Floor waxing apparatus

3,333,293

J. SKURDELIS

FLOOR WAXING APPARATUS

Aug. 1, 1967

Filed Feb. 1/1965

Sheets-Sheet 1

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PATENT AGENT

J. SKURDELIS

FLOOR WAXING APPARATUS

3,333,293

Aug. 1, 1967

Filed Feb. 1, 1965

Sheets-Sheet 2

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<img file="US3333293A_D0003.tif" />

PATENT AGENT

United States Patent Office 3,333,293 _________—_______________ Patented Aug. 1, 1967

3,333,293 ^:

FLOOR WAXING APPARATUS John Skin-delis, 102 Wendell Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Filed Feb. 1, 1965, Ser. No. 429.587

Claims. (Cl. 15—561) . This invention relates to a device for manually applymga finisher, such as paste wax, to a floor surface.

The task of waxing floors by hand is a laborious one and to obtain a good finish, a great deal of care must be taken to ensure that a uniform but thin coating is applied. Many known applicators of the type which have a long operating handle connected to a wax distributing head for spreading either liquid or paste wax are presently m use. Some of the known types of applicators require oading from a can of wax, which is usually messy and frequently involves some waste. Moreover, known applicators, in the main, are relatively complex in structure and as a result, quite expensive. Some applicators now “ .^us® ^also,^{have the} disadvantage of being bulky so that it is difficult to polish under the edge of low furniture or other articles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a compact, inexpensive wax applying device which can be quickly and conveniently prepared for use.

According to the present invention, there is provided an applicator including front and back plate members hingedly attached along adjacent transverse edges, the members haying cartridge engaging bottom surfaces and bein pivotable with respect to each other between first and second positions. When the plate members are in the first position, the bottom surfaces define an obtuse angle therebetween of less than 180°, whereby a spaced for partially receiving a wax cartridge is provided under the plate members. When the plate members are in the second position, the angle between the bottom surfaces becomes at least 180°. The plate members are provided against their remote edges with a cartridge attaching

The. wax cartridge according to the present invention comprises an elongated flexible upper panel of wax impermeable material, and an elongated flexible floor engaging panel of wax permeable material, the panels being like oriented and joined together along a line adjacent their peripheries to define a closed pocket therebetween. A charge of floor wax fills the pocket and is maintained substantially oval in cross-section by the panels. Attaching means, which is designed to cooperate with the at? tachmg means on the plate members, is provided along the longitudinal edges of the panels for fixing the cartridge to the applicator.

Accordingly, the cartridge can be attached below the plate members with the longitudinal edges held adjacent the remote edges thereof, the upper part of the cartridge projecting up into the angular space defined by the bottom surfaces of the plate members when in their first position and the lower surface of the cartridge defined by the floor engaging panel projecting below the plate members. Thus, by pushing down on the operating handle ⁶⁰the cartridge is squeezed between the plate members and the floor so that the wax is forced through the wax permeable panel onto the floor. Moreover, pressure on the handle also, forces the plate-like members towards their second position so that the panels of the cartridge are ⁶⁵stretched across their width, which stretching tends to flatten the oval cross-section of the charge of wax and panel· ^f°^{rCinS the wax the} wax permeable

In the drawings, which show an embodiment of the present invention, by way of example:

FIGURE 1 is a top view of the waxing applicator according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a back elevational view of the applicator shown in FIGURE 1;

wrr’T*™? &lt; ³ ,^{1S a} .^side, ^{view of the} applicator shown in FIGURE 1 when in the above-mentioned first position showing a wax cartridge according to the present invention attached thereto in broken lines;

FiGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 when in the above-mentioned second position;

⁵ -^{is a} P^Pective view of the cartridge;

FIGURE 6 is a section view of the cartridge as viewed from Ime VI—VI of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a section view through a sponge element which can be utilized with the device shown in FIGURES 1 to 4.

In FIGURES 1 to 4, reference numerals 10 and 11 denote a front plate member and a back plate member respectively. An upwardly extending operating handle 12 is connected to front plate 10 and an upwardly extending loading handle 13 is connected to the back plate memoer 11. Each plate member is provided with attaching means 14 for connecting a wax cartridge 18 below the plate members (FIGURE 3).

The plate members 10 and 11, which may be pressed from sheet metal, can be identical in shape as can be readily seen in FIGURES 1, 3, and 4. The plate members are elongated in the transverse sense of the device and at their adjacent or inner longitudinally extending ³⁰ edges, they are provided with upwardly turned flanges 15, 15. At opposite ends of the flanges hinge means 16 are provided which pivotally connect the plate 10 and 11 together, the hinge means including on each flange, upwardly extending lugs rolled to receive common pins 17 35 Extending outwardly from flanges 15, 15 at slightly more than 90° with respect thereto, the plate members have portions 20, 20 which have substantially flat cartridge engaging lower surfaces 21, 21. The surfaces 21 21 tudinal edges of the plate members 10, 11. The outer edges of the plate members 10, 11 are curled upwardly as shown at 22, 22 and have lugs 23 at the ends which form the attaching means 14. The lugs 23 are curled slightly back over the portions 20 to form hook members as can best be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4.

^Th^{e front plate member} 10 has fastened to the flange 15 thereof at its centre in the longitudinal direction an upwardly and slightly rearwardly projecting handle connector 24. The handle connector 24 may be welded or otherwise secured to flange 15, as shown, or as an alternative, it can be a lug formed from the same sheet of metal as the front plate member 10. The operating handle 25 is fixed to connector 24 so that it extends upwardly and slightly rearwardly from plate members 10, 11 as shown m FIGURE 3.

The loading handle 13 is connected to the upper side of back plate member 11 slightly to one side of connector 24, as is best shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, and is formed from a single rod which is bent to provide three portions

I^s- ,^{The firSt portion 26 is fixed t0} the upper side of the back plate member 11 and projects upwardly therefrom. The second portion 27 extends forwardly from portion 26 over the front plate member 10 and curves around to the front of handle connector 24. The third portion 28 extends upwardly from portion 27 in front of and spaced from handle 25. A short coil spring is connected at one end to the upper side of front plate member 10 by an apertured lug 35 and at its other end to the second portion 27 of loading handle 13

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and'e, the cartridge 18 is formed from two substantially rectangular panels 30 and 31 of flexible cloth-like material. The top panel which engages the lower surfaces 21, 21 of the plate members 10, 11 is formed of a wax impermeable material while the lower floor engaging panel is formed of a wax permeable material which may be a fine woven mesh of synthetic fibres capable of withstanding considerable rubbing on the floor? The panels, which are like oriented and of substantially the same size, are joined by a seam 32 also of a rectangular pattern immediately within the peripheries of the panels. A rectangular pocket formed by the seam between the panels 30, 31 is filled with a longitudinal extending charge 33 of paste wax, which charge assumes a rectangular shape of substantially oval cross-section, as shown in FIGURE 6, the major axis of the oval shape _:extending between the longitudinal edges of the panels 30,31. .

Tab portions 34, 34 are provided on the longitudinal edges of panel 30, which tabs are turned under and secured to the lower surface of panel 31 by seam 32 to provide a longitudinally extending rod receiving loop at opposite sides of the cartridge.

When the flanges 15, 15 of the front and back plate members 10, 11 are close together as shown in FIGURE 3 the surfaces 21, 21 define an obtuse angle of less than 180°, i.e., a longitudinally extending cartridge receiving recess of concave cross-section. Thus, when a fresh cartridge is loaded into the applicator, the upper curved surface of the cartridge fits up into the recess as shown in FIGURE 3.

Thus, to load a new cartridge, plastic or wooden rods 36, 36 which are substantially the same length as the plate members 10, 11 are inserted through the loops at the side of the cartridge, and the handles 12 and 13 are gripped and squeezed together. This action, against the biasing action of spring 29, pivots the plate members 10, 11 together bringing flanges 15, 15 into contact. The ends of the rods 36, 36 projecting from the loops of the cartridge can be slipped over the upper ends of lugs 23. With the rods slightly above and inwardly from the outer longitudinal edges of the plate members 10, 11, the handles are released, and under the biasing effect of the spring 29 the flanges 15, 15 separate slightly, as shown in FIGURE 3, until the cartridge becomes taut.

With the cartridge held tautly in place the panel 31 projects below the plate members 10, 11 and can be rubbed back and forth on the floor. By applying a downward pressure on handle 25, the cartridge 18 is squeezed between the plate members 10, 11 and the floor, so that wax is forced through the permeable panel onto the floor. The downward pressure also tends to separate the plate members 10 and 11, which flattens the recess under surfaces 21, 21 and stretches the cartridge across its width. This action also forces the wax through the panel 31, so that the downward pressure applied to the handle 25 need not be great.

As the charge of wax is used up and the oval crosssection of the charge flattens, the width of the cartridge automatically increases, and this in turn permits the plate members to separate farther and farther until the angle between surfaces 21, 21 becomes at least 180° as shown in FIGURE 4. It is possible, therefore, to squeeze all of the wax from between the panels 30 and 31. Because of the presence of spring 29, the cartridge is held taut at all times so that it cannot become detached from the applicator.

When the cartridge is empty, it can be easily removed by squeezing handle 12 and 13 again until the cartridge arrangement shown, it is convenient to tilt the device slightly backwards so that a greater proportion of the pressure is transmitted to the floor through ths back plate member 11. With such a tilting action, the spreading force applied to the plate member is greatly increased, which in turn causes larger quantities of wax to be, squeezed from the cartridge. It is, therefore, possible to oe able to apply a thicker layer of wax over certain areas of the floor. ... .

Other types of attaching means could be utilized in place of lugs 23, of course, such as snap fastener elements provided on the upper side of plate members 10, 11 for matching engagement with similar elements on tabs extending outwardly from the cartridge.

As previously indicated, the plate members may be pressed from sheet metal. In order to avoid any finishing steps after the plate members are formed during production of the device, the device is preferably coated with a soft plastic material which improves the appearance of the device and prevents marring of woodwork and furniture if accidentally hit during the polishing operation.

As an alternative to spring 29, other resilient means could be provided between flanges 15, 15 or a, spring could be incorporated in hinge means 16 for urging the plate members to the position shown in FIGURE 4.,

Although the cartridge 18 could be provided with a closable opening so that it could be refilled, it is believed desirable to design the cartridge for disposal. New cartridges are preferably distributed in sealed bags to pre30 vent drying of the cartridges prior to use. The bags may be designed so that they could be utilized to store a partially used cartridge between waxing operations. If both panels are formed of a plastic material, it is possible to form the seam 32 by heat fusion.

In order to increase the usefulness of the device shown in FIGURES 1 to 4, it is possible to provide other elements which can be attached and used when waxing floors. An example of these other elements, namely a sponge element 40, is shown in FIGURE 7. The sponge element 40 simply comprises a block of sponge 41 fixed to a rectangular panel 42 of flexible material. The rectangular panel has a width which results in the panel being held taut by spring 29. Like the panel 30, panel 42 has tab portions forming longitudinal rod receiving loops along the sides thereof. After inserting rods 36, 36 in the loop, the sponge element 40 can be attached to the device shown in FIGURES 1 to 4 in exactly the same manner described in connection with the cartridge. The sponge element can be used, of course, for cleaning the floor prior to waxing, 50 and a similar element carrying a buffing material can be provided for shining the waxed surface.

From the above, it can be readily seen that the present invention provides a useful device of extremely simple construction. Although the cartridge has been described 55 as containing paste wax, liquid wax can also be used, it being only necessary to utilize a different type of permeable panel. In either case, it is possible to apply a very uniform coating to a floor with the device of the present invention.