US3760448A

US3760448A - Rotatable cleaning brushes

Info

Publication number: US3760448A
Application number: US00209200A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Scott; R Winn
Original assignee: Exxon Corp
Current assignee: Exxon Mobil Corp
Priority date: 1971-12-17
Filing date: 1971-12-17
Publication date: 1973-09-25
Anticipated expiration: 1990-09-25

Abstract

A brush for use in cleaning the hull of a ship, comprising circulary arranged substantially metal bristles located at or near the brush periphery. The bristles are sufficiently stiff so that when the brush is in use the ends of the bristles will be inclined to the surface to be cleaned. The brush is mounted for rotation and has a certain amount of flexibility such that when the brush is pressed against the surface to be cleaned the mounting will deflect so that the bristles will slice the material to be removed. A plurality of holes may be provided in the mounting to create a water flow that will facilitate keeping the bristles free of fouling matter and debris.

Description

United States Patent [191 Scott et al.

[ Sept, 25', 1973 ROTATABLE CLEANING BRUSHES [75] Inventors: John Scott, Pinner, England; Russell Edward Winn, Kilbrittain Castle, Ireland Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 55,l53, July 15,

1970. abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 15/180, 15/198 [51] Int. Cl A46!) 7/08 [58] Field of Search 15/49 R, 28, 50 R,

Primary ExaminerEdward L. Roberts Attorney-Leon Chasan et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A brush for use in cleaning the hull of a ship, comprising circulary arranged substantially metal bristles l0- cated at or near the brush periphery. The bristles are sufficiently stiff so that when the brush is in use the ends of the bristles will be inclined to the surface to be cleaned. The brush is mounted for rotation and has a certain amount of flexibility such that when the brush is pressed against the surface to be cleaned-the mounting will deflect so that the bristles will slice the material to be removed. A plurality of holes may be provided in the mounting to create a water flow that will facilitate keeping the bristles free of fouling matter and debris.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures l ROTATABLE CLEANING BRUSHES- CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 55,153, filed July 15, 1970, now abandoned. The invention disclosed and described in this application has This invention relates to rotatable brushes, especially those used for cleaning the hulls of ships.

Various brushes have been devised for cleaning the hulls of ships which are'often heavily barnacled. However, many of these have not been satisfactory when used for cleaning the hull of a ship which has very little free surface. In many parts of the world, e.g., the Caribbean, removal of barnacles can bea serious problem,

especially'as some barnacles are as much as 3 inches deep. With such surfaces previously used cleaning devices with brushes often skid over the surface and very little cleaning takes place.

According to this invention such difficulties are largely eliminated by the use of a rotatable brush which comprises a flexible and rotatable mounting to which substantially stiff bristles are fixed so that when the brush is in use at least the ends of the bristles are inclined to the surface to be cleaned.

Preferably the brush is mounted in a sufficiently flexible manner so that on rotation of the brush and on pressing it against the surface to be cleaned the mounting deflects so that the bristles perform a slicing action on the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned. The slicing action comes about by the tips' of the bristles being arranged in a chisel-like configuration and being kept in close contact with the surface to be cleaned by the flexible mounting. This mounting is designed to be of sufficient flexibilityso as to allow the bristles to ride over surface obstructions such as rivet heads, nut and bolt heads holding attachments, shell plate laps on the hull, and external hull fittings,.whilst the slicing action 'of the bristles continues.

The rotatable mounting is preferably a disc, e.g., made of metal, being surrounded by an annular extension of rubber or of any other substance of sufficient flexibility so as to provide the necessary deflection when required. Thus for example, the mounting can be in the form of a rubber diaphragm with a central metal disc for fixing the mounting to a rotatably driven shaft. Alternatively, the mounting and the flexible annulus can be of the same material. The rubber can be natural or synthetic, and other flexible materials which can be used include plastics.

With this form of rotatable mounting, i.e., a disc surrounded by an annular extension of rubber or other flexible substance, in a preferred form of the invention the annular extension is provided with one or more holes, preferably situated symmetrically, with respect to the axis of the disc. As the brush rotates it has been found that the bristles provide a pumping action throwing water out centrifugally. The hole or holes permit water to flow into the 'hub of the brush and pass through the bristles due to this pumping action, thereby keeping the bristles clear of the fouling matter and debris due to the water flow created.

The rotatable mounting can be of other shapes, e.g., a central spider surrounded by an annular extension made of flexible material such as rubber.

Alternatively, the rotatable mounting can be a flexible drum or roller to which the bristles are attached. In this case when the brush is used, the axis of rotation of the rotatable mounting will be substantially parallel to the surface to be cleaned rather than substantially normal to the surface to be cleaned'as in the case of the other above mentioned forms of rotatable mounting.

The bristles should be substantially stiff so that on rotation of the brush a chisel edge is formed at the tips. The bristles may be made of metal, e.g., stainless steel strip or circular stainless steel fibers, or of plastics material, e.g. polypropylene fibers, nylon or glass reinforced plastics. The bristles may be fixed to the mounting as a continuous line or ring of bristles or they may be fixed in clusters. In a preferred embodiment of the invention when the rotatable mounting is circular and of flexible rubber the bristles, preferably of stainless steel, are wound round a metal ring attached at or near the periphery of the mounting.

The preferred criteria for the bristles are as follows:

I. Springiness, so as to resist deformation when obstructed or twisted,

2. Stainless, so as to resist corrosion and avoid breakage which occurs with ordinary carbon spring steel, and

3. Hardness, so as to maintain a clean cutting edge,

when slicing hard material.

The bristle material is preferably 1.25 cm wide flat strip, 0.075 cm thick and preferably of spring quality stainless'steel of a Brinell hardness of about 185. The

, length of the bristles can vary, but is preferably between 7.5 cm and 22.5 cm, e.g. about 15 cm. Alternatively, one could use carbon spring steel strip, coated to resist corrosion or stainless or galvanized steel wire rope cut to length to form bristles. In the latter case the steel wire itself has sufficient springiness: and the wire rope may be unravelled at the cutting end, and this presents many small cutting edges.

The cutting angle of the bristles is adjustable since the rotatable mounting can be varied in distance from the hull surface, or the length of the bristles can be increased. In this manner the angle of contact of the scything or slicing edge of the bristle can be varied. Such a variation is necessary for specific cleaning operations, e.g., whether scything heavy weed or grass, or barnacles or limpets. Thus the angle the bristles make with the surface under the brush may be between 30 and 60, e.g., about 45.

The rotatable brush of this invention enables the bristles to break up the material being brushed and to sweep it away. The bristles with their chisel edges act as a scythe and dislodge the material from the hull surface without breaking it up first.

In order to clean a submerged surface, e.g., the hull of a ship, the brushes of this invention are preferably used in a cleaning apparatus designed for working in submerged conditions. A typical cleaning apparatus is disclosed in aforementioned Ser. No. 65,449 wherein FIG] schematically illustrates a brush 2S constructed and arranged according to the present invention, connected for rotation to a motor 8.

Although only one brush may be used it is obviously quicker and more efficient if more than one brush, e.g., minimum of three brushes (as shown in FlG.4 of the aforementioned copending application), be used. These brushes may all be driven by a single motor, which if desired can be the motor of the suction device, or the driving motor. Alternatively, all the brushes may be driven by a separate motor. The motors may be electric, pneumatic, hydraulic or use other forms of power transmission as may be appropriate under the relevant conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention is now described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows part of a side view of one of the brushes in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a partial side view of an alternative form of brush; and

FIG. 3 shows partial side view of yet another form of the brush.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 of the drawings, wherein the reference numerals designated similar parts, the cleaning brush(es) 25 is mounted with a chamber 1, which has an open side 12. Around the peripheral edge of the chamber are a series of corrugations 26 which limit the ingress of water into the chamber. Reference is made to the aforementioned copending application Ser. No. 65,449 for details of the construction and operation of the overall cleaning apparatus. Suffice it to say for purposes of the present invention that the brush or brushes are connected through a shaft to a suitable driving force, e.g., a motor, which in turn drives the brush(es) in rotatable fashion. The cleaning brush 25 is disclosed herein as a rotary brush made of stainless steel bristles 60. The brush is conventionally mounted on a shaft 61 for rotation and is driven by a hydraulic motor 8 shown schematically in FIG.1.

- F IG. 1 of the drawings shows a partial side elevation of one of the brushes. Attached in conventional fashion to the shaft 61 which is driven by means of a motor schematically shown at 8, is a metal disc 72. Fixed to this disc 72 is a circular diaphragm 71 made of synthetic rubber. A curved section 70 of this diaphragm provides added flexibility. Near the periphery of the diaphragm there is a metal ring 73 to which stainless steel bristles of 9.5 mm X 0.75

mm strip

60a and 60 b are attached substantially continuously about the diaphragm. The figure indicates the

bristles

60a and 60b just touching the surface 74 to be cleaned.

Referring to FIG. 2, attached to the shaft 161 is a metal disc 172. Fixed to this disc 172 is a circular diaphragm 171 made of synthetic rubber. A curved section 170 of this diaphragm gives added flexibility. Near the periphery of the diaphragm there is a metal ring 173 to which stainless steel bristles of 9.5 mm X 0.75 mm strip 160a and 16% are attached substantially continuously about the diaphragm. The figure indicates the bristles 160a and 16% touching the surface 174 to be cleaned, and it is seen that the bristles are deflected (indicated by broken lines) compared with their undeflected state (indicated by full lines) before being pressed against the surface 174. When the brush rotates the bristles with their chiselled tips undergo a slicing and scything action on the material to be removed from the surface 174.

Referring to FIG. 3, wherein identical numerals rep- .resent identical parts as in FIG. 7, there are four circular holes provided in the rubber diaphragm 171, one of which is shown at 180. These four holes are disposed symmetrically with respect to the shaft 161 and permit water to flow therethrough to provide a cleaning action for the bristles.

It should be understood that constructions and arrangements herein illustrated and described are intended to be representative of a preferred embodiment(s) only and that certain changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the present disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a ship, comprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a central portion comprising a disc and an annular flexible extension including a deflectable peripheral portion surrounding said disc, a plurality of inclined substantially stiff bristles operably fixed to said peripheral portion, said bristles being constructed of sufficient stiffness and arranged so that when said brush is in use the tips of said bristles will have a configuration capable of performing a slicing action into the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.

2. A brush according to claim 1 wherein said mounting means is of sufficient flexibility so that on rotation of the brush and on pressing it against the surface to be cleaned, the bristles assume a chisel-like configuration.

3. A brush according to'claim 1 wherein the bristles are made of stainless metal.

4. A brush according to claim 3 wherein the bristles are made of steel wire rope cut to a length to form bristles, the rope being unravelled at the cutting ends.

5. A brush according to claim 1 wherein the annular extension has one or more holes.

6. A brush according to claim 1 wherein said deflectable peripheral portion includes at least one hole extending therethrough in the axial direction of said brush for providing a passageway for water to flow therethrough to aid in maintaining the bristles clean.

7. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a ship comprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a central portion and a flexible peripheral portion surrounding said central portion, bristle means comprising a plurality of inclined substantially stiff bristles operably secured to said peripheral portion and mounted at an acute angle relative to the surface being cleaned located under said brush, said bristles extending outward from the brush periphery and being constructed of sufficient stiffness and arranged so that when said brush is in use the tips of said bristles comprise a configuration capable of performing a slicing action into the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.

8. A brush according to claim 1 wherein each bristle comprises a thin metal strip.

9. A brush according to claim 8 wherein each bristle includes a flat side facing the direction of rotation of Said brush.

Claims

1. A rotatable brush adapted for use in cleaning the hull of a ship, comprising flexible and rotatable mounting means including a central portion comprising a disc and an annular flexible extension including a deflectable peripheral portion surrounding said disc, a plurality of inclined substantially stiff bristles operably fixed to said peripheral portion, said bristles being constructed of sufficient stiffness and arranged so that when said brush is in use the tips of said bristles will have a configuration capable of performing a slicing action into the material to be removed from the surface to be cleaned.

3. A brush according to claim 1 wherein the bristles are made of stainless metal.