Title

TECHNICAL FABRIC AND MOP COMPRISING SAID FABRIC

Technical field

The present invention belongs to the sector of technical fabrics and, more specifically, to the sector of technical fabrics used for cleaning, especially for domestic cleaning. The technical fabric according to the present invention is typically used in combination with specifically developed tools designed for exerting a scrubbing action without being obliged to stay bent, such as for example floats or long- handled scrubbers.

Even more specifically, the invention is a technical fabric whereby an innovative floor washing tool is realized, of a type belonging to the family of multiple strip scrubber- driers, commonly referred to as "mops".

These are tools formed of a handle provided with a fixing device for securing it to a cap which collects a tuft of fabric strips or textile filaments underneath. The quality and the characteristics of a mop depend on the material used to manufacture the strips.

Present status of the art

In the cleaning sector, a need is very much felt of having fabrics at users' disposal that can be used both for washing and drying purposes, as well as a need for having fabrics at users' disposal that can exert a slightly abrasive action when needed.

Materials of a non-woven fabric type and of a microfiber type are mainly used in the cleaning sector even though they are generally referred to as fabrics.

Non-woven fabric means an industrial product, whose appearance is similar to that of a fabric, but is obtained by way of processes different from weaving, i.e. without crossing weft and warp threads in a loom; this term is used in the textile manufacturing industry for identifying products, such as felts, that are neither woven nor knitted. A non-woven fabric is a material formed of short stapled fibers and long continuous fibers, joined to each other by way of a chemical, mechanical, or thermal treatment or by way of a solvent. In a non-woven fabric, the fibers feature a casual orientation, without of any orderly structure being identified, whereas in a true, properly said fabric fibers feature prevailing directions, namely a weft and a warp, which are generally orthogonal to each other.

In other words, the term "non-woven fabric" identifies a product that is industrially obtained by way of different technologies, by using non-woven synthetic fibers, preferably polyester fibers, together with fibers of other natures, for example cellulose fibers; all of these fibers undergo complex and repeated processes, whereby it is possible to obtain a finished product that is particularly suitable for a variety of fields and applications.

In the domestic cleaning sector, the most popular characteristics of a non-woven fabric include its capability of absorbing and releasing liquids, its resistance to extreme temperatures, and softness, or at least its non-abrasiveness by touch, in order to make it suitable for cleaning, removing stains, or dusting.

A microfiber is a very fine synthetic fiber, having a diameter of less than ten micrometers. The most common types of microfibers include polyesters, polyamides (for example nylon, Kevlar, Nomex, Trogamid) or compounds of polyesters, polyamide (nylon) and polypropylene. In cleaning products, a microfiber is either made from 100% polyester or a mixture of polyester and polyamide; in some cases, which are particularly dedicated to the professional cleaning sector and to high-quality products, products made from polyester and cellulose fibers are also used.

Woven products or non-woven fabric products can be manufactured by using microfibers. In the best fabrics for cleaning applications, fibers are subdivided during the manufacturing process to produce multifilament fibers. The subdivided fibers and the dimensions of the individual filaments make microfiber clothes more effective than other fabrics used for cleaning because their structure traps and retains dirt and also absorbs liquids and, additionally, a microfiber does not leave residues, unlike cotton.

Microfibers are used in many different sectors, besides the cleaning products one. In general, shape, dimensions, and combinations of synthetic fibers are selected with the goal of enhancing specific characteristics including, amongst others, softness, toughness, absorption, water repellency, electrostatics, and filtering capability.

A typical composition includes the presence of polyester, cellulose fibers, and a small percentage of polyamide.

The microfiber and non-woven fabric products are not sufficiently hard to scratch a painted surface, however a need is often felt in the domestic cleaning sector of having a non-woven fabric at users' disposal that, when needed, also becomes slightly abrasive, in order to make removal of the most stubborn stains easier.

For this reason, so-called "flock" products have been developed and are known, which consist of a textile-like surface on which very thin and very short polyamide fibers have been deposited by way of an electrostatic application and gluing.

The surface thus obtained is said to be velvety or flocked and features a coefficient of friction higher than that of the same, non-flocked surface. However, a flocked non-woven fabric is not sufficient in the cases of particularly stubborn stains, hence a need is felt for a technical fabric for domestic cleaning that combines particular abrasive property requirements with the typical characteristics of a non-woven fabric, at least in a portion of its surface.

Obj ects and summary of the invention

A first object of the present invention is thus to provide a technical fabric that combines the characteristics of a greater abrasive property with the softness and resistance characteristics of a non-woven fabric.

A second object of the invention is to provide a technical product realized on a non-woven fabric base that also has a greater abrasiveness characteristic in some portions only, whereas it retains the characteristics of a non-woven fabric completely unchanged in other portions thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a floor cleaning tool, of a "mop" type, that is easy to use and allows to clean without abrading as well as to clean with different degrees of abrasive properties.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following text.

The above-described objects are achieved by an innovative technical fabric which couples a base layer of non-woven fabric with a layer of tridimensional fabric, preferably of a type comprising a polyester micro-net.

The fabric that is coupled with the non-woven fabric is a tridimensional, cut-work, unravellable protective fabric featuring high resistance to abrasion, very flexible and relatively lightweight.

A possible coupling solution consists of smearing reagents. According to a preferred embodiment of the technical fabric in accordance with the invention, the coupling of a tridimensional polyester fabric with a non-woven fabric takes place on some portions only of the latter, so as to get a technical fabric that is capable of exerting an abrasive action or not, depending on the actual requirements, by using it alternatively where it is coupled with the tridimensional fabric or not.

In other words, the tridimensional fabric is coupled on some portions only of the non-woven fabric, so that a part of the latter remains free and can be used for cleaning wherever no abrasive action is required.

Flock can be applied on those portions of the non-woven fabric where the tridimensional fabric had not been applied. In the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawings, the tridimensional fabric is always applied on one face only of the non-woven fabric, so as to make its use and production easier .

In the figures, the mesh of the tridimensional lattice is hexagonal, but this shall not be construed restrictively because the tridimensional fabric might also take much different configurations, the meshes of the lattice possibly having different shapes and even being completely irregular. An interesting application of the technical fabric according to the present invention relates to the realization of an innovative mop.

In general, a mop comprises a tuft formed of a plurality of elongate flexible elements held on the top by a cap in which a handle is inserted, the latter consisting of a sufficiently long stick as to allow for a user to easily move the mop on the floor to be cleaned; the flexible elements can take the shape of filaments or rubber-like strips.

The innovative mop according to the present invention comprises at least one strip made from the above-described technical fabric, obtained by coupling the tridimensional fabric with at least a portion of a non-woven fabric strip. In a particularly convenient embodiment the mop is made from rubber-like strips only, at least one of which is made from the technical fabric according to the present invention.

In a particularly convenient and practical embodiment, the tridimensional fabric is coupled with the non-woven fabric in the outer upper portion of the rubber-like strip only, i.e. the portion that is closest to the cap; in this way, very advantageously ii is possible to use it to exert an abrasive action only when needed, by grasping the stick of the mop in such a way as to scrub on the floor only that portion of the strip, which the tridimensional fabric has been coupled with.

In a particularly complete embodiment, the mop preferably comprises, upon moving from the inside to the outside, the different materials of the following list:

strips made from smooth non-woven fabric;

microfiber strips;

strips made from non-woven fabric on which flock is applied;

strips made from the technical fabric according the present patent application.

According to a version of the invention that is particularly suitable for domestic use, the strips of smooth non-woven fabric are placed in the inner part of the tuft and are surrounded by microfiber strips.

During the manufacturing cycle, longitudinal strips of the tridimensional fabric are applied on a bolt of non-woven fabric, then longitudinal cuts are made in order to reduce the width of the bolt down to a dimension equal to approximately twice the length of the outer strips of the mop; after cutting, narrower bolts are obtained, each of which comprises a strip of tridimensional fabric along the center line, whereas the non-woven fabric is not coupled with the tridimensional fabric at the edges.

These reduced-width rolls are then fed to automatic machines whereby mops are manufactured; these machines perform transversal cuts and, according to a particularly convenient and practical manufacturing solution, a double strip is obtained at every cut, whose median point will subsequently be held by the cap, whereas the ends will form two strips of the tuft of the mop.

In order to manufacture strips of technical fabric that are both flocked and have a tridimensional fabric applied thereto, a process is followed which consists of first applying flock on longitudinal portions of a bolt of a non- woven fabric, taking care of leaving the longitudinal portions on which the tridimensional fabric is to be applied free, subsequently applying a tridimensional fabric, preferably by smearing reagents thereon.

Other punctual solutions of the present invention are described below for explanatory, non-limitative purposes.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows an example of the technical fabric according to the invention; a non-woven fabric substrate (1) is visible below a tridimensional fabric (2) .

Figure 2 shows an enlargement of the tridimensional fabric (2); in the example here shown, the tridimensional structure

(21) is formed of hexagonal meshes and rests on a micro-net

(22) .

Figure 3 shows an axonometric view of a mop comprising the technical fabric according to the present invention. The figure shows that the upper portion of the mop includes a cap (3) which includes means (31) for connecting it to a handle on the top. Under the cap there is a tuft of rubber- like strips; the narrow strips identified by dashed lines are rubber-like microfiber strips (5) with no applications on their surfaces; elongate non-woven fabric flexible elements (6) can just be seen between them, not dashed, also substantially having the shape of rubber-like strips.

A wider non-woven fabric strip (53) is shown on the left- hand side of the figure, where a portion (51) partially coated with polyamide flock dots is visible.

The right-hand side of the figure shows another wide strip of non-woven fabric (54), implemented by using the technical fabric according to the present invention; the tridimensional fabric (2) is coupled with on the portion closest to the cap (3), whereas flock applications, similar to those of the portion (51) of the strip (53), are present on the distal portion.

Figure 4 shows a top view of the mop depicted in the previous figure .

Figure 5 shows a double rubber-like strip before it is assembled; flock applications are shown at the two ends and a free area is located in the middle which, once the mop is assembled, will be located in correspondence with the cap (3) .

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

In a particularly complete embodiment, with reference to the attached drawings, the technical fabric comprises a non- woven fabric substrate (1) which in turn comprises cellulose fibers and polyester; particularly interesting results are obtained if equal parts of cellulose fibers and polyester are used.

A tridimensional polyester fabric (2), which comprises a lattice (21), is applied on at least a portion of said substrate (1); advantageously, the latter might in turn rest on a micro-net (22) . In the preferred embodiment here described, the lattice (21) includes hexagonal meshes, but other configurations, be they reticular or fully irregular, can also be used.

According to a particularly convenient and practical embodiment of the invention, depositions of polyamide flock are present on a part of those portions of the substrate (1) which have not been coupled with the tridimensional fabric (2) .

According to a preferred embodiment, the mop realized by using the technical fabric according to the patent application comprises a cap (3), with means (31) on the top for connecting it to an elongate handle, below which a tuft of rubber-like strips goes out.

According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the figures, said rubber-like strips are of four different types. The first type is located in the innermost part of the mop and comprises the strips made from non-woven fabric; according to a particularly advantageous solution, these rubber-like non-woven fabric strips (6) are made from approximately 50 % of cellulose fibers and an equal percentage of polyester; other compositions are possible for the strips (6) without losing the technical effect of the invention .

By moving towards the outside of the tuft of the mop, close to the central non-woven fabric strips, it is possible to find the second type of strips (5), which are softer, preferably made from microfibers, with a composition comprising approximately 50% of polyester, 40% of cellulose fibers, and 10% of polyamide; better results are achieved by adding a thermally expanding material to the microfiber; other compositions of the strips (5) are possible without losing the technical effect of the invention.

Four wider strips (53, 54), angularly equidistant hence spaced by approximately one quarter of turn from each other, are located on the outer part of the mop.

Two of them (53), spaced by half turn from each other, constitute the third type of strips; they are made from non- woven fabric, and polyamide flock is applied on their lower portion (51); according to a practical embodiment, the non- woven fabric comprises 50 % of cellulose fibers and 50 % of polyester .

The remaining two strips (54), also spaced by half turn from each other, constitute the fourth type of strips and are made from the technical fabric according to the invention; they comprise a non-woven fabric substrate which the tridimensional fabric has been coupled with only in the portion (52) proximal to the cap (3); flock depositions are present in the distal portion of the strips (54), close to their ends.

A person skilled in the art will certainly realize that other applications of the technical fabric according to the invention are possible, by taking advantage of the above teachings .