An Improved Mop for Household and other Purposes, having a Rotatable Head.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th July, 1899-Accepted, 19th Aug., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Mop for Household and other Purposes, having a
Rotatable Head.
I, WILLIAM DABB, of "Starcross," Oxford Road, Croydon, in the Colony of
Victoria, Mechanical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:―
Hitherto mops as ordinarily constructed have not been used much by house-
wives partly because of the difficulty experienced in regulating the amount of
water contained in them and partly because they could not be trundled inside a
dwelling without splashing the walls or furniture.
Now the object of this invention is to provide a mop the head of which can
be rapidly rotated within a bucket or other vessel in such a way that whilst a
quantity of water can be driven out of it there will be no splashing, the whole of
such expelled water being intercepted by the sides of the bucket or other
receptacle.
According to this invention the head of the mop is mounted or constructed
upon a spindle, working in bearings in a clamp or holder and driven by bevel,
friction, or other gear at any desired speed.
In order that the construction of the invention may be readily understood
it will be described by reference to the accompanying drawings in which,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rotatable mop and driving mechanism there-
for constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a central section thereof on line 2-2 Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are similar views to Figures 1 and 2 but illustrating the use
of toothed bevel gear for driving the mop instead of friction gear and a slightly
different construction of mop.
Figure 5 is an elevation of a soap holder intended to be used with this
invention.
Figure 6 is a sectional view shewing a modification of a detail of the invention.
Figure 7 is a similar view to Figures 2 and 4 illustrating a modified con-
struction of my invention.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all
the figures.
A represents the head of a mop and B a spindle upon which said head is
secured or formed, whilst C represents a bearing on the end of a clip or socket D
fitted with a clamping screw E whereby it may be clamped around a suitable
wooden or other handle F.
The lower end of this socket may be split as shown at d in Figure 1 and be
adapted to be drawn tightly around the handle F by said screw or a set screw
can be used as shewn in Figure 3, the socket being made shorter and not split;
this construction being preferred because it is cheaper and simpler. The
spindle B passes through a sleeve G which works within the bearing on the
end of the clamp or socket D.

page_text: One end of the spindle B is formed with a head whilst its other end is
screw threaded to receive a butterfly nut . One end of the sleeve G is formed
with a cup-shaped flange into which the central portion of the head of the
mop is drawn by the spindle B. This cup shape allows the head of the. bolt B
to be screwed up tight so as not to come into contact with the floor or whatever
is being washed.
which is a
and which
The other end of the sleeve G is in the arrangement illustrated in Figures 1
and 2 fitted with a bevel rubber-covered or other friction pinion H with which
the correspondingly bevelled face of a friction wheel I engages.
This friction wheel is mounted upon a stud J upon or around
spiral spring K whose tension can be adjusted by means of a nut
serves to keep the face of the wheel I in gear with the pinion H.
The wheel I is provided with a small crank handle L whereby it may be
rotated so as to rotate the head of the mop at a rapid rate when desired and said
wheel is also provided with a set screw M whereby it can be firmly clamped
against rotation, the set screw being arranged to bear against a boss or flat N
on the bearing C.
With the above described construction a new mop-head can easily be fitted in
place of an old or worn one, it being merely necessary to screw off the butterfly
nut from the spindle B; withdraw the mop head and spindle from the
sleeve G; slip off the old mop head; pass the spindle through a new one and
replace the spindle within the sleeve G subsequently clamping everything tight
by means of the nut b¹. If preferred a new mop head can readily be constructed
out of pieces of cloth by threading them upon the spindle B and replacing said
spindle and clamping everything up tight with the nut 1 as illustrated in
Figures 3 and 4.
These figures also illustrate the employment of toothed bevel gearing instead
of frictional gear and they illustrate the use of a set screw E instead of the
clamping screw shewn in Figure 1.
In other respects the construction is substantially the same as above described,
except that the spring K and its adjusting nut kare dispensed with the wheel I
being secured upon its stud J by means of a split pin and washer. If preferred
it may be secured by a set screw fitted into said stud as illustrated in Figure 6.
It will be evident that many different kinds of mechanism other than those
above described can be used for communicating a rotary motion to the mop head.
If preferred the sleeve G and its bearing can be made tapering as illustrated
in Figure 7 and the pinion H can be fitted or cast upon the end next the mop
head instead of on the opposite end. This construction is somewhat stronger
than the other and provides more wear whilst the pinion is not so liable to
splash the water out of the bucket.
It will be obvious that a mop head constructed as above described can be
rotated at a rapid rate within the upper part of a bucket for instance after it has
been dipped in the water or other liquid therein, and can therefore be dried to a
sufficient extent without being touched by hand thereby obviating the necessity
for squeezing the mop head between the hands in order to wring out the super-
fluous moisture.
The use of the soap holder illustrated in Figure 5 also obviates the necessity
for wetting the hands. Said holder is constructed with a projecting hook
whereby it may be supported on the edge of a bucket for instance and used for
soaping the mop-head as required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A mop for household and other purposes having a rotatable head mounted
in bearings upon a clamp or socket adapted to be secured upon a handle sub-
די
1

page_text: 2. In a mop for household and other purposes having a rotatable head the
combination of a sleeve (as G) rotating in bearings (such as C) and driven by
frictional or other gear from a small hand wheel, with a spindle (as B) passing
through said sleeve and carrying the head of the mop substantially as and for
the purposes herein described and explained.
3. In a mop for household and other purposes having a rotatable head the
combination of a tapering sleeve (as G) rotated by means of a hand wheel in
bearings with a spindle (as B) carrying the mop head and a bevel pinion cast
or secured upon the end of said tapering sleeve nearest said mop head substan-
tially as and for the purposes herein described and explained and as illustrated
in Figure 7 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Thirteenth day of June One thousand eight hundred and
ninety-nine