Abstract:
A boot scrubber having a housing including a pair of end members supporting a brush assembly therebetween and including at least one but preferably a pair of flaps hinged to the end members and operable to move from a storage position against the end members to a use position where the flaps extend like wings to either side of the scrubber.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates to boot scrubbers or scrapers, namely, implements having brushes mounted in a housing and placed near the entrance of an area such that the occupant or guest may move his or her shoes or boots against the brushes to dislodge sand, dirt, snow, mud and the like prior to entering such area. These devices are commonly referred to as boot scrubbers but, of course, have utility for many types of footwear and other objects such as bicycles, toys, tools and the like. While commercially available, the success of such devices has been limited despite their desirable feature of removing sand, grit and debris from boots prior to entering a house, etc. thus protecting popular flooring surfaces such as marble and pre-finished wood. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Boot scrubbers of the type above referred to are well known and generally include fixed brushes mounted to a housing which, in turn, is fastened to the surface on which such is supported generally semi-permanently as by screwing the housing to a wooden porch or deck floor surface to assure that the device remains stationary when the user positioned adjacent the device passes his/her boots one at a time into contact with the brushes. Although operable, such devices mar the supporting surface to which they are secured and/or present mounting difficulties when it is desired to secure the device to surfaces such as flagstone, concrete, sand or grass, etc. 
     Some designs to overcome the above-indicated problem has been proposed as by materially increasing the device&#39;s width such as by providing integral platforms on either side of the brush unit such that the operator can stand on one of these platforms thus utilizing his/her own body weight to stabilize the unit such as shown in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D386,858 and D439,714. As may be apparent from viewing such patents, such approach greatly increased the length and bulk of the unit. Recognizing such, boot scrubber products have incorporated decorative designs on or in such platforms in an attempt to reduce the device&#39;s bulky appearance such as the star cutouts in U.S. Pat. No. D439,714. While this approach may be more visually appealing, it does not remedy the obvious inconveniences caused by the device&#39;s overall increased length. 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a boot scrubber, which is compact, simple to operate and does not materially increase the bulk of the device beyond that necessary for operational functionality of the scrubbing brushes. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide a boot scrubber which can be easily moved to varied locations and which requires no semi-permanent or permanent fastening to its supporting surface. 
     These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by a boot scrubbing device for removing dirt and sand from boots one boot at a time of a person wearing such footwear while such person stands adjacent said device, said device including a housing including a pair of upright longitudinally-spaced members having generally planar outer surfaces and including bottom edge positions thereof, said housing further including a base member having laterally-spaced lower portions, said lower portions of said base member and said bottom edge portions of said upright members cooperatively forming a means for contacting an essentially flat supporting surface so as to position said device on said supporting surface, said base member and said upright members further cooperatively supporting a fixed brush assembly therebetween, and at least one of said upright members including a foot engageable housing positioning and stabilizing flap hingedly connected thereto, said flap being substantially planar and having an inner surface and an outer surface, said inner surface of said flap adapted for upright positioning against the outer surface of said at least one upright member when the flap is in a storage position and movable from said storage position to a position where said flap extends longitudinally from the bottom edge portion of said at least one upright member in a housing stabilizing position where the outer surface thereof rests on said supporting surface and the inner surface thereof faces upward for contact by the other boot of the person wearing such boot whereby the person&#39;s body weight stabilizes the position of the device while the one boot is being scrubbed. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings that illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention: 
         FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a boot scrubber embodying the preferred form of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a front perspective view similar to  FIG. 1  but showing one of the pair of foot flaps deployed in the boot scrubber&#39;s extended use position; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged partial perspective view of a portion of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a bottom plan view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a front elevational view of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a front elevational view of  FIG. 1  similar to  FIG. 7  but with the right hand foot flap downwardly pivoted to its use position; 
         FIG. 9  is a top plan view of  FIG. 8  showing the manner in which a user of the device may rest his/her right foot on the flap to stabilize the position of the device while moving his/her left foot across and back and forth over and through the brush assembly so as to remove sand, grit and the like from the left shoe or boot; and 
         FIG. 10  is a front perspective view illustrating the same use mode depicted in  FIG. 9 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Turning now to the drawings, a boot scrubber device  10  is shown having a housing  12  that, in turn, includes a pair of longitudinally spaced upright end members  14  and a pair of laterally spaced base members  16  connected thereto to compositely form such housing. The end members include an outer plate  18  having an outer surface  17  and an inner surface  19  to which a primary or side brush block  20  is attached. The primary brush block includes a plurality of inwardly extending bristles  22 . The bristles  22  of each of the blocks  20  terminate short of each other approximately the width of a boot such that the user of the device can move his/her boot back and forth such that the boot sides are contacted by the bristles and debris such as dirt, sand, snow etc. is removed therefrom. 
     The housing further includes a pair of secondary or bottom brush blocks  24  attached to the base members. The bottom brush blocks  24  include sets of upwardly extending bristles  26 . Generally, the base members and the upright members are formed of thin metal plate material and the blocks  20 ,  24  constructed of wood or plastic and the bristles held therein by friction within openings as with wood construction and by molding in situ as with plastic construction. The blocks are connected to their respective members by conventional means such as screws  28 . 
     It may thus be apparent the blocks and their bristles form a brush assembly  15  fixedly positioned within the housing for brushing operation as intended. In order to position the device  10  upon an underlying supporting surface  30  on which the device  10  is adapted to rest as by contact therewith by the lower edge portions  32 ,  34  of the base and upright members respectively, at least one and preferably a pair of foot flaps  40  are attached to the lower edge portion  34  of each upright member. Each flap is generally planar and preferably formed of a magnetic material such as sheet steel that is also the preferred material for the upright members as well. The upright members may assume any desired cross-sectional shape such as the inverted U-shaped configuration depicted. 
     The foot flap  40  generally assumes the same planar configuration as the upright member associated therewith such that when the inner surface  42  of the flap is positioned against the outer surface  17  of the plate  18  of each of the upright members  14 , the foot flap will blend in with the housing and appear and, in fact, contribute to a longitudinally compact device. Each flap is hingedly connected to its associated plate  18  via a hinge  44  positioned at the lower edge of the plate  18  and interconnected to both such plate and the foot flap. The outer surface  46  of the flap is preferably provided with an adhesively attached thin layer  48  of high friction material such as rubber and the like to entirely cover the outer surface  46  or at least cover a portion of such outer surface  46 . When the foot flap  40  is downwardly moved from its storage position as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 7  to its use position shown in  FIGS. 2-4 ,  8 - 10 , the high friction material will contact the supporting surface to provide better skid resistance when the user&#39;s foot is placed on the inner surface  42  to position the device on the supporting surface while moving the other foot back and forth through the brush assembly. 
     The above procedure is clearly depicted in  FIGS. 9 and 10  with the user holding the device  10  in position by exerting his or her body weight on the flap  40  through the right hand shoe while cleaning the left hand shoe. Obviously, the user in cleaning the right shoe would lower the left hand flap and place the left foot thereon while brushing the dirt, sand, etc. from the right shoe. In those cases where only one foot flap is provided, the device  10  can be lifted and rotated 180 degrees into position to clean the other boot or alternatively the user can simply approach the device from the opposite lateral side. 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 2-4 , a preferred means for holding or maintaining the foot flap in its upright non-use or storage position is shown in the form of a magnet  50  held by a block  52  in turn connected to a side block  20  as by screws  54  (see  FIG. 6 ). The face  56  of the magnet is positioned through an opening or cut-out  58  through the plate  18  such that the magnet attracts the foot flap and holds the foot flap in its storage position. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 2  in particular, each of the foot flaps  40  includes a tab  60  generally integral therewith but which projects beyond the front edge  62  of the upright member  18  such that the tab  60  extends past the forward extent of the upright member and thus the user can easily and without bending or stooping down simply place the toe of the shoe intended for stabilizing the device adjacent the flap tab  60  and move the flap to the left or right and thus push or place the foot flap in the extended use position. The force applied by the user will overcome the magnetic attraction between the foot flap and plate. 
     While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying this invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.