MOP WRINGING APPARATUS

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to mop wringing apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new mop wringing apparatus for wringing water from mop heads.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art discloses various mop wringing apparatuses which use rollers which compress mop heads to expel absorbed water. However, the prior art fails to describe such an apparatus which uses rollers that have teeth which mesh or align with each other to increase a surface area of the mop head which is compressed. The prior art further fails to disclose such an apparatus which uses a motor to rotate the rollers and which mounts to a bucket.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a main body, a first roller, and a second roller. The first roller and the second roller are rotatably mounted to the main body on rotational axes which are parallel to each other. The first and second rollers have gear teeth formed on exterior surfaces thereof. The first and second rollers are spaced from each other at a distance configured to accommodate a mop head therebetween and compress the mop head between the rollers. A drive mechanism is operatively coupled to the first roller and is operable to rotate the first roller with respect to the main body.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure 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 disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a mop wringing apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 4-4 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a cross section view of an embodiment of the disclosure taken from Line 6-6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a cross section in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 9 thereof, a new mop wringing apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 9, the mop wringing apparatus 10 generally comprises a main body 12 which defines a channel 14 that extends therethrough. The channel 14 extends through a top side 16 of the main body 12 and a bottom side 18 of the main body 12. A bottom end of the channel 14 is also open through a front side 20 of the main body 12. A first roller 30 and a second roller 32 are rotatably mounted in the channel 14 of the main body 12. The first and second rollers 30, 32 have rotational axes which are parallel to each other. The first and second rollers 30, 32 also have gear teeth 34, 36 formed on exterior surfaces thereof which mesh with each other. The rotational axes of the first and second rollers 30, 32 are offset from each other in a direction between a front side 20 and a rear side 22 of the main body 12 and in a direction between the top side 16 and the bottom side 18 of the main body 12.

A guide surface 38 of the main body 12 adjacent to the channel 14 is shaped and configured to direct a mop head 56 between the first and second rollers 30, 32 when moved along the guide surface 38 toward the first and second rollers 30, 32. The guide surface 38 is curved such that, during normal use, the mop head 56 may slide vertically downwardly along the guide surface 38 at a distal end of the guide surface 38 relative the first and second rollers 30, 32 and at an angle between the horizontal and the vertical when the mop head 56 is fed between the first and second rollers 30, 32. In other embodiments, the guide surface 38 may be planar and sloped to feed the mop head 56 between the first and second rollers 30, 32. In some embodiments, the channel 14 may be vertically oriented, the first and second rollers 30, 32 may lie on a plane perpendicular to the channel 14, and there may not be a guide surface 38.

A drive mechanism 40 is operatively coupled to the first roller 30 and is operable to rotate the first roller 30 with respect to the main body 12. The first roller 30 drives the second roller 32 via the gear teeth 34, 36 of the first and second rollers 30, 32 when rotated by the drive mechanism 40. The gear teeth 34, 36 of the rollers 30, 32 may be spaced to such an extent that the first roller 30 only drives the second roller 32 when the mop head 56 fills gaps between the gear teeth 34, 36. In other embodiments, the rollers 30, 32 may be otherwise coupled, such as via a belt, a geartrain, or the like, such that the rollers 30, 32 turn in unison, at the same speed, and in opposite directions from each other without the gear teeth 34, 36 of the rollers 30, 32 actually contacting each other.

With reference to FIGS. 1 through 6, 8, and 9, the drive mechanism 40 of one embodiment comprises a motor 42. A power supply 46 is electrically coupled to the drive mechanism 40. The power supply 46 comprises a battery but may comprise a capacitor or other suitable power storage device. A charging port 48 is electrically coupled to the power supply 46 and may charge the power supply 46 by connecting to an external power source via an electrical cord. A control input 50 is operatively coupled to the drive mechanism 40 and may be used to rotate the first roller 30 alternately in a first rotational direction and a second rotational direction opposite the first. The control input 50 is electrically coupled to the power supply 46 and the drive mechanism 40.

A housing 51 is mounted to the main body 12 and houses the motor 42 and the power supply 46. The charging port 48 is mounted on an exterior of the housing 51. In other embodiments, the motor 42 may be powered by the external power source via a cord or like connection means. The control input 50 may be remote and may operate wirelessly to control the drive mechanism 40.

With reference to FIG. 7, the drive mechanism 40 of another embodiment comprises a lever 44. In other embodiments, the drive mechanism 40 may comprise any suitable powered or manual actuation means.

The main body 12 defines a slot 24 in the bottom side 18 which is spaced from the channel 14. The slot 24 is sized and configured to receive a rim 60 of a bucket 58 to seat the main body 12 on the bucket 58. The slot 24 separates a rear lower portion 28 of the main body 12 from a front lower portion 26 of the main body 12. The rear lower portion 28 extends farther downwardly away from an upper end of the slot 24 than the front lower portion 26, which may help the mop wringing apparatus 10 and the bucket 58 from tipping when the rear lower portion 28 is positioned outside of the bucket 58 and the front lower portion 26 is placed inside the bucket 58. The tipping is avoided by a lower end 29 of the rear lower portion 28 engaging the bucket 58 when the main body 12 is rotated outwardly relative to the bucket 58 over the rim 60. In some embodiments, the main body 12 may be integrally formed with the bucket 58 or fixedly coupled via threaded fasteners, clamps, or other suitable attachment means.

An elongated member 52 is coupled to and extends away from the top side 16 of the main body 12. The elongated member 52 may be grasped and used as a handle to move the apparatus 10 and the bucket 58 across a floor surface. FIGS. 1 through 6, 8, and 9, the control input 50 is positioned at a distal end 52 of the elongated member 52 with respect to the main body 12.

In use, the mop head 56 may be inserted into the channel 14. The drive mechanism 40 is actuated to rotate the rollers 30, 32 such that the rollers 30, 32 draw the mop head 56 between the rollers 30, 32. Upon being drawn between the rollers 30, 32, the mop head 56 is compressed between the rollers 30, 32 to expel absorbed water, which drains out of the channel 14. When attached to the bucket 58, the water drains into the bucket 58. The meshing of the gear teeth 34, 36 causes the mop head 56 to follow a circuitous path between the rollers 30, 32 and exposes more of a surface area of the mop head 56 to the exteriors of the rollers 30, 32 than would be possible for rollers of similar widths with smooth exteriors. More of the mop head 56 therefore is wringed compared to such other rollers.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, 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 an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure 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 disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.