available a pressure mop wringer that allows you to obtain an adjustable wringing residual space with several fixed positions.
[0026] An important object of the present invention is to make available a pressure mop wringer that allows you to obtain an adjustable wringing residual space without the need for tools, and which can be easily implemented by the operator.
[0027] Another important object of the present invention is to make available a pressure mop wringer that allows you to obtain an adjustable wringing residual space with a limited series of interventions for a multiplicity of positions.
Explanation of the invention
[0028] All the aforementioned objects, and others that will be clearer from the following explanation are achieved by the adjustable pressure floor mop wringer that is the object of the present invention according to the appended claims.
[0029] This is a pressure wringer with rectilinear movement comprising:
- a handle at the end of which there is a grip;
- a quadrangular frame, open at least on the upper side for the entry of the cloth that needs wringing and that comprises:
- two side walls on two sides opposite and contiguous to the upper one;
- a support wall that resists, counteracting the wringing pressure of the cloth and that connects the two side walls;
- two seats obtained on said two side walls for the hinging and/or rotation of said rotating shaft;
- a rotating shaft, within said frame and hinged/rotating within said seats, which is fixed to said handle on the part opposite the grip;
- one or more arms joined solidly to said rotating shaft and having a free end;
- one or more connecting rods with a first and a second hinging end; where said connecting rods are hinged with their own first end to the free end of said one or more arms;
- a pressure surface that moves with a translational movement within said frame and
that has a first and a second larger side, being hinged to the second end of said
one or more connecting rods in an intermediate position of its first larger side,
where said second larger side is, being opposite to the first, the surface that presses
the cloth against said support wall;
characterised by the fact that:said seats are connected to rotating pawls that define the shaft rotation seat in at least two positions, corresponding to the rotation angle of said pawls, and moving the shaft-arm-blade-pressure surface assembly near to the support surface in a first position and
the shaft-arm-blade-pressure surface assembly moving away from the support surface in a second position, achieving a minimum variable distance between the pressure surface and the support surface corresponding to an adjustment of the degree of maximum pressure for wringing a mop that can be obtained with the alignment of the kinematic chain between the arm-blade.
Advantageous characteristics of the invention
[0030] Advantageously, each of said seats on the side walls has a circular configuration and each rotating pawl is always permanently joined to the seats on the side walls with a single possibility of rotating, and has a circular external configuration to connect with each circular seat on the walls of the frame, and on the inside an internal seat to connect with each end of the shaft, characterised by the fact that the axis of the circular external configuration is parallel to and distant from the axis of said internal seat. Advantageously, each of said seats on the side walls has a hollow configuration in a direction corresponding to the direction of movement of the pressure surface and said rotating pawl, where it is able to permanently move, after a rotation, its internal seat near to or away from the two ends of said hollow.
[0031] Advantageously, said wringer comprises a spacer that has a surface corresponding to the pressure surface and that approaches said second larger pressure surface side and is connected with it in two or more rotated positions, corresponding to each of which is a fastening at a position some distance from said pressure surface.
[0032] Advantageously, said two or more spaced apart positions are a multiple and/or sub-multiple of the amount of movement of the shaft ends within said seats of said pawl, making a modular composition for approaching/moving away from the pressure surface to the support surface.
Brief description of the drawings
[0033] 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:
Fig. 1 shows a perspective view from above of the wringer of the invention.
Fig. 2 shows a different overhead perspective view of the wringer of fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shows a side plan view of the wringer of fig. 1
Fig. 4 shows a perspective view from above of the wringer of fig. 1 with the side pawl for fixing the positioning of the shaft end removed.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show respectively a perspective view, a front plan view and a plan view from above of only the side pawl.
Fig. 8 shows a perspective and sectioned view of the wringer of fig. 1 along a vertical plane of the frame only, to highlight the connection of the various moving parts within the frame.
Fig. 9 shows a sectional perspective view of the wringer of fig. 1 along a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the shaft, highlighting the retention of the shaft within the internal seat of the pawls fixed on the outside of the side walls of the frame.
Figs. 10 and 11 show an enlarged section view along a horizontal plane, and passing through the axis of the shaft, the pawl coupling on the side wall that holds the shaft end in the internal seat, according to two different positions of the pawl rotated 180° with respect to the axis of the seat on the side wall, moving the shaft away from the pressure surface.
Figs. 12 and fig. 13 show the wringer in section, along a vertical plane, highlighting the minimum width reached by the pressure surface, with an alignment of the arm and the connecting rod, respectively with the spacer placed close to the pressure surface and with the spacer placed some distance from the pressure surface.
Detailed description of an example of a preferred embodiment
[0034] With reference to the drawings, a wringer 1 of the pressure wringer variety 2 is shown moving with a translational movement.
[0035] Said wringer 1 comprises a frame 3 basically formed by a quadrilateral with at least the upper side 4 open at the top so that the mop to be wrung can be inserted inside the wringer. The side walls 5, 6 are opposite each other and adjacent to the upper side 4, and are joined at the front by a wall that generally corresponds to the support wall 7.
[0036] On said side walls 5, 6 there are seats 8, 9 to realise the hinging of the shaft 10 for rotating the various kinematic systems.
[0037] Said shaft 10 is rotated by a handle 11, at the free end of which there is a grip 12 for the operator.
[0038] One or more arms 13 are fixed on said shaft 10, at the ends of which a first end of one or more connecting rods 14 is hinged, the second end of the one or more connecting rods 14 is hinged on the translational pressure surface with respect to the frame 3, which corresponds to the wringing surface 2
[0039] The kinematic chain from the handle 11 to the pressure surface 2 allows the rotational movement of the handle 11 to be transformed into a rectilinear movement of the pressure surface 2.
[0040] The mop to be wringed is inserted within the space between the pressure surface 2 and the support wall 7, and in this space the mop is compressed when the handle 11 is operated.
[0041] The minimum distance between the pressure surface 2 and the support wall 7 is reached when the alignment of the three hinging axes occurs: shaft-arm, arm-rod, connecting rod-surface-pressure, and which generally coincides with an alignment between arm and connecting rod, and on this occasion there is maximum pressure.
[0042] To make this minimum space of variable dimensions, the shaft 10 is shifted by moving it closer to and away from the pressure surface 2 with a movement of the rotation seat that modifies its position.
[0043] In a first embodiment, the rotation seat 8, 9 on the side walls is a circular seat and is keyed by a pawl 11 with an externally circular configuration 12 that can rotate in two stable positions. The internal seat 17 of the pawl 15, within which the rotation shaft 10 is housed, has an axis parallel to and spaced apart from the axis of the circular seat.
[0044] With this expedient, by rotating the pawl 15 in one direction, the shaft 10 is brought closer to the front of the wringer 1, decreasing the minimum space between the pressure surface 2 and the support wall 7, while by rotating the pawl 180° degrees in the opposite direction the shaft 10 is moved away from the front of the wringer 1, widening the minimum space between the pressure surface 2 and the support wall 7.
[0045] Another embodiment to achieve the aforementioned moving of the shaft 10 closer/further away is achieved with a different configuration of the seats 8, 9 in the side walls 5, 6.
[0046] In this case, the seats are configured as a groove extending in the direction of the movement of the pressure surface 2, therefore the shaft 10 can move from one end of said groove to the other and held at these ends by a pawl that in this case assumes the configuration of a seat of the shaft 10 that is connected with the side wall in different and spaced apart positions.
[0047] To increase the possibility of adjustment for modules with increasing steps, there is a spacer 18 to be connected to the pressure wall 2. Said spacer can be connected with the pressure wall 2 with various joints, for example by rotating it by 90° or 180° degrees, and for each rotation the spacer 18 joins the rear pressure surface 2 protruding at a different distance.
- a pressure surface (2) with rectilinear translation;
- a handle (11) at the end of which is a grip (12);
- a quadrangular frame (3) open at least on the top side (4) for the entry of the cloth to be wrung, and that comprises:
- two side walls (5, 6) on two sides opposite and contiguous to the top one;
- a support wall (7) that counteracts the pressure squeezing the cloth and that connects the two said side walls (5, 6);
- two seats (8, 9) obtained on said two side walls (5, 6) for the hinging and/or rotation of a rotating shaft (10);
- a rotating shaft (10), within said frame (3) and hinged/rotating within said seats (8, 9), and that is fixed to said handle (11) on the opposite side to the grip (12);
- one or more arms (13) joined solidly with said rotating shaft (10) and having a free end;
- one or more connecting rods (14) having a first and a second hinging end; where said connecting rods (14) are hinged with their own first end to the free end of said one or more arms (13);
- a pressure surface (2) that moves with a translational movement within said frame
(3) and that has a first and a second larger side, hinged to the second end of said
one or more connecting rods in an intermediate position of its first larger side,
where said second larger side, opposite to the first, is the surface that presses
the cloth against said supporting wall (7);
characterised by the fact that
said seats (8, 9) are connected to rotating pawls (15) that create the rotation seat
of the shaft (10) in at least two positions corresponding to the rotation angle and
moving the shaft-arm-connecting rod-pressure surface assembly towards the support
surface (7) and in a second position moving the shaft-arm-connecting rod-pressure
surface assembly away from the support surface (7) achieving a minimum variable distance
between the pressure surface (2) and the support surface (7) corresponding to an adjustment
of the degree of maximum pressure for wringing a mop, which can be obtained with the
alignment of the kinematic chain between the arm-connecting rod.