Improvements in and connected with Mops, Brushes, Scrapers and the like for Cleaning Painting, and like purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1899
Improvements in and connected with Mops, Brushes, Scrapers and the
like for Cleaning Painting, and like purposes.
GEORGE FREDERICK RESTALL, 57, Park Road, Regents Park, London, Sanitary
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
By this my invention I employ an axially disposed male screw of extremely
coarse pitch which has a suitable handle attached to one end in which it rotates
and a suitable brush or brushes, mop or mops or scrapers are suitably attached
to the other end thereof. A disc is fitted on the male screw having a female screw
cut in it which engages with the male thread of the screw so that when the cen-
tral disc is pulled and pushed along the male screw the mops brush or brushes
attached to the end thereof rotate. This apparatus may be suitably fixed so as to
work over a sink or in any suitable position for cleaning articles that it can con-
veniently be brought in contact with.
The portable apparatus will be useful for cleaning gully traps pipes and other
openings or surfaces that it can be conveniently be brought in contact with.
I do not hold myself entirely to the above mentioned method of causing the
rotation of brushes but I state it to describe my invention which is to construct
a simple and effective cleaning or painting apparatus by means of rotating brush,
or brushes, mop or mops, or scrapers which may be portable or fixed so as to
work in any suitable position.
Dated this 17th day of December 1898.
Improvements in and connected with Mops, Brushes, Scrapers and the
like for Cleaning Painting, and like purposes.
I, GEORGE FREDERICK RESTALL, of 57, Park Road, Regents Park, in the County
of Middlesex, Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
-
In this invention I employ an axially disposed male screw of extremely coarse
pitch which has a suitable handle or other bearing in which the screw can rotate.
To the other end of the screw is attached a brush or brushes, a mop or mops or
scrapers. Gearing with the male screw is a nut, preferably having the form of a
disc which when pulled or pushed up or down the screw causes the latter and
with it the mop, brush or scraper, to rotate first in one direction and then in the
Price 8d 1

page_text: other, in such manner that the interior of a vessel, passage or the like being pre-
sented to it, or it to the passage or vessel, the latter is cleaned; or exterior sur-
faces may be cleaned in like manner.
I preferably attach the upper end of the screw bearing to a bracket by means
of a flexible joint of any suitable description; the bracket being fixed to a wall
in any convenient position, such as over or near a sink or the like.
In order that my invention may be fully understood and ascertained, I append
drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a part elevation of a handle and screw.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of brush nut and screw attached to a wall bracket by a
flexible joint.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the joint.
Fig. 4 shews a modified form of flexible joint.
Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 shews means for turning the apparatus back to the wall
when not in use.
In Fig. 1 the screw A is shewn as having a handle B fitted to its upper end;
this handle forming a bearing into which the upper end a of the screw A fits
so as to be capable of rotation therein. A nut C of any suitable description gears
with the screw A, a female thread being formed in the nut for that purpose. The
screw A may be extended to any convenient length and have attached to its lower
end, (not shewn in the drawing), a brush, mop, or scraper which is rigidly
attached to the screw or to an extension thereof and rotates therewith. This form
of my invention is used by holding the handle B in one hand and pulling or push-
ing the nut C with the other; it is therefore capable of being removed readily
from one position to another.
But in Figs. 2 and 3 is shewn a form of my invention which is suitable for
suspension over a sink or the like; for this purpose a bracket D) is fixed to and
projects from the wall or other surface to the outer end d of which is attached
a flexible joint E, of such description that the screw A can be moved in any
direction through an angle of about 40° or 45°. This enables the brush G to be
swung outside the edge of the sink when it is necessary to insert it into a bottle
or other vessel, the interior of which is to be cleaned.
The universal or flexible joint E may be of any convenient and suitable des-
cription but a simple form is here shewn which consists of a block e attached to
the bracket D by a screw d'; a somewhat similar block e' to which the bearing B
is affixed and a short length of rubber or other flexible tube e connecting these in
such manner that while the block e remains fixed, the block e¹ and the bearing B
can be swung through an angle of about 40° or 45°.
The screw A has its upper end a shaped so as to fit the bearing B and be capable
of rotation therein, but so as to be prevented from making any longitudinal
movement whatever. Both the screw A and the corresponding female thread
formed in the nut C are of coarse pitch being of that description which is com-
monly called Archimedian" consequently when the nut C is moved longitu-
dinally up and down the screw A the latter is caused to rotate alternately in each
direction and the stem g of the brush G being rigidly fixed to the lower end of
the screw A by any suitable fitting g', the brush is caused to rotate with the
screw A.
In Fig. 4 the flexible joint is formed by a spiral spring H which is screwed
to the bracket d; its other end being fixed to the block el, to which the bearing
of the screw A is attached. Any other suitable description of flexible joint may
be employed.
In some cases it is necessary to be able to temporarily fix the lower end of the
screw A in such manner as to prevent it and the brush swinging. In such cases
I fix an additional bracket K to the wall or other surface in such manner that
the end bearing k can be connected with or disconnected from the lower end of
the screw A with facility and despatch.
A dotted bottle X is shewn with the brush G inside it; this may be of such

page_text: size as to fit the interior of the bottle closely; the dirt then being removed by the
abrasion of the brush fibres in the ordinary manner. But in some cases the brush
employed may be of less diameter than the vessel to be cleaned. In that case
I depend upon the violent disturbance of the water in the bottle occasioned by
the rapid alternations of direction to produce the cleansing effect. I have found
that in practice the swirling action set up in this manner is so effective that I
regard this reversal of direction of rotation as an extremely important feature
of my invention.
The brushes employed may be of the shape shewn in Fig. 2 or have
form, a flat brush being useful for cleaning exterior surfaces.
any suitable
When not in use I find it convenient to be able to turn the bracket D and its
dependent screw and brush back to the wall. For that purpose I attach a rod L
to the wall by screws / at the ends; the rod being bent to the form shewn in
Fig. 2. The bracket D in that case has a socket which is capable of sliding
and turning on the rod L; a screw d³ being provided by means of which it can be
fixed at any angle to the wall and at any height upon the length of the rod L.
The screw A can be attached to the end d of the bracket D as before described.
The different positions of the bracket relative to the wall Z are shewn in Figs. 5.
6, 7 and 8.
The brushes may be employed for applying paint and the like to surfaces as
well as for cleaning the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A rotating brush, mop or scraper, the rotations of which are produced by
reciprocating a nut upon a screw to which the brush, mop, or scraper is rigidly
attached thus producing rapid changes in the direction of rotation of the brush,
mop, or scraper, substantially as described and shewn.
2. In a brush, mop, or scraper for cleaning, painting, and like purposes, the
combination of a bracket D, a flexible joint ea, a bearing B, a screw A, a nut C,
and a brush, mop, or scraper G, substantially as described and shewn.
3. In a brush, mop or scraper for cleaning, painting and like purposes, the
combination of a flexible joint in the free end of which a bearing is formed, a
screw A of coarse pitch, a nut C engaging with the same, and a brush, mop, or
scraper G, all arranged in such manner that the reciprocation of the nut pro-
duces rotations of the brush, mop, or scraper in opposite directions alternately,
substantially as described and shewn.
4. A brush, mop or scraper which can be caused to rotate alternately in opposite
directions by means of a screw attached rigidly to the brush and a nut capable
of being moved longitudinally thereon; the whole being attached to a wall or
other support by means of a flexible joint, substantially as described and shewn.
5. In a brush, mop, or scraper, for cleaning, painting and like purposes, the
combination of a bracket D having a socket d² and a screw d³, a rod L fixed
rigidly to a wall, a flexible joint e2, a bearing 13, a screw A, a nut C, and a brush,
mop, or scraper G, substantially as described and shewn.
Dated this 16th day of September 1899
GEORGE FREDERICK RESTALL.