The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 16, 2017
Filed:
May. 06, 2014
Black & Decker Inc., Newark, DE (US);
Stephen Houghton, Newcastle upon Tyne, GB;
Kevin Appleby, Durham, GB;
Christopher Hussey, Blaydon on Tyne, GB;
BLACK & DECKER INC., New Britain, CT (US);
Abstract
In a first aspect, the present invention provides a steam cleaning device, the device comprising a supply of water for generating steam, and a steam cleaning head for ejecting steam generated from said supply of water in proximity to a surface to be cleaned, wherein the steam cleaning head comprises a portion for receiving a composition adapted to be used in conjunction with such a steam cleaning device, the portion being perfused by steam during ejection by said steam cleaning head of steam generated from said supply of water. This has the advantage that the composition may be changed by a user dependent only on the user's requirements and the rate of consumption of the composition, and independently of both the rate of consumption of water by the steam cleaning device and any need to remove, clean or replace a cleaning cloth mounted on the steam cleaning head. In a second aspect, the present invention also provides an encapsulated composition adapted to be used in conjunction with a steam cleaning device comprising a supply of water for generating steam, wherein the encapsulated composition has a shape adapted to fit a portion of a steam cleaning head of the steam cleaning device, which portion is perfused by steam during ejection by said steam cleaning head of steam generated from said supply of water. Such a 'must-fit' adaptation of the encapsulated composition provides the possibility that only encapsulated compositions suitable for use in a particular steam cleaning device can be charged into that device, in order to ensure correct dosage by the composition of the steam generated by the device.