HEAD FOR FLOOR-CLEANING MOPS

Abstract: A head for connecting a handle of a floor-cleaning mop to an absorbent head comprises an inner body part (1) and a locking ferrule (2) carried on the inner body part. The inner body part (1) has a connection formation (3) for connection with a handle and a recess into which a connection portion (5) of a mop head can be received. There is carried on the body part (1) three locking arms (8). The locking ferrule (2) is rotatable between an unlocked condition in which a connection portion (5) of a mop head can be freely inserted into the housing and a locked condition in which each locking arm (8) is deflected into the housing by the locking ferrule (2) so as to bear against the said connection portion (5) inserted therein. The or each locking projection arm (8) has a plurality of radially-inwardly-directed projections which dig into the connection portion (5) of the mop head.

Description: HEAD FOR FLOOR-CLEANING MOPS The present invention relates to a head which forms the joining connection between a mop part of a floor-cleaning mop and a corresponding shaft or handle. For fastening the mop part of a floor-cleaning mop to the corresponding head, especially in the case of mop parts made from one or more strips or bands of absorbent material, the most commonly used solution consists in providing in the head, a configuration of a spherical, hollow shell, from the centre of which there emerges an anchoring spindle. The anchoring spindle is intended to pass through the or each strip forming the actual mop part and is finished off with an expanded point, like an arrowhead. The spindle also passes through a generally discoidal retention element which presses the strips against the housing defined by the said spherical shell. This solution poses a problem based fundamentally on two aspects: it requires the strips forming the mop part to be twice as long as their length effective in washing, since the strips cross over at their mid-point so that the fastening means can pass through them, or it requires the use of mop parts constructed from a laminar body in which radial strips are obtained by cutting, with the consequent waste of material that this involves . Moreover, in any case, this fastening means that the strips or loose ends of cloth of the mop part are grouped together in a bell-shaped manner, leaving a sizeable central empty space, which detracts from the functional nature of the mop given that the mop part is often extended radially, the fastening means entering into direct' contact with the floor, with the result that it is impossible to apply the necessary pressure to the absorbent strips against the floor. Further, the floor may also be damaged by the fastening means, specifically from scratches being generated especially when said floor is of a soft type. The head proposed by the invention aims to solve the aforesaid problem. In a first of its aspects the invention provides a head for a floor-cleaning mop comprising an inner body part and a locking ferrule carried on the inner body part, the inner body part having a connection formation for connection with a handle and a recess into which a connection portion of a mop head can be received, there being carried on the body part at least one locking projection, the locking ferrule being moveable between an unlocked condition in which a connection portion of a mop head can be freely inserted into the housing and a locked condition in which the or each locking projection is deflected into the housing by the locking ferrule so as to bear against the said connection portion inserted therein. To this end and more specifically, said head is constructed by means of the functional combination of a base body and a locking ferrule, said base body having two coaxial, opposite housings, an upper one for receiving the shaft or handle and a lower one, of greater diameter, intended to receive the neck of the mop part, with the particular feature that, in the latter and beyond an over¬ sized entrance, like a lateral wall thereof, there is a plurality of partitions which are joineoT to the base body only via one of their lateral edges and which are equipped on their inner face and beside their other edge with ridges of spikes on the neck of the mop part, these partitions adopting an initial position of maximum expansion which permits easy insertion of the neck of the mop part, wedge- type cams present on the complementary ferrule interacting with the partitions so that the rotation of the ferrule with respect to the base body, in a specific direction, causes a contraction of the said partitions of the base body and the consequent securing of the mop part via its neck. In accordance with a further preferred characteristic of the invention, the locking ferrule can be coupled axially to the base body simply by their being plugged together and it has elastically deformable small legs, at its upper entrance, which, when both pieces are being coupled together, extend beyond a perimeter rib operationally provided on the base body, the said rib acting as a means of retention or axial blocking for the said ferrule which is thus immobilised between this rib and the thicker part of the entrance of the base body. To supplement the description which is being given and with the aim of assisting better comprehension of the characteristics of the invention, the present specification is accompanied, as an integral part thereof, by a set of drawings where the following are shown in an illustrative and non-limiting manner; Figure 1 - this shows a perspective dismantled view of a head for floor-cleaning mops produced in accordance with the subject of the present invention in which said mop part has been shown partially and in discontinuous lines as it is outside the scope of the invention; Figure 2 - this shows a bottom view of the locking ferrule which forms part of the head in the previous figure; Figure 3 - this shows a top view of the base body of said head; and Figure 4 - this shows, finally, the set of components in Figure 1 duly assembled. An embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail by way of example, with reference to the drawings. From these figures it may be observed how the recommended head is constructed by means of a base body (1) and a locking ferrule (2), an upper, cylindrical housing (3) for the shaft of the floor mop (not shown in the drawings and a second, lower housing (4) for the neck (5) of the mop part (6) being defined in the base body (1) , this lower housing (4) , of greater diameter than the upper housing (3) , taking the form of three arms, arranged according to their generatrices, which correspond to the actual reference (4) , which via their upper end are joined to the lower end of the upper housing (3) by means of extensions (4') which are bent orthogonally inwards, and which at the bottom are finished off with a common ring (7) defining the entrance to said housing (4) and which is substantially over-sized so that it in no way impedes the penetration of the neck (5) of the mop part (6) . The most important particular feature of this base body (1) and, more specifically, of the lower housing (4) for the mop part (6) is that, from each one of the said lateral arms (4), there emerges, with the possibility of a degree of tilting, an arcuate partition (8) which, in combination with the other two identical partitions, largely closes the lateral wall of the housing (4) , each one of these partitions (8) having its other three edges, those away from the edge which joins to the corresponding lateral arm (4) , totally free in such a manner that these partitions (8) are capable of contracting elastically towards the inside of the housing (4) having, on their inner face and in their marginal zone opposite their edge which joins to the arms (4) , fastening ridges (9) of spikes for the neck (5) of the mop part (6) . Complementarily, the locking ferrule (2) , which can be coupled axially and externally to the lower housing (4) of the base body, incorporates, on its inner face, cams (10) , coinciding in number and position with the partitions (8) of the base body, which preferably take the form of a plurality of small partitions of different width, as may be observed especially in Figure 2, so that, when the ferrule (2) rotates with respect to the base body (1) , the cams (10) cause a wedging on the partitions (8) of the base body, forcing the said partitions to tilt inwards and, more specifically, forcing their ridges (9) to dig into the neck (5) of the mop part (6) , whilst its rotation in the opposite direction causes the unlocking or release of said mop part. In order that the locking ferrule (2) is held coupled to the base body (1) in a non-removable manner, in the axial direction, provision has been made, in addition to being stopped via its lower entrance (11) on the ring (7) forming the lower entrance of the base body, for the locking ferrule to incorporate, in its upper entrance, centring small legs (12) , which are bent orthogonally inwards, intended to extend as far as a level close to that of the housing (3) of the base body (1) , specifically until they come into frontal contact with a perimeter rib (13) of the base body, whilst, between each pair of centring small legs (12) , there is established a longer locking small leg (14) which, extending beyond the perimeter rib (13) of the base body (1) , stops against the lower face thereof, immobilising the ferrule (2) in the axial direction with respect to the base body (1) , as was sought . In this manner, after axial coupling between the base body (1) and the locking ferrule (2) , the result is achieved that, in an angular position for these elements, the neck (5) of the mop part (6) can easily be coupled axially in the lower housing (4) of the base body, being perfectly centred thanks to the conventional axial spindle (15) emerging from the bottom of said housing and which can be accommodated in an axial orifice (16) of the said neck (5) . From this pre- assembly situation, it suffices to rotate the locking ferrule (2) , within limits set by outer ribs (17) located on the outer face of the arms (4) and against which the ribs (10) of the locking ferrule (2) stop, for the ridges (9) of the base body to contract against the neck (5) of the mop part (6) and for the latter to be perfectly fastened. It is deemed unnecessary to expand this description so that any person skilled in the art can appreciate the scope of the invention and the advantages deriving therefrom. The materials, form, size and arrangement of the elements may be varied provided this does not detract from the essential nature of the invention. The terms in which this specification has been drafted must always be taken in a wide and non-limiting sense.

Claims: CLAIMS. 1. A head for a floor-cleaning mop comprising an inner body part (1) and a locking ferrule (2) carried on the inner body part, the inner body part (1) having a connection formation (3) for connection with a handle and a recess into which a connection portion (5) of a mop head can be received, there being carried on the body part (1) at least one locking projection (8), the locking ferrule (2) being moveable between an unlocked condition in which a connection portion (5) of a mop head can be freely inserted into the housing and a locked condition in which the or each locking projection (8) is deflected into the housing by the locking ferrule (2) so as to bear against the said connection portion (5) inserted therein. 2. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to claim 1 in which the housing is constituted by a plurality of arms (4) extending between the connection formation (3) and a ring (7) , the connection portion (5) of a mop head being insertable into the housing generally axially through the ring (7) . 3. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to claim 2 in which the or each locking projection (8) comprises a resilient arm extending circumferentially from one of the arms . 4. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to claim 3 in which there is carried on the or each arm (8) one or more radially-inwardly-directed projections (9) which engage a connection portion (5) of a mop head when the ferrule (2) is moved to the locked condition. 5. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to any preceding claim in which the connection formation (3) comprises a cylindrical housing into which an end portion of a handle can be inserted. 6. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to claim 5 in which the cylindrical housing has a closed end wall an outer surface of which faces into the housing. 7. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to claim 6 in which a spike-like projection extends from the end wall into the housing to be received in a corresponding hole (16) in an end face of a connection portion (5) of a mop head. 8. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to any preceding claim in which the connection formation (3) passes through a central aperture of the ferrule (2) . 9. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to any preceding claim in which the ferrule (2) is moved between its locked and unlocked conditions by rotation about an axis of the head with respect to the body part (1) . 10. A head for a floor-cleaning mop according to any preceding claim in which each of the body part (1) and the ferrule (2) is formed as a respective plastics moulding. 11. Head connector for floor-cleaning mops, characterised in that it is constructed by means of the functional combination of a base body and a locking ferrule, with the particular feature that, in the said base body, a housing for a neck of a mop head part, it is constructed on the basis of a series of lateral arms, arrange'd in the direction of their generatrices, which at one of their ends are joined to a housing for a shaft or handle of the mop whilst their other end is joined to a ring defining an over-sized entrance for said housing, an arcuate projection emerging from each one of these arms so that these arcuate projections form the greater part of the lateral wall of the housing for the neck of the mop part, each one of said projections having three of its edges free, and, on its inner face and in its marginal zone opposite its edge where it joins to the corresponding arm, ridges or spikes engagable with the neck of the mop head part which resists its removal from the housing when the locking ferrule, coupled to the base body, is rotated in a locking position with respect to the body part. 12. Head for floor-cleaning mops according to Claim 11, characterised in that, on its inner face, the locking ferrule incorporates wedge-type cams which, during the rotary movement of the ferrule with respect to the base body, progressively flex the arcuate projections of the latter inwardly of the housing to grip the neck of the mop part. 13. Head for floor-cleaning mops according to Claim 11 or Claim 12 characterised in that the cams or wedges of the locking ferrule are groups of small projections arranged in the direction of their generatrices, with progressively increasing width, acting simultaneously as catches limiting the rotation of said ferrule with respect to the base body, with the cooperation of outer ribs provided on the arms of the base body. 14. Head for floor-cleaning mops according to any one of Claims 11 to 13, characterised in that the locking ferrule incorporates, in its upper entrance, small legs which are bent orthogonally inwards, acting as means for centring the ferrule with respect to the base body so that it can be coupled coaxially to the latter, said centring means touching, on the front, a perimeter edge provided on the base body in the area where the two opposite housings of the base body, that of the shaft and that of the mop part, join, provision having been made so that, between each pair of small legs for centring the locking ferrule, there is established a longer intermediate small leg which is elastically deformable and intended to go beyond the perimeter rib of the base body, acting as an axial retention means for the locking ferrule which, via its other end, bears on the over-sized ring forming the lower entrance of the base body. 15. A mop comprising a head according to any preceding claim.

Inventors: ROBLEDO CUESTA JUAN VICENTE, ROBLEDO CUESTA, JUAN, VICENTE
Applicants: ROBLEDO CUESTA JUAN VICENTE, UNILEVER NV, UNILEVER PLC, ROBLEDO CUESTA, JUAN, VICENTE, UNILEVER N.V.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: A47L13
IPC codes: A47L13