US2632197A - Mirror cleaning machine - Google Patents

Description

March 24, 1953 5, oss ETAL 2,632,197

MIRROR CLEANING MACHINE Filed May 24 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. 5.444051. Moss,

JUL ms Does-Kl,

A'TTORNEY? March 24, 1953 5. Moss ET AL MIRROR CLEANING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24 1949 INVENTOR5- SAMUEL Moss,

JUL/us Does/ 1,

ATTORNEY.

S. MOSS ET AL MIRROR CLEANING MACHINE March 24, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 24 1949 I nIIllll lll llllllllllln .IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I 3 ll lilllll MM? L 2 Patented Mar. 24, 1953 MIRROR CLEANING MACHINE Samuel Moss and Julius Dorski, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application May 24, 1949, Serial No. 95,116

9 Claims.

This invention relates to the polishing or cleaning of fiat surfaces, and more particularly to the provision of means for cleaning mirrors.

In the manufacture of mirrors it is, of course, necessary, in order to achieve maximum output and low costs, to make manufacture as automatic as possible and this has been done as far as con cerns the silvering of the back of the mirrors, and the coating. of the silvered surface with a protective covering, but it has hitherto been necessary to clean and polish the front of the mirror by hand.

Taking the production of flat glass mirrors as an example, machines have been employed having means for conveying the plate glass from which the mirrors are made, lying face down, past stations at which the silvering solution is sprayed on the glass, the solution dried, and a protective coating sprayed on the silvered surface, and also dried. The finishing of the front of the mirror, has, however, required that the mirrors should be removed from the machine by hand, allowed to dry which required several hours time and then turned over on their backs in order that paint or other protective material which has leaked around the edges of the mirror onto the front, should be cleaned off and the surface then polished.

The hand finishing of the mirrors required the use-of several persons in order to keep up with the output of the silvering machine and also involved considerable loss from breakage in handling.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide mechanical means to carry out the final cleaning and polishing of the front surface of the mirrors, which means can be added to the 'silvering machines, but may also be arranged as separate machines if desired or preferred.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for continuously moving the mirrors face down, as they Would be delivered from the back coating machine, past a series of mechanisms effective first to clean the faces of the mirrors by applying cleaning solution on a soft surfaced element frictionally engaging the surfaces of the mirrors, and then carry the cleaned mirrors past elements effective to remove the moisture and cleaning medium from the mirror faces and to dry them.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. mirror finishing machine having means for continuously moving themirrors face down past a, plurality of elements operating on the faces of the mirrors, the means moving themirrors being arranged so as to leave the faces of the mirrors 2 unobstructed while being operated on by the-elements.

It will be evident that the element applying cleaning solution and acting to clean the mirrors will need to be cleaned from time to time and it is a further object of the invention to arrange the cleaning element and a supply of cleaning solution as a self-contained unit which may be readily removed, when required, for cleaning and renewal of the cleaning solution.

The film of cleaning solution and the cleaning medium, which may be finely ground pumice, is difiicult to remove unless the film is dried, when the pumice Wil1 be in the form of a fine dust on the mirror surface and may be readily brushed off, accordingly it is a further object of the invention to provide means directing a blast of air against the mirror surface in cooperation with rotary brush means to secure complete drying of and removal of the cleaning medium from the faces of the mirrors.

Still further features and objects of the invention will hereinafter appear from the following specification and accompanying drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention at present deemed preferable, but it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the described embodiment of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as intended to be defined by the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the mirror cleaning and polishing means of the invention arranged as part of a continuous conveyor fed mirror making machine.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section, drawn on an enlarged scale, of a cleaning element taken on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail showing an alternative arrangement of drive means for thev ma.- chine.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary detail in side elevation showing an alternative means of holding the mirrors against the cleaning element over which the mirrors are passed.

In the drawings the numeral It indicates the end of a continuous conveyor mirror silvering machine and I2 indicates the cleaning and polishing means of the invention arranged as a continuation of' machine it.

The end of the conveyor belt of the mirror making machine is shown at I4. At the end of the conveyor belt I 4 which runs over the end belt pulley I5 the mirrors, according to the prior practice, would be lifted off, turned over and cleaned by hand, but according to this invention, a. continuation of the machine is provided having vertical and longitudinal framing member and providing a prolongation I8 of the bed of the main machine.

In order to pass the mirrors H from the main machine onto the prolongation of the bed a roll I8 is positioned arranged with its axis parallel to belt pulley I5 and mounted in spring loaded bearings 28. Spaced along bed I8 is a second roll 22 similarly mounted in spring loaded bearings 24. A plurality of wide endless belts 28 runs on rollers I8 and 22 and bear against the upper side or back of the mirrors, the faces of which are supported on a plurality of small freely rotating rolls 28.

The belts 28 are pressed into firm engagement with the backs of the mirrors by rollers 38, 32 mounted on longitudinal bars 34 the ends of which are supported on the shafts 35 of roll I8 and 38 of roll 22. Bars 34 are connected by transverse rods 48, forming a rigid and relatively heavy framework. The roll I8 serves to drive belts 26 by engagement with the mirrors carried under it by belts I4, or by engagement with the belts I4 if no mirror is passing under roll I8.

Roll 32 is positioned above a roll 42 which acts as a driving pulley for a series of narrow belts 44 which act to carry the mirrors H from the belts 26 through the remainder of their travel through the machine. Roll 42 is driven in any suitable manner from the main machine, as for instance by a driving chain 46 engaging with a chain sprocket 48 mounted on the shaft of roll 42.

Belts 44 are arranged in a looped path over rolls 58 mounted in the plane of the machine bed, and lower belt pulleys 52 mounted below the machine bed, and over a clearance belt pulley 52 keeping the return run of the belt from end belt pulley 5| below the level of the lower pulleys 52.

A plurality of rolls 54 mounted in spring loaded bearings 58 are arranged to bear against rolls 58 so that the mirrors are held firmly on th belts 44 and passed along the bed of the machine from one pair of rolls 58, 54 to the next. It is to be understood that the various rolls coming in contact with the mirrors are surfaced with suitable soft material such as rubber.

The cleaning and polishing element operating on the lower or front face of the mirrors comprise a series of brushes 58 and a washing roller 68 all of the cleaning and polishing units being driven by a motor 82. Motor 62, through driving pulley 84 and belt 66, drives a belt pulley 58 on the shaft of the brush 58 second from the end of the machine. At the opposite side of the machine a double chain sprocket I8 is mounted on the shaft of the brush and drives chain I2, riding on chain sprocket I8 and a chain sprocket I4 on the shaft of the last brush 58 which is thus rotated.

A second chain I8 driven by the double chain sprocket 18 is mounted on chain sprocket 18 on the shaft of the first brush 58, and a belt pulley 88 on the shaft drives a belt 82 mounted on belt pulley 83 on the shaft of a small diameter bristle brush roll 84 rotating in operative contact with a felt covered washing and cleaning roll 86 mounted in a cleaning compound container 88. Washing roll 86 is driven by chain sprocket 98 on the opposite end of the shaft of the first brush 58, chain 92 riding thereon, and driving chain sprocket 94 on the shaft of the washing roller.

Both the washing roll 86 and brush roll 84 are mounted in bearings in the walls of container 88, which is kept supplied with a cleaning solution, such for instance as one containing finely powdered pumice. The container is mounted for ready removal so that the cleaning solution may be changed, as shown in Fig. 4. The troughlike container 88 is supported at the left end, as seen in Fig. 4, by the left hand edge of the bottom of the container en aging on the upper edge of a horizontal frame member 98 and abutting the inturned flange of an upper horizontal frame member I88.

The upper edges of the container 88 are provided at their inner ends with a pair of outwardly projecting pins on which are mounted a pair of small rollers I82 disposed in transverse channels I84 supported on the frame of the machine and which extend the full width of the frame. These rollers serve to support the left end (Fig. 4) of the container 88 for rolling movement on the channels I84 during insertion of the container as well as when removing it from the frame. Upon the container reaching the fully inserted position, its inner end can be lifted to repose on the upper edge of the frame member 88. In this elevated position of the container end, the rollers I82 are lifted off of the channels I84.

The container 88 is held in inserted position by means of a swinging latch I86 which may be engaged with an upturned lip I88 secured to an upper horizontal frame member I89, when the right hand end is lifted until it contacts the inturned lower flange of member I89 and the receptacle is thus securely held in position. The container 88 may be readily removed by disengaging belt 82 from pulley 83, releasing latch I86, and then moving the container slightly to the right to allow the left hand end to fall slightly, and the rollers I82 to engage the channels I84 so that the container end is now supported on the channels by the rollers. This affords sufficient slack to chain 92 to enable it to be readily removed from sprocket 94 after which the trough 88 may be rolled to the right, removed with the cleaning rollers mounted therein, emptied, cleaned and refilled with cleaning solution and replaced in position by reversing the described sequence of steps.

It will be understood that only a small quantity of cleaning compound need be held in the lower part of the receptacle, the brush roll which is mounted in the lower part of the trough, wetting the surface of the felt covered roller 86 and brushing dirt therefrom. The felt covered roll rotates rapidly against the lower face of the mirrors as they are carried over it on the rolls 28 and effectively washes or scours paint smudges, grease and the like from the faces of the mirrors.

It has been found that the last thin film of pumice adhering to the face of the mirror is very hard to remove if the glass is at all damp, and an air blast tube III) is arranged extending transversely of the machine between the last brush roll and the brush roll preceding it.

The air tube III) is provided with perforations directing the air against the glass mirrors travelling over it, with the result that the pumice remaining on the surface is in the form of a fine dust which is completely removed by the last brush roll 58.

The pressure air tube is connected in any suitableway tothe pressure air-lines usuallyinstalled in manufacturing shops. In the modification illustrated in Fig. 6' a motor H2 is shown drivin a sprocket H4 through a speed reducing gear box by which the speed of the drive may be brought to that desired. Sprocket H 5 drives chain HE which drives a chain sprocket iii-l, se cured on the shaft of belt driving roll 42.

In the modification shown in Fig. '7 an arrangement. of rollers H8 is shown mounted in bars. I29 which may be substituted for the roller arrangement 32, 30- and bar 3 5 shown in connection with the feed of the mirrors to the washing and cleaning roller 69 in Fig; 1. The ob ect of the modification shown in Fig. 7 is to secure an, even pressure on the backs of the mirrors as they are fed over the cleaning unit.

In the operation of making'completely finished mirrors by the use of the finishing machine for the faces of the mirrors, it will be noted that the machine receives the mirrors from the main machine at the same sneed that they are deli ered to it since the cleaning element belts are driven only by frictional contact with the conveyor belt of the main machine, and no relative motion between the conveyor belts of the cleaning unit and the finished backs of the mirrors can take place, thus avoiding damage to the silvering of the mirrors.

After passing the cleaning element the mirrors are conveyed by the single looped conveyor belt, and therefore at a uniform speed. between the cleaning and polishing brush rollers, but are drawn across these brushes by rollers driven only by friction from the conveyor belt so that again any relative movement between the backs of the mirrors and the conveying means is avoided.

The mirrors are carried throughout the machine on belts on which they are held by rollers rotating at the same peripheral speed as the belts, and thus cannot be scratched or marred in any way and are delivered from the machine without the necessity of any hand operation, thus avoiding the usual routine of hand cleaning and polishing the mirrors, and effecting a considerable saving in cost of manufacture.

What we claim is:

1. An automatic machine for cleaning the faces of mirrors, including: means for continuously moving mirrors face downward through the machine; a trough containing cleaning fluid arranged below and transverse to the path of the mirrors; a rotary brush mounted in said trough in contact with the cleaning fluid; a cleaning roll mounted in said trough and contacted by said rotary brush and supplied with cleaning fluid thereby, said cleaning roll engaging With the faces of the mirrors during their passage; releasable means effective to retain the trough in operative position and to be removed for cleaning and renewal of the cleaning fluid; and drive means for said rotary brush and cleaning roll arranged to be releasable to permit Withdrawal of said trough.

2. A machine for cleaning the faces of mirrors, including: an elongated frame; mechanism at the forward end of said frame for conveying mirrors face downward and in a horizontal path forwardly along the frame; rotary means for applying cleaning fluid to the mirror faces as the mirrors are moved by said mechanism; a plurality of rotary brushes between the rotary means and the rear end of said frame arranged at spaced intervals along the frame and extending transversely thereof; rolls mounted transversely in said frame and arranged in groups along the length thereof with two of the rolls of each group situated on opposite sides of a rotary brushand a third roll beneath the brush; a plurality of endless belts trained over each pair of rolls and under the third roll providing belt stretches extending horizontally bet. een adjacentbrushes forming horizontal supports for the mirror and when moved carrying the mirrors from brushto brush and leaving the faces of the mirrors exposed to contact by the brushes; and means for driving the belts and the mechanism.

3. A machine as embodied inclaim 2, wherein said driving means is common to the mechanism and thebelts.

4. A machine as embodied in claim 2, wherein pressure rolls aremounted on the frame above said belts and between the brushes for holding themirrors against said belt stretches.

5. A machine as embodied in claim 2, wherein an air jet pipe is supported transversely on said frame immediately ahead of the last of said brushes for drying the cleaning fluid on the faces of the mirrors so that it will be removed from the mirror faces by the last brush.

6. A machine for cleaning the faces of mirrors, including: an elongated frame; mechanism at the forward end of said frame for conveying mirrors face downward and in a horizontal path forwardly along the frame; rotary means for applying cleaning fluid to the mirror faces as the mirrors are moved by said mechanism; a plurality of rotary brushes between the rotary means and the rear end of said frame arranged at spaced intervals along the frame and extending transversely thereof; rolls mounted transversely in said frame and arranged in groups along the length thereof with two of the rolls of each group situated on opposite sides of a rotary brush and a third roll beneath the brush; a plurality of endless belts trained over each pair of rolls and under the third roll providing belt stretches extending horizontally between adjacent brushes forming horizontal supports for the mirror and when moved carrying the mirrors from brush to brush and leaving the faces of the mirrors exposed to contact by the brushes; common driving means for the mechanism and the belts; pressure rolls mounted on the frame above the belts and between the brushes for holding the mirrors against said belt stretches; and an air jet pipe supported transversely on said frame immediately ahead of the last of said brushes for drying the cleaning fluid on the faces of the mirrors so that it will be removed from the mirror faces by the last brush.

'7. An automatic machine for cleaning the faces of mirrors, including: a frame; means for continuously moving mirrors face downward through the machine; spaced channels on the frame arranged below and transverse to the path of movement of the mirrors; a trough containing a clean ing fluid; rollers carried by the trough and engaging said channels for removably supporting the trough on the frame; a brush rotatably mounted in the trough adjacent the bottom thereof to contact the cleaning fluid therein; a cleaning roll rotatably mounted in the trough above and in contact with the brush; said roll engaging at its upper side the faces of the mirrors during movement thereof by said means; and drive means for the brush and the roll.

8. A machine as embodied in claim 7, wherein the drive means is releasable to permit withdrawal of the trough.

9. An automatic machine for cleaning the faces of mirrors including: a frame; means for continuously moving mirrors face downward along the frame; a, trough containing a cleaning fluid; a rotary brush mounted in the trough; a cleaning roll mounted in the trough above and in contact with the rotary brush; driving means for said brush having a driven part on the brush with a flexible driving part on the frame engaging the driven part; driving means for said roll having a driven part on the roll and a flexible driving part on the frame engaging the driven part; means on the frame for removably supporting the trough thereon below and transversely of the path of movement of the mirrors and to occupy an elevated position in which said roll has contact with the faces of the mirrors as moved by said mirror moving means, and a lowered position in which the flexible driving part for the roll can be disengaged from the driven part to allow removal of 8 the trough; and latching means for securing the trough in elevated position.

SAMUEL MOSS. JULIUS DORSm.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 451,263 Buckman Apr. 28, 1891 500,219 Sague June 27, 1893 1,104,498 Hasburg July 21, 1914 1,856,129 Drake May 3, 1932 1,888,498 Gipe et a1. Nov. 22, 1932 1,930,575 Wynd et a1 Oct. 1'7, 1933 1,953,352 Kranich Apr. 3, 1934 2,204,168 Wood June 11, 1940

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