FIELD

[0001] The present embodiments described herein relate generally to mops and, more particularly, to a pad mop or mop head attachment and pods of stacked cleaning material attachable thereto.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Wet mops are used to clean wood, stone and artificial floor surfaces in order leave them cleaner than by just sweeping or vacuuming the floor surface. In its basic form, a wet mop consists of an attachment device at the end of a pole or handle to which an absorbent element such as a rag can be attached and then submerged into a pail with water or cleaning solution. The wet rag is wrung out and then used to apply the water and/or a cleaning solution to the floor surface. The mop is used to clean and dislodge debris from the floor surface. The mop is then re- submerged in the water/cleaning solution to rinse the mop. Once rinsed, the mop is again wrung out and the mop is then used to clean another section of the floor surface being cleaned.

[0003] Traditional mops consist of a pole or handle and at the bottom end of the pole or handle absorbent element such as cord-like strands, cloth fiber-like strands, or sponge connected to the pole or handle for cleaning. Some wet mops have a wringing device attached to the mops to make wringing out the absorbent element easier and more hygienic/cleaner after rinsing the mop in the water/cleaning solution. (See US Patent Nos: 6745429; 6625838; 6477731; 5675858; 6108848; Re37415; 6550094; and 6892415).

[0004] While the problems associated with wringing-out such wet mops have been lessened by the introduction of wringing-out devices incorporated into the mops, the other problem, of requiring a constant refreshing of the water/cleaning solution in order not to use dirty

water/cleaning solution to clean the floor surface, persists.

[0005] Pad-style mops have been introduced to address this issue. (See US Patent Nos:

7163349; 7144173; 7028364; 6986619; 6986616; 6893180; 7144173; 7028364; 6979371; and the like.) Pad mops generally consist of two primary elements: 1) a pole or handle with a flat square or rectangular mop pad at the bottom end and 2) a mopping material comprising specially designed mopping sheets or wipes that attach to the mop pad. [0006] The wipes for these pad-style mops are either wet wipes (i.e., the wipe contains a liquid cleaning solution within the wipe) or dry wipes (i.e., the wipe is made of a furry /light spun-poly material to attract dust and lint). In either case, the mop wipes (dry or wet) come in boxes of 6, 12 or 24 wipes per box.

[0007] As the wipes become soiled/dirty, the user pulls the dirty wipe off the top of the mop pad head and attaches another wipe to the top of the mop pad head along one edge, then around edge, underneath the mop pad, and back up over the other edge to the of mop pad head where it is attached along the other edge in order to continue the mopping process.

[0008] As a user mops the floor and as the wipes become soiled or dirty, the user has to continually go back and forth to the box of either wet or dry wipes to pick out a clean wipe to attach it to the mop head to continue to mop.

[0009] Thus, it is desirable to provide an improved mopping material and/or an improved pad style mop that eliminates the need to continue to remove and replace dirty or soiled mopping sheets.

SUMMARY

[0010] The embodiments and examples provided herein are generally directed to a pad style mop and a self-contained unit or pod of a plurality of sealing stacked mopping sheets or wipes (e.g., 2 or more wipes stacked on top of one another) that is attachable to the mop pad and that will wet or dry mop a smooth surface floor. A dirty or soiled mopping sheet is simply torn off to reveal a new fresh and clean sheet of mopping or wipe material attached to the mop pad and ready for use.

[0011] In the embodiments provided herein, the pod comprises a stack of two or more individual mopping sheets comprising a sheet of mopping or wipe material and independently sealed from one another via thin sheets of material that are non-absorbent or generally or substantially impermeable to liquids. The sheets of mopping or wipe material may comprise an absorbent material, such as, e.g., paper toweling, a cloth material, and the like, or may be either a wet wipe in which the wipe contains a liquid cleaning solution within the wipe or a dry wipe which is made of a furry /light spun-poly material to attract dust and lint, or a combination of spun poly and viscose/cellulose rayon, or a 100% viscose material, and the like.

[0012] The thin sheet of material that is non-absorbent or generally or substantially impermeable to liquids may be a plastic, such as, e.g., polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinylidene chloride (PVdC). One side of the thin plastic sheet has a light adhesive while the other side does not. The adhesive on the one side of the plastic sheet is adapted to enable a first plastic sheet of a first mopping sheet to adhere to a first sheet of mopping or wipe material and to enable the first plastic sheet to adhere along its adhesive portions that extend beyond the first sheet of mopping or wipe material to a non-adhesive side of a second plastic sheet of a second mopping sheet stacked below the first mopping sheet. Like the first plastic sheet, the adhesive on the adhesive side of the second plastic sheet is adapted to enable the second plastic sheet to adhere to a second sheet of mopping or wipe material and to enable the second sheet to adhere along its adhesive portions that extend beyond the second sheet of mopping or wipe material to a non-adhesive side of a third plastic sheet of a third mopping sheet stacked below the second mopping sheet, and so on.

[0013] The non-adhesive side of a first plastic sheet of a first mopping sheet can easily be torn away from the adhesive side of a second plastic sheet of a second mopping sheet stacked above the first mopping sheet without tearing or disrupting the other mopping sheets and their sealed sheets of mopping or wipe material stacked there above.

[0014] All of the extended portions of the plastic sheets (which extend beyond the sheet of mopping or wipe material) are pressed together so that the extended adhesive portions of the plastic sheets adheres to the non-adhesive side of the extended portions of the plastic sheet stacked there below, sealing all the wipes within the pod and forming a sealed pod of mopping sheets or wipe material. In operation, the wipe material on the bottom of the pod is exposed for use while all other wipes above remained sealed within the pod until ready to use.

[0015] The embodiments provided herein include a variety of systems and methods to attach the sealed pod of mopping sheets or wipe material to the top of the mop head. In general, the pod can be attached, e.g., via hooks on an attachment device that attaches to the top of the mop pad or punch holes in the top of the mop head, via mounting plugs that mount in punch holes in the top of the mop head, via velcro type attachments on the top of the mop head, and the like.

[0016] The systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. It is also intended that the invention is not limited to require the details of the example embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0017] The accompanying drawings, which are included as part of the present specification, illustrate the preferred embodiments and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the embodiments given below, serve to explain and teach the principles of the present embodiments. The details of the present embodiments, both as to their structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying figures.

[0018] Figure 1 is an exploded assembly perspective view of an example embodiment of a pod stackable mopping sheet.

[0019] Figure 2 is a perspective view of the pod stackable mopping sheet.

[0020] Figure 3 is a cross-section view of the pod stackable mopping sheet taken along line 3— 3 in Figure 2.

[0021] Figure 4 is a side elevation view a partial assembly of an example embodiment of a pod of stacked mopping sheets.

[0022] Figure 5 is a side elevation view a full assembly of the pod of stacked mopping sheets.

[0023] Figure 6 is a perspective view of a conventional pad-style mop.

[0024] Figure 7 is a side elevation view of an example embodiment of a pod of stacked mopping sheets installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 6.

[0025] Figure 8 is a side elevation view of another example embodiment of a pod of stacked mopping sheets installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 6.

[0026] Figures 9 is a side elevation view of the example embodiment of the pod of stacked mopping sheets that was installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 8.

[0027] Figure 10 is a perspective view of an exploded assembly of the example embodiment of the pod of stacked mopping sheets installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure

8.

[0028] Figure 11 is a side elevation view of yet another example embodiment of a pod of stacked mopping sheets installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 6.

[0029] Figures 12 is a side elevation view of the example embodiment of the pod of stacked mopping sheets that was installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 11. [0030] Figure 13 is a perspective view of an exploded assembly of the example embodiment of the pod of stacked mopping sheets installed on the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 11.

[0031] Figure 14 is a top view of an example embodiment of a mop head attachment coupled to the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 6 and configured to retain a pod of stacked mopping sheets.

[0032] Figure 15 is a side elevation view of the example embodiment of the mop head attachment coupled to the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 14.

[0033] Figures 16 is a bottom view of an example embodiment of the pod of stackable mopping sheets with the bottom mopping sheet exposed.

[0034] Figure 17 is a side elevation view of the example embodiment of the mop head attachment coupled to the conventional pad style mop shown in Figure 14 with the pod of stackable mopping sheets shown in Figure 16 mounted thereon.

[0035] It should be noted that the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and that elements of similar structures or functions are generally represented by like reference numerals for illustrative purposes throughout the figures. It also should be noted that the figures are only intended to facilitate the description of the various embodiments described herein. The figures do not necessarily describe every aspect of the teachings disclosed herein and do not limit the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0036] Each of the features and teachings disclosed below can be utilized separately or in conjunction with other features and teachings to provide a novel pod of stacked mopping sheets mountable to a pad mop and mop head attachment device. Representative examples of the present invention, which examples utilize many of these additional features and teachings both separately and in combination, will now be described in further detail with reference to the attached drawings. This detailed description is merely intended to teach a person of skill in the art further details for practicing preferred aspects of the present teachings and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, combinations of features and steps disclosed in the following detail description may not be necessary to practice the invention in the broadest sense, and are instead taught merely to particularly describe representative examples of the present teachings. [0037] Moreover, the various features of the representative examples and the dependent claims may be combined in ways that are not specifically and explicitly enumerated in order to provide additional useful embodiments of the present teachings. In addition, it is expressly noted that all features disclosed in the description and/or the claims are intended to be disclosed separately and independently from each other for the purpose of original disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter independent of the compositions of the features in the embodiments and/or the claims. It is also expressly noted that all value ranges or indications of groups of entities disclose every possible intermediate value or intermediate entity for the purpose of original disclosure, as well as for the purpose of restricting the claimed subject matter.

[0038] Turning to the figures, the various embodiments provided herein are generally directed to a pod of stacked mopping sheets attachable to a pad mop and a mop head attachment device to facilitate attachment of the pod to the pad mop. As shown in Figures 1-3, a pod stackable mopping sheet 100 comprising a sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 adhered to a plastic sheet 120 on an adhesive side 122 of the plastic sheet 120. As depicted, the plastic sheet 120 includes both a non-adhesive side 124 and an adhesive side 122.

[0039] As shown in Figures 4 and 5, a mopping sheet pod 200 comprises two or more of the pod stackable mopping sheets 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 stacked on top of one another. As noted above, one side 122 of the thin plastic sheet 120 has a light adhesive while the other side 124 of the thin plastic sheet 120 does not. The adhesive on the adhesive side 122 of the plastic sheet 120 is adapted to enable a first plastic sheet 120 of a first pod stackable mopping sheet 100 to adhere to a first sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 and to enable the adhesive side 122 of the first plastic sheet 120 to adhere along its portions that extend beyond the first sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 to a non-adhesive side 124 of a second plastic sheet 121 of a second stackable mopping sheet 101 positioned below the first plastic sheet 120. Like the first plastic sheet 120, the adhesive on the adhesive side 122 of the second plastic sheet 121 is adapted to enable the second plastic sheet 121 to adhere to a second sheet of mopping or wipe material 111 and to enable the second plastic sheet 121 to adhere along its portions that extend beyond the second sheet of mopping or wipe material 111 to a non-adhesive side 124 of a third plastic sheet 123 positioned below the second plastic sheet 121, and so on, as shown, for the fourth, fifth and sixth plastic sheets 125, 126 and 127 and the third, fourth, fifth and sixth sheet of mopping or wipe material 112, 113, 114 and 115.

[0040] In operation, the non-adhesive side 124 of the sixth plastic sheet 127 of the sixth pod stackable mopping sheet 105 positioned at the bottom of the mopping sheet pod 200 with its sheet of mopping or wipe material 115 exposed can easily be released, disengaged or torn away from the adhesive side 122 of the fifth plastic sheet 126 of the fifth pod stackable mopping sheet 104 positioned above it without tearing or disrupting the other pod stackable mopping sheets 100, 101, 102, 103 and 104 and their sealed sheets of mopping or wipe material 110, 1 11, 112,

113 and 114 positioned above the sixth pod stackable mopping sheet 105.

[0041] All of the extended ends, sides or portions of the plastic sheets 120, 121, 123, 125, 126 and 127 (which extend beyond the sheets of mopping or wipe material 110, 111, 112, 113, 114 and 115) are pressed together such that the extended adhesive side 122 of each plastic sheet 120, 121, 123, 125, 126 and 127 adheres to the non-adhesive extended sidel24 of the plastic sheet below it, forming seals 210 and 220 along the ends, sides or edges of the plastic sheets 120, 121, 123, 125, 126 and 127 to seal the sheets of mopping material or wipes 110, 111, 112, 113 and

114 not in use or ready for use within the pod 200. As depicted, the sheet of mopping material or wipe material 115 on the bottom of the pod 200 is exposed for use while all other wipes 110, 111, 112, 113 and 114 above remain sealed within the pod 200 until ready to use.

[0042] For packaging purposes, a cover sheet of plastic without an adhesive side can be adhered to the bottom pod stackable mopping sheet 105 or to the extended adhesive sides 122 of the plastic sheet 127 of the bottom pod stackable mopping sheet 105. The cover sheet can easily be released, disengaged or torn away from the adhesive side 122 of the plastic sheet 127 of the bottom pod stackable mopping sheet 105 to begin use.

[0043] The sealed pod of mopping sheets 200 can be attached to a pad mop in a variety ways, such as, e.g., via hooks on an attachment device that attaches to a mop head of a pad mop, via mounting plugs that mount in punch holes in the top of the mop head of the pad mop, via velcro type attachments on the top of the mop head, and the like. The following example embodiments show the sealed pod 200 attached to a conventional pad mop.

[0044] As shown if Figure 6, a conventional pad mop 10 comprises a mop handle 12, a mop head 20 coupled to the handle 12 via a universal or swivel joint 14, and a mop pad 26 coupled to the mop head 20. The mop head 20 and mop pad 26 are generally square or rectangular shaped. Punch holes or recesses 22 are formed in the top of the mop head 20 adjacent the corners and the leading and trailing edges of the mop head 20. The punch holes 22 include a retaining member 24 positioned toward the top of each of the punch holes 22. To allow material to be pushed into the pushed into the punch holes 22 and retained in place on the mop head 20, the retaining members 24 include a plurality of pliable individual members extending inwardly from the periphery of the punch hole 22.

[0045] Turning to Figure 7, a pod 200 is shown mounted to the mop head 20 of the pad mop 10 using mounting members 30 mounted in the punch holes 22. As shown, in certain embodiments the mounting members 30 include a base plug 32 that is received and retained in the punch hole 22. A hook member 34 extends upwardly and then inwardly from the base plug 32. Holes 202 punched through the pod 200 are used to engage the hook members 34. To install, a first set of hook members 34 along a first edge of the mop head 20 are threaded through a first set of holes 202 along a first side of the pod 200. The pod 200, with the exposed sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 on the outside, is then wrapped around the first edge of the mop head 20, around the mop pad 26 below the mop head 20, and around an opposing second edge of the mop head 20 where a second set of hook members 34 are threaded through a second set of holes 202 along an opposing second side of the pod 200.

[0046] In other embodiments, as shown in Figures 8— 10, mounting devices 40 include a base 44 comprising a thin strip of material, such as, e.g., a plastic strip, a cardboard strip, a paper or other cellulose based strip, a cork strip, and the like. Mounting plugs 42, such as, e.g., plugs formed of a plastic, cardboard, cork, and the like, are coupled to or extend from the base 44 and are positioned to engage the punch holes 22 in the mop head 20 of the pad mop 10. To install, a first set of mounting plugs 42 along a first side of the pod 200 are pressed into the punch holes 22 along a first edge of the mop head 20. The pod 200, with the exposed sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 on the outside, is then wrapped around the first edge of the mop head 20, around the mop pad 26 below the mop head 20, and around an opposing second edge of the mop head 20 where a second set of mounting plugs 42 along an opposing second side of the pod 200 is pressed into the punch holes 22 along the second edge of the mop head 20.

[0047] In other embodiments, as shown in Figures 11— 13, individual retaining members 50 include a cap 54 and a mounting plug 52 extending from the cap 54. The plugs 52 of the retaining members 50 are pressed through holes 202 that are punched through the pod 202. Alternatively, reinforcing strips 44 of material with holes 46 punch there through may be positioned along the edges of the pod 200 with the holes 202 in the pod 200 aligned with the holes 46 in the reinforcing strips. To install, a first set of holes 202 along a first side of the pod 200 are aligned with the punch holes 22 along a first edge of the mop head 20 and the mounting plugs 52 of a first set of retaining members 50 are pressed through the first set of holes in the pod 200 into the punch holes 22 to secure the first side of the pod 200 to the mop head 20. The pod 200, with the exposed sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 on the outside, is then wrapped around the first edge of the mop head 20, around the mop pad 26 below the mop head 20, and around an opposing second edge of the mop head 20 where the mounting plugs 52 of a second set of retaining members 50 are pressed through a second set of holes 202 along an opposing second side of the pod 200 into the punch holes 22 along the second edge of the mop head 20.

[0048] In yet other embodiments, as shown in Figures 14— 15, a mop head attachment 400 attaches to the mop head 20. As shown, the mop head attachment 400 includes opposing top walls 402 and 404, opposing side walls 406 and 408 extending downwardly from the opposing top walls 402 and 404, and a bottom wall 410 extending between opposing side walls 406 and 408. The bottom wall 410 and side walls 406 and 408 may be formed from a pliable or flexible material, such as, e.g., plastic or rubber sheeting, or the like, and the top wall 402 and 404 may be formed of a more rigid or less flexible or pliable material than the bottom wall 410 and side walls 406 and 408. Alternatively, the mop head attachment 400 may include bendable or flexible regions, such as, e.g., living hinges and the like, positioned between top walls 402 and 404 and adjacent side walls 406 and 408, and between the bottom wall 410 and adjacent side walls 406 and 408.

[0049] As depicted, a plurality of mounting plugs 442 extend from or attach to the underside of the top walls 402 and 404 and pressed into the punch holes 22 in the mop head 20 to secure the mop head attachment 400 to the mop head 20. To install, the mounting plugs 442 on the underside of the first top wall 402 are aligned with and pressed into the punch holes 22 along a first edge of the mop head 20. The mop head attachment 400 is then wrapped or folded around the first edge of the mop head 20, around the mop pad 26 below the mop head 20, and around an opposing second edge of the mop head 20 where the mounting plugs 442 on the underside of the second top wall 404 are aligned with and pressed into the punch holes 22 along an opposing second edge of the mop head 20. [0050] In certain embodiments, the mop head attachment 400 includes first and second set of pod mounting members 440 coupled to or extending from the upper side of the first and second top walls 402 and 404. The individual mounting members 440 include a base 446 and a hooking member 444 extending upwardly and inwardly from the base 446. In certain embodiments, the mounting members may include a cutting member 448 comprising a thin rigid or non-flexible member, such as, e.g., a metal or composite material blade, and the like, positioned on the inwardly directed side of the hooking member 444 between a post and hook portion. The cutting member 448 may assist in tearing of an individual mopping sheet 100 to remove it from the pod 200. In this and other embodiments, the mopping sheets 100 may include perforations or slits to assist in tearing of an individual mopping sheet 100 to remove it from the pod 200

[0051] Turning to Figure 16, in certain embodiments, the pod 200, which is shown with its bottom sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 exposed and sealed ends 210 and 220, includes a plurality of mounting holes 202 punched there through along opposing edges of the pod 200. To install, a first set of hook members 444 along the first top wall 402 of the mop head attachment 400 are threaded through a first set of holes 202 along a first side of the pod 200. The pod 200, with the exposed sheet of mopping or wipe material 110 on the outside, is then wrapped, as shown in Figure 17, around the first edge and side wall 406 of the mop head attachment 400, around the bottom wall 410 of the mop head attachment 400, and around the opposing second side wall 408 and second edge of the mop head attachment 400 where a second hook members 444 along the second top wall 404 of the mop head attachment 400 are threaded through a second set of holes 202 along an opposing second side of the pod 200.

[0052] All features, elements, components, functions, and steps described with respect to any embodiment provided herein are intended to be freely combinable and substitutable with those from any other embodiment. If a certain feature, element, component, function, or step is described with respect to only one embodiment, then it should be understood that that feature, element, component, function, or step can be used with every other embodiment described herein unless explicitly stated otherwise. This paragraph therefore serves as antecedent basis and written support for the introduction of claims, at any time, that combine features, elements, components, functions, and steps from different embodiments, or that substitute features, elements, components, functions, and steps from one embodiment with those of another, even if the following description does not explicitly state, in a particular instance, that such combinations or substitutions are possible. Express recitation of every possible combination and substitution is overly burdensome, especially given that the permissibility of each and every such combination and substitution will be readily recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading this description.

[0053] In many instances entities are described herein as being coupled to other entities. It should be understood that the terms "coupled" and "connected" (or any of their forms) are used interchangeably herein and, in both cases, are generic to the direct coupling of two entities (without any non-negligible (e.g., parasitic) intervening entities) and the indirect coupling of two entities (with one or more non-negligible intervening entities). Where entities are shown as being directly coupled together, or described as coupled together without description of any intervening entity, it should be understood that those entities can be indirectly coupled together as well unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0054] As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0055] While the embodiments are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific examples thereof have been shown in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that these embodiments are not to be limited to the particular form disclosed, but to the contrary, these embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit of the disclosure. Furthermore, any features, functions, steps, or elements of the embodiments may be recited in or added to the claims, as well as negative limitations that define the inventive scope of the claims by features, functions, steps, or elements that are not within that scope.