US2274762A - Shoe cleaning - Google Patents

Description

March 3, 1942. P. WRIGHT 2,274,762

SHOE CLEANING Filed Sept. 20, 1939 2 Sheets-She'b l March 3, 1942. p WR|GHT 2,274,762

SHOE CLEANING Filed Sept. 20, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet I?.`

j? Wyk@ -l www Patented Mar. 3, 1942 SHOE CLEANING Parvin Wright, Seattle, Wash., assignor of fiftyone per cent to Ray Wellington Bauer, Seattle,

Wash. l

Application September 20, 1939, Serial No. 295,811

3 Claims.

This invention relates to shoe cleaning and has for its object to provide an apparatus for cleaning the inside of a shoe, which apparatus is simple in construction and more ecient in operation than those heretofore proposed.

- With these and other objects in View the invention resides in the novel parts and combinations of parts constituting the apparatus as will be disclosed more fully hereinafter and particularly covered by the claims.

Referring to the drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals designate like parts in all the views- Fig, l is a vertical sectional view thorugh one form of apparatus for carrying out this invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken as on the line 2-2 of Fig. l and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View illustrating the clutch mechanism between the source of power and the shaft for operating the cleaning element; and

Fig. 4 is a plan View of the cleaning element.

Heretofore it has been proposed to clean and/or brush the exterior surface of shoes and other objects but, insofar as is known, no one has proposed cleaning the inside surfaces of a shoe of dust, dirt, perspiration etc. which are very apt to cause swollen and tired feet if not actually to cause infections of the feet, and hence this invention is directed to the elimination of such dirt, germs, odors etc. thereby making the shoe more healthy than it would be otherwise. To this end the invention is directed to an apparatus for cleansing, disinfecting and deodorizing the shoe at desired intervals to make it clean and wholesome, and comprising mechanism and operating connections therefor for scrubbing the interior sole and liningof the shoe with a disinfecting solution, after which the shoe is dried and if desired ldusted with perfumed talcum powder or other absorbent medium.

To carry out such cleansing of a shoe there is illustrated in the drawings one form of apparatus wherein there is provided a stand 2 which is attached to the central portion of a box 3 having a cover plate 4, said cover plate carrying an electric motor 5 the shaft of which is disposed vertically and extends downwardly through the cover plate and has mounted on its lower end a clutch member 6 adapted to engage a companion clutch member 'l which latter is mounted upon a stub shaft 8 the lower end of Cil which has a bearing in the bottomwall of the box 3, extending therethrough and provided with a thrust bearing disposed in a recess provided therefor in the stand 2. This stub shaft has rigidly mounted thereon pulleys 9 and I0 receiving the belts Il and I2 respectively, which belts run in horizontal planes and are for driving the pulleys I3 and I4 respectively, which latter pulleys are loosely mounted on the vertical shafts I5 and I6 respectively and are located in the extreme ends of the box 3. Obviously the motor shaft may be extended to make unnecessary said stub shaft and said clutch members, in which case the pulleys 9 and I0 may be keyed directly to the motor shaft.

The vertical shaft I5 is disposed in a tubular housing 20 secured vto and depending from the lower wall of the box 3, said wall being apertured to permit said shaft to extend therethrough, the upper e-nd 2I of said shaft being journaled in the cover plate 4, and the shaft is provided with an enlargement 22 near its lower end, which enlargement is adapted to bear against the inner surface of the lower end of the housing 20 and thereby stop downward movement of the shaft. The lowermost end portion 23 of the shaft is made circular to have a bearing in the lower wall of said housing, and is provided with an extremity 24 preferably circular in cross-section but of a lesser diameter than the diameter of the portion 23 and disposed eccentrically thereto whereby, upon rotation of the shaft I5, the eccentric 24 will move in a circular orbital path.

The pulley I3, as before stated, is loosely mounted on the shaft l5 and the lower surface of said pulley is provided with ratchet teeth 25 adapted to be engaged by a pin 26 carried by said shaft when the shaft is moved upwardly, there being provided a spacer ring 21 surrounding the ratchet teeth and filling the space .between said pulley and the inner surface of the lower wall of the box 3 (see Fig. 3). Thus it will be understood that said pulley is retained between said bottom wall and the cover plate 4 so as to have no movement in a vertical direction, but the shaft I5 is capable of vertical movement and when it is moved upwardly its pin 26 will engage the ratchet portion 25 of the pulley, said pin and said ratchet thereby serving as a clutch for transmitting rotary motion of the pulley to said shaft.

On the cover plate 4 is secured a switch housing 30 disposed over the insulated upper end 2I of the shaft I5 so that said shaft end may move upwardly into said housing. Extending across said shaft end is a spring leaf electric contact maker 3l, one endof which is rigidly secured to a binding post 32 carried by said housing, the other or free end of said contact maker 3l adapted to be moved upwardly, upon upward movement of the shaft l5, to make electric connection with a stationary electric contact maker 33 secured to another binding post 34. The binding posts 32 and 34 are connected by suitable wiring to a source of electric current (represented by cable 35) as well as to the electric motor 5 so that when the contact makers 3l and 33 are closed, electric current will ow through and operate the motor 5 thereby causing rotation of the vertical shaft I5.

There is provided a duplication at the opposite end of the box 3 of the vertical shaft l5 and switch housing 3E) with their associated parts. In other words there is provided the vertical shaft I6 having the cam 40 at its lower end, and having an insulated upper end 4l adapted, upon upward movement of the shaft, to close the contact makers 42 and i3 connected respectively to the binding posts 44 and 45 which in turn are connected by suitable wiring to the source of electric current such as 35 and to the electric motor 5 so that, when said contact makers are closed, electric current will flow through and operate the motor 5 thereby causing rotation of the vertical shaft S,.this operation being independent of the energization of the electric motor by the other vertical shaft l5 although obviously both shafts I5 and l5 could cause operation of the motor 5 at the same time. Ilihe associated parts of shaft l5 are practically duplicates of the other shaft l5 and hence a description thereof is not deemed necessary.

The cleaning element comprises a hub portion 50 provided with an opening for receiving the f cam or eccentric such as 24 of the vertical shaft I5, said hub carrying a substantially horizontal plate 5l having on opposite sides thereof pads such as 52 preferably of soft rubber or other flexible non-absorbent material and over which is positioned a covering 53 preferably of soft heavy cotton fabric, said covering being secured in any suitable manner as by the screws 54, the application of said covering to the cleaning element being such as to permit entry of the -eccen- 5 tric 213 into the opening 55 of the hub (see Figs. 1 and 4), the shoulder formed between said eccentric and the lower end portion 23 of the shaft l5 serving as an abutment for said hub.

In the operation of this apparatus, the cleaning, deodorizing, disinfecting or other desired cleaning uid is applied to the covering 53 of the cleaning element in any suitable manner and then the cleaning element is placed in the shoe to be cleaned as clearly indicated in the drawings. The operator, with his hand grasping the shoe, then brings about entry of the eccentric 24 in the opening 55 of the hub of the cleaning element, after which further upward movement of the shoe (with its contained cleaning element) will cause the shaft I5 to be moved upwardly bringing about engagement of the shaft pin 26 with the ratchet of pulley I3, and in this upward movement of the shaft the upper insulated end 2l thereof will close the contact makers such as 3| and 33 thereby completing the electric circuit through the motor 5 which thereupon rotates and, through the belt and pulleys, causes rotation of the shaft I5. The rotary motion thus imparted 'to the shaft l5 is trans` lated through the eccentric 24 into oscillatory motion of the cleaning element, and this oscillatory motion causes a scrubbing action on the inside of the shoe. Obviously the cleaning element need not have a slip connection with or be freely removable from the shaft l5, since the eccentric member may be so formed as to have free rotation within the opening of the hub 50 but conned therein at all times, such for example as by providing a cap screw the head of which abuts the lower surface of said hub, or other suitable means may be provided for accomplishing such swivel connection without separating the cleaning element from said shaft. It is to be understood that throughout the scrubbing action the shoe will be in the grasp of the operators hand so as to keep the .shaft l5 in its elevated rotating position as well as to prevent the shoe turning with the shaft.

After sufficient scrubbing, the operator moves the shoe with its contained cleaning element downwardly and this causes disengagement of the cleaning elementfrom the Shaft eccentric (unless the aforementioned swivel connection is provided) as well as downward movement of the shaft, the latter resulting in disengagement of the contact makers 3| and 33 with concurrent opening of the electric circuit through the motor 5 and stopping the rotating parts. If it so happens that two shoes arev being cleaned simultaneously then the motor 5 will continue to operate so long as either shoe is held in such elevated position as to cause the shaft operating its cleaning element to keep the Aassociated contact makers 3l-33 or 42--43 closed, but when either shoe and its contained cleaning element is downwardly moved and disengaged from its associated shaft, said lshaft by its own weight Will slide through its drive pulley and open the contact makers associated with that shaft as well as cause disengagement of its pin with the ratchet of its drive pulley, whereupon any continued operation of the electric motor 5 will merely cause such drive `pulley to rotate idly on such shaft.

After the shoe has been scrubbed it is dried in any suitable manner. In Fig. 1 there has been illustrated one manner of drying the shoe. In this case a standard' electric motor has been shown provided with a'cooling fan B0 located within the motor casing, and a ,pipe 6| isshown communicating with a `port in the motor casing and through which the warm air in such casing may be forced by said fan.' This warm ai'r possibly may not be of high enough temperature to quickly dry the scrubbed Ashoe and therefore the pipe 6I is shown leading to Aand intoy a chamber B2 having therein a heating 'coil 63 which may be of electrical t'ype and connected in the circuit with the wires associated with one `or both of the pairs of contact makers (as indicated by the wires 64 and 65) there being an outlet from said chamber comprising a flexible hose '56 for conducting the superheated air from such vchamb'er to and into the shoe to be dried. After Adrying the shoe, if desired, a perfumed talcum powder or other absorbent medium may be blown or dusted into the shoe.

From they foregoing Adisclosure it will thus be seen that by this invention there is .provided an apparatus for cleaning the 'inside of ashoe which comprises broadly the stub power shaft 8 which normally is idle, acleaning element, driving connections between said rshaft and said element, 'and means for imparting rotation to said shaft,

said means controlled by the bodily movement of said element. More specifically the driving connections include the reciprocable shaft I having loosely mounted thereon the pulley I3 provided with ratchet teeth, the reciprocable shaft provided with the pin member 26 adapted to engage said teeth upon reciprocation of said shaft; and the means for imparting rotation to the power shaft includes an electric motor controlled by a switch (Contact makers 3| and 33) actuated by axial movement or reciprocation of the reciprocable shaft I5.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction and arrangements of parts constituting this apparatus without departing from the spirit of this invention and therefore it is desired not to be limited to the exact foregoing disclosure except as may be demanded by the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for cleansing the inside of a shoe comprising a cleaning element, a shaft for actuating said element, and means for rotating said shaft; said element being movable into and out of engagement with said shaft, said element having a relatively flat bottom cleaning surface and being of a shape generally fitting the shoe whereby to prevent complete rotation of the element in the shoe, said element being provided with a recess in the upper portion thereof; said shaft being substantially vertically disposed and slidable in the direction of its axis, the lowermost end of said shaft having an eccentric engageable with the recess of said element for imparting oscillatory motion to said element wihen engaged with and upon rotation of said shaft, the engagement between said eccentric and said recess comprising a loose fit necessitating an upward pressure to be exerted upon said element to maintain such engagement; said means for rotating said shaft comprising an energizable clutch and an interrupter for controlling the energization of said clutch, said clutch and said interrupter each mounted coaxially of said shaft, said clutch having two members, one clutch member carried by said shaft and operatively movable into and out of engagement with the other clutch member upon sliding movement of said shaft, said interrupter actuated by the uppermost end of said shaft upon sliding movement of the latter to energize and de-energize the said other clutch member.

2. An apparatus for cleaning the inside of a shoe comprising a cleaning element, a shaft for actuating said element, and means for rotating said shaft; said element being movable into and out of engagement with said shaft, said element having a relatively flat bottom cleaning surface and being of a sh'ape generally fitting the shoe whereby to prevent complete rotation of the Ielement in the shoe, said element being provided With a recess in the upper portion thereof; said shaft being substantially vertically disposed and slidable in the direction of its axis, the lowermost end of said shaft having an eccentric engageabl'e with the recess of said element for imparting oscillatory motion to said element when engaged with and upon rotation of said sh'aft, the engagement between said eccentric and said recess comprising a loose t necessitating an upward pressure to be exerted upon said element to maintain such engagement; said means for rotating said shaft comprising an energizable clutch and an interrupter for controlling the energization of said clutch, said clutch and said interrupter each mounted lcoaxially of said shaft, said clutch having two companion and cooperative members, one clutch member surrounding said shaft and fixed against axial movement thereof, the other clutch member carried by said shaft and operatively movable into and out of engagement with its companion clutch member upon sliding movement of said shaft, said interrupter actuated by the uppermost end of said shaft upon sliding movement of the latter to energize and de-energize the first mentioned clutch member.

3. An apparatus for cleaning shoe comprising a rcleaning element, a shaft for actuating said element, and means for rotating said shaft; said element having a relatively flat bottom cleaning surface and being of a shape generally fitting the shoe whereby to prevent complete rotation of the element in the shoe, said element being provided with a recess in the upper portion thereof; said shaft being substan- `tially vertically disposed and slidable in the di- Vrection of its axis, the lowermost end of VSaid shaft having an eccentric rotatable within the recess of said element for imparting oscillatory motion to said element upon rotation of said sh'aft; said means for rotating said shaft comprising an energizable clutch and an interrupter for controlling the energization of said clutch,

said clutch and said interrupter each mounted coaxially of said shaft, said clutch having'two members, one clutch member carried by said shaft and operatively movable into and out of engagement with the o-ther clutch member upon sliding movement of said shaft, said interrupter actuated by the uppermost end of said sh'aft upon sliding movement of the latter to energize and de-energize the said other clutch member.

PARVIN WRIGHT.

the inside of a

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