US2546288A - Brush carrying device for cleaning articles of clothing - Google Patents

Description

Mar h 7, 1951 v M. ZUCKER 2,546,288

BRUSH CARRYING DEVICE FOR CLEANING ARTICLES 0F CLOTHING Filed Sept. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m r- N IIIIIII'IIIIIIIII:

IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNZIYS 7 March 27, 1951 ZUCKER BRUSH CARRYING DEVICE FOR CLEANING ARTICLES OF CLOTHING Filed Sept. 15, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. A4516? ZZ/L'KER A77 QNZEYS Patented Mar. 27, 1951 r UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRUSH CARRYING DEVICE FOR CLEANING- ARTICLES ()F CLOTHING Morris Zucker, East Orange, N. J. Application September 15, 1947, Serial No. 774,009

2 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for cleaning articles of clothing such as mens trousers.

It is an object of the instant invention to provide a cleaning device in which the labor element is comparatively slight.

Another object is to so form the device that it applies in one-operation the physical and chemical requisites for cleaning.

Other objects will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

In the attainment of these objectives, the cleaning device is formed of a housing surrounding a tank. In the tank are two brushes substantially tangentially and rotatably supported. in bearings of special design. The bearings are of. special design to provide a means for insertion and removal of the brushes as, well as adjustment. Driving. belts over pulleys on one end of the brush rotors drive the brushes in opposite directions' tangentially and inwardly toward. the interior or" the tankwhich facilitates the cleaning operation and provides substantially trouble free operation. Perforated pipes attached below the brushes along the inside surface portions. of the v tank direct a cleaning fluid, such as soap and water; under pressure against the brush bristles and the garment. The used cleaning liquid is then carried to. the bottom of the tank where, a false. bottom inclined between the tank ends coacts with an outlet pipe for draining. A motor for driving the brush members is adjustabl y mounted in one end of the housing. A longitudinal slot in the cover of the housing above the brush members provides a means for inserting the-garment-and swishing it up and down between the brush members. Downwardly extending members around the periphery of the slotcoacting with upwardly extending and outwardly flaring opposing side members of the tank sub stantially confine the cleaning liquid within the; tank.

The invention will appear more clearly when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings showin by way of example preferred embodiment of the inventive idea.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the cleaning device with cover broken away constructed in accord ance with the principles of this. invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view along the line 2-2j of Figure. 1.

Figure 3 is an end view with part of the housing broken away.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the cleaning device shown in- F-igure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings in which like reference numerals indicate like parts, reference numeral It indicates the housing, H the tank, l2 and l3 the brushes, 4 the motor and IS the perforated pipe.

The housing Ill comprises the opposing side members it and I1 (Figs. 3 and 5.) opposing end members i8 and [9 (Fig. 2) base 28, and hingedly mounted cover 2! (Figs. 3, 4, and 5) The hingedly mounted cover member 2| (Figs. 3, 4, and 5) of arcuate form as shown is provided with the longitudinal slot 22 (Figs. 4 and 5) along the periphery of which are disposed the downwardly inclined members 23, 24, 25, and 25 (Fig. 4) which provide a tunnel like opening to the brushes l2 and [3 for the introduction of the garment to be cleaned. Any suitable hinge mountmeans 2? (Fig. 3) may be used to attach the cover 21' along the top edge of the opposing side member I! while along the top edge of the opposing side member E8, the latch members 28 co-act with the retaining members 29 on the cover member 21 to removably secure said cover in position.

The tank I l comprises the opposing side members 30 and 3| (Figs. 3 and 5), the opposing end members 32 and 33 (Fig. 2), the base 34 and open top. At the bottom of the tank H, the base member 34, really constituting a false bottom, inclined toward the opposing end member 33 downwardly substantially to the base thereof. At the low point above the base 34, the outlet pipe 35 (Fig. 2'), provided with the shut-01f valve 36, is inserted to drain off the contents of the tank H when desired. Theopposing side mem bars 30 and 3! flare upwardly and outwardly at the top into the cover member 2| in closed position in order to confine the subsequently described cleaning liquid within said tank.

At the top of the tank H are two rotatably mounted brush members l2, and i3 which comprise thebristles 3-1 (Figs. 1 and 6) inserted in therotors 33 and 39.

Bearing members 46 and 4% adapted for longitudinal adjustment of brush rotors 38 and 39 are inserted in the opposing end member 32 of the tank ll by any suitable means and comprise the bearing support 42 (Fig. 6), the rotatable bearing d3 at the extreme end of which are keyed the pulleys 44 and 45. In the center of each of the rotatable bearing members 43 (Fig. 6-) is a circular aperture 46 of substantially the same diameter as the end of the brush rotors adapted to be inserted therein. At the front, the aperture 56 is of smaller diameter than at the back as shown in Figure 6. A keyway 4i extends longitudinally through the aperture of smaller diameter, which provides angular velocity to the brush rotors 35 and 39 when the key 48 is inserted in said rotors and, protruding thereabove, is inserted into said keyway 51. The spiral spring 49, inserted between the flanges 58 on the rotors of the brush members and the inside surface portion of the bearing members 56 and 4!, provides a means for retaining the brush members l2 and H3 in position unless suflicient longitudinal force is applied to the rotor to force the key 43 out of the keyway 3'! into the aperture of largest diameter.

At the opposite end of the rotor 33% the usual type bearing member 56 is inserted in the end member The rotor 38, on the other hand, while having the usual type bearing member 59 has it mounted in a pivotally adjustable plate (Fig. 3). The pivot pin 52 in the opposing end member 33 thus permits moving the brush rotor 33 toward or away from the brush rotor 33 and may be locked in place with the nut 53 over a co-acting stud in opposing end member 33 adapted to move in a slot 53 in the pivotally mounted plate 55.

In the base of the housing it! (Fig. 3) is the adjustably mounted motor i l for driving the rotors 38 and 39. The adjustable mounting means for the motor Hi, essential for the adjustment of the subsequently described belts 5d and 55, comprises the base 55 hingedly mounted by any suitable means along one edge to the horizontal member of the bracket 51! attached to the inside surface portion of the opposing side member iii of the housing to. To the opposite end of the base 55, the upright member 5? is pivotally attached by any suitable means. The top of the upright member 5? is threaded and adapted to be inserted through an aperture in the horizontal member of the bracket 58 attached to the opposite opposing side member ii. A nut 59 screwed on the threaded end of the upright member 59 against the top surface portion of the horizontal member of the bracket 58 provides a means for moving the motor iii and varying the tension of the subsequently described driving belts 54 and 55.

- Driving pulleys es and iii (Fig. 2) are keyed to the shaft of the motor M and the driving belts 54 and 55 (Fig. 3) are inserted thereover and over the pulleys M and 45 keyed to the shafts of the rotors 38 and 33. By crossing the driving belt 54 in the manner shown in Figure 3, the brush rotors 38 and $9 rotate in opposite directions inwardly at the point of tangency.

The perforated pipe I5 is extended along the inside surface portion of the opposing side memer 35 of the tank ii, thence along the opposing end member 32, and finally along the opposing side member 35. Perforations 62 in pipe l5 directed toward the brush bristles 3'! provide a spraying means for directing cleaning fluid under pressure thereagainst under control of shut-off valve 63.

The operation is as follows:

The motor it is started which revolves the brush rotors 38 and 3G in the manner previously described. The cover it or" the housing it! is closed and secured by the fasteners 28. The shutoff valve 63 is opened to permit the cleaning liquid to fill the pipe [5 and finally to be forced through the perforations 52 against the bristles 3i of the brush members 12 and IS. The garment is then inserted through the longitudinal slot 22 between the downwardly revolving brush members I2 and I3 and swished up and down therebetween. The used cleaning fluid falls to the bottom of the tank I l where it collects to be drawn off through the outlet 35 under control of the shut-01f valve 36.

It is apparent that the specific illustrations shown above have been given by way of illustration and not by way of limitation and that the structures above described are subject to wide variation and modification without departing from the scope 0r intent of the invention, all of which variations and modifications are to be included within the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for cleaning articles of clothing and the like comprising a housing; the housing comprising opposed end members, the upper edges of said end members being of upwardly directed arcuate form, opposed side members, a base member, said members being secured along corresponding edges, a cover member hingedly disposed along the upper edge of one of the opposed members, the cover member being of arcuate cross section and adapted to coact with the upper edges of the opposed members and having a 1onitudinal slot formed therein substantially along the longitudinal center line thereof; the device further comprising a tank with open top disposed in the housing, the tank comprising opposed end members, opposed side members, and a base member, said members being secured along corresponding edges and in spaced relationship with corresponding members of the housing, the upper portions of the opposed members of the tank flaring upwardly and outwardly in the cover member of the housing when in the closed position; the device further comprising two cylindrical brushes rotatably disposed in the opposed end members of the tank, the brushes making longi tudinal contact with each other along the center line of the slot in the cover member when closed and substantially below the same, means rotating one end of the axis of one brush relative to the other, means rotating said brushes inwardly into the tank along the line of contact of said brushes, means applying cleanin fluid against the brushes, and means removing the spent cleaning fluid from the tank.

2. In a device for cleaning articles or" clothing and the like, the device having a tank with opposed end members and two cylindrical brushes, each brush having a rotor; a rotatable mounting means for the brush rotors comprising a bearing support for one end of each brush rotor disposed in one end of the tank, a bearing disposed on one end of each brush rotor and adapted to rotate in said bearing support, means maintaining said bearings in said bearing supports; the rotatable mounting means further comprising a bearing support for the free ends of each brush rotor disposed in the opposite end of the tank, said bearing supports being adapted to maintain the brushes in longitudinal contact, a bearing for the free end of each brush rotor and adapted to rotate in the bearing support for the free ends of the brush rotors, two of said bearings having a central opening constricted on the side toward the brush and a longitudinal keyway along the constricted portion, a key disposed on the free MORRIS ZUCKER.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 136,474 Watson Mar. 4, 1873 1,180,306 McQuay Apr. 25, 1916 1,503,? 19 Stelter Aug. 4, 1924 10 1,880,887 Dittmar Oct. 4, 1932 2,311,066 Meyers Feb. 16, 1943

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