WO1999064173A1

WO1999064173A1 - Agitating washer

Info

Publication number: WO1999064173A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/012490
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wayne F. Pershon; Jeffrey M. Brown
Original assignee: Fountain Industries Co.
Priority date: 1998-06-11
Filing date: 1999-06-03
Publication date: 1999-12-16
Also published as: WO1999064173A9

Abstract

A device for cleaning items includes a container (10) having fluid cleaning agent disposed therein. A basket (20) is disposed inside the container (10) and is at least partially immersible in the cleaning agent. Apparatus being operably coupled to the basket (20) for moving the basket (20), the apparatus (38) for moving the basket (20) being configured to agitate the basket (20) with a substantially reciprocating up-and-down motion and being powered pneumatically. A method for cleaning items is also included.

Description

AGITATING WASHER Related Application

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/088,869, filed June 11, 1998.

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a parts washer. More particularly, the invention relates to a washing device that cleans parts by agitating them within a cleaning solvent.

Background

Many items, especially metal parts and particularly automotive parts, must be cleaned of unwanted residues or contaminants. A useful cleaning method is to immerse the parts in a cleaning solvent and agitate them; this process helps to loosen, dissolve, and separate contaminants from the parts. If a washing device is used to clean the parts, the washing device should be easy to install and use, economical to manufacture and maintain, and require a minimum of floor space.

Use of a washer for the cleaning step may save significant time and labor. A machine may easily clean items that are heavy or difficult to hold and parts may need to remain in the cleaning solution for a lengthy period of time in order to loosen contaminants in difficult to reach recesses. Also, numerous parts may be quickly cleaned simultaneously. A typical agitating-type washer holds the parts in a basket and agitates the basket in a cleaning fluid.

One difficulty with a washer is that it may create a safety hazard: the cleaning solution is often a chemical solvent that is volatile, flammable, inimical to health, or presents a safety hazard or a nuisance to workers. An electric- or liquid-fuel-powered motor may produce a spark that could ignite the solvent and cause a fire or explosion. It is difficult to avoid using such solvents because alternative solvents are often ineffective, especially for metal parts or parts with oily contaminants. Another difficulty is that uneven loading of the basket may cause a conventional agitating washer to function poorly, become damaged, or activate a fail-safe mechanism that turns the washer off when the washer is unbalanced. Conventional systems typically use a set of camshafts with movements that are synchronized with respect to each other. Thus, uneven loading may slow down one of the camshafts so that the camshafts do not work together, causing the system to be inoperative, ineffective, or to agitate erratically. As a result, the washer is inefficient and requires extra attention. It is difficult to eliminate the causes of uneven loading. For instance, if the basket is moved with a rotary motion, parts may shift and become unevenly distributed; or, a part with an unusual shape or that is particularly heavy may be impossible to put into the basket without creating an uneven load.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention is a basket-type agitating washer that uses a pneumatic motor; the motor uses an external source of compressed air for power. As a result, the motor is not a spark hazard and may be safely used with flammable solvents. The motor is also quiet, which allows for convenient use and location in a plant.

The motor is compact, requires only a compressed air source, and is placed beneath the basket. The motor is configured to drive a drive device, such as a piston head, that causes the basket to reciprocate. The under-basket motor placement is optimal for creating a compact washer that saves floor space.

The invention solves the uneven loading difficulty by placing the motive force of the motor at or near the center of the basket. Also camshafts are eliminated. Further, only one drive part may be used. Finally, the basket may be pushed solely in a substantially up-and-down motion as distinct from side-to-side or rotary agitation. For instance, the motor may push a single piston head directly against the center of the basket bottom. The elimination of means that require synchronization to move the basket minimizes difficulties with uneven loading. For instance, a piston or pistons that do not need to work together cannot fail because of a loss of synchrony caused by uneven loading.

Pushing the basket with an up-and-down motion also reduces uneven loading problems. A rotary or side-to-side motion inherently tends to cause the basket to come into contact with the container wall in which the basket is disposed. But, an up-and-down motion works with gravity and does not inherently create forces that cause the basket to rub the container wall. Further, sideways forces that might push the basket into the wall may be minimized by providing lateral support to the movement mechanisms that provide the up-and-down motion. For instance, the basket may be mounted on a stiff platform that resists being tilted out of a horizontal disposition even when it is unevenly loaded. And the movement mechanisms may be laterally braced; for instance, a roller on the outside of the basket may ride against the container wall, thus providing lateral bracing. In a further embodiment, the roller could mate with a groove on the container's inner wall to provide lateral support and to resist rotational movements of the basket. Additionally, the movement mechanism, such as a shaft, could be mounted in the center of the container and braced by a set of bearings or rollers mounted on the inside of the container.

In one embodiment of the invention, a 30-gallon drum with a separate lid is used for a container. A basket with a handle fits inside the drum. The basket may hold parts and be lowered into the drum so that the parts are covered with solvent. The basket is attached to a motor base plate. The motor base plate has an air-driven motor, the motor's housing being mounted on the motor base plate's underside. The motor piston projects from the motor housing. The motor housing and the motor piston are received by a bottom baseplate with arms. The bottom baseplate is mounted on the inside bottom of the drum. The arms have wheels that provide lateral support to the housing. The motor receives an air hose that communicates with an external compressed air supply.

When air is supplied, the air motor moves, and the piston reciprocates up and down. The piston pushes against the bottom baseplate and makes the motor, motor housing, motor baseplate, and basket move. The motor has internal valves that control the airflow to create the piston's motion.

The present invention is a device and method for cleaning items. The device includes a container having a fluid cleaning agent disposed therein. A basket is disposed inside the container and is at least partially immersible in the cleaning agent. Apparatus being operably coupled to the basket for moving the basket, the means for moving the basket being configured to agitate the basket with a substantially reciprocating up-and-down motion and being powered pneumatically.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the drum assembly modified for use with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing how the agitating washer is moved from a loading position to an operational position. The phantom depiction shows the loading position, and the solid-line depiction shows the operational position;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 in Fig. 2 that shows the track and lower roller configuration;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view that shows the agitating washer and drum assembly;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the agitating washer, in both fragmentary and phantom depictions, showing the assembly in operation;

Fig. 6 is a detailed view of the agitating assembly, showing how the bottom piston moves the assembly up and down while the lower rollers provide lateral support with the basket-air motor assemblies depicted as being pushed upwardly;

Fig. 6a shows the agitating assembly of Fig. 6 with the basket- air motor assemblies moving downwardly;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view that shows the motor and base assembly of the agitating washer; and

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the agitating washer of Fig. 6.

Detailed Description

This embodiment of the invention comprises drum assembly 10 having an agitating assembly 15 disposed therein. The agitating assembly 15 includes basket assembly 20 that rests on air motor assembly 30 that is associated with base assembly 40 (Fig. 1). Drum assembly 10 (Figs. 1 and 2) is partially filled with cleaning solvent 70. Parts are placed in basket assembly 20, which is lowered into drum assembly 10, so that the solvent at least partially covers the parts. External pressurized air drives piston 38, causing air motor assembly 30 and basket assembly 20 to move up and down to agitate the parts in the solvent so that the parts are cleaned. In operation, base assembly 40 rests on the bottom of drum 9 and cooperates with air motor assembly 30 by providing lateral support with rollers 44.

Drum assembly 10 has a 20 to 60 gallon capacity and is preferably a metallic 30- or 55-gallon standard drum (Fig. 1) with drain 58. Air inlet 8 and air outlet 7 are located in the upper side of the drum. Basket assembly 20 has basket 22 with handle 21. The basket rests on top of air motor assembly 30 (Fig. 4).

Air motor assembly 30 has air motor mounting baseplate 31 with secure tabs 33 that grip basket 22 (Fig. 4). Air motor mounting baseplate 31 is attached to motor housing 34 which has V-alignment track 35 that is on the motor housing's exterior and runs parallel to its longitudinal axis A (Fig. 8). Air motor housing 34 contains air motor 36, which is secured to air motor housing 34 by air motor base 37 by bolts 60 disposed in bores 61 and threaded into threaded bores 62 defined in a base ring 63 of air motor housing 34. Air motor 36 is affixed to air motor base 37 by fasteners 64. Piston 38 of air motor 36 projects below air motor base 37 and air motor housing 34. The piston 38 is threadedly connected to seal 49 disposed in base assembly 40 (Fig. 6). Piston 38 may pass through spacer 48.

Base assembly 40 has four baseplate arms 46a-46d extending from baseplate base 47 (Figs. 7 and 8) and equiangularly disposed with respect to base 47. Three baseplate arms 46a, 46c and 46d hold rollers 44, and fourth baseplate roller arm 46b holds lower roller 43, which has roller groove 54. Groove 54 mates with alignment track 35 of motor housing 34. Arms 46a and 46c also each hold a latch 42. The latches 42 are mounted opposite each other. The lower portion of the latches 42 is pivotably connected to the respective arm 46 by a pin 65. Hollow rod 41 and rod 45 are attached to arms 46b and 46d, respectively, and extend perpendicularly upward from baseplate base 47. Seal 49 (Fig. 4) passes through the center of baseplate base 47 and threadedly connects to piston 38 (Figs. 6 and 6a). Referring to Fig. 4, seal 49 has an internal seal bore 67 that fluidly communicates with a bore 68 defined in piston 38. The bore in seal 49 is fluidly connected to outlet tube 52. Outlet tube 52 passes into baseplate roller arm 46b and extends upward through the bore 66 defined in the hollow rod 41. It passes through hollow rod 41 and connects to the interior side of fitting drum outlet 7.

Inlet tube 51 is connected to the interior side of inlet 8 and passes downward through bore 66 of hollow rod 41. Tube 51 passes through baseplate roller arm 46b and connects to airflow elbow 39 (Fig. 8) of the air motor assembly 30. In operation, drum 9 is partially filled with cleaning solvent

70 (Fig. 2). The basket assembly 20 is raised up by pulling upward on handle 21 to load parts to be cleaned and is secured to the upper inside portion of the drum with latches 42 engaging the upper margin 72 of the drum 10 (Fig. 2). Parts to be cleaned are placed into basket 22 and the basket assembly 20 is lowered into the drum 10, as indicated by arrows B (Figs. 2 and 5). In the lowered disposition, the basket 22 is preferably submerged in solvent 70. An external source of compressed air is provided via inlet 8. The compressed air enters from inlet 8, passes through inlet tube 51, through airflow elbow 39, and into the air motor 36.

The external compressed air drives air motor 36 causing piston 38 to move up and down. Internal valving in air motor 36 directs the reciprocating movement of the piston 38 and directs the exhaust airflow out of the air motor 36 via the piston bore 68. The air exhausts through the piston bore 68, passes through outlet tube 52, and out through outlet 7 to be preferably discharged to the atmosphere.

The reciprocating movement of the piston 38 causes the entire basket assembly 20 and air motor housing 34 to rapidly move up and down. The piston 38 is fixedly coupled to the base assembly 40. Both the piston 38 and the base assembly 40 remain stationary during the reciprocating motion of the basket assembly 20. The assembly is stabilized by rollers 44. Alignment track 35 mates with lower roller groove 54 on roller 43 to maintain the agitation assembly 15 in an up-and-down movement while resisting turning side-to-side (see Fig. 3).

The invention may be further equipped with a timer to time agitation, a regulator to control inlet air pressure, or an oil-injection system for introducing oil into the air supply for lubrication of the motor. A lid 11 is provided that may be fit over the top of the agitation assembly

15 while it is in operation. The lid 11 minimizes noise and potential for splashing of the solvent 70 outside of the drum 10.

The embodiments set forth herein to describe the invention are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention. There are many ways to make the invention that will be obvious to one skilled in these arts who has read this disclosure.

Claims

1. An agitating washer comprising: a container for holding a cleaning fluid; a basket for receiving items to be cleaned; a means for disposing the basket within the container so that at least a portion of the basket may be submerged in the cleaning fluid; and a piston assembly having at least one reciprocatable piston, wherein the piston assembly is operably coupled to the basket so that the basket reciprocates when the at least one piston reciprocates.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the basket has substantially circular bottom and sidewalls that meet the bottom at substantially a right angle.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the container is a metal drum.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the drum has a capacity in the range of 20 to 60 gallons.

5. The device of claim 1 comprising a lid that may be placed on top of the container.

6. The device of claim 1 made of materials adapted to be compatible with solvents from the group consisting of oil-based solvents, organic solvents, and water-based solvents.

7. The device of claim 1 wherein the piston assembly causes force to be applied to the basket at approximately a center of the bottom of the basket, whereby the basket may be reciprocatingly moved substantially up and down by the piston.

8. The device of claim 7 wherein the piston assembly is pneumatically-driven by pressurized air.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein the piston assembly is centrally disposed depending from the basket.

10. The device of claim 9 wherein a piston assembly motor housing moves with the basket, whereby movement of the at least one piston relative to the piston assembly motor housing causes the movement of both the piston assembly motor housing and the basket assembly.

11. The device of claim 1 further including lateral support means that support the piston assembly during reciprocating motion of the piston assembly.

12. The device of claim 11 wherein the lateral support means comprise rollers, the rollers being positioned to stabilize the piston assembly in a substantially centered disposition along a longitudinal axis.

13. The device of claim 1 further including a baseplate, wherein the baseplate supports a plurality of arms, each arm of the plurality of arms projecting from the baseplate and rotatably bearing at least one of the rollers, the rollers rotatably, supportably contacting the piston assembly.

14. An agitating assembly, disposable in a container holding a cleaning fluid, the agitating assembly comprising: a basket for receiving items to be cleaned, the basket being at least partially submersible in the cleaning fluid; and at least one piston assembly, the piston assembly being operably coupled to the basket, and the piston assembly having a piston, the piston assembly being pneumatically-driven by pressurized air to generate a reciprocating piston motion, the piston applying a force substantially along a longitudinal axis to a center of a bottom of the basket.

15. The device of claim 14 wherein the piston is disposed in a piston assembly motor housing, and said piston assembly motor housing being operably coupled to the basket, reciprocating movement of the piston relative to the piston assembly motor housing causing simultaneous movement of both the piston assembly motor housing and the basket assembly.

16. The device of claim 14 further including lateral support means that stabilize the piston assembly during reciprocating motion thereof.

17. The device of claim 16 wherein the lateral support means comprise rollers, the rollers being positioned to stabilize the piston assembly in a substantially centered position along a longitudinal axis.

18. A device for cleaning items, the device being disposable in a container having a liquid solvent, comprising: a basket disposable inside the container; and reciprocating means for imparting reciprocating motion to the basket, the reciprocating means being operably coupled to the basket and being powered by compressed air.

19. The device of claim 18 wherein the reciprocating means comprises an air motor, the air motor having an inlet and an outlet for the compressed air, valves for controlling the air, and a driver part.

20. The device of claim 19 wherein the driver part is a piston and the air motor causes the piston to reciprocate between an extended position and a retracted position.

21. The device of claim 20 wherein the piston moves substantially along a longitudinal axis.

22. A method of cleaning parts, the method comprising the steps of: providing a basket at least partially submersible in a cleaning fluid, the basket being configured to hold at least one part; and providing a supply of compressed air to a pneumatic motor, the pneumatic motor being disposed to reciprocatingly move the basket substantially up and down.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the reciprocating force is applied approximately to a center of a bottom of the basket.

24. A device for cleaning items, the device comprising: a container; a basket disposed in the container; and a means for moving the basket being operably coupled to the basket, the means for moving the basket being configured to agitate the basket in a substantially reciprocating up-and-down direction and the means for moving the basket being powered pneumatically.

25. The device of claim 24 wherein the means for moving the basket is configured to apply a force to a center of a bottom of the basket, the force acting to reciprocatingly move the basket.

26. The device of claim 24 wherein the means for moving the basket is disposed substantially beneath the basket.