Patent Publication Number: US-2005120498-A1

Title: Wrinkled net for cleaning implement and product thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a wrinkled net for use in a cleaning implement and its product and more particularly, to a wrinkled net, which shows a three-dimension pattern of wrinkles that give a nice touch and high friction force when rubbed over the body of a person.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Various bathing balls and gloves are known made of nets.  FIG. 1  shows a bathing ball formed of a plastic net  1  extruded from plastics through an extruding machine. The plastic net  1  has meshes  2  in it. The meshes  2  are equal in shape. The effect of the meshes  2  causes the adhered cleaning agent to produce foams for removing dirt from the body over which the plastic net  1  is rubbed. Because the plastic net  1  has a smooth surface, the user must repeatedly rub the plastic net  1  back and forth with effort when cleaning the area around the elbows or the sole of the foot.  
       FIG. 2  shows another design of net  3  for use in making a bathing glove according to the prior art. According to this design, the net  3  is roller-rammed or embossed into a corrugated structure, improving the friction force in one single direction. This design of net is still not satisfactory in function. Because the net  3  is corrugated, it provides a high cleaning effect in only one particular direction.  
      Therefore it is desirable to provide a net that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is the objective of the present invention to provide a wrinkled net for a cleaning implement and its product, which shows a three-dimensional pattern of wrinkles that gives a nice touch and high friction force when rubbed over the surface of the object to be cleaned.  
      To achieve this objective of the present invention, a wrinkled net for making a cleaning implement, such as bating ball, belt and glove, comprises a net body. The net body has a plurality of first wires extended in a first direction and respectively wrinkled in irregular directions, a plurality of second wires extended in a second direction that is different to the first direction and respectively wrinkled in irregular directions and respectively intersected with the first wires, and a plurality of meshes defined by the first wires and the second wires and having irregular shapes. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic drawing showing a bathing ball made of a net according to the prior art.  
       FIG. 2A  is a schematic drawing showing another design of the net structure according to the prior art.  
       FIG. 2B  is plane view of a bathing glove made of the net structure as shown in  FIG. 2A .  
       FIG. 3  is a plane view in an enlarged scale showing a wrinkled net according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic drawing showing a bathing ball made of the wrinkled net according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic drawing showing a bathing glove made of the wrinkled net according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing showing another bathing ball made of the wrinkled net according to the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , a wrinkled net provided by a preferred embodiment is shown comprising a net body  10 . The net body  10  has a plurality of first wires  11  extended in a first direction, a plurality of second wires  12  extended in a second direction that is different to the first direction and intersected with the first wires  11 , and meshes  14  defined by the first wires  11  and the second wires  12 . It is to be understood that multiple third and fourth wires may be added and intersected with the first and second wires when in fabrication. The wrinkled net was made by the steps of extruding a net body by an extruding machine using selected plastic resin material, and then wrinkling the net body. Because the extruding process is of known art and not within the scope of the present invention, no further detailed description in this regard is necessary. The wrinkling process includes the steps of flatting the net body by a press, and then continually squeezing the net body into an enclosed chamber to deform the first wires and the second wires, causing the first wires and the second wires to curve in different directions. After removal of the net body from the enclosed space, the net body forms the desired wrinkled net.  
      As indicated above, the net body  10  is squeezed to an enclosed chamber to curve the first wires  11  and the second wires  12  in different directions, the finished wrinkled net showing an irregular three-dimensional pattern of wrinkles that gives a good touch and high friction force when rubbed over the body of a person. Because the first wires  11  and the second wires  12  irregularly curve in different directions, the meshes  14  defined by the curved first wires  11  and the curved second wires  12  have irregular shapes, enhancing the water absorptive power of the net body  10 .  
      A wrinkled net made according to the aforesaid procedure is practical for making a bathing ball  20  as shown in  FIG. 4 , a bathing glove  30  as shown in  FIG. 5 , another kind of bathing ball  40  as shown in  FIG. 5 , a bathing belt, a cleaning brush, or any of a variety of bathing and cleaning implements. Because the wrinkled net shows a three-dimensional pattern of wrinkles, a bathing implement made of this wrinkled net gives a comfort touch and produces a high friction force to the human body. Therefore, a bathing implement made of this wrinkled net achieves a satisfactory cleaning effect when used to clean the body of a person.  
      As stated above, the invention has the following advantages: 
          1. All-direction scrubbing effect: because the winkled net shows an irregular three-dimension pattern of wrinkles, rubbing the wrinkled net over the body in any direction can effectively remove dust from the body.        

      2. Broad contact surface: because the winkled net shows an irregular three-dimensional pattern of wrinkles, it provides a broad contact surface when touched the surface of the object to be cleaned, achieving a satisfactory cleaning effect.  
      Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.