Pet Hair Cleaner

After wrapping tape around my hand, plastic bottles, etc in order to get pet hair out of our carpet, about 5 years ago I came up with this idea. I provisionally patented it, but had no luck getting any further, so here it is for everyone who cares to make it.


A roll of buff tape in South Africa ( or whatever you call it in your own country ) is rolled between 2 rollers, with the sticky side on the outside.

When the tape gets to its end, you simple turn the thing over and roll it back again until the stickiness runs out.
You simply pull the full roll off and throw it in the bin, and put a fresh one on -  you dont even get your hands dirty ........

Step 1:

It is simply made from a metal plate, with a paint roller handle attached, and 2 rollers made from wood and some plastic caps, mounted with nuts and bolts .

An important part on each roller is a simple ratchet as shown in the pdf drawing, that turns freely on its mounting bolt.
This is to stop anyone pulling the device towards them - which ends up in a sticky mess !
I can't photograph the ratchets as this proto is now in England with my daughter !

The paint roller handle allows a broom handle to be used so you can use it standing up

Step 2:

Once you have figured out how to load it the right way round, its just a case of pushing it until the supply roller is nearly empty, and then turning it over and push it so that the tape goes back onto the empty roller again.
You can run it back several times until the stickiness runs out, or the roller is so big with fur that it starts jamming

Step 3:

Here's a pic of before and after one sweep of the carpet ( please note we purposely didn't clean the carpet for a week before this test - it wouldn't normally be that bad :-)

Step 4:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnandlyn/5251064724/
Here's a clip of it in use

My intention for production would be to have the head with one roller above the other, in a nice casing, and rotate at each reversal ..

It wasn't to be

John Smith   Cape Town  overburg AT yahoo.com

Comments

[rimar2000]

Interesting design. I do a loop over my hand, with the sticky side toward out. But your solution is very better.

[notingkool]

Yo descubri el mismo truco hace unos años. Este diseño gasta mucha cinta me parece.

[rimar2000]

notingkool, ELLOS no se fijan en costos...

[Garet]

Very natty. watched your video. I will experiment.

[PeckLauros]

Cool. Nice job!

[oldboffin]

thanks Rimar, a roll of tape lasts about a month cleaning regularly

[Dr. Pepper]

cool, good job!