Tile grout scrubber

• US 5,412,829 A
• Filed: 06/27/1994
• Issued: 05/09/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Esther L. Hefner
• Original Assignee: Esther L. Hefner
• Inventors: Hefner, Esther L.
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBERTS JR, EDWARD
• Application Number:
  US08/265,924
• Time in Patent Office: 316 Days
• Field of Search: 15/160, 15/166, 15/172, 15/176.1, 15/176.6, 15/186, 15/210.1, 15/236.06, 15/244.1, 15/52.1
• US Class Current: 15/52.1
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 7/02 in an expanding or articulating manner
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 7/10 as a rotating cylinder
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/26 Floor-scrubbing machines, hand-driven A47L11/29 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/282 having rotary tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4036 Parts or details of the surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4041 Roll shaped surface treating tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4069 Driving or transmission means for the cleaning tools
• CPC Class Codes: A47L 11/4077 Skirts or splash guards

Abstract

To scrub adjacent parallel grout lines on a tile floor simultaneously, a long handle is attached to a base which is wider than the space between adjacent grout lines. Two or more long narrow scrubbing elements are adjustably mounted on the base with the long sides parallel to one another. They are spaced apart to correspond to the spacing between tiles and locked in position. When they are moved back and forth in a scrubbing motion, they tend to remain in the depressed grout lines so they are self-guiding. All the scrubbing effort is directed to the grout lines which tend to accumulate dirt more than the elevated, impervious tile surface. The scrubbing elements may be bristle brushes, foam or fibrous scrubbing material. An electric motor driven embodiment is shown with rotary brushes adjustably mounted on a rotary shaft.

Claims

1. A grout scrubber for scrubbing a plurality of parallel grout lines between floor tiles simultaneously, the scrubber comprising:

a plurality of individual scrubbing elements, each element having a rigid housing means and extending downwardly therefrom a long, narrow, resilient scrubbing member having a front face wider than the width of said grout lines and opposed sides substantially longer than said front face;

a base means having a front face substantially wider than the distance between adjacent parallel grout lines;

a handle attached to said base means and extending upwardly therefrom; and

mounting means for adjustably mounting said housing means on said base means with said scrubbing members extending downwardly and said sides maintained parallel to one another and spaced apart to correspond to said distance between adjacent grout lines.

2. The scrubber according to claim 1 further comprising securing means for removably fixing said housing means on said base means to maintain a particular spacing between said scrubbing members during use.

3. The scrubber according to claim 2, in which said scrubbing member is a plurality of bristles comprising a long, narrow brush.

4. The scrubber according to claim 1, in which said scrubbing member is a plurality of bristles comprising a long, narrow brush.

5. The scrubber according to claim 2, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of a foam scrubbing material.

6. The scrubber according to claim 1, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of a foam scrubbing material.

7. The scrubber according to claim 2, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of a fibrous scrubbing material.

8. The scrubber according to claim 1, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of fibrous scrubbing material.

9. A grout scrubber for scrubbing a plurality of parallel grout lines between floor tiles simultaneously, the scrubber comprising:

a housing having a front face substantially wider than the distance between adjacent parallel parallel grout lines;

a handle extending upward from said housing;

an electric motor attached to said housing;

a rotary shaft driven by said motor, said shaft rotatably mounted on said housing parallel to said front face;

a plurality of resilient, rotary scrubbing means, each having a width greater than the width of a grout line, a diameter substantially greater than said width, and a center hole; and

mounting means for adjustably mounting said scrubbing means on said shaft for rotation therewith and parallel to one another and spaced apart to correspond to said distance between adjacent grout lines.

10. The scrubber according to claim 9, in which said rotary scrubbing means are bristle brushes.

11. The scrubber according to claim 9, in which said scrubbing means are comprised of foam scrubbing material.

12. The scrubber according to claim 9, in which said scrubbing means are comprised of fibrous scrubbing material.

13. A grout scrubber for scrubbing a plurality of parallel grout lines between floor tiles simultaneously, the scrubber comprising:

a plurality of individual scrubbing elements, each element having a rigid housing means and extending outwardly therefrom a long, narrow, resilient member having a front face wider than the width of said grout lines and opposed sides substantially longer than said front face, each said long, narrow, resilient scrubbing member;

a base means having a front face substantially wider than the distance between adjacent parallel grout lines;

a handle attached to said base means and extending upwardly therefrom; and

mounting means for adjustably mounting said housing means on said base means with at least a portion of said scrubbing members extending downwardly below,said base means and said sides maintained parallel to one another and spaced apart to correspond to said distance between adjacent grout lines.

14. The scrubber according to claim 13, in which said scrubbing member is a plurality of bristles comprising a long, narrow brush.

15. The scrubber according to claim 13, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of a foam scrubbing material.

16. The scrubber according to claim 13, in which said scrubbing member is comprised of fibrous scrubbing material.

17. The scrubber according to claim 13, further comprising:

a shaft rotatably mounted on said base means, said shaft having an axis parallel to said front face;

an electric motor mounted in said base means for rotatably driving said shaft; and

each said scrubbing member having a circular configuration and being mounted parallel to one another on said shaft for rotary motion thereon.