Brushing – scrubbing – and general cleaning – Implements – Fabric
Patent
1996-02-09
1998-06-16
Graham, Gary K.
Brushing, scrubbing, and general cleaning
Implements
Fabric
16230, 29395213, 492 41, 492 59, 492 45, 1563003, 451533, B60B 704, B21B 3108
Patent
active
057652562
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a nonwoven thermally bonded fiber compressed brush construction suitable for use in caustic mill environments such as in steel strip mills, for example. More specifically, the invention relates to a brush for use in caustic environments wherein the brush is made from a plurality of compressed annular sections made of bicomponent nonwoven fibers. The brushes of the present invention are made of fibers that can withstand extremely caustic environments without requiring resinous coatings, binders or the like.
BACKGROUND ART
Prior to electrolytic tin plating, steel strip must be thoroughly cleaned. This is done on a continuous basis in steel strip mills by passing the strip through a hot caustic cleaning tank and then through hot water rinse tanks. Brushes are commonly used in the cleaning process to agitate the surfaces of the steel strip.
Historically, the aforementioned brushes have been made from any of a variety of materials. Until recently, bristled brushes were commonly used in the cleaning process and typically had natural vegetable fiber bristles. For example, brushes having tampico bristles made from a coarse grass-like plant grown in the region around Tampico, Mexico (hereinafter "tampico bristled brushes") had enjoyed widespread use in steel strip cleaning applications. Bristled brushes may also include bristles of a synthetic construction such as; polypropylene, for example. Bristled brushes, however, experienced a short service life in the caustic environment of steel strip mills.
About ten years ago, a cleaning brush made of a compressed body formed of a multiplicity of ganged segments of nylon nonwoven web fabric was developed and sold in Australia by the assignee's subsidiary company, 3M Australia. These brushes were found to have an effective service life two to three times that of the tampico bristled brushes. The Australian brush is made from an air laid randomly formed web of 13 to 15 denier nylon staple of length 38 millimeters. The nylon web is needletacked to increase its density and strength, and the web is thoroughly impregnated with a phenolic resin solution as a binder which, when cured, provides the web with some resistance to highly caustic conditions. This type of brush construction has been utilized for about the last ten years.
However, the phenolic bonded nylon web brush has also exhibited some shortcomings in the caustic environments in which it has been used. Although it generally enjoyed a much longer useful life than the tampico bristled brushes, the nylon web brushes are known to degrade and generate waste or "fluff" as a result of the gradual breakdown under hot caustic conditions (typically pH 13 and 80.degree. C.) of the protective phenolic resin binder coating the nylon fibers. The fluff is caused by the release of the nylon staple fibers. The generation of fluff is problematic because it is difficult to clean out of the steel mill cleaning lines and it tends to block filters.
Because of the noted problems with cleaning brushes, there is a need for an improved cleaning brush for use in the caustic environments of steel strip mills and the like. Moreover, there is a need for a cleaning brush which has an improved resistance to caustic solutions to thereby avoid the aforementioned degradation of the phenolic resin material and the resulting fluff caused by the destruction of the brush fibers in the caustic environment.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the noted problems in the art by providing a rotary brush suitable for use in cleaning steel strip rolls and the like in caustic environments, the brush comprising:
a cylindrical body rotatable about its longitudinal axis, said body comprising a compressed stack formed of a plurality of like-oriented annular sections, each section assembled about a central carrier, the sections each comprising a nonwoven web of crimped bi-component fibers comprised of a first polymer component and a second polymer component having a melting temperature lower tha
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Allan James M.
Brandley Barry A.
Busse Paul W.
Graham Gary K.
Griswold Gary L.
Kirn, Jr. Walter N.
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
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