Apparatus for cleaning material transporting rollers

Abstract

The roller cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a frame which has a pair of caster mounted wheels located at one of its ends. The casters are connected to one another through a tie-rod which causes them to turn as a unit between a right-hand facing orientation and a left-hand facing orientation. The wheels have a diameter which permits them to span an adjacent pair of the rollers which are to be cleaned. Thus, if the rollers are rotating the apparatus translates across the rollers toward the right when the casters are in their right-hand orientation and toward the left when the casters are in their left-hand orientation. A spring normally urges the casters to their right-hand orientation, however, a latch mechanism locks them in their left-hand orientation when they are manually placed there. The latch mechanism has a release device which automatically releases it when the apparatus reaches the left-hand side of the rollers. A hone mounted on the other end of the frame contacts one of the rollers when the wheels are located between another pair of them. Thus, the hone cleans the roller as the apparatus translate back and forth across it. A ballast bar mounted on the frame supplies the necessary weight to the hone to make it work. Water from a tank mounted on the frame is dispensed into the roller being cleaned from a distribution tube which is located adjacent to the hone.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.