Pipe oxidation removal tool

A pipe cleaning tool for cleaning pipe surfaces is configured for operative engagement with a drill motor. The cleaning tool includes a body having a sidewall extending between a first end and a second end of the body. Cleaning blades located in each of a plurality of slots which extend to respective openings in the sidewall of the body. The cleaning blades are biased to project past the sidewall and thereby contact a pipe surface positioned adjacent the sidewall to clean the pipe surface of oxidation and dirt when the body of the cleaning tool is rotated by the engaged drill motor.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The device herein is generally related to pipe oxidation removal. More particularly, it relates to a power driven device configured for rotational positioning upon pipe end exterior surfaces and the interior surfaces of pipe fittings to remove oxidation and dirt and the like prior to soldering of the pipes with the fittings.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of residential and commercial plumbing, copper pipe is widely employed for carrying pressurized fluids, such as water, through a supply system in houses and commercial buildings. In assembling such systems, conventionally professional plumbers, as well as do it yourself homeowners, perform the task widely referred to as “sweating copper.”

Sweating copper is another term for the task of soldering a pipe or joint to an engageable pipe fitting for the purpose of connecting the two fluid-carrying components in an operative sealed engagement which will handle internal pressure. Such is a widely employed basic plumbing process employed in building and retrofit construction projects throughout the world. During the process of sweating copper or other tubing to be soldered, it is extremely important that all surfaces of contact between the pipe and the fitting to be engaged be properly prepared. Such preparation conventionally involves the removal of any dirt, grime, and especially oxidation, from the two surfaces to be joined with solder. Without this preparation, a leak-proof connection between the pipe and fitting cannot be guaranteed.

Conventionally, this task of cleaning and removal of oxidation is accomplished by sand paper or emery cloth or a wire brush in a time-consuming action. The user must essentially use sand paper or the wire brush to impart an abrasive action to the surfaces to be joined to remove the dirt or oxidation therefrom. During the process they must continually stop the use of the brush or sand paper or other abrasive object and inspect the pipe and fitting surface being treated. Should such visual inspection show areas on the pipe of fitting still in need of oxidation or dirt removal, the process is repeated.

As can be discerned, when attempting such oxidation and dirt removal in the dark confines of a basement or cupboard or crawlspace, visually ascertaining clean surfaces is challenging at best. Further, the process is extremely time consuming and fraught with the potential that the surfaces treated are not properly cleaned. While improper cleaning of oxidation and grime may not immediately cause a fluid leak at the soldered joints, over time there is a huge potential for such. However, fluid leaks at a subsequent date after the building is completed and the plumbing is hidden in walls and floors and the like, can cause structural damage as well as damage to building contents. Still further, fixing such a leak will require walls or floors to be cut to provide access to the offending pipes.

The device herein provides a tool configured to easily remove all oxidation and dirt and grime from the exterior of pipes and the interior of fittings to which the pipes are to be soldered. Using the disclosed device a user, in short order, can achieve pipes and fittings which are totally clean and ready for soldering to form soldered joints which will last for years without fear of oxidation or grime causing improper soldering which yields leaky and failed connections.

It should be noted, the forgoing examples of related art and limitations related therewith in the field of pipe and joint soldered connections are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the device and method described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art are already known or will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a device and method for cleaning the surfaces of pipe and fittings, such as copper pipe, prior to soldering of pipe sections to fittings engaged with them. The device in both modes features a body which is adapted to engage with a powered motor for rotation, such as a hand drill. Each body has a plurality of slots formed therein, for operative positioning of a plurality of abrasive cleaning blades. Biasing members or tension springs, such as leaf or coil springs contacting a base of each abrasive cleaning blades, impart a force or bias of the blade toward the surface of pipe or fitting to be cleaned.

The cleaning blades each have a base portion which is formed with a ledge to limit the biased travel of the abrasive cleaning blades within the respective slot it occupies. Currently, the abrasive portion is formed of composite material consisting of coarse-particle aggregate pressed and bonded together by a cementing matrix in a composite including one or a combination of abrasive materials from a group including aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, ceramic, diamond, and cubic boron nitride. Of course, other aggregate material as would occur to those skilled in the art may be employed and is considered within the scope of the claims herein.

In one mode of the device herein, the device is configured to be positioned within the interior of the pipe fitting to remove internal oxidation or debris. In an alternative mode, the device is configured for positioning around the outside surface of the pipe or pipe fitting to remove external oxidation or debris.

In all modes of the device herein, the device is configured with a body having slots formed therein. Each of the slots has a cleaning blade therein which is biased by a spring member. Each spring member contacts a base on one side which is engaged to an abrasive portion on an opposite side.

The spring member is positioned to impart a biasing force to the cleaning blade to urge it in a direction toward and against the position of a pipe surface to be cleaned. It is preferred in all modes of the device that the body holding the cleaning blades is configured for a connection to a powered rotation tool such as a hand drill, which will impart rotation to the body during use.

Additionally common to all modes of the device herein, the body is formed with a sidewall extending between a first end and a second of the body. The first end of the body is adapted for operative engagement to a drill motor, which will impart a powered rotation to the body of the device.

The body of the device has a plurality of slots therein running generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the body. Each of the slots in the plurality of slots extends to a respective opening positioned in the sidewall of the main body. Located in each slot, is a respective cleaning blade having a base with a first side in contact with a biasing member located in the respective slot. An abrasion portion of each cleaning blade is engaged to a second side of the base, and as each biasing member imparts a force to a respective cleaning blade, it urges the abrasion portion to extend from the opening of the respective lot and outside the body, in a direction toward the pipe surface to be cleaned. A removable cap on the second end of the body, provides access to the slots to allow replacement of the cleaning blades when worn.

In this configuration, with the body operatively coupled to a powered motor such as a drill motor, powered rotation of the body will rotate the plurality of biased cleaning blades against the surface of the pipe or fitting, thereby removing oxidation or debris therefrom.

The device may be provided in one or two modes of operation. In a first mode, the body is configured for positioning within the internal cavity of a pipe fitting or pipe for cleaning of an inner wall surface. In a second mode of configuration, the device may be provided with the body configured with an internal cavity with which the biased cleaning blades communicate, to clean the exterior surface of the pipe positioned within the internal cavity. In a particularly preferred mode of the device herein, two bodies are provided to allow either inner wall cleaning or outer wall cleaning, and the body for inner wall cleaning is adapted to nest within the cavity of the body for outer wall cleaning when not in use. Either of the two modes of the body and device, can be provided alone without the other and such is anticipated.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device and system for easy and complete cleaning of the exterior and/or interior surfaces of pipes and fittings prior to such being soldered.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device which employs easily replaceable slot-engaged abrasive cleaning blades.

It is yet a further object of this invention to provide an abrasive pipe cleaning system adapted for engagement to a powered rotating tool such as a hand drill to allow widespread use without the need to buy expensive hand tools.

The invention, accordingly, comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified by the constructions hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

With respect to the above summary description, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the herein disclosed eye treatment system in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The pipe and fitting surface cleaning device and system herein described, is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will become obvious to those skilled in the art on reading this disclosure. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other rotating abrasive pipe surface cleaning systems and devices, and for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed system. It is important, therefore, that the claims herein be regarded, as including such equivalent construction and methodology as would occur to those skilled in the art subsequent to reading this disclosure, insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In this description, any directional prepositions if employed, such as up, upwardly, down, downwardly, front, back, first, second, first end, second end, top, upper, bottom, lower, left, right and other such terms refer to the device or depictions as such may be oriented are describing such as it appears in the drawings and are used for convenience only. Such terms of direction and location are not intended to be limiting or to imply that the device herein has to be used or positioned in any particular orientation.

Now referring to drawings inFIGS.1-12, wherein similar components are identified by like reference numerals, there is seen inFIG.1a front perspective view of a mode of the device10herein having a body12having a longitudinal axis17with the body12configured for removing oxidation from the internal passage of a metal pipe32such as inFIG.3. As shown, the body12has a sidewall14extending between a first end16and a second end18. A plurality of abrasive cleaning blades20are respectively located in a biased sliding engagement within slots22formed into the body12. Each cleaning blade20is spring loaded or biased by a spring member to place a portion thereof projecting from the slots22.

InFIG.2is shown a side view of the device ofFIG.1. As depicted, one of the plurality of cleaning blades20has a rectangular leading corner edge21. By leading corner edge is meant the corner of a cleaning blade20which contacts the pipe surface when inserted therein or there around. By rectangular leading corner is meant that the leading corner is formed with the horizontal edge24of the abrasive material25and the vertical edge thereof26, running substantially perpendicular to each other. The leading corner of the other cleaning blades20have a beveled portion28communicating between the horizontal edge24and the vertical edge26thereof.

Also shown inFIG.2, is the first end16configured for engagement with a motor such as a drill motor, through the provision of either a mounting recess29for an engagement member31, formed into the first end16of the body12, or affixing an engagement member31to the first end16of the body12. The engagement member31is employable to form an operative engagement with the chuck of a hand drill (not shown but well known).

The rectangular leading corner edge21is particularly preferred, as shown inFIG.3, to allow the device10to reach as far as possible along the interior wall30of a capped pipe32such as inFIG.3, to remove oxidation. The other of the plurality of cleaning blades20with the respective leading corners having beveled portion28are preferred, to better enable the insertion of the device10as inFIGS.1-2, into the interior of a pipe32during use. Thus, while the device10ofFIGS.1-5will function with just beveled portions28on all of the cleaning blades20, it functions better to clean more of the interior wall30of capped pipe32fittings, which are frequently used, and it is preferred for the mode of the device10for use on interior walls30, that the rectangular leading corner edge21be included.

Also preferred in the device10as shown inFIG.3andFIG.7, are debris collection openings36formed into the body12. These debris collection openings36are particularly preferred as they collect the debris and oxidation which the cleaning blades20grind from the pipe32surface, such as the interior wall30shown inFIG.3or the exterior wall39as inFIG.7. While the device10will function without these debris collection openings36in a significant improvement over the current art, without these debris collection openings36formed into the body12, in experimentation with the device10, the debris from the pipe surface can build up and cause the cleaning to be less effective.

InFIGS.3-5are shown, the second end18of the body12in different views. At the second end18of the body12in all modes of the device10herein, is preferably positioned a removable cap40which allows for the easy replacement of the cleaning blades20, when worn, into the slots22from the first end18when the cap40is removed. The cap40is held to the body12, by a removable fastener such as a screw42.

Also shown, are cap slots44formed into the cap40. These are most preferred as when the cap40is engaged to the second end18of the body12, it allows a leading portion45of the abrasion portion25of the cleaning blades20, to project into the cap slots44, and forward of the second end18of the body12. The leading portion45is shown projecting in for exampleFIG.4, and in the mode of the device10ofFIG.6. The cap40has alignment pins46which engage within alignment recesses47to prevent the cap40from rotating during high speed rotation on use, to prevent misalignment of the cap slots44and slots20in the body12. In the mode of the device10ofFIG.6-9, screws40engage in holes in the body12and maintain this alignment of the cap slots44with the slots22in the body12.

Shown inFIG.4-5, the cleaning blades20are all slidably positioned within the slots22formed into the body12, and a biasing member48located in each respective slot22serves to impart a biasing force to the cleaning blade20to cause the abrasive portion25to project through blade openings50in the sidewall14aligned with the slots22, for a distance from the sidewall14.

As can be seen inFIG.4, the cap has an engaged position with the cap slots44held aligned with the slots22in the body12and a disengaged position shown inFIG.5where the cap40is shown in a removed position. With the cap in the removed position, as noted, the cleaning blades20may be removed from the respective slot22it occupies and replaced.

InFIG.5andFIG.10, the cleaning blades20are shown in a preferred configuration. A blade base52having a first side54configured to contact against the biasing member48such as a spring, and has the abrasive portion25of the cleaning blade20connected to a second side56of the blade base52. This blade base52is preferred in all modes of the device10herein as it has a ledge58projecting along side edges which contacts a ridge60adjacent the blade openings50in the body12and limits the travel of the cleaning blades20and the abrasion portion25thereof, toward and through said blade openings50. This travel limitation insures that the size of a projecting area of the abrasive portion25of the cleaning blade20extending from the sidewall14through the blade opening50, is maintained substantially equal for all of the plurality of cleaning blades20. This equal extension helps maintain balance to the device10as it is rotated during use.

Additionally shown inFIG.5andFIG.10, are elongated beveled surfaces62positioned between the horizontal edge24and side surfaces64of the abrasive portion25of the cleaning blades20. While the device10will function much better than existing art for cleaning pipes without these beveled surfaces62on the cleaning blades20, if was found in experimentation, that debris was better deposited in the debris collection openings36during use, when the beveled surfaces62are included.

Shown inFIGS.6-10is a mode of the device10which operates in the same fashion as that ofFIGS.1-5, which has the body12configured with a circular shaped interior cavity13surrounded and defined by the sidewall14which encircles the longitudinal axis17of the body. The body12is configured at the first end16for operative engagement with a rotating motor such as the chuck of a hand drill, either inclusion of the engagement member31in an attachment to the first end16, or provision of a mounting recess29sized for a conventionally used engagement member.

This mode of the device10as noted operates in the same fashion as that ofFIGS.1-5, wherein each of the cleaning blades20are slidably positioned with a respective slot22which communicates with a respective blade opening50in the sidewall14which defines the diameter of the interior cavity13into which a pipe32is inserted to clean the exterior wall39such as inFIG.7.

In the same fashion as that ofFIGS.1-5, and shown inFIGS.7and9, the cleaning blades20slidably positioned in the slots22formed in the body12are biased to project through the blade openings50aligned with the slots22and past the sidewall14, and toward the longitudinal axis17running through the internal cavity13.

Shown also inFIG.7, is the cap40in the engaged position at the second end18of the body14with the cap slots44aligned with the slots22formed in the body12. Fasteners such as screws42hold the cap40in the engaged position ofFIG.7, and are removable to allow the cap to be disengaged to the removed position ofFIG.9. With the cap40removed, in the same fashion as noted above, the individual cleaning blades20may be removed and replaced.

The preferred debris collection openings36are shown inFIGS.6-9which as noted, provide a collection area for oxidation material removed from the pipe during use and enhance operation of the device10.

InFIG.10is shown an enlarged view of the cleaning blades20used herein in all modes of the device10. As shown the blade base52has a first side54for contact with the biasing members48such as springs positioned in the slots22. The abrasive portion25of the cleaning blades20is connected to a second side56of the blade base52. A ledge58extends past both side surfaces64of the abrasive portion25and service as a stop when contacting the ridge60adjacent the blade openings50which are aligned with the slots22.

Additionally shown are the leading portion45of the abrasive25projecting forward from the blade base54. The leading portion45projects into the cap slots44formed into the cap40such as shown inFIG.5and configured in the cap40ofFIGS.6-8in the same fashion so as to align with the slots22in the body12at the second end18of the body14. In this fashion, removal of the cap40as noted, provides the user easy access to the plurality of slots22so they may remove and replace any of the cleaning blades20as needed.

As noted, the device10functions in the same fashion in both the mode for exterior pipe cleaning and interior pipe leaning and can be provided in singular versions in such configurations. It may also be provided with the body12in both configurations such as shown inFIG.11, allowing the user to choose which to employ depending on the task to be completed.

When provided in a set of both body12configurations, the device10is configured so that the body12formed for interior pipe cleaning will nest within the internal cavity13of the body12formed for external pipe surface cleaning such as inFIG.12. The biased contact of the cleaning blades20extending from the sidewall14of the body12configured for internal pipe cleaning, will frictionally engage the sidewall14of the body12configured for external pipe surface cleaning and maintain this nesting during storage.

Although the invention has been described with respect to particular embodiments thereof, it should be realized that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. While the invention as shown in the drawings and described in detail herein discloses arrangements of elements of particular construction and configuration for illustrating preferred embodiments of structure and method of operation of the present invention, it is to be understood, however, that elements of different construction and configuration and other arrangements thereof, other than those illustrated and described, may be employed in accordance with the spirit of this invention. Any and all such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art are considered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly defined in the appended claims.