Patent ID: 7234186

Claim:
Apparatus for cleaning the rim of a wheel, said apparatus comprising: a housing, a handheld device providing a rotary output, a shaft journaled in said housing and being connectable to said handheld rotary output device, an annular cleaning element fixed to said shaft and having at least a portion thereof configured to contact the rim, guides on said housing for contacting the rim of the wheel so that when said annular cleaning element contacts the rim, and said housing is engaged with the rim, said shaft is oriented parallel to the axis of said wheel, whereby the hand-held rotary output device can assume the same orientation relative to said wheel while said housing pivots about its axis as said cleaning apparatus traverses the rim, said housing at least partially enclosing said cleaning element for containing material cleaned from the rim; and comprising a wall having at least a portion of its circumference circular, said wall being perpendicular to said shaft and a section extending axially from the circular circumference of said wall, said cleaning element being positioned adjacent to said wall and bounded by said axially extending section.