SHOE SCRUBBER AND METHOD OF SCRUBBING SHOES

Abstract

A shoe scrubber has a machine frame forming a trough extending in a longitudinal direction, a platform supported in the frame, extending longitudinally above the trough, and subdivided into two longitudinally extending paths, a respective pair of elongated longitudinally extending rollers having radially extending cleaning elements in the trough under each of the paths with the elements projecting upward through the platform, and means for rotating the rollers and thereby scrubbing dirt from soles of shoes on the platform in the paths.

Claims

1. A shoe scrubber comprising: a machine frame forming a trough extending in a longitudinal direction; a platform supported in the frame, extending longitudinally above the trough, and subdivided into two longitudinally extending paths; a respective pair of elongated longitudinally extending rollers having radially extending cleaning elements in the trough under each of the paths with the elements projecting upward through the platform; and means for rotating the rollers and thereby scrubbing dirt from soles of shoes on the platform in the paths.

2. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 1, wherein the drive means includes gearing for counterrotating the rollers of each pair

3. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 1 wherein the rollers each have axially spaced arrays of the cleaning elements and the platform is a grating having windows through which the arrays extend.

4. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 3, wherein the cleaning elements of one of the rollers of each pair of rollers extend through every other window of the grating, and the cleaning elements of the other of the rollers of.

5. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 3, wherein the elements are bristles extending radially outward from rotation axes of the respective rollers.

6. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 1, further comprising: a respective pair of longitudinally extending side-cleaning rollers carried on the frame flaning ea.

7. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 7, wherein the cleaning elements of the side-cleaning rollers mesh and with the cleaning elements of the respective sole-cleaing roller such that rotation of the sole-cleaning rollers rotates the side cleaning rollers.

8. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 7, further comprising: drive means for rotating the side-cleaning roller.

9. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 6 wherein the side-cleaning rollers are each relatively positioned such that the distance from the respective axis of rotation to the platform surface is between 15 mm and 50 mm.

10. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 6, wherein the side-cleaning rollers have diameters between 30 mm and 100 mm.

11. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 1, wherein the platform is formed by a grating.

12. The shoe scrubber defined in claim 1, wherein the sole-cleaning rollers have a longitudinal length of between 90 cm and 250 cm.

13. A shoe-cleaning method using a shoe scrubber having: a machine frame forming a trough extending in a longitudinal direction; a platform supported in the frame, extending longitudinally above the trough, and subdivided into two longitudinally extending paths; and a respective pair of elongated longitudinally extending rollers having radially extending cleaning elements in the trough under each of the paths with the elements projecting upward through the platform, the method comprising: moving a respective shoe along each of the paths with a sole of each shoe on the grate; rotationally driving the sole-cleaning rollers such that they engage and scrub the sole of the shoe on the grate in the respective path; wetting the cleaning elements of the sole-cleaning rollers with a liquid in the trough such that the liquid is applied by each sole-cleaning roller to the sole of the shoe in the respective path.

14. The method defined in claim 13, further comprising the steps of: providing two side-cleaning rollers above the grate flanking each of the paths; and rotating the side cleaning rollers such that cleaning elements thereof engage and clean sides of the shoes in the paths.

15. The method defined in claim 14, wherein the side-cleaning rollers are rotated by meshing the cleaning elements of the side-cleaning rollers with the cleaning elements of the underlying sole-cleaning rollers such that rotation of the sole-cleaning rollers is transmitted from the sole-cleaning rollers to the cleaning elements of the side-cleaning elements.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein a side edge of the sole (12) and an upper portion above the sole (12) are cleaned and/or disinfected with side-cleaning rollers (16).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0036] The above and other objects, features, and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe scrubber according to the invention with two cleaning paths that extend next to one another longitudinally;

[0038] FIG. 2A is a side view of one of the cleaning paths as seen longitudinally;

[0039] FIG. 2B is an enlarged cut-out of FIG. 2A; and

[0040] FIG. 3 shows the shoe scrubber according to FIG. 1 in a partially disassembled state.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0041] As seen in FIG. 1 a shoe scrubber according to the invention has a machine frame 2 forming a trough 1 and a grating 3 forming a platform above the trough 1. The platform grating 3 comprises crossbars 4, side bars 5, and a central bar 6 that in this embodiment separates the platform into two cleaning paths 7a and 7b that extend next to one another in a horizontal and longitudinal direction 1. Each of these two cleaning paths 7a and 7b is provided for the purpose of receiving and cleaning and/or disinfecting a respective shoe 8 of a user traversing the cleaning apparatus.

[0042] For the sake of clarity, optional components and attachments of the shoe scrubber are not shown in FIG. 1. According to the embodiments that are known from the prior art, side railings and guide elements, turnstiles at the entrance and exit, downstream dryers, devices for hand disinfection, or the like can be for example be provided.

[0043] Rotatable sole-cleaning rollers 9 provided in the trough 1 have cleaning elements 11 in the form of radially extending bristles on a core rod 10 journaled in the frame 2.

[0044] FIG. 1 shows that the cleaning elements/bristles 11 extend through and up past the upper surface of the platform grating 3 so that the lower surface of the sole 12 of the shoe 8 on the grating 3 can be effectively cleaned.

[0045] According to the invention, a pair of these sole-cleaning rollers 9 that can be rotated in opposite directions are provided for each cleaning path 7a and 7b, extending parallel to each other longitudinally about respective rotation axes.

[0046] In particular, each pair of sole-cleaning rollers 9 of each cleaning path 7a and 7b can be connected to a respective drive motor 14 via respective gears 13 in the illustrated embodiment.

[0047] Given the rotation of the two sole-cleaning rollers 9 of each cleaning path 7a and 7b in opposite directions, in order to avoid excessive friction between the cleaning elements/bristles 11 of the two sole-cleaning rollers 9, these bristles 11 of the cleaning patha 7a and 7b are offset from one another in the longitudinal direction 1. In the illustrated embodiment, the crossbars 4 of the platform grating 3 in the two cleaning paths 7a and 7b form individual slots windows spaced longitudinally and extending horizontally perpendicular to the direction. The cleaning elements 11 of one of the two sole-cleaning rollers 9 extend through every other such slot, and the intervening slots are traversed by the elements 11 of the other of the two sole-cleaning rollers 9 of the same pair, so that the arrays of elements 11 of the two rollers 9 alternate and in no way interfere with each other.

[0048] The fact that the sole 12 is cleaned in the context of the invention by two sole-cleaning rollers 9 in each cleaning path 7a and 7b makes especially reliable and effective cleaning and/or disinfection possible.

[0049] According to another aspect of the invention, two additional side-cleaning rollers 16 having cleaning elements 11 in the form of bristles and are mounted above the platform forming the two cleaning paths 7a and 7b, with a cleaning lane being formed in each cleaning path 7a and 7b by two of the sole-cleaning rollers 9 and two of the side-cleaning rollers 16. The side-cleaning rollers 16 rotate so that their bristles 11 are moving downward, i.e. toward the platform, so as to sweep dirt from the shoe 8 down into the trough 1. In addition, a transitional region of the sole 12 to an upper 17 of the shoe 8 can be scribbed particularly effectively and reliably from above, even if there is an angled portion.

[0050] It can also be seen particularly from FIGS. 2A and 2B that the orbit of the bristles 11 of the side-cleaning rollers 16 overlap the orbit of the bristles 11 of the respective adjacent sole-cleaning roller 9. This ensures that, in effect, the sole-cleaning rollers 9 each drive a respective one of the side-cleaning rollers 16 by angular engagement of the bristles 11 and 11. To this end of course the spacing of the arrays of bristles 11 on the side-cleaning rollers 16 are spaced identically to the arrays of bristles 11 on the respective rollers 9. It also proves advantageous that cleaning and/or disinfecting liquid can also be transferred from the sole-cleaning rollers 9 to the side-cleaning rollers 16 through direct contact of the cleaning elements 11 and 11. This cleaning/disinfecting liquid fills the trough 1 to a level indicated at L in FIG. 2A so that the tips of the bristles 11 dip into it as the rollers 9 rotate.

[0051] According to an alternative embodiment, however, it is also possible to connect the side-cleaning rollers 16 to the gearing 13 by additional gears or the like. Such a variant is advantageous particularly with regard to the torques to be transmitted.

[0052] In the context of the invention, the side-cleaning rollers 16 are provided for the effective cleaning of the side edge of the sole 12 and of the immediately adjoining lower portion of the upper 17. The shoe scrubber can thus also be used and is intended for conventional mid-height footwear. On the other hand, if even the high uppers of a boot are to be cleaned, a separate cleaning step is usually provided for this purpose within the scope of the invention.

[0053] Accordingly, the rotation axes of the side-cleaning rollers 16 are at a relatively small spacing above the platform of typically between 15 mm and 50 mm, particularly between 20 mm and 35 mm. The diameter of the side-cleaning rollers 16 can, for example, be between 30 mm and 100 mm, particularly between 50 mm and 80 mm.

[0054] The length of the sole-cleaning rollers 9 and side-cleaning rollers 16 is usually between 90 cm and 250 cm, with the shoes 8 being cleaned according to the embodiment when a user steps along the platform formed by the platform grating 3.

[0055] The preferred directions of rotation of the two sole-cleaning rollers 9 and of the two side-cleaning rollers 16 are indicated by arrows in FIG. 2A.

[0056] FIG. 3 shows the shoe scrubber, the platform grating 3 with the side-cleaning rollers 16 fastened thereto being folded up. Here, too, there is the advantage that the side-cleaning rollers are driven by the sole-cleaning rollers 9 via the cleaning elements 11, 11, so that no elaborate mechanical decoupling is necessary for folding-up the platform grating 3.

[0057] It is also apparent from FIG. 3 that the shoe scrubber is also especially easy to maintain and clean. The sole-cleaning rollers 9 in the trough are thus inserted at the end and against an intermediate support 18 into suitable bearing shells or journals such as shown at 19, it being possible for the connection to the gear mechanism 13 to be achieved by a form-fitting pin-type connection, for example for example a hex end on the roller shaft fitting into a hex socket on a shaft of the gear box 13. In the context of such an embodiment, the sole-cleaning rollers 9 can be very easily removed, cleaned, and optionally replaced after lifting the platform grating 3.