US20040003476A1

US20040003476A1 - Portable power driven scarifying tool for pipe ends

Info

Publication number: US20040003476A1
Application number: US10/191,271
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert Bierria; Gwendolyn Bierria
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-07-08
Filing date: 2002-07-08
Publication date: 2004-01-08

Abstract

A small transmission that has wired brushes attached to the gears (2) and (3). One of the gear/wire brush (2) has an extended shaft to receive a drill motor. Housing (1) is coupled with two closures (4) & (5) to incase the gears, and to harness the shafts. The bushings (6) combined with the bushing bolts (7) so that the top end of the transmission is secured. The right closure bolt/arresting rod (8), and a left closure (9) bolt are combined to secure the bottom of the transmission. A crank (11) is attached to a cranking gear shaft (10).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the cleaning and de-burring of metal pipe ends and metal pipefittings.

2. Description of Prior Art

Plumbers and plumber handy persons preparing to solder copper tubing have been hand sanding and steel brushing, a necessary process to make the solder ad-here to the copper tubing. This process is very time consuming and inefficient.

(a) The sand paper or emery cloth that is designed for this use is effective but, #1 These pieces of emery cloth get lost on the job site very easily. #2 When using the emery cloth, you must use a vise, or hold it between your legs, or have someone else hold the pipe while it is being sanded. #3 When sanding small fittings, people with large fingers have a difficult time getting their fingers with the emery cloth into these small holes. #4 And because it is manual, this process is very slow and time consuming.

(b) The wire brush/wire cup approach to cleaning copper tube fittings and ends is a lot better. #1 Different size brushes can reach into small holes of the fittings. And the wire cups can clean the pipe ends. #2 When used with a drill motor they work well, saving time and labor. The negative side to the wire brush/wire cup system is that you must change brushes or cups to accommodate the size pipe or pipe fittings you are trying to clean. And each time you do this there is a possibility of misplacing or losing these small tools.

(c) The other approach is the multi-head scarifying tool U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,715. This tool has four wire brushes mounted on one tool. There are two different size wire brushes and two different size wire cups. The negative thing about this tool is, #1 when one of the heads wear out you cannot replace that specific head. #2 This is still a manual tool, and consequently slow, and inefficient.

SUMMERY

All of the methods listed to date are manual and slow, and limited to size, with the exception of the single wire brush or wire cup on a drill motor, and that system wastes time in changing brushes to accommodate the pipe or fitting size.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES

Accordingly, besides the objects and advantages of the existing sanding, Single wire brushes, and the multi-head scarifying tool. They are:

(a) Inexpensive.

(b) Dependable.

(c) Simple to use.

However, our invention possesses all of the above advantages. Plus:

(a) Cleans pipes and fittings faster.

(b) Worn parts can be changed.

(c) Unlike the others, it can clean any size pipe with out changing heads.

(d) It is lightweight and portable.

(c) Made of loud color plastic, makes it less likely to misplace or lose on the job site.

(d) The tool is very durable and easy to maintain.

(e) This tool can be used without a motor.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows the entire tool. (Isometric Projection)[0022]

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

[0023] 1 housing
[0024] 2 wire brush gear assembly with drill shaft
[0025] 3 Wire brush gear assembly with short shaft
[0026] 4 left gear closure
[0027] 5 right gear closure
[0028] 6 bushings
[0029] 7 bushing bolts
[0030] 8 right closure bolt/rotation arresting rod
[0031] 9 left closure bolt
[0032] 10 manual cranking gear
[0033] 11 manual cranking leaver
Description—FIG. 1—Preferred Embodiment [0034]
[0035] 1 in this preferred embodiment, this housing is made of plastic, such as ( nylon ). However, the housing can consist of any other material that can house the gears and stand up to the fatigue of friction, and fracturing, such as metal, etc. It consists of three deep well holes for the gears 2, 3 and 10. The dept of the holes are deep enough and wide enough to allow some play of the gears. The shaft holes are perfectly in the middle of these wells and aligned as to hold the gears in position into each other. Flanking the two smaller deep well holes are two smaller holes. These holes are threaded to receive the 7 bushing bolts. The lower part of this housing has two threaded holes, one receives bolts for the left closure, and the other receives a 8 bolt/rotation-arresting rod on the right side. 2 is a tube wire brush of prior art, with a gear attached on the shaft. The shaft length is extended long enough behind the gear as to attache the drill chuck. The gear is made of plastic, such as acetals (Delrin). However, the gear can consist of any other material, such as metal, etc. 3 is also a tube wire brush of prior art, with a gear attached on the shaft. The shaft length is shorter behind the gear as to seat the shaft flush to the back of the housing. The gear is made of plastic, such as acetals (Delrin). However, the gear can Be made of any other material, such as metal, etc. 4 is the left closure and is made of plastic such as (nylon). However, the closure can be made of any other material, such as metal. Its purpose is to hold the wire brush/gear assembly in place. 5 is the right closure and is made of plastic such as (nylon). However, the closure can be made of any other material, such as metal, etc. Its purpose is to hold the wire brush/gear assembly in place. 6 are the bushings and they are made of metal such as steel, however they could be made of plastic, such as (G E Lexan). 7 are the bushing bolts. They are made of metal such as steel. There function is to hold the bushings, and the gear closures onto the housing. This is to keep the wire brush/gear assembly in place. 8 is the right closure bolt/rotation arresting rod. It is made of metal, however the rod can be made of plastic. Its function is to hold the right closure to the housing. And to stop the entire tool from rotation when in use. 9 is the left closure bolt, is made of metal. Its function is to hold the left closure to the housing. 10 is the cranking gear assembly. The gear is made of plastic and the shaft is of metal. Its function is to engage the 3 tube wire brush gear, for the manual operation. 11 is the manual cranking leaver. This leaver enables you to use the tool manually by rotating it. It is made of plastic, such as (nylon), however it could be made of metal such as steel.
Advantages [0036]
From the description above, a number of advantages of our Portable Power Driven Scarifying Tool for Pipe Ends become evident. [0037]
(a) With the major portion of the tool made of plastic, it is very inexpensive. [0038]
(b) Because the tool is made of plastic and metal, it has a long service life. [0039]
(c) With the plastic portion of this tool made of a loud color plastic is easy to locate on the job site. [0040]
(d) With the use of safety glasses and heavy gloves, (which should always be used when working with wire brushes) is very safe to use. [0041]
(e) This tool is also very easy to use. [0042]
(f) This tool can be used manually, as well as motor driven. [0043]
Operation [0044]
The manner of using the Portable Power Driven Scarifying Tool for Pipe Ends. [0045]
A drill motor is attached to [0046] 2 the rear shaft of the wire brush assembly. The 8 arresting rod is then placed on the wrist or against the handle of the drill motor, while the copper fitting is placed into one of the heads. The drill motor is then started and the cleaning begins. To clean the pipe ends, you place the end of pipe over 6 either bushings, start the drill motor and rotate the pipe slowly, until the pipe end is clean.
Although this tool is design to be used primary with a drill motor, it can also be of used manually, just by doing the same as above. However, instead of using the drill motor, turn the [0047] 10 crank at the bottom of the tool. This action will rotate the 2 and 3 wire brushes.
The [0048] 6 bushing also serves as a finger guard. They are position to stop or retard the operator from putting there fingers between the wire brushes.
Conclusion, Ramifications, and Scope [0049]
Accordingly, the reader will see that this power driven scarifying tool, to clean pipes and fittings easily, quickly, and conveniently, is far superior to any existing art. Furthermore, this tool has additional advantages in that [0050]
it will remove loose metal, or burrs off of saw pipe ends. [0051]
it will also remove debris from the threaded end of black and galvanized pipes. [0052]
Although the description above contains many specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merely providing illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments of this invention. The housing can have other shapes, such as longer, wider, rounder, or squarer, etc. [0053]
Thus the scope of this invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the example given. [0054]

Claims

We claim:

1. This scarifying devise for cleaning pipe ends and pipe fittings is a transmission comprising of:

a. A housing that is made of plastic or metal that secure gears.

b. The gears having shafts through the center.

c. The gears are contiguous to each other.

d. The closures made of plastic or metal, that sandwich these gears into the housing and maintain the shafts ninety-degree angle to the tool.

e. Two of these shafts having wire tube brushes attached to them.

f. The third shaft having a crank attached to it for manual use.

g. The two tube wire brushes are flanked by bushings on each side.

h. The bushings and the closures are held together by the bushing bolts.

i. These bushing bolts also hold the closures onto the housing at the top end of the tool.

j. The bottom of the left side of the tool is held together by the left closure bolt/rotation arresting rod.

k. The bottom of the right side of the tool is held together by the right closure bolt/rotation arresting rod.

l. The closure bolt/rotation arresting rod, when resting on the operators forearm or against the drill motor handle, stops the tool from rotating.

2. This scarifying devise for cleaning pipe ends and pipe fitting is a transmission comprising of:

a. A housing that is made of plastic or metal that secure pulleys and belts.

b. The pulleys having a shafts through the center.

c. The pulleys are contiguous to one another by a belt or belts.

d. The closures made of plastic or metal sandwich these pulleys into the housing and maintain the shafts ninety-degree angle to the tool.

e. Two of these shafts having wire tub brushes attached to them.

f. The third shaft having a crank attached to it for manual use.

g. The two tube wire brushes are flanked by bushings on each side.

h. The bushings and the closures are held together by the bushing bolts.

3. This scarifying devise for cleaning pipe ends and pipe fittings is a transmission/motor comprising of:

a. The transmission configuration that is said to be the the same as claim 1 and or 2.

b. The closure bolt/rotation arresting rod, is directly bolted to a motor, thereby arresting the rotation of the tool.