FLOOR CLEANING TOOL

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a floor cleaning tool, and more particularly, to a floor cleaning tool operating both as a broom and a mop.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Brooms and mops are both commonly used as floor-cleaning tools by consumers. The broom can be used to effectively collect and remove solid debris, hairs and mass dusts, while the mop can be used to effectively remove fine dusts and bear wet cleaning work. The broom and the mop are complementary in functions and generally used together by the consumers and they can not be substituted for each other.

Therefore, the general consumers must alternatively use two kinds of tools according to different cleaning tasks in daily cleaning work. This is very troublesome and at the same time needs higher cost and more accommodating space.

A US patent 5937471 A discloses a multipurpose floor cleaning tool with a mop shaft connected to the mop head by a unidirectional joint, wherein the mop head can cooperate with a sheet of cleaning material to conduct cleaning so as to perform a mop function. On the other hand, the mop head is provided with a spring mechanism in the middle thereof, which can serve as a clamp, and when the clamp clamps the attachment with brush bristles, the mop can be used as a broom, so that two functions of a mop and a broom are realized. In the floor cleaning tool disclosed in the US patent 5937471, the brush bristle assembly is used as a separate attachment and temporally fixed on the mop head by the clamp if necessary, and when the broom operation is finished, the brush need be removed. Therefore, the

function conversion between the mop and the broom is very troublesome.

A UK patent publication NO. GB 2255900 discloses a mop attachment used for a broom, in which the mop function is realized by a special pre-fabricated cleaning attachment. The attachment is wrapped around the broom head for cleaning. In this solution, the function conversion between the mop and the broom is also troublesome and in addition the process of manufacturing the attachment is complicated and the manufacturing cost is high.

Another US patent publication No. US20030101528 discloses a cleaning tool, in which the function conversion between the mop and the broom is also realized by a cleaning attachment. The cleaning attachment is wrapped around the broom head and then a sheet of cleaning material is attached to the bottom of the cleaning attachment so as to realize a mop. The solution also involves a cleaning attachment separated from the main body and the operation is troublesome. In addition, the broom head has a large volume, which will cause inconvenience in actual use. In a US patent US6389637, a water absorbent broom cover is disclosed. The scheme disclosed in this patent is similar to that of the GB2255900 in that both of them realize mop function by wrapping cleaning material around the broom head. The difference between them is that the latter has a simple form of cleaning material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a floor cleaning tool is provided, the floor cleaning tool comprises a mop plate provided with at least two fastening member for fastening a cleaning cloth; a pivoting mechanism pivotably connected to the upper surface of the mop plate; a manipulating handle connected to the pivoting mechanism; a wiping assembly movably coupled to the mop plate and

provided witha wiping member; a control assembly for driving the wiping assembly to move in a first direction so as to allow the wiping member to laterally project out of the mop plate from a first side of the mop plate, or for driving the wiping assembly to move in a second direction opposite to the first direction so as to allow the wiping member to retract into the mop plate; and a fixing assembly provided to releasably fix the manipulating handle substantially in parallel with the mop plate. Another aspect of the invention provides a floor cleaning tool, comprising: a mop plate provided with at least one fastening member for fastening a cleaning cloth; a manipulating handle pivotably connected to the upper surface of the mop plate; a wiping member projected out of the mop plate from a first side of the mop plate; and a fixing assembly provided to releasably fix the manipulating handle substantially in parallel with the mop plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a state of the cleaning tool according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 1; Figure 3 is a bottom view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 1 ; Figure 5 is a section view of the cleaning tool in figure 2 taken along a line A-A;

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the triggering actuating button of the cleaning tool shown in figure 5;

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing another state of the cleaning tool

according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 8 is a bottom view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 7;

Figure 9 is a top view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 7;

Figure 10 is a longitudinal section view of the cleaning tool in figure 9 taken along a line B-B;

Figure His a perspective view showing the state of the cleaning tool used as a mop according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 12 is a perspective view showing a state of the cleaning tool according to a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 13 is a bottom view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 12;

Figure 14 is a top view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 12;

Figure 15 is a section view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 13 taken along a line C-C;

Figure 16 is a section view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 13 taken along a line D-D;

Figure 17 is a section view showing partial structure of the cleaning tool shown in figure 15 used as a mop;

Figure 18 is a perspective view showing the state of the cleaning tool used as a mop according to the second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 19 a perspective view showing a state of the cleaning tool according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 20 is a bottom view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 19;

Figure 21 is a section view of the cleaning tool in figure 20 taken along a line E-E; Figure 22 is a section view of the cleaning tool in figure 20 taken along a line

F-F;

Figure 23 is a perspective view showing another state of the cleaning tool according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 24 is a bottom view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 23;

Figure 25 is a top view of the cleaning tool shown in figure 23; Figure 26 is a section view of the cleaning tool in figure 24 taken along a line

G-G;

Figure 27 is a perspective view showing the state of the cleaning tool used as a mop according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 28 is a perspective view showing a state of the cleaning tool according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 29 is a bottom view of figure 28;

Figure 30 is perspective view showing another state of the cleaning tool according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

Figure 31 is a perspective view showing the state of the cleaning tool used as a mop according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

A further disclosure, objects, advantages and aspects will be more appreciated by those skilled in the art by the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings. The figures and the embodiments herein are given for the purpose of illustration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The exemplified embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, similar reference numerals refer to similar components.

Referring to figures 1-11, the floor cleaning tool 1 according to the first exemplified embodiment of the present invention comprises a mop plate 10 having a substantially rectangular, triangular, equiangular triangle, trapezoid or circular planar shape, and the mop plate being provided with at least two fasteners 11 for fastening a cleaning cloth 15 on the upper surface or side surface thereof; a manipulating handle 20 pivotably connected to an upper surface of the mop plate 10 in the middle thereof for example by a pivoting mechanism connected to the upper surface of the mop plate 10 so as to be rotated with respect to the mop plate 10; a wiping assembly 30 movably combined to the mop plate 10. In an example embodiment, the wiping assembly 30 is provided with one to three arrays of brush bristles 31. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the brush bristles may be substituted with wiping members such as foam, sponge and the like. Further, the whole wiping assembly may be a straight rubber squeegee. The floor cleaning tool 1 of the present invention further comprises a control assembly for driving the wiping assembly 30 to move in a first direction so as to make the wiping member such as brush bristles 31 extend out of the mop plate 10 laterally (forward) from a first side, for example, the front side of the mop plate, or for driving the wiping assembly to move in a second direction opposite to the first direction so as to make the brush bristles 31 retract backward towards the mop plate; and a fixing assembly provided to releasably fix the manipulating handle 20 substantially in parallel with the mop plate 10. When the manipulating handle 20 is fixed with respect to the mop plate 10, the floor cleaning tool 1 can be used as a broom; and when the manipulating handle 20 is released from the mop plate 10, the manipulating handle 20 can be rotated freely with respect to the mop plate 10 by the pivoting mechanism so as to be used as a mop.

In an embodiment, the pivoting mechanism includes a pair of support seats 40 fixed in the middle of the upper surface of the mop plate 10 for example by a bolt, wherein each of support seats 40 is provided with a shaft hole; and a first rotating member 41 including a shaft portion and a substantially semicircular shaped part 42 integrally extended from the middle portion of the shaft portion toward one side.

The two ends of the shaft portion are inserted into the shaft hole of each of the support seats 40, respectively. The semicircular shaped part 42 serves to connect with the bottom end of the manipulating handle 20. In an embodiment, the bottom end of the manipulating handle 20 forms a furcated structure 21, which is pivotably connected with the semicircular part 42 of the first rotating member 41 by a pin. In this way, the manipulating handle 20 can pivot in two vertical planes, i.e., a vertical plane in the forward and rearward direction and a vertical plane in the left and right direction, with respect to the mop plate 10, so that the cleaning tool 1 can be conveniently manipulated by the user when it is used as a mop. Alternatively, the pivoting mechanism may be a universal joint, so that the manipulating handle 20 can rotate freely with respect to the mop plate in more directions. Further, the manipulating handle connected with the pivoting mechanism may be a short coupling pipe 22. The distal end of the coupling pipe 22 far away from the pivoting mechanism is formed with an insertion hole for inserting a much longer extension pipe 23, so that the manipulating handle 20 can be extended in length. During the period in which the cleaning tool is not used, the extension pipe 23 can be removed so that the cleaning tool can be conveniently stored.

The wiping assembly 30 includes a base 32. The wiping member which is made of flexible material, such as at least one array of brush bristles 31 , sponge, foam, rubber and the like, is fixed on the base 32.

In an exemplified embodiment of the mop plate 10, a receiving groove is formed in the bottom surface of the mop plate 10 and have a shape substantially corresponding to the entire shape of the wiping assembly 30, so that the wiping assembly 30 can be received in the receiving groove (referring to figures 3 and 8) in the case that the wiping assembly 30 is completely retracted into the mop plate 10.

In another exemplified embodiment, two flanges are formed at the lower ends of opposite side walls of the receiving groove under the mop plate 10 and extend toward each other so as to form two opposite slide grooves 13. The planes on the left and right sides of the base 32 of the wiping assembly 30 can be coupled with the mop plate 10 by the two clamping slide grooves 13 on the mop plate 10, so that the wiping assembly 30 and the base 32 are slidably defined in the receiving groove. The slide groove 13 has such a length that the two sides of the base 32 can be held in the slide groove 13 whether the brush bristles 31 extends completely out of the front side of the mop plate 10 or retracts within the mop plate 10. In this way, the slide groove 13 can prevent the base 32 from disengaging the receiving groove in the up and down direction or in the left and right direction during the base 32 sliding in the slide groove forward and rearward. Alternatively, at least one guide groove and at least one guide projection may be correspondingly provided on the side walls of the receiving groove of the mop plate and the side surfaces of the base 32 respectively so as to slidably couple the wiping assembly 30 in the receiving groove of the mop plate 10.

As it can be appreciated, the bottom surface of the mop plate 10 is flushed with the bottom surface of the base 32 so that when the wiping assembly 30 is retracted into the mop plate 10, the bottom surface of the mop plate 10 and that of the base 32 form a continuous flat surface for supporting the cleaning cloth 15 to be wrapped around them. In an embodiment, the bottom surfaces of the mop plate 10 and the

base 32 are provided with a plurality of protrusions or texture structure so as to increase the friction between the bottom surfaces and the cleaning cloth 15. Alternatively, hydroscopic material, such as foam, sponge and the like, may be fixed on the bottom of the mop 10 directly so that a cleaning work can be done even without the cleaning cloth 15. The bottom surface of the mop plate 10 is not limited to a flat surface, but may be an arc surface with a small arc.

In another embodiment, a cover 12 is provided to the mop plate at the upper surface thereof. The cover 12 has a shape substantially corresponding to the planer shape of the mop plate 10 so as to generally cover upper portion of the mop plate 10. The cover 12 can be attached to the mop plate by a removable means such as snap-in, screwing or the like. The mop plate 10 and the cover 12 define a space between them for receiving the wiping assembly 30. In the case that the cover 12 is provided, the fasteners 11 for fixing the cleaning cloth 15 are provided on the left and right sides of the cover 12. In this way, the cleaning cloth 15 completely covering the bottom surface of the mop plate 10 and partially covering the cover 12 can be fixed by adhering or clamping manners.

In a further exemplified embodiment of the mop plate, a receiving groove is formed on the upper surface of the mop plate 10 and have a shape corresponding to the entire shape of the wiping assembly 30, so that when the wiping assembly 30 are completely retracted in the mop plate 10, the wiping assembly 30 can be received in the receiving groove. In an exemplified embodiment, at least one guide projection 33 is provided on one of the upper surface of the mop plate 10 and the bottom surface of the base 32, at least one guide groove 34 (see figure 16) corresponding to the guide projection 33 is provided on the other one of the upper surface of the mop plate 10 and the bottom surface of the base 32. Further, in the case that the cover 12 is provided, at least one guide projection is provided on one of the bottom surface of

the cover 12 and the upper surface of the base 32, at least one guide groove corresponding to the guide projection is provided on the other one of the bottom surface of the cover 12 and the upper surface of the base 32. In this way, the base 32 can be coupled with the cover 12 and/or the mop plate 10 advantageously and the wiping assembly 30 can be guided to move forward and rearward smoothly.

In an embodiment, the fixing assembly is an elastic U-shaped clamping member 50. The U-shaped clamping member 50 is provided on the upper surface of the mop plate 10 and opposite to the first side, that is, on the rear side of the mop plate 10, and distanced from the pivoting mechanism by a certain distance. In the case that the cover 12 is provided, the U-shaped clamping member 50 may also be provided on the cover directly, or provided on the mop plate 10 and exposed by passing through the cover 12. When the manipulating handle 20 is rotated about the pivoting mechanism toward the U-shaped clamping member 50 to a position substantially in parallel with the mop plate 10, the cylindrical external pipe wall of the manipulating handle 20 is clamped and locked by the U-shaped clamping member 50, and such locked state can only be released by a predetermined external force.

As mentioned above, the control assembly drives the wiping assembly to move forward and rearward. In an embodiment of the present invention, the control assembly is a actuating button 60 provided on the base 32. The actuating button 60 passes through a slit 14 formed in the cover 12 (figure 4) and extends beyond the cover 12. When the actuating button 60 is moved forward and rearward, the wiping assembly 30 can be driven to move in a first or second direction (forward or rearward direction). Further, the actuating button 60 can releasably fix the wiping assembly 30 in a first position or a second position. In the first position, the brush bristles 31 are

projected forward from a first side (front side) of the mop plate 10; in a second position, the brush bristles 31 are retracted into the mop plate 10 and hidden under the cover 12.

In an exemplified embodiment, as shown in figures 4 and 5, the actuating button 60 includes an elastomer 61 of a predetermined length fixed on the upper portion or the rear portion of the base 32 of the wiping assembly 30. In an embodiment, the elastomer 32 is integrally formed with the base 32. The actuating button 60 also comprises a pressing portion 62 integrally extended from the upper middle portion of the elastomer 61, and a serrate projection-depression portion 63 extended outward from two sides of the pressing portion 62 on the upper surface of the elastomer 61. In the case that the cover 12 is provided, a serrate projection-depression portion 16 having a shape corresponding to the projection-depression portion 63 is formed at two sides of the slit 14 under the cover 12. Therefore, the projection-depression portion 63 and the projection-depression portion 16 can be engaged with each other so as to lock the wiping assembly 30. In this way, when the pressing portion 62 is pressed, the projection-depression portion 63 and the projection-depression portion 16 is disengaged from each other and therefore the pressing portion 62 can be pushed forward and rearward so as to drive the wiping assembly 30 to move forward and rearward. As it can be appreciated, the projection-depression portion 16 on the cover 12 may be continuously formed at two sides of the slit 14, or continuously formed at one side of the slit 14, or formed at a side of the slit 12 just at two ends of the slit 14. The projection-depression portions 16 and 63 may have serrate configurations or other projection-depression configurations capable of engaging with each other. The above embodiment in which the cover is provided describes the coupling manner between the actuating button 60 and the cover 12. However, the present

invention is not limited thereto. In the case that a cover is not provided, the wiping assembly 30 is disposed in the receiving groove under the mop late 10. At this time, the upper surface of the mop plate 10 at the receiving groove is equivalent to part of the cover 12. Thus it can be appreciated that the coupling between the actuating button 60 and the upper surface of the mop plate 10 can be realized in the same configuration as when the cover is provided.

The above describes the embodiment in which the control assembly is realized by the actuating button 60 and the slit 14. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As it can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the control assembly in the present invention may also be realized in other ways, as long as the wiping assembly can be releasably fixed when the brush bristles 31 is extended out of the mop plate 10 and when the brush bristles 31 is retracted into the mop plate 10.

Figures 7-10 shows the state of the floor cleaning tool 1 used as a broom according to this embodiment. When the cleaning tool 1 needs to be converted from a mop state to a broom state, a user only rotates the manipulating handle toward the clamping 50 into a position in parallel to the mop plate 10 so that the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 is locked by the U-shaped clamping member 50. Then, the user presses the pressing portion 61 of the actuating button 60 with a suitable force to release the engagement between the projection-depression portion 16 on the inner surface of the cover 12 and the projection-depression portion 63 of the actuating button 60, so that the brush bristles 31 of the wiping assembly 30 can be extended beyond the front side of the mop plate 10 as the user pushes the pressing portion 61 forward along the slit 14 on the cover 12 to drive the wiping assembly. When the pressing portion 61 is pushed to the forefront end of the slit 14, the pressing portion 61 is released and therefore the actuating button 60 is restored by its elasticity and the projection-depression

portions 63 and 16 are engaged again. In this way the wiping assembly 30 is locked again and the brush bristles 31 are prevented from retracting back into the mop plate 10. At this time, the whole cleaning tool 1 may be used as a broom.

Figures 1-6 shows the state of the cleaning tool 1 used as a mop according to the present embodiment. When the cleaning tool 1 needs to be converted from a broom state to a mop state, the user only pulls the manipulating handle 20 with a suitable force to make the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 unlock from the elastic clamping member 50 on the mop plate 10 and rotates about the mop plate 10 freely. Then, the user presses the pressing portion 61 to make the projection-depression portions 16 and 63 disengage from each other so that the user is allowed to push the pressing portion 61 rearward along the slit 14 so as to drive the brush bristles 31 of the wiping assembly 30 to retract from the front side of the mop plate 10. When the pressing portion 61 is pushed to the aftermost end of the slit 14, the pressing portion 61 is released and therefore the actuating button 61 is restored by elasticity and the projection-depression portions 16 and 63 are engaged again to lock the wiping assembly 30 and prevent the brush bristles 31 from projecting out of the mop plate 10. Afterwards, the cleaning cloth 15 is wrapped around the mop plate 10 by the fasteners 11 and the whole cleaning tool 1 can be used as a mop. A floor cleaning tool 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to figures 12-18. For the sake of brief, the description of the components identical to those in the first embodiment will be omitted. Figures 12-18 shows a triangular mop plate 10, a manipulating handle 20 fitted in the mop plate 10 and a wiping assembly 30 movably projecting out of or retracting into the mop plate 10. The pivoting mechanism according to the second embodiment includes a pair of support seats 40 fixed in the substantial

middle portion of the upper surface of the mop plate 10 for example by a bolt. Each of the support seats 40 is provided with a shaft hole. The pivoting mechanism also includes a second rotating member 43 having a shaft portion and a substantial semicircular-shaped part integrally extended from the middle portion of the shaft portion upwards. The two ends of the shaft portion are inserted into the shaft hole of each of the support seats 40, respectively, and the semicircular-shaped part is used to couple with the bottom end of the manipulating handle 20. In this embodiment, the control assembly is a sector gear 45 integrally formed at the lower end of the second rotating member 43 of the pivoting mechanism. The sector plane of the sector gear 45 is perpendicular to the axis of the shaft portion of the second rotating member 43.

The base 32 includes a rack portion 35 formed by integrally extended from the rear portion of the base 32. Alternatively, the rack portion 35 may be formed on the upper portion of the base 32 directly. The rack portion 35 is configured to engage with the sector gear 45 to covert the rotation of the sector gear 45 to the liner movement of the rack portion 35 so as to drive the wiping assembly 30 to move forward and rearward. In this way, as the pivoting mechanism pivots with respect to the mop plate 10, the rack portion 35 is moved in a first direction or a second direction (forward or rearward direction) under the drive of the sector gear 45. The arc of the sector gear 45 is about 90 degree. The sector gear 45 is configured to start driving the movement of the rack portion 35 immediately when the manipulating handle 20 is released from the U-shaped clamping member 50. In the exemplified embodiment, the bisector of the sector plane of these sector gear 45 forms an angle of about 45 degree with the axis of the manipulating handle 20. In this way, when the manipulating handle 20 is released from the U-shaped clamping member 50 (i.e., from a Zero degree position in parallel with the mop plate 10), the sector gear 45 starts driving the movement of the rack portion 35 so as to drive the brush bristles

31 of the wiping assembly 30 to retract toward the mop plate from the front side of the mop plate 10. When the manipulating handle 20 is rotated to a position perpendicular to the mop plate 10, the sector gear 45 rotates over 90 degree and disengages from the rack portion 35 and thereby can not keep driving the rack portion 35. Meanwhile, the brush bristles 31retract toward the mop plate 10 to the most extent so that no brush bristles being exposed out of the mop plate 10. At this time, even the manipulating handle 20 is rotated within the range of angle from 90 degree to 180 degree, the rack portion 35 will not moved so that the user can freely operate the cleaning tool as a mop. As the sector gear 45 and the rack portion 35 cooperate to move the wiping assembly forward and backward, the configurations of the triggering button 60 and the slit 14 in the first embodiment can be omitted.

Figures 12-16 show the state of the cleaning tool 2 used as a broom according to this embodiment. When the cleaning tool 2 needs to be converted from a mop state to a broom state, a user only rotates the manipulating handle 20 toward the clamping 50 into a position in parallel to the mop plate 10 so that the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 is locked by the U-shaped clamping member 50. During this process, the sector gear 45 coupled to the bottom end of the manipulating handle rotates accordingly and drive the rack portion 35 by engagement therebetween so as to drive the brush bristles 31 of the wiping assembly 30 to extend beyond the front side of the mop plate 10. At this time, the whole cleaning tool 2 may be used as a broom.

Figures 17-18 show the state of the cleaning tool 2 used as a mop according to the present embodiment. When the cleaning tool 2 needs to be converted from a broom state to a mop state, the user only pulls the manipulating handle 20 with a suitable force to make the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 unlock from the elastic clamping member 50 on the mop

plate 10. During the process in which the manipulating handle 20 rotates from a position in parallel with the mop plate to a position substantially perpendicular to the mop plate 10, the sector gear 45 at the bottom end of the coupling pipe 50 of the manipulating handle 20 drives the rack portion 35 to move rearward until the brush bristles 31 of the wiping assembly 30 are hidden inside the mop plate 10.

Afterwards, the cleaning cloth 15 is wrapped around the mop plate 10 by the fasteners 11 and the whole cleaning tool 2 can be used as a mop.

A floor cleaning tool 3 according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to figures 19-27. For the sake of brief, the description of the components identical with the second embodiment will be omitted. In the third embodiment, the control assembly is a sector gear 45 integrally formed at the bottom end of the second rotating member 43 of the pivoting mechanism. A proximal end of the coupling pipe 22 is connected to the pivoting mechanism, and a distal end of the coupling pipe 22 is inserted into the extension pipe 23 so that the manipulating handle 20 can be extended in length.

Further, the fixing assembly includes a bracing wire 51 having a certain elasticity and rigidity and made of, for example, stainless steel material. A proximal end of the bracing wire 51 is fixed on the mop plate at a position opposite to the first side (front side) and distanced from the pivoting mechanism by a predetermined distance. For example, the bracing wire 51 may be connected to the mop plate by a hook, or to the rotary shaft 17 on the upper surface of the mop plate 10. A distal end of the bracing wire 51 is selectively fixed at one of a proximal end and a distal end of the manipulating handle 20 with respect to the mop plate 10. When the distal end of the bracing wire 51 is fixed at the distal end of the manipulating handle 20, the manipulating handle 20 is in parallel with the mop plate 10 and the bracing wire 51 is tensioned. In this way, due to the tension of the bracing wire 51, the manipulating

handle 20 can not be released from the position in parallel with the mop plate 10 and is fixed in that position so that the cleaning tool 3 may be used as a broom.

Further, a cross groove 52 and a longitudinal groove 55 perpendicularly communicated with the cross groove 52 are provided along the length direction of the extension pipe 23 of the manipulating handle 20. A sleeve 53 is slidably fitted over the outside of the extension pipe 23. The sleeve 53 includes a first hook 54 slidably moving in the cross groove 52 and the longitudinal groove 55. The bracing wire 51 is connected to the sleeve 53 from the inside of the extension pipe 23 by a second hook 56. In an embodiment, the length of the longitudinal groove 55 is substantially equal to the distance by which the sleeve 53 moves, and the bracing wire 51 passes through the coupling pipe 22 and the extension pipe 23 from a through hole 57 formed at a predetermined distance from the lower end of the longitudinal groove 55 (as shown in figures 23 and 25). In this way, the longitudinal groove 55, the cross groove 52 and the through hole 57 form a substantial "J" shape. With the control assembly having the bracing wire 51 according to the present embodiment, the user does not need to contact the mop plate 10 directly. Instead, the user simply pulls upward or pushes downward the sleeve 53 along the longitudinal groove 55 on the extension pipe 23 by grasping the sleeve 53 and the extension pipe 23 so as to drive the mop plate 10 to rotate about the pivoting mechanism within a predetermined range of angle. Meanwhile, because a gear-rack link mechanism is provided between the sector gear 45 of the pivoting mechanism and the rack portion 35 of the wiping assembly 30, during the process in which the sleeve 53 moves along the extension pipe 23, the sector gear 45 drives the rack portion 35 to move in the plane of the mop plate 10 forward and rearward, so that the brush bristles 31 is projected out of or retracted into the mop plate 10. Further, since the manipulating handle 20 can be releasably fixed to be in parallel with the mop plate 10 so as to

make the cleaning tool 3 serve as a broom, the clamping member 50 in the first and second embodiments may be omitted.

Figure 23-26 show the state of the floor cleaning tool 3 used as a broom according to this embodiment. When the cleaning tool 3 needs to be converted from a mop state to a broom state, the user pulls the sleeve 53 fitted over the extension pipe 23 toward the distal end along the longitudinal groove 55 until the second hook 56 arrives the cross groove 52. Then the sleeve 53 is rotated and the second hook 56 connected with the bracing wire 51 is pushed into the cross groove 52. Therefore, the sleeve 53 is locked on the extension pipe 23. During this process, the mop plate 10 is rotated about the pivoting mechanism by being pulled by the bracing wire 51.

At the same time, due to the link mechanism between sector gear 45 and the rack portion 35, the sector gear 45 drives the rack portion 35 to move forward along the plane of the mop plate 10 so as to make the brush bristles 31 to project from the front side of the mop plate 10. At this time, because the bracing wire 51 is tensioned and the manipulating handle 20 and the mop plate 10 are locked in a position parallel with each other, the whole cleaning tool can be used as a broom.

Figures 19-22 show the state of the cleaning tool 3 used as a mop according this embodiment. When the cleaning tool 3 needs to be converted from a broom state to a mop state, the user pulls the sleeve 53 rearward slightly to make it rotate crosswise. Therefore, the second hook 56 is disengaged from the cross groove 52 and enters the longitudinal groove 55. Then the sleeve 53 is pushed to slide along the extension pipe 23 so as to make the mop plate 10 rotate about the pivoting mechanism with respect to the manipulating handle 20. At the same time, the rack portion 35 moves backward and the brush bristles are gradually hidden. When the manipulating handle 20 is substantially perpendicular to the mop plate 10, the brush bristles 31 are substantially hidden entirely. Afterwards, the cleaning cloth 15 is

attached to the mop plate 10 by fasteners 11 so that the whole cleaning tool 3 may be used as a mop.

The floor cleaning tool 4 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to figures 28-31. For the sake of brief, the description to the components identical to those of the first embodiment will be omitted. The wiping assembly 30 includes a base 36. At least one array of brush bristles 31 made of flexible material is fixed on the base 36. The base 36 may be fixed in the front side of the mop plate 10, for example, by a bolt. Alternatively, a mounting hole is formed in the front side of the mop plate 10 for removably receiving the base 36 so that the wiping assembly 30 can be pull out from the mounting hole under a mop state. In comparison with the first and second embodiments, in the fourth embodiment, during the wiping assembly 30 being fixed to or disassembled from the mop plate 10, the wiping assembly 30 is projected from the front side of the mop plate 10 and can not move forward and backward, so that the wiping assembly 30 can not be retracted into the mop plate 10.

When the cleaning tool 4 needs to be converted from a mop state as shown in figure 28 to a broom state, the user simply needs to rotate the manipulating handle 20 toward the U-shaped clamping member 50 into a position in parallel with the mop plate 10 so as to make the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 be locked by the U-shaped clamping member 50. On the other hand, when the cleaning tool 4 needs to be converted from a broom state as shown in figure 26 to a mop state, the user simply needs to pull the manipulating handle 20 with a certain force so as to unlock the cylindrical outer wall of the coupling pipe 22 of the manipulating handle 20 from the elastic clamping member 50 on the mop plate 10. Then the manipulating handle 20 can rotate freely about the

mop plate 10. Afterwards, the cleaning cloth 15 is wrapped around the mop plate 10 by fasteners 11 so that the whole cleaning tool 4 can be used as a mop.

As will be appreciated, in the cleaning tool 4 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a fixing assembly with a bracing wire 51 like that described in the third embodiment may also be used.

The present invention provides a floor cleaning tool having a broom function and a mop function, and the two functions can be converted therebetween. In the present invention, the brush bristles are combined with the mop plate and can be exposed or hidden by the control of a control assembly. When the brush bristles are exposed by the control assembly, the manipulating handle is rotated to a position in parallel with the mop plate and is fixed with respect to the mop plate. At this time, the whole cleaning tool can be used as a broom. When the brush bristles are hidden by the control assembly, the manipulating handle can be rotated about the mop plate freely in a range of angle from 90 degree to 180 degree. At this time, a replaceable cleaning cloth may be attached to the mop plate so that the cleaning tool can be used as a mop.

Therefore, the cleaning tool according to the present invention can provide a broom function and a mop function and the conversion between the broom function and the mop function can be obtained easily. Also, the space for accommodating the cleaning tool is saved.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the components in the respective embodiments may be combined with each other to perform new function if they are not conflict with each other. For example, the same cleaning tool may be provided with a fixing assembly of the bracing wire type and a fixing assembly of the U-shaped clamping member

type.

Therefore, the description of the present invention is exemplified in nature and any changes within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be interpreted as within the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.