US2753707A - Cleaning device for glass polishing tools - Google Patents

Description

July 10, 1956 E. LAVERDISSE CLEANING DEVICE FOR GLASS POLISHING TOOLS Filed July 9, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lMvENToR .9 10 I 512 010 LAVERPI$SE July 10, 1956 Filed July 9, 1952 E. LAVERDISSE CLEANING DEVICE FOR GLASS POLISHING TOOLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENT R Epmotfl) LAVER'PISSE AGE NT'S United States Patent ice 10, 956

CLEANING DEVICE FOR GLASS POLISHING TOOLS Edmond Laverdisse, Auvelais, Belgium, assignor to L es Glaceries De La Sambre Societe Anonyme, Auvelals,

It is known that glass is polished with the aid of tools called polishers, which comprise discs of absorbent material such as felt, which are secured to rigid supports generally consisting of metal. The friction surfaces of the polishers are covered during operation with a mixture or iron oxide (rouge) and water called the polishing composition.

In the course of polishing, the felt becomes progressively impregnated with polishing composition and the heat evolved by the friction causes evaporation of the water, the iron oxide dust remaining within the felt and gradually clogging the interstices thereof. The disc hardens and becomes unsuitable for polishing. The polisher must then be withdrawn from the apparatus and subjected to washing with water and scraping with a brush, whereafter it is dried and may be re-used.

This method of cleaning is generally sufficient when the polishers are employed in the usual manner to rub the upper face of the glass sheet. The abrasive mixture then becomes localised in the neighbourhood of the outer face of the felt which is applied to the glass, and the washing accompanied by brushing usually gives satisfactory results.

This is not the case with the lower polishers employed for the simultaneous polishing of the two faces of the glass. In this case, the abrasive mixture deposited on the upper face of the felt tends to descend by gravity into the mass and cannot be effectively extracted therefrom by brushing.

According to the present invention, the felt disc is subjected to the action of a vacuum after having been impregnated with water, which is preferably hot. The vacuum may be applied either to the surface of the felt in order to cause the polishing composition to rise to the surface, or through holes formed in the support of the felt in order to remove the polishing composition from the surface. The application of the vacuum may be intermittent and may alternate with the spraying of the felt, or the two operations may be carried out simultaneously. Prior to the application of the vacuum, it is advantageous to proceed with a superficial brushing.

The apparatus employed according to the invention may comprise a hood, which is fitted over the polisher to be cleaned and is connected to a vacuum pump, or a series of suction nozzles which are moved over the surface of the polisher, and which may alternate with sprinkling devices.

In the accompanying drawings, which show diagrammatically, by way of example, a number of constructional forms of apparatus according to the invention:

Figure 1 is an underneath view of a vacuum hood, and Figure 2 is an elevational view in diametral section on the line II-II of Figure 1, showing the hood mounted on a polisher,

Figures 3 and 4 show a modification in diametral section and in top view respectively,

Figures 5 and 6 show on a larger scale fragmentary sections on the lines V-V and VI--VI respectively, of Figure 4,

Figure 7 is a diametral section of another embodiment, and

Figure 8 is an underneath view of the constructional form shown in Figure 7.

When it is to be cleaned, the polisher consisting of the layer of felt I and the metal support 2 is withdrawn from the polishing machine. It is brushed and sprayed with hot water and the hood 3 of flattened form is applied thereto, the said hood being connected by a tube 4 to a vacuum duct 5. In the example shown in Figures 1 and 2, the interior of the hood is divided by partitions 6 into compartments which are each connected by branches 7 to the vacuum tube 4. A peripheral rubber packing 8 ensures fluid-tightness between the hood and the felt.

After extraction of the polishing composition by the vacuum, the felt is again brushed under water and then dried before being returned into service.

The apparatus illustrated in Figures 3 to 6 comprises a series of suction nozzles 9 connected by tubes 10 to an annular duct 11 which is in turn connected to a vacuum pump by a duct 12. Arranged between the suction nozzles 9 are sprinklers 13 connected to an annular duct 14 fed with water through a duct 15. It is thus possible to proceed simultaneously with the spraying and the extraction of the mixture of polishing composition and water. This mixture is collected in a tank 16 connected in the duct 12, and the polishing composition may be re-used after decanting.

After a certain period of operation, the vacuum is relaxed and an angular movement is imparted to the polisher or to the apparatus in order to alternate the local application of the vacuum and of the spraying.

Another embodiment is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, which show a polisher, the support 2 of which has formed therein holes 17 under which suction nozzles 9a can be applied, While sprinklers 13a distribute the water over the upper face of the felt.

However, it is generally preferable to apply the vacuum hood to the active surface of the felt in order that the clogging substances may not be forced to pass through the thickness of the felt.

Although the cleaning of a single polisher has been more particularly envisaged in the foregoing description, it is obviously possible to treat simultaneously in the same manner a number of polishers mounted on a common beam or support.

I claim:

1. A cleaning device for a felt disc having a rigid backing comprising a plurality of spaced vacuum nozzles circularly disposed, a first annular duct, a plurality of other ducts coupling said vacuum nozzles to said first annular duct, a vacuum source coupled to said first annular duct, a plurality of sprinklers interposed between said vacuum nozzles, a water source and a second annular duct coupling said water source to said sprinklers, said second annular duct being concentric with said first annular duct, the circular arrangement of vacuum nozzles and sprinklers being positioned between said first and second annular ducts and being adapted to be supported on one surface of the felt disc having the rigid backing so that in one position of the felt disc first portions of the one surface of the felt disc are vacuumed and second portions of the one surface of the felt disc are sprinkled and in a second position of the felt disc the first portions are sprinkled and the second portions vacuumed whereby vacuuming and sprinkling occur on the same surface of the felt disc.

2. A cleaning device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second annular duct is coplanar with said first annular duct.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Cunningham May 14, 1929 Wait July 23, 1935 MacLelland Sept. 2, 1941 Hoffman Nov. 11, 1941 Pickett Mar. 10, 1942 Pickett Mar. 9, 1948 Sedgwick Feb. 19, 1952

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