WO2001032067A1

WO2001032067A1 - A bottle washer

Info

Publication number: WO2001032067A1
Application number: PCT/ZA2000/000208
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrew James De Wet; Lee-Ann De Wet
Original assignee: Andrew James De Wet; Wet Lee Ann De
Priority date: 1999-11-04
Filing date: 2000-11-02
Publication date: 2001-05-10
Also published as: AU1822501A

Abstract

This invention relates to a bottle washer (1) and more particularly, but not exclusively, to an infant's bottle washer (1). The bottle washer consists of a container (2) having a support means (3) for supporting a bottle (4) to be washed inside the container (2). At least one brush (5) is supported inside the container (2) and the brush (5) and/or the bottle (4) is rotatable such that the brush (5) brushes at least part of the bottle (4) upon rotation.

Description

A BOTTLE WASHER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a bottle washer and more particularly, but not exclusively, to an infant's bottle washer.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

United States Patent no. 5,507,060 entitled "Apparatus for automatically

cleaning baby bottles inside and out" describes a baby bottle washer in which

an upright tube with holes therein forms a manifold for spraying water or a

cleaning solution onto outsides of inverted and rotating baby bottles. Tubes

also extend into the inverted bottles for spraying the water or cleaning solution

onto inside surfaces of the baby bottles. The tubes and bottles are rotated by a

hydraulic drive assembly which includes a paddle wheel driven by water under

pressure. Brushes are located on the tubes and on the manifold for brushing

outer and inner surfaces of the bottles. A source of water under pressure is

required to use this device and such a source is not always readily available.

United States Patent no. 5,435,036 entitled "Apparatus for washing a plurality of

baby bottles and associated components concurrently" describes a baby bottle washer which employs rotatable brushes. The brushes are rotated by a drive

assembly driven by an electrical motor. The use of an electrical motor renders

this bottle washer unnecessarily complicated and expensive. Electrical power

must also be available to use this washer.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a bottle washer which, at least

partially, alleviates some of the abovementioned difficulties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a bottle washer comprising a

container having a support means for supporting a bottle to be washed in the

container, at least one brush for brushing at least part of a bottle supported by

the support means, and a manual drive assembly for rotating at least the bottle

or the brush.

There is provided for the drive assembly to include a crank-handle and gears. A further feature of the invention provides for the gears to be located in a gear

enclosure defined by lower walls of the container and a divider wall inside the container.

There is also provided for the crank-handle to be located outside the container

and to be connected to the manual drive assembly through a hole in the

container or through a hole in a lid for the container. Alternatively, there is

provided for a connector to be rotatably supported in the hole to connect the crank handle to the drive assembly.

A further feature of the invention provides for the gears to include a ring gear,

two wheel gears and a third wheel gear of larger width than the two wheel

gears.

Further features of the invention provide for the bottle washer to have a first

brush which is rotatable inside a bottle supported on the support means for

brushing at least part of an inner surface of the bottle and a second brush which

is rotatable outside such a bottle for brushing at least part of an outer surface of

the bottle.

Still further features of the invention provide for the gears to be rotatable on

stub-axles and for at least the two wheel gears to have substantially normally protruding engagement tubes from at least one major opposing side of each

wheel gear.

These and other features of the invention are described in more detail below

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention is described below by way of example only,

and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a bottle washer;

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of an inside of the bottle washer of

figure 1 with an inverted bottle supported inside the bottle washer

on a support means; and

Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view of a drive assembly of the

bottle washer of figures 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

With reference to the drawings, a bottle washer is generally indicated by

reference numeral (1).

The bottle washer (1) consists of an open ended cylindrical container (2) with a

support means (3), inside the container (2), for supporting a bottle (4) to be

washed. A first brush (5) and a second brush (6) are also located inside the

container (2). A manual drive assembly (12), shown in more detail in figure 3,

is also located inside the container (2). A crank-handle (7) on the outside of the

container (2) is engaged with a connector (11) which connector (11) protrudes

through a centrally located hole (not shown) in a lid (8) for the container (2).

Each brush (5 and 6) consists of a plurality of bristles (9) which extend radially

from an elongate rod (10).

The support means (3), brushes (5 and 6), crank-handle (7), and the connector

(11) together with a set of gears (8) form the drive assembly (12).

One end of the crank handle (7) is connected to one end of the connector (11)

whilst the other end of the connector is connected to an upper end of the

elongate rod (10) of the second brush (6). A center part of the connector (11) is rotatably supported in the hole (not shown) of the lid (8) such that the

second brush (6) extends centrally and co-axially downwards into the container

(2) where its second lower end engages in an engagement tube (15) which

extends normally from a center of a major opposing side of a first wheel gear

(8a). The first wheel gear (8a) is thus parallel to a bottom wall (not shown) of the container (2).

Teeth of a second wheel gear (8b) are engaged with teeth of the first wheel

gear (8a) so that the two wheel gears (8a and 8b) are coplanar and parallel to

the bottom wall of the container (2). The second wheel gear (8b) also has a

normally extending engagement tube (15) which extends upwards from the

center of the wheel gear (8b). A lower end of the elongate rod (10) of the first

brush (5) engages in the engagement tube (15) such that the first brush (5)

extends normally to a major opposing side of the second wheel gear (8b). The

first brush thus extends upwards in the container parallel with the second brush

(6).

The support means (3) is a ring with an annular rebate on its outer surface to

form a shoulder. The rebate faces downwards and has two elongate ridges (14)

which extend co-axially with the support means (3) and are located on an outer

surface of the annular rebate. Slots (13) in an inner wall of a ring gear (8d) receive the ridges (14) on the

annular rebate of the support means (3). The support means and the ring gear

(8d) are rotatably engaged over the engagement tube of the second wheel gear

(8b).

The first and second wheel gears (8a and 8b) rotate on stub axles (not shown)

which extend normally upwards from a bottom wall of the container (2). The

first and second wheel gears (8a and 8b) are coplanar as mentioned above and

are of substantially similar height. The ring gear (8d) rests on the second wheel

gear (8b) and is of slightly larger diameter than the second wheel gear (8b)

such that it overlaps with part of the first wheel gear (8a).

A third wheel gear (8c) of substantially double the height of the first and second

wheel gears (8a and 8b) rotates on a stub axle which extends normally upwards

from the bottom wall of the container (2). Teeth of the third wheel gear (8c)

are simultaneously engaged with the teeth of the first wheel gear (8a) and the

ring gear (8d) so that the first wheel gear and the ring gear will rotate in the

same direction as described below.

In use, a mouth of a bottle (4) is pushed over the upper larger diameter part of

the support means (3). The bottle thus faces downwards inside the container

(2). Water or a cleaning solution is added into the container (2) and the lid (8) is secured over the upper open end of the container (2) with the connector (11)

protruding through the hole in the lid (8). The crank-handle (7) is now engaged with the connector (11).

By turning the crank-handle (7) the first and second brushes (5 and 6) are

rotated in opposite directions and the bottle is rotated in the same direction as

the second brush (6). The first brush (5) brushes against an inner surface of the bottle (4) which surface rotates in the opposite direction of the direction of

rotation of the first brush (5). The second brush (6) brushes against an outer

surface of the bottle (4) with the outer surface of the bottle rotating in the

opposite direction of the direction of rotation of the second brush (6).

Once a bottle is cleaned as described above, the lid (8) is removed and the

water or cleaning solution is poured from the container (2). The bottle is now

removed from the support means (3).

It is envisaged that the bottle washer described above will be convenient to use

as it is manually operable. No water source under pressure or electrical power

is required to operate the bottle washer. The bottle washer is also relatively

simple and easy to manufacture. The invention is not limited to the precise details as described above. For

example, the support means (3) can be screw threaded to receive a screw

threaded mouth of a bottle and support means of different sizes can be

provided to facilitate cleaning bottles of different sizes. Also, instead of using

two brushes only the inner brush can be used to clean the inside of a bottle

which is the most important part to clean. Additional gears, brushes and support

means can also be added inside the container to facilitate cleaning of a plurality

of bottles simultaneously.

Also, the gears may be located in a gear enclosure (22) defined by lower walls

(21) of the container and a divider wall (20) inside the container. This will

allow for the gears to be separate from the bottles and brushes and not to be

submerged in water or a cleaning solution when bottles are washed. The lower

walls of the container are the lower part of the cylindrical container and its

bottom wall.

Claims

1. A bottle washer comprising a container having a support means for

supporting a bottle to be washed in the container, at least one brush for

brushing at least part of a bottle supported by the support means, and a

manual drive assembly for rotating at least the bottle or the brush.

2. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 1 in which the bottle is rotatable by

the manual drive assembly.

3. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 1 in which the brush is rotatable by

the manual drive assembly.

4. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 1 in which both the bottle and the

brush are rotatable by the manual drive assembly.

5. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which

the drive assembly includes a crank-handle and gears.

6. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 5 in which the crank handle is located

outside the container and is connected to the manual drive assembly

through a hole in the container.

7. A bottle washer as claimed in claims 5 in which the crank handle is

located outside the container and is connected to the manual drive

assembly through a hole in a lid of the container.

8. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which a

connector is rotatably supported in a hole in the container or in a hole in

a lid for the container for connecting the crank handle to the drive

assembly.

9. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 5 in which the gears include a ring

gear, two wheel gears and a third wheel gear thicker than at least one of

the two wheel gears.

10. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which

the bottle washer has a first brush rotatable, by the drive assembly,

inside a bottle supported on the support means for brushing at least part

of an inner surface of the bottle.

11. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which

the bottle washer has a second brush which is rotatable, by the drive assembly, outside a bottle supported in the support means for brushing

at least part of an outer surface of the bottle.

12. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which

the gears are rotatable on stub axles.

13. A bottle washer as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which

the gears have normally protruding engagement tubes protruding on at

least one side of each wheel gear.

14. A bottle washer as claimed in claim 5 in which the gears are located in a

gear enclosure defined by lower walls of the container a divider wall

inside the container.