Patent Application
20250127292
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of cleaning implements. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to automatic brushes used for scrubbing and cleaning surfaces.
Traditionally, cleaning devices that utilize an automatic and/or rotating brush are powered by electricity. However, these devices are often not powerful enough to rotate at speeds and force necessary to remove certain surface contaminants, such as lime scale, etc. For example, in the food processing industry, large commercial vats (“food preparation vats”) made of stainless steel may accumulate scale and bacteria during the course of use, and therefore need to be cleaned periodically to remove the unwanted buildup of contaminants for health and safety purposes as scale buildup may host bacterial growth. However, the use of harsh commercial solvents may damage the vats and can leave behind residue that is unsafe to mix with food products.
Moreover, using traditional electric-powered brushes often fails to completely clean the buildup from the vats, which can lead to unsanitary conditions. This is especially problematic in the food processing industry, as the buildup can be harmful to humans and lead to the consumption of tainted food. In many applications of vat surface cleaning, the work is done manually to scrub and clean the vat surfaces that interact with food. This manual cleaning is very laborious due to the large size of the vats and is often made more difficult because workers must enter the large vat to clean, often needing to bend down or stretch to reach all of the surfaces while hand cleaning with substantial manual force, using a non-powered brush.
Therefore, what is needed is an approach to cleaning implements that is powerful enough to remove buildup, such as scale, minerals, bacteria, etc., from food processing vats without damaging the vats or contaminating the food before the food is bagged/distributed.
Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention provide apparatus that can safely and efficiently clean food processing containers (e.g., stainless steel vats) and other surfaces (particularly metallic surfaces) using a pneumatic rotating brush housing. The brush housing can include various removeable cleaning implements, such as cleaning pads, abrasive pads, foam pads, nylon or plastic brushes, etc. Some embodiments can also be used to clean any substantially flat, rigid surface, such as floors, windows, etc. According to some embodiments, the brush comprises a handle having a pneumatic input that can be coupled to a pneumatic hose to power a pneumatic rotating element (“air motor”) via compressed air or gas. The pneumatic rotating element causes the brush housing to rotate at a high speed and is controlled by a lever disposed on the handle that opens and closes a valve disposed within the handle.
According to one embodiment, a rotating pneumatic brush is disclosed. The rotating pneumatic brush includes a rigid and substantially hollow shaft, tubing disposed within the shaft operable to contain and transport pressurized air, a handle coupled to the shaft and including: a valve coupled to an air input and the tubing, the air input coupled to the tubing and operable to be coupled to a pressurized air source, and a lever operable to open and close a valve that controls flow of pressurized air through the tubing. The rotating pneumatic brush further includes an air motor coupled to the shaft and to the tubing, the air motor being operable to receive pressurized air via the tubing when the valve is opened by the lever, and a brush housing coupled to the air motor and operable to rotate and turn a removeable brush head held by the brush housing via rotational force produced by the air motor.
According to some embodiments, the brush housing is operable to tilt between 0 and 90 degrees.
According to some embodiments, the brush housing is operable to be unlocked to adjust a tilt position of the brush housing and to be locked to maintain the tilt position during operation.
According to some embodiments, the removeable brush head includes nylon bristles operable to remove contaminants from a metallic surface.
According to some embodiments, the removeable brush head includes a flat cleaning pad operable to clean flat surfaces.
According to some embodiments, the removeable brush head includes a scour pad operable to clean flat surfaces via abrasion.
According to some embodiments, the pressurized air includes pressurized gas.
According to some embodiments, the pressurized air source includes a pressurized air tank.
According to some embodiments, the rotating pneumatic brush further includes a foamer nozzle and a soap input coupled to a soap line that provides soap (or any suitable cleanser) to the foamer nozzle to produce soap foam, where the soap foam is received by the brush housing to facilitate cleaning during operation.
According to some embodiments, the rotating pneumatic brush includes a foregrip coupled to the shaft.
According to some embodiments, the rotating pneumatic brush includes a motor housing that encloses the air motor, and a bearing coupled to the motor housing and to the brush housing. The bearing is operable to prevent wear on the motor housing caused by friction produced by the brush housing rotating.
According to another embodiment, a rotating pneumatic brush having a foamer nozzle is disclosed. The rotating pneumatic brush including a rigid and substantially hollow shaft, tubing disposed within the shaft operable to contain and transport pressurized air, and an air motor coupled to the shaft and to the tubing, the air motor being operable to receive pressurized air via the tubing. The rotating pneumatic brush further includes a soap line coupled to a foamer nozzle, the soap line being operable to be coupled to a soap container via a hose and to receive and transport soap from the soap container to the foamer nozzle, a brush housing coupled to the air motor and operable to rotate and turn a removeable cleaning pad held by the brush housing via rotational force produced by the air motor, and the foamer nozzle operable to receive soap (or any suitable cleanser) from the soap line and produce soap foam that is received by the cleaning pad while the cleaning pad is rotating to facilitate cleaning of a metallic surface.
According to some embodiments, the brush housing is operable to tilt between 0 and 90 degrees.
According to some embodiments, the brush housing is operable to be unlocked to adjust a tilt position of the brush housing and to be locked to maintain the tilt position during operation.
According to some embodiments, the cleaning pad includes an abrasive scour pad operable to remove contaminants from a metallic surface.
According to some embodiments, the cleaning pad includes a foam pad or sponge operable to hold soap foam.
According to some embodiments, the pressurized air includes pressurized gas.
According to some embodiments, the pressurized air is provided to the tubing from a pressurized air tank.
According to some embodiments, the rotating pneumatic brush includes an adjustable rod disposed in the shaft operable to extend out from the shaft to increase a length of the shaft.
According to some embodiments, the rotating pneumatic brush includes a threaded collar disposed on the shaft and in contact with the adjustable rod. The threaded collar is operable to lock and secure the adjustable rod in position.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:
Reference will now be made in detail to several embodiments. While the subject matter will be described in conjunction with the alternative embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter to these embodiments. On the contrary, the claimed subject matter is intended to cover alternative, modifications, and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter as defined by the appended claims.
Furthermore, in the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, it will be recognized by one skilled in the art that embodiments may be practiced without these specific details or with equivalents thereof. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects and features of the subject matter.
Portions of the detailed description that follow are presented and discussed in terms of a method. Although steps and sequencing thereof are disclosed in a figure herein describing the operations of this method, such steps and sequencing are exemplary. Embodiments are well suited to performing various other steps or variations of the steps recited in the flowchart of the figure herein, and in a sequence other than that depicted and described herein.
Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus that can safely and efficiently clean food processing containers (e.g., stainless steel vats) using a pneumatic rotating brush head to remove scale and other buildup from the surfaces of the containers. According to one disclosed embodiment, an automatic brush is disclosed. The automatic brush comprises a shaft coupled to a handle and to a pneumatic rotating element (an “air motor”) coupled to a brush housing. The handle houses a pneumatic inlet that can be coupled to a pneumatic hose or other source to power the air motor via compressed/pressurized air or gas. The pneumatic rotating element causes the shaft to rotate at a high speed, which turns a brush head held by the brush housing. The brush housing can tilt up to 90 degrees to make forceful, even contact with the surface to be cleaned. The brush head can include nylon bristles that are strong enough to remove built up contaminants from a metallic surface, such as a stainless-steel cylinder or vat, for example.
Some embodiments of the present invention are specifically directed to rotating pneumatic cleaning devices that can be used to clean and remove scaling from food preparation vats that clean produce for bagged salads and other produce items typically sold in grocery stores and the like. Scale is particularly problematic in these situations as the scale can lead to bacteria that can infect the produce before it is bagged and distributed. The vats are typically made from stainless steel and can be cleaned using the rotating pneumatic cleaning devices described herein with an appropriate cleaning agent, such as soap or another cleanser (e.g., bleach, etc.).
The stainless-steel pipe 110 is coupled to the handle-side of pneumatic motor 115 which receives a pressurized force from pneumatic input 107 of handle 105 causing the motor 115 to turn at a certain rate. In the example of
In the example of
According to some embodiments, the housing includes one or more holes to allow heat to escape from the motor. The housing typically includes circular openings at the brush-side and at the handle-side to accommodate the rotating brush housing and the handle, respectively. According to some embodiments, the circular opening at the brush-side includes a bearing (e.g., a stainless-steel bearing) that facilitates the rotational motion of the brush head 120 (or a component that connects pneumatic motor 115 to a brush head 120, such as stainless steel stud 122).
According to some embodiments, compressed air is provided to the air motor at a pressure of 4-6 bar, or roughly 60-90 psi, to activate the internal mechanism of the air motor to produce a rotational force. According to some embodiments, compressed gas containing nitrogen or natural gas, for example, is provided to the air motor to activate the internal mechanism to produce a rotational force.
Shaft 210 is coupled to the handle-side of pneumatic motor 215 which receives a pressurized force from pneumatic input 207 of handle 205 causing the motor 215 to turn at a certain rate. The pneumatic motor 215 is coupled to a brush-end that includes a removeable brush head 220 having a low-scratch scour pad or sponge. Internal gearing (e.g., a flywheel) housed within brush head 220 receives the rotating force produced by pneumatic motor 215 to cause the low-scratch scour pad of brush head 220 to spin rapidly with substantial force designed to remove scale, bacteria, and other contamination from metallic surfaces.
According to embodiments, the brush-end of pneumatic motor 215 can be connected to removable brush head 220 via one or more threaded adapters 225, 230, each being coupled to a stud or screw. According to some embodiments, the removeable brush head 220 is directly coupled to stud 222 or screw 235 protruding from the brush-end of pneumatic motor 220 without using any threaded adapters. According to some embodiments, the brush head includes removeable bristles or pads that can be replaced after use, or swapped out for a harder or softer implement as desired.
Shaft 310 is coupled to the handle-side of pneumatic motor 315 which receives a pressurized force from pneumatic input 307 of handle 305 causing the motor 315 to turn at a certain rate. The pneumatic motor 315 is coupled to a brush-end that includes a removeable brush head 320 that receives soap/foam from foamer nozzle 350. Internal gearing (e.g., a flywheel) housed within brush head 320 receives the rotating force produced by pneumatic motor 315 to cause the low-scratch scour pad of brush head 320 to spin rapidly with substantial force designed to remove scale, bacteria, and other contamination from metallic surfaces.
The embodiment of
Embodiments of the present invention are thus described. While the present invention has been described in particular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the present invention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments, but rather construed according to the following claims.
