US1499541A - Pipestem cleaner - Google Patents

Description

july @924% J.` J. MCCRTHY PIPESTEM SUMMER Filed July 1.8 529:22

Patented July l, 19.2.4.

UNITED STATES l Lease PATENT' ortica.

AI'OHN IQCARTHY, OF HIDDLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS PIPFSTEM CLEANER.

,.a'pncaaenmed Imy is', 1923. serial-No. 652,246.

To all whom t mappe/noem.'

Be it known @ha I, JOHN J; Meommf,

l Middleb'oio, ixf the county bacco pipe stem' and useful'lmprovements in l of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented new Pipestem Cleaners, of which the following '1s a specification.

The object Aof this invention 1s to provide a cleaner Acomposed of iiexible wire and adapted to be inserted in the bore of a towhich is either straight or curved, and to clean the bore -by removing therefrom all matter accumulated therein in cluding the relatively which accumulates 1n the bore at its junc- -tion with -thebow1, the construction of the cleaner being such that it is adapted to scrape and remove deposits from all portions of the bore, and reain out caked deposits in the forward end of the bore and thebottom of the bowl. I

1 attain the object of the invention by the improved construction hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Figure l is a side view of a pipe stem cleanerembodying the invention.

Figure '2 is an enlargement of a portion of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view, the outer end.

Figure 4 shows in perspective portions of the two wire members shown by the preceding ii ures before said members are intertwiste Figure 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Figure 2, considerably enlarged.

The same reference characters ind'icate the same parts in all the figures.

My improved cleaner' is composed of two flexible members 12 of flat-sided wire which is oblong in cross section, each member hax ing side faces-13, and edge faces 14, intersecting the side faces, the'ntersection of said faces forming angular scraping edges or corners 15. v

The outer ends of the members 12- are V-shaped, each end being formed by two oblique faces 16 which meet to forman a ex 17, on the longitudinal center of thememer.

The members in the condition shown by 'looking toward Figure 4, are placed side by side with their hard caked matter The members are then intertwisted be tween the points 18 and 19, (Figure 1), the point 18 being spaced from the V-shaped ends.' The twisting operation provides twopart helical Scrapers extending lengthwise of the cleaner, ing two scraping corners 15, one following the other when the cleaner is rotated in the bore of a pipe stem as vshown by Figure 5, in which the bore of the stem is indicated much' enlarged by the dotted circle 20.' A slight transverse curvature is imparted to the members by the twisting operation, so that the corner 15 of one member is slightly offset from the edge face 14 of theother member, the two corners 15 being thus adaptlejd to act simultaneously in scraping the ore.

The Vshaped ends -of the members collectively constitute a two-part reamer, adapted to bore through a caked deposit, the apex of the reamer being on the longitudinal center or axis of the cleaner.

-The width of each member 12 is prefcrably about one-sixteenth of an inch, and it thickness is preferably about one-fourth o* its width, These` dimensions may be slightly varied, however. I find that a cleaner composed of two members of about the dimensions specified, has suilicient flexibility to conform to any .of the usual curves of pipe stems, and is more flexible 4than would be the case if a sin le wire member, havin the thickness of tie two members here si own, were employed. I also find that each member supports the other, so that the cleaner is not objectionably twisted by torsional strain exerted in rotating it in a pipe stem, and relative movement or displacement of the V-shaped ends is prevented.

'lhe members 1Q are connected at the inner end of the cleaner by means forming an operating handle.

ln this instance the members are two pieces of wire connected at the inner end of the cleaner by a knob or handle 22, to which the pieces are suitably fixed. The members may be parts of a single elongated piece of wire bent at its middength to form a neck connecting the members at the inner end of the cleaner.

The cleaner is normally straight, and is therefore adapted for use in a strai ht stem.

An enclosing tube or sheath 23, s own by dotted lines in Figure 1, may be provided to contain the cleaner when it is not in use,

each helical scraper present? the sheath being adapted for insertion in a garment pocket. One end of the' sheath may be ieldingly engaged with the bead or knob' 22.

The twisted portions of the members', 12, held in contact with each other only by'the intertwisting of the members, are adapted tQ slip longitudinally on each other when the cleaner is flexed by contact. with a bore of a curved pipe stem, so that the cleaner may be substantially as flexible as one of the members 12 alone.

If desired, however, the V-'shaped end portions of the members may be brazed, soldered,'or otherwise united to each other, in which case the' twisted portion will be less flexible than when the members are free to sli on each other.

VI c aim:

1. A pipe-stem' cleaner composed of two fiat-sided \vire,1nembeis, each oblong in cross sectionplaced side by side and inter- Vtwisted so that their longitudinal edges form helical two-part AScrapers extending lengthwise of the cleaner, each scraper presenting two scraping corners, one following the other when the cleaner is rotated in a pipe stem, the outer endsof said members being V-shaped, and flush with each other, and forming,r a two-part pointed reaming cutter` the' point of-which is on the .lon 'itudinal center of the cleaner, the ga'ge o the Wire forming said members being such that the cleaner is adapted to enter the bore of a.

pipe stem amlhas a sufficient flexibility to con rm to curvature thereof, each member supporting the other and confining 4the said V-shapcd ends beside each other.

2. A pipe stem cleaner substantially as specified by claim 1, the twisted-portions of said members being free foslip longitudinally on each otherx.

In testimony whereof I have axed my signature.

JOHN J. .f-.i'comt'm Y. A

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