A brush for cleaning tubular elements and a decorative element

This invention relates to a brush, particularly for the cleaning of tubular elements and a decorative element obtainable with said brush.

From the state of the art brushes are known for the cleaning of tubular elements that comprise a core constituted by a longitudinal element with an elongated shape, on which there is fixed a plurality of groups of bristles, arranged, for example radially, with respect to said longitudinal element, to form a sequence of crowns of bristles distributed along the longitudinal element. The groups of bristles can be arranged on planes that are substantially perpendicular to the axis of the longitudinal element, or, possibly, be tilted with respect to said planes, at a constant, or variable, angle of tilt.

These brushes are used to remove dirt, or encrustations in general, from the inner wall of a tubular element. These brushes, whilst being effective for removing dirt or other encrustations from the inner wall of the tubular element, are not able to push out the detached material therefrom, which detached material has to be extracted with other methods that are not always effective for removing from the inside of the tubular element all the material detached by the brush, with the risk of rapid reforming of the encrustations, promoted by said material that is detached by the brush and remains inside the tubular element . An object of the present invention is to provide a brush, particularly for cleaning tubular elements in general, which permits complete removal and extraction of dirt and encrustations present on the internal wall of the tubular element . According to the present invention there is provided a brush that comprises an elongated element to which groups of bristles are fixed, characterised in that said groups of

bristles are arranged along said elongated element according to a helical configuration.

Owing to the arrangement of the groups of bristles in a helical configuration, the brush according to the invention in addition to detaching dirt and other encrustations from the internal wall of a tubular element, pushes the detached material to an end of the tubular element, acting substantially as a screw conveyor, thus evacuating the detached material to the outside of the tubular element in a substantially complete manner. The use of a brush according to the invention eliminates the need to resort to additional operations to evacuate from the tubular element the material detached by the brush during the cleaning operation. Some ways of implementing the invention will now by disclosed merely by way of example with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial side view of a brush according to the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a cross section of a brush according to the invention;

Figures 3 and 4, illustrate the manufacture of a brush according to the invention;

Figures 5 to 10 illustrate some examples of cross section shapes of the elongated element to which are fixed the bristles of a brush according to the invention;

Figure 11 illustrates a decorative element that is achievable with a brush according to the invention; Figure 12 illustrates a further decorative element that is achievable with a brush according to the invention. A brush 1 according to the invention comprises an elongated element 2 to which there are fixed groups of bristles 3. By the term "elongated element" an element is intended having a dimension much greater than the other two dimensions. The groups of bristles 3 are arranged in such a way as to form a helical configuration. To make a brush 1 according to the invention, it is possible to start from an elongated element

2, for example a rectilinear profiled element having a U- shaped section 6 (Figure 5) , with a cavity 7 in which there are fixed the bristles 3, aligned along the elongated element 2, as shown in Figure 3. To obtain the spiral configuration of the bristles 3, after fixing the latter in the cavity 7 of the elongated element 2, the latter is subjected to torsion around the longitudinal axis thereof, for example by locking it at the ends in two gripping devices and then rotating one of the gripping devices, for example by an angle greater than 360°, preferably a multiple of 360°, whilst the other gripping device is kept stationary, in such a way as to deform plastically the elongated element 2 in a permanent manner, making it take on a helical shape. Through this operation, the bristles 3, which were initially aligned in a rectilinear configuration, take on a helical configuration corresponding to that of the longitudinal element 2. The pitch of the helical configuration of the bristles 3 is preferably of the same order of magnitude as the length of the bristles 3. In Figure 4 there is shown the elongated element 2, whilst it is subjected to torsion.

The elongated element 2 is preferably made of metal, or anyway of a material that is plastically deformable in a permanent manner. The plastic deformation of the material of the longitudinal element 2 during torsion thereof, in addition to determining the helical pattern of the bristles, also determines crushing of the cross section of the longitudinal element 2, which ensures better fixing of the bristles to the element. In Figures 6, 7, 8 there are illustrated some forms of section that can be chosen for the elongated element 2. In Figure 6 there is shown an elongated element 2a, having a U-shaped cross section 6a, with a cavity 7a, in which there are fixed the bristles 3 and a lower stiffening appendage 8. The use of an elongated element 2a to make a brush according

to the invention has the advantage that the brush is stiffer and therefore less subject to flexure during use. In Figure 7 there is illustrated an elongated element 2b having an H-shaped cross section 6b with two opposite cavities 9 and 10, in which the bristles 3 are fixed.

The use of an elongated element 2b to make a brush according to the invention enables a helical configuration with two threads to be obtained for the bristles 3. In Figure 8 there is illustrated an elongated element 2c having a cross-shaped cross section 6c with four cavities 11, 12, 13, 14, staggered with respect to one another by about 90°, in which the bristles 3 are fixed.

The use of an elongated element 2c to make a brush according to the invention enables a helical configuration with four threads for the bristles 3 to be obtained.

It is naturally possible to choose for the elongated element 2 forms of section other than those illustrated, which nevertheless enable helical configurations with several threads of bristles 3 to be obtained. In Figure 9 there is illustrated a further embodiment of an elongated element 2d, constituted by a body 15 in elastic material, for example in plastics, having, for example, a rectangular section inside which a core 16 in plastically deformable material, for example in metal, can be arranged. The bristles 3 can be fixed to a face 15a of the body 15, for example by inserting groups of bristles 3 into holes 17 aligned along said face.

The body 15 in elastic material enables the brush 1, obtained by using the elongated element 2d, to have a certain degree of flexibility, which enables the brush to be able to be used also for cleaning tubular elements that have curvilinear portions.

In Figure 10 there is illustrated an elongated element 2e similar to the elongated element 2d, from which it differs by the fact that it has a core 16a with a circular or elliptical section.

The elongated elements 2d and 2e, without core 16, 16a, can be used as supports for the bristles 3, which are inserted into and locked inside the cavities 7, 7a, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 of the elongated elements 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, before the latter are subjected to torsion, to make a brush 1 according to the invention.

A brush according to the invention can also be used as a decorative element Ia, for example to simulate a tree, as shown in Figure 11. In this case, to the elongated element 2 filiform elements 3, such as for example bristles can be fitted, or also elements having the shape of portions of belt or ribbon, preferably of reduced width. The filiform, or belt or ribbon-shaped elements fixed to the elongated element 2, can also be of a progressively decreasing length from an end 18 of the elongated element 2 to the opposite end 19, in such a way that the coils of the helical configuration of the elements 3 have a progressively decreasing radius. Alternatively, the length of the filiform elements 3, or belt or ribbon-shaped elements can vary in any way, also in a random manner, between the first end 18 and the second end 19 of the elongated element 2, in order to obtain the most widely varying aesthetic effects possible. The decorative element can be possibly completed by a pedestal 4, and by a possible top decoration 5.

In Figure 12 there is illustrated a further embodiment of a decorative element Ib according to the invention. In this embodiment the elongated element 2 that constitutes the core of the decorative element Ib is further deformed in such a way as to take on the shape of a cylindrical, or conical, helix whilst the filiform, or ribbon or belt-shaped, elements 3, continue to be arranged in a helical configuration along the elongated element 2. In the practical embodiment, the materials, dimensions and constructional details may be different from those indicated

but be technically equivalent thereto, without thereby falling outside the legal scope of the present invention.