Flat Mop Wing Plate Locking Mechanism to Prevent Pivoting and Swaying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional foldable flat mops lack a mechanism to lock wing plates in a horizontal plane during expansion, leading to unnecessary pivoting and poor cleaning performance, and fail to securely lock the plates when folded, causing them to sway or shake.
Innovation Solution
A synchronously foldable and expandable flat mop design featuring a mop-holding rod, wing plates with press-against bodies, a synchronous-folding-expanding connecting body, and a rotating sleeve connector that locks the wing plates in a horizontal plane using upper and lower locking recesses, preventing pivoting and swaying.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixing spring is mounted between the wing plate and the connector, then the wing plates can be locked in expanded position, but unnecessary pivoting still occurs at the joint points between wing plate and connector
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is segmented into multiple independent locking points: upper locking recesses and lower locking recesses on the connector, with corresponding upper protruding portions and lower protruding portions on the wing plates. This multi-point segmentation prevents pivoting by distributing locking forces across multiple locations, eliminating the rotational instability that occurs with single-point spring locking.
Solution Approach 2:
The upper protruding portions and lower protruding portions are pre-configured on the wing plates at specific positions and orientations. When the wing plates are expanded, these protruding portions automatically engage with the corresponding locking recesses before any pivoting can occur, preventing instability in advance rather than correcting it after occurrence.
2Volume of moving object
If the wing plates are made foldable for compact storage, then space for mop head cleaning and storing is reduced, but the wing plates easily sway or shake when folded
Solution Approach 1:
The locking recesses and protruding portions are pre-positioned to engage automatically when the wing plates are folded to their compact position. This preliminary configuration ensures that as soon as the folded position is reached, the locking mechanism engages to prevent any swaying or shaking, maintaining stability in the compact storage state.
Solution Approach 2:
The folding and locking actions are integrated into a single self-service mechanism. When the user folds the wing plates, the geometric arrangement of the locking recesses and protruding portions causes automatic engagement without requiring separate locking operations. The structure locks itself in the folded position, providing stability while maintaining compactness.
3Area of stationary object
If the wing plates are expanded outward for cleaning operation, then cleaning coverage is increased, but the bottom surfaces of the two wing plates are not horizontal to each other
Solution Approach 1:
The upper protruding portions and lower protruding portions are pre-configured with specific orientations and positions that guide the wing plates into a precisely horizontal alignment when expanded. The locking recesses are positioned to engage these protruding portions only when the wing plates achieve the correct horizontal orientation, ensuring manufacturing precision is maintained during cleaning operations.
4Manufacturing precision
If a synchronous-folding-expanding mechanism is implemented, then the two wing plates are locked in horizontal plane when expanded, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The synchronous mechanism is segmented into symmetric upper and lower locking components distributed on both wing plates and the connector. This segmentation creates a decentralized synchronous system where each wing plate independently engages its corresponding locking recesses, achieving synchronized horizontal alignment without requiring complex centralized control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The folding and expanding functions are merged into a single integrated mechanism through the locking recesses and protruding portions. The same geometric features that enable folding also provide synchronous expansion locking and horizontal alignment, combining multiple functions into unified structural elements rather than separate mechanisms.
Data Source
Figure 1(a)
Figure 1(b)
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AI summary
The invention discloses a folding flat mop having a mop-holding rod, two wing plates, a synchronous-folding-expanding connecting body, a synchronous-folding-expanding element, and a rotating sleeve connector. Each wing plate has a press-against body having an upper protrusion and a side protrusion, and a cleaning member is mounted on a bottom surface of each wing plate. The synchronous-folding-expanding connecting body has a shaft portion and two wing-plate-connecting portions respectively pivotally connected to the two wing plates. The synchronous-folding-expanding element is installed in a hole of the shaft portion, and each end of the synchronous-folding-expanding element is pivotally connected to or is gear engaged with each wing plate. The rotating sleeve connector has a sleeve portion covering an outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion and an attaching portion protruding upward from the sleeve portion to connect to the mop-holding rod.