US1349261A - Cleaning-brush - Google Patents

Description

c. M. BRO WN.' CLEANING BRUSH. APPLICATION FILED JAN. H. 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WI TN 255:

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ATTO R N E VS.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

0.. M. BROWN. CLEANING BRUSH.

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE 1V1. BROWN, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS' COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

CLEANING-BRUSH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application filed January 11, 1917. Serial No. 141,743.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE M. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oleanmg-Brushes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cleaning brushes and particularly to that class of brushes used in cleaning the exterior of clay pots used in the manufacture of plate glass.

In the manufacture of plate glass, pots are placed in a furnace and filled with glass batch, and when the glass has been melted the pot is removed from the furnace by a suitable crane and carried to the casting table thereby. Certain foreign particles, such as cinders, particles of clay, etc., adhere to the bottom of the pot and these are removed by hand with suitable brushes, before the casting operation so that no foreign particles will drop upon the casting table. This invention has for its principal objects, the provision of a machine for quickly and eiiiciently removing foreign particles from the exterior of glass making pots; the provision of a machine that may be moved into engagement with the pot as it is suspended from the crane; the provision of a rotary brush that is effective for thoroughly cleaning the entire bottom of a pot; the provision of a cleaning machine that is simple, inex pensive and effective; and such other objects as may hereinafter appear. One embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan view of the device, and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line IIII of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, the device consists of a vertical shaft 1 supported at its lower end in a socket 2 pivoted to one end of a counterbalance lever 3. The counterbalance lever 3. is keyed to a horizontal shaft 4: supported in a bearing 5. Keyed to the shaft 1 is a lever 6 which is adapted to rock the shaft 4: to cause oscillation of the counterbalance lever 3. The lever 6 is connected with an operating handle 7 by means of a connecting rod 8 which is pivoted to the free end of the lever 6 and to the operating lever 7 at a point above the lower end of the operating lever. The lower end of the operating lever 7 is pivoted to a bearing block 9 and movement of the operating lever to the left will cause the left end of the counterbalance lever to move downward thereby causing the vertical shaft 1 to be lowered.

The counterbalance lever and the lower portion of the operating lever 7 are arranged in a pit 10 beneath'the floor level, indicated by A, and the free end of the counterbalance lever is provided with a plurality of counterbalance weights 11 adjustably secured thereon. It is the purpose to adjust the weights on the counterweight lever 3 so that they just balance the weight of the vertical shaft and the mechanism can ried thereby.

The vertical shaft 1 is supported against lateral displacement by a top bearing 12 which is supported between a pair of channels 13 extending across the pit. The lower portion of the shaft is supported in a bear-' ing 14: carried between a pair of channels 15 extending across the pit beneath the floor level.

A bevel gear 16 is keyed upon the vertical shaft 1 adjacent its lower end and held against relative rotation thereabout by the key 16, but the hub 17 of the bevel gear is slotted throughout its whole length so that the shaft 1 may move longitudinally through the bore of the hub. Therefore, the shaft 1 may be reciprocated vertically without causing any vertical movement of the bevel gear 16.

The bevel gear 16 is rotated by means of a bevel pinion 18 keyed to a horizontal shaft 19. This shaft is supported in bearings 20 and 21 and carries at the other end a spur gear 22 keyed to the shaft against rotation, which gear meshes with a pinion 23 carried by an electric'motor 24L. Rotation of the motor 241 will, therefore, cause rotation of the shaft 1 at a less velocity than the motor, owing to the reduction in gear between the motor and the vertical shaft.

The upper end of the shaft 1 carries the cleaning brush mechanism which consists of a bearing block 25 provided at its upper end with a spherical surface 26 upon which is mounted for universal movement a brush support 27 The brush support 27 is secured to the bearing block25 by means of a bolt 28 which extends through an enlarged slot 29 in the bearing block and the shaft 1. It will be seen that the bearing block and brush support cannot rotate with respect to the shaft, but that the brush support may oscillate universally within certain limits.

The brushes comprise a pair of circular brushes 30 and 31. Each brush consists of a plurality of wires 32 inserted in an annular wooden base 33. The bases 38 are mounted upon metal disks 34. The disks 3% are provided at their center with acupped bearing 35 upon which is mounted crown bearings 36. The crown bearings are secured to the cupped bearings by means of bolts 37 and when assembled form a ball socket. The brushes are pivotally supported upon the brush support by means of ball pins 38 having a ball on one end and threaded on the other. The threaded pore tion is screwed into the ends of the brush support 27 and locked in place by means of jam nuts 39. The ball ends of the pins 88 are clampedin the sockets formed by the crown bearings 36. The disks 3d are free to oscillate universally within certain limits upon the pins 38 and may also rotate thereabout.

The brushes 80 and 31 are alike in every particular except size, the brush 31 being of greater diameter than the brush 30. As shown in Fig. 2 the smallerbrush 30 is pivoted at a greater distance from the center of the shaft 1 than the brush 31. Thererubbed and cleaned by the brushes when the shaft 1 is rotated. Rotation of the shaft 1 causes rotation of the brushes about the shaft and their contact with the bottom of the pot causes the brushes to rotate about their pivot pins 38. It will be seen that the bottom of the pet can be cleaned free of all foreign particles in a very short interval of time when the brushes are rotated. The operation of the devices is as follows.

Assuming that pot'has been removed from the furnace by the crane, it is then brought into position directly over the brushes so that the center of the pot alines with the axis of the shaft 1. At this time the brushes are in theirlowermost position. When the pot has been lowered until it nearly touches the brushes, the motor is started to cause rotation thereof and the op erating lever 7 is pulled toward the right, thus raising the brushes into contact with the bottom of the pot. A pot is indicated in operative position by the dotted lines B. The disks 34: are provided with openings 40 which permit the dirt to fall through "so that it cannot accumulate in the center of the brush. The portion of the pit beneath the brushes is provided with a cover 11 adapted to prevent foreign particles from falling upon the gear mechanism beneath. W hen thepot has been thoroughly cleaned by the action of the brushes the operating lowered away from the pot. then stopped until it is desired to clean an other pot.

The brushes and brush support are mounted for universal movement so that should the bottom of the pot be warped or uneven, the brushes can adapt themselves to any such irregularities of the pot and thoroughly clean the entire bottom surface.

It is obvious that vertical movement of the shaft would not be necessaryas the pot may be lowered into contact with the brushes by the crane mechanism which supports the pot, although it has'been found more desirable to elevate the brushes while the pot is being held stationary; "It is also-obvious that many changes may be made in the details without departing from the'spirit-of the invention and the invention is therefore not limited to the specific means herein illustrated and described.

What I claim is: I

A cleaning brush for comprising in combination, a vertical rotary shaft, an upwardly directed brush carried at the upper end of the shaft, adapted to engage the bottom of a pot, a counterbalance for the shaft its uppermost position, and means for moving the shaft vertically.

CLARENCE M. BROWN.

glass melting pots,

tending to hold the shaft in

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