Abstract:
A janitorial cart having zone separation to separate storage areas from water zones to help maintain clean and dry storage areas. Basically, a central trash unit separates the water zone from the supply storage zone. Additionally, an enclosed trash compartment is used to conceal a trash collection bag and improved the appearance of the janitorial cart when being used. The enclosed trash compartment is positioned above a pair of large central wheels for improved stability.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to janitorial carts and in particular to wheeled, manually propelled janitorial carts where the cart can efficiently store and organize all the necessary implements for normal cleaning duties.  
           [0002]    In typical prior art janitorial carts, the cart includes a mop bucket tray, usually the front portion of the cart, a central storage area for holding paper supplies, cleaning products and tools and a trash collection bag, usually hanging from a combination bag support and cart handle. One such cart is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,202 by Breveglieri et al. The combined trash bag support and handle can be a problem in that the cleaner&#39;s hands are inserted into the trash bag when pushing the cart. This can cause cross-contamination from the trash to the surfaces the cleaner is cleaning. By allowing the trash bag to hang freely from the rear of the cart, the cart can become unstable as the trash bag is filled, the bag itself can fail by tearing or ripping open due to the unsupported weight of the trash within the bag. A further problem that can happen is contamination of the paper goods due to the paper goods being stored on open shelving adjacent the mop bucket tray. Either when a mop bucket containing water is placed on the cart or when the cart is being moved, water in the bucket can spill out and damage the paper goods on the storage shelves.  
           [0003]    It has been a goal of prior art cleaning carts to produce a cleaning cart that efficiently and conveniently will hold in a readily accessible position all implements or tools required in a cleaning person&#39;s job. However, because of the varying natures in the cleaning job environment, the cart must be flexible enough to be readily adapted to a particular job environment. Typically prior art cleaning carts either do not efficiently use cart space, or in the alternative do not provide sufficient cart space for all the required cleaning utensils. These carts also are inflexible and cannot usually be customized to the particular needs of the cleaning person.  
           [0004]    The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present janitorial carts. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    In one aspect of the present invention, this is accomplished by providing a manually propelled janitorial cart having a base with a pair of central wheels and at least one outboard wheel. A central trash compartment is normally positioned above the axis of the central wheels. In an alternate embodiment, the janitorial cart can be provided with three zone separation compartments, a wet zone, a goods storage zone and a trash zone positioned between the wet zone and the goods storage zone. Also, in an alternate embodiment, the trash compartment can be enclosed and include a side access door. It is preferred that a handle be provided that is separate and distal to the trash storage compartment.  
           [0006]    The foregoing and other aspects will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 is a first perspective view of a janitorial cart;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2. Is a second perspective view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1, illustrating the side door and the lid in an open position;  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 is a third perspective view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 is a right side view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 is a left side view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 is a top view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line  8 - 8  of FIG. 6;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a janitorial cart;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the second embodiment of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 9;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 11 is partial cross-sectional view illustrating the attachment of the removable front portion of the base to the main portion of the base.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 12 is a side view of the removable front portion of the base;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 13 is a top view of the removable front portion of the base; and  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the janitorial cart shown in FIG. 1.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]    Shown in the FIGURES is a janitorial cart  10  according to the present invention. Two large central wheels  30  are attached to the base  20 , approximately in the center of the base  20 . A plurality of outboard wheels  32  are attached to the base  20  outboard (along a longitudinal direction) from the central wheels  30 . Preferably, the central wheels  30  are larger than the outboard wheels  32 . Attached to the base  20  is a central trash compartment  25  that is positioned above the axis of the central wheels  30 . The central wheels  30  are removably attached, using cotter pins, to an axle  22 .  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 4, the janitorial cart  10  can be divided into three laterally spaced separation zones, a wet zone  23  in the front of the cart  10 , a goods storage zone  28  (the wet zone  23  and goods storage zone  28  also being outboard compartments) and a central trash holding zone  26  positioned between and separating the wet zone  23  from the goods storage zone  28 . Preferably, this zone separation also includes a vertical barrier, such as the trash compartment front and rear  50 ,  52 . The wet zone  23  is intended to hold wet items such as a mop bucket containing water and a wet mop. The goods storage zone  28  is intended to hold cleaning items, such as cleaning sprays and consumables, such as paper towel, paper rolls, tissue paper and toilet paper. By separating the wet zone  23  from the goods storage zone  28  by distance, a vertical barrier, a trash storage area or an enclosed trash storage compartment, the possibility of damage to the paper goods from being wetted by water or being contaminated by dirty water is, reduced.  
         [0023]    The wet zone  23  is primarily configured to hold a mop bucket in a mop bucket tray  24 . As such, it includes a water retaining curb  72  to retain any spilled water and a bucket retaining surface, such as ribs  74 , to hold the mop bucket in place while the janitorial cart  10  is being moved. In addition, the top of the trash storage compartment  25  has a signage holder  92  for holding a plurality of caution signs, such as “Caution, Wet Floor.” A mop holder recess  96  is provided in a front portion of the signage holder  92  for holding the handle of a mop that has been placed in the mop bucket. The mop bucket tray  24 , can alternatively, hold a separate trash container in place of the mop bucket. To accommodate large trash containers, such as a 32 gallon Brute® waste container by Rubbermaid, an aperture or recess  78  is provided in the front  50  of the trash storage compartment  25 .  
         [0024]    The mop bucket tray  24  can be removably attached to the janitorial cart  10 . For this removable embodiment of the janitorial cart  10 , the base  20  is divided into a central base portion  20   a  and a removable front portion  20   b , as shown in FIG. 5. The removable front portion  20   b  includes a tray extension  70  (see FIGS. 7, 12 and  13 ) that fits under the central base portion  20   a . The tray extension  70  includes two axle supports  71  through which the central wheel axle  22  is inserted, as shown in FIG. 7. A pair of supports  54  (See FIGS. 9 and 11) are provided in the front portion of the central base portion  20   a  for securing the removable front portion  20   b  and the central base portion  20   a  together. Corresponding attachment supports  59  are provided in the under side of the removable front portion  20   b . A threaded screw or bolt  58  is inserted through a screw hole  56  in support  54  and engages a threaded hole (not numbered) in attachment support  59  to secure the removable front portion  20   b  to the central base portion  20   a . An embodiment of janitorial cart  10  without the mop bucket tray  24  is shown in FIG. 9  
         [0025]    The trash holding compartment  25  is preferably a closed sided compartment as shown in FIG. 2. If desired, the trash compartment  25  could be open sided with no sides or with only a front and rear, as shown in FIG. 14. In the preferred embodiment, trash compartment  25  includes a door  40  forming the right side, a front  50 , a rear  52  and a left side  46 , all forming the closed sided compartment. A pivotable lid  47  is provided in the top surface  62  of janitorial cart  10 . Lid  47  is part of the trash compartment  25  and provides a closure over a raised grip  48  (See FIG. 8) formed around a trash receiving opening  60 . Opening  60  is formed in both an upper surface of the trash compartment  25  and the lid  47 . With the lid  47  open, a trash bag (not shown) is placed into the trash compartment, usually through opening  60 . The open end of the bag is gathered about the outside of raised grip  48  and an elastic cord  49  (See FIG. 8)is then placed about the trash bag to secure the trash bag to the raised grip  48 . If desired, door  40  can be opened and the trash bag inserted into trash compartment  25  and up through opening  60 . After securing the trash bag to the raised grip  48 , the lid  47  is closed.  
         [0026]    The interior of trash compartment includes a plurality of shelf supports  44  and one or more removable shelves  42 . When desired, a shelf  42  can be used as a trash bag support shelf. For larger trash bags, shelf  42  is placed in a middle height position, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 8. For smaller trash bags, shelf  42  can be placed on the upper shelve support  44 . If more interior or concealed storage space is desired, shelf  42  can be used in the upper position to provide more storage below the trash bag. Shelf  42  also acts to separate the trash bag from any items stored within trash compartment  25 . The bottom  45  of trash compartment  25  can also be used as a storage surface. For very large items or to use the trash compartment  25  with a removable rigid waste container, all shelves  42  are removed and the large items are placed directly on bottom  45 .  
         [0027]    The goods storage zone or compartment  28  is preferably an open sided compartment formed with a plurality of storage trays  84  and deep upper storage tray  86  with attached small items storage  87 , attached to support side posts  82  and trash compartment  25 . A separate handle  80  is attached to the upper surface  62  of the cart. This handle is separate from and distal from the trash compartment  25 . Fold out hooks  90  are placed in both sides of the goods storage compartment  28 . When needed, hooks  90  are rotated outward from a recessed position, shown in the FIGURES to an extended position (not shown) to hold small items, such as towels, dust pans, small spray bottles, etc. A towel rack  88  is provided in one side of the goods storage compartment  28 . Towel rack  88  can also be used for spray bottles or any other small items that can be “hooked” over the rack  88 .  
         [0028]    A plurality of tool holders  94   a ,  94   b  are provided in the top surface  62  of the goods storage compartment  28  and the trash compartment  25 . Some of the tool holders  94   a  are circular through apertures  94   a  formed in top surface  62 . Tool holders  94   a  can be used for small tools, brushes, etc. Other tool holders consist of arm extension  94   b , which can be used with long handled items such as brooms, dry mops, etc. Preferably, some of the arm extensions  94   b  are positioned over a side pocket  76  that is along side the left side  46  of the trash compartment  25 . Side pocket  76  holds dirty items such a the bristle end of a broom or a mop to prevent dirt on those items from spreading to other areas of janitorial cart  10 .  
         [0029]    As shown in FIG. 7, the bottom of base  20  has a plurality of wheel attachments  33 . The number of wheel attachments  33  is preferably greater than the number of outboard wheels  32 . In the embodiments shown in the FIGURES, either two outboard wheels  32  are used and in combination with the central wheels  30  are placed in a diamond pattern, shown in FIG. 7, or a single outboard wheel  32  is used and in combination with the central wheels is placed in a triangular pattern, as shown in FIG. 10. Preferably, four outboard wheels are attached to base  20  using the wheel attachments  33  adjacent the outer corners of base  20 . Outboard wheels  32  are swivel wheels that include a swivel bearings and are attached to a flange that can be screwed or bolted to wheel attachments.