Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/651,413, filed Feb. 9, 2005. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention pertains generally to shower header-type liquid spraying systems, and in particular, to internal cleaning brush assemblies for such shower headers. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Shower header-type liquid spraying systems are used in a variety of different industrial applications typically to direct fluid onto some sort of processing line, e.g., directing cleaning fluids onto rollers in pulp and paper mills and spraying cooling fluids onto processed metals in steel mills. Such spraying systems typically include a plurality of shower spray nozzle assemblies mounted in laterally spaced relation along a header so as to be able to direct a curtain of liquid onto the processing line. Since a single processing line can include a number of such shower headers, such spray systems use a substantial volume of cleaning, cooling or other processing fluids. As a result, to conserve processing fluid, it is common to collect the fluid discharge, filter out the debris and contaminants from the fluid during a recycling process, and reuse the liquid. Despite the filter system, some particulates and other matter can pass back into the headers. Over time, this can plug or impede liquid flow through the spray nozzles on the header. 
     To help clean out the spray nozzles, the shower headers can include an elongated brush assembly that can be rotated within the header in order to dislodge any debris from the shower spray nozzle assemblies. The brush assembly typically includes an elongated brush rod on which a plurality of brushes are arranged. The brushes are arranged at regular staggered intervals on the brush rod to provide maximum coverage of the interior of the shower header while minimizing the impediment to the flow of fluid through the shower header caused by the brushes. 
     From time to time, it becomes necessary to remove and replace the brushes and/or the brush rod due, for example, to excessive wear. Unfortunately, this can be very difficult to accomplish in the field. For instance, to ensure proper operation, the brush rod and brushes must be positioned and aligned precisely in the shower header. If the brush rod or brushes are off-center, the brushes can interfere excessively with the inside wall of the header hindering or even preventing rotation of the brush assembly. However, because the brush rod can be quite long, with lengths of forty feet or more not being uncommon, it can be very difficult to properly center the brush rod, and thus the brushes, in the shower header in the field where there are not any special fixtures to assist with the alignment process. As will be appreciated, providing special fixtures for each field replacement of a brush rod is simply not practical and in any event would be very expensive. Another problem with field replacement of the brush rod is that the length of the rod makes it difficult and expensive to ship. 
     Field replacement of just the brushes can also be difficult. The brushes are typically secured to the brush rod via welding. Again, to ensure that the brushes operate properly, they must be positioned precisely with respect to the axial centerline of the brush rod. When the shower header and brush assembly are initially fabricated in a plant, special fixtures are typically used to ensure the proper alignment of the brushes. However, as with the special fixtures for locating the brush rod, it is not practical to use the brush locating special fixtures for each field replacement of a brush. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a shower header having a brush assembly that is adapted for efficient mounting in precisely positioned relation with respect to an axis of the brush assembly for more reliable operation. 
     Another object is to provide a spray header brush assembly as characterized above which is adapted for easy field replacement and repair without special locating fixtures and the like for the brush elements. 
     A further object is to provide a spray header of the above kind in which the brush assembly is adapted for easy and less expensive shipment to customer sites or field locations. 
     Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings, in which: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a longitudinal, section of an illustrative shower header having a brush assembly in accordance with the invention, in which the brush assembly is motor driven; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective of an alternative embodiment of shower header having a brush assembly that is rotatable via a hand wheel; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective of one of the brush elements of the brush assembly of the illustrative shower header; 
         FIGS. 4 and 5  are side elevation and end views, respectively, of the brush element shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the illustrated brush assembly; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of an end portion of the illustrated brush assembly; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective of a juncture between individual brush rod segments of the illustrated brush assembly, illustrating self aligning coupling components thereof in exploded relation; 
         FIG. 9  is an enlarged vertical section of the illustrated brush assembly taken in the plane of  9 - 9  in  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 10  is a perspective of a section of the illustrated brush assembly showing a brush element mounted on the juncture between brush rod segments. 
     
    
    
     While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, a certain illustrative embodiment thereof has been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  of the drawings, there is shown an exemplary shower header  10  including a plurality of laterally spaced shower spray nozzle assemblies  12 . The illustrated shower header  10  has particular utility in paper and steel processing applications in which an elongated curtain of liquid is emitted from the header. The illustrated shower header  10  is supported in cantilever relation from a support frame  14 . The upstream end of the header  10  is connected to a pressurized liquid supply  16  and a drain pipe  18  communicates with the downstream end of the header. Pressurized fluid introduced through the upstream end of the header  10  travels through the header and is discharged via the spray nozzle assemblies  12 . For directing the fluid spray, each shower spray nozzle assembly  12  includes a shower nozzle having a discharge orifice. Each of the shower nozzles is mounted within a receiving recess or pocket in a respective nozzle base in the underside of the header  10 . In this case, a valve  20  is arranged at the downstream end of the header  10  for shutting off the flow of liquid to the shower spray nozzle assemblies  12 . 
     To facilitate cleaning of the shower spray nozzle assemblies  12 , a cleaning brush assembly  22  is arranged inside the illustrated header  10 . The cleaning brush assembly  22  includes a brush rod  24  on which a plurality of brush elements  26  are arranged. The brush rod  24  can be a solid element, however, a hollow pipe is preferred for relatively long rods because of weight considerations. Each brush element  26  includes a conventional brush which in this instance includes cleaning bristles  27  extending radially from a narrow elongated support member  29 . In the illustrated embodiment, each successive brush element  26  is staggered 120° from the preceding brush element along the rod  24  with each brush element slightly overlapping (e.g., ½ inch) the previous brush element in the axial direction in order to ensure complete coverage of the interior of the shower header  10  while minimizing the obstruction to the flow of fluid through the header by the brush elements  26 . 
     The cleaning brush assembly  22  is supported for both rotary and axial movement in the header  10  so as to be able to dislodge any debris or solid material that is encumbering or clogging the passage of fluid to the shower spray nozzle assemblies  12 . To that end, the brush rod  24  has a threaded pinion section  31  which is disposed within a nut  31   a  fixed within the housing of the header, as disclosed in U.S. Application Ser. No. 60/651,413, filed Feb. 9, 2005, assigned to the same assignee as the present application, a disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference. Hence, as an incident to rotation of the rod in one direction, the pinion  31  moves axially to the left in the nut  31   a  as viewed in  FIG. 1  causing the brush elements  26  to move with a combination of rotary and axial movement across the inlet ends of the nozzles  12  such that the bristles remove any debris or solid material that is encumbering or clogging the passage of cleaning fluid to the nozzles. Rotation of the rod in an opposite direction advances the brush end in an opposite axial direction. In the  FIG. 1  embodiment, a motor  24  drives the movement of the cleaning brush assembly  22 . Alternatively, the rotary movement of the cleaning brush assembly  22  can be hand driven via a handwheel  30  as in the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     According to one aspect of the present invention, in order to facilitate proper alignment of the cleaning bristles  27  relative to the brush rod  24  and thereby the shower header  10 , each of the brush elements  26  has a self-aligning base member  32 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , for the conventional brushes that will automatically orient the bristles properly when the brush element is placed on the brush rod. As indicated above, if the bristles  27  are not oriented properly they could interfere excessively with the inside wall of the shower header making rotation of the cleaning brush assembly  22  more difficult or even impossible. The original manufacture of the cleaning brush assembly typically uses special fixtures to ensure that the bristles  27  of the brush elements  26  are oriented properly. Using such special fixtures to replace worn brushes in the field is impractical. 
     With the present invention, the self-aligning base members  32  are configured such that when they engage the outer surface of the brush rod  24 , the bristles  27  are automatically aligned properly relative to the axial centerline of the brush rod. The self-aligning base member  32  can simply be placed on the brush rod  24  and the brush element  26  welded in place with the bristles aligned properly. There is no need for any special fixtures or painstaking positioning to align the bristles properly. Thus, maintenance personnel can quickly and easily replace worn brushes in the field without having to ship the entire brush rod  24  back to the original manufacturer of the shower header or cleaning brush assembly. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, each self-aligning base member  32  comprises a plurality of (in this case, three) arcuate saddle members  34  to which the brush support bar  29  of the brush element  26  can be attached (see  FIG. 3 ). Each of the saddle members  34  has an inner radius that matches the outer radius of the brush rod  24 . Each of the saddle members  34  should have a circumferential length that is sufficient to provide a stable support on the brush rod  24  without interfering with the saddle members  34  of the other brush elements  26  on the brush rod  24 . As can be seen in  FIG. 5 , each saddle member  34  has a circumferential length substantially greater than the circumferential width of the row bristles  27 , and in the illustrated embodiment, each saddle member  34  has a length of approximately one quarter of the outer circumference of the brush rod  24 . 
     According to a further aspect of the present invention, in order to facilitate field replacement of the brush rod  24 , the brush rod can have a modular construction that consists of a plurality of brush rod segments  36  such as shown in  FIG. 6 . Advantageously, these brush rod segments  36  can be assembled into a complete brush rod in the field. This substantially reduces the difficulty, time and cost associated with shipping replacement brush rods, particularly for applications involving relatively long brush rods. Moreover, to eliminate the need for special fixtures to center the brush rod in the shower header, each brush rod segment  36  includes one or more end couplings  38  that engage corresponding end couplings  38  on the other brush rod segments and maintains the concentricity of the assembled brush rod segments. The couplings  38  also ensure that the brush rod segments  36  have the desired rotational relationship to one another such that the desired continuous staggering (in this case, 120°) of the brush elements  26  is maintained when the segments are assembled together. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 6 , which includes three brush rod segments  36   a ,  36   b ,  36   c , the first brush rod segment  36   a  includes a proximal end  40  that connects to the motor or handwheel via a standard pin connection. At the opposing distal end  42  of the first brush rod segment  36   a , a coupling is provided that is configured as a male coupling  44  with a first center post  46  extending axially outward from the center of the distal end of the brush rod segment  36   a  and a second eccentrically located post  48  extending axially outward from the first segment. The proximal end  50  of the middle segment  36   b , in turn, includes a female coupling  52  having a central recess  54  for receiving the center post  46  of the male coupling  44  and an eccentrically located recess  56  for receiving the second eccentric post  48  of the male coupling  44 . As will be appreciated, the eccentrically located post  48  and recess  56  of the male and female couplings  44 ,  52  are arranged so that when the male and female couplings are engaged, the first and middle brush rod segments  36   a ,  36   b  will be in the desired rotational alignment relative to each other, e.g., so as to maintain the continuous 120° staggering of the brush elements. The distal end  58  of the middle segment  36   b  has a male coupling  44  like that at the distal end of the first brush segment while the end segment  36   c  has another female coupling  52  at its proximal end  60 . The male and female couplings  44 ,  56  at the ends of the brush rod segments  36  can be separate elements that are attached to the hollow ends of the rod segments or can be formed directly into the ends of the rod segments. Once the brush rod segments  36  are assembled together in the proper orientation they can be secured together using any suitable method such as, for example, welding. It will be appreciated that any number of brush rod segments can be used. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 6 , a brush element with a self-aligning base  32  ( FIG. 3 ) is used to bridge the seams between the different brush rod segments  36 . The brush elements and self-aligning base members  32  can be secured in place on the brush rod segments  36  using any suitable method such as welding. In this regard, to facilitate the assembly of the brush elements  26  onto the brush rods  24 , the thickness of the saddle members  34  preferably is approximately equal to the wall thickness of the brush rod  24 . In this way, it will require substantially the same amount of heat to weld the saddle members  34  onto the brush rods  24  as is required to weld the segments  36  of the brush rod together, thus making the welding process much easier for the maintenance personnel doing brush replacement work in the field. 
     The modular brush rod is not limited to use with the self-aligning brush elements nor is it limited to replacement applications. For example, the modular brush rod can be configured to support only conventional base-less brush elements. The modular brush rod also has application for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of the shower headers or the cleaning brush assemblies. For instance, the brush rod segments could be held in inventory by the OEMs so that brush rods could be assembled in the plant with the original equipment without any special fixtures. 
     Likewise, while the brush elements with self-aligning base members have been described in connection with the modular brush rod of  FIG. 6  it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the self-aligning brush elements are not limited to use on the modular brush rods. To the contrary, the brush elements with self-aligning base members can also be used in cleaning brush assemblies utilizing conventional solid one-piece brush rods. 
     From the foregoing, it can be seen that the shower headers of the present invention has a brush assembly with brush elements adapted for efficient mounting on a brush rod in precisely positioned relation with respect to an axis of the brush rod for more reliable operation. The brush assembly further is adapted for easy field replacement and repair without special locating fixtures and the like for the brush elements. The brush assembly further has a modular construction that is adapted for easy assembly with brush elements in properly oriented relation to each other and for less expensive shipment to customer sites or field locations.

Technology Category: 4