US3105255A - Machine for cleaning elongated objects - Google Patents

Description

Oct. ,1, 1963 A. c. GANNON' MACHINE FOR cmmmc .ELONGATED OBJECTS [F led May 10, 1962 '6 Sheets-Sheet 1 0 00i ocnouoo INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNON Hood,GuAt #Inibh AHorneys Oct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELLONGATED OBJECTS I Filed May 10, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNoN Hvocl. GuAt Iru'Ah A'Horngs Oct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

2 I MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 I e Sheets-Sheeta The . INVENTOR. ALFRED C. GANNoN Hvod, aw 1w A++ovn9$ Oct. 1, 1963 c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 v e Sheets-Shet 4 IHIHHHHHHHHIIHII ql'l'l'l'l'l'l HIHIIH IHI I 1 mm! \WHIIIHHIHHHIIIIH hum HHIHIIHIIHHHHIIIIH INVENTOR ALFRED C. GANNON v Hood, Gust 1w Aflorneys Oct. 1,1963 A. c. GANNON MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS.

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 16. 1962- INVENTOR. ALFRED C. GANNON Homi, Gm lhlbh Afiorneps Oct. 1, 1963 A. c. GANNON 3,105,255

MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED OBJECTS Filed May 10, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 m Mo w i F H A IheVENTOR. LFRED .GANNON Flg. lo Hood, Gun. 1w

A'Horngs United States Patent 3,105,255 MACl'fl If. FGR CLEANKNG ELONGATED GBJET Alfred C. Gannon, Abilene, Tex. (R0. Box 123ll2, Preston fitation, 6127B Eanrlera, Dallas 25, Tex.) Filed May 10, 1962, Ser. No. 193,795 14 lIlaims. (Cl. 15-88) The present invention relates to cleaning, and is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved machine primarily designed for cleaning elongated objects, generally known in the trade as smokesticks. Smokesticks are used for the suspension of comestibles such as, for instance, sausages in smoking and/or cooking chambers. They are usually, but not necessarily, made of light metal and, while they may take the shape of cylindrical rods, it has become customary to use, instead, sticks of generally fluted cross sectional configuration so that any such stick is usually formed to define a plurality of longitudinally extending concavities of various shapes. Usually, the cross sectional shape of any such concavity is non-circular; and this fact poses a problem in connection with the effective cleaning of smokesticks.

It will be apparent that, when strings of sausages are draped over a support of the character in question and are subjected to smoking and/ or cooking treatment over extended periods, grease, bits of meat and smoke residue will inevitably accumulate on the support element and, in many instances, will adhere thereto with considerable tenacity. Obviously, a smokestick in such a condition cannot be reused until it has been thoroughly and efiectively cleansed. It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a machine to which such sticks may be successively fed and in which the smokesticks will be thus effectively cleansed as they progress through the machine and before they are discharged therefrom.

Because of the above described configuration of smokesticks which are presently available on the market, it will be apparent that their surfaces cannot be eifectively scrubbed by brushes or other cleaning elements which are mounted to rotate upon axes parallel with the length of the sticks. A brush which is mounted to rotate upon an axis perpendicular to the stick length can engage a moving stick only in a longitudinally-short area at any instant. According to the present invention, therefore, I provide brush means arranged to circumscribe the external surface of a stick passing through the machine and to conform to the external, cross sectional configuration of the stick; and I reciprocate the brush means rapidly in the line of travel of the work piece through the machine, whereby every integer in the length of the work piece is engaged, for an appreciable period of time, by the scrubbing action of the brush means.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described, a novel feed means whereby work pieces are successively carried through the machine at a controlled rate and are discharged therefrom. In one form of my invention which, for some purposes, is preferred, the feed means automatically confers an intermittent travel upon the work pieces as they pass through the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel brush means comprising a carriage mounted for reciprocation in the line of passage of work pieces through the machine and supporting a plurality of contoured, individual brushes cooperating to surround and engage completely the external surface of a work piece, the brushes being so supported upon the carriage that they may be concurrently moved generally radially away from the line of travel of the work piece but are normally resiliently urged toward that line.

3-,w'5l55 Patented Get. 1, 1%63 'ice A still further object of the invention is to provide, in association with such a brush means, novel drive mechanism for reciprocating the said carriage in the line of travel of work pieces, at a velocity exceeding the travel velocity of the work pieces.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described and in association with such reciprocating brush means, a means for forcibly flushing the Work pieces with cleaning liquid, during the scrubbing action of the brush means, such flushing means, however, being stationarily mounted so that it does not participate in the reciprocating action of the brush means.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of the character described, means for recirculating the flushing liquid within a washing chamber in which the reciprocating brush means is mounted, together with means for deluging work pieces, after they emerge from the washing chamber, with rinse liquid in a rinsing chamber whereby all traces of the washing liquid will be effectively removed from the work pieces before they are discharged from the machine, the machine being provided with withdrawal feed means for discharging the work pieces from the machine.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in such a machine, brush means of such character as to permit, through a simple adjustment, substitution of one form of brush contour for another in order to accommodate the machine to different contours of work pieces; or, alternatively, to substitute a fresh set of bristles for a worn set without dismemberment of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in such a machine, various facile adjustments for accommodating the machine to operate upon varying sizes and shapes of work pieces.

Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, my invention may be embodied in the forms illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specific constructions illustrated and described, so long as the scope of the appended claims is not violated.

FIG. 1A is a side view of the upper portion of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention, parts being broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 1B is a similar view of the lower portion of the same machine;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine with its top Wall removed;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation of the machine as seen from the right hand end of FIGS. 1A and 113;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional View taken substantially on the line 44 of FIG. 3 and illustratin-g parts of a one-way drive mechanism for the input feed means;

'FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view looking toward the left from a position between the shafts of the input feed mechanism in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, fnagmental sectional view illustrating the manner in which the brush elements of one configuration cooperate with one form of commerciallyknown smokestick;

FIG. 8 is a similar View illustrating the conformation and mode of cooperation of another form of brush elements with another form of smokestick;

FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 are similar views illustrating still further forms of smokesticks and their cooperating brush elements; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modified form of input feed means.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the reference numeral indicates generally a vat or tank, which may be referred to as a frame, and comprising side walls 21 and 22, end walls 23 and 24 and a bottom wall 25. At a suitable point between the end walls 23 and 24, a partition 26 spans the tank and has a substantially water-tight association with the side walls 2-1 and 22 and the bottom wall to define a wash chamber 27 and a rinse chamber 23 within the tank 2%. The tank is preferably, but not necessarily, provided with a removable top wall 29 which is preferably formed of transparent Plexiglas or its equivalent.

Perforations 39, 31 and '32 are formed on a common axis respectively in the end wall 24, the partition 26- and the end wall 23 to constitute work guides. Preferably, bushing means (not shown) will be mounted in the said perforations to improve the work guiding function.

It is recognized that smokesticks sometimes become slightly deformed while in use as a result of the loads supported thereon and their long subjection to elevated temperatures. As will appear below, the input feed means of the present invention tends to straighten such sticks in one direction, but guard means 3-3 may preferably be mounted upon the partition 26 (and/or upon the end wall 24, if desired) to tend to straighten and guide the smokesticks in a direction perpendicular to said one direction.

The input feed means of the present invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 34, while withdrawal feed means is indicated generally by the reference numeral 35. The feed means 34 comprises a frame 36 suitably supported near the end wall 24. A floor plate 37 is rigidly mounted in said frame a significant distance below the common axis of the guide means 36, 31, 32. A bed plate 38 is supported, from said floor plate, upon a plurality of coiled springs '39 which are respectively sleeved on pins 40 penetrating the floor plate 37, carrymg adjusting nuts 41 below the floor plate and having heads which engage the uppermost surfaces of bearing blocks 42 and 43 mounted :on the bed plate 38'. Thus the bearing blocks 42 and 43 are resiliently supported below the above-mentioned common axis and their degree of approach to that axis is adjustably determined by the nuts 41 on the pins 40.

There are two blocks 42 and two blocks 43, and a shaft 44 is journalled in the blocks 42 while a shaft 45 is journalled in the blocks 43. Sprockets 46 and 47 are supported, respectively, on the shafts 44 and 45 and a block type belt 48 is trained over said sprockets. The nuts 41 are so adjusted that, when a work piece 162 is fed into the mechanism, the work-engaging surface of the upper run of the belt 48 will be slightly depressed against the tendency of the springs 39, whereby the force of those springs will be exerted against the work piece through said belt run.

A significant distance above the common axis of the guides 343, 3d, 32, a support plate 49 is fixedly mounted in the frame 35. A carrier plate 50 is supported from the plate 49 by means of springs 51 sleeved on pins 52 and confined between the heads of those pins and the plate 4-9, the pins 52 carrying nuts 53 which bear against the lower surface of the plate 49 under the influence of the springs 51. Bearing pairs 54 and 55 mounted on the carrier plate 50 provide journal mountings for shafts 56 and "57 upon which are supported grooved idler wheels 53 and 59 The wheels 58 and 59 are so positioned that, when a work piece 162 is engaged in the feed mechanism, they engage and guide the work piece and constitute a backing support for the piece against the force exerted upon said piece, through the belt 48, by the springs 39. The work-engaging surfaces of the wheels 58 and 59 are located above the common axis of the guide perforations by a dimension substantially equal to the dimension by which the work-engaging surface of the upper run of the belt 48 is located below that common axis.

It will be seen that, to accommodate the machine to work pieces of smaller cross sectional dimensions, the plate 59 may be separated from the plate 49, against the tendency of the springs 51, and shims may be inserted between the plates 49 and 50.

An clectnic motor 60 (FIG. 1B) is suitably mounted adjacent the tank and is connected, by a belt 61, to drive a pulley 62 on a shaft 63. It will be recognized, of course, that a chain and sprockets might be substituted for the belt 61 and its pulleys; and whereover belts and pulleys are mentioned herein, those terms are intended to include chains and sprockets. The shaft 63 carries, also, a pulley 64 which is connected, by a belt 65, to drive a pulley 66 on a shaft 67. A pulley 68 on said shaft 67 is connected by a belt 69 to drive a pulley 70 on a shaft 71 (FIGS. 1A, 2 and 3).

The shaft 71 carries a rotor 72 to which one end of a pitman 73 is operatively connected as at 74. The opposite end of the pitman 73 is connected, as at 75, to one end of a double lever 76 which is fixed relative to an annular housing 77 (FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) journalled on the shaft 45. The housing 77 carries a radially-reciprocable, spring pressed pawl 78 cooperable with a cog 79 fixed to the shaft 45, thus constituting a one-way clutch between the lever 76 and the shaft 45. It will be clear that, as the shaft 71 is driven by the motor 69, the lever 76 will be oscillated about the axis of the shaft. As the lever moves in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1A, the pawl 78 will be cammed outwardly to pass the teeth of the cog 7?; and as the lever moves in a counter-clockwise direction, the pawl 78 will engage the cog teeth to turn the shaft 45 in a counter-clockwise direction, thus advancing the upper run of the belt 43 toward the left, whereby the work piece 162 will be correspondingly moved.

A plurality of guide means or bearings is supported from each of the end wall 24- and partition 26. As shown, these comprise a pair of upper guide bearings 81 and 81 disposed upon a common axis and two pairs of guide bearings 82 and 83, the bearings of each pair being disposed upon a common axis. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the common axis of the bearings and 81 is disposed above the axis of the work guides 30, 31 and 32 and in a common vertical plane therewith, while the respective pairs of Ibearings 82. and 83 are dis posed below the axis of the work guides and are equally and oppositely spaced from the mentioned vertical plane.

A carriage is indicated generally by the reference numeral 84 and comprises a slide rod 85 reciprocably mounted in the bearings 80 and 81 and two slide rods 36 and 87, each mounted in one of the hearing pairs 82 and 83.

Referring particularly to FIG. 5, it will be seen that a lever 88 is journal-led, intermediate its ends, upon the slide rod 85, a similar lever 89 is similarly mounted on the rod 87 and still another lever 99 is similarly mounted on the rod 86. The three levers 88, 89 and 99 are disposed substautially in a common transverse plane closely adjacent the end wall 24. At a point near the partition 26, three idler levers 91, 92 and 93 (FIGS. 1A and 2) are similarly mounted, respectively, on the slides 85, 86 and 87. All six of the above mentioned levers are held against axial movement relative totheir respective rods by collars 94, or other equivalent retaining means.

One end or arm 95 of the lever 88' extends generally toward the line of travel of work pieces through the machine and is formed to receive a trunnion 96 at one end of a brush unit 97, a similar trunnion at the other end of said brush unit being similarly supported from the lever 91, whereby the length of the brush unit 97 is supported in substantial parallelism with the line of travel of work pieces through the machine.

Similarly, the inner end or arm 98 of the lever 89 is formed to receive a trunnion 99 at one end of a similar brush unit 1843, the trunnion at the opposite end of the brush unit 100 being similarly supported from the lever 92. in the same way, the inner arm 101 of the lever 98 supports a trunnion 102 at one end of a similar brush unit 163, the opposite end of said brush unit being similarly supported in the lever 93.

Each brush unit, as shown, comprises four sets of bristles or other suitable Wearing surfaces, 184, 185, 106 and 1417 extending radially outwardly, at angular intervals of 90, from the core of the brush unit. As will be more fully explained hereinafter, each bristle set is so designed as to define, at its distal end, a contour corresponding to the contour of that portion of the external surface of the work piece with which it is set to cooperate. Suitable means (not shown) is provided for retaining the trunnions of each brush unit against rotational movement relative to the lever arms from which it is supported, in any one of four selective positions, 90 removed from each other. Thus, after a period of use and when, for instance, the bristle set 194 has become worn, the brush unit 103 may be turned through 90 about its own axis relative to the lever arms 101 and 93, to move the bristle set 164 out of cooperative relation to a work piece and to shift the bristle set 105 into such cooperative relation; and it will be clear that such adjustment of any one of the brush units may be effected independently of the other brush units in the assembly.

The other arm of the lever 88 extends generally away from the line of movement of the work piece through the machine, and is pivotally attached, as at 108, to an actuator ring 111. The outer arms or" the levers 39 and 90 are similarly pivotally connected to said ring 111 at 109 and 115, respectively. Thus, the ring 1-11 is supported upon the outer arms of the levers 88, 89 and 90 for oscillatory movement about the axis which is common to the work guides 36, 31 and 32. An actuator arm 112 extends radially outwardly from the ring 111, through a suitable slot (not shown) in the top wall or cover 29, where it is accessible for manipulation. It will be clear that, when the arm 112 is moved toward the left, as viewed in FIG. 5, the lever arms 95, 98 and 191 will be turned in counterclockwise directions about the slide rods 85, 8'7 and 86, respectively, whereby the brush units 97 -8 and 103 will be moved substantially radially away from the line of travel of work pieces through the machine. A coiled spring 113 is connected at one end to the arm 112 and at its opposite end to anchor means 114 on, for instance, the wall 24, and continuously yieldably urges the am 112 toward the right, thus urging the brush units into the positions illustrated in FIG. 7, whereby their several distal ends conforrnably engage a work piece disposed within the lengths of the several brush units.

An eccentric 115 (FIG. 1A) on the shaft 67 carries a collar 116 (FIGS. 1A and 3). A suitably mounted bracket 117 provides a stationary mounting for a pivot pin 118 upon which is pivotally mounted, between its ends, a rocker arm 119. The lower end of said arm is cperativeiy connected, as at 129, with an eye pin 121 fixedly projecting radially from the collar 116, whereby rotation of the shaft 67 will cause oscillation of the rocker arm 119 about its pivot 118.

A web or triangular ring 122 spans and is fixed to the slide rods 85, 86 and 87; and the other end of the rocker arm 119 is pivoted as at 123 to a pin 124 operatively en gaged with the web 122. Thus, oscillation of the rocker arm 119 will drive the carriage 84 through a reciprooatory stroke; and the parts are so proportioned and designed that the velocity of the carriage in its movement toward the left as viewed in FIG. 1A exceeds the velocity of the work piece under the influence of the feed means 34.

Thus, during the period within which any integer of the length of a work piece is within the length of the brush assembly, it will be constantly subjected, throughout its entire external surface, to the scrubbing action of the brush assembly.

A motor driven pump 125 (FIG. .1 13) is suitably suspended from the machine frame with its intake in open communication, through a conduit 126 and perforated filter unit 127, with the interior of the wash chamber 27 in which a suitable volume of liquid normally stands. That liquid may be plain water but it will preferably be a detergent solution of any suitable kind having a strong tendency to loosen fat, meat particles and other foreign substances from metal surfaces. A stand pipe 128 is connected to the delivery port of the pump 1-25 and supports, at its upper end, an arcuate pipe 129 which terminates in an elongated header 13%} disposed in substantial parallelism with the line of travel of work pieces through the machine and in the vicinity of the brush assembly, said header being provided, at suitably spaced points in its length, with spray ports 131 (FIGS. 1A and 5). At its opposite end, the arcuate pipe 129 communicates with a second header 132, similar in construction and disposition to the header and a second arcuate pipe 1'33 communicates with the pipe 129 and carries, at its distal end, a further longitudinally-extending spray header 134. As shown, the arcuate pipes will clear the several brush units as the carriage 84 reciprocates, and the several headers are disposed generally between adjacent brush units. Thus, the spray device need not participate in carriage reciprocation but will continuously flush that portion of a work piece which is currently within the infiuence of the brush assembly, with a detergent liquid.

Referring again to FIG. 1 B, it will be seen that a conduit 135 opens through the floor of the wash chamber 27 and leads, through a valve 136, to a branch of a junction fitting 137 which is connected in a waste pipe 138 opening through the floor of the rinse chamber 28. Normally, the valve 136 will be closed, whereby the body of liquid in the wash chamber will be retained for recirculation by the pump 125. When that body of liquid becomes unduly contaminated, however, the valve 136 will be opened and the liquid in the wash chamber will be drained away, later to be replaced after closure of the valve 136.

A supply pipe 139 (FIGS. 2 and 3), controlled by a valve 140, leads from a suitable source (not shown) of supply of clean rinse water to a spray coil 141 disposed -in the rinse chamber 28 and circumscribing the line of travel of work pieces through the rinse chamber. When the valve is open, of course work pieces traveling through the rinse chamber will be deluged with clean water to remove all traces of the detergent mixture; and that water, falling to the floor of the rinse chamber, will be continually drained away through the waste pipe 138.

The withdrawal feed means 35 (FIG. 1A) comprises a frame 1-42 suitably supported from the pantition 26 in the rinse chamber 28. A floor plate 143 supports bearing blocks 144 through springs 145 sleeved on pins 146 having nuts 147 for cooperation with the floor plate 143, in a manner analogous to the support of the plate 38. A shaft 148 is journalled in the bearings 14-4 and supports a roller 149 having a frictional, peripheral surface resiliently urged into driving engagement with a work piece traveling through the rinse chamber 28. A support plate 150 is secured in the frame 142 and carrier plates 151 supporting bearings 152. are supported from said plate 150 by means of springs 153 sleeved on pins 154 carrying nuts 155. A shaft 156 is journa'lled in the bearings 152 and supports a grooved wheel 157 similar to the Wheels 58 and 59. A pulley or sprocket 158 is mounted on the shaft 148 outside the tank 20 and a belt or chain 159 is trained over said pulley or sprocket 158 and a pulley or sprocket 160 on the shaft 45, whereby the roll 149 is driven synchronously with the belt 48. An idler tensioning pulley or sprocket 161 preferably engages the member 159 between the shafts 45 and 148.

The currently most widely used form of smokestick is that illustrated at 162 in FIGS. 3, 5, 6 and 7, and is formed to provide a cross sectional shape comprising three equiangularly spaced fins 163, 164 and 165-, defining itherebetween longitudinally extending concavities 166, 167 and 168.

Preferably, each block of the belt 48 will carry a pad 169 of friction material; and, as is most clearly shown in FIG. 6, each such pad will preferably be contoured, on its exposed surface, to define a protuberance 179 substantially conforming to one of the concavities, for instance 166, of the work piece 162, thereby increasing the effectiveness with which the work piece is gripped by the feed means 34. As is clearly illustrated, likewise in FIG. 6, when the protuberance 170 is engaged in the concavity 166, the fin 163 of the piece 162 is frictionally engaged in the grooves of the wheels 58 md 59, whereby the work piece is effectively gripped for advancement by the mechanism 34. 1

As is most clearly shown in FIG. 7 when this type of smokestick is to be cleaned, the active bristle sets will be contoured, at their distal ends, to fit snugly within the respective concavities and to overlie substantially onehalf of the distal edge of each fin bounding that concavity, so that the three bristle sets cooperate to engage all points on the external surface of the smokestick 162.

When, however, a simple cylindrical rod, such as that suggested at 162 in FIG. 8, is to be cleaned, the distal ends of the bristle sets 104' of the respective brush units will be shaped as indicated in that figure, to accomplish a corresponding result.

In FIG. 9 I have shown another commercial form of smokestick 16 which may be made from sheet metal bent to provide sloping sides converging in a rounded upper ridge and flaring at their lower, distal edges to define shallow external lateral concavities and a deep, sharply V-shaped internal concavity 171. In this case, the distal ends of the bristle sets of the several brush units will be individually shaped, with the brush unit 172 designed to penetrate and conform to the deep concavity 171.

A somewhat similar commercial shape 162" is shown in FIG. 10; wherein I have shown allochirally shaped bristle sets to engage the external surfaces of the smokestick and a special bristle set 173 to cooperate with the internal surfaces of the deep concavity 185 of this form of smokestick.

When the machine is to be used to clean smokesticks of the type shown in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10, the protuberances 170 of the belt pads 169 will preferably be contoured to engage conformably in the deep concavity 171 or 185.

In FIG. 11, I have shown still another form of smokest-ick 16 which is closely similar to the form of FIG. 7 except that its fins terminate in double barbs as at 174. In this figure, I have shown, also, the contour to which the distal ends of the bristle sets are formed in order to accomplish effective scrubbing action on this form of smokestick.

While there are advantages, as suggested above, in the intermittent work feed provided by the feed mechanism 34, there may be some applications of the present machine in which such intermittent feed is unnecessary; and in FIG. 12 I have illustrated a modified drive for a similar feed mechanism 34. As there shown, the shaft 45' carries, in addition to its sprocket, a pulley 180. A belt 175 is trained over the pulley 68 and over a pulley 176 on a shaft 177 which carries, also, a pulley 178 which, through a belt 179, drives the pulley 18% to establish a continuous drive for the belt 43.

In both forms of feed mechanism, preferably a hearing plate .183 will be supported from the plate 38 and the belt 48 will be provided with rollers 184 which will be supported upon the bearing plate 183 positively to prevent sag of the upper run of the belt 48 in the region between the sprockets 46 and 47.

In FIG. 3 I have illustrated an electric junction box 182, through which the motor for the pump 12-5 is supplied.

Since the operation of the machine has been fully outlined by a description of the operation of each subassernbly immediately following its mechanical explanation, only a brief rsunr of operation appears to be necessary at this point. Smokesticks are manually supplied successively to the feed mechanism 34. As the belt as is driven, a stick engaged between the belt and the rollers 58 and 59 will be advanced toward the left as seen in FIG. 1A. 'Because the stick is tightly gripped between the advancing belt and the spaced rollers 58 and 59, any vertical distortion of the stick will to a large extent be corrected as the stick passes through the mechanism 34. The leading end of the stick will pass through the web 122, will enter the guide 3% and will progress into the influence of the reciprocating brush assembly and will pass therefrom between the converging plates of the guard 33, whereby any lateral or horizontal distortion of the stick will be, to a large extent, corrected and the stick Will be caused to enter the guide 31. Meantime, the stick will be subjected to the flushing action of the spray from the headers 13%), 132 and 134 and to the attritional action of the brush assembly, whereby foreign particles adhering to the work will be dislodged. Since the action of the flushing liquid will be improved if it is held at an elevated temperature, I prefer to arrange one or more electrical heater units 181 in the wash chamber 27, below the level of the body of liquid normally standing therein, as suggested in FIGS. 13 and 2.

As the first of a succession of smokesticks approaches the brush assembly, the actuator arm 112 will be moved to the left, as viewed in FIG. 5, to separate the brush units and permit easy entry of the stick into the assembly. Once the stick has entered, the arm 112 will be released, whereby the spring 113 will resiliently return the brush units and hold them in cooperative engagement with the advancing work pieces. Sticks Will be fed to the machine at a rate such that a following stick will enter the brush assembly before a leading stick leaves that assembly, so that manipulation of the actuator will not ordinarily be necessary except at the beginning of a run.

As each stick emerges from the guide 31, it will be gripped between the roller 149 and the idler Wheel 157 of the withdrawal feed means 35 and will be advanced through the rinse coil 141, where it will be flooded with clean rinse water, and through the guide 32 for discharge from the machine. The means 35 further restrains work which has left the input feed means against retrograde movement under the influence of the reciprocating carriage 84 and its brush assemblies.

While I presently believe that bristled units such as those illustrated at 97, the and 103 of the drawings herein constitute the optirnum form of brush means for use in the present machine, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, as suggested in the opening paragraphs of the present specification, other forms of cleaning elements might be used in place of bristled brushes. Thus, for instance, stainless steel sponges, or other known types of erosive or abrasive materials, properly contoured for effective cooperation with the selected form of smokestick, might be employed in the machine; and wherever reference is made herein to brush means, or to bristles, it is to be understood that I intend to include such equivalent forms of cleaning elements or the wear surfaces thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame, work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with such pieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through the machine, carriage guide means supported from said frame adjacent said work guide means, a carriage supported from said carriage guide means for reciprocation in the line of passage of such pieces through the machine, a plurality of cleaning elements carried by said carriage, arranged in a peripheral series about the line of passage of such pieces through the machine and proportioned and designed, at their mutually adjacent faces, cooperatively to engage the entire external surface of such a piece as it passes said carriage, a power source, feed means engage-able with such a work piece to forward the same through said carriage, means connecting said power source to drive said feed means intermittently, a rocker arm, means connecting said power source to oscillate said rocker arm, and means operatively connecting said rocker arm to reciprocate said carriage upon oscillation of said arm.

2. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame, work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with such pieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through the machine, carriage guide means supported from said frame adjacent said work guide means, a carriage supported from said carriage guide means for reciprocation in the line of passage of such pieces through the machine, a plurality of cleaning elements carried by said carriage, arranged in a peripheral series about the line of passage of such pieces through the machine and proportioned and designed, at their mutually adjacent faces, cooperatively to engage the entire external surface of such a piece as it passes said carriage, a power source, feed means engageable with such a work piece to forward the same through said carriage, means connecting said power source to drive said feed means, a rocker arm, means connecting said power source to oscillate said rocker arm, and means operatively connecting said rocker arm to reciprocate said carriage at a lineal velocity exceeding the velocity at which said feed means drives such a work piece, upon oscillation of said arm.

3. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame, work guide means supported from said frame and cooperable with such pieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through the machine, a carriage comprising a plurality of slides paralleling the line of passage of .such pieces through the machine and arranged in a peripheral series about said line, a plurality of levers, each mounted, intermediate its ends, on a separate one of said slides and held against movement longitudinal'ly relative to its slide but oscillable about the axis of its slide, one end of each lever extending generally toward the line of passage of Work pieces through the machine and carrying a cleaning element, and the other end of each lever extending generally away from said line, and actuator means operatively connected to said other ends of all of said leverand oscilla-ble about said line to move said cleaning elements toward and away from said line, means biasing said actuator means in a direction to urge said cleaning elements toward said line, guide means supported from said frame and reciprocably supporting said slides, a member fixed relative to all of said slides, a power source, a rocker arm operatively connected to said member, and means connecting said power source to oscillate said rocker arm.

4. In a machine for cleaning elongated work pieces, an elongated frame, work guide means supported from said frame and coopera ble with such pieces to guide the same during their longitudinal passage through the machine, a carriage comprising a plurality of slides paralleling the line of passage of such pieces through the machine and arranged in a peripheral series about said line, a first plurality of levers, each mounted, intermediate its ends, on a separate one of said slides and held against movement longitudinally relative to its slide but oscillable about the axis of its slide, one end of each lever extending generally toward the line of passage of work pieces through the machine, a second and corresponding plurality of levers, each mounted on a separate one of said slides and held against movement longitudinally relative to its slide but oscillable about the "axis of its slide, one end of each lever extending generally toward the line of passage of work pieces through the machine, a brush suspended between said one end of each lever of the first plurality and said one end of the corresponding lever of the second plurality with the distal ends of the bristles of each brush directed generally toward said line, and actuator means operatively connected to the other ends of all of the levers of said first plurality and oscillable about said line to move said brushes toward and away from said line, means biasing said actuator means in a direction to urge said brushes toward said line, guide means supported from said frame and reciprocably supporting said slides, a member fixed relative to all of said slides, a power source, a rocker arm operatively connected to said member, and means connecting said power source to oscillate said rocker arm.

5. The machine of claim 4 in which, when said brushes are substantially at their positions of closest approach to said line, the distal ends of the bristles of the several brushes cooperate to define a substantially closed figure.

6. The machine of claim 5 in which the closed figure so defined corresponds to the external, cross-sectional contour of such a work piece.

7. The machine of claim 6 in which each brush has a longitudinal axis and is mounted for rotational adjustment about its own longitudinal axis relative to the lever ends from which it is suspended, each brush being provided with a plurality of corresponding sets of bristles and each bristle set of each brush being angularly offset, relative to each other bristle set, about said longitudinal axis of its brush.

8. The machine of claim 4 in which each brush has a longitudinal axis and is mounted for rotational adjustment about its own longitudinal axis relative to the lever ends from which it is suspended, each brush being provided with a plurality of corresponding sets of bristles and each bristle set of each brush being angularly offset, relative to each other bristle set, about said longitudinal axis of its brush.

9. The machine of claim 4 including feed means engageable with such a work piece to forward the same through the machine, and means connecting said power source to drive said feed means.

10. The machine of claim 9 in which said connecting means drives said feed means intermittently.

11. The machine of claim 9 in which said rocker arm drives said carriage at a lineal velocity exceeding the velocity at which said feed means forwards such a work piece.

12. The machine of claim 4 including feed means engageable with such a work piece to forward the same through the machine, and means connecting said power source to drive said feed means, said feed means comprising a block-type belt disposed with one run slightly offset in one direction from the axis of said work guide means, the exposed surface of said one belt run being formed of friction material, idling pressure means slightly offset in the opposite direction from said axis and engageable with a work piece engaged by said one belt run, and spring means yieldably resisting separation between said pressure means and said belt.

13. The machine of claim 12 for use with work pieces whose cross-sectional contour is such as to define a longitudinally-continuous concavity, in which said exposed surface of said one belt run is shaped to fit snugly and fr-ictionally within such concavity.

14. In a machine of the class described, work feed means comprising a continuous, block-type belt, a pair of shafts journalled on spaced, parallel axes, drive wheel means on said shafts, said belt being drivingly trained 1 1 1 2 over said drive wheel means to define belt runs, the ex- References Cited in the file of this patent posed face of said belt being formed of friction material, a further shaft, a peripherally-grooved Wheel supported UNITED STATES PATENTS t on said rfurther shaft for rotation about the axis thereof, 1,056,403 Crane Mar. 18, 1913 with its groove presented toward one run of said belt, 5 2,179,331 Sedgwick 14 1938 spring means yieldably resisting separation of said belt 2 251 291 Reiohelt 1 Aug 1941 and said Wheel, a power source, a rotor driven from said power source, a lever mounted for oscillation about the 2282628 Whaml et May 12, 1942 axis of said one shaft, a one-Way clutch between said 2,319,481 L CI-K ri Jan. 14, 1958 lever and said one shaft, and a pitman connected between 10 said rotor and said lever.

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Claims (1)

1. IN A MACHINE FOR CLEANING ELONGATED WORK PIECES, AN ELONGATED FRAME, WORK GUIDE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME AND COOPERABLE WITH SUCH PIECES TO GUIDE THE SAME DURING THEIR LONGITUDINAL PASSAGE THROUGH THE MACHINE, CARRIAGE GUIDE MEANS SUPPORTED FROM SAID FRAME ADJACENT SAID WORK GUIDE MEANS, A CARRIAGE SUPPORTED FROM SAID CARRIAGE GUIDE MEANS FOR RECIPROCATION IN THE LINE OF PASSAGE OF SUCH PIECES THROUGH THE MACHINE, A PLURALITY OF CLEANING ELEMENTS CARRIED BY SAID CARRIAGE ARRANGED IN A PERIPHERAL SERIES ABOUT THE LINE OF PASSAGE OF SUCH PIECES THROUGH THE MACHINE AND PROPORTIONED AND DESIGNED, AT THEIR MUTUALLY ADJACENT FACES, COOPERATIVELY TO ENGAGE THE ENTIRE EXTERNAL SURFACE OF SUCH A PIECE AS IT PASSES SAID CARRIAGE, A POWER SOURCE, FEED MEANS ENGAGEABLE WITH SUCH A WORK PIECE TO FORWARD THE SAME THROUGH SAID CARRIAGE, MEANS CONNECTING SAID POWER SOURCE TO DRIVE SAID FEED MEANS INTERMITTENTLY, A ROCKER ARM, MEANS CONNECTING SAID POWER SOURCE TO OSCILLATE

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