Cleaning Pad Textured Wrap Layer to Prevent Wet Floor Sticking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional floor cleaning methods, such as using wet mops, can be cumbersome and inefficient, especially when cleaning large areas, as they require manual scrubbing and bending, which can lead to fatigue and potential injuries. Additionally, existing cleaning pads may stick to wet floors due to surface tension, causing drag and ineffective cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A mobile floor cleaning robot equipped with a cleaning pad featuring an absorbent core and a liner layer with hydrophilic fibers and meltblown abrasive fibers. The pad's design includes a spunbond or spunlace wrap layer with texture to prevent sticking and drag, and a three-layer airlaid core for superior fluid retention and absorption, allowing the robot to efficiently clean surfaces without manual effort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a cleaning pad uses a smooth wrap layer to minimize friction, then ease of operation is improved, but the pad may stick to wet floors due to surface tension causing drag
Solution Approach 1:
The wrap layer incorporates textured regions with specific surface patterns (ridges, grooves, or embossed designs) in areas where sticking is most likely to occur, while other regions maintain a smoother surface. This localized texturing breaks surface tension at critical contact points without compromising overall pad smoothness, preventing sticking while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The wrap layer features curved or rounded surface elements rather than flat surfaces. The textured pattern includes arched ridges and rounded grooves that reduce the contact area between the pad and floor, minimizing surface tension effects. The curved geometry allows the pad to glide more easily while preventing adhesion through reduced line contact.
2Productivity
If a cleaning pad uses highly absorbent material to retain cleaning fluids, then cleaning efficacy is improved, but the pad may become too wet and increase friction with the floor surface
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning pad is divided into distinct functional layers: a highly absorbent inner core layer that retains cleaning fluids, and an outer wrap layer with controlled absorbency that prevents excessive moisture. This segmentation allows the core to provide cleaning efficacy while the wrap layer regulates fluid release to maintain optimal friction levels for ease of movement.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the pad have different absorbency characteristics. The central area uses highly absorbent material for effective cleaning, while the peripheral edges use less absorbent material to control overall fluid retention and prevent the pad from becoming overly saturated, which would increase friction and reduce ease of operation.
3Area of stationary object
If a cleaning pad uses a thick design to provide sufficient cleaning coverage, then cleaning area is improved, but the pad increases drag and reduces maneuverability
Solution Approach 1:
The pad design extracts the essential cleaning function from a uniformly thick structure by concentrating absorbent material in specific zones and using thinner wrap layers in others. The textured wrap layer provides sufficient cleaning coverage through its surface area and cleaning agents, while removing excess material that would increase drag and reduce maneuverability.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of increasing pad thickness to expand cleaning coverage, the invention utilizes surface texturing in the wrap layer that extends the effective cleaning area through three-dimensional surface features. The ridges and grooves increase surface area for cleaning contact without proportionally increasing pad volume, maintaining maneuverability while expanding cleaning coverage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The mobile floor cleaning robot effectively absorbs and retains cleaning fluids, preventing sticking and drag, and maintains efficient cleaning performance across large areas without manual scrubbing, reducing user fatigue and improving cleaning efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
an absorbent core containing fiber material which absorbs and retains liquid material
Implementation Method 2
a liner layer (also herein throughout called a 'wrap layer') in contact with and covering at least one side of the absorbent core, containing fiber material which retains and wicks liquid material through the liner layer
Implementation Method 3
containing fiber material which retains and wicks liquid material through the liner layer
Implementation Method 4
Applying a surface texture to the spunbond or spunlace of the wrap layer, such as a herringbone indentation patter or a square grid indentation pattern, breaks the surface tension that would otherwise case a wet pad to stick to a wet floor surface
Implementation Method 5
the meltblown layer also provides the pad with surface texture for roughing up dirt and debris stuck or dried to a floor surface and loosening dirt and debris for absorption by the airlaid inner core of the pad
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C~1D
AI summary
In one example, the present disclosure relates to a mobile floor cleaning robot 100 comprising a robot body 110, a drive 120 supporting the robot body 110 to maneuver the robot 100 across a surface. The drive 120 comprises drive wheels 124a,124b. A cleaning assembly 160 is disposed on the robot body 110. The cleaning assembly 160 comprises a pad holder 190 disposed forward of the drive wheels and configured to receive a cleaning pad 400 and a fluid applicator 162. The fluid applicator 162 is configured to apply the fluid along a forward drive direction F forward of the pad holder 190. The robot 100 is configured to apply fluid to a floor surface at an initial volumetric flow rate. The initial volumetric flow rate is relatively higher than a subsequent second volumetric flow rate.