Angled-Blade Toilet Cleaning Head with Flexing Flange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toilet cleaning devices, such as toilet brushes and helical blade devices, are inefficient in scrubbing the toilet bowl surfaces due to poor alignment, difficulty in maintaining pressure, and the buildup of dirt and bacteria on the bristles, leading to unhygienic conditions and ineffective cleaning, especially under the rim of the bowl.
Innovation Solution
A toilet cleaning device with a handle and a cleaning head featuring a flange that can flex to improve adherence to the surface, allowing better access to crevices and scrubbing efficiency, and a design that includes ribs and a scrubbing knob for enhanced cleaning capabilities, along with a method of using the device to clean all surfaces of the toilet bowl effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a toilet brush with flexible bristles is used to clean the toilet bowl, then the brush can reach and scrub the surface, but the bristles become matted or intertwined and build up dirt and bacteria, resulting in unhygienic conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cleaning function from traditional flexible bristles and transfers it to a rigid flat blade. The blade is positioned at an angle to the handle axis, allowing it to scrape and scrub the toilet bowl surface without the hygiene problems of bristle accumulation. The blade can be easily rinsed and maintained, eliminating the matting and bacterial buildup issues inherent in brush designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the physical parameters of the cleaning element from flexible bristles to a rigid flat blade with specific angular orientation. The blade is positioned at an angle between 30-60 degrees relative to the handle axis, creating optimal scrubbing action while maintaining hygiene through easy cleaning of the smooth blade surface.
2Productivity
If helical blades are used to scrape the toilet bowl surface, then some cleaning action is achieved, but it is difficult to maintain sufficient pressure against the surface and to apply necessary force to remove dried sticky dirt
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs asymmetric positioning of the flat blade relative to the handle axis, creating an optimal angle for force application. The blade is angled between 30-60 degrees, which provides mechanical advantage for applying pressure to the toilet bowl surface while maintaining comfortable ergonomics for the user. This asymmetric configuration allows effective removal of dried sticky dirt without the pressure maintenance problems of helical blade designs.
3Device complexity
If the cleaning head is positioned perpendicular to the handle, then the structure is simple, but it is difficult to access crevices and maintain close contact with the surface to be cleaned
Solution Approach 1:
The invention positions the flat cleaning blade at an asymmetric angle between 30-60 degrees relative to the handle axis, rather than perpendicular. This angular configuration allows the blade to access crevices and maintain close contact with the toilet bowl surface, including areas under the rim, while keeping the overall structure relatively simple without requiring complex joints or mechanisms.
4Reliability
If vigorous scrubbing action is performed with radially projecting bristles to remove deposits, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but time and energy are wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the vigorous mechanical scrubbing action of radially projecting bristles with a scraping action from a flat blade positioned at an angle. The blade geometry and angular orientation create effective cleaning through scraping and lifting forces, reducing the need for vigorous back-and-forth scrubbing motions and thereby reducing the time and energy required for effective toilet bowl cleaning.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a toilet cleaning device which comprises a handle, and a cleaning head, where the handle comprises an elongate shaft with opposite first and second ends and a longitudinal axis. The cleaning head comprises an upper surface, which connects to the second end of the handle, a lower surface opposite to the handle, and a lower rim which defines a plane, where the longitudinal axis of the elongate shaft forms an acute angle with the plane of the cleaning head, and wherein the lower surface comprises a cavity surrounded by a flange, on which flange the lower rim is defined.