Back to results
US 4,002,491 AGranted
Removal of coatings by rotating chain flails
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorJose O. Esparza
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeShell Oil Company
InventorJose O. Esparza
Estimating the term…
Coatings are loosened for removal from various substrates by rotating a chain-like flail against the coating while maintaining the flail oriented and positioned with respect to the surface of the coating so that the next-to-last terminal link of the flail barely strikes the coating on the edge of the link, twists and then whips the terminal link flat against the coating on the side of the link. The flail is useful for remote controlled operations as underwater or in a hazardous area as high radiation environment and may be employed for cleaning any underwater surface such as conduits, ships hulls, docks, and offshore drilling or production structures. In particular, the flail works well on underwater conduits when used in combination with a wire wheel brush which removes the coating from the conduit after the coating is first loosened by the flail.
An apparatus for removing a coating from a substrate without significantly damaging the substrate comprising several chain-like flails, means for rotating the flails into contact with the coating, and means for orienting and positioning all of the flails with respect to the coating surface so that the next-to-last terminal link of every flail will barely strike the coating on the edge of the link, twist and then whip the terminal link flat against the coating on the side of the link.
An apparatus for removing a coating from an underwater substrate without significantly damaging the substrate comprising:
An apparatus for removing a thin film coating from an underwater conduit without significantly damaging the conduit comprising:
A method for removing a coating from a substrate without significantly damaging the substrate comprising rotating several chain-like flails against the coating while maintaining each flail oriented and positioned with respect to the coating surface so that the next-to-last terminal link of each flail barely strikes the coating on the edge of the link, twists and then whips the terminal link flat against the coating on the side of the link.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.