Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This present application is a continuation-in-part of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/161,134 titled “Sponge Product,” filed Jun. 15, 2011, which is a continuation of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/880,060 titled “Sponge Product,” filed Jul. 19, 2007, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 7,996,950, issued on Aug. 16, 2011, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/831,756 titled “Sponge Product,” filed Jul. 19, 2006, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The present invention pertains to cleaning appliances, and more particularly to cleaning appliances having both an abrasive and a sponge portion. 
         [0003]    Sponges and similar appliances are used for cleaning surfaces such as walls, countertops, sinks, bowls, cars, etc. in just about every type of environment, be it industrial or domestic, household. Typically, a sponge includes a foraminous material portion, whether natural or synthetic. Recently, there has been developed, sold and marketed a unitary cleaning product having both a sponge portion and an abrasive portion. Another material used in a sponge cleaning product is melamine resin, which has a slightly abrasive quality like fine sandpaper. 
         [0004]    As is to be readily appreciated one of the problems encountered with available types of sponge product is the inability to effectively reach into corners as well as along edges for effective scrubbing and cleaning 
         [0005]    Thus, the present invention overcomes the problems in the prior art by providing a sponge product which provides both a foraminous portion of melamine resin as well as a more abrasive portion and which can readily reach into corners and edges. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    In accordance herewith there is provided a sponge product for cleaning a work surface having an open-cell melamine foam body layer with an upper surface and an opposed lower surface in parallel spaced relation to one another, a front wall and opposed rear wall that are parallel to one another, and a first sidewall and opposed second sidewall. At least one of the front wall, rear wall, first sidewall or second sidewall is inclined and at an acute angle relative to the upper surface of the body layer. An abrasive is layer adjacent only to the upper surface of the melamine foam body layer and attached thereto to form a unitary product, and the abrasive layer is selected from a material comprised of a reticulated abrasive foam or a nonwoven fiberous mass. The abrasive layer has an upper surface and an opposed lower surface that are parallel to one another, a front wall and an opposed rear wall that are parallel to one another, and a first sidewall and an opposed second sidewall. At least one of the front wall, rear wall, first sidewall or second sidewall of the abrasive layer form an obtuse angle with the lower surface of the abrasive layer, and the abrasive layer upper surface and at least one front wall, rear wall, first sidewall or second sidewall forms a working edge having an acute angle, such that the working edge remains flat against the work surface when a force is applied to the sponge product. 
         [0007]    The melamine foam and abrasive portions are in the form of parallel layers and each portion has opposite sidewalls and a cross-section in the form of a parallelogram. The portions or layers are joined together such as by an adhesive and the individual parallelogram cross-sections combined to form a single parallelogram shaped block having angled ends or wedges at the opposite ends thereof formed by respective inclined surfaces of the parallelogram shaped body. Inclined surfaces formed on the respective layers or portions combine and are coplanar. The top and bottom surfaces of the melamine foam and abrasive layers are parallel, spaced apart, rectangular shaped, and define edges and corners that may be effectively brought into contact with an edge or corner of a work surface to either scrub the surface or simply clean or observe fluid, depending on which portion of the product is being used. 
         [0008]    Advantageously, the sponge product may be used on multiple surface. Another advantage of the sponge product is that the melamine foam portion is less abrasive than the abrasive portion. Still another advantage of the sponge product is that the layers are specially configured and joined to one another to form a unitary assembly in the form of a unitized hand grippable block or body. A further advantage of the sponge product is that a working edge is formed. 
         [0009]    Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become readily appreciated based upon the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective of a sponge product according to the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a top plan view of the sponge product shown in  FIG. 1 , and 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the sponge product shown in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    Referring to  FIGS. 1-3  a sponge product  10  is illustrated. The sponge product  10  includes a foraminous melamine portion or layer  12  and an abrasive portion or layer  14 , each portion in side elevation or cross-section is in the form or a parallelogram shaped body, and the portions  12  and  14  joined to form a unitary block  24 , which in side elevation or cross-section is in the form of a parallelogram shaped body having a top surface  20 , a bottom surface  16 , front and rear faces  23  and  25 , and planar parallelogram shaped sidewalls  26  and  28 . The surfaces  16 ,  20 ,  23 , and  25  are generally planar and rectangular shaped. 
         [0014]    The top and bottom surfaces  20  and  16  are generally parallel to one another and form exterior cleaning surfaces of the sponge product. The top surface  20  of the abrasive portion  14  is used for more aggressive scrubbing. Preferably, the surfaces  16  and  20  are relatively close to one another to provide a low profile sponge body capable of reaching into hard to clean areas. The bottom surface  16  of the melamine foam portion  12  is used for less aggressive cleaning wherein the quality of the surface is a concern and also for absorbing fluids. The terms top and bottom and/or upper and lower are relative and depend on how the sponge is oriented in use. The terms are used herein as a means of describing structure in the drawing figures. 
         [0015]    The front and rear faces  23  and  25  are generally parallel to one another and at an acute angle  0  to the top and bottom faces  20  and  16 . Together with the surfaces  16  and  20 , the surfaces form wedges at the opposite ends of the sponge  10 . Depending on the manner that the sponge product is held and the positioning of the melamine foam and abrasive portions  12  and  14  for surface cleaning and use initiated, the front face  23  may be the rear face and the rear face  25  the front face. 
         [0016]    The sidewalls  26  and  28  are generally planar and parallel to one another and generally at a right angle to the surfaces  20 ,  25 ,  16 , and  23  that form the parallelogram shape of the block  24 . In some applications, the sidewalls  26  and  28  may be at an acute angle to the surfaces  20  and  16  and form in side elevation or cross-section a parallelogram shape. 
         [0017]    The melamine foam portion  12  has the lower surface  16  and an upper surface  18 , laterally spaced sidewalls  26   a  and  28   a,  and front and rear walls  23   a  and  25   a.    
         [0018]    The abrasive portion  14  has the upper surface  20  and a bottom surface  22 , laterally spaced sidewalls  26   b  and  28   b,  and front and rear walls  23   b  and  25   b.    
         [0019]    The surfaces  18  and  22  are joined together by any suitable means, such by sonic welding, gluing, flame laminating or the like to form a unitary product in the form of the parallelogram shaped block  24 . So joined, the sidewall  26  is formed by the sidewalls  26   a  and  26   b,  the sidewall  28  is formed by the sidewalls  28   a  and  28   b,  the inclined front wall (or wedge)  23  is formed by the wall portions  23   a  and  23   b,  and the inclined rear wall (or wedge)  25  is formed by the wall portions  25   a  and  25   b.  When the portions  12  and  14  are joined, the walls  23   a,    28   a,    25   a  and  28   a  of the melamine foam portion  12  and the walls  23   b,    28   b,    25   b,  and  28   b  of the abrasive portion  14  form generally continuous planar surfaces, as shown in the drawings. 
         [0020]    As shown in the drawings, the front and rear walls  23  and  25  of the parallelogram shape are inclined and at an acute angle 0 with respect to the bottom surface  16  and top surface  20 . The angle 0 is less than 90° and, depending on the application, the angle 0 is about between 35° and 70°, and preferably, as shown, about 60°. 
         [0021]    Additionally, so joined into the parallelogram shaped block  24 , the sponge and abrasive portions or layers  12  and  14  of the sponge product  10  form a plurality of edges  12   a,    12   b,    12   c,  and  12   d  and  14   a,    14   b,    14   c,  and  14   d.  The sponge product  10  and the respective edges of the melamine foam and abrasive portions  12  and  14  can effectively be brought into contact with an edge or corner of a surface to either aggressively scrub the surface via the abrasive portion or less aggressively clean through the melamine foam portion. 
         [0022]    The sponge may be dimensioned to enable a user to grip the sponge by the sidewalls  26  and  28  and maneuver the body  24  as desired. 
         [0023]    In an example, the foraminous or sponge-type portion may comprise an open-celled foam, such as an open-celled hydrophilic, polyurethane foam. The actual manufacture of these foams is well known in the art. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,841,586 and 6,855,741, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference there is disclosed therein the manufacture of useful polyester polyol-based polyurethane foams. Typically, these foams utilize suitable polyester polyols such as those produced by reacting a dicarboxylic and/or monocarboxylic acid with an excess of a diol and/or polyhydroxy alcohol, for example, adipic acid, glutaric acid, succinic acid, phthalic acid or anhydride, and/or fatty acids (linolic acid, oleic acid and the like) with diethylene glycol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, 1,4-butanediol, neopentyl glycol, trimethylolpropane, trimethylolethane, and/or pentaerythritol. Examples of these polyols are LEXOREZ 1102-50 or LEXOREZ 1102-60 from Inolex Chemical Company or FOMREZ 50 or FOMREZ 60 from Crompton Corporation. Other suitable polyester polyols can be prepared by reacting a lactone with an excess of a diol such as caprolactone with propylene glycol. See U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,555 for further discussion of suitable polyester polyols, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
         [0024]    Generally, however, these polyester polyurethane foams are prepared from the reaction of a hydrophilic polyester polyol and a polyisocyanate. Hydrophilic ester polyols are typically reaction products of polyethylene glycol and adipic acid. Examples are FOMREZ 45 from Crompton and LEXOREZ 1105-HV2 from Inolex Chemical Company. 
         [0025]    The “hydroxyl number” for a polyol is a measure of the amount of reactive hydroxyl groups available for reaction. The value is reported as the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide equivalent to the hydroxyl groups found in one gram of the sample. “Functionality” of a polyol is defined as the average number of hydroxyl group sites per molecule. Preferably, the polyester polyols ordinarily used to form the foams have a hydroxyl number in the range of 20 to 150, more preferably, in the range of 40 to 100, and most preferably in the range of 50 to 60. 
         [0026]    The term “polyisocyanate” refers particularly to isocyanates that have previously been suggested for use in preparing polyurethane foams. “Polyisocyanates” include di- and poly-isocyanates and prepolymers of polyols and polyisocyanates having excess isocyanate groups available to react with additional polyol. The amount of polyisocyanate employed is frequently expressed by the term “index”, which refers to the actual amount of isocyanate required for reaction with all of the active hydrogen-containing compounds present in the reaction mixture multiplied by 100. For most foam applications, the isocyanate index is in the range of between about 75 to 140. 
         [0027]    The polyester polyurethane foams are prepared using any suitable organic polyisocyanates well known in the art including, for example, hexamethylene diisocyanate, phenylene diisocyanate, toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and 4, 4′-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI). The methylene diisocyanates suitable for use are diphenyl methane diisocyanate and polymethylene polyphenyl isocyanate blends (sometimes referred to as “MDI” or “polymeric MDI”). The MDI blends can contain diphenylmethane 4, 4′ diisocyanate, as well as 2,2′- and 2,4′-isomers and higher molecular weight oligomers and have an isocyanate functionality of from about 2.1 to 2.7, preferably from about 2.1 to 2.5. Preferably, the isocyanate is selected from a commercial mixture of 2,4- and 2,6-toluene diisocyanate. A well-known commercial toluene diisocyanate is TD80, a blend of 80% 24-toluene diisocyanate and 20% 26-toluene diisocyanate. Polyisocyanates are typically used at a level of between 20 and 90 parts by weight per 100 parts of polyol, depending upon the polyol OH content and water content of the formulation. 
         [0028]    One or more surfactants may also be employed in the foam-forming composition. The surfactants lower the bulk surface tension, promote nucleation of bubbles, stabilize the rising cellular structure, emulsify incompatible ingredients, and may have some effect on the hydrophilicity of the resulting foam. The surfactants typically used in polyurethane foam applications are polysiloxane-polyoxyalkylene copolymers, which are generally used at levels between about 0.5 and 3 parts by weight per 100 parts polyol. In the present invention, from 1.0 to 3.0 parts by weight per 100 parts polyol of surfactant is preferred. Surfactants, which may for example be organic or silicone based, such as FOMREZ M66-86A (Witco) and L532 (Osi Specialties) may be used to stabilize the cell structure, to act as emulsifiers and to assist in mixing. Most preferably, the surfactant is a cell opening silicone surfactant in an amount from 1.5 to 2.5 parts by weight per 100 parts polyol. 
         [0029]    Catalysts are used to control the relative rates of water-polyisocyanate (gas-forming or blowing) and polyol-polyisocyanate (gelling) reactions. The catalyst may be a single component, or in most cases a mixture of two or more compounds. Preferred catalysts for polyurethane foam production are organotin salts and tertiary amines. The amine catalysts are known to have a greater effect on the water-polyisocyanate reaction, whereas the organotin catalysts are known to have a greater effect on the polyol-polyisocyanate reaction. The amount of catalyst used depends upon the formulation employed and the type of catalyst, as known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0030]    Suitable urethane catalysts are all those well known to the worker skilled in the art, including tertiary amines such as triethylenediamine, N-methylimidazole, 1,2-dimethylimidazole, N-methylmorpholine, N-ethylmorpholine, triethylamine, tributylamine, triethanolamine, dimethylethanolamine and bisdimethylaminodiethylether, and organotins such as stannous octoate, stannous acetate, stannous oleate, stannous laurate, dibutyltin dilaurate and dibutyltin bis(2-ethylhexanoate), and other such tin salts. Other useful catalysts include tin 2-ethylcaproate, tin naphthoate, tin octylate and the like. These catalysts may be used singly or in combination, and it may be more effective to use an amine together with an organometallic compound or an organic acid salt of a metal. Catalysts should be present at about 0.0001 to about 5 weight percent of the reaction mixture. 
         [0031]    Other useful amines which may be used as the catalyst in the present invention include, for example, trialkylamines, such as triethylene amine; N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl-1,3-butanediamine; amino alcohols such as dimethyl ethanolamine; ester amines such as ethoxylamine, ethoxyldiamine, bis-(diethylethanolamine)adipate; triethylenediamine; cyclohexylamine derivatives such as N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine; morpholine derivative such as N-methylmorpholine; and piparazine derivatives such as N,N′-diethyl-2-methylpiparazine, N,N′-bis-(2-hydroxypropyl)-2-methylpiparazine, bis(2,2′-dimethylaminoethyl)ether, and the like. 
         [0032]    The catalysts, including 1,3,5-tris-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-1,3,5-triazine, bis-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)methyl-amine, potassium acetate, potassium octoate, and DBU, and the methods of use of U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,011 are exemplary and are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0033]    Water is preferably the sole blowing agent to produce carbon dioxide by reaction with the isocyanate. Water is usually used at about 0.1 to about 10 parts per hundred parts of polyol, by weight (pphp), preferably between about 2 and about 8 pphp, more preferably between about 3 and about 6.5 pphp, most preferably between about 3.5 and about 5.8. At foam indexes below 100, the stoichiometric excess of water blows, via vaporization, and cools the foam, and does not take part of the reaction to produce carbon dioxide. 
         [0034]    The use of water as the foaming agent in flexible polyurethane foams increases the firmness of the resulting foams. A soft, flexible, plasticized water-blown polyurethane foam composition can be produced from the reaction of a polyol and toluene diisocyanate by adding a plasticizer selected from the group of phthalates, phosphate esters and benzoates to the reaction compounds. The types of plasticizers used in this invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,968, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
         [0035]    Other blowing agents that are conventionally used in the art may be used herein, such as fluorocarbon compounds, including trichlorofluoromethane, methylene chloride, methyl chloroform, as well as acetone can be included. While the amount of inert blowing material may range from about 0 to about 30 pphp, commercially acceptable foams can generally be made using between about 0 and about 8 pphp, typically between about 0 and about 5 pphp, more typically between about 1 and about 3 pphp. 
         [0036]    In another example of an open-cell foam, a double-cell structure may be created to replicate the appearance of natural sea sponges. Materials used to create a double cell structure may be added to the foam forming mixture. These include: castor oil derivatives, stearic acid, acetic acid and low melting point waxes. These materials create voids larger than the prevailing pores within the resulting foam structure. If used, the double-cell additive preferably is added in an amount from 0.04 to 0.21 parts per 100 parts polyol. 
         [0037]    Plasticizers which may be used include phthalate plasticizers such as, for example, alkyl aryl phthalates, or alkyl benzyl phthalates, including butyl benzyl phthalate, alkyl benzyl phthalate, preferably wherein the alkyl group has a carbon chain of from seven to nine carbon atoms, Texanol™ benzyl phthalate, (which is 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol-monobutyrate benzyl phthalate), alkyl phenyl phthalate, symmetrical and unsymmetrical dialkyl phthalates including diisononyl phihalate, diisodecyl phthalate, dioctyl phthalate, Di-n-butyl phthalate, Dioctyl phthalate, dihexyl phthalate, diheptyl phthalate, butyloctyl phthalate, linear dialkyl phthalate wherein the alkyl groups are independently carbon chains having from seven to eleven carbon atoms, and butyl cyclohexyl phthalate; phosphate ester plasticizers such as, for example, 2-ethylhexyl diphenyl phosphate, isodecyl diphenyl phosphate, mixed dodecyl and tetradecyl diphenyl phosphate, trioctyl phosphate, tributyl phosphate, butylphenyl diphenyl phosphate and isopropylated triphenyl phosphate; and benzoate plasticizers such as, for example, Texanol™ benzoate (which is 2,2,4-trimethyl-1,3-pentanediol-monobutyrate benzoate), glycol benzoate, propylene glycol dibenzoate, dipropylene glycol dibenzoate, and tripropylene glycol dibenzoates. 
         [0038]    Also, crosslinker/extenders may be incorporated into the foam formulation. As used herein, the term “crosslinker” is meant to include both compounds generally known as crosslinkers and compounds generally known as chain extenders or simply extenders. Crosslinkers are compounds that contain two or more isocyanate-reactive groups, such as hydroxyl groups, primary amines, and secondary amines. 
         [0039]    Effective chain extender or crosslinkers can be from the saccharides, which were found to be generally effective and a preferred class. This class includes sorbitol, sucrose, mannitol, ribose, xylitol, lactose, and fructose. Sorbitol and mannitol are more preferred. These compounds are not soluble in the plasticizer, but these are generally soluble in water and thus can be easily incorporated into the water-blown foam composition. 
         [0040]    The polyamines, 4,4′-methylene-bis-(3-chloro-2,6-diethylaniline) (MCDEA) at 0.5 pphp, and amine terminated polyalkylene oxide such as JEFFAMINE™ T-403 (Huntsman Co.) are effective. Also, alkanolamines such as triethanolamine, diethanolamine, triisopropanolamine, diisopropanolamine, t-butyltolylenediamine, triaminonane, die thyltolylene diamine, and chlorodiaminobenzene may be used. 
         [0041]    Other materials can optionally be added to the polyurethane during production to reduce problems during production or to provide desired properties in the polyurethane product. Among the other additives are fillers including reground polyurethane foam, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, and the like; UV stabilizers; fire retardants; bacteriostats; cell openers; dyes; and antistatic agents. It is also desirable to include stabilizers and antioxidants such as hindered amine light stabilizers and benzotriazoles. 
         [0042]    A cell opening agent, such as a polyethylene oxide monol or polyol of an equivalent weight greater than about 200 with a hydroxyl functionality of two or greater, may be included. For example, one cell opening agent is a polyethylene oxide adduct of glycerol of a molecular weight of about 990 gms/mole, with an equivalent weight of about 330. The cell opening agent should be present at about 0.001 to about 20 pphp. 
         [0043]    Solid stabilizing polymers and other additives, including flame retardants, colorants, dyes and anti-static agents, which are conventionally known in the art may be used with the formulations of the present invention. Those additives listed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,694 are exemplary and are incorporated herein by reference. 
         [0044]    Other fillers and additives such as esters of aliphatic polyhydroxy compounds and unsaturated carboxylic acids may also be used. Examples are acrylates, such as ethylene glycol diacrylate; triethylene glycol diacrylate; tetramethylene glycol diacrylate; trimethylolpropane triacrylate; trimethylolethane triacrylate; pentaerythritol diacrylate; pentaerythritol triacrylate; pentaerythritol tetraacrylate; dipentaerythritol tetraacrylate; dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate; dipentaerythritol hexaacrylate; tripentaerythritol octaacrylate; glycerol diacrylate; methacrylates, such as triethylene glycol dimethacrylate; tetramethylene glycol dimethacrylate; trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate; trimethylolethane trimethacrylate; pentaerythritol dimethacrylate; pentaerythritol trimethacrylate; pentaerythritol tetramethacrylate; dipentaerythritol dimethacrylate; dipentaerythritol trimethacrylate; dipentaerythritol tetramethacrylate; tripentaerythritol octamethacrylate; ethylene glycol dimethacrylate; 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate; sorbitol tetramethacrylate and the like; itaconates, such as ethylene glycol diitaconate; propylene glycol diitaconate; 1,2-butanediol diitaconate; tetramethylene glycol diitaconate; pentaerythritol triitaconate and the like; crotonates such as ethylene glycol dicrotonate; diethylene glycol dicrotonate; pentaerythritol tetracrotonate and the like; and maleates, such as ethylene glycol dimaleate; triethylene glycol dimaleate; pentaerythritol dimaleate and the like. 
         [0045]    An anti-oxidant, such as a hindered phenolic, i.e., IRGANOX™ 1010 (Ciba-Geigy), an organic hosphate, or both, may be added to the composition containing the plasticizer. Stabilizers such as tetrabutylhexamethylenediamine are also beneficially added. 
         [0046]    The crosslinker/extender additive beneficially improves the integrity of low index foams; meanwhile, the plasticizer would provide good “hand” and physical properties along with improvements to airflow and rebound properties. 
         [0047]    In this example, the foramonous portion is an open-cell foam material made from a melamine resin. An example of such a melamine resin material is manufactured by BASF Corporation and sold under the name BASOTECT V 3012 and W. When the melamine resin material is cured, its microstructure becomes extremely hard due to a finely structured three- dimensional network of slender and flexible plastic filaments that are formed. The resulting foam material may be slightly abrasive when wet. The finely abrasive quality of melamine foam is effective in removing dirt or other types of stains from a surface, since the abraded particle bind to the filaments. 
         [0048]    The abrasive portion of the product may be a reticulated foam product. These reticulated foam products are well known and commercially available. Generally, they comprise a reticulated polyurethane foam. 
         [0049]    In preparing such reticulated abrasive foams, typically, a slow melt is carried out in the presence of a suitable reticulating agents such as dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylacetamide, formamide, dimethylformamide, II-pyrrolidone and I-methyl II-pyrrolidone. These reticulating agents cause a controlled melting of the sponge material during the freeze drying process. 
         [0050]    Also, polyether poloyol-based hydrophobic polyurethane foams may be used therein for both the reticulated and non-reticulated portions. Such combined scouring and sponge products are disclosed in the prior art such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,993, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
         [0051]    In a further example of an open-celled foam, the polyurethane foam is that which is sold by Armaly Brand Products under the trademark Estracell. Estracell is a synthetic polyurethane polyester polyurethane foam which does not support bacterial growth thereby providing a longer useful life for the product. 
         [0052]    In still a further example, the sponge or base portion hereof can be a cellulosic material and the abrasive portion can be a non-woven fiber which is either glued or flame laminated to the cellulosic or cellulose portion. 
         [0053]    Representative abrasive materials include, for example, polyester fibers, polyethylene fibers, polypropylene fibers, nylon with or without aluminum oxide being incorporated therewith, and so forth. 
         [0054]    In yet a further example of a sponge product, the sponge product includes an Estracell polyurethane sponge portion and a non-woven fiber nylon abrasive material adhered thereto by flame laminating, extrusion or with a suitable adhesive. Similarly, the sponge product may include a melamine foam sponge portion and a non-woven fiber nylon abrasive material adhered thereto by flame laminating, extrusion or with a suitable adhesive. 
         [0055]    The sponge product  10  described herein provides the user with a multi-surface scrub sponge product having a low profile shape and oppositely directed wedges that reach deep into hard-to-get-to corners and crevices as well as clean contoured and in transitions between surfaces. The multi-surface scrub material  12  and  14  is designed to clean most surfaces and is particularly advantageous in removing build up in hard to reach places, such as on a stove, around a sink, bathroom and other hard to clean places found around the home. In one application using ESTRACELL®, the abrasive portion  14  provides a heavy duty aggressive scour surface, while the foraminous or sponge side portion  12  remove dirt or grime or the like. In another example using melamine foam, the abrasive portion  14  likewise provides for more aggressive removal of a stain, which the melamine portion  12  allows for a finely controlled removal of a stain from a surface. It is to be readily appreciated from the preceding that there has been described herein a cleaning device, which enables effective cleaning of edges and corners. 
         [0056]    The present disclosure has been described in an illustrative manner. It is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present example are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, within the scope of the appended claims, the present disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described.

Technology Category: 7