US3451088A - Cleaning device for bowling balls or other spherical objects - Google Patents

Description

June 24,1969 F. GERMANN 1,

CLEANING DEVICE FOR BOWLING BALLS OR OTHER SPHERICAL OBJECTS Filed Dec. 27, 1966 I NVENTOR. FRANZ GERMANN BY flmw ww ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,451,088 CLEANING DEVICE FOR BOWLING BALLS OR OTHER SPHERICAL OBJECTS Franz Germann, 31A Ashurst Ave., Middletown, RI. 02840 Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 604,884 Int. Cl. B08b 1/04, N02

US. 'CI. 15-97 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention Bowling alleys are usually dressed with a wax-like coating which is picked up by the bowling ball as it is rolled down the alley, and this picked-up dressing must be removed from the bowling ball and is usually done so by wiping the ball by hand. Fixed brushes have been attempted with the ball moving thereover by gravity as shown in Patent 2,217,256 and also a fixed brush with a belt conveyor to move the ball therethrough has been attempted in Patent 3,077,623. However, these have not gone into general use, and wiping the ball by hand is still common.

Summary The spherical object cleaner is an inclined trough comprising a plurality of cylindrical members extending lengthwise of the trough and each having a buffing surface. There is one cylindrical roller at the bottom center of the trough, while upwardly therefrom and at either side of the center bottom roller there are other cylindrical members arranged in arcuate fashion so as to conform generally to the arc of the spherical object which is to be cleaned. Guides are provided above the side cylindrical members which are not rotatable but which also have a buffing surface. The cylindrical members are rotated in the same direction which give to the ball a spinning action and materially speed up this advance along the general incline of the trough. Each of the cylindrical members comprises a. core with a buffing sleeve which may be removably positioned on the core. The cylindrical members are supported in bearings at each of their ends with the bearings at one end of the members being in an end wall of the trough, which end wall supports or is a common support for the bearings of each of the cylindrical members. This end wall is removable from the trough so that the sleeves on the cylinder core may be slid lengthwise of the members off of the members so as to be replaced by fresh sleeves.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an elevation broken away and showing the end wall of the trough removed and also one of the sleeves from the rollers removed and shown partly broken away; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the drive for the cylindrical members.

Description of the preferred embodiment A trough designated generally 10 has a bottom wall 11 and side walls 12 and end Walls 14 and 15 serving as a framework. Cylindrical members designated generally as a bottom member 20 and side members 21 and 22 each comprise a core as may be seen best in FIG. 4 at 23 with a driving shaft extending from the one end to be supported in bearings in the end wall 14 and trunnions 24 extending from the other end supported in bearings 17, 18, .19 in the end wall 15. Upon this core there are provided sleeves 25 which in the showing here comprises three" sleeves on each core of the cylindrical member arranged in tandem relation, each sleeve being formed of a buffing material, conveniently such a sleeve is found on the market in the form used for a roller paint applicator. The sleeves fit snugly or may be secured on the core so as to rotate therewith.

The end wall 15 is removably positioned in'the end of the trough and held therein by means of hooks 26 at its upper edge and catches 27 supported on a post adjacent the end wall 15 of the trough and similar hooks 28 supported on a cross bar and catches 29 on the side walls 12 at the lower portion of the trough. Thus, this end wall and its bearings 17, 18, 19 may be readily removed for exposing the ends of the cylindrical members so that soiled sleeves may be slid from the cores 23 and replaced with fresh sleeves.

The side walls 12 or frame also support guides 30 and 31 which are located vertically above the side cylindrical members 21 and 22 and which consist of battens provided with but- ling surfaces 32 and 33 of the same material that covers the rolls. These surfaces, however, are not rotated and are primarily guides for directing the ball as it moves along the trough which has the buffing surfaces generally inclined to the horizontal so as to tend to move the ball through the trough.

In order to assist the cleaning action and also to assist in advancing the ball through the trough, each of the cylindrical members is rotated by a pulley attached to the shaft which extends through the end wall 14. Thus, there is a pulley 35 on the shaft of the lower cylindrical member 20 driven from pulley 36 of motor 37, while also on this shaft there is a pulley 38 which drives pulley 30 on the shaft of cylindrical member 22 and a pulley 40 which drives the pulley 41 on the shaft of cylindrical member 21. Thus all of the cylindrical members will be driven in the same direction causing the ball to attain a rather high speed of rotation but not as fast as the rollers are traveling, thus buffing the ball 42 and picking up of such Iwax as it may have collected thereon from an alley. It is found that most of the accumulated dirt from the ball accumulates on the lower center roller 20 while other lesser accumulation is 'found on the cylindrical members 21 and 22. However, the side guides which also have a buffing surface collect very little of the dirt from the spherical object cleaned due probably to the fact that most dirt is accumulated on the area which supports the most of the weight of the ball. It is found that by spinning the ball in this manner it travels through the trough faster than it would if this spinning did not occur and also serves to speed the ball up as it emerges from the trough. As the ball emerges from the trough, non-cleaning members 45 and 46 which are in effect extensions of the guides 30 and 31 serve to direct the ball along the track 47 which is the track directing the ball back to the bowler.

A track designated generally 50 is provided adjacent the entrance of the ball in the trough and which also bears the same inclination of the trough and consists of arcuately arranged bars 51 to receive the ball so that it may roll into the trough by gravity.

1. A cleaning device for a spherical object comprising an elongated inclined surface trough through which the object passes, said trough comprising a bottom cylindrical member and a side cylindrical member on each side thereof and in raised relation thereto, said cylindrical members having their axes parallel and extending lengthwise of the trough and each provided with a buffing surface, additional fixed guides extending longitudinally of the trough and located vertically above the side cylindrical members and provided with a buffing surface, the buffing surfaces of said cylindrical members and said fixed guides being located substantially the same radial distance from a center approximating the center of the object to be cleaned when in said trough, means for rotating said members about their axes in the same direction to rotate said object as it moves along the inclined surface, said rotation increasing the speed of travel through the trough 'with relation to the speed of travel by gravity alone along the incline surface of the trough.

2. A cleaning device .as in claim 1 wherein the means for rotating said members is by means of an electric motor belted thereto.

3. A cleaning device for a spherical object comprising an elongated trough through which the object passes, said trough comprising a cylindrical member having its axis extending lengthwise of the trough and provided with a buffing surface upon which the object to be cleaned rests by gravity, means for rotating said member, said member comprising a cylindrical core and a sleeve slidable over said core and said sleeve providing said buffing surface, a frame providing bearings for the opposite ends of said cylindrical member, the portion of the frame providing the bearing for one end comprising a unit separable from the remainder of the frame and means comprising detachable clasps between said unit and the remainder of the frame to hold the unit thereto providing ready detachment of said unit for interchange of said sleeve.

4. A cleaning device as in claim 3 wherein there are a plurality of cylindrical members each provided with a core and removable sleeve to provide buffing surfaces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 528,195 10/1894 Warr 153.2 626,613 6/1899 Hendrix 153 .2 1,081,367 12/1913 Cook 153.2 2,005,115 6/1935 Stutz 1521.1

EDWARD L. ROBERTS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 153.2

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