Abstract:
A mop assembly with liquid detergent supply has a detergent storage bottle connected between the mop and the handle of a mop, a pump installed inside the storage bottle, a sucking tube disposed at one end of the pump, and an outlet nozzle connected with the storage bottle disposed on the other end of the pump, so that the handle pushes the pump and compresses a spring to resume the pump into its original position. Such back and forth movement squeezes the liquid detergent out from the pump and sucks liquid detergent into the pump when the pump resumes its position, and thus spraying the detergent out from the outlet nozzle. By means of the handle directly driving the pump in the storage bottle for the back and forth squeezing, it gives the convenience of supplying detergent before mopping. Furthermore, an n-shape contractible support rod is disposed each on both sides of the mop to fit mops of different specifications, and thus having the effect of expanding the applications.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an improved mop assembly with liquid detergent supply, comprising a detachable storage bottle, a detachable handle, and a detachable mop that constitute a linear body after assembling the foregoing components. By means of the reciprocating movement of the handle, the pump in the storage bottle is squeezed to convey the detergent for convenient use, and the present invention can reduce the packaging volume for transportation and lower the cost. Additionally, a contractible support rod is disposed on each on both sides of the mop to fit the mops of different specifications and thus enhancing the cost-effectiveness of such technical area. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A mop is a common cleaning tool that has existed for a long time. It is generally used together with a piece of cotton cloth or a polyester cloth to offer convenience of cleaning highly recognized by consumers. However, when a user needs to remove dirt by liquids such as clean water or liquid detergent, it is necessary to spray the dirty place first and wipe off the dirt by a mop, and thus causing inconvenience to users for such operation. Therefore, the following prior arts came to their place: 
     (1) The first prior art hangs a storage bottle on the handle of a mop and installs a small direct current pump outside the storage bottle; a press switch is disposed at the top of the handle; an electric cable extends along the exterior of a pipe of the sectional handle to such small electric pump for supplying power from a battery outside the storage bottle; and by means of pressing the switch, the electric pump is controlled to spray liquid detergent from the storage bottle. 
     (2) The second prior art also sets a press switch at the top of the handle of a mop, and uses the siphon principle of an air pump as well as extends the pipeline from the interior of the pipe of the handle into a storage bottle. By pressing the switch, the air pump is controlled to spray the liquid detergent. 
     The aforementioned first prior art still has the following shortcomings: 
     (1) The storage bottle is hung outside the handle of the mop. Since the storage bottle protrudes from the outer side, and liquid detergent is stored in the storage bottle when the mop is being used, the center of gravity deviates from the mop, which causes an unstable operation of the mop. 
     (2) Battery is used as power supply to the electric pump, and the power consumption is large. It is necessary to replace the battery quite often, and causes inconvenience to its use. The storage bottle is, dipped or wetted by the liquid detergent easily, and causes corrosions and damages to the battery and the battery compartment. 
     (3) The electric cable is installed in the pipe of a sectional handle, which makes the assembling procedure complicated and increases costs. In addition, when the mops are packed separately, the volume is larger and thus increasing the volume of material for transportation as well as the transportation cost. 
     (4) The electric cable installed in the pipe of the sectional handle has a specific length, so that the length of the handle cannot be adjusted according to the height of the user, which limits its use. 
     (5) The foregoing mop is of a fixed specification, and cannot be used together with a longer piece of cloth for the mops of other specifications. 
     The aforementioned second prior art still has the following shortcomings: 
     (1) Since the press switch is installed at the top of the handle, and there is a pipeline inside the pipe of the sectional handle. To detach the sections of the handle, a pipe connector is needed at each end of the joint for the connection of the sections of the handle. Air leakage may occur and make the operation impossible if such joint is loosened during the assembling or while the mop is in use. 
     (2) The assembling procedure of the aforementioned handle is complicated, and thus increasing the cost. 
     (3) The foregoing storage bottle is hung outside the front of the handle of the mop. Since the storage bottle stores liquid detergent and its center of gravity deviates from the mop, causing an unstable operation. 
     (4) Since the pipeline is too long, it is difficult for the air pump to provide a fixed quantity of the sprayed liquid detergent. It is necessary to press the press switch many times to spray the required amount of detergent, and thus making the use time-consuming and a waste of efforts. 
     (5) The foregoing mop is also of fixed specification, and cannot be used together with a longer piece of cloth of other specifications. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary objective of the present invention is to solve the foregoing problems by taking the following measures. 
     (1) The present invention directly connects a storage bottle with a sectional handle and a mop, such that the center of gravity of the storage bottle falls onto the mop, and makes the operation stable for users, and can reduce the volume of material for individual packaging and lower the transportation cost. 
     (2) A pump is installed inside the storage bottle, and the back-and-forth pressing movement drives the handle to squeeze the pump in a longitudinal direction, and the compression is larger than that of the aforementioned electric pump, so that the liquid detergent can be spread out and sprayed evenly. 
     (3) There is no pipeline or electric cable inside the pipe of the sectional pipe in accordance with the present invention, which makes the assembly easy and saves assembling costs. In addition, the length of the sectional handle can be adjusted according to the height of the user, which flexibly expands the effect of its applications. 
     (4) The mop of the present invention has a contractible support rod at the interior of both sides to provide the extension of the mop&#39;s length and fit the cloths of different specifications. 
     Therefore, the present invention can achieve the following effects: 
     (1) The present invention makes the assembling easy, saves costs, reduces the volume of material after packaging individually, and lowers the transportation cost. 
     (2) The present invention is easy to operate, and gives a larger quantity of sprayed liquid detergent. 
     (3) The present invention provides a stable operation for users without the phenomenon of deviated center of gravity. 
     (4) There is no pipeline or electric cable inside the sectional handle, and the length of the handle can be adjusted according to the height of the user. 
     (5) The mop of the present invention allows contractible adjustments to fit the cloths of different specifications and thus expanding the effect of its applications. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of the assembled structure of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective cross-sectional diagram of the fixed bottle cover of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram of the disassembled parts of the outlet nozzle and storage bottle of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the first step of the movement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4A is an enlargement of a part of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the second and fourth steps of the movement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5A is an enlargement of a part of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the third step of the movement according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 6A is an enlargement of a part of FIG.  6 . 
     FIG. 7 is an illustrative diagram of the present invention when it is in use. 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional diagram showing the operation of the outlet nozzle according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional diagram of the assembled parts according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the first step of the movement according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional diagram illustrating the second step of the movement according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective diagram of the disassembled parts of the mop according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective diagram of the assembled parts of the mop according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 13A is a planar illustrative diagram of the mop according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 14 is a perspective diagram of the mop according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective of the invention, its structure, innovative features, and performance, we use two preferred embodiments together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. 
     Please refer to FIGS. 1, and  2  for the first preferred embodiment. In the figure, a mop  1  comprises a connecting pipe  12  pivotally coupled to a pivotal connector  11 ; a screw pipe  21  extended from the bottom of a storage bottle  2 ; a pivotal groove  22  disposed in the front end, wherein a flow hole being disposed at its center; a leak-proof spacer  23  surrounding the flow hole  221 , and said pivotal groove  22  at its end opening having four flanges  222 ; an outlet nozzle  224  (refer to FIG. 3) having an arced rotary head  241  at one end and a spray nozzle  24  at the other end, through which an outlet passage  243  passes; said rotary head  241  is embedded and protruded from said flanges  222  into said pivotal groove  22  such that the flange just exceeds the diameter of said rotary head  241  and the outlet passage  243  in the rotary head  241  connects to said flow hole  221  under normal conditions. When said outlet nozzle  24  is moved vertically such that the outlet passage  243  separates from the flow hole  221  and blocks the liquid detergent by a leak-proof spacer  23  to stop the supply or leakage of liquid detergent; further, a fixed bottle cover  25  is secured onto another end of the storage bottle and a washer  251  is used to prevent leakage, and an inject hole  25  is disposed at an appropriate position of the fixed bottle cover  25  and sealed by a stopper  253  to facilitate the fill-up of liquid detergent; and an axial hole  254  is disposed at the top of said fixed bottle cover  25 , and an O-shape ring  2542  is disposed on the hole edge  2541  at the bottom of the axial hole  254 , and a radial fixing serration  255  is disposed on the surface of said central hole  2541 ; a push member  26  is disposed at the bottom of said fixing serration  255  having a sleeve  261  at one end, and a radial latch serration  262  is disposed at a position of said serration  255  corresponsive to the surface of the push member  26 , and a limit member is extended from the bottom of the push member  26 . When the sleeve  261  of said push member  26  is sheathed and secured onto the handle connecting pipe A and passes through the central hole  25  of said axial hole  254 , the pipe wall of the handle connecting pipe A exactly presses against said O-shape ring  2542  and is secured into said axial hole  254  by a limit axle bolt  27  to limit the positions of the O-shaped ring  2542  and the handle connecting pipe A. In the meantime, the latch serration  262  of said push member  26  is engaged with the fixing serration  255  on the surface of said central hole  2541 , and the limit member  26  at the bottom of said push member  26  is embedded into a limit groove  31  at the top of the curved pipe  3 . The curved pipe  3  is connected to a suction pipe  32  extending into a storage bottle  2 , and a sphere stopper is placed in a pump  4  at the position where such suction pipe  32  and its passage  33  are connected; a pump  4  having a sphere stopper  41  at its top is supported by a compressed spring  42  to press against the front end of a passage opening  411 , and said compressed spring presses against a sealing stopper  43 , and one end of said sealing blocking stopper is plugged into a piston  44  and a relay push pipe  45  presses against the bottom of said sealing stopper  43 , while said relay push pipe  45  covers the lower end of said relay push pipe by a main push pipe  46 , and the front end of the blocking edge  461  of the main push pipe  46  is sleeved from a main push pipe  45  by a bottle stopper  49  and embedded into the bottom of the pump  4  such that the bottle stopper  49  supports said piston  44  and the blocking edge  461  of the main push pipe  46  while keeping an appropriate distance between the piston  44  and the blocking edge  461  of the main push pipe  46  and pressing against the blocking edge  461  of the main push pipe  46  to prevent the main push pipe  46  from falling out. In the meantime, the lower end of the main push pipe  46  is embedded into the fixed hole  223  at the bottom of the storage bottle  2  and the outer periphery of the main push pipe  46  has a secondary spring  47  being supported between the bottom of the pump  4  and the bottom of the storage bottle  4 , so that the handle connecting pipe A, push member  26 , pump  4 , main push pipe  46 , connecting pipe  12 , and mop  1  form a longitudinal line vertical to a central line, and the relay push pipe  45 , main push pipe  46 , fixed hole  223 , flow hole  221 , and the nozzle opening  242  of the outlet nozzle  24  constitute a liquid detergent passage. 
     Please refer to FIG.  1 . Before the mop according to the present invention is used, inject the liquid detergent into the storage bottle  2  through the inject hole  252  and seal the bottle with a stopper  253 , and follow the procedure as follows: 
     (1) Adjust the handle connecting pipe A according to the user&#39;s height or requirements and secure it to the sectional handle. To prevent the pump  4  in the storage bottle  2  from being rotated when securing the handle, use the upward pushing force of the compressed spring  42  in the pump  4  and the secondary spring  47  at lower end of the pump to prop the push member  26  towards the surface of the central hole  2541  at the top of the interior of the storage bottle  2 , and engage the latch serration  262  on the push member  262  and the fixed serration  255  on the surface of the central hole  2541  such that the fixed push member  26  and the handle connecting pipe A will not rotate as the sectional handle is being secured. 
     (2) Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 4A. Before the mop of the present invention has ever been used, there is no liquid detergent W in the pump  4 . When the handle A erects the storage bottle  2  to a vertical position, the handle is in the most power saving condition for compressing the pump  4 , therefore when the handle connecting pipe A compresses the push member  26 , the pump  4  sinks and the main push pipe  46  relatively enters into the pump  4  while pushing the sealing stopper  43  up and separating the piston  44  and leaving a gap B behind. Please refer to FIGS. 5 and 5A. The relay push pipe  45  keeps on being pushed forward by the main push pipe  46  and the blocking edge  461  of the main push pipe  46  in turn pushes the piston  44  to squeeze the air in the squeezing chamber  48  in the pump  4 . The sphere stopper  41  squeezed by the air pressure on one hand, and pushed by the compressed spring  42  on the other hand clogs the passage opening  411 . The air is compressed by the piston  44 , and enters through the gap B into the relay push pipe  45 , main push pipe  46 , flow hole  221 . and nozzle opening  242  of outlet nozzle  24 , and then discharge the air. 
     (3) Please refer to FIGS. 6 and 6A. If the user no longer pushes the handle A, then the resuming forces of the compressed spring  42  in the pump  4  and the secondary spring  47  are used to push the pump  4  upward, while the piston  44  uses the friction of the inner wall of the pump  4  to keep the piston  44  still in the original position. The sealing stopper  43  drops to the position of the piston  44  and clog the gap B. At that time, since the pump  4  rises, it is equivalent to the drop of the piston  44  to extract the air in the squeezing chamber  48  of the pump  4  such that the sphere stopper  41  is separated from the passage opening  411  by the suction and forms a gap B. Such suction sucks the liquid detergent W by the suction pipe  32  through the curved pipe  3 , passage  33 , passage opening  411 , gap B′ and then into the squeezing chamber  48  of the pump  4  for temporary storage. 
     (4) The liquid detergent W temporarily stored in the squeezing chamber  48  is blocked by the sealing between the sealing stopper  43  and the piston  44 , and squeezed by the piston  44  according to the previous step ( 2 ), which is also shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A. The liquid detergent is squeezed into the relay push pipe  45  through the gap B between the sealing stopper  43  and the piston  44 , and then sprayed out through the main push pipe  46 , flow hole  221 , and nozzle opening  242  of the outlet nozzle  24 . 
     (5) In the foregoing step, the back and forth movement of the handle can squeeze and resume the pump  4  to spray the required quantity of the liquid detergent. 
     (6) The handle is usually set to an appropriate angle to use the mop (as shown in FIG.  7 ), and the mop  1  is placed in front of the user to facilitate the movement of the mop. Therefore the force exerting on the pump  4  produced by the inclination of the handle plus the resisting forces by the compressed spring  42  and the secondary spring  47  will not sufficient to squeeze the pump  4  when a pushing force is applied onto the mop when it is in use. 
     (7) Please refer to FIG.  8 . To prevent the mop of the present invention from dripping the liquid detergent remained in the nozzle opening or spraying the detergent by accidentally trigger the handle to squeeze the pump  4 , the outlet nozzle  24  can be lifted upward to detach the outlet passage  243  from the flow hole  211  and seal by the anti-leakage spacer  23  to prevent further spray of liquid detergent. Please refer to FIG. 9 for the second preferred embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the pump  4 ′ has a structure identical to the pump  4  of the first preferred embodiment. The difference resides on that the position of the pump  4 ′ has an inverted position of the previous pump  4 , and the structure of the pump  4 ′ is to extend the passage opening  411 ′ of the pump  4 ′ to a suction pipe  32 ′, and be embedded and limited on a limit pillar C protruded from the storage bottle  2 , and such suction pipe  32 ′ at its bottom has a suction opening  321 ′, The push member  26  identical to that of the first embodiment having a limit member  263  directly embedded into the main push pipe  46 ′ of the pump  4 , and said main push pipe  46 ′ connects a conveying pipe D to an outlet passage  243 ′ of the outlet nozzle  24 ′ and is fixed into the axial hole  254  of the fixed bottle cover  25 . The secondary spring  47 ′ is placed in said axial hole  254  and a press board A 1  fixed on the handle connecting pipe presses said secondary spring  47 ′. By means of passing the handle connecting pipe A into a limit cover E and securing it above the axle hole  254  of the fixed bottle cover  25  such that the secondary spring  47 ′ can be compressed and resumed in the axial hole  254  by the back and forth squeezing movement of the handle. 
     The operation procedure is as follows: 
     (1) Please refer to FIG.  10 . If the handle connecting pipe A pushes the push member  62  to sink the main push pipe  46 ′, and the main push pipe  46  relatively enters into the pump  4 ′, while pressing the sealing stopper  43  down, and separating the piston  44  to form a gap B between them. Please refer to FIG.  11 . Said relay push pipe  45  keeps on being pushed forward by the main push pipe  46 ′, and the blocking edge  461  pushes the piston  44  to squeeze the liquid detergent W in the squeezing chamber  48  of the pump  4 ′. The sphere stopper  41  is pressed by the pressure on one hand, and pushed by the compressed spring  42  on the other hand to block the passage opening  411 ′. Therefore, the liquid detergent W is compressed by the piston  44  to enter into said gap B and then into the relay push pipe  45 , main push pipe  46 , conveying pipe D, the outlet passage  243 ′ of the outlet nozzle  24 ′, and then discharged from the nozzle  242 ′. 
     (2) If the user no longer pushes the handle A, but resumes the movement as shown in FIG. 11 to the movement as shown in FIG.  9 . Therefore, the resuming force by the compressed spring  42  and the secondary spring  47 ′ in the pump  4 ′ is used to push the main push pipe  46 ′ up, while the pistons  44  uses the friction on the inner wall of the pump  4 ′ to drop the piston  44  to the position of the sealing stopper  43  and blocks the gap B. At that time, since the main push pipe  46 ′ rises, it relatively makes the piston to pump the liquid detergent W in the squeezing chamber  48  of the pump  4 ′ and separates the sphere stopper  41  from the passage opening  411 ′ by said suction to form a gap. Such suction sucks the liquid detergent W through the suction opening  321  and the suction pipe  32 ′ and the gap B′ into the squeezing chamber  48  of the pump  4 ′ for temporary storage. 
     (3) The required quantity of liquid detergent can be sprayed by the back and forth squeezing and resuming movement of the handle on the bump  4 ′ as described in the previous step. 
     Please refer to FIGS. 12 and 13. The mop  1  comprises a board body  13  and a board surface  14 ; a serrated latch groove  131  disposed respectively at the front and the rear ends of the board body  13 , and a plurality of soft clipping boards  132  disposed thereon; a board surface  14  having an aslant sliding track  141  inclined towards both sides of the board surface  14 ; two n-shape contractible support rod  15  disposed on both sides of the opening end respectively having an vertically upward protruded ear  151  and a sliding rod  152  extended towards the inner side. When the n-shape contractible rod  15  is disposed at the bottom of the board body  13 , the protruded ear  151  exactly passes through the serrated latch groove  131  and latches the protruded ear  151  into the latch groove  1311  of the serrated latch groove  131  by the elasticity of the n-shape contractible support rod  15 . The aslant sliding track  141  exactly presses against the sliding rod  152  of the n-shape support rod  15  by means of combining the board surface  14  and the board surface. When the protruded ear  151  on both sides of the n-shape contractible support rod  15  is held inward, said protruded ear  151  will separate from the latch groove  1311  of the serrated latch groove  131  and contract the n-shape contractible support rod  15  towards both sides of the mop  1 . If the protruded ear is released, the n-shape contractible support rod  15  is latched in the latch groove  1311 . The aslant sliding track  1411  is used to tilt the sliding rod  152  aslant to both sides. Please refer to FIG.  7 . If the length of the cloth exceeds the length of the board body of the mop  1 , the n-shape contractible support rod  15  is used to pass the cleaning cloth  5  into the two side pockets and extend outward. The outwardly aslant n-shape contractible support rod  15  guides both ends of the cleaning cloth to attached on the same plane as the cleaning cloth attached on the foregoing board surface  14  (as shown in FIG. 13A) to improve the effect of using the whole pieces of the cleaning cloth  5 . Please refer to FIG.  14 . The mop  1  has a soft clipping board  132  for engaging the polyester cloth or other cleaning cloth  6  for having a multiple effect on the applications. 
     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.