Patent ID: 6418585
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: A47L

Abstract:
A mop for cleaning windows, floors, decks and other surfaces on which fluids may have been spilled, said mop comprising:A) a solid rigid elongated cylindrical lower handle member, said member terminating in a lower end; B) a rectangular plastic plate, said plate having an upper face and a bottom face, the bottom fade being covered with a water absorbing sponge-like material, the upper face having a first pair of spaced apart parallel grooves, extending lengthwise from one edge of the plate to its opposite edge, the space between said first pair of grooves being fixedly secured to a rigid support member, said support member being fixedly attached centrally to the lower end of the lower handle member at an acute angle with respect to the axis of said handle member; said plate being bendable in a hinge-like manner about each of said first pair of grooves outwardly of said rigid support member, thereby dividing the plate into a forward hinged plate section and a rear hinged plate section on opposite sides of said rigid support member, each said hinged plate section having a second pair of spaced apart parallel grooves normal to the first pair of grooves with one groove on each side of the lower end of the lower section of the handle member where said lower end is attached to said rigid support member; C) a sleeve-like element slideably disposed on the lower handle member and adapted to be moved from an upper plate open position to a lower plate closing position, the lower extremity of said sleeve-like member terminating in a housing having an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion of said housing comprising a forward pair of flat fingers and a rearward pair of flat fingers, the forward pair of fingers being rounded and each being slideably disposed on one of the second pair of grooves in the forward hinged plate section, and the rearward pair of fingers each also being rounded at its lower extremity and being disposed in one of the second pair of grooves in the rear hinged plate section, the forward edge of said forward hinged plate section being turned downwardly around the edge of the sponge-like material, and the rear edge of the rear plate section being turned downwardly, also around the sponge-like material, whereby, when the sleeve-like element is moved downwardly on the lower handle member from the upper plate open position to its lower plate closing position, the fingers are moved in their respective grooves to push the forward and rear hinged plate sections of the plastic plate in a hinge-like manner about said first pair of grooves, and to bring the two sections together to squeeze the sponge-like material on the underside of the plate.