Wheel rim cleaning apparatus

A buffing device for simultaneously cleaning a pair of axially spaced flanges at the outer rim of a conventional tire receiving vehicle wheel, said device comprising a head means including head mounting means for mounting of said device adjacent a wheel mounting means having means for rotating said wheel about the axis thereof, said head mounting means including an arm member connected at an inner end by a first pivot means to a frame, said head assembly being connected by second pivot means to an outer end of aid arm member, a shaft member of circular cross section mounted in bearing means carried by said head means for rotation about an axis of said shaft member, a pair of buffer wheels mounted on said shaft member, and buffer wheel mounting means for affixing said wheels to said shaft member for rotation therewith and permitting selective adjustment of at least one of said wheels axially along said shaft member to alter the axial spacing of said buffer wheels on said shaft member.

• said buffer wheel mounting means including a hub member carrying said at least one wheel, said hub member having an axial bore for longitudinal sliding reception of the shaft member therethrough, and being normally movable axially therealong, and interlocking means between said hub and shaft members for locking said hub member against relative axial movement on said shaft member, said interlocking means being movable to a locking position upon application of torque between said shaft member and said hub member,
• said interlocking means including a series of axial spaced recesses in one of said hub and shaft members and a detent carried by the other member and movable into one of said recesses on commencement of rotation of said shaft member;
• indexing means including a series of axial spaced indents in said shaft member along an axially extending line, said hub member having an indexing member biased radially into said bore and shaped to be received in each indent for providing limited resistance against relative and circumferential movement between said hub member and said shaft member during a non-driving condition
• said indexing means allowing relative axial manual movement of said hub member along said shaft member while tentatively locating said hub member for reception of said detent in any one of said series of recesses,
• said interlocking means permitting axial positioning of said hub member along said shaft member and affixing said hub member against both rotation of said hub member and axial movement thereof on said shaft member during driving rotation between said shaft member and said hub member,
• said first pivot means mounting of said arm member having a pivot axis substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said vehicle wheel for allowing movement of said head member toward and away from the outer rim of said vehicle wheel, said second pivot means having an axis perpendicular to the axis of said first pivot means for permitting swivel motion of aid shaft member in a plane parallel to the axis of rotation of said vehicle wheel, a wheel drive motor mounted adjacent said head means, drive means connected between said motor means and said shaft member for rotating said shaft member, and manual operable means connected to said head means for manually controlling said swivel motion of said head means whereby said buffer wheels are turned at an angle relative to the flanges on rotatable engagement with inside faces of said flanges of said rim.