Combination bowling lane stripper and duster

This invention relates to a manual bowling lane stripping and dusting apparatus characterized by a frame journalling three rollers spaced one behind the other for independent relative rotation in parallel relation, the rear roller comprising a clutched supply roller for holding a supply of bowling lane dusting cloths, the front roller consisting of a ratcheted take-up roller for storing the soiled toweling or cloth dispensed from the supply roller, and an intermediate pressure roller offset beneath the other two and equipped with a cushioned surface tapered toward each end for pressing the portion of the cleaning web bridging the gap between the front and rear rollers into continuous area contact with the lane across the full width thereof.

Several motorized bowling lane cleaning, dusting and dressing machines, 
some completely automatic, are available to the proprietor of a bowling 
establishment, examples thereof forming the subject matter of U.S. Pat. 
Nos. 3,150,395; 3,216,036; 3,418,672; 3,787,916; 3,868,738; and 4,246,674; 
and probably others. These machines along with their manually operated 
counterparts, mostly all have webs of absorbant material wound on a supply 
roller and stored on a take-up roller with the portion in between reaved 
underneath a pressure roller designed to maintain the cloth or other 
material in continuous contact with the lane surface from edge to edge 
thereof. Guide wheels are often provided that ride in the ball return 
gutters to maintain the unit centered on the lane. Of course, the 
motorized machines have powered buffers, special dispensers for the lane 
maintenance liquids and sophisticated distance-responsive controls which 
regulate and change the functions being performed depending upon the 
location of the unit. 
The far simpler manual units ordinarily are not used for dressing or 
buffing (polishing) the lane surfaces but rather cleaning them. The 
simplest of the cleaning functions is merely removing dust therefrom by 
wiping the surface with a clean dry cloth or other suitable material. 
Removing soil held by the surface dressing, on the other hand, is usually 
a wet operation requiring water or special solvents. Wet cleaning and 
dressing of the lanes is customarily done at off-hours when they are not 
being used, whereas, many "houses" as they are often called, dust the 
lanes after each three-game series. The cleaning procedures used as well 
as the materials vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and sometimes from 
user to user. On the other hand, much of the equipment can be used with 
various materials and procedures. 
The concern here is with the cleaning operation when performed manually. 
The most pertinent of the prior art units known to applicant is marketed 
under the trademark "THE KEY" by The Kegel Company of St. Joseph, 
Missouri. It, in common with many other lane cleaning machines, has a 
frame journalling for rotating a supply roller, a take-up roller and a 
pressure roller between the two that cooperate to present a fresh 
absorbant piece of toweling on a roll thereof to a prewetted lane along 
which the device is propelled manually. This prior art unit has a number 
of significant shortcomings which make it difficult as well as unhandy to 
use. To begin with, both the take-up and supply rolls must be removed from 
the frame for replacement of a soiled web or roll of cloth. Since the 
cloth may be several yards long, such an operation becomes rather 
difficult to perform with the rollers unsupported and suitably journalled 
in spaced parallel relation, especially if the cloth is to remain 
wrinkle-free which is essential to proper lane contact. Along this same 
line, as the unit is disassembled and reassembled in order to change 
cloths, both the take-up and supply rollers must be individually 
retightened and adjusted relative to one another to restore the proper web 
tension. 
Secondly, advancing the web to place a fresh run of cloth in contact with 
the lane surface involves manually grasping the take-up roll and turning 
it to pull more material off the supply roller. This is not only an 
unhandy procedure, but one that involves handling the cloth with the 
possibility of soiling same, transferring oil thereto from the hands and, 
especially, squeezing it to the point where some of the solvent is 
displaced leaving a relatively drier area next to an overly wet one. 
Finally, and most important, is the fact that the prior art lane cleaning 
machines, both manual and motorized, have failed to provide a unit that 
cleans uniformly all the way across. This stems from the fact that, first 
of all, the long unsupported span of the pressure roller allows it to flex 
in the middle and thus apply the greater pressure at the ends. Secondly, 
and by way of compounding the problem, most bowling lanes have a slight 
across-the-lane concavity after they have been in use for awhile. 
It has now been found in accordance with the teaching of the instant 
invention that these and other shortcomings of the prior art lane-cleaning 
machines by the simple, yet unobvious, expedient of first providing a 
pressure roller with a soft-cushioned surface that is larger in the middle 
and tapers gradually toward each end. Secondly, by providing the supply 
roller with an adjustable friction clutch the take-up roller with a 
ratchet-type advance mechanism, and both with spring-loaded release 
mechanisms, web tension becomes a simple matter to set and maintain even 
if, for some reason, one or both rollers must be disassembled from the 
frame. The ratchet-advance on the take-up roller is easily accessible 
alongside the frame which means that the operator need not step on the 
lane to advance the web. Moreover, the ratchet automatically latches the 
web against unwinding off the take-up roller under the influence of the 
frictional pressure placed thereon as the unit advances along the lane. 
The friction clutch on the supply roller keeps the proper tension on the 
web from behind where the operator stands. 
It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide 
a novel and improved manually-operated bowling lane cleaning apparatus. 
A second objective is the provision of a device of the character described 
in which the web can be replaced while the supply and take-up rollers 
remain on the frame. 
Another object of the invention herein disclosed and claimed is to provide 
a combination unit which, upon being fitted with the appropriate web, can 
be used for either dry or wet cleaning. 
Still another object is to provide a bowling lane cleaner having a 
double-tapered cushioned pressure roller specially shaped to conform to 
cross-lane concavities as well as roller deflection. 
An additional object is the provision of a clutched supply roller coacting 
with a ratcheted take-up roller to maintain a preselected web tension. 
Further objects are to provide a cleaning apparatus for bowling lanes that 
is simple, easy to use, lightweight, versatile, adapted for use with a 
variety of solvents, and one that can be safely used on a lane without 
fear of damaging same.

Referring next to the drawings for a detailed description of the present 
invention, reference numeral 10 has been chosen to designate the 
lane-cleaning unit broadly while numeral 12 denotes the frame thereof in a 
general way. In like manner, numerals 14 and 16 broadly identify the 
supply and take-up roller subassemblies which numeral 18 does so with 
respect to the pressure roller. Numeral 20 identifies the web of cloth or 
other absorbant material reaved between the supply and take-up rollers and 
underneath the pressure roller. 
Frame 12 in the particular form shown, is made up of a crossframe member 22 
in the shape of an I-beam to the ends of which are bolted a pair of 
endplates 24R and 24L. On the inside of the endplates 24 are fastened a 
pair of small pillowblocks 26 which journal the pressure roller shaft 28 
for rotation directly underneath I-beam crossframe member 22 paralleling 
the latter. Shaft 28 mounts the pressure roller 30, the surface of which 
is covered by a deformable elastic cushion 32 adapted to yield and conform 
to minor irregularities in the lane surface. More important than its 
cushioned surface is the fact that the pressure roller is double-tapered, 
i.e. tapered from the center toward both ends. In the drawing, this taper 
has been highly exaggerated for illustrative purposes, it being more like 
1/4th to 3/8ths inches over a half roller span of some 2 feet or so. 
Nevertheless, this taper allows the pressure roller to not only keep the 
web 20 in contact with a concave lane surface throughout the width thereof 
but also to maintain a relatively constant pressure against the surface 
thereof despite minor deflection of the roller due to its long (about four 
feet) unsupported span. 
FIG. 2 reveals the fact that the bottom edge 34 of the endplates is 
truncated both to the front and rear of its midpoint where the pressure 
roller and crossframe member are located to form an obtuse angle of about 
135.degree. although this angle is by no means critical. The pressure 
roller is positioned at or at least very close to the apex of this angle 
and low enough in the frame such that the cushioned surface 32 projects 
well below the lower edge 34 of this endplate thus assuring that the metal 
cannot contact the lane surface. Pressure roller subassembly 18 cooperates 
with one or the other of wheel pairs 36 and 38 located, respectively, at 
the front and rear outside corners of the sideplates to both guide and 
support the unit 10 during its excursion along the lane. Looking at FIG. 
2, the unit will be pushed to the right and, as illustrated, be supported 
by pressure roller subassembly 18 in the rear and the front pair of guide 
wheels 36 in the front, the latter running in the ball gutters to keep 
everything properly aligned. Note, however, that as the portion of the web 
20 stretched between the pressure roller subassembly 18 and the take-up 
roller subassembly 16 becomes soiled and thus moved forward onto take-up 
roller 40, the diameter of the latter becomes larger while that of the 
supply roller 42 gets smaller. As this takes place, the entire assembly 
(except for the handle broadly indicated by numeral 44) will tilt more and 
more to the rear or in the direction of the operator until take-up roller 
subassembly 16 becomes so large that it lifts wheels 36 out of the gutters 
alongside the lane. All this time, however, the supply roller subassembly 
14 is getting smaller at the same rate and rear wheels 38 which, as shown 
in FIG. 2, are inoperative, gradually lower into the gutters and take over 
the guidance function. While the guidance function shifts from front to 
rear, the portion of the web in contact with the lane surface does not but 
remains at all times in front of the pressure roller subassembly. 
Returning again to FIGS. 1 and 2, crossframe member 22 will be seen to 
include a pair of apertured upstanding ears 46 arranged in 
transversely-spaced parallel relation to one another equidistant on 
opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline. These ears have a lower 
pair of transversely-aligned apertures and an upper pair spaced 
thereabove, neither pair of which has been shown but their position is 
revealed by handle-mounting bolts 48 and 50, respectively, which pass 
through the latter. Handle 44 is of a dogleg shape, the lower downturned 
end 54 of which is detachably secured by one or both of the bolts 48 and 
50 between the ears 46 of the frame while the stem 56 thereof extends 
upwardly and to the rear where it is grasped by the operator. Now, as can 
be seen most clearly in FIG. 2, the downturned end 54 of the handle 
carries two crosspieces 58 and 60 which are tubular and stacked one above 
the other so as to line up with the apertures in the ears 46 when handle 
end 54 is transversely aligned with the latter as shown in full lines. 
When using the unit 10 in the dry or dusting mode, handle 44 is fixed 
relative to the frame (full line position) by passing bolts 48 and 50 
through both tubular crosspieces 58 and 60 as well as the pairs of 
apertures in the ears aligned therewith. In such an attitude, the unit 
will normally be tilted to the rear toward the operator bringing the 
portion of web 20 stretched between the pressure roller and supply roller 
subassemblies into contact with the lane surface. When wet cleaning the 
lane, on the other hand, applicant has found it important to allow the 
assembly in engagement with the lane surface to freely pivot or "float" so 
to speak relative to the handle upon which much greater pressure is being 
brought to bear than in a simple dry dusting operation. The unit of the 
present invention accomplishes this desirable end efficiently and easily 
by merely removing one of the handle attachment bolts (preferably upper 
bolt 50) from its crosspiece 60 and permitting the handle to pivot freely 
about the other as shown in phantom lines. When this is done, the unit 
will rock forward under the influence of forwardy-directed handle pressure 
applied therebehind thus maintaining the span of web 20 between the 
pressure roller and take-up roller subassemblies in constant uniform 
broad-area contact with the lane surface thus more effectively cleaning 
the latter. 
In most respects, the means by which the take-up and supply rollers 40 and 
42 are detachably mounted between the sideplates of the frame are 
identical as well as the structures of the rollers themselves. Both 
rollers comprise tubular members having a plug 62 at one end with an 
outwardly-facing diametrical slot 64 therein, these features having been 
shown on the left end of the supply roller 42. The same features, however, 
are present on the right-hand end of the take-up roller 40. Slotted plug 
62 is received within a pocket 66 within socket member 68 fastened to the 
left sideplate 24L for rotational movement relative thereby by bolt and 
nut fastener subassembly 70. Inside pocket 66 in socket 68 extending 
diametrically thereacross is a pin 72 which, when seated in the slot 64 in 
the plug releasably lock the two together for conjoint rotation. Again, 
this same pin-and-slot interlock is provided on the right-hand end of the 
take-up roller 40 although it has not been specifically illustrated. 
The right-hand end of the supply roller 42 and the left-hand end of the 
take-up roller 40 are, in the particular form shown, open and adapted to 
releasably receive a spring-biased plug subassembly that has been 
designated in a general way by reference numeral 74. A bolt 76 extends 
through an aperture in the endplate onto the inside thereof where a hollow 
stubshaft 78 is mounted thereon. The outer end of this stubshaft includes 
an annular abutment 80 that defines a stop for the outer end of 
compression spring 82. A plug element 84 is sized to fit into the open end 
of the take-up roller 40 as shown on the left end thereof in FIG. 1. The 
same arrangement is provided on the right-hand end of the supply roller 
42. Plug 84 is marginally-flanged as shown at 86 to limit its insertion 
into the tube end. The plug also has a tubular hub 88 adapted to 
telescopically receive the stubshaft 78 and, at the same time form an 
abutment for the inner end of spring 82. A nut 90 on the end of bolt 76 
engages the inside of the plug hub and holds the parts in assembled 
relation. By pulling plug 84 outwardly against the bias exerted thereon by 
spring 82, it will ride out on the stubshaft and thus back off far enough 
for insertion into the open roller shaft end when the opposite plugged end 
thereof is seated in its socket 68. 
Now, with reference to FIG. 1, it can be seen that a friction disk 92 has 
been interposed between the socket member 68 on the left end of the supply 
roller 42 and the opposed inside face of left endplate 24L. By tightening 
nut and bolt fastener subassembly 70 to draw the socket out more tightly 
against the inside face of the friction disk, the resistance to turning 
the supply roller can be increased so as to keep the web taut. 
Finally with reference once more to both FIGS. 1 and 2, it can be seen that 
socket 68M on the right-hand end of the take-up roller has been modified 
to include ratchet-receiving detents 94 spaced around the periphery 
thereof. Mounted in side right endplate 24R is a socketed member 96 having 
a blind bore 98 therein which carries a compression spring 100 in the 
bottom biasing a pin 102 outwardly into one of the detents in the 
periphery of the socket 68M thus preventing clockwise rotation thereof as 
seen in FIG. 2 which would allow the web to unroll while, at the same 
time, allowing it to be rotated counterclockwise. The latter function is 
accomplished by turning knob 104 fastened to the end of slightly modified 
nut and bolt subassembly 70M.