Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02529402 2005-11-25
WHEEL STUD CLEANING DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning studs, for
example threaded wheel studs, using a rotary power driven tool.
BACKG~iOUND
Vehicle wheels are commonly mounted on the vehicle by threaded
wheel studs received through cooperating apertures in the wheel rim. Nuts are
then
threaded onto the wheel studs far securing the rim in place. Under normal use
of the
vehicle, these wheel studs can became clogged with dirt and corrosion thus
making it
1 p difficult to remove the nuts used to hold the wheel in place.
Various tools are known for cleaning a threaded member as described
in United States Patents 3,188,674 to Hobbs, 4,467,489 to Begneaud and
8,005,244
to Muraguchi. The devices described by Maraguchi 2nd Begneaud however are very
complex involving numerous bristle sections which are individually mounted so
that
the resulting devices are both costly to manufacture and maintain while being
time
consuming and awkward when replacing the bristles thereof. Begneaud does
disclose
both radial bristles and axial bristles for cleaning both the circumference of
a threaded
member and the end face thereof. The axial bristles similarly require
individual
mounting with individual set screws resulting in difficult and time consuming
replacement. lNhile Hobbs does disclose a simplfied structure the enclosed
nature of
the body is susceptible to clogging with dirt as there is no means for the
dirt and
debris to escape from the interior of the body. Hobbs further discloses a
flexible
backing supporting the bristles thereon, making it difficult for the bristles
to be
adequately secured in use as the flexible backing may bunch up when the device
is
rotated.
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SUMMARY QF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a stud
cleaning device for use with a power driven tool having a rotary output, the
device
comprising;
a generally tubular body having an interior wall defining a hollow interior
extending along a longitudinal axis of the body from an open end to a mounting
end of
the body;
the mounting end of the body.being arranged to support the body on the
rotary output of the power driven tool for rota~on about the longitudinal axis
of the
body; and
a plurality of radial bristles supported on the interior wall to extend
generally radially inwardly from the interior wall.
Preferably there is provided a plurality of discharge openings
communicating through the interior wall of the body at circumferentially
spaced
locations in which the radial bristles are supported between each adjacent
pair of the
discharge openings. A collective area of the discharge openings may be near in
magnitude to a collective area supporting the radial bristles thereon.
The radial bristles are preferably supported on respective bristle
members at circumferentially spaced locations about the interior wall, In this
instance,
2p the interior waA preferably Includes mounting channels formed therein which
extend in
a longitudinal direction of the longitudinal axis in which the bristles
members and the
channels have a mating crass section such that the bristle members are
supported for
sliding movement relative to the body in the longitudinal direction.
The bristle members and the channels receiving the bristle members
therein may each have a portion of reduced dimension in a circumferential
direction
CA 02529402 2005-11-25
far restricting radial displacement of the bristle members relative to the
body while
permitting relative sliding movement in the longitudinal direction,
When the bristle members are slidabiy removable from the respective
channels through the open end of the body, there may be provided a retainer
selectively supported at the open end of the body which selectively resficts
removal
of the bristle members from the respective channels.
When the bristle members are supported in the respective channels for
selectively separation from the body, there may be provided a retainer which
selectively retains all of the bristle members commonly on the body. The
retainer may
be secured by an annular cap member which is threadably secured about the open
end of the body.
Each bristle member may comprise an elongate a rigid trough member
clamping a pluralityr of flexible bristles between opposing sides of the
trough member.
There may be provided a plurality of end bristles supported about the
open end of the body to extend generally in a longitudinal direction of the
longitudinal
axis of the body in which the end bristles are commonly supported on the body
by a
common retainer for selecctive separation from the body.
Preferably the end bristles are supported in an annular configuration
about the open end of the hollow body on an annular member.
2p The end bristles may be commonly retained on the body by an annular
cap member which is threadably secured about the open end of the body. When
the
radial bristles are supported on respective bristle members, both the end
bristles and
the radial bristles may be commonly retained on the body by the annular cap
member.
The mounting end of the body may include a tool mounting socket
integrally fom~ed therein. Alternatively, the mounting end may comprise a stem
which
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is suitable for insertion into a household drill for example,
The use of through openings in the body of the stud cleaning device
readily permits dirt and debris to escape from the interior of the hauling to
prevent
clogging of the bristles. By mounting the bristles on individual bristle
members slidably
mounted in respective channels, replaceable bristle sections are provided
without the
need for complex mounting configurations and individual set screws as
described in
the prior art. When end bristles are provided which extend generally axially
from the
open end of the body, both the end bristles and radial bristles within the
interior of the
body may be held by a common retainer to further simplify the process of
replacing
the bristles as only a single dmeaded cap requires removal to replace all
bristles
sections.
Une embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings in which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTIQN QF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the stud cleaning device, showing the
open end of the body;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the stud cleaning device, showing the
mounting end of the body;
Figure 3 Is an end view of the open end of the body;
Figure 4 is an end view of the mounting end of the body;
Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the device;
Figure 6 is a sectional view along the line 8-B of Figure 5;
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of the device taken along the
line 6-E of Figure 5;
Figure 8 is a sectional view along the line 8-8 of Figure 5;
CA 02529402 2005-11-25
Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of the device w'tth the radial
bristles shown removed;
Figure 1p is a partly sectional side elevatianal view of the exploded
device according to Figure 9;
Figure 11 is an end view of the cap member;
Figure 12 is an end view of the annular member supporting the end
bristles thereon;
Figure 13 is an end view of the body shown with the cap member and
end bristles removed;
Figure 14 is a perspecctivve view of one of the bristle members;
Figure 15 is an end view of one of the bristle members; and
F~ure 18 is a side elevational view of one of the bristle members.
In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the different trgures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring to the accompanying drawings there is illustrated a stud
cleaning device generally indicated by reference numeral 10. The device 10 is
particularly suited far cleaning threaded wheel studs 12 of the type commonly
used for
mounting wheels onto a veh~le. The device 10 is intended to be mounted over
top of
a wheel stud and then rotated in place for clearing dirt and corrosion from
the
threaded portion of the wheel stud.
The device 10 includes a cylindrical body 14 having a hollow interior
defined by a cylindrical interior wall 18, The hollow interior of the body
extends in a
longitudinal direction along a respective longitudinal axis from a closed
mounting end
18 of the body to an opposing open end 28.
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s
The mounting end 18 of the body has a tool mounting socket 20
integrally farmed therein for mounting on the conventional connector 22 or
chuck of a
rotary output 24 of a rotary power driven tool 26, for example an electrical
or
pneumatic powered drill. The socket 20 is oriented for rotation the body an
the tool
about the longitudinal axis of the body.
The open end 28 opposite the mounting end 18, receives the wheel stud
therethraugh for receiving the stud within the interior of the body 14. An
annular end
face 3d of the body 14 surrounds the opening at the open end 28.
A plurality of mounting channels 32 are formed in the interior wail 18 of
the body at circumferentially spaced locations about the interior. Each
channel 32
extends in the axial or longitudinal direction of the body from the mounting
end to the
open end.
A plurality of bristle members 38 are provided far being supported in the
channels 32 respectively for relative sliding movement in the longitudinal
direction.
1 ~ The bristle members each comprise an elongate rigid trough member 40 which
clamps a pluralitjr of flexible and resilient radial bristles 42 between
opposing sides of
the trough member. When the bristle members 38 are supported within the
channels
32 respectively, the radial bristles project radial inwardly to terminate at
an inner free
end in which the inner free ends of all the radial bristles form a generally
cylindrical
shape.
The bristle members 38 and the mounting channels 32 have a mating
cross section such that the bristle members are supported for sliding movement
relative to the body only in the longitudinal direction. Relative displacement
in the
radial or circumferential directions is restricted by providing each of the
bristle
members 38 and the mounting channels 32 with a portion of reduced dimension 44
in
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the circumferential direction adjacent the inner surface of the interior wall.
The bristle members 38 are supported at circumferentially spaced
locations about the body to define a body section 4fi spanning between each
adjacent
pair of the bristle members. The body section 4$ includes a part~n of the
cylindrical
interior wall 16. A discharge opening d$ is supported within each body section
46, at
circumferentially spaced locations, to extend through the interior wall of the
body from
the hollow interior to an exterior side of the body. A bristle member 38 is
thus
positioned between each adjacent pair of the discharge openings 48 to permit
dirt and
debris removed from the studs to easily fall through the openings from the
interior to
1 Q the exterior, thus preventing clogging of the bristles. A collective area
of the
discharge openings is near in magnitude to a collective area supporting the
plurality of
radial bristles thereon.
An annular cap member 50 is provided for mounting an the open end 28
of the cylindrical body. The cap member 50 includes a cylindrical mounting
portion 52
16 which is intemal(y threaded for mating with exterior threads surrounding
the open end
of the body ~4.
An annular retainer 94 is received within the cylindrical mounting portion
52 of the cap member for abutment against the end face 30 of the cylindrical
body,
between the body and the cap member 5Q. The annular retainer 54 projects
radially
20 inwardly sufficiently to overlap the bristle members 3$ in the radial
direction, while
defining a circular opening therein which is sufficiently large to accept the
wheel studs
therethrough.
The annular retainer 54 is greater in diameter than a circular opening of
the cap member for being held against the body to provide a common means of
25 retaining all of the bristle members 3$ within their respective channels by
preventing
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longitudinal sliding movement of the bristle members from the interior of the
body.
Relative longitudinal sliding movement between the bristle members and the
body is
prevented by commonly overlapping the open ends of the mounting channels 32
with
the annular retainer 54 when the retainer is abutted with the body. When the
cap
member is threadably removed and the annular retainer 54 is no longer held in
abutment against the body, the bristle members are slidably removable from the
mounting channels 32 at the open end of the body.
A plurality of end bristles 56 are mounted an the annular retainer 54 to
project generally in the longitudinal direction away from the body 14 at a
radially
inward incline of approximately 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis. The end
bristles
56 are arranged ciroumferentially on the annular retainer 54 in an annular
configuration about the open end of the cylindrical body and are commonly held
in
place in a mounted position by the cap member 50 along with the radial
bristles 42
retained by the bristle members.
in further embodiments, the annular retainer 54 and cap member 50
may be replaced by any suitable retainer for preventing the bristle members 38
from
being slidably removable from the mounting channels 32 at the open end 28 of
the
body 14. For example, the retainer may comprise a split ring selectively
received
within an annular groove in the interior wall 16 of the body adjacent the open
end 28.
In this instance, no end bristles would be provided on the retainer.
As described herein, the device 10 generally comprises a rotary
cleaning device for wheels studs. The device involves the use of a generally
cylindrical body having six removable wire bristle sections Supported within a
hollow
interior of the body. The body is closed at one end with means for mounting
onto a
rotary power driven tool, (n the illustrated example a socket is provided,
however a
CA 02529402 2005-11-25
stem may also be provided far being received within the chuck of a
conventional drill.
The opposing end remains open for receiving the wheel stud therethrough and
for
allowing insertion and removal of the wire bristle sections. Each bristle
member
supporting the wire brushes ar bristles thereon fits within mating mounting
channels
within the interior wall of the cylindrical body. Portions of reduced
dimension on both
the bristle members and mounting channels hold the bristle members in play to
anchor the members against spinning within the interior cylindrical wall while
attached
to the rotary tool for cleaning a wheel stud. The rigid nature of the backing
of the
bristle members prevents any bunching or binding of the bristles in use. The
discharge openings in the cylindrical walls of the body allow dust and dirt to
fall
through the openings to the exterior to prevent clogging of the bristles while
the
bristles are spinning about the wheel stud being cleaned. The threaded cap
member
on the end of the body holds the bristles in place while permitting ready
removal and
replacement thereof by simply removing a single threaded cap whenever the
bristles
became wom,
The wheel stud cleaning device mainly serves to aid in removal of a nut
from a threaded bolt or stud by cleaning the dirt and corrosion from the
threaded stud
prior removal of the nut. The cleaning device also serves to clean a wheel
stud after
removal of the nuts so that when a new wheel is places on the vehicle, new
nuts can
be tightened and torqued properly.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein
above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made
within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit
and
scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying
speG~cation shall
be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
