US1250195A - Pipe-cleaner. - Google Patents

Description

G. LI NTHIC UM.

PIPE CLEANER. APPLICATION FILED em. 4. I916- Patented Dec. 18,1917

2 SIHEETSSHEET' I- Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

GEORGE LINTHICU'M, OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND.

PIPE-CLEANER.

Application filed October 4, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE LINTHIGUM, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Annapolis, in the county of Anne Arundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Cleaners, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to pipe cleaning implements and particularly to means for boring or removing the deposits commonly found in the pipes of water systems, particularly in the service pipes thereof leading from mains to buildings.

An object of this invention is. to provide novel means whereby a rotary member may be inserted in a pipe and advanced or pressed forward as it is being rotated and as it cuts or removes the deposit within the pipe, means being also provided for effecting a step by step movement of the rotating means in advancing or retracting the said implement.

A further object of this invention is to provide means for holding the feeding or advancing mechanism at different positlons with respect to the bottom of the trench or wherever the pipe is located.

A still further object of this invention is to provide means for operating the cleaning tool by thrust motion, means being pro vided for reciprocating the said cleaning tool during the oscillation of a lever constituting a part of the apparatus.

A still furtherobject of thisinvention is to provide means for choking or closing the pipes between the main and a valve so that in case the passage in the valve is too small for a cleaning tool, another valve may be substituted during the cleaning operation and thereafter the first mentioned valve may be replaced without cutting off the water from the main.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing'the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification whereinlike characters denote corres o d.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

Serial No. 123,798.

ing parts in the several views, and in Figure 1 illustrates a perspective View of a fragment of a main and service pipe with the invention applied thereto;

Fig. 2 illustrates a sectional view of the service pipe with fragments of the cleaning apparatus in elevation, and partly in section; 1

Fig. 3 illustrates a sectional view on the 7 line 33 of Fig. 2; i

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of certam dogs disconnected;

Fig. 5 illustrates a detail view of a choke ing tool showing its application to a pipe;

Fig. 6 illustrates a perspective view of said ing the same;

Fig. 12 illustrates a view in elevation,

partly in section, of the reciprocating cleaner;

Fig. 13 illustrates a sectional view on the line 1813 of Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 illustrates a side elevation of a clamp; Fig. 15 illustrates a face view thereof; and Fig. 16 illustrates a perspective view of a cleaning rod for use in conjunction with the reciprocating cleaner.

In these drawings 20 denotes a rack bar, 21 a rack bar having teeth on its upper and lower surfaces, the shoulders of the said teeth being oppositely faced. The rack bars 20 and 21 are connectedat the joint 22 to an arm 23 which arm is connected to an extension 24 of a collar 25, which collar is ad:

justably secured on the pipe 26 by the set screw- 27, so that the said collar may be moved longitudinally-of the pipe for the purpose of bringing the rack bars into,

proper operative relation to the service pipe 28 t'o'b e cleaned,'therebeingajvalve'29in to the cleaning tool asw llbe presently'exterposed between the service pipe 28 and the pipe 26. A coupling 80 is attached to one end of the pipe 26 andthe said coupling commnnlcates w th a discharge pipe 31 by whlch water and bormgs are perm tted to escape during the cleaningoperation. i

A stufling box 32 and a aclrngrmg 33 are assembled in operative relation to the coupling and a cleaning rod or shaft 84c Fig. .8.

39 for the lever :soithat the'lev er maybe oscillated for thrusting the rod inwardly or pulling'it outwardly.

As a means for causingan advance thdrawal oft-hecleanmg tool,.the lower end of the lever 'is'provlded with 'afdog ll:

whichengages the upper series of. teeth ,of

V the rack bar 21'and the'saidleveris further provided .with dogs 4'2 and' lS the, latter of which engages the series of teeth on the Iunder surface of the rack bar 21, and the do'g' 4c2 engages the teeth of the raCk'Ibar QO.

The lever 40 is further supplied with springs 4A and 45,theformer of whichis adapted to beconnected to a stud ld'o'n thed-og 43 and the latter ofwhich is adapted tobe connected to a stud 47 ofthe dog 42 according tot-he directionof movement tobe imparted plained. V

In orderto support the rack bar and the mechanism associated with it in proper re-l lation to the pipe to be cleaned, a base block 47 which is adapted to "rest on the ground, has a sleeve 48 rising from it,. the

said sleeve receiving a post 49 on the under surface of the racks and the said postlis held at different positions of adjustment A modified construction 1 is" a set screw 50 p shown in Fig. 11 for holding the rack-bars andthisconsists ofa rod 51 hav-ing a hooked end 52, the said rod beingslida'ble in an aperture 53 the hooked end thereof be:

ing adapted to enter an aperturefl l,

le 55 in. this ,emh d m hti of we in fei Q Suppo t t rod lan 1 1t 1'; t rn.

e r sl' he i ea: be: ,T eli wr mien-ti F iI t l'mis fll' t y W119??? i} were ne v deep, a d heref e lea an e:

tween the service pipe andQthebottom of drill fis elliptical in cross sectionor at a vt e h a s such ll eqie 'ipaay as this construction conformsto' the pas the trench f is not v sufficient to us'ei fo rini throughthe service pipe, carrying theborr ings past the drill and out of the discharge ,:-=T-here are times when a rigid drill rod or cleaning device cannot be employed in removal-ofwdeposits from pipes asn where there is a bend or elbow in a service pipe.

' 'Foi' th e purpose"ofadapting the apparatus for use in connection with implements for Cleaning pipes having such curves, the clamp '58 ,is. appliedto-thepivot'39 and said. pivot has a nurse for forcing'the saidclainp" inwardly and if an end69'of a 'rod 56 were seated in .t'he,recess GOof thesai'd' clamping bloc kjitbould beheld so that during the reciprocatioii of the lever flOg the'rod "56 and'f cleaning tool 56 would fbe're'cip'r'o'c'at'edanch forced 4 longitudinally or the service pipe for 7 theren oval of deposits; The cleaningto'ol" V apertu es sucli' as 57 'rorper'mittiag theiescape' 0f cuttings. y In practice; it hasbeen found that the} valves such as 29 of service pipeshave re" stricted openings'which will not permit the passage of'the cleaning'toolsj Injcar'ryin out my invention, t11esai 1,-'va1ve to whiclif the pipe 26 isyeonneaedimay berem'oved whenl such "obstacles are encountered and' valves having larger o p'eni'ngs substituted" so as to permit the cleaning tools to enter the'smicepipe without cutting es"- the Water the main by choking the service n pipe and removing ,[the small valve, placing the larger valve thereon; and then r'eradvi'ng'the choking devi ce While the, operation of clean ing the pipes is performed afteiflwhi'ch the pipe willthen befchoke da n'd the original valve restoredgl To effect the result just stated; a choking "implement is 'prdvided which c o nsists' pr a, tubular m'eiiiberl 6.1 in whichfafrod 62"fis rotatab One end: of the" 110 said rod having a flezgiblemember' 63*s e curedto itby wire or oth'e rYvv'rapping b lc. The'said flexible membe'rl is"secured at its opposite end to the pipe '61; by the fa s te n ings' 65 and hence asfthe rod 6 2 is rotatedg" the flexible material {63 is twisted and terms; a" choke such "as is: showri' the I dra\ving* where the "flexible:Ihaterial is" sh'dwn as;twisted;as 'statedifliiTlie outer'e'ii of the rod 62 is threaded arid anut"66 is} threaded on it, the said nutfhavinglaflset screw .bywhichitisiheldi di flerilt positionsof adjustment and itina'y the end of ui 'p ip gerte 'h olfd the choke op-i erat'ing rod." I p it F m the i esd h i l cripti J .tSi ii f themei e ef me s ne .v il e ili art w i fide fta the? of the choke or manner of substituting valves andtheoperation ofthe device5'itbe' ing apparent it is thought that after the parts have been assembled in the relation shown in F ig. 1, a reciprocation of the lever 40 will cause the cleaning tool to be moved into the service pipe, although when the tool is to be advanced, the spring should be disconnected from the stud of the dog 43 and it should hang loose and out of engagement with the teeth of the rack bar 21. lVhen the parts are thus arranged, an oscillation of the lever 40 will result in advancing the dogs 41 and 42 alternately and when the implement is being advanced, the wheel should be rotated so that the cutting tool will be rotated to remove deposits from the service pipe.

When the tool is being advanced the dogs 41 and 42 engage the respective rack bars and when the upper end of the lever is being pushed forward, the dog 41 advances and when the lever is oscillated in the opposite direction, the dog 41. bears against one of the shoulders of the rack bar and the dog 42 moves over a tooth or more and engages the shoulder to retain the lever in the advanced position, While it is being oscillated in the opposite direction. This would be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawing.

Then the cleaning tool is to be with drawn, the dogs 41 and 42 are held out of engagement with the teeth of the rack 20 and the rod is drawn out of the pipe. Provision is made for disconnecting the springs from the dogs so that the dogs may be held in or out of engagement with the racks according to the direction of movement to be imparted to the reciprocating rods.

I claim:

1. In a pipe cleaning apparatus, a double rack, a lever, dogs carried by the lever for engaging the rack for advancing the lever, a cleaning rod connected to the lever whereby the said cleaning rod is reciprocated, means for rotating the cleaning rod, a drill elliptical in cross section on the inner end of the cleaning rod adapted to enter a service. pipe, a drain pipe for carrying oil the dislodged material within the pipe, and means for connecting the rack bar to the p p 2. In a pipe cleaning apparatus, an oscillating lever, a clamp secured thereto, a. cleaning rod adapted to be held by the clamp, said cleaning rod being flexible, a clea-ning'tool adapted to be connected to the said cleaning rod, and means for holding the lever in operative relation to a pipe to be cleaned.

3. In a pipe cleaning apparatus, a rack, an adjustable support therefor, means for connecting the rack to a pipe, a lever oscillatable with relation to the rack and movable longitudinally thereof, a cleaning tool carried by the rod, and a stufiing box through which the rod projects.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning pipes, means for closing a passage in a pipe, a valve adapted to be secured to the said pipe when the closure is operating, said valve having a passage therein to permit the withdrawal of the closure when the valve is in operative position, a rod for operating the closure, a stufling box through which the rod operates, and means for holding the closure in adjusted position.

5. In a pipe cleaning apparatus, a rack bar having teeth on two faces, a second rack bar connected thereto, means for holding the rack bars in place, means for holding the rack bars in operative relation to a pipe, a

.lever, means carried by the lever adapted to engage the teeth of the rack bars whereby oscillatory motion of the lever results in imparting movement to the lever longitudinally of the rack bars, a cleaning rod, means for connecting the cleaning rod to the lever, and a cleaning tool on the rod adapted to enter a service pipe.

GEORGE LINTHICUM.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

. Washington, D. 0.

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