This invention relates to flat mops in which a generally planar mop holder is attached to an elongate handle for mopping of floor surfaces. A mopping layer is disposed on an underside of the mop holder and provides a mopping surface which is typically made from an absorbent material, such as microfiber, looped stands or another web of material.

There is a requirement to be able easily to fit and remove fabric mopping layers to/from the mop holder. For example, fresh mopping layers may be required for hygienic cleaning and disposal may be necessary for worn or contaminated mopping layers. Furthermore, it may be necessary to select a particular mopping layer for the desired task, when different types of surface are cleaned, or for example when a highly absorbent mopping layer may be required. It is desirable to provide a convenient mechanism for allowing the fitting and removal of mopping layers to/from such mop holders and it is to such arrangements that the present application relates.

One series of flat mops is manufactured and supplied by Numatic International Ltd of Somerset, UK, under the trade name NuMop. These mops include mopping layers which are attached by Velcro-type attachments and tongue and pocket

engagements. A prior art flat mop 100 with a tongue and pocket engagement of a mopping layer is shown in figure 1. A mop head 101 is attached to an elongate handle 112 via an up/down pivot joint 106,107,108 and a side to side yaw joint 109, 110. The flat mop head comprises two leaves 102, 103 which have respective outer end regions (or tongues) 115,114 which are accommodated in inward facing pockets 116,117 provided on upper outer regions of a mopping layer 120. The mopping layer is held taut between the tongues 114,115. A latch 121 is provided to keep the leaves 102,103 coplanar. To release the mopping layer the latch is unlatched and the leaves swing down about transverse pivot axis P-P. The outer regions 114,115 come together and the mopping layer may then be removed (or drop off) from the mop head. With some existing mop holders it can be difficult to remove and/or fit a mopping layer from/to the mop holder, due at least in part to the need to manually unlatch the mop head for folding. Similarly, it may be difficult to remove a used mopping layer without the user or some other surface being made dirty in the process of removing the used mop. Some flat mops include a mop head which can be folded to facilitate the removal of a mopping layer suspended between opposite ends of the mop head. A hand or foot-operated latch is provided to allow the mop to fold.

GB-A-2,229,627 discloses a flat mop which is foldable and which includes a latch which comprises a slidable catch member which is spring loaded into a latching position in which the mop head leaves are co-planar.

WO-A-98/40004 (Numatic International Ltd) discloses folding flat mops which are provided with mopping layers formed with pockets which facilitate attachment to the flat mop head, such as is shown in figure 1.

US-A-4,603,450 discloses a foldable flat mop which is latched by a magnet and counter-plate. Unlatching can be problematic as it relies upon levering the two mop head leaves apart by applying pressure to an outside end region of one leaf.

US2002/0152569A1 discloses a flat mop which has a latch which comprises a clip and rod engagement. A release lever may be pressed to disengage the clip on one leaf extension from the underlying rod on the other leaf, so as to permit folding of the mop head. A mopping layer clamp is provided at an opposite end of the mop head, which clamp is spring loaded to retain one end of a mopping layer pocket on the mop head when it is folded. This allows a user to manually remove the mopping layer from the mop head without having to bend down to the floor level.

EP-A-1147735 discloses a flat mop with folding leaves. A coil-spring loaded lever latch holds the leaves in horizontal engagement. DE-A-19615656 discloses a flat mop in which a rocker latch is held in engagement by a spring lever. JP2008-206912 discloses a flat mop which has an end portion which may be folded to permit removal of the mopping layer. A rocker latch holds may be depressed so as to unlatch the end portion from the main flat mop body. The present invention seeks to provide a flat mop which in which the attachment or detachment of mopping layers is facilitated.

The present invention relates to flat mops of a type comprising a mop holder attached to a mop handle, wherein the mop holder comprises first and second articulated leaf portions which may be moved from a generally co-planar flat configuration to a folded configuration, wherein the mop holder further comprises latching means which is adapted to hold one leaf to the other when in the flat configuration. The mop holder may be provided with a detachable mopping layer. The mopping layer is preferably held between outer regions of the leaves, so that when the mop folds the mopping layer drops so as to allow mopping layer removal and

replacement. Any suitable prior art methods of attaching mopping layers may be used, including but not limited to pocket and tongue (see figure 1).

Thus in accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided a flat mop comprising a mop holder attached to an elongate mop handle, wherein the mop holder comprises first and second articulated leaf portions which may be moved from a generally co-planar flat configuration to a folded configuration, wherein one leaf is formed with an extension portion which overlaps an underlying portion of the other leaf when the leaves are in the flat configuration, and wherein the mop holder further comprises latching means which is adapted to hold the leaf extension portion to the underlying portion of the other leaf when in the flat configuration, wherein the mop head is provided with a latch release mechanism which comprises a rocker member provided in one leaf portion which is adapted to be tiltable so as to lift the extension portion from the underlying portion so as to cause unlatching of the latching means. The rocker member is formed with an upstanding ridge portion which may be depressed to tilt the rocker member and the portion of said one leaf which carries the rocker member is provided with a raised shoulder portion adjacent and spaced apart from the upstanding ridge, the arrangement being such that the upstanding ridge may be manually pinched towards the shoulder so as to tilt the rocker member for unlatching. Thus the present invention provides a latched folding flat mop which may be unlatched manual pinching or by vertical foot pressure applied to the latch release mechanism. Thus the mop is convenient when in use.

When the leaf portions are in the co-planar flat configuration the latching means acts to hold the rocker member in a closed configuration, with its ridge portion undepressed. Thus there is no need to provide a resilient member such as a leaf spring or coil spring to bias the rocker member in a closed configuration. Such members are prone to damage or failure in use and the reliability of the invention mop is therefore improved over prior art flat mops.

The ridge portion may be formed with a tapered neck region which facilitates manual pinching to rock the rocker member ridge portion towards the shoulder portion.

The shoulder portion preferably projects to a first height above a mop holder top surface, and the upstanding ridge portion projects to a second height above the top surface, wherein the first height is greater than the second height. Travel between the said second and first heights corresponds to a tilting depression of the rocker ridge portion with respect to the shoulder. In this way excessive foot pressure will not over-stress the rocker member and the weight will be taken by the shoulder portion.

The rocker member preferably comprises a generally L- section member, with the upstanding ridge portion provided at one end region thereof, a lever portion provided at the other end region and a pivot disposed between said two end regions. The pivot is preferably transversely oriented.

A lower region of the rocker member under the ridge portion may be formed with a tapered undercut which provides sufficient clearance to permit depressing of the ridge portion to an extent at which the undercut region of the rocker member abuts a leaf portion base region and which corresponds to a rise of the lever portion which fully unlatches the latching means.

A distal end region of the rocker member lever portion may be provided with a nub, which nub is arranged to be capable of acting on a stepped recess (or lip) provided at an end region of the leaf extension portion. Thus tilting of the rocker member causes the nub act on the lip so as to lift the leaf extension.

The latching means in a preferred arrangement comprises a magnetic latch. The magnetic latch may comprise a ferrous member provided in one leaf and a magnet provided in the other. One or both of the ferrous member and the magnet may have the form of a flat plate or block. In a preferred embodiment, the ferrous member and the magnet are arranged so as to lie one on top of the other when in a latched position.

The latching means may be magnetic and acts between the overlapped extension portion of one leaf and the underlying portion of the other leaf. Thus one magnetic member (magnet or counterpart) may be disposed in the extension portion and the other in the underlying portion (counterpart or magnet).

In a preferred aspect of the invention the latching means has a threshold release force above which the latching means unlatches and wherein the release force is of a level low enough to permit unlatching by a manually executed axial jab of the elongate mop handle. Thus the mop may be unlatched by a third mode of operation which relies upon an inertia reaction to release the mop leaves.

Preferably the magnet an counterpart (e.g. ferrous member) both are flat plates, typically lying parallel in the mop flat configuration. The magnets and plates may be exposed or covered by a protective film or sheath, so as to prevent soiling or corrosion.

The magnetic release force may be controlled by the strength of the magnet, the separation or contact of the two magnetic members (e.g. plates) and the size and strength of the magnet. Following is a specific embodiment of one mode for putting the present invention into effect with reference to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from a front side of a prior art flat mop with a detachable mopping layer.

Figure 2 is a perspective view a flat mop head used in a mop according to the present invention, which mop head is in an unlatched configuration.

Figure 3A is a cross sectional view along the line A-A in figure 1.

Figure 3B is a cross sectional view along the same section, of the mop in a flat configuration.

Figure 2 shows a flat mop holder 1 which is would be connected to a mop stick (not shown) via a pivot member 3. The joint allows the mop stick to be tilted fore and aft and from side to side, so that the mop head may be pressed flat on a floor surface and drawn backwards and forwards and from side to side over the surface. A similar arrangement of mop head and handle is shown in the prior art mop of figure 1.

A mopping layer 4 lies under the mop holder. The mopping layer has a floor facing portion 9 which is made of absorbent fabric material (in this embodiment). The mopping layer is formed at outer end regions thereof with inward facing pockets 5,6. Outer end regions 7,8 of the mop head are accommodated in the pockets and the mop head is of a length compared to the mopping layer span which ensures that the mopping layer is held taut between the end regions 7,8 when the mop head is flat (it is shown with the latch released in figure 2, but flat in figure 3B). The mop holder is hinged at a transverse axis B-B so that respective left and right leaves 11,12 can be folded down from a co-planer configuration (figure 3B) to a folded configuration in which the leaves hang depending, with the leaves generally parallel. An inward extension region 35 of the left hand leaf projects beyond the folding axis B-B and overlaps a depressed region 36 of the right hand leaf. A latching mechanism is provided which allows the mop holder leaves to be released from their co-planar configuration. The latching mechanism comprises a rocker member 13 which has a generally L-section form, with a base portion 14 and a raised ridge portion 15 (shown in figure 3). The ridge portion has a central region which is formed with a recessed bevel 27. The base portion is formed with a central transverse axle 16 (Figure 3A) and an undercut region 17 under the shoulder portion. An inner end region 18 of the base portion is formed with a projecting step 19. A central region 20 of the step is a semi-circular recess in the base portion, as shown in figure 2. The undercut region 17 allows the rocker to pivot about the axle 16 so that the base inner end region 18 tilts upwards and the undercut region tilts down so as to rest on a base region 21 of the right hand leaf 12 (as shown in figure 3A).

The step 19 lies under a lip feature 22 of the left hand leaf 1 . A central region of the lip is formed as a semi-circular projection 23 which is sized to sit in the recess 20 when the leaves are flat (as shown in figure 3B).

When the rocker member ridge portion 15 is depressed the step 19 and recessed step 20 rise and lift lip feature 22 and projection 23, thereby tilting the left hand leaf 11 with respect to the right 12 and allowing the leaves to fold.

The latch further includes a rectilinear flat steel plate 25 which is attached to a base region of the right hand leaf. An underside region of the left hand leaf is formed with a square recess in which is fixed a magnet 26. Thus when the leaves are coplanar (Figure 3B) and not folded, the magnet 26 holds one leaf against the other by acting on the steel plate 25. The magnet forms a convenient way of holding the leaves together whilst allowing easy detachment by separation of the magnet and plate by use of the rocker member 13 The right hand mop holder leaf 12 is formed with an upstanding shoulder portion 30 which surrounds an out edge region of the rocker member which corresponds to the ridge portion 15. A spacing 31 is provided between the rocker member and the shoulder portion so as to allow the rocker to tilt. The shoulder portion has a height which is about the same as the vertical extent of the upstanding ridge portion of the rocker member when the rocker member is in its tilted (depressed) configuration. Thus the shoulder provides an abutment which limits vertical depression of a foot when pressing the ridge portion to release the latch. The shoulder portion also allows the user to manually de-latch by pinching the bevel 27 and shoulder portion 30 together. The spacing 31 between the ridge portion and the shoulder is such that the rocker member ridge portion's tilt is free until limited by abutment of the undercut region 17 with the base region 21 the leaf 12.

The latch may be released by foot pressure on the ridge feature 15 or manually by pinching the bevel 27 and shoulder 31 as outlined above. The magnet also permits the latch to be released by a sharp axial lift of the mop handle, whereby the inertia of the outer regions of the leaves (and the mopping layer itself) acts to rotate the leaves downwards causing separation of the magnet and steel plate. The present invention as described in the foregoing provides a flat mop which may be detached manually, by foot pressure or without touching the latch at all. This provides very convenient modes of operation for the user.