Patent Publication Number: US-7909174-B1

Title: Dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates generally to a dewatering structure, and more particularly, to an electricity-free dewatering structure adapted for dewatering a water-contained object by applying a centrifugal force produced by a rotation. 
     2. The Prior Arts 
     Mopping floor is a routine job in daily life. In general, a wet cloth sheet is often used to clean the floor. More often, different kinds of mops are used to mop the floor. However, mop cloth used for cleaning the floor has to be repetitively flushed by water for removing dusts or dirt from the mop cloth, and the water contained in the mop cloth has to be reduced to a suitable degree. Typically, the water contained in the cloth sheet has to be removed by wringing with hands or by a centrifugal drier. However, a mop includes a mop cloth and a rod connected with each other. Thus, the mop cannot be put into a centrifugal drier for removing the water therefrom, and it is also inconvenient and laborious to wring the mop cloth. Moreover, when wringing the cloth sheet or the mop cloth with hands to remove the water, one may be in the risk of having his/her hands and/or skin hurt by the dusts, and dirt carried therein. 
     Taiwan Patent No. M338634 discloses a dewatering apparatus for providing a solution to overcome the aforementioned dewatering difficulty. The dewatering apparatus includes a bucket, a rotary unit, a transmission unit, and a driving rod unit. In operation, a mop cloth of a rotating plate type mop is disposed in a container of the rotary unit. The driving rod unit drives the transmission unit and the transmission unit drives the rotary unit, so as to dewater the cloth disposed in the container. 
     Although the dewatering apparatus mentioned above can dewater the mop cloth of the rotating plate type mop, the transmission unit uses gears for transmission. Therefore, the dewatering apparatus has the following disadvantages. 
     First of all, when the driving rod unit is applied by a force, the structure of the dewatering apparatus appears insufficient stability problems of displacement and jumpiness. The driving rod unit includes a driving rod. An upper end of the driving rod is pivotally connected with a shaft rod. The driving rod is adapted for driving the transmission unit by applying a leftward pivot force relative to the shaft rod. When the driving rod applies a leftward pivot force, the whole structure of the dewatering apparatus will be leftward moved. When the repetitive forces are applied thereon, the whole structure will then be driven to appear intermittent, leftward jumping displacements, and thus be difficult to be maintained at the original position. This may cause the driving rod of the driving rod unit unable to stably work or apply forces to and fro. 
     Secondly, it appears transmission non-smooth, acceleration difficult, and an insufficient centrifugal force. The mop cloth of the rotary disk type mop is dewatered by the centrifugal force of the rotary unit. As such, only when the container is accelerated to a certain rotation speed, the centrifugal force of the rotary unit can be provided to sufficiently dewater the mop cloth. However, the driving rod of the driving rod unit is incapable of stably working or applying forces to and fro, so that it is difficult to smoothly drive the gear rack to horizontally move so as to drive an in-line gear and a one-way gear. As such, it is hard to further improve the rotation speed of the rotary unit driven by the transmission unit. 
     Thirdly, because the whole structure of the dewatering apparatus intermittently and leftward jumpily displaces, the mop cloth of the rotary disk type mop cannot be stably positioned at a center of the container of the rotary unit. Therefore, the container may be caused with vibration, which deters the rotation. 
     Fourthly, a bottom of the receptacle body is provided with wheels. Although it is convenient for moving, the wheels unfortunately make the whole structure more unstable when applied with the leftward force by the driving rod. 
     In view of the aforementioned disadvantages of the dewatering apparatus disclosed by Taiwanese Patent No. M338634, it can be learnt that when dewatering by the centrifugal force, the whole structure must be maintained stable and the transmission should be smooth, so that the rotary unit should be stably accelerated to a certain rotation speed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary objective of the present invention is to provide an electricity-free dewatering structure adapted for dewatering a water-contained object. The dewatering structure is adapted for dewatering a cloth sheet or various kinds of mop cloths. The dewatering structure also provides a solution to the problems of the aforementioned conventional dewatering structure. 
     In order to achieve the foregoing objective, a dewatering structure according to the present invention includes a receptacle body, a dewatering unit, and an operation apparatus. The receptacle body includes a receptacle tub and an assembling space, in which the receptacle tub and the assembling space are independent from each other. The dewatering unit is assembled in the receptacle tub. The operation apparatus is received in the assembling space, and includes an operation unit, and a base. The operation unit includes an active pedal, a driven pedal, and a driving block. The active pedal and the driven pedal are pivotally coupled to the base and are intersected with each other. The driven pedal includes a free end slidably coupled with the driving block. The driving block is configured with a threaded through hole axially penetrating through the driving block. The threaded through hole is provided for connection with a threaded rod which is sheathed in a spring member. In operation, the active pedal and the driven pedal are repetitively pressed each other and then released, so as to drive the driving block to linearly move to and fro along its axis. In such a way, the dewatering unit is driven to rotate, so as to produce a centrifugal force for removing water from the wet object. 
     Therefore, the dewatering structure of the present invention provides an improved alternative transmission approach. When using the dewatering structure of the present invention, the user can dewater the water-contained object by conveniently applying a force on the active pedal and releasing the force. When the operation is repeated, the driven pedal drives the driving block having the threaded through hole, and correspondingly the threaded rod is driven to rotate by the linear movement of the driving block along the axis of the driving block. In such a way, the threaded rod drives the dewatering unit to continuously rotate or rotate with an acceleration rate. As such, the dewatering structure is stabilized, in its entirety, at where it is. When such a dewatering structure is repetitively applied with external forces, it won&#39;t jump, be moved, or even fall down. Moreover, the dewatering structure according to the present invention has fewer components than the conventional dewatering apparatus does. Thus, assembling is easier and manufacturing is cheaper. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an perspective view showing a dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an explosive view showing the dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a detailed explosive view showing the dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object, in which a receptacle body is not shown; 
         FIG. 4  shows a non-operation status of the dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object; and 
         FIG. 5  shows an operation status of the dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 3 , a dewatering structure for dewatering a water-contained object according to the present invention includes a receptacle body  1 , a dewatering unit  2 , and an operation apparatus  3 . The dewatering unit  2  and the operation apparatus  3  are assembled with the receptacle body  1 . 
     The receptacle body  1  is substantially configured with a hollow elliptical column shape, and includes a receptacle tub  11  and an assembling space  12 . The receptacle tub  11  and the assembling space  12  are independently partitioned by a water proof material. The receptacle tub  11  is provided with a first fixing block  111 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The receptacle tub  11  is adapted for containing a fluid. Typically, the fluid can be water or a water solution. The assembling space  12  is defined beneath the receptacle tub  11 . 
     The dewatering unit  2  is a bucket having a plurality of through holes allowing fluid to flow therethrough. A pole  21  is provided at a barycenter of a bottom of the receptacle tub  11  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The pole  21  is inserted into a center of the first fixing block  111 , for assembling the dewatering unit  2  inside the receptacle tub  11 . 
     The operation apparatus  3  is assembled inside the assembling space  12 . The operation apparatus  3  includes a base  31  and an operation unit  32 . The base  31  is substantially a rectangular block. Each corner of the base  31  includes a fixing hole  311  to fix the base  31  with the receptacle body  1 . The operation unit  32  includes an active pedal  321  and a driven pedal  322 . The active pedal  321  and the driven pedal  322  are both configured with a U shape. The active pedal  321  is wider than the driven pedal  322 . The base  31  includes a pair of active pedal pivotal connecting portions  312 , and a pair of driven pedal pivotal connecting portions  313 . The pair of the active pedal pivotal connecting portions  312  and the pair of the driven pedal pivotal connecting portions  313  are respectively configured at two lateral sides of the base  31 . The active pedal pivotal connecting portions  312  and the driven pedal pivotal connecting portions  313  are respectively positioned on the base  31  corresponding to width of the active pedal  321  and the driven pedal  322 . 
     One end of the active pedal  321  is pivotally coupled to the active pedal pivotal connecting portions  312 . The active pedal  321  includes an incline pressing surface  3211 . One end of the driven pedal  322  is pivotally coupled to the driven pedal pivotal connecting portions  313 . The driven pedal  322  includes an incline guiding surface  3221  corresponding to the pressing surface  3211 . In this manner, the active pedal  321  and the driven pedal  322  are assembled to be intersected with each other, and positioned in correspondence to each other. Further, a free end of the driven pedal  322  is configured with two symmetric sliding slots  3222 . 
     The base  31  further includes two symmetric downhill ramps  314  corresponding to the free end of the driven pedal  322 . An accommodating space  315  is defined between the two downhill ramps  314 , and an annular baffle  316  is disposed in the accommodating space  315 . 
     The operation apparatus  3  further includes a driving block  33 , which includes two flat wings  331  laterally protruded from two sides of the driving block  33 . Preferably the two flat wings  331  are symmetric and arcuate shaped. The two flat wings  331  of the driving block  33  are respectively coupled inside the two symmetric sliding slots  3222 . The driving block  33  further includes a threaded through hole  332  axially penetrating through a center of the driving block  33 . 
     The operation apparatus  3  further includes a threaded rod  34  and a spring member  35 . The threaded rod  34  is sheathed in the spring member  35 . The threaded rod  34  has one end assembled through the threaded through hole  332  of the driving block  33  and another end positioned within the range of the annular baffle  316 . One end of the spring member  35  is pressed beneath a bottom of the driving block  33 , and another end of the spring member  35  is sheathed over an outer wall of the annular baffle  316 . The operation unit  32  further includes a positioning bar  323  horizontally latched in the free end of the driven pedal  322  for restricting lateral movement of the driving block  33 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the operation apparatus  3  further includes a rotary member  36 . One end of the rotary member  36  is coupled with one end of the threaded rod  34 , and another end of the rotary member  36  receives a unilateral bearing  37 . The unilateral bearing  37  has a center portion, and the pole  21  of the dewatering unit  2  is adapted for inserting in the center portion of the unilateral bearing  37 . The operation apparatus  3  further includes a second fixing block  38 , and the rotary member  36  is disposed in a center portion of the second fixing block  38 , so that the rotary member  36  can drive the unilateral bearing  37  to rotate relative to the second fixing block  38 . The second fixing block  38  is secured at a top of the assembling space  12  corresponding to the first fixing block  111 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the dewatering structure is shown as not in operation. In this case, the driving block  33  is supported by the spring member  35 , and located at a high position. The driven pedal  322  is pulled by the two flat wings  331  of the driving block  33 , and therefore the free end of the driven pedal  322  is also raised up. The pressing surface  3211  of the active pedal  321  is in contact with the guiding surface  3221  of the driven pedal  322 , and therefore the free end of the active pedal is also located at a high position. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , when a user applies a force on the active pedal  321 , the active pedal  321  is pressed down, during which the pressing surface  3211  moves along the slope of the guiding surface  3221  of the driven pedal  322 . In such a way, the free end of the driven pedal  322  is moved downward to the downhill ramps  314 . In this case, the two flat wings  331  of the driving block  33  gradually move from a higher end of the sliding slots  3222  to a lower end of the sliding slots  3222 , and meanwhile the driving block  33  moves downward along an axial direction thereof so as to compress the spring member  35  and reserve a recovery force therein. The threaded rod  34  is then guided by the threaded through hole  332  of the driving block  33  to rotate. The threaded rod  34  then further drives the rotary member  36  and the unilateral bearing  37  to rotate. Correspondingly, the pole  21  and the dewatering apparatus  2  are synchronously rotated and produce a centrifugal force. Such a centrifugal force is adapted for removing water contained in the water-contained object disposed in the dewatering unit  2 . The water removed from the dewatering unit  2  falls down in the receptacle tub  11 . 
     When the force applied on the active pedal  321  is relieved, the recovery force reserved in the spring member  35  drives the driving block  33  to move toward an opposite direction. In this case, the two flat wings  331  of the driving block  33  are positioned at the high position of the sliding slot  3222 . In this recovery process, the threaded rod  34  and the rotary member  36  are together guided by the threaded through hole  332  of the driving member  33  to reversely rotate. However, in this case, restricted by the unilateral bearing  37  which is irreversible, the pole  21  is not reversely rotated during the recovery process. Instead, it is slowed down to stop along with the inertia of the rotation. 
     In operation, applying the force on the active pedal  321  and then releasing the force may be repeated for several times for more sufficiently dewatering the water-contained object in the dewatering unit  2 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.