JP7499579B2 - Rotary Brush Tool - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to
Regarding a rotary brush tool that is held by hand, the rotary brush tool:
A brush mechanism unit and a drive unit for the brush mechanism unit are included.
The brush mechanism unit comprises a rotatably drivable brush holder and a ring brush having a bristle rim with outwardly projecting bristles for processing the surface of a workpiece.

This type of brush mechanism unit is typically used to remove, for example, corrosion, lacquer paint, or comparable coatings from the surface of the workpiece in question, or to provide a desired roughening depth.
In the prior art of the type mentioned at the beginning of the patent application WO 2005/023334 of the applicant, a brush mechanism unit is described for this purpose, which is equipped with a stop means. This makes it possible to achieve a roughening depth that could previously only be achieved by sandblasting. The roughening depth proposed is generally the so-called average roughness value Ra (as the arithmetic mean value of the absolute values of the profile deviations within the reference interval according to DIN 4764 and DIN ISO 1302). This has proven to be fundamentally useful and is often used in practice.
A comparable prior art is embodied in DE 10 200 03 133 A1, in which the stopping means simultaneously serves as an abrasive body for the bristles, for which purpose it is configured to be adjustable, for example radially and/or tangentially.

The brush mechanism unit and the rotary brush tool with this brush mechanism unit can be used stationary, for example in a machine room, in a connected state to the machine, but it is also possible for the rotary brush tool in question to be designed to be handled by hand.
In both cases, in practice there is often the problem of guiding the brush mechanism unit along the workpiece to be processed or along the surface of this workpiece, which can be done - as described - mechanically and/or manually.
Because of this there is often a risk of forming grooves or at least uniform three-dimensional structures on the surface of the workpiece, which are detrimental to a uniform surface treatment and, in some circumstances, make it difficult to apply subsequent coatings, paints, etc. This is where the present invention begins.

European Patent Application Publication No. 1 834 733 B1 European Patent Application Publication No. 2 618 965 B1

"Surface preparation of ship-construction steel/(ABS-A) via bristle blasting process", NACE CORROSION CONFERENCE & EXPO 2010, paper No. 10385 "Evaluation of bristle blasting process for surface preparation of ship-construction steel" (NACE CORROSION CONFERENCE & EXPO 2012, paper No. C2012-0001442)

The technical problem underlying the present invention is to further develop a rotary brush tool of this type for processing the surface of a workpiece in such a way that a uniformly processed surface is provided.

This technical problem is solved by a rotary brush tool having the features of claim 1. Frequently, the ring brush is designed so that it can be adjusted in position in a swinging manner.

The invention is based primarily on the recognition that the ring brush is held by means of a rotatably drivable brush holder, and the adjustment of the position of the ring brush contemplated according to the invention therefore includes the implication that the rotatably drivable brush holder which holds the ring brush performs an adjustment movement in addition to the rotational movement of the brush holder.
In the normal case, the ring brush is furthermore, and preferably, oscillatingly adjustable, so that the ring brush or the brush holder which holds it performs an oscillating movement which, in conjunction with the feed movement which is performed manually and/or on the machine side, induces that the surface of the machined workpiece as a whole is machined uniformly and that a uniform distribution of the roughening depth as a whole is present and is observed.

In an advantageous embodiment, the ring brush can be configured so as to be radially and/or axially adjustable, whereby in the normal case only axial adjustment of the ring brush and thus of the brush holder which receives and holds the ring brush is used.
That is, additional radial position adjustment of the ring brush is certainly possible, but in practice is used in a brush mechanism unit that may be mechanically controlled in order to press the brush mechanism unit and thus the ring brush, for example, against the workpiece to be processed, respectively, or against the surface of this workpiece.
According to the invention, however, a primarily manually operated brush mechanism unit and therefore a rotary brush tool that can be handled in particular by hand is of interest, which rotary brush tool is provided with the brush mechanism unit in question and additionally with a drive unit for this brush mechanism unit.

In fact, such a hand-held rotary brush tool can be configured as a manual tool machine or as a hand-held rotary brush tool in general. For this purpose, a drive unit is typically used, which has an electric motor and possibly a transmission and is preferably powered by one or more accumulators. In principle, however, the hand-held rotary brush tool can also be driven pneumatically.
In any case, advantageously, the feed movement of the rotary brush tool and thus of the brush mechanism unit is generally performed manually, as well as any possible radial position adjustment movements or the pressing of the brush mechanism unit against the surface of the workpiece to be processed.
In contrast to the above, the position adjustment of the ring brush, and in particular its axial position adjustment, is effected by means of a motorized and in any case provided drive unit, which brings about a rotary drive of the brush holder and thus of the ring brush, i.e. the drive unit as a component of the rotary brush tool with the brush mechanism unit operates according to the invention on the one hand in a rotary manner relative to the brush holder and on the other hand in the axial direction of the brush holder, and preferably in a swinging manner.
For this purpose, it is possible for the drive unit to comprise, for example, a motor or electric motor for the rotary movement and a further motor or electric motor for the oscillating axial movement, but it is equally possible to realize and convert both movements by means of just one electric motor.

As already mentioned, the ring brush is primarily designed to be adjustable in the axial direction, with a rocking movement generally being used here, i.e. the shaft of the brush holder which carries or holds the ring brush is moved back and forth in a rocking manner and in the axial direction by means of a drive unit.
It is then possible for this oscillating axial movement to follow a sinusoidal movement over time, which can be particularly advantageously realised and translated in that the axis of the brush holder is loaded, for example, by a cam acting on said axis, which cam works against the force of a spring and thereby produces the sinusoidal movement of the axis of the brush holder and thus of the ring brush which has already been described above.
In practice, the ring brush and the brush holder are in the normal case each designed rotationally symmetrically and coaxially with respect to one another.

In order to be able to convert and realize in detail the above-mentioned axial adjustment of the ring brushes of the brush holder, the brush holder is generally designed to be at least two-part, and in fact consists essentially of a fixed support and of a brushing member which is axially movable relative to the fixed support.
The brushing elements of the brush holder thereby primarily guide and hold the ring brush, while the bearing element assumes primarily and exclusively the bearing function for this brushing element, as a result of which the bearing element is designed in a fixed position, while the brushing elements are not only designed to be axially movable, but also to rotate and thus likewise place the ring brush in a rotating state.

In detail, for this purpose, the fixed support has a hollow bore for the pin of the axially movable brushing element, which fits into the hollow bore. The pin of the axially movable brushing element is then supported in a cantilevered manner and may be connected to the base of the movable brushing element. In this way, the fixed support with the hollow bore can perform the required rotational movement for the ring brush on the pin.

In a further configuration, it is provided in this connection that the fixed support element further has a bush for a plug pin which fits into said bush, said plug pin being rotationally and axially loaded by the drive unit.
This axial loading is then additionally and in most cases also performed in a pivoting manner, so that the plug pin is loaded both rotationally and axially pivotally by means of the drive unit.

To achieve and transform this in detail, the bushing generally has a groove into which a fin connected to the bayonet radially engages, whereby the bushing and the bayonet create a frictionally engaging connection in the rotational direction on the one hand, so that the ring brush carried by the brushing member can be driven in rotation as desired.
At the same time, and on the other hand, the interaction between the grooves and the fins engaging in these grooves ensures that the bayonet can perform the desired axial movement relative to the bush and thus to the fixed support element, which, together with the bush, also causes the bayonet to additionally rotate as well.
For this purpose, at least two fins connected radially to the bayonet engage, for the most part, in a form-fitting manner into corresponding grooves of the bushing. In principle, it goes without saying that structurally different arrangements are also possible here.

Additionally, the circumstance in which stopping means are provided which sink into the rotating bristle rim and which cause the rotating bristles and/or the brush belt carrying these bristles as a component of the ring brush to be elastically deformed is of further special significance for the present invention.
This allows the bristles and/or the brush belt to store kinetic energy so that after their release, the bristles not only roll but also simultaneously strike the surface of the workpiece as a result of the stored kinetic energy released after the passage of the stopping means. The basic functional aspects of such stopping means are described, for example, in the applicant's DE 199 0 04 13 54 A1, already cited and explained at the outset.

According to the invention, as is in principle also known from DE 10 2004 13 234 A1 mentioned in the introduction to the description, it is possible here for the stop means to be or be formed additionally so as to be positionally adjustable.
In order to realize the position adjustment of the stop means in detail, the stop means are generally radially positionable with respect to the axis of the rotating ring brush under a change in the spacing of the stop means.
This radial adjustment movement can in detail be transformed in such a way that the stop means is adjusted by means of an eccentric and/or a linear adjustment element.

Due to the additional and optional possibility according to the invention of realizing the stop means and adjusting the position of this stop means, not only is there the option of uniformly processing the surface with respect to the generated roughness profile. Rather, the adjustment of the position of the stop means in the radial direction relative to the axis of the ring brush also induces that the kinetic energy with which the bristles impact the surface of the workpiece to be processed is changed.

In this connection, it is generally worthwhile to state the rule of thumb that the smaller the radial distance of the stop means relative to the respective axis of the ring brush is dimensioned, the higher the kinetic energy of the bristles will be.
This is because the radially inward arrangement of the stopping means induces increased and enhanced deformation of the bristles and, as a result, increased kinetic energy by which the bristles impact the surface of the workpiece.

These fundamental relationships have been studied by Professor Robert J. Stango and others and are given in a number of published works, respectively, see both publications, "A Study of the Relationship between the Electromagnetic Field and the Electric Field of a Microwave Oscilloscope," Journal of Electromagnetics, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 1171-1175, 2002 and "A Study of the Relationship between the Electromagnetic Field and the Electric Field of a Microwave Oscilloscope," Journal of Electromagnetic
According to an advantageous embodiment, for this purpose the stop means are formed for the most part radially adjustable with respect to the above-mentioned axis of the rotating ring brush or can be radially adjustable with respect to the above-mentioned axis, whereas the ring brush can likewise be pressed against the surface and/or can perform an axial movement.

The subject of the present invention is also a rotary brush tool, and in particular a hand-held rotary brush tool, which comprises the brush mechanism unit described above and a drive unit for this brush mechanism unit.
If the drive unit operates electrically and the energy supply device is provided with accumulators arranged in the machine casing, or at least with only one accumulator, the rotary brush tool can be constructed in a particularly autonomous manner, in which important advantages can be found.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings which show only one embodiment.

1 is a schematic side view of a brush mechanism unit or rotary brush tool according to the present invention; FIG. 11 is a diagram of a stop means and a position adjustment unit of the stop means in a variant of the first embodiment; FIG. 11 shows yet another, second variant of the position adjustment unit for the stop means; FIG. 2 shows a drive unit according to the invention for rotational and additionally axial, pivotal position adjustment of the brush mechanism unit;

1 there is shown firstly and very diagrammatically a brush mechanism unit according to the invention for processing the surface of a workpiece 1. For this purpose, the brush mechanism unit is connected to a machine housing 2 of a rotary brush tool.
Inside the machine casing 2 of the rotary brush tool, according to this embodiment, there is on the one hand the drive unit 3 suggested and, on the other hand, an energy store 4 for this drive unit 3 which operates electrically. The energy store 4 can be one or more accumulator batteries. The one or more accumulator batteries can be recharged inductively via a charging socket in or along the machine casing 2 or, respectively, also in an additional charging shell by removal from the machine casing 2.
In principle, the drive unit 3 can also be operated pneumatically, which is not shown. The illustrated rotary brush tool with the machine housing 2 is preferably a hand-held rotary brush tool, i.e. a correspondingly constructed hand-operated machine tool.

The brush mechanism unit in detail comprises a rotationally drivable brush holder 5, the individual webs of which can be seen in FIG.
Along or on the brush holder 5 ring brushes 6, 8 having a bristle rim 6 with outwardly projecting bristles 7 are held and are rotationally driven by means of a drive unit 3. In this regard corresponds the rotational movement or direction of rotation D indicated in Fig. 1 in the counterclockwise direction.
The individual bristles 7 are carried by a brush belt 8 and are fixed within this brush belt 8 to the ring brushes 6,8.

In the embodiment according to Fig. 1, furthermore, a stop means 9 can be recognized, which is recessed in the rotating bristle rim or in the rotating bristles 7. According to this embodiment, the stop means 9 is designed to be adjustable, in particular in the radial direction R, which is indicated by a double arrow in Fig. 1.
As already explained at the beginning and as comprehensively described in the prior art according to Patent Document 1, the bristles 7 and, if applicable, the brush belt 8 are elastically deformed when traveling across the stop means 9 in a rotational movement of the bristles and brush belt in a counterclockwise direction of rotation D indicated by the arrow in FIG. 1.
This causes kinetic energy to be stored in the bristles 7 or in the brush belt 8 as a result of the corresponding elastic deformation. After the release of the bristles, these bristles 7 therefore process the surface of the workpiece 1 not only in a rolling manner but also in a striking manner at the same time, since after the passage of the stopping means 9 the previously stored kinetic energy is freed.

According to the invention, as FIG. 4 shows in detail, the ring brushes 6, 8 are now designed to be adjustable. In fact, the ring brushes 6, 8 are designed to be axially adjustable so that they can oscillate. This is caused by the drive unit 3.

For this purpose, the drive unit 3 according to this exemplary embodiment comprises first of all a transmission gear 10 for driving the ring brushes 6, 8 or the brush holder 5, which are indicated in Fig. 4, in a rotary manner in accordance with the rotation direction D already mentioned above. For this purpose, the transmission gear 10 acts on a bayonet pin 12, which will be explained in more detail below, which fits into a hollow bore 13 of a bush B of the fixed bearing 5a as a component of the brush holder 5.
Alongside this fixed bearing 5a, an axially movable brushing element 5b is likewise realized, to which the bayonet 12 belongs. The drive unit 3 furthermore causes this bayonet 12 not only to be driven in a rotary manner to realize a rotary movement D, but also to perform, in addition, a movement in the axial direction A already mentioned above.

For this purpose, an eccentric cam 11' which can be rotated about an axis by the drive unit 3 is provided as a further component of the movable brushing member 5b on an eccentric gear 11 which is actuated by this drive unit 3. This eccentric cam 11' acts in the axial direction A on a bayonet pin 12 by means of a pin Z.
As a result of the above, the bayonet pin 12, and likewise the brush holder 5, performs a rocking movement in the axial direction A, which is additional to the rotational movement D. In order that the movement of the brush holder 5 in the axial direction A and additionally its rotation in the rotational direction D can both be realized, the transmission gear 10 and the eccentric gear 11, which are actuated by the drive unit 3, are each provided with corresponding toothing for driving by the drive unit 3.

As already explained, the brush holder 5 according to this embodiment is generally constructed as a two-part structure, in fact it comprises a fixed support part 5a and a movable brushing part 5b.
The fixed bearing 5a has a hollow bore 13 for the already mentioned pin Z of the movable brushing element 5b or of the eccentric gear 11. In addition, a bayonet pin 12 fits into this hollow bore 13 in the region of the bush B, by means of which the brush holder 5 is finally driven.

The drive unit 3 here acts on the eccentric gear 11 as well as on the transmission gear 10, via which the bush B is brought into rotation. This also applies in this case to the stationary bearing 5a.
The bayonet pin 12 fits into a hollow bore 13 of the bushing B. Radial fins 14 on the bayonet pin 12 fit for this purpose into corresponding grooves 14' in the interior of the hollow bore 13. The bayonet pin 12 is thereby placed in a rotational position along the direction of rotation D.

The additional axial movement of the bayonet pin 12 in the axial direction A, and the double arrow in FIG. 4, is now realised by means of an additional eccentric gear 11, as follows.
For this purpose, the eccentric gear 11 is likewise put into rotation by means of the drive unit 3. This eccentric gear 11 is equipped with one or more radially projecting eccentric cams 11', which interact with the fixed housing ramp 2'. In this way, the rotational movement of the eccentric gear 11 is converted into an axial movement by the interaction between the eccentric cams 11' and the housing ramp 2'. As a result, the pin Z, which also fits into the hollow bore 13, also performs an axial movement in the axial direction A.

The pin Z now acts on the bayonet pin 12 by means of its rounded head, which therefore performs the desired axial movement in axial direction A in addition to the rotational movement of the bayonet pin in the direction of rotation D. This is possible because the fins 14 engage radially into one another in the associated grooves 14' and at the same time, however, permit the desired axial movement of the bayonet pin 12 in axial direction A.
An additional spring 15 causes the axial movement of the bayonet pin 12 to take place against the force of this spring 15, which in turn resets the bayonet pin 12 in each case.

2, there is now shown a first embodiment of how the stop means 9 can be adjusted in detail in the radial direction R relative to the bristle rim 6 or the bristles 7. For this purpose, the stop means 9 is connected to an arm 16, into whose bore an eccentric 17 is received. This eccentric 17 is itself driven in a rotating manner by the drive unit 3.
The rotation of the eccentric 17 in the bore of the arm 16 now causes, in conjunction with an additional guide 18 of this arm 16, the stop means 9 to be moved in the radial direction R relative to the bristle rim 6 or the bristles 7, and possibly also in the circumferential direction U, as the corresponding arrows in FIG. 2 indicate.

3 now shows another variant for adjusting the position of the stop means 9 in the radial direction R relative to the ring brushes 6, 8 or the bristles 7. For this purpose, the stop means 9 is connected to a linear adjustment element 19, 20. This linear adjustment element 19, 20 consists of a fixed spindle nut 19 and a spindle 20 which engages in the fixed spindle nut 19 and can be reciprocated.
The rotational movement of the spindle 20 thus induces the arm 16 carrying the stop means 9 to be moved in this case in the linear direction indicated in FIG. 3, which according to this embodiment corresponds to the radial direction R in relation to the ring brushes 6, 8 or the bristles 7.
In addition, the present application relates to the invention described in the claims, but may also include the following as other aspects.
1. A brush mechanism unit for the processing of the surface of a workpiece (1), the brush mechanism unit being of the type having a rotatably drivable brush holder (5) and a ring brush (6, 8) having a bristle rim (6) with outwardly projecting bristles (7),
A brush mechanism unit, characterized in that the ring brushes (6, 8) are preferably configured so that their positions can be adjusted so as to oscillate.
2. The brush mechanism unit according to claim 1, wherein the ring brushes (6, 8) are formed so that their positions can be adjusted in the radial and/or axial directions.
3. The brush mechanism unit according to claim 2, characterized in that for the axial position adjustment of the ring brushes (6, 8), the brush holder (5) is formed by a position-fixed support member (5a) and an axially movable brushing member (5b) so as to consist of at least two members.
4. A brush mechanism unit according to claim 3, characterized in that the fixed support member (5a) has hollow bores (13) for the pins (Z) of the movable brushing member (5b) which fit into the hollow bores.
5. A brush mechanism unit according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the fixed bearing (5a) has a bush (B) for a bayonet (12) which fits into said bush and which is rotationally and axially loaded by the drive unit (3).
6. Stop means (9) are provided which sink into the rotating bristle rim (6);
A brush mechanism unit as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the stopping means elastically deforms the bristles (7) and/or the brush belt (8) as a component of the ring brush (6, 8) under the storage of kinetic energy.
7. The brush mechanism unit according to claim 6, wherein the stopping means (9) is formed so as to be position adjustable.
8. The brush mechanism unit according to item 7 above, characterized in that the stopping means (9) is formed so as to be position adjustable in a radial direction (R) relative to the axis of the ring brushes (6, 8).
9. The brush mechanism unit according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the stop means (9) is position-adjusted using an eccentric (17) and/or a linear position-adjusting element (19, 20).
10. A rotary brush tool, in particular a hand-held rotary brush tool, having a brush mechanism unit and a drive unit (3) for said brush mechanism unit,
A rotary brush tool, characterized in that the brush mechanism unit is formed by any one of 1 to 9 above.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 workpiece 2 machine casing 2' casing ramp, fixed casing ramp 3 drive unit 4 energy store 5 brush holder 5a bearing, fixed bearing 5b brushing element, movable brushing element 6 ring brush, bristle rim 7 bristles 8 ring brush, brush belt 9 stop means 10 transmission gear 11 eccentric gear 11' eccentric cam 12 bayonet 13 hollow bore 14 fin 14' groove 15 spring 16 arm 17 eccentric 18 guide 19 spindle nut, fixed spindle nut, linear position adjustment element 20 spindle, reciprocating spindle, linear position adjustment element A axial direction B bush D rotation direction, rotational movement R radial direction U circumferential direction

Claims (6)

A hand-held rotary brush tool, comprising:
A brush mechanism unit and a drive unit (3) for the brush mechanism unit,
The brush mechanism unit comprises a rotatably drivable brush holder (5) for processing the surface of a workpiece (1) and a ring brush (6, 8) having a bristle rim (6) with outwardly projecting bristles (7).
In the rotary brush tool,
The ring brush (6, 8) is formed so as to be swingable and so as to be positionally adjustable in the axial direction, and further
For the axial position adjustment of the ring brushes (6, 8), the brush holder (5) is formed in at least two parts by a fixed support part (5a) and an axially movable brushing part (5b),
the fixed bearing (5a) has a bush (B) for a spigot (12) which fits into the bush and belongs to the axially movable brushing element (5b), which spigot is rotationally and axially loaded by the drive unit (3) and by means of which the brush holder (5) is driven, and
For this purpose, an eccentric cam (11') rotatable about an axis by said drive unit (3) is provided as a further component of said axially movable brushing member (5b) on an eccentric gear (11) loaded by said drive unit (3), and
This eccentric cam (11') loads the bayonet pin (12) in the axial direction (A) by means of a pin (Z).
A rotary brush tool characterized by: 2. The rotary brush tool according to claim 1, characterized in that the fixed support member (5a) has a hollow bore (13) for the pin (Z) of the axially movable brushing member (5b), which fits into the hollow bore . Stop means (9) are provided which sink into the rotating bristle rim (6),
3. A rotary brush tool according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the stopping means deforms the bristles (7) and/or the brush belt (8) as a component of the ring brush (6, 8) elastically and under storage of kinetic energy. 4. A rotary brush tool according to claim 3, characterized in that the stop means (9) is designed to be position adjustable. 5. A rotary brush tool according to claim 4, characterized in that the stop means (9) is formed so as to be positionably adjustable in a radial direction (R) relative to the axis of the ring brush (6, 8). 6. A rotary brush tool according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the stop means (9) is adjusted in position by means of an eccentric (17) and/or a linear adjustment element (19, 20).

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