BRUSH IMPLEMENT FOR CLEANING RADIATORS Technical Field of the Invention This invention relates to a brush implement for cleaning radiators of the type having one or more air gaps between sepa- rated elements, said implement including a shaft manufactured from an elastic, flexible material and a brush provided at one end of the shaft, said brush having a planar basic shape and being provided with bristle members projecting from opposite sides of a central plane.

Background of the Invention Radiators for heating homes or other premises in have, in practice, a mostly varying design regardless if they use heat transfer by hot-water or by direct electric heating. It is common for many radiators that they include one or more air gaps. Thus, a modern type of radiator is composed of two mutu- ally parallel, plate-like elements between which there is a narrow, central air gap. Older radiators often include several transverse elements which are interconnected at the top and at the bottom and between which there are air gaps extending transverse to the plane of the radiator.

Airborne pollutants of different kind are eventually gathered upon the surfaces of the elements of the radiator.

Apart from usual dust, hair from living creatures, grease par- ticles, particles from cigarette smoke, insects, cobwebs, pet- als, etc. may adhere to the surfaces. Dirt of this kind that remains for a long time gives rise to different problems in the local environment, e.g. an embarrassing odour (especially when the surface temperature of the radiator is high) or in that after gathering of pollutants they are again emitted to the surrounding air; this can be of essential detriment for aller- gic persons. Dirt depositions may also constitute a consider- able fire risk, especially in connection with radiators using direct electric heating. The exposed front surface or surfaces of the radiator that are directed from the wall are normally cleaned in a simple way. The surfaces not being exposed at the front of the radiator are, however, considerably more difficult to clean. The surfaces facing each other and defining the nar-

row gap between the plate elements of modern radiators are especially difficult to clean. For this purpose brush imple- ments are often used that are adapted for quite different pur- poses than cleaning radiators. For instance so called bottle- brushes are used, said bottlebrushes being of the type having an essentially cylindrical brush arranged upon a weak and usu- ally plastically bendable shaft in the shape of a metal wire.

Certainly such brushes may be introduced in different air gaps of the radiators but they have a poor function since the brush portion is displaced forcefully only to and fro in the axial direction of the shaft, but not sidewards. For this reason the cleaning work is not efficient and takes a long time.

Objects and Features of the Invention The present invention aims to overcome the problems men- tioned above in connection with cleaning radiators and to cre- ate an improved brush implement for this very purpose. Thus, a primary object of the invention is to create a brush implement suitable for cleaning radiators, said implement making it pos- sible to displace, also inside air gaps having large surface extension, the brush itself forcefully not only in an axial direction but also sidewards and thus provide effective working of dirtied, internal surfaces. A further object is to create a brush implement having a brush that may cover and clean large surfaces during its displacement.

According to the invention at least the primary object is realised by the features being defined in the characterising clause of claim 1.

Brief Description of Prior Art From BE 835422 is previously known a brush implement that per se is said to be adapted for cleaning radiators. How- ever, in practice said implement is not capable of fulfilling its task in an efficient way. Thus, the known brush implement includes, apart from a cylindrical brush portion, a shaft that is composed of on one hand a handle portion and on the other hand of a flexible element, which possibly may be covered by a plastic coating. This flexible element, being a helical wire, is essentially cylindrical, i.e. it has the same radial exten-

sion in all directions from an imaginary centre axis. This means that the flexibility of the shaft is equal in all direc- tions. In other words the shaft portion is flexible not only when the brush is to be entered into an air gap of a radiator, but also flexible when the brush after insertion into the air gap is to be moved sidewards in order to clean the different surfaces of the parts of the radiator. Further the brush por- tion of the implement is cylindrical and not planar and paral- lel to a flat shaft as is the case of the invention For this reasons the known brush implement could not be displaced in a forceful way sidewards in order to clean hidden surfaces in a radiator.

NO 22442 refers to a brush implement having a brush por- tion of flat basic shape. However, there is not the slightest suggestion of a flat shape of the handle or shaft of the imple- ment. Exactly the same goes for US 1 551289 showing a brush implement having rectangular basic shape of the brush portion and an oblong, cylindrical shaft.

Brief Description of the appended Drawinq In the drawing: Fig 1 is a partly cut side view showing a brush implement according to the invention, Fig 2 is an enlarged cross-section A-A in figure 1, Fig 3 is a front view of a radiator being cleaned by means of the brush implement according to the invention, and Fig 4 is a side view of the radiator according to figure 3.

Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment of the Invention The brush implement 1 disclosed in figure 1 includes a shaft 2 and a brush generally designated by 3. As can be seen from figure 2 the shaft 2 has a thin and wide shape, and fur- thermore the shaft is manufactured from an elastic, flexible material. The brush 3 also has an essentially planar basic shape. In order to, when necessary, on one hand allow flexible and elastic bending of the shaft when the brush is to be entered into an air gap of the radiator and on the other hand guarantee proper force transfer to the brush itself when it is displaced in the gap by the shaft, the planes of the shaft and

the brush are according to the invention, located in prolonga- tion of each other or in a common plane.

In practice the shaft 2 is preferably manufactured out of one single piece of plastic, more specifically in the shape of an oblong and simultaneously thin and wide body. In the example shown in figure 1 the longitudinal sides of the shaft are mutually parallel. It is, however, also possible to design the shaft slightly tapering towards the brush 3. As can be seen from figure 1 the shaft, at its end remote from the brush 3, may be complemented with a special grab handle portion 4 having a shape that is more adapted to the anatomy of a hand than the shaft itself. In practice the shaft 2 may have a length within the range of 500 - 800 mm at the same time as the thickness may be within the range of 1 - 3 mm, preferably 1,5 - 2,5 mm. The smallest width of the shaft should be at least three times its thickness. In practice a still larger relationship between the width and the thickness is preferred, e.g. 5:1 or more. If the shaft has a thickness of 2 mm its width should accordingly be at least 10 mm.

In the disclosed embodiment the brush 3 is composed of on one hand a loop 5 manufactured out of a wire and on the other hand a plurality of bristle members 6 applied to the loop 5. The bristle-carrying loop 5 of the embodiment is of essen- tially triangular shape and includes an outer transverse member 7 and two side portions 8, 8' converging from said transverse member 7, said side portions 8, 8' being inserted, e.g.

moulded, into an end portion 9 of the shaft 2. This free end portion 9 of the shaft preferably has an increased width com- pared to the rest of the shaft. All bristle members 6 extend radially outwards from the common wire loop 5 and are in a con- ventional way, to an essential degree, evenly distributed along the loop. This means that certain bristle members will project from opposite sides of the central plane that is constituted by the wire loop 5.

As is clearly shown in figure 1 the brush 3 itself is essentially wider than the shaft 2. In practice the brush may thus have a width within the range of 50 - 150 mm, preferably 70 - 120 mm. Simultaneously the thickness of the brush, i.e.

the distance between the tips of bristle members projecting

from opposite sides of the plane of the loop, may be within the range of 15 - 40, preferably 20 - 30 mm. When displaced, the brush is, due to its large width, able to clean large areas during a short time.

In figure 3 and 4 a radiator 10 of the modern type, including two mutually parallel plate members 11, 11', is illustrated, a central, narrow air gap 12 being provided between said plate elements 11, 11'. In practice such radiators are often mounted directly below a window board 13.

Since the shaft 2 of the brush implement according to the invention is elastically flexible in one direction, i.e.

perpendicular to the plane of the shaft, the brush along with the shaft may easily be inserted into and withdrawn from said gap 12 despite the possible presence of a window board directly above the radiator. At the same time the brush 3 itself is allowed to be displaced forcefully along the internal surfaces that are to be cleaned, since the shaft has a considerable rigidity in the direction of the width of the shaft due to the fact that the width of the shaft is several times its thick- ness. Regardless of whether the brush is displaced by axial, reciprocating movements or by swinging the brush may in a forceful way work also pollutants that adhere firmly to the internal surfaces of the radiator.

Possible Modifications of the Invention The invention is not only limited to the embodiment described and shown in the drawing. Thus it is possible to manufacture the shaft otherwise than in the form of a single body, e.g. by assembling the shaft from several separate, oblong elements that together form a shaft having a width that is larger than its thickness. At the free end of the shaft the brush may also be designed otherwise than in the form of a tri- angular wire loop.