Cleaning tool and method of manufacturing cleaning part thereof

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning tool that exhibits adequate cleaning performance even in the cleaning of narrow crevices. The cleaning tool of the present invention comprises a cleaning component and a handle component, wherein the cleaning component is designed such that a sheet-like fiber bundle and a sheet are joined to produce a sheet laminate having a joining portion, this sheet laminate is bent along the joining portion to form a bulky component formation portion, the sheet laminate in which said bulky component formation portion has been formed is bent so that bulky component formation portions are across from each other, and integrated such that the contact surfaces of the opposing sheet-like fiber bundles are joined together, and support rods of the handle component are inserted into a handle insertion component having handle insertion openings made at one end of the bulky component formation portions and formed inside the bulky component formation portion.

1 . A cleaning tool comprising a handle with at least one supporting rod; and, 
 a cleaning component including a sheet-like fiber bundle and a sheet that are joined to produce a layered sheet having a joining portion, wherein the layered sheet is folded along the joining portion to form a bulky component, the layered sheet with said bulky component is folded so that surfaces of said bulky component face each other, wherein the facing surfaces are joined, and handle insertion openings are made at the ends of the bulky component for insertion of the supporting rod.    
   
   
       2 . A cleaning tool comprising a cleaning component and a handle component, 
 wherein the cleaning component is designed such that a sheet-like fiber bundle and a sheet having a strip component are partially joined to produce a layered sheet having a joining portion, this layered sheet is bent along the joining portion to form a bulky component, the layered sheet in which said bulky component has been formed is bent at a midpoint so that bulky component is folded against itself, with the sheet-like fiber bundle side on the inside, and integrated such that the contact surfaces of the sheet-like fiber bundles are joined together, and support rods of the handle component are inserted into a handle insertion component having handle insertion openings made at one end of the bulky component and formed inside the bulky component.    
   
   
       3 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle is formed by layering a plurality of sheet-like fiber bundles.  
   
   
       4 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 3 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle comprises a first sheet-like fiber bundle composed of numerous fibers and a second sheet-like fiber bundle composed of fibers thicker than the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundle.  
   
   
       5 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle comprises a first sheet-like fiber bundle composed of numerous fibers and a second sheet-like fiber bundle composed of fibers that are thicker and shorter than the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundle and said first and second sheet-like fiber bundles are partially joined.  
   
   
       6 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the cleaning component is produced by interposing a fiber bundle body composed of a first sheet-like fiber bundle and a second sheet-like fiber bundle between sheet-like fiber bodies that face each other when a sheet laminate is bent, and joining the fiber bundle body and the sheet-like fiber bundle where they are in contact with each other.  
   
   
       7 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the layered sheet is produced by sandwiching the sheet-like fiber bundle with the sheet, and joining the sheet to the sheet-like fiber bundle so as to cover the surface on the opposite side at the location of the joining portion.  
   
   
       8 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 4 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle comprises a plurality of first sheet-like fiber bundles and a plurality of second sheet-like fiber bundles.  
   
   
       9 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 8 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle is produced by alternately layering first sheet-like fiber bundles and second sheet-like fiber bundles.  
   
   
       10 . The cleaning tool according to  claim 1 , wherein the sheet is made of a nonwoven cloth fabric.  
   
   
       11 . A method for manufacturing a cleaning component for a cleaning tool, comprising producing a sheet-like fiber bundle by layering bundled fibers in the form of a sheet with a sheet having a strip component, and partially joining the bundled fibers and the sheet to form a sheet laminate, bending the sheet laminate along its joining portion so that the sheet-like fiber bundle is bent double at the joining portion, thereby producing a bulky component; folding the strip component back toward the sheet-like fiber bundle on the opposite side so as to surround the bulky component, and bending the bulky component so that the sheet-like fiber bundle is on the inside; the sheet-like fiber bundle and the sheet having the strip component being joined and integrated so that the contact surfaces of the sheet-like fiber bundles are joined to each other.  
   
   
       12 . (canceled)  
   
   
       13 . The method for manufacturing a cleaning component for a cleaning tool according to  claim 11 , wherein the joining is performed by thermal fusion.  
   
   
       14 . A cleaning tool comprising: 
 a handle component having a grip component and support rods extending therefrom;    a cleaning component having a bulky component and a tubular handle insertion component including handle insertion openings at one end;    wherein the support rods have at least one anti-slip protrusion to prevent the cleaning component from being removed from the support rods when the rods are inserted into the handle insertion openings.    
   
   
       15 . The cleaning tool of  claim 14 , wherein the bulky component and the handle insertion component are formed from a sheet laminate having at least one sheet-like fiber bundle and a sheet joined at a joining portion.  
   
   
       16 . The cleaning tool of  claim 15 , wherein the sheet-like fiber bundle comprises a first sheet-like fiber bundle produced by collecting fibers in the form of a sheet; and a second sheet-like fiber bundle produced by collecting sheet fibers thicker than the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundle.  
   
   
       17 . The cleaning tool of  claim 15 , wherein the bulky component is formed by bending the sheet laminate in half.  
   
   
       18 . The cleaning tool of  claim 16 , wherein the fibers that make up the second sheet-like fiber have a length that is less than a length of the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundles.  
   
   
       19 . The cleaning tool of  claim 16 , wherein the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundle are preferably 10 to 50 microns in diameter and wherein the fibers that make up the second sheet-like fiber bundle are preferably 60 to 300 microns in diameter.  
   
   
       20 . The cleaning tool of  claim 16 , wherein the fibers that make up the second sheet-like fiber bundle have a length about 1 to 10 mm shorter than the length of the fibers that make up the first sheet-like fiber bundle.  
   
   
       21 . The cleaning tool of  claim 14 , wherein at least two sheets are used to form the bulky component and the sheets are of different colors.  
   
   
       22 . A cleaning tool comprising: 
 a cleaning component including a sheet laminate formed of at least one sheet and at least one sheet-like fiber bundle;    wherein the sheet laminate is bent to form a bulky component; and    wherein the sheet laminate is then bent in the lengthwise direction and joined at a joining portion by thermal fusion.    
   
   
       23 . The cleaning tool of  claim 22 , wherein the sheet laminate has perforation and the bulky component forms a handle insertion component for receiving a handle.  
   
   
       24 . A cleaning tool comprising: 
 a cleaning component including    a first sheet-like fiber bundle;    a second sheet-like fiber bundle parallel to the first sheet-like fiber bundle;    a first non-woven sheet parallel to the first sheet-like fiber bundle;    a second non-woven sheet parallel to the second sheet-like fiber bundle;    a fiber bundle body produced by bending the first and second sheets and first and second sheet-like fiber bundles in half and then bending in the lengthwise direction;    a joining portion for connecting the sheets and sheet-like fiber bundles in the fiber bundle body;    a plurality of cuts along one edge of the fiber bundle body; and    a handle insertion component formed along another edge of the fiber bundle body.    
   
   
       25 . The cleaning tool of  claim 24 , further comprising a handle for retaining the cleaning component and wherein the cleaning component has continuous cuts formed in the nonwoven cloths at a bottom end and a tubular handle insertion component formed at a top end by heat sealing.