Abstract:
A customizable, disposable mop and method for customizing a disposable mop to have different floor contacting surface properties is disclosed. The mop ( 10 ) includes a floor contacting surface area ( 26 ) having a length and width and floor contacting surface properties. The outer layer ( 24 ) of the mop ( 10 ) has two or more partitions in covering relation over an inner layer ( 22 ). One or more of the outer layer partitions ( 28, 30, 32 ) is selectably separable along a seam from covering relation over the inner layer ( 22 ) or over two or more respective partitions ( 34, 36, 38 ) in the inner layer ( 22 ). The outer layer ( 24 ) and inner layer ( 22 ) partitions have a selectable mopping characteristic for customizing the properties of the floor contacting surface area ( 26 ) of the mop ( 10 ).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to a disposable mop and more particularly to a disposable mop that includes the benefit of a floor contacting surface area that is customizable to exhibit desired mopping characteristics and properties. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    With the evolution and development of the new mop materials, mops are now widely used for numerous wet and dry applications. Cheaper materials have also permitted the development and wide use of disposable mops. These mops are typically designed with characteristics and properties for a single type of use, and thus they are not well suited for other types of use. 
         [0005]    It is therefore desirable to provide a disposable mop that is customizable to exhibit mopping characteristics and properties best suited for multiple types of use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    In one embodiment, the invention is a customizable disposable mop. The mop has a floor contacting surface area having a length and width and floor contacting surface properties. An outer layer of the mop has two or more partitions that are in covering relation over an inner layer of the mop. Each outer layer partition may be selectively separable along a seam so as to be removed from covering relation over the inner layer. The outer layer partitions have a selectable mopping characteristic for customizing the properties of the floor contacting surface area of the mop. In a preferred form, the selectable mopping characteristic of the floor contacting surface area includes at least a gliding property, a wetting property, a liquid dispersion property, and/or a scouring property. 
         [0007]    In another embodiment, the invention is a customizable disposable mop. The mop includes a floor contacting surface area having a length and width and floor contacting surface properties. An outer layer of the mop has two or more lengthwise partitions in covering relation over respective partitions in an inner layer of the mop. Each outer layer partition is selectably separable along a seam so as to be removed from covering relation over each respective inner layer partition. Each of the layer partitions has a selectable mopping characteristic for customizing the properties of the floor contacting surface area of the mop for multiple uses. In a preferred form, the outer layer partitions have a different floor contacting surface property than the inner layer partitions. 
         [0008]    In another embodiment, the invention is a method for customizing a disposable mop to have different floor contacting surface properties. A mop with a floor contacting surface area and an outer layer with two or more lengthwise partitions in covering relation over an inner layer is provided. Each layer or layer partition has a selectable mopping characteristic. One or more of the outer layer partitions is selectively removed from covering relation over the inner layer to customize the mopping characteristics of the floor contacting surface area. In a preferred form, the method also includes the step of identifying the outer layer partition to remove and/or to keep by a color code associated with a set of selectable mopping characteristics. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of the mop of the present invention in combination with a mop handle and holder. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a topside isometric view of the mop shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3A  is a bottom view of one exemplary embodiment of the mop shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 3B  is a sectional view taken along line  3 B- 3 B of the mop shown in  FIG. 3A . 
           [0013]      FIG. 3C  is a bottom side isometric view of the mop shown in  FIG. 3A . 
           [0014]      FIG. 4A  is a bottom view of another exemplary embodiment of the mop shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 4B  is a sectional view taken along line  4 B- 4 B of the mop shown in  FIG. 4A . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4C  is a bottom side isometric view of the mop shown in  FIG. 4A . 
           [0017]      FIG. 5A  is a bottom view of another exemplary embodiment of the mop shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 5B  is a sectional view taken along line  5 B- 5 B of the mop shown in  FIG. 5A . 
           [0019]      FIG. 5C  is a bottom side isometric view of the mop shown in  FIG. 5A . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  illustrates in isometric view and exemplary embodiment of the mop  10  in combination with a commercially available mop handle  16  attached to a mop holder  12  by a mop head  14 . The mop  10  is preferably disposable and therefore removably attachable to one or more commercial embodiments of a mop holder such as the mop holder  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The mop  10  may include one or more features as best illustrated in  FIG. 2  for removably attaching the mop  10  to one or more types of a commercial mop holder. These features may include, but are not limited to, a pocket  18  on opposing ends and/or edging  20  on the top side of the mop  10 . These or other features allow the mop  10  to be quickly attached and removed to a commercial mop holder such as the mop holder  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . Such features as edging  20  and opposing pockets  18  are typically attached along the topside of the mop  10 . One or more other features may be included on the top side of the mop  10  for allowing the mop  10  to be removably attached to a commercial mop holder. These features are not limited by the illustration of  FIG. 2 . For example, the top side of mop  10  may include one or more sleeves, slits, inserts, elastic members, hooks or other features that allow the mop  10  to be removably attached to a mop holder  12 . 
         [0021]    As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the mop  10  includes an inner layer  22 . In one aspect of the invention, one or more features for removably attaching the mop  10  to a mop holder  12 , such as those discussed above, are attached to the inner layer  22  of the mop  10 . The inner layer  22  generally comprises a base material of the mop  10 . For example, in one embodiment of the invention, when the mop is attached to a mop holder such as the commercial mop holder  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the top side of the inner layer  22  would rest against the bottom side of the mop holder  12 . The present invention contemplates that other intervening layers may be included between the inner layer  22  and the bottom side of the mop holder  12  illustrated in  FIG. 1  to facilitate further customization of the mopping properties and characteristics of the mop  10 . The inner layer  22  is preferably covered by an outer layer  24 . The material for both the inner layer  22  and the outer layer  24  is customizable so that the floor contacting surface area of the mop  10  exhibits one or more or a set of desired mopping characteristics or properties as further addressed below. 
         [0022]      FIGS. 3A-3C  illustrate and exemplary embodiment of the mop  10  illustrated in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 3A  illustrates the bottom side of the mop  10  illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The bottom side of the mop  10  presents a floor contacting surface area  26  defined by the length and width of the mop  10 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 3A , the entirety of the floor contacting surface area  26  is covered by the outer layer  24  of mop  10 . The inner layer  22  of the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  is covered entirely by the outer layer  24 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 3A-3C , the inner layer  22  comprises synthetic fibers, such as a microfiber that includes single denier microfibers. The present invention contemplates that the inner layer  22  may also be comprised of various woven and non-woven materials ranging from synthetic to non-synthetic material types. In a preferred form of the invention, as shown in  FIGS. 3A-3C , the inner layer material is a single denier microfiber material. The inner layer  22  is covered entirely by the outer layer  24 . The outer layer  24 , in one aspect of the invention, is partitioned into two or more outer layer partitions such as outer layer partition  28 ,  30  and  32 . The present invention contemplates that the outer layer  24  may be partitioned into a desired number of outer layer partitions. By way of example, three partitions are illustrated in  FIGS. 3A-3C . The outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  are removably secured to a portion of the inner layer  22 , such as at an edge along the width or length of the inner layer  22 , or an inner portion of the inner layer  22 . The outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  are preferably configured lengthwise over the top of the inner layer  22  and along the length of the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . The present invention also contemplates that the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  or additional partitions, could be arranged to run along the width of the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . Each outer layer partition  28 ,  30  and  32  are preferably attached to the inner layer  22  at seams  40 , such as a tear seam, to allow one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  to be selectively separated from the inner layer  22  as best illustrated in  FIG. 3C . In another embodiment, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may be removably connected to the inner layer  22  at their outer ends alone or together with seams  40 . The outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may be configured of the same material or different types of material. For example, the outer layer partition  28  may be one type of material, outer layer partition  30  another type of material, and outer layer partition  32  a different type of material than outer layer partition  28  and  30 . The material of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  are selected to exhibit desired mopping characteristics and/or properties for customizing the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . The outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may also be of the same type of material. For example, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  may be a hydrophilic or hydrophobic material to customize the floor contacting surface areas affinity to liquid. For example, one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  may be a hydrophilic type material that readily absorbs liquid into the inner layer  22 . Conversely, one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  may be a hydrophobic material that repels liquid away from the inner layer  22 . In another aspect of the invention, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  may be a combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials for customizing the mopping properties. One or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  may also be removed from covering relation over the inner layer  22  to control the degree of hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the floor contacting surface area  26  of the mop  10 . The outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may also be constructed of other types of non-woven or even woven materials. For example, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may be constructed of a spunbonded, spunlaced, non-woven, and/or detergent impregnated material. Other contemplated materials include, for example, hydroentangled, thermobonded, needlepunched, and/or airlaid type materials. Thus, by keeping or removing one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  a user is able to customize the mopping characteristics and/or properties of the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . Furthermore, by removing or keeping one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  a user is able to customize one or more of the mopping characteristics such as a gliding property of the floor contacting surface area  26 , a wetting property of the floor contacting surface area  26 , a liquid dispersion property of the floor contacting surface area  26 , and/or a scouring property of the floor contacting surface area  26 . These and/or other properties may be customized and/or are controlled by altering the type of materials used for the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  and by keeping or removing one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32 . 
         [0023]    In another aspect of the invention, the inner layer  22  may be partitioned similar to the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32 . In this configuration, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  are configured to cover the respective inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38  as best illustrated in  FIGS. 4A-4C . In this embodiment, the inner layer  22  and outer layer  24  are partitioned, and the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  and the inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38  may be configured of numerous types of materials to provide customized properties for the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . For example, the inner layer  22  may include two or more inner layer partitions. By way of example,  FIGS. 4A-4C  illustrate three inner layer partitions, namely inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38 . The present invention contemplates that the number of partitions can be changed according to the desired number of materials used to construct the inner layer  22 . The number of inner layer partitions and materials used may also be configured to correspond with the number of outer layer partitions and materials used. For example, in the instance where two different materials are used to construct the inner layer partitions, two different materials may be used to construct the outer layer partitions. In the exemplary illustration shown in  FIGS. 4A-4C , the inner layer  22  includes three inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38 . The inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38  may be a microfiber material as discussed above, or another material type such as cotton, rayon and/or a detergent impregnated material. Other contemplated materials include, for example, polyester, polyamid, polyacryl, and/or polypropylene. In one embodiment, the inner layer partitions  34  and  38  may be a microfiber material such as a single or multi-denier microfiber and the inner layer partition  36  may be a scouring type material. As previously discussed, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may also be of varying material types to control and customize the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10 . Either by keeping or removing one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  the mopping characteristics and properties of the floor contacting surface area  26  are configurable for multiple uses. For example, in the instance where some scouring affect and a decrease in the gliding properties of the floor contacting surface area  26  is needed, an outer layer partition such as outer layer partition  30  may be separated from the inner layer  22  to expose a scouring type inner layer material  36 , and an outer layer hydrophobic partition  28  may be separated from the inner layer  22  to expose a highly absorptive layer  38  that decreases the gliding properties of the floor contacting surface area  26  of the mop  10 . In the case where the use of the mop  10  does not require the scouring surface of the inner layer partition  36  or less gliding properties, the outer layer partitions  28  and  30  may be left attached to the floor contacting surface area  26  of the mop  10 . By configuring the material types for the inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38  and the material types used for the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32 , and by keeping or separating one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  from the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  a single mop may be customized or configured for multiple uses. 
         [0024]      FIGS. 5A-5C  further illustrate the customizability of mop  10 . Similar to mop  10  illustrated in  FIGS. 4A-4C , the inner layer  22  is partitioned into several inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  and  38 . As previously discussed, the number of partitions can be adjusted according to the types of materials desired to be included in the inner layer  22  of mop  10 . However, by way of example, three inner layer partitions are shown. The type of material used for each inner layer partition  34 ,  36  and  38  may be configured to achieve or obtain a set of desired mopping properties or characteristics that are best suited for a specific task. For example, and as shown, the inner layer partition  34  may be one material type that is different from the inner layer partition  36  and inner layer partition  38 . This may include for example the inner layer partition  34  material being more hydrophilic than the material used for the inner layer partition  38 . The material used for the inner layer partition  36  may be a material that is more hydrophilic or hydrophobic than the other inner layer partition materials or that includes scouring properties. Similarly, as discussed above, the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  and  32  may be configured of the same material or different material. Furthermore, by keeping or removing one or more of the outer layer partitions  28 ,  30  or  32  and thereby exposing or not exposing the inner layer partitions  34 ,  36  or  38 , the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  is customizable to exhibit a set of desired mopping characteristics or properties suitable for any number of task. This may include, for example, selectively removing outer layer partitions  28  and  32  from the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  as shown in  FIG. 5C  to customize the properties of the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  to perform a specific task. In this instance, the floor contacting surface area  26  of mop  10  exhibits the properties of the inner layer partitions  34  and  38  along with the couple properties of inner layer partition  36  and outer layer partition  30 . 
         [0025]    The above specification, examples, and data provide a complete description of the manufacturing use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended.