Abstract:
The present invention provides an anti-turn-back twist mop including a main handle, a holding sleeve, a mop cloth and a clutch member. The holding sleeve is up and down movably and rotatably fitting over the main handle. Two ends of the mop cloth are respectively connected with the main handle and the holding sleeve. When rotating the main handle and holding sleeve relative to each other, the mop cloth can be wrung dry. The clutch member is fitting over the main handle and movable therealong. When rotating the main handle, the clutch member is rotated along therewith. A bottom end of the clutch member and a top end of the holding sleeve are respectively formed with ratchets engaged with each other. By means of the engagement between the clutch member and holding sleeve, when wringing the mop cloth, the main handle is prevented from being rotated back by the pulling force of the mop cloth.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates generally to a cleaning device, and more particularly to an anti-turn-back twist mop in which the main handle is prevented from turning back in wringing process. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]      FIG. 1  shows a conventional twist mop  10 , which includes a main handle  12  and a holding sleeve  14  fitting over the main handle  12 . The holding sleeve  12  can move along and rotate about the main handle  12 . The twist mop  10  further includes a mop cloth  16 . A first end of the mop cloth  16  is fixedly connected to a bottom end  121  of the main handle  12 , while a second end of the mop cloth  16  is fixedly connected to a bottom end  141  of the holding sleeve  14 . In use, the holding sleeve  14  is moved toward the bottom end  121  of the main handle  12  to suspend the mop cloth  16  so as to mop the ground. When the mop cloth  16  absorbs water, the holding sleeve  14  is moved upward to strain the mop cloth  16  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Then a user can hold the holding sleeve  14  with one hand and hold the main handle  12  with the other hand, so that the holding sleeve  14  is able to rotate relatively to the main handle  12  to wring the mop cloth  16  out. 
         [0003]    Within certain limits of wrist twists, the user must release the main handle  12  and adjust his/her wrist back to re-hold the main handle  12  for next twist after the main handle  12  is rotated to a certain angle. 
         [0004]    During the wringing process, the mop cloth  16  will exert a reaction force onto the main handle  12 . As soon as the main handle  12  is released, the reaction force of the mop cloth  16  will bring the main handle  12  turning back. This makes it more laborious and time-consuming to wring the mop cloth  16  dry. To overcome this problem, another conventional twist mop is equipped with an anti-turn-back mechanism for avoiding turn-back of the main handle. By means of the anti-turn-back mechanism, the main handle can be positioned after rotation to prevent turning back by the mop cloth. However, such anti-turn-back mechanism is quite complicated and hard to manufacture, and inconvenient to use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an anti-turn-back twist mop in which the main handle is prevented from turning back in wringing process. 
         [0006]    It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above anti-turn-back twist mop in which the anti-turn-back mechanism is simplified to manufacture and use. 
         [0007]    To achieve the above and other objects, the anti-turn-back twist mop according to the present invention includes a main handle, a holding sleeve, a mop cloth and a clutch member. The holding sleeve is up and down movably and rotatably fitted on the main handle. When rotating the main handle and holding sleeve relative to each other, the mop cloth can be wrung dry. The clutch member is fitting over the main handle and movable therealong. When rotating the main handle, the clutch member is rotated along therewith. Bottom end of the clutch member and top end of the holding sleeve are respectively formed with ratchets engaged with each other. The twist mop further includes a restriction member disposed between the clutch member and the holding sleeve. The restriction member only permits the clutch member to move relative to the holding sleeve without substantially detaching therefrom. Two ends of the mop cloth are respectively connected with the bottom end of the holding sleeve and the bottom end of the main handle. By means of rotating the main handle and the holding sleeve relative to each other, the mop cloth can be wrung dry. By means of the engagement between the clutch member and holding sleeve, when wringing the mop cloth, the main handle is prevented from being rotated back by the pulling force of the mop cloth. 
         [0008]    The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein: 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional twist mop; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a twist mop according to the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view according to  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a perspective explosion view of the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view showing a bottom of the twist mop according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an enlargement view according to  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view taken along line  7 - 7  according to  FIG. 6 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view according to an enlarged part of  FIG. 6 , in which a main handle is shown by phantom lines; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view showing the twist mop in the wringing process; 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view referring to  FIG. 8 , showing the movement of a clutch member is engaged with a holding sleeve; 
           [0019]      FIG. 11  is a cross-sectional view referring to  FIG. 10 , showing that the clutch member is disengaged from the holding sleeve; 
           [0020]      FIG. 12  is a partially longitudinal cross-sectional view of a second embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 13  is a perspective view of a third embodiment according to the present invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 14  is a perspective explosion view of the third embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 15  is a partially longitudinal cross-sectional view according to  FIG. 13 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 16  is a cross-sectional view according to an enlargement part of  FIG. 15 , in which the main handle is shown by phantom lines; and 
           [0025]      FIG. 17  is a cross-sectional view referring to  FIG. 16 , showing that the clutch member is disengaged from the holding sleeve. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0026]    Please refer to  FIGS. 2 to 4  illustrating a first embodiment according to the present invention. A twist mop  20  includes a main handle  30 , a holding sleeve  40 , a mop cloth  50 , a clutch member  60  and a restriction member  70 . 
         [0027]    The main handle  30  has an outer circumference formed with a polygonal fitting section  32  along a part of the length of the main handle  30  as shown in  FIG. 4  or along the entire length of the main handle  30 . A ring cap  35  is fixed at a bottom end of the main handle  30 . 
         [0028]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 . An inner circumference of a top end of the holding sleeve  40  is formed with a circle of ratchets  42 . A circular tray  45  is disposed at a bottom end of the holding sleeve  40 . The holding sleeve  40  fits over the main handle  30 . The holding sleeve  40  longitudinally moves along the main handle  30 , which means the holding sleeve  40  is up and down movable along the main handle  30 . The holding sleeve  40  rotates about the main handle  30 . 
         [0029]    The mop cloth  50  includes several side-by-side arranged cloth strips  52 . A top end of the mop cloth  50  is fixed with the circular tray  45  of the holding sleeve  40 , while a bottom end of the mop cloth  50  is intruded into a bottom section of the ring cap  35  as shown in  FIG. 5 . A fastening strap  38  is passed through two through holes  37  of the ring cap  35 , two through holes  34  of the bottom end of the main handle  30  and the bottom end of the mop cloth  50  to tie up the mop cloth  50  with the ring cap  35 . 
         [0030]    The clutch member  60  is a hollow cylindrical body. An engaging section  62  is disposed on an inner circumference of the clutch member  60  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The engaging section  62  has a cross-sectional shape complementary to the cross-sectional shape of the fitting section  32  of the main handle  30 . An annular rib  64  is disposed on an outer circumference of the clutch member  60 . A circle of ratchets  65  is disposed on an end face of the bottom end of the clutch member  60 . The clutch member  60  fits over the main handle  30  above the holding sleeve  40 . The engaging section  62  of the clutch member is engaged with the fitting section  32  of the main handle  30 . When rotating the main handle  30 , the clutch member  60  is driven by and rotated about the main handle  30 . The clutch member  60  is longitudinally movable along the main handle  20 . In normal state, the clutch member  60  will naturally drop due to gravity. In this case, the ratchets  65  of the clutch member  60  will engage with the ratchets  42  of the holding sleeve  40  as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0031]    The restriction member  70  is disposed at a juncture between the clutch member and the holding sleeve. The restriction member  70  only permits the clutch member to move relative to the holding sleeve by a small distance without substantially detaching from the holding sleeve. In this embodiment, the restriction member is a cylindrical restriction collar  70  having a shoulder section  72  on an inner circumference of the restriction collar  70 . The restriction collar  70  is fitted around the outer circumference of the clutch member  60  and screwed on a thread  44  formed on an outer circumference of a top end of the holding sleeve  40 . The shoulder section  72  of the restriction collar  70  is spaced from the annular rib  64  of the clutch member  60  by a gap. When the clutch member  60  is moved upward, the annular rib  64  is stopped by the shoulder section  72  of the restriction collar  70  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 8 . Accordingly, the clutch member  60  can be moved along the main handle by a short distance without detaching from the holding sleeve. Preferably, the top end of the clutch member extends out of the restriction collar by a certain length, which is not limited to the length as shown in the drawings. 
         [0032]    In use, the holding sleeve  40  is moved toward the bottom end of the main handle  30  to suspend the mop cloth  50  as shown in  FIG. 2  for mopping a ground. 
         [0033]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , when wringing the mop cloth  50 , a user can hold the main handle  30  with one hand (such as right hand) and hold the holding sleeve  40  with the other hand (such as left hand) to move the holding sleeve  40  upward along the main handle  30  and straighten the mop cloth  50 . Then, the holding sleeve  40  and the main handle  30  are rotated relative to each other. For example, the main handle is counterclockwise rotated to wring the mop cloth  50 . In normal state, the ratchets  65  of the clutch member  60  are engaged with the ratchets  42  of the holding sleeve  40  as shown in  FIG. 8 . The fitting section  32  of the main handle  30  is correspondingly engaged with the engaging section  62  of the clutch member  60 . Therefore, when rotating the main handle  30 , the clutch member  60  is driven by and rotated about the main handle  30 . Each time the clutch member  60  is rotated by one pitch, the clutch member  60  clicks one time. That is, as shown in  FIG. 10 , during one-pitch rotation of the main handle, the ratchets  65  of the clutch member  60  will slide over the ratchets  42  of the holding sleeve  40 , whereby the clutch member  60  will first move upward and then drop down back into the state of  FIG. 8 . At this time, the two circles of ratchets  42 ,  65  will engage with each other again. Under such circumstance, the clutch member  60  is chucked with the holding sleeve  40  and cannot be clockwise backward rotated. In this case, the main handle cannot be clockwise rotated. We can say that the ratchets of the clutch member  60  are engaged with and disengaged from the ratchets of the holding sleeve  40  in an alternate manner. The clutch member  60  rumbles up and down along the main handle when the main handle  30  is rotated in one direction, which is counterclockwise in this case. The main handle  30  is prevented from rotating back in an opposite direction, which is clockwise in this case, when the clutch member  60  is engaged with the holding sleeve  40 . Accordingly, when the main handle is released from the hand, the pulling force of the mop cloth cannot drive the main handle to rotate back. Therefore, when wringing the mop cloth  60 , the main handle  30  is prevented from rotating back and the user can conveniently further rotate the main handle. During the wringing process, the clutch member  60  will continuously rumble up and down to provide clutch effect. 
         [0034]    Please refer to  FIG. 11 . After the wringing process is completed, the clutch member  60  is moved upward to disengage the circle of ratchets  42  from the circle of ratchets  65 . Under such circumstance, the holding sleeve  40  is disengaged from the clutch member  60  and the main handle can be freely rotated relative to the holding sleeve to restore the mop cloth  50  to its original state. 
         [0035]    Please now refer to  FIG. 4 . The top end of the clutch member  60  can be formed with two splits  69 , which divide the top end of the clutch member  60  into two resilient plates  67 . The resilient plates  67  can be resiliently biased toward each other, whereby the top end of the clutch member can be resiliently expanded or contracted. A binding collar  75  is rotatably fitted around the resilient plates  67  as shown in  FIG. 6 . Two protruding blocks  76  are eccentrically disposed on an inner circumference of the binding collar  75  as shown in  FIG. 4 . When rotating the binding collar  75  in one direction, the protruding blocks  76  will press the resilient plates  67  tightly against the main handle. Accordingly, when not used, a user can tightly bind the clutch member  60  on the main handle in a suitable position. When the binding collar  75  is rotated in an opposite direction, the binding collar releases the resilient plates to unbind the resilient plates  67  from the main handle. In this case, the clutch member  60  can be moved along the main handle. When the clutch member  60  is bound on the main handle as shown in  FIG. 11 , the annular rib  64  of the clutch member  60  is hooked with the shoulder section  72  of the restriction collar  70 . Under such circumstance, the holding sleeve  40  is located on the main handle with the clutch member without dropping. 
         [0036]    The position where the ratchets  42 ,  65  are arranged is not limited to the position as shown in  FIG. 8 . The ratchets  42 ,  65  can be arranged in any other position where the clutch member can be engaged with the holding sleeve. For example,  FIG. 12  shows a second embodiment according to the present invention, in which the ratchets  82  are disposed on an end face of the top end of the holding sleeve  80 , while the ratchets  95  are disposed on an outer circumference of the bottom end of the clutch member. Preferably, the ratchets  95  are positioned under a bottom face of the annular rib  94 . According to the second embodiment, the bottom end of the clutch member can be engaged with the top end of the holding sleeve to provide the same clutch effect as the first embodiment. 
         [0037]      FIGS. 13 and 14  show a third embodiment of the mop  100  of the present invention, in which the clutch member  140  is made with a shorter length. The binding collar  160  is fitting over the top end of the clutch member  140  as a large-diameter section with a larger diameter. A circle of ratchets  122  is disposed on the end face of the top end of the holding sleeve  120 , while another circle of ratchets  142  is disposed under the bottom face of the annular rib  144  of the clutch member  140 . The thread  152  of the restriction collar  150  is screwed on the thread  124  of the holding sleeve  120 . Accordingly, when rotating the restriction collar  150 , the restriction collar  150  is longitudinally movable along the holding sleeve, which means the restriction collar  50  is up and down moved along the axis of the holding sleeve. Please refer to  FIGS. 15 and 16 . When the clutch member drops to a lowest position where the two circles of ratchets  122 ,  142  are engaged, the distance D between the bottom end of the binding collar  160  and the restriction collar  150  is smaller than a displacement distance H of the restriction collar  150  along the holding sleeve  120 . 
         [0038]    After the main handle  110  and the holding sleeve  120  are relatively turned to wring dry the mop cloth  130 , a user can unscrew the restriction collar  150  to move the same upward as shown in  FIG. 17 . Under such circumstance, the restriction collar  150  will push the binding collar  160  upward to drive and move the clutch member  140  upward by a short distance. In this case, the two circles of ratchets  122 ,  142  are disengaged from each other, whereby the main handle  110  can be freely rotated. Accordingly, the pulling force of the mop cloth  130  can drive and turn back the main handle  110  and the mop cloth can restore to its original state. Therefore, it is unnecessary to manually turn back the main handle. After the mop cloth is restored, the restriction collar is again screwed and tightened. 
         [0039]    Referring to  FIG. 17 , with the restriction collar  150  remaining screwed on the holding sleeve  120 , the clutch member can be lifted. The thread  124  of the holding sleeve  120  and the thread  152  of the restriction collar  150  can be formed with greater slope, (that is, larger pitch). In this case, after the restriction collar  150  is rotated by about ¼ or ½ circle, the restriction collar can be quickly moved from the position of  FIG. 16  to the position of  FIG. 17 . 
         [0040]    In use of the present invention, during the wringing process of the mop cloth, the main handle is prevented from being rotated back due to the pulling force of the mop cloth. Therefore, the present invention can be more conveniently used. Also, the present invention has simple structure and thus is easy to manufacture. 
         [0041]    The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.