The present invention relates to hand-held devices for cleaning, drying, polishing and shining of surfaces including that of a vehicle (Class 15 Brushing, Scrubbing and General Cleaning).
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,558 deals with dual axis suspension for car wash wrap brush. This is for a fixed car wash system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,958 deals with a rotating plastic flexible brush shaft to turn the front corner and rear corner of a vehicle. This applies to fixed or installed car wash systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,206 deals with a plurality of brushes for a fixed car wash installation (system).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,724 deals with a wrap around car wash brush apparatus for a fixed car wash alley (fixed system).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,565 deals with a vehicle washing apparatus in a fixed designated washing alley or space.
United States Patent Application 20020148907 deals with a portable spray for a car wash system. This again deals with an installed or fixed car wash system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,471,503 deals with a fluid-powered brush in a vibrating motion for cleaning surfaces while the present invention deals with an integrated device functioning with motorized or water powered tubular or longitudinal brush or brushes, and by its rotation or spin and a combination of agents such as detergent, waxing agent, polishing agent to perform one or more of spraying, cleaning, waxing and polishing of a surface including that of a vehicle.
Motorized brushes are utilized for cleaning of the tires and rim areas and floors. These are mostly circular or disc-shaped brushes. The bristles of a motorized brush utilized for cleaning the tire is generally hard for the body of vehicles These motorized brushes are not suitable for and/or not efficient for the cleaning the body of a vehicle or a large surface area.
In the case of a commercial vehicle washing system that is fixed or installed, motorized brushes are utilized that spin along with sprays of one or more of water, air, detergent and wax. The drying is done by either a blast of air to push away water and/or by hand wiping with a drying material such as towel or chamois leather.
Motorized cleaning systems exist such as that of a “car wash or vehicle wash” that are fixed systems or installed facilities.
These fixed or installed systems are large, bulky and heavy and are not suitable for hand-held operation of a motorized brush for cleaning, drying, polishing and shining of a surface including that of a vehicle.
Device: Device is the present invention
Guide wheel or wheels: One or more wheels on which the device rests and enables smooth movement over a surface.
Splashguard: One or more covers over the brush or brushes to contain or minimize splashing around when one or more brushes rotate.
Surface: The surface including that of a floor, wall, vehicle, container, and rail car including horizontal, vertical, near vertical or angular and curved surfaces that the device is targeted to work on.
It is the object of this invention to increase the ease and efficiency of hand operation of one or more or a combination of discharging, dispersing or spraying water and other materials, cleaning, drying, polishing and shining of a surface including that of a vehicle by integrating and providing options for and including one or more or a combination of the functions of spraying, cleaning, polishing and shining by incorporating one or more nozzles for spraying, one or more attachments for sources of discharging, dispersing or spraying materials and one or more cylindrical or tubular motorized brushes or inter-changeable brushes - all in one pass of the device over the surface being worked on.
It is the object of this invention to support the device on one or more wheels—‘guide wheels’—made of non-marking material such as plastic, rubber or a combination or compound of suitable materials, that enable the device to be moved over the surface being cleaned and enable the brush or brushes to operate from or at a uniform height over the surface thereby enabling uniform contact with the surface.
It is the object of this invention that these guide wheels also make it easy to move the brush over the surface to be cleaned compared to any hand held brush without guide wheels and compared to hand motion for scrubbing surface of a vehicle or other surface with a towel or sponge, or compared to drying by hand wiping with a towel or sponge or other material or polishing by hand with a towel or chamois leather.
It is the object of this invention that the longitudinal or cylindrical motorized brush or brushes of the invented device minimizes or eliminates missing areas on the surface to be cleaned compared to hand motions or circular or disc shaped brushes that cover smaller areas at a time.
It is the object of this invention to minimize or eliminate splashing with one or more splash protection guard or guards while the brush or brushes rotate and/or while the materials are discharged, dispersed or sprayed.
It is the object of this invention that the device is hand-held and operated.
The current invention provides a motorized hand-held device for cleaning, drying, waxing, polishing and shining of a surface including that of an automobile, floors, windows and walls. It provides an option to operate with one or more of water, air, detergent, waxing agent, polishing agent and can be fitted with separate brushes designed for one or more of cleaning, drying, waxing, polishing and shining. The device enables accomplishing multiple functions of spraying, cleaning, drying, waxing, polishing and shining in one go or with one pass. The device may also be utilized to spray and clean in the first pass, and during a second pass, it may be utilized to dry, polish and shine. The device covers a greater surface area including that of a vehicle with each pass compared to any other existing hand-held device, including washing by hand, and thus requiring less effort to cover the area including all sides or vertical or near vertical surfaces. The device works on a vertical or near vertical surfaces including the sides of an automobile, walls and windows by either holding the device in a vertical or near vertical position or by attaching the device in a vertical or near vertical position to a height adjustable and collapsible support tube with one or more wheels at the bottom that enable smooth movement on the floor around the vertical or near vertical surface. For floors, the device is set on the floor and has an option to attach to a hand held height-adjustable and angle-adjustable handle to reach out to the hands of a standing person. The invention is portable and can be handled conveniently for operation including in a parking lot, in a garage or on a typical driveway or street side where an automobile is commonly parked.
The device can be utilized for any surface including that of floors, counter tops, walls and windows.
It is also compact for storage. It is activated either by connecting to a power source and a water source or a water pack and in the case of a DC unit, it can be activated by its own battery pack. All other liquids of choice such as detergent, waxing agent, polishing agent can be added or attached to the device.
The present invention is a device wherein an axle, core or shaft 18 of a longitudinal or tubular brush 3 of
The flow lines for above referred attachments 6, 7 and 8 of
The device rests and moves by manual force on one or more guide wheels 2 of
The brush is detachable and attachable by a knob 19 of
The device has a connector 20 of
The device has an optional attachment of a collapsible and angle adjustable support 2 of
The brush 3 of
The present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the device”) sprays from one set of nozzles on the advancing side of the device one or more or a combination of air, water, steam, compressed air, pressurized water, pressurized steam, detergent, waxing agent and polishing agent for the surface to be cleaned. As the device is moved by hand, the sprayed surface is cleaned by the rotating bristles of a brush or brushes. The device has an option for a second set of sprays located on the following side of the device, which spray on the area brushed to wash away any loosened particles on the surface.
For drying, the brush is changed to a ‘drying brush’ and the device spins the brush and absorbs the moisture on the surface to be dried. During this operation, the spray lines may be turned to OFF.
For polishing, the brush is changed to a ‘polishing brush’, and a waxing and/or polishing material can be discharged, dispersed or sprayed by a set of nozzles on the ‘advancing side’ of the device as the rotating brush or brushes spread the waxing agent and/or polishing agent evenly on the surface. The brush or brushes by their rotation or spin give the surface a ‘rub’ or ‘wipe’ to wax and/or to polish the surface.
Alternatively, the waxing agent and/or the polishing agent may be discharged, dispersed or sprayed along with and during the cleaning cycle and the polishing brush may be utilized without a spray.
A third option is to combine polishing with drying cycle by utilizing a common brush that is suitable for both purposes or, in the case of a device with multiple brushes, the device can have at least one brush for drying and one brush for polishing.
The device has options to operate the brush or brushes without any sprays (set to OFF) and the sprays may be operated without any brush rotation (set to OFF).
The surface to be cleaned and/or waxed and/or polished say, that of a vehicle, can be covered in just a few passes of the device.
The device has provisions for attachments including that of water container or a water hose, detergent container, waxing agent container and/or polishing agent container. The device also has an attachment for a power source. Devices with battery packs may have a detachable re-charging connector for power source.
The device can be controlled with ‘on’, ‘off’, and ‘rate of flow’ controls for including, water or detergent, air, heated air, steam, pressurized water, compressed air, pressurized steam and waxing material and polishing material. Each and every nozzle may have the capability to be turned on, off and to adjust the angle and force of dispersion of the spray. The device may have one or more control valves to shut off or turn on the flow of material to one or more of the spray lines. The device includes controls for speed of rotation of every brush along with ‘on’ and ‘off’ controls.
The device has one or more non-marking guide wheels to move the device smoothly over the surface to be cleaned and to keep the brush or brushes at a uniform height over the surface to be cleaned thereby ensuring a uniform contact of the bristles with the surface.
The device has a retractable handle with a grip. The device can be maneuvered on and around vertical or near vertical sides with the help of a retractable and height adjustable vertical attachment or, support that has one or more wheels at the lower end to move the device smoothly on the floor, thereby enabling the brush to operate in a vertical or near vertical position with the guide wheels contacting the surface to be cleaned and rolling the motorized brush or brushes with the help of the guide wheels to maintain a uniform height or distance over the surface being worked on.
The device has the capability to operate interchangeable brushes to enable changing to specialty brushes such as one for cleaning, one for drying and one for waxing or polishing the surface and in the case of a device with multi brushes, it can perform multiple functions of one or more of cleaning, drying, polishing and shining in one single pass.
The unit has a handle with a grip. The handle is detachable from the device. The handle includes a collapsible tubular handle with a grip where a part of the length of the tube can be bent to an angle to enable operation of the brush on a surface that is at higher level than the reach of a person like that of a roof top of a vehicle. The handle includes a type of a collapsible tubular handle thereby enabling adjustability for a specific length or height. The handle's angle from the device is also adjustable to enable rolling the device on a floor with the handle reaching up to the hands of a person in a standing position or to enable rolling the device on the roof of a vehicle that may be above the reach of a person.
This is a continuation, in part, of provisional patent application No. 61/336,778 filed on Jan. 1, 2010 now allowed, and priority based thereupon is claimed.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61336778 | Jan 2010 | US |