Hand-Operated Wiping Instrument for Floors

The invention relates to a hand-operated wiping instrument for floors, comprising a frame with a guide pole having a handle at operating level and with at least one support and guide element arranged at the front in the direction of movement and a wiping strip supported by the frame and arranged transversely to the direction of movement and after the support and guide element.

In a known wiping instrument of this type, the frame has a length in the direction of movement of about 20 cm and the wiping strip has a length of about 1 m. Arranged spaced apart at the front edge of the frame in the direction of movement are two steering rollers as support and guide elements. The guide pole extends at an angle of about 45.degree. from the centre of the frame. The handle of the pole is located on the side of the strip facing away from the guide rollers in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement, the distance of which plane from the wiping strip is many times greater than the distance of the wiping strip from the guide rollers. It has been shown in practice that the handling of such a wiping instrument is not easy. If insufficient pressure is applied to the wiping strip via the guide pole, the result of wiping is not satisfactory. If too much pressure is applied to the wiping strip, the instrument cannot easily be guided.

The underlying object of the invention is to simplify the wiping instrument of the type mentioned at the beginning in respect of its handling.

This object is achieved in the wiping instrument of the type mentioned at the beginning in that the distance of the wiping strip from the support and guide element is substantially greater than its distance from the plane located perpendicular to the direction of movement, in which plane the handle is located.

In the wiping instrument according to the invention, the introduction of the force applied by the operator into the wiping instrument is not critical because, due to the geometric arrangement of the handle, the wiping strip and the support and guide element relative to one another, there is more a dragging effect on the wiping strip than a pushing effect as is the case in the prior art. For this reason, the wiping instrument can be guided more precisely and a more even wiping effect can be achieved.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the wiping strip is located between the support and guide element and the plane located perpendicular to the direction of movement, in which plane the handle is located. For individual adaptation to the floor conditions and to the operator, provision is made according to a further embodiment of the invention for the frame to be adjustable, in particular telescopic, in its distance between the support and guide element and the wiping strip.

The support and guide element should be constructed as a roller, as is known per se. The roller should be freely steerable. Provision should preferably be made for two support and guide elements to be arranged spaced apart.

In order to collect the water during wiping, the wiping strip can have slightly angled-off ends in the direction of movement or can be slightly bent.

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to a drawing illustrating an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a wiping instrument and

FIG. 2 shows the wiping instrument in accordance with FIG. 1 in a section along the line I--I of FIG. 1.

The wiping instrument illustrated in the drawing in a lateral view has a frame 1 comprising two telescopic tubes 2a, 2b arranged spaced apart. Connected to the frame 1 at the front in the direction of movement is a guide pole 3 with a handle 4 arranged at the operating level of the operator. Arranged on the frame 1 in the region of this connection point are support and guide elements 5 constructed as freely steerable rollers. At its rear end in the direction of travel F, the frame 1 supports a wiping strip 7, made of a foamed rubber profile, by means of a holder 6. The ends of the wiping strip 7 are slightly angled off towards the front so that the water collected during wiping does not drain off laterally.

As can be seen from the drawing, the handle 4 is located in a plane A perpendicular to the direction of movement F, the distance a of which plane from the wiping strip 7 is substantially smaller than the distance b of the support and guide element 5 from the wiping strip 7. In particular, a=10-20 cm and b=50-60 cm. Taking the telescopic frame 1 into consideration, the distance b should be at least twice as large as the distance a. Due to the telescopic capability, the distance a could even be 0 or the wiping strip 7 could be located on the left side in the diagram of the plane A. It is guaranteed in all cases that the distance b is substantially greater than the distance a.