Patent Description:
A large variety of cleaning apparatuses or cleaning tools such as, but not limited to, brushes, mops and brooms have been commonly used for removing dirt, dust, debris or the like from the ground or any surfaces that require cleaning. Among the different types of cleaning apparatuses available in the market, a carpet brush is one which generally comprises a plurality of bristles or clusters of bristles for engaging or, more specifically, scrubbing the fabric of the carpet to thereby loosen and subsequently, remove the embedded dirt or hair from the fabric of the carpet. Particularly, different carpet brushes are designed to comprise bristles of different characteristics such as, but not limited to, length, stiffness and/or resiliency for cleaning carpets, mats, rugs or the like of different thicknesses and/or materials. In general, the longer and/or stiffer the bristles of the brush are, the deeper they are able to penetrate into the fabric of the carpet surface and thus the better is the scrubbing or cleaning effect. However, a deeper penetration of the bristles into the fabric may also mean that additional manual effort from the user is required during the clean. In addition, a number of different brushes having bristles with different bristle characteristics may generally be required in a household with more than one type of carpet, rug or mat, which is inconvenient and undesirable.

Document <CIT> discloses a cleaning apparatus with a latch for retracting the brush.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus, in which the aforesaid shortcomings are mitigated or at least to provide a useful alternative.

Another object of the invention is to mitigate or obviate to some degree one or more problems associated with known brushes.

The above object is met by the combination of features of the main claim; the subclaims disclose further advantageous embodiments of the invention.

One skilled in the art will derive from the following description other objects of the invention. Therefore, the foregoing statements of object are not exhaustive and serve merely to illustrate some of the many objects of the present invention.

The invention is set out in the appended set of claims which, in the first main aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for cleaning. The apparatus comprises a cleaning member adapted to engage a surface to be cleaned; a support member for supporting the cleaning member, the cleaning member comprising at least two brush portions each of which being connected to the support member via at least one resilient means; wherein the respective resilient means of the at least two brush portions are of identical resiliency or different resiliencies; wherein, in response to an external pushing force applied to the cleaning member during use, the cleaning member is resiliently movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the support member; one or more engaging members provided at the support member; wherein, when the external pushing force is applied, the cleaning member is adapted to resiliently retract to the retracted position and that the engaging members are adapted to descend over a distance towards the surface so as to engage the surface, such that further retraction of the cleaning member is substantially prevented.

The foregoing and further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments which are provided by way of example only in connection with the accompanying figures, of which:.

The following description is of preferred embodiments by way of example only and without limitation to the combination of features necessary for carrying the invention into effect.

Reference in this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Similarly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not other embodiments.

In the claims hereof, any element expressed as a means for performing a specified function is intended to encompass any way of performing that function. It is thus regarded that any means that can provide those functionalities are equivalent to those shown herein.

The present invention generally relates to a cleaning apparatus or a cleaning tool for collecting and/or removing any dirt, dust, debris, hair, rubbish or the like from the ground, the floor or any surfaces to be cleaned. The cleaning apparatus can be provided in any applicable form of tools, such as but not limited to, a portable hand brush or scrub to be hand-held by the user in use, or a brush having a brush head fixedly and/or detachably connected to an extended and/or elongated handle for easy holding by the user in a standing posture. The cleaning apparatus may also be provided in the form of a brush head having a connector or an adaptor for a releasable connection with a handle, such that the brush head can be easily detached and be replaced when it is worn-out. The releasable brush head may further be configured for connecting with a suitable part of another cleaning apparatus, such as but not limited to, a suction pipe of a vacuum cleaner, to thereby allow interchangeability of different types of brush heads for the vacuum cleaner to perform cleaning on different surfaces.

Referring to <FIG>, shown is a cleaning apparatus <NUM> provided in the form of a brush head <NUM> in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the brush head <NUM> can be fixedly or releasably connected with a handle portion <NUM> to form a brush <NUM>. The brush head <NUM> may comprise a cleaning member <NUM> adapted to engage the surface to be cleaned. In one embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> may comprise one or more brush portions <NUM> each having a plurality of bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM>.

In one specific embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> can be configured to be substantially cylindrical in shape, and/or to comprise a curved portion at the surface of the cleaning member <NUM> carrying the one or more brush portions <NUM>, as shown in the figures. However, a skilled person in the art would understand that any variations to the cleaning member <NUM> in terms of, for example, size, configuration, construction and/ or material, are also encompassed as long as the variations are considered suitable and applicable without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention. For example, in one embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> is configured to be releasably mountable at a part or a body of the cleaning apparatus <NUM> via any known and/or applicable connecting or engaging means provided at two distal ends of the cylindrical body, for example.

The brush head <NUM> may further comprise a support member <NUM> for supporting the cleaning member <NUM>. Particularly, the cleaning member <NUM> can be arranged such that it is resiliently movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the support member <NUM> in response to an external force applied to the cleaning member <NUM> by the user, for example, by pressing the brush head <NUM> towards the surface to be cleaned via the handle portion <NUM>. In one embodiment, the resilient movement between the cleaning member <NUM> and the support member <NUM> can be provided or assisted by one or more resilient means <NUM>, such as but not limited to, one or more spring members <NUM> connecting the cleaning member <NUM> with the support member <NUM>. In such arrangement, the cleaning member <NUM> can be made naturally biased towards the extended position by the spring members <NUM>, with the cleaning member <NUM> being resiliently forced to extend away from the supporting member <NUM>. The extension of the cleaning member <NUM> away from the supporting member <NUM> allows the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> be operated at their full length. When an external pushing or pressing force is applied by the user onto the cleaning member <NUM> towards the surface, the cleaning member <NUM> may then resiliently retract backward to the support member <NUM> by a compressing action on the resilient means <NUM>. The retraction of the cleaning member <NUM> towards the support member <NUM> thus shortens the operable length of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> available for the scrubbing or cleaning.

In one embodiment, the one or more brush portions <NUM> can be connected to the support member <NUM> via one or more respective resilient means <NUM> to thereby provide independent resilient movement of the one or more brush portions <NUM> relative to the support member <NUM>. The resilient means <NUM> acting on the respective brush portions <NUM> can be of the same or different resiliencies, such that different degrees of resilient retraction, i.e. different operable length of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM>, can be provided upon application of the external pushing or pressing force by the user.

In one further embodiment, one or more of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> may also be adapted to connect to the support member <NUM> via one or more respective resilient means <NUM> having the same or different resiliencies. This, again, allows the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> to be independently and resiliently movable between the extended position and the retracted position to thereby provide further variations to the degree retraction and thus, operable length of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> of the cleaning member <NUM>.

In yet another embodiment, the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> can be configured to have identical stiffness or different stiffnesses and/or be formed of the same or different materials. The difference in stiffnesses of the bristles or cluster of bristles <NUM> together with the variation of operable lengths of the bristles or cluster of bristles <NUM> due to the variation of resiliencies of the resilient means <NUM> are advantageous in offering a broad spectrum of bristles characteristics suitable for cleaning different types of surfaces, such as carpets of different thicknesses, constructions and/or materials including different types of fabrics used, for example.

The brush head <NUM> may further comprise one or more engaging members <NUM> provided at, for example, the support member <NUM>. Particularly, the engaging members <NUM> are adapted to engage the surface when the cleaning member <NUM> is arranged at the retracted position, such that any further retraction of the cleaning member <NUM> is substantially prevented. When the cleaning member <NUM> is arranged at the extended position, for example, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the engaging members <NUM> are arranged to position above the surface or, more specifically, lifted above the surface by the extended cleaning member <NUM> by a distance "d", as shown in <FIG>, for example.

In use when scrubbing a relatively thick carpet and/or when a deeper penetration of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> into the carpet are desired, the user may use the brush head <NUM> or the carpet brush <NUM> without applying additional force to press the brush head <NUM> towards the surface. The cleaning member <NUM> will remain in its extended position with the bristles <NUM> arranged at their full operable length to thereby lift the engaging means <NUM> above the surface by the distance "d". On the other hand, when the brush head <NUM> or the carpet brush <NUM> is for use with a relatively thin carpet and/or a carpet with delicate fabric, and that a reduced degree of scrubbing is desired, the user may simply press the brush head <NUM> and thus the cleaning member <NUM> towards the surface to thereby compress the resilient means <NUM>. The cleaning member <NUM> will then be retracted resiliently and inwardly towards the support member <NUM> at the retracted position. As a result, the bristles <NUM> will be operated at their shortened operable lengths, with the engaging means <NUM> being descended over the distance "d" to engage the carpet surface.

The engagement of the engaging mean <NUM> with the carpet surface is particularly useful in maintaining or restricting the degree of retraction of the cleaning means <NUM> to thereby control the operable length of the bristles <NUM> at their optimum during a scrub. The engaging means <NUM> also provide a simple, physical guide or control for the user to easily rely on so as to achieve and maintain an optimum operable length of the bristles <NUM> and thus an improved cleaning efficiency, and to avoid any over-pressing on the brush head <NUM> by accident. In the embodiment as shown in the figures, the engaging means <NUM> is preferred to comprise one or more rotating means such as one or more wheel members <NUM> to allow a rotatable engagement with the carpet surface. The prevention of further retraction of the cleaning member <NUM> beyond the optimum level also helps in avoiding damages of the cleaning member <NUM>, the support member <NUM>, and/or the connecting parts therebetween such as the resilient means <NUM> by any accidental, overly-exerted pushing or pressing force by the user.

In one embodiment, the brush head <NUM> may comprise a housing <NUM> adapted to accommodate the support member <NUM> and the cleaning member <NUM>. The housing <NUM> can be configured to define a collecting chamber <NUM> with the cleaning member <NUM>, with the collecting chamber <NUM> being opened to the cleaning member <NUM> to collect and accommodate any received or collected dirt from the cleaning member <NUM>. The brush head <NUM> or the housing <NUM> of the brush head <NUM> may further comprise a cover member <NUM> adapted to cover at least partially the cleaning member <NUM> to thereby prevent or reduce fly-off of any collected dirt from the cleaning member <NUM>, especially during a scrubbing action of the user. The brush head <NUM> or the housing <NUM> may also comprise a connecting means <NUM> for releasably connecting the brush head <NUM> with a handle such as a handle portion <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, or a cleaning tool or a part of the cleaning tool such as a suction pipe or a hose of a vacuum cleaner, for example. The releasable connection can be achieved by any known connecting methods, such as via screw connection or frictional engagement, etc. For the connecting means <NUM> be adapted to connect with the suction pipe or a hose of a vacuum cleaner, it is preferred for the connecting means <NUM> be configured to be in fluid communication with the housing <NUM> and particularly, the collecting chamber <NUM>, such that any collected dusts from the cleaning member <NUM> which are stored at the collecting chamber <NUM> can be conveyed via the connecting means <NUM> to the suction pipe or the hose of the vacuum cleaner and subsequently, be collected and removed by the vacuum cleaner. In one further embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> can be configured to be releasably mountable at the support member <NUM> and/or the housing <NUM>, such that the cleaning member <NUM> can be easily detached and be replaced when the bristles <NUM> are worn-out. The releasability of the cleaning member <NUM> from the support member <NUM> and/or the housing <NUM> also allows different cleaning members be interchangeably used at the brush head <NUM> for performing different cleaning purposes.

Referring to <FIG>, shown is another embodiment of the cleaning apparatus <NUM> in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> comprises two brush portions 32A, 32B provided at two opposing longitudinal sides of the cleaning member <NUM>. The two brush portion 32A, 32B each comprises bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> with different characteristics such as but not limited to, stiffnesses, resiliencies and/or be formed of different materials. The provision of the two brush portions 32A, 32B at opposing locations is advantageous to allow the user with an easy identifying between the two different bristle types, as well as an easy selecting between the two types of bristles by simply flipping over the brush head <NUM> from one side to another. Preferably, the bristles <NUM> of the two brush portions 32A, 32B can be provided in different colors so that the two brush portions 32A, 32B can be visually distinguishable. For example, a darker color can be used to represent bristles with a higher stiffness, and a lighter color can be used to represent bristles with a lower stiffness. Again, a person skilled in the art could readily understand that the present invention shall not be restricted to the specific embodiments described, and any variations to the brush portions and/or the bristles as in, for example, the number, arrangement, configuration, construction and/or material, etc. of the brush portions and/ or the bristles of the brush head shall also be encompassed. For example, a brush head of the present invention may comprise more than two, transversely located brush portions, and/or the bristle may comprise a flared end for engaging the carpet, etc., as long as the variations are considered suitable and applicable without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention.

In one further embodiment, the cleaning member <NUM> may comprise two independently arranged brush portions 32A, 32B each of which being connected to the support member <NUM> via one or more respective resilient means <NUM> to thereby provide independent resilient movement of two brush portions 32A, 32B relative to the support member <NUM>. The resilient means <NUM> acting on the respective brush portions 32A, 32B can be of the same or different resiliencies, such that different degrees of resilient retraction, i.e. different operable length of the bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> located at the respective brush portions 32A, 32b, can be provided upon application of the external pushing or pressing force by the user. The brush portions 32A, 32B may optionally be configured to be releasably detachable from the support member <NUM> such that each brush portion can be separately detached and/or be replaced as desired. In one embodiment, the two releasable brush portions 32A, 32B can be configured to carry bristles or clusters of bristles <NUM> of different stiffnesses, colors and/or be formed of two different materials, etc. which allow different brush portions be interchangeably used for performing different cleaning purposes.

As described above, the cleaning apparatus <NUM> of the present invention is adapted to be releasably and/or interchangeably connect with a cleaning tool or a part of a cleaning tool such as a handle or a suction pipe of a vacuum cleaner, for example. The present invention therefore may also relate to an apparatus such as a carpet brush, a vacuum cleaner or the like which comprises any one or more embodiments of the clean apparatus <NUM> as described above.

Without limited by the described embodiments, it will be readily understood by a skilled person in the art that any variations to the cleaning apparatus in terms of, for example, dimensions, configurations, constructions, designs and/or materials forming one or more parts thereof, should also be encompassed by the present invention, as long as the variations are considered suitable and applicable without departing from the scope of the claims.

The present invention may further relate to a brush head <NUM>. The brush head comprises a cleaning member <NUM> adapted to engage a surface to be cleaned, and a support member <NUM> for supporting the cleaning member <NUM>. The cleaning member <NUM> is configured to be resiliently movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the support member in response to an external force applied to the cleaning member, as described above. The brush head <NUM> may further comprise one or more engaging members <NUM> provided at the support member <NUM>; and a handle retaining means <NUM> provided at the support member <NUM> for receiving a handle <NUM>. The engaging members <NUM> are adapted to engage the surface when the cleaning member <NUM> is arranged at the retracted position, such that further retraction of the cleaning member is substantially prevented.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>) for cleaning which comprises:
a cleaning member (<NUM>) adapted to engage a surface to be cleaned;
a support member (<NUM>) for supporting the cleaning member (<NUM>), the cleaning member (<NUM>) comprising at least two brush portions (<NUM>) each of which being connected to the support member (<NUM>) via at least one resilient means (<NUM>); wherein the respective resilient means (<NUM>) of the at least two brush portions (<NUM>) are of identical resiliency or different resiliencies;
wherein, in response to an external pushing force applied to the cleaning member (<NUM>) during use, the cleaning member (<NUM>) is resiliently movable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the support member (<NUM>);
one or more engaging members (<NUM>) provided at the support member (<NUM>);
wherein, when the external pushing force is applied, the cleaning member (<NUM>) is adapted to resiliently retract to the retracted position and the engaging members (<NUM>) are adapted to descend over a distance towards the surface so as to engage the surface, such that further retraction of the cleaning member (<NUM>) is substantially prevented.