US20130000060A1

US20130000060A1 - Multipurpose electronic toilet brush

Info

Publication number: US20130000060A1
Application number: US13/173,779
Authority: US
Inventors: Wei Zhang; Mitchell Simmons; Steven Sadlowski
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-06-30
Filing date: 2011-06-30
Publication date: 2013-01-03

Abstract

The invention is a device for cleaning a toilet. It has a power cord, a power unit, a shaft, and a removable brush at the end. 120 Volt A/C current @ 60 HZ is delivered through a power cord to the coil which is wound around the metal shaft in the power unit which will produce a constantly reversing magnetic field. This magnetic field will alternately pull or push on the metallic bolt, which is attached to the shaft, and cause it to push in or out of the power unit, thus driving the brush for increased cleaning efficiency.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Well-known to everybody, a lot of different styles of toilet brushes are employed for cleaning toilets. But all these brushes make the cleaning lengthy, tiresome, and not efficient. In addition, these brushes can only be used to clean the large areas inside the toilet. This not only affects the hygiene of public bodies such as schools, colleges, hospitals, and business buildings, it also influences people's private lives. It causes unnecessary risk to the health of people.
This electronic brush can deep clean the toilet with less effort than the manual brushes. It can reach and clean the small areas such as between the toilet lip and the bowl, which is hard for the regular brush to clean. In addition, it not only can clean the inside of the toilet, the removable brush can be changed to a different brush so that it can clean the outside of the toilet.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is based on the inventive concept of providing a new electronic device capable of doing multiple jobs effectively and efficiently.
The present invention seeks to provide a device which is easy to use and has multiple cleaning abilities. It can be used to clean both the inside and outside of the toilet. It can also clean small areas of the toilet where it's hard for the regular manual brush to reach.
The advantage of this device is that it can allow thorough clean both inside and outside of the toilet where usually requires heavy manual work. It should be further appreciated that such features are particularly important in the already mentioned public facilities where the general use of the present invention easily and effectively solves the problems of the hygiene, lower the risks of spreading germs or diseases in public.
Further advantage of the invention is that it lowers people's labor work. Instead of using strong strength to manually brush the toilet, this device can clean the toilet easily. It's especially useful to public buildings such as schools, hospitals, recreation centers, etc. It is also helpful for housewives or older people to clean their own bathrooms effectively.
It is an object of the invention to provide an electric toilet brush which is relatively economical to purchase and operate.
It is an object of the invention to be dependable and fully effective in cleaning the toilet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by the way of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the cleaning brush in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary axial cross section of the brush of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a portion of the embodiment of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of FIG. 3 which shows how stick 15 screws to shaft 12.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of different sizes' bristles.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view as taken through line VI-VI of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the bristles holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The cleaning brush shown in FIG. 1 includes a power cord 1, power unit 2, shaft 3, and brush portion 4 fitted detachably into the shaft 3. Preferably, the outside cover of power unit 2 and shaft 3 are made up of molded plastic material. However, they can be made up of other polymeric materials.
FIG. 2 shows the inside design of the whole brush. Inside power unit 2, there is a switch 5, solid metal cylinder 7, coil wire 6 are wounded around cylinder 7. At the end of the cylinder 7, rubber bumper 8 is attached to cylinder 7 by a metal bolt 9. This rubber bumper 8 also can be used to secure the power unit 2 from getting water inside. Silicone seal 10 are glued along the edges of the rubber bumper 8 to avoid water leaking into power unit 2.
A/C electric current at 120 volt and 60 HZ from the regular plugs on the wall flowing through a fused/GFI power cord 1 energizes coil 6. Coil 6 will provide a constantly reversing magnetic field at metal bolt 9. This metal bolt 9 will alternately push and pull on bolt 11, which is attached to shaft 3, causing shaft 3 to push in and out of power unit by distance D. Exact design of coil, shaft, and bolt will depend on model, with strengths varying.
It is anticipated that a battery powered version will also be offered, utilizing an oscillator to mimic the A/C power of the described unit and provide the same function otherwise. The unit will incorporate a battery which will be removable from the unit to be charged away from the unit. Mechanical function will be identical to the A/C unit described, except for the power source and the addition of an oscillator.
Also in FIG. 2, shaft 3 consists metal bolt 11 and moving stem 12. At the end of stem 12, which is outside power unit, there is a cylinder shaped hole 13 for connecting brush portion 4 to shaft 3. On the side of the hole 13, there are screws to tie with connection 14 of the brush portion 4. Preferably, the moving stem 12 is made of molded plastic or other polymeric material, which is water proof and have sufficient strength to push and pull the brush portion 4.
Still in FIG. 2, the brush portion 4 includes connection 14 which has female screws threads on it. They are used to attach or detach the brush portion 4 from shaft 3 which incorporates male threads. The brush portion 4 also includes supporting stick 15, on which bristles 16 are formed. In the preferred embodiment, bristles 16 have varying lengths, with bristles 16 closer to shaft 3 having a longer length than the bristles 16 along the end. This can make the brush to scrub different areas flexibly. Preferably, the bristles 16 are made up of a polymeric material which is hydrolysis resistant and have a sufficient stiffness for scrubbing the bowl surface.
In FIG. 3, bristle 16 is attached to the screw portion 14. Screw portion 14 can inserted into or taken out of hole 13. Screw portion 14 can firmly attach shaft 3 to brush portion 4. Therefore, when shaft 3 is pushed or pulled by power unit 2, the brush portion 4 can be pushed or pulled along with shaft 3.
FIG. 4 is an isometric view of FIG. 3 which shows how stick 15 screws to shaft 12.
In order to clean different areas in or around toilet, brush portion 4 can be replaced by other brush sizes. FIG. 5 shows 3 different sizes of brushes (small, medium, and large). These brushes have the same material on the stick 15 and bristles 16. The diameters of the stick 15 in 3 different size brushes are the same. It clearly shows in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 6. The length of the stick 15 and bristles 16 are different.
FIG. 7 is the bristles' holder. The holder has 3 different sizes' spaces for different sizes' bristles.

Claims

1. An electronic device for cleaning toilets more efficiently and effectively; wherein it uses A/C current at 60 HZ; it contains power cord, a power unit which includes solid stationary metal shaft with wires wound around it, a rubber bumper and seal at the end of the cylinder which is used to drive a metal bolt, a shaft with a bigger metal bolt attached, and a removable brush; A/C current flowing through coil will produce a constant reversing magnetic field at the end of the shaft which will alternately push and pull the bigger bolt on the shaft causing it to push in and out of the brush.

2. Removable brushes with different size bristles to clean different parts (such as the toilet cover, sitting lid, inside and outside) of the toilet.

3. Holder to hold 3 different sizes' bristles.