Apparatus for the lubrication and cleaning of elongated articles, especially rails and chains

An apparatus for the lubrication and cleaning of an elongated article which are relatively movable, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of identical shoe modules joined together in an assembly and aligned with one another, each of said shoe modules comprising:
• a body formed with a shoe bridgepiece and a pair of shoe shanks,
• brush-receiving grooves formed along inner sides of said shank and said bridgepiece, and
• lubricant-distribution passages formed in said body and communicating with said grooves;
• a respective brush module received in each of said shoe modules, each brush module comprising:
• a pair of brush shanks shaped and dimensioned to fit into the grooves of respective shoe shanks and a brush bridgepiece connecting said brush shanks and shaped and dimensioned to fit into a respective groove of the respective shoe bridgepiece, said brush module sealingly engaging the respective body along edges of the respective grooves whereby floors of said grooves and backs of said brush module define spaces communicating with said passages,
• respective bundles of bristles on said brush shanks and said brush bridgepiece and extending inwardly to engage said article with the shanks of said shoe and brush modules straddling same, and
• lubricant bores formed in said brush shanks and said brush bridgepiece and communicating with said distribution passages through said spaces for delivering said lubricant to said bristles;
• and
• at least one automatic lubricant feeder connected to the passages of at least one of said shoe modules for feeding said lubricant to the passages thereof, said lubricant feeder, the passages of said one of said shoe modules, said spaces of said one of said shoe modules and the bores of the brush module of said one of said shoe modules forming a closed hydraulic system opening to the exterior only at the bores feeding the lubricant to the bristles.