Abstract:
A machine for washing bar stock includes an infeed to feed bars into a washing unit that has a conveyor separating each bar and discharging them to an outfeed. The cleaning is performed by brushes situated above the conveyor that sweep the lengths of the bars on the conveyor.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     None.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     This invention relates to a machine for degreasing metal bar stock prior to their use by fabricators or the like.  
         [0004]     Metal fabricators often use metal bars which are shipped from the manufacturer coated with oil or grease to prevent rust or other oxidation. Even without such a protective coating, the bars also pick up dirt and grime and need to be cleaned before they may be used. The bars are often very heavy and unwieldy which creates a hazard for a person assigned to manually clean and degrease the bars. Since bar stock may be 4 feet long and up to 3 inches in diameter, the bars can be very heavy to lift free from a bundle of bars for individual cleaning. Obviously, dropping a bar could cause serious injuries.  
         [0005]     Prior art approaches to cleaning typically involve baths such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,440,226. Such baths need constant recycling of their fluids to prevent fouling by the cleaner and require a great deal of fluid and extra handling steps by personnel.  
         [0006]     The art described in this section is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention, unless specifically designated as such. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(a) exists.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The invention provides a bar stock degreaser that allows an entire bundle of bars to be placed on a receiving section by a fork truck. The bundle is cut open and the bars are then gently fed by gravity one at a time into the degreaser which has a plurality of brushes that wipe the rolling bars from end to end with a cleaning liquid to clean the bars. After cleaning the bars are dropped onto a staging zone where they may be removed and used. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     A detailed description of the invention is hereafter described with specific reference being made to the drawings in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of the bar stock degreaser of the invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the other side of the degreaser from  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is a top view of the degreaser of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is an enlarged side view of the degreaser of  FIG. 1  with parts cut away;  
         [0013]      FIG. 5  is a top view of the degreaser of  FIG. 3  with parts cut away;  
         [0014]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the degreaser as in  FIG. 5  with fewer bars to be cleaned;  
         [0015]      FIG. 7  is an enlarged view the degreaser of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     With reference to the figures, bar washing machine  10  is constructed with a washer frame  12  to support the main washer  40  and bar conveyor system. Bars  18  to be cleaned are placed on an adjustable height infeed  14  which includes a pair of separated infeed frame members  16  which hold the bars  18  to be cleaned. One end of the infeed frame members  16  is hingedly attached to washer frame  12  at hinge point  24 . The other end of the infeed frame members are hingedly attached to a height adjustment mechanism  22  which allows the infeed frame members  16  to be raised or lowered to vary the gravity feed speed to the washer  40 . A stop  20  may be at the ends of infeed frame  16  to prevent bars  18  from accidentally falling off.  
         [0017]     Bars  18  move from left to right in  FIG. 1  from the infeed to the bar conveyor  38 . The conveyor  38  is powered by motor  42  through belt  44  which drives a pulley on the main drive sprocket  46 . A chain  64  connects between drive sprocket  46  and first sprocket  48 . Sprockets  46  and  48  are connected to shafts  50 ,  52 , such that like sprockets  54 ,  56 , as seen in the back of the machine of  FIG. 2 , and their chain  60  move together as a unit.  
         [0018]     Chains  48 ,  60  include a plurality of spaced fingers  58  to separate bar stock  18  and push each bar  18  through the machine  10 . Bars  18  do not rest on chains  48 ,  60 . Instead, bars  18  are carried on bar frame  70  which may be moved up or down by virtue of cams  72 ,  74  which may be rotated by movement of sprockets  76 ,  78  by chains  80 ,  82 . Movement of lever  84  causes its sprocket  86  to move clockwise or counterclockwise to raise or lower bar frame  70  by the movement of cams  72 ,  74 . Once at the height desired, the height is fixed by a pin  88  against lever  84 . Bar frame  70  floats above washer platform frame  12  on pins  114  attached to frame members  116  that are secured to main platform frame  12 . Openings  118  in bar frame  70  receives the pins  114  which keep the bar frame  70  aligned and allows for vertical movement.  
         [0019]     The washer  40  is suspended above the bars  18  on bar frame  70  which has a plurality of brushes  90  held to a rectangular frame  92 . As best shown in  FIG. 7 , the frame  92  has wheels  94  which rest on frame members to allow the frame  92  to move back and forth to scrub the length of bars  18  situated underneath. The rectangular frame  92  is driven back and forth in the direction of the arrows in the Figure by a hydraulic mechanism  96 .  
         [0020]     The scrubbing action of the brushes  90  may be enhanced by supplying water, detergent, solvents or a combination to the brushes through line  100  which has openings  102  to dispense liquid to the brushes. The liquid is pumped using pump  104  from supply tank  112 .  
         [0021]     Once used, the liquid, dirt and grease passes through the device into a catch basin  106  and is funneled down through tube  108  into a waste reservoir tank  110 . The waste reservoir tank  110  may be filtered and reused depending on the contaminants involved.  
         [0022]     Bars  18  are thoroughly scrubbed from end to end by brushes  90 . The brushes apply downward pressure on bars  18  which together with the left to right movement by the conveyor  38  causes the bars  18  to rotate on bar frame  70 . This rotation increases the effectiveness of the scrubbing since the entire circumference of the bars  18  is presented to the brushes  90  for cleaning. The height of bar frame  70  is adjusted for the diameter of the bars  18  to be cleaned such that brushes  90  exert a downward pressure on the bars as they are pushed through the conveyor  38 .  
         [0023]     In operation, bars  18  to be cleaned are placed on the infeed frame  16  which has typically been lowered in height using adjustment mechanism  22  until it is level. The bars  18  are typically in a bundle and may be placed on the infeed by a fork truck or the like. The infeed frame free end is then raised by the hydraulic mechanism  22  to provide a gravity feed to the main washer  10 . The motor  42  drives the spaced fingers which take the bars  18  through the completed wash cycle.  
         [0024]     This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.