Abstract:
A knit cleaning pad for cleaning a surface, such as a flooring surface, is provided that is formed with a knitted construction having a holding stitch disposed between adjacent stitched layers. The holding stitch enables the pad to maintain its shape without any significant stretching or pulling to the original shape of the pad. The knitted construction also enables the pad to be used in a reversible manner and to be secured directly to the head of a suitable cleaning device without the need for any additional securing mechanisms.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/900,871, filed on Feb. 12, 2007, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to cleaning devices and more specifically to cleaning pads developed for use with various cleaning devices. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    In interior environments within a home or in a commercial location, such as kitchen environments, numerous devices have been created to assist in cleaning those environments. A large number of these devices utilize pads or other implements that are attached to the device in order to more effectively pick up dirt and other debris from a surface to clean that surface. The pads are often formed of a fabric or cloth material and are secured to the devices in various manners to permanently or releasably hold the pads on the device. Those devices that utilize a releasable attachment of the pads to the device allow the pads to be easily removed and disposed of after use in cleaning a surface or surfaces, such as a floor or countertop. 
         [0004]    However, the prior art pads constructed for use with these types of devices are constructed such that the pads can only be attached to the device in a specified orientation and manner. More particularly, the attachment of the pads to the devices necessitates that the pads only have a single surface that is, or that can be exposed during use of the pad on the device, thereby reducing the utility of the pads constructed for use with these types of devices. Furthermore, because the majority of these cleaning pads for use with these types of cleaning devices are designed to be disposable, a significant amount of waste is generated through the use and disposal of these cleaning devices and pads. 
         [0005]    Therefore, it is desirable to develop a cleaning pad that can be used on various cleaning devices that is easily removable from the device and that can be reused to clean multiple surfaces. It is also desirable that the cleaning pad be attachable to the device without the need for any special attachment means. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to a first aspect of the present invention, a cleaning pad is provided that it is formed of a yarn or cloth material. This material is formed into the cleaning pad in a knitting procedure in order to form the pad with a configuration adaptable to various cleaning devices. The pad configuration enables the pad to be reversibly secured to the various cleaning devices such that more than one surface of the pad can be utilized for cleaning purposes. Further, because the pad is formed of a cloth material, when removed from the cleaning device, the pad can be cleaned in a manner similar to that utilized to clean other cloth material items in order to extend the useful life of the pad. 
         [0007]    According to another aspect of the present invention, the cloth material forming the cleaning pad functions as the attachment means for securing the cleaning pad to a particular cleaning device. The nature of the cloth material essentially forms a loop component of a conventional hook and loop fastener normally utilized in conjunction with existing cleaning devices. Therefore, in addition to providing the cleaning function, the material forming the cleaning pad functions as the attachment means to secure the pad to the particular cleaning device. 
         [0008]    According to still another aspect of the present invention, the pad is formed of a cloth material in a knitting process where, in addition to the knit and purl stitches, a secure run of the material, or a holding stitch, is created between each row of stitches. This holding stitch effectively locks or prevents the stitched material from stretching in the manner commonly associated with items formed utilizing the conventional knit one, purl one knitting pattern. Thus, the locking stitch enables the pad to maintain its shape over an extended period of use. 
         [0009]    Numerous other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description taken together with the drawing figures. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]    The drawings illustrate the best mode currently contemplated of practicing the present invention. 
           [0011]    In the drawings: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a front plan view of a knit cleaning pad constructed according to the present invention attached to a cleaning device; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2-4  are top plan views illustrating the manufacturing steps in the process for forming the cleaning pad of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a cleaning device for use in removing dirt and other debris from a surface is indicated generally at  10  in  FIG. 1 . The device  10  can take any desired shape, or have any suitable construction, but in the preferred embodiment is formed with a handle  12  secured at one end to a pad-engaging head  14 . In order to secure the pad to be used in cleaning the surface to the head  14 , the head  14  also includes a securing means  16 , preferably formed of one half of a hook-and-loop-type closure  18  that is disposed on the head  14  opposite the handle  12 . 
         [0015]    Looking now at  FIG. 1 , a cleaning pad  20  is illustrated as being attached to the head  14  of the device  10 . The pad  20  is formed of a yarn or cloth material capable of being formed by knitting into the pad  20  using a method to be described. While the material utilized to form the pad can be any suitable synthetic or natural fiber-based material, a preferred material is an industrial microfiber yarn. This industrial-type microfiber yarn has a large surface area that enables the yarn to trap small particles of dirt and other debris in comparison to more conventional fabric material fibers that are currently used in mop pad constructions. The microfiber yarn material is also highly absorbent, allowing the pad  20  formed of this material to absorb multiple times the dry weight of the pad  20  in liquid. 
         [0016]    Further, while the pad  20  is illustrated as having a pair of opposed cleaning surfaces  21  that have generally rectangular shape and are generally identical to one another in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing figures, the pad  20  can be formed with any desired shape in order to conform to the construction of a particular device  10  with which the pad  20  is to be used, such as a circular or triangular shape, among others. Additionally, the cleaning faces  21  of the pad  20  are formed to have a surface area larger than the area of the head  14  of the device  10 . This allows the edges of the cleaning surfaces  21  of the pad  20  to reach more easily into hard to reach areas of the surface being cleaned, such as the corners or along the baseboards of a floor, using the pad  20 . Also, the softness and flexibility of the pad  20  formed of the microfiber yarn enables the pad  20  to be compressed into tight spaces by the device  10 . 
         [0017]    Due to the construction of the pad  20  from the microfiber cloth material, the pad  20  can additionally be cleaned in a manner similar to other items formed from cloth or fabric materials. Thus, after use in cleaning a surface, the pad  20  can simply be hand washed and wrung out or machine washed, rather than needing to be disposed of. This greatly increases the utility of the pad  20  over prior art pads, as the pad  20  can be cleaned and reused numerous times to clean surfaces. 
         [0018]    To enable the pad  20  to be attached to the head  14  for use with the device  10 , the fabric forming the pad  20  can effectively function as the loop portion of a hook and loop type closure such that the microfiber yarn forming the pad  20  allows the pad  20  to be directly secured to the securing means  16  disposed on the head  14 . This occurs as a result of the fibers of the yarn material forming the pad being engaged by the hooks forming the means  16  on the head  14 . The engagement between the means  16  and the fibers of the pad  20  is sufficiently strong to hold the pad  20  on the head  14  when in use, and is weak enough to allow the pad  20  to be easily removed from the head  14  for cleaning after use with the device  10 . However, additional securing means (not shown) can also be attached to the pad  20  and/or to the head  14  to assist in securing the pad  20  to the head  14  of the device  10 . 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIGS. 2-4 , to construct the pad  20 , the microfiber yarn or other fabric is initially wound in a serpentine pattern between a number of posts  22  that are disposed on a stationary knitting machine (not shown). After the microfiber yarn has been disposed about the posts  22  to the length desired for the resulting pad  20 , the adjacent yarn sections  26  extending between the respective posts  22  are secured to one another by stitches  28  formed utilizing a suitable knit and purl knitting pattern. The particular pattern of stitches  28  utilized to form the pad  20  can vary depending upon a number of factors, including the desired width of the pad and/or the length of each stitch, which directly affects the number of stitches required to form the pad  20  having the desired shape and size. 
         [0020]    After the yarn sections  26  have been secured to one another by the desired pattern and/or number of stitches  28 , a secure run or holding stitch  30  of the yarn material is formed by directing the leader yarn or free end of the yarn material across the unfinished pad  20 , preferably in a diagonal direction as best shown in  FIG. 4 . This secure run  30  effectively prevents the material forming the pad  20  from stretching or being pulled apart, which results in a more stable structure for the pad  20  over the entire useful life of the pad  20 . When the secure run  30  is positioned around the opposite post  22 , the yarn material is again wound about each of the posts  22  in order to form a second layer of yarn sections  26 , as best shown in  FIG. 4 . The yarn sections  26  in the second layer are then secured to one another utilizing the knitting pattern used in securing the yarn sections  26  of the first layer to one another, and a second secure run or holding stitch  30  is formed to repeat the entire process for the first layer of yarn sections  26  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . This process is subsequently repeated as many times as is necessary to construct a pad  20  having a desired width and length. In one embodiment, the pattern results in a pad  20  that is approximately four inches wide, with the length dependent upon the number of repeats of the knitting process described previously. In another embodiment, the pad  20  is formed to have dimensions of approximately three (3) to five (5) inches in width, and approximately nine (9) to eleven (11) inches in length so as to conform generally to the size of the head  14  of a conventional cleaning device  10 . 
         [0021]    In addition to the enhanced features present in the pad  20  of the present invention as discussed previously, the structure of the pad  20  formed in this manner also includes a number of channels  32  and apertures  34  are disposed therein capable of attracting and retaining large particles of dirt within the pad  20 . Thus, while the properties of the material forming the yarn used to form the pad  20  are able to easily pick up and retain smaller dirt and debris particles when used to clean a surface, the larger channels  32  and apertures  34  are able to pick and retain larger particles of dirt and debris therein. These particles can later be easily disengaged from the pad  20  by flexing the pad  20  during washing after use, which effectively opens the channels  32  and apertures  34  to release any of the dirt and debris collected and retained therein. 
         [0022]    Additionally, this construction for the pad  20  results in a pad that is identically shaped on the opposite rectangular cleaning surfaces  21 . As a result, the pad  20  is formed with a reversible construction, with each rectangular cleaning surface  21  being attachable to be securing means  16  on the head  14  and able to be utilized in cleaning a surface. 
         [0023]    Various alternatives are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.