Patent Publication Number: US-10765290-B2

Title: Floor cleaning device

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
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     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM 
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     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (1) Field of the Invention 
     (2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     The disclosure and prior art relates to cleaning devices and more particularly pertains to a new cleaning device for more efficient cleaning of floors. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a rod and a plate. The plate is pivotally coupled to a lower end of the rod. A ridge is coupled to and extends from a bottom face of the plate. The ridge extends between opposing side edges of the plate. A plurality of couplers is coupled to the plate. Each coupler is configured to couple to a cloth proximate to a perimeter of the cloth so that the cloth is removably coupled to the plate. The cloth is positioned over the ridge and the bottom face of the plate. A user is positioned to grasp the rod and urge the cloth across a surface to clean the surface. Corner edges of the ridge provide increased contact between the cloth and the surface for more efficient cleaning of the surface. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
       The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric perspective view of a floor cleaning device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is an in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 5  thereof, a new cleaning device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 5 , the floor cleaning device  10  generally comprises a rod  12  and a plate  14 . The rod  12  comprises a plurality of segments  16 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The segments  16  are selectively interconnectable so that the rod  12  is length adjustable. The plurality of segments  16  comprises a lower segment  18 , a plurality of medial segments  20 , and an upper segment  22 . The plurality of medial segments  20  comprises three medial segments  20 . The rod  12  is circularly shaped when viewed longitudinally. 
     A protrusion  24  extends radially from the upper segment  22 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The protrusion  24  extends from an upper endpoint  26  of the upper segment  22  toward a lower endpoint  28  of the upper segment  22 . The protrusion  24  is configured to facilitate grasping of the rod  12  in a hand of a user. The protrusion  24  is circumferentially larger proximate to a midpoint  30  of the protrusion  24  so that the protrusion  24  tapers toward the upper endpoint  26  and the lower endpoint  28  of the upper segment  22 . 
     An orifice  32  is positioned in the protrusion  24  proximate to the upper endpoint  26  of the upper segment  22 . The orifice  32  is configured to selectively insert a connector, such as a hook, that is coupled to a substrate, such as a wall in a closet, to couple the rod  12  to the substrate. 
     A plurality of first fasteners  34  is coupled singly proximate to a lower terminus  36  of each of the medial segments  20  and the lower endpoint  28  of the upper segment  22 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . A plurality of second fasteners  38  is coupled singly proximate to an upper terminus  40  of each of the medial segments  20  and an upper limit  42  of the lower segment  18 . The second fasteners  38  are complementary to the first fasteners  34 . Each second fastener  38  is positioned to selectively couple to a respective first fastener  34  to linearly couple the plurality of segments  16 . 
     Each second fastener  38  comprises a pin  44 . The pin  44  is spring loaded. Each first fastener  34  comprises a hole  46 . Each hole  46  is positioned to selectively insert a respective pin  44  to linearly couple the plurality of segments  16 . 
     The plate  14  is pivotally coupled to a lower end  48  of the rod  12 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 . The plate  14  comprises an upper layer  50  and a lower layer  52 . The lower layer  52  is removably couplable to the upper layer  50 . The upper layer  50  is rigid, comprising hardened plastic, aluminum, or the like. The lower layer  52  is resilient, comprising silicone, rubber, or the like. The plate  14  is substantially rectangularly shaped. 
     A pair of first tabs  54  is coupled to and extends from a top face  56  of the plate  14  to define a first slot  58 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The pair of first tabs  54  is centrally positioned on the top face  56 . A pair of second tabs  60  is coupled to and extends from the lower end  48  of the rod  12  to define a second slot  62 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . A block  64  is positioned in the first slot  58  and the second slot  62 . The block  64  has opposing first sides  66  and opposing second sides  68 . Each opposing first side  66  is rotationally coupled to a respective first tab  54 . Each opposing second side  68  is rotationally coupled to a respective second tab  60  so that the rod  12  is pivotally is coupled to the plate  14 . The user is positioned to pivot the rod  12  transversely from the plate  14  toward either of opposing longitudinal edges  76  and either of opposing side edges  74  of the plate  14 . 
     A ridge  70  is coupled to and extends from a bottom face  72  of the plate  14 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The ridge  70  extends between the opposing side edges  74  of the plate  14 . The ridge  70  is positioned substantially equally distant from the opposing longitudinal edges  76  of the plate  14 . The ridge  70  is resilient, comprising silicone, rubber, or the like. The ridge  70  is substantially rectangularly shaped when viewed from a respective opposing side edge  74  of the plate  14 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . The ridge  70  is integral to the lower layer  52  of the plate  14 . The ridge  70  extends from 2.50 to 8.00 millimeters from the bottom face  72 . The ridge  70  extends 3.18 millimeters from the bottom face  72 . Corner edges  78  of the ridge  70  are separated by from 0.50 to 4.00 centimeters. The corner edges  78  of the ridge  70  are separated by 2.54 centimeters. 
     A plurality of couplers  80  is coupled to the plate  14 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . Each coupler  80  is configured to couple to a cloth proximate to a perimeter of the cloth so that the cloth is removably coupled to the plate  14 . The cloth is positioned over the ridge  70  and the bottom face  72  of the plate  14 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The user is positioned to grasp the rod  12  and urge the cloth across a surface, such as a floor, to clean the surface. The corner edges  78  of the ridge  70  provide increased contact between the cloth and the surface, leading to more efficient cleaning of the surface. 
     In use, the cloth is coupled to the plate  14  so that the cloth is positioned over the ridge  70  and the bottom face  72  of the plate  14 . The user grasps the rod  12  and urges the cloth across the surface to clean the surface. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.