WO2010087788A1 - Footwear cleaning system with flexible lids - Google Patents

Abstract

The footwear cleaning system enables people to live indoors without taking their shoes off, which requires the shoes to be kept clean by removal of the sticking materials like mud, dirt and microorganisms by means of high pressure and a small amount of antiseptic water/liquid, and by mechanic cleaning in a short time. The system is placed in a case (1) in door mat size, and cleans the shoes without them being taken off; both feet (shoes) are placed on a pressing surface in the middle of this case. After mechanic and liquid/water cleaning process, the shoes are subject to a dehumidifying process in the same case. At the end of the processes concerned, the shoes are ready to be worn indoors.

Description

FOOTWEAR CLEANING SYSTEM WITH FLEXIBLE LIDS

This invention has advantages, comfort and superiorities at manufacture and use as per the patent no. 2007/00064. One of the most important part of the system, lids (21) were made controllable, better functioning, i.e. more reliable state by changing the form, material properties, location, opening-closing process order.

For this purpose, while the lids in previous application were placed on multiple wires having springs in parallel to each other over the shoe pressing surface, in this application they are placed over shoe support bars - lid support (14). It was brought from the property of being a lid always closed unless a load comes over and always opened when it takes a load, to a property which can be shrunk or (in case of no load) unrolled whenever desired, i.e. in stages where it is required to be opened. The parts of the lids related with unrolled - shrunk mechanism are explained in the following paragraph.

While the lids previously were in single type square or rectangular form, they may be arranged as square or polygonal when looked from above to expanded state as seen in Drawing 7. While the lids were previously in relatively non-changed shape feature (less flexible), in this invention, they are made of more flexible material and will be produced a material which can be shrunk like an umbrella. Since the lids meet the load of shoe and load over it, various applications as seen in Drawing 6 in types of lid top heads for increasing the number of pressurized water/liquid washing holes, i.e. more cleaning. Shoe support bars - lid supports (14), which function as support only for shoe and carrying load in the previous application, in this invention became carrier of lids as mentioned in 1a above and have a structure having parts and fittings which unrolls-shrinks the lid as specified above.

Although the structure of brush shaft (16) which is an important part of the mechanic cleaning in the system is kept available in this invention, the place and properties of supports of this element were changed. The mentioned supports were previously connected to bottom surface within the system, the brush shaft in this invention is being carried by left and right corner supports (5, 9). i.e. corner supports are new parts added to the system. Since the comer supports (5, 9) have freedom of up-down movement by means of the mechanism found in them and parts and sections explained in the following article 4, those brush shafts they carry from right and left corner can move in parallel to the ground and towards up in comply with the cleaning process stage; therefore the brush shafts can approach to shoe bottom as desired. This property provided by Left and Right Supports also prevents the lids to get caught to brush shaft and/or bristles of brush during unrolling of the lids.

Another important change added to the system: this is the addition of system equipments which perform the opening-closing of lids and horizontal up-down movements of brush shafts. In order to carry out these functions, other parts and sections newly added to the system are linear motor or solenoid (6) making linear motion, the drive part (drive sheet) (7) which this motor transmit the motion and internal hardware and drive disks (29, 28) of lid supports (14) and corner supports.

The invention is elucidated with attached figures whereas :

Drawing 1 a : Upper view of the system from outside without load

Drawing 1 b : Unloaded perspective view of the system from outside Drawing 2a : Upper view of the system mechanism under the cover of the system.

Drawing 2b : A view from left side of the system mechanism under the cover of the system

Drawing 2c : B view from left side of the system mechanism under the cover of the system Drawing 3a : The cross-section view of Drawing 3b under the right shoe in system loaded status

Drawing 3b : Upper view of the system under the right shoe in system loaded status

Drawing 4a : Front view of left end side support of brush shaft

Drawing 4b : Top plan view of left end side support of brush shaft Drawing 4c : Left side view of left end side support of brush shaft

Drawing 4d : Perspective 1 view of left side support of brush shaft

Drawing 4e : Perspective 2 view of left side support of brush shaft

Drawing 5a : Perspective view of left side support of brush shaft in 1st position

Drawing 5b : Perspective view of left side support of brush shaft in 2nd position Drawing 5c : Perspective view of left side support of brush shaft in 3rd position

Drawing 6 : Perspective views of lid cover, lid and lid support types.

Drawing 7 : Top plan view of lid types.

Drawing 8 : Front, top and left side view of curled surfaced belt pulley. Drawing 9a : Front and partial cross-section view of the brush shaft and layout view of pressurized inner pipe.

Drawing 9b : Layout view of pressurized inner pipe. Drawing 10a : Front view of right side support of brush shaft Drawing 10b : Top view of right side support of brush shaft Drawing 10c : Left side view of right side support of brush shaft Drawing 11 a : Front and top view of drive plate/sheet for lid unrolling -shrinking , brush shaft up-down.

Drawing 11 b : Detail view of drive sheet (part) for lid unrolling- shrinking, brush shaft up-down.

Drawing 11c : Detail view of drive sheet (part) for lid unrolling -shrinking, brush shaft up-down.

Part Numbers: 1. Case

1. Dehumidifier Support

2. Dehumidifier Rolls

3. Pressurized Fittings 4. Brush shaft left end corner support

5. Solenoid or linear motor

6. Drive plate /sheet

7.Shoe support bars line connect bus/Mechanism Component 8. Brush shaft right end corner support 9. Brush Shaft Driving Motor

10. Motor electric supply cables

11. Electric supply

12. Water (liquid) inlet pipe

13. Shoe support bars - lid support 14. Pressurized pump-motor group

15. Brush shaft

16. Wastewater/liquid discharge

17. Pressurized inner pipe

18. Brush shaft bristle 19. Pressurized inner pipe bearings 20. Lid

21. Cap of the lid

22. Curled surfaced belt pulley

23. Cam (pin) 24. Spring

25. Thread grooves on drive plate (for left-right end supports of brush shaft)

26. Thread grooves on drive plate (for lid supports)

27. Drive disk on comer supports

28. Lid opening-closing drive disk 29. Top layer (top plate)

Properties of Components of Mechanism and Explanation of Their Layout:

The upmost surface of the case (1) is covered by a water resistant layer (30) called top plate which covers the inner part of the mechanism and prevents the cleaning water/liquid to leak out during operation; as seen in Drawing 1 , there are gaps that shaped as per the shoe over this layer in sections where only washing-cleaning process and accordingly drying process will be conducted; in these sections it can be seen some of the fittings located inner side of the mechanism (right side), lid (21) and lid supports (14), brush shafts (16) and in pair of gap on top plate at the left side, it can be seen the dehumidifiers and pair of bottom support (2) thereof.

Underneath of the top plate (30) mentioned above, as shown in Drawing 2a, 2b and 2c, there are those elements and sections whose names are specified above from 1 to 17.

As shown in Drawing 2a, 3a and 6a, there are shoe support bars (lid supports) (14) in regular parallel lines and separated from each other with certain intervals at the same line. At the upper section of each shoe support bar, there are lids (21) and above that, there is lid cover (22). At the lower side of shoe support bar, slightly above the leg that connects to the ground, there is drive disk (29) for up-down motion of lid supports (lid unrolling-shrinking) (Drawing 3a, 6). The function of these disks, when its time, is to activate the spring mechanism in this shoe support bar (14) by means of thread grooves (27) on the lid opening-closing drive plate (7) which is driven by linear motor (6), to enable the unrolling-shrinking the lid belonging to this support in case a shoe load comes over the support which is originally closed and the closing of the lid vice-versa when the cleaning process is over. Shoe support bars (lid supports) (14) go towards down in case a load comes over. Those lid supports come across the lowest points of shoe surface carries the shoe and the person who wears it; for this purpose, they goes up to the lowest point where the supports goes in a way that does not hinder the working of drive disk (29). Top ends of other lid supports are found in little bit higher as imitating the slope of shoe bottom surface, i.e. the topographic form of the bottom surface at the points they contact by means of spring mechanism in it.

Shoe support bars (14), which composes each line, are tied each other with shoe support bars line connect bus (8). The function of this component is to provide the shoe support bars at the same line to have the same amount of up-down motion, i.e. move together up-down and as specified in the following paragraph, provide Brush Shafts to approach accordingly to the bottom surface of the shoe.

At the left end of line connection bus (8) of shoe support bars (14), there is brush shaft left corner support (5) and at the right side, there is brush shaft right corner support (9). The main function of these corner support is to support bearings at both side of brush shaft (16) belonging to that line. Since these are at the ends of shoe support bars line connect bus (8) of that line and connected to that, they enable to lower as the shoe support bars at that line in comply with shoe-person weight and surface form of the shoe bottom due to the spring mechanism in them and therefore they determine the working height of the brush shafts which are parallel to the bottom ground of the system. Left and right comer supports enable the process steps explained in Drawing 5 to be realized due to the mechanism in them ( Drawing 5 shows the working positions of left end corner support (5) which are the same with working positions of right end corner support). These drawings show these positions accordingly:

•Drawing 5a No shoe-person load comes to corner support line at this position. It shows the situation of the corner support without loading and no cleaning step is started.

•Drawing 5b This position, in case the load comes over the lid supports at its line, is the position taken by the lid support before the lid opened or just opened. •Drawing 5c Underneath the lids not having load over them are opened, due to the drive sheet (7) drive disk (28) driven by the linear motor (6), it goes up the brush shaft it carries by the working of the hardware corner support, i.e. approaches to the shoe sole for cleaning. The drawing shows the position of corner support at that time and during cleaning.

The most significant advantage provided by the equipment whose steps are explained in drawing 5 is to prevent unrolling of the lids which are not bearing loads (21 ) to hinder with the brush shaft (16) and cleaning bristles (19) thereof. Slightly above the ground legs of left and right corner supports of the brush shaft, there is up-down drive disk (28) on the corner supports. The function of these disks, when its time, is to activate the spring mechanism in this corner supports (5,9) by means of thread grooves (26) on the lid unrolling-shrinking drive plate (7) which is driven by linear motor (6), to enable the elevation of the brush shaft (16) up to the lower surface of the shoe and lowering it down when the cleaning process is over.

Between each consecutive shoe support bars, there are brush shafts (16) which are located in parallel to these lines. Each brush shaft (16) is connected to the line of upper shoe support bar (lid support) and to corner supports without lid (5 and 9) found in both ends (left and right) of the line. Therefore each brush shaft (16) (as specified in the upper paragraph), can move up and down depending on up-down movement amount of the lid supports (14) they are connected by means of lid supports. Each brush shaft (16) takes its turning and forward-back linear movement alongside the axis from an electric motor (10) found in one side of the pipe and directly connected to the pipe (coupled). Near this electric motor, in order to provide axial movement of the pipe, there is one pair of curled surfaced disk and one pair of pin (24) as one of it is fixed and the other one is turning with the brush shaft and there is a spring (25) placed at the other end of the shaft. For pressurized washing, there are pressurized inner pipes which are placed with bearings (20) with suitable materials as shown in Drawing 9a and 9b into the brush shafts having multiple holes and cleaning bristles (19) with suitable intervals at their outer surfaces. Pressurized inner pipes (18) are fixed on the contrary turning brush shafts they are in and they have holes in one or more lines at the top.

Lids (21) are the most important part of the system and they are placed over the lid supports (shoe support bars) (14). These (unloaded) lid supports (14) not having shoe load at the specified step of the cleaning open the covers they carry above them like umbrella by means of the mechanism in them, unrolling-shrinking of the lid drives disk above them (29), unrolling-shrinking of the lid drives sheet (7) and the linear motor (6). Those put up (opened) lids prevents the escape of pressurized water/liquid from the gaps in places where the shoe pair does not press (unloaded areas). Those lid supports except these, i.e. having shoe load over (loaded) are not unrolled and stay shrunk because of the lid cap (22) found over them and the inner mechanism connected to that, therefore they enable the cleaning of the shoe sole during both in mechanic and pressurized water/liquid cleaning steps. Lids (21) are made up of such material which is flexible, water/liquid resistant and durable to applied water/liquid/vapor pressure. Lid top cover may be in different types as shown in Drawing 6. In order to increase the efficiency in pressurized water/liquid cleaning, when a lid is selected as in Drawing 6, it requires connection from the inside of the lid support of it to the pressurized pipe installation. Moreover, in order to prevent the liquid spray over the unloaded support whose lid should not be unrolled there is a spring valve within the support. Moreover, there are pressurized pipe fittings (4), pressurized water/liquid/vapor pump-motor group (15), electrical (12) and water/liquid/vapor inlets (13), wastewater/liquid discharge pipe (17), dehumidifier supports (2) and rolls and various electric control elements in the system.

Brief Explanation of the Invention:

When the shoe pair steps over the place on the mechanism, i.e. on the lid supports (14), these supports having lids over them (21) in "shrunk" status and in lines which are placed in parallel to each other are lowered at the same amount by overcoming the spring pressures within supports as connected to each other by means of line connection bus (8). Thus supports and therefore the brush shaft of each line take level in parallel line in comply with the slope form of the bottom surface of the shoe; therefore the shoe and load over them is supported. Weight (load) of the shoe and the person who wears it are carried by lowest (most lowered) support lines; top ends/ cap of lid (22) of other supports stays above the lowest level in order to get shape suitable to the topographic structure of the bottom surface of the shoe. Meanwhile, left and right corner supports (5, 9) transform from the initial (unloaded) status at 5a to 5b as in Image 5. Up to this stage, linear movement motor (6) and the drive plate (7) connected to it are in rest position.

After this process, the linear motor (6) is activated via running the mechanism automatically with electronic control equipment or commanding manually and lids of those supports not having load on them are closed by moving by thread grooves (27), drive disks (29) and the hardware within the lid support by moving of drive part (sheet)

(7).

Then by moving the drive plate (7) with the second step working of linear motor or solenoid (6), thread grooves on this sheet (26) effects on corner supports (5, 9) by means of drive disks (28) and they take the position shown in Image 5c and approaches the brush shaft to the bottom of the shoe and make it ready for mechanic cleaning.

System initially sprays pressurized water/liquid for very short time and make sticky materials like mud, dirt to be softened. Simultaneously with the mechanic brushing which starts after a short pause (2 sec), pressurized liquid/water/vapor application is continued for (10-30 sec). Spraying of pressurized liquid/water/vapor to shoe bottoms are resumed about 2 sec after the brush movement stops and the cleaning process is completed.

Bottoms and sides of the shoes are possible to be cleaned with an order different than above explained. For example, when the pair of shoes is placed on the supports, in order to clean the rough dirt, a washing and mechanic cleaning stage may be included to whole cleaning process which can be made low cleaning pressure by approaching the brush shafts to the bottom surface of the shoes without closing the lids. In such a case it will be enough to make small changes suitable for this process for the working direction of the linear motor (6), for gears found over the lift and right corner supports (28), in sizes of thread grooves (26) on the drive part (sheet) (7) and finally in the electronic circuit commanding them. These changes on the drive sheet are applied in Drawing 11.

The working type and order of components for cleaning-washing process are separately explained below. a) Circular motion of brushes: The movement of electrical brush shaft drive motor (10) is transmitted to the brush shaft (16) at each line it is coupled. The circular motion of the brush shaft is regulated as being made by a motor directly connected to each brush shaft; instead of this, it may be driven by a single motor by using belt pulley or geared transmission orders. Thus, the circular motion of mechanic cleaning-wiping process is provided by both drive forms. b) Linear motion of brushes: The forward-back motion of the brush shafts (16) in shaft axis direction, in addition to circular brushing is carried out like this: The linear forward-back motion of a brush shaft along with the shaft axis occurs by transmitting the circular motion of brush shaft to the curled surfaced pulley (23) fixed over the support homocentric with a shaft at the right of the shaft and to a cam (pin) (24) connected the shaft with spring (25) force. Thus, together with circular motion of brush shafts (16), the forward-back motion along with the shaft is provided. This process is especially suitable and required for the cleaning of shoes having cross indents. c) Pressurized Washing: There is a cleaning equipment in the mechanism by washing with pressurized liquid/water or vapor. As shown in Drawing 4 and 5b, cleaning water/liquid or vapor from an inlet (13) is sprayed with pressure to the bottom of shoes to be cleaned from the holed of brush shafts by pressing spray nozzle pressurized inner pipes (18) placed in brush shafts (16) located in order by pressurized pipes by a pressurized pump (15) driven by electrical motor. Initially a preliminary cleaning is performed with low pressure and after that the same process is repeated by using high pressure liquid/water or vapor. The mechanic cleaning is performed in both stages and during the high pressure washing, those lids of shoe supports on which the shoe is not pressing (unloaded) are closed and pressurized washing is starting after that.

During the pressurized cleaning, with the motion of the brush shaft and mechanic cleaning-wiping process are carried out at the same time. Thus, the washing - cleaning processes of the shoe is completed within a short time.

d) Dehumidifying: The person whose shoes are being cleaned passes to the dehumidifying section right next in the case and presses with his shoes over the dehumidifying belt supports (2) or contact dehumidifying layers placed on these supports. In this place having inner side with dehumidifying absorbing layer (paper towel, etc.) over a spongy soft inner structure, it is waited 2 to 15 seconds and the drying the bottom of shoes is provided. After this process, the cleaned and dried shoes are ready and suitable to enter clean indoor.

Waste of liquid/water/vapor used during the cleaning is removed by a discharge exit (17) by means of a pressurized pump or with its own gravity.

Claims

1. The invention relates to a shoe bottom cleaning system which has lids that will be unrolled- shrunk whenever desired and preventing cleaning water/liquid/vapor escape by other areas except those pressed by the shoe on the pressing surface.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the lids (21) are placed on the lid supports and top section that is; the lids are located on the lid supports.

3. A system according to claim 1 which has a flexible structure and material which may be shrunk like a closed umbrella and when the lids (21) are unrolled in order to provide water/liquid/vapor tightness between the edges of shoe - lid and edges that contact each other as an opened umbrella when closed and foldable from the places that contact to shoe sides.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein the lids (21 ) can be manufactured in triangle, rectangle and polygon shapes regarding unroll status.

5. A system according to claim 1 whereby the equipments thereof are suitable for keeping unrolled- shrunk position of the lids (21 ) when desired.

6. A system according to claim 1 whereby the cleaning process is carried out when the lids (21) are both in unrolled and shrunk status.

7. A system according to claim 1 wherein top covers (22) and top points of the lids get the same shape with the bottom surface of the shoe by means of spring mechanism within the supports and mechanism component (8) connecting the supports at the same line as a result of locating lids (21 ) and supports (14) in parallel lines.

8. A system according to claim 1 wherein the feature of being automatically adjustable of each brush shaft located under the shoe in parallel lines and makes washing-cleaning process by both turning and moving forward-back along with the shaft axis by enabling the supporting of this shaft by left (5) and right (9) end corner supports and letting it to clean by approaching in comply with the curves that is; curve of bottom surface of shoe by means of the spring mechanism within these supports.

9. A system according to claim 1 characterized in that the system comprises a mechanic cleaning function in circular brushing, transmitting the turning motion in the electric motor (10) to the brush shaft (16) coupled to the motor or taking this turning motion from a motor not coupled to the brush shaft, but via mechanisms of belt-pulley or chain or gear.

10. A system according to claim 1 whereby spray action of liquid/water/vapor is made from the holes of the brush shaft for low or high pressure washing and also from the holes placed on the cap of the lid (22) found on the lid supports (14) in addition to those holes found on brush shafts (16).