CARRYOVER TUBE CLEANING MINI-BRUSH

A mini-brush for use in cleaning and clearing obstacles from within a carryover tube in a furnace. The brush having a handle coupled to a first end of a flexible shaft, a guide point coupled to a second end of the flexible shaft, and a plurality of bristles coupled along a length of the flexible shaft, the plurality of bristles having a first side located adjacent to the guide point and extending along the flexible shaft towards the handle. The flexible shaft is a stranded cable wire permitting the guide point and the bristles to navigate a 90 degree corner through a tube

TECHNICAL FIELD

This application relates in general to a method and article of manufacture for a carryover tube mini-brush.

BACKGROUND

Heating technicians are responsible for maintaining furnaces and heating systems to keep them in efficient operating condition. One of the more significant tasks for these technicians is to keep the components of a furnace clean and free of blockages and debris on a periodic basis. For commercial systems, this maintenance may significantly increase operating efficiencies of these furnaces as well as prevent operating failures. Avoiding these problems may reduce or eliminate damage to the furnaces, operating downtime for the furnaces, and operating costs for the owners and landlords.

One particular component that is in need of routine maintenance is a carryover tube in the furnaces that is used to pass an ignition spark or flame from its ignition source to the furnace burners when the furnace is being activated for use. The ignition spark is typically generated at a source device located at one end of the carryover tube and one or more furnace burners are located along the length, or at the opposite end of the carryover tune. The ignition spark is aligned with one end of the carryover tube to permit the spark at as an ignition source for the burners when they have their fuel released to generate heat in the furnace.

One maintenance task that needs to be performed is to keep the interior of the carryover tube clean and clear of obstructions. These carryover tubes are known to provide a place for insects and spiders to lay their eggs and create places to reside. These insects and their uses can create an obstruction within the carryover tube which prevents the ignition spark to pass through the tube to ignite the burners. An article that assists technicians in clearing and cleaning these carryover tubes needed that has not been available for use in performing the maintenance.

The present invention attempts to address the existing limitations in existing methods to maintain and clean the carryover tubes in heating system according to the principles and example embodiments disclosed herein.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other problems are solved by providing an article of manufacture that assists in cleaning within a carryover tube and clear any obstructions that are found within operating furnaces.

In one embodiment, the present invention is a brush having a handle coupled to a first end of a flexible shaft, a guide point coupled to a second end of the flexible shaft, and a plurality of bristles coupled along a length of the flexible shaft, the plurality of bristles having a first side located adjacent to the guide point and extending along the flexible shaft towards the handle.

The great utility of the invention is that that a land owner and landlord can rely on the functionality a furnace ignition system through simple and inexpensive maintenance around the year without concern of an outage that could cause a portion of the business to come to a standstill or could result in a breach of security or safety to tenants and users of the building.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This application relates in general to a method and article of manufacture for providing an article for manufacture such as a mini-brush on a flexible shaft capable of being passed through a carryover tube to clean and clear obstructions therein.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It further will be understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” and “including” specify the presence of stated features, steps, or components but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, or components. It also should be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions and acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality and acts involved.

In general, the present disclosure relates to an article for manufacture such as a mini-brush on a flexible shaft capable of being passed through a carryover tube to clean and clear obstructions therein. These carryover tubes may contain any number of shapes and lengths that require any cleaning device to be flexible enough to pass through these different carryover tubes and any related structures while performing maintenance tasks.

To better understand the present invention,FIG. 1represents one potential embodiment a furnace system200having one or more burners112a-112bused to as sources of heating. The furnace typically possess as an ignition device113to generate an ignition spark and or ignition flame to light the burners112a-112b. The ignition device113is aligned at one end of a carryover tube111such that the ignition spark may pass through the tube111to ignite the burners112a-112b.

During cleaning, a mini-brush100is used to clean and clear the inside of the carryover tube111. A technician inserts one end of the mini-brush100containing a guide point104into the carryover tube111and pushes the bristles103of the mini-brush100the length of the carryover tube111. The mini-brush100uses a flexible shaft102push the bristles103into the carryover tube111by pushing a handle101on the opposite end of the mini-brush100towards the tube. The flexible shaft102needs to be flexible enough the permit the bristles103navigate any changes on shape as the bristles103transits the length of the carry over tube111. The flexible shaft must also be rigid enough to provide a directed force through the carryover tube111using the handle101of the mini-brush100. A service technician moves the bristles103back and forth through the length of the carryover tube111as necessary to push all debris out of the carryover tube111.

With reference toFIG. 2, an exemplary system for implementing the invention includes a mini-brush200constructed from a handle201, a flexible shaft202, bristles203, and a guide point204. In a preferred embodiment, the mini-brush has an overall length of 27 inches This length permits the bristles203to transit the length of most carryover tubes111. Other lengths may also be used for cleaning of other objects.

At a first end of the mini-brush200, a handle201is located to permit a technician to push the bristles203through the carryover tube111. In a preferred embodiment, the handle201is 3 inches in length and shaped as a cylinder to permit the technicians can grasp the handle in one hand. Other shapes for handles that make maintaining a grip on the handle may also be used.

The handle201is physically coupled to a first end of the flexible shaft202. In a preferred embodiment is 24 inches long, including the space holding the bristles203and the guide point204. The flexible shaft202may be constructed using a 1/16 inch diameter stranded cable wire. The stranded cable wire is flexible enough to permit the bristles203and guide point204to pass through bends in a carryover tube111and related components. The stranded cable wire is also rigid enough for a force be transmitted along the path of the flexible shaft202when the technician applies pressure via the handle201. When a force is transmitted along the flexible shaft202, the bristles203may dislodge and remove any debris and obstacles that create obstructions in the carryover tube111. The flexible shaft is a stranded cable wire permitting the guide point and the bristles to navigate a 90 degree corner through a tube.

In the preferred embodiment, the bristles203have I height of ⅜ of an inch and a length of at least 1¾ inches in length. The bristles203are located adjacent to the guide point204at the second end of the flexible shaft. The guide point204is preferably a small spherical ball attached to the second end of the flexible shaft202, The guide point provides a smooth entry object which can guide the mini-brush100through a carryover tube111before the bristles203engage any obstacles found within the tube.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that alternate sized bristles203may be used to operate in tubes having different diameters as needed. Both the height and the length of the bristles203may be greater than the preferred embodiment for use in tubes having larger diameters. Similarly, the bristles203may be smaller than the preferred embodiment for use in tubes having a smaller diameter.

While the above embodiments of the present invention describe an article for manufacture such as a mini-brush on a flexible shaft capable of being passed through a carryover tube to clean and clear obstructions therein, one skilled in the are will recognize that the use various sized brush bristles and flexible shaft material may be used with the present invention as claimed. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities of ingredients, properties such as molecular weight, percent, ratio, reaction conditions, and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about,” whether or not the term “about” is present. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the specification and claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present disclosure. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the disclosure are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in the testing measurements.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details, materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described and illustrated in order to explain embodiments of this invention may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from embodiments of the invention encompassed by the following claims.