Bristle bed cleaner and method

A cleaning station for a section of a conveyorized bristle bed, said bristle bed having movable bristles with root ends and free ends, said free ends defining a support surface when said bristles extend upwards, said bristles otherwise extending downwards, said cleaning station comprising:

• a plurality of air needles arranged to span at least 70% of the width of said bristle bed section and directing pressurized air toward the root ends of the downwardly extending bristles to dislodge debris;
• said air needles defining nozzles that constrict the air flow discharged therefrom, each said nozzle defining a diameter less than twice a diameter of said bristles;
• said air needles being grouped into at least two sections wherein less than all sections discharge pressurized air at a given time;
• and
• a vacuum inlet chamber that creates a vacuum around the downwardly extending bristles to carry away the dislodged debris, said vacuum inlet chamber being defined by an upwardly open channel with partitions in said channel that support said air needles.

A method for cleaning debris from between the bristles of a conveyorized bristle bed, said method comprising:

• a) inverting at least a segment of the bristle bed so that the bristles on said segment extend downwards;
• b) temporarily bending a plurality of the downward extending bristles as said bristles move so that an enlarged space is defined between the temporarily bent bristles and adjacent bristles not so bent, said enlarged space being larger than a corresponding space between unbent bristles;
• c) directing pressurized air toward the enlarged space to dislodge debris accumulated between said bristles;
• d) providing a vacuum around the downward extending bristles to draw said debris away from said bristles and to accumulate said debris.