US20050177965A1 - Waterproof scrubbing glove - Google Patents

Abstract

A flexible waterproof scrubbing glove having a plurality of cavities for the thumb and fingers joined together to fit a person's hand. A layer of scrubbing bristles built into the entire palm surface and finger surface of the glove including the tips of the finger and thumb stalls, along the sides of the finger and thumb stalls, as well as along the side of the palm portion of the glove. The invention facilitating the cleaning of bath tubs and sinks with their awkward and hard to reach places as well as other surfaces and other cleaning actions.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
• Many of today's devices that are used to clean and scrub surfaces are not attached to gloves; but are rather stand alone products, which require the user to grip them independently with their hands. A shortcoming associated with this is that the device has a tendency of slipping or falling out of the user's hand when cleaning. Another shortcoming with this is that when a user grips on to this device to clean a surface, extra pressure is required on the part of the user to scrub and clean the surface because of the added force needed to hold on to this device while at the same time applying sufficient pressure to clean a surface. This would be particularly difficult for someone who is suffering from joint problems, arthritis for example.
• Many of today's existing technologies of scrubbing brushes and similar cleaning devices have awkward shapes and limited flexibility. Bathtubs, tiles in bathrooms, and sinks for example, have hard to reach spaces and often awkward shapes. Existing scrub brushes tend to have their bristles set on a hard surface which makes the overall brush inflexible, therefore very hard if not impossible to bend and flex to reach the awkward shapes and clean hard to reach spaces.
• In addition to these standalone scrubbing devices, there are other cleaning devices that have attachments to mitts or gloves which fulfill their intended purpose, but which still expose shortcomings such as partial coverage on the glove limiting the effectiveness of the cleaning and the cleaning of hard to reach spaces; the materials used as attachments and the way in which the scouring device is attached.
• Examples of existing cleaning gloves include U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,770, U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,060, U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,837, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,998.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
• The present invention is a waterproof scrubbing glove which has scrubbing bristles built into the structure of the glove, as to allow the user to perform a variety of cleaning actions without the need to grip onto an external cleaning device, such as a brush, thus preventing the items from falling out of the user's hand, preventing additional strain to the joints and necessitating less force on the part of the user to perform scrubbing actions. The glove is flexible and the scrubbing bristles cover the entire palm and finger portions of the glove, the sides of the palm and finger stalls, as well as the tips of the finger stalls thus facilitating the cleaning of hard to reach places and awkward spaces.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
• 1—FIG. 1 shows a front view of the waterproof scrubbing glove for this invention. The glove has 1 thumb stall and 4 finger stalls with bristles covering the entire front surface of the glove and bristles at the tips of the finger stalls and along the sides of the palm.
• 2—FIG. 2 shows a side view of the waterproof scrubbing glove for this invention. The glove has 1 thumb stall and 4 finger stalls. This figure displays a side view of the finger stalls which have bristles covering the surface of the stalls, bristles covering the front surface of the palm area as well as bristles at the tips of the stalls and along the sides of palm.
• 3—FIG. 3 shows another front view of a different type of glove for this invention. The glove has 1 thumb stall, 1 stall which holds all 4 fingers, and bristles covering the entire front surface of the glove. There are bristles at the tips of both stalls, along their sides, and along the sides of the palm portion of the glove.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• Taking into consideration the foregone shortcomings with the existing technology, the present invention is a stain and dirt removal waterproof scrub glove. The glove has 0.1 to 20 mm, preferably 1 to 10 mm, of brush made up of bristles, which can be made of at least one of either synthetic fiber, metal fiber and other material and which covers the surface of the glove. Examples of other synthetic fibers that can be used for the bristle on the surface of the glove include polyamide fiber, polyolefin fiber, polyester fiber and others. These materials are built into the glove structure. The glove is waterproof and covers the entire surface of a person's hand including the thumb and finger stalls. The scrubbing material can cover the entire hand portion of the glove, which includes the palm surface of the glove, as well as the side of the palm as well as the sides and tips of the finger stalls including the thumb stall. An example of uses for the side palm bristles is that it can be used to apply direct pressure to clean the lines between tiles, and the bristles located at the tips of finger stalls can be used to clean tight corners and spaces between tiles and the tight spots around a sink faucet, etc.
• Because the bristles are built into the structure of the glove, which covers the user's hand, the shortcomings associated with the cleaning actions which are normally performed with a stand alone brush and which include having the brush slipping or falling out of the user's hand when cleaning, will be eliminated as the bristles and glove are now one unit.
• As the bristles cover the surface of the glove which contours the user's hand, the cleaning action performed by the described invention will be more natural, versatile, and efficient as the hand is flexible and the natural movements of the hand will allow the user to clean various shaped objects and surfaces, as well as hard to reach places that a regular brush cannot reach but that the hand can. The bristles at the tips of the finger stalls will allow the user to clean tight spaces that only a finger can reach and apply pressure to, such as the corner between a tub and the tile wall or the lines between tiles. The described invention will also make it easier for people that suffer with joint problems to use by as they can avoid using extra pressure which is usually needed when gripping onto an external brush device.
• Though, the described invention has an optimal use for bathrooms to clean showers, tubs and sinks, and for the kitchen, its use is not limited to the like and includes many other uses.

Claims (4)

1. A waterproof scrubbing glove comprising:

A flexible waterproof glove for encapsulating a human hand, having a front surface which includes a palm surface, a plurality of stalls for the thumb and fingers which include tip surfaces for the stalls, side surfaces of the palm, side surfaces of the thumb and finger stalls, and a back surface

Scrubbing bristles covering the entire front surface of the glove, which includes the palm surface and the thumb and finger stalls of the glove, all in a continuous coverage and built into the glove structure

Scrubbing bristles that cover the sides of the palm and built into the glove structure

Scrubbing bristles that cover the tips of all of the said stalls and built into the glove structure Scrubbing bristles that cover the sides of all of the said stalls and built into the glove structure

2. The waterproof scrubbing glove ofclaim 1, wherein said waterproof glove is composed of at least one of either rubber, leather, plastics, nylon, and other materials.

3. The waterproof scrubbing glove ofclaim 1, wherein said bristles is composed of at least one of either nylon, synthetic fiber, steel, plastics and other materials.

4. The waterproof scrubbing glove ofclaim 1, wherein said bristles are between the lengths of 0.1 to 20 mm, preferably 1 to 10 mm.

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