BOAT SCRUBBER

Abstract

A cleaning apparatus for large ships where a flotation member is configured to bob along the water as the ship moves and the dragging action of the ship as it partially submerges provides relative motion of a large brush member attached to the flotation member.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 60/938,896, filed May 18, 2007.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In general, in large fishing vessels and large boats in general it is very difficult to wash the side portion of the boat. Many attempts have been made in the prior art, but when a vessel is in motion it is quite dangerous to have any kind of human interaction on the boat's side perimeter. Further, in most cases, ships cannot have their side walls cleaned and scrubbed in port because it is environmentally unsound.

Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus which can clean the side portion of a boat, and in particular an apparatus which utilizes the action of the water adjacent to the boat to facilitate the cleaning process.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Disclosed herein is a cleaning apparatus configured to clean the lateral wall portion of a large water vessel greater. The apparatus has a brush member having a plurality of bristles and a core region. A flotation member is tethered between the middle and lower regions of the brush member. The flotation member is operatively configured to be positioned in a manner with the brush member so as to float along the water surface adjacent to the large water vessel and be at least partially submerged thereunder so as to induce drag in a direction substantially along the longitudinal axis of the large water vessel to provide a scrubbing action along the lateral wall portion of the water vessel.

In one form a safety strap is operatively attached to the brush member. Further a water supply is operatively connected to the brush member to provide a water rinsing action as the brush member moves substantially along the longitudinal axis when the water vessel is in motion with respect to the surrounding body of water. One form of a flotation member is a buoy and the flotation member is connected to the brush member by way of a line which is connected to the core region of the brush member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a side view schematically indicating the apparatus adjacent to a boat;

FIG. 2 shows an environmental view of a schematic boat indicating the vertical cleaning member with the flotation attachment;

FIG. 3 shows another kind of a close-up embodiment illustrating the cleaning action of the device;

FIG. 4 follows FIG. 3 showing a type of phenomenon noticed to facilitate the scrubbing action of the vertical bristle member with the boat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Described herein is a cleaning apparatus configured to utilize the energy of a boat/large water vessel as it travels in the forward direction. In general, as a large water vessel 23 travels in a forward direction in a surrounding body of water 21 there is potential to utilize the relative motion between the water vessel and the surrounding body of water. In one form, this relative motion between the water vessel and the water can be utilized to create a scrubbing action to clean the side portion of boats. To aid in further description, an axes system is defined as shown in FIG. 2 where the axis 10 indicates the longitudinal axis in a forward direction, and the axis 12 indicates a vertical direction. Further, the axis orthogonal or substantial orthogonal to 10 and 12 indicates a lateral axis. Of course, these are utilized to indicate general directions and need not be perfectly aligned to such axes for carrying out the apparatus and methods described herein.

Further, as described in greater detail herein, the applicant has discovered a phenomenon where a dragging flotation member 30, such as a buoy, will have the propensity to skim along the surface 35 of the body of water 21. As shown in FIG. 1, the water vessel 23 is configured to travel in a forward direction 55 which is substantially along the longitudinal axis 10 as shown in FIG. 2. Of course, the forward direction could include the water vessel 23 turning starboard or port, and in some cases the forward direction could be defined when the water vessel is traveling in the other direction. The forward direction generally denotes a relative motion between the water vessel 23 and the flotation member 30.

As shown in FIG. 1, there is a boat 23 which is a large fishing boat such as a large freighter or a large vessel which travels on a body of water 21. Shown in the central part of FIG. 1 is the cleaning apparatus 20. In general, the apparatus comprises a substantially vertical brush 22 and a flotation member 30. The brush 22 has an upper attachment portion 26, and a lower attachment region 28 (and 28′ in another embodiment). The cleaning apparatus 20 generally has a flotation member 30 positioned in the lower attachment region 28 (or 28′) which is further described herein.

In general, the vertical brush-like member 24 has a core region 32 and a plurality of bristles 34 radially extending therefrom. In one form, the bristle like member can be set up with bristles as in a car wash, or other type of a brush system, and the center portion 32 is a thick wire cable of sufficient mass with the connection points at both end regions.

The flotation member 30 in form is a buoy that is attached with the line 38. The attachment can be at a center portion as indicated at 28 (see FIG. 3), or the lower portion indicated at 28′ (see FIG. 1). Now referring to FIG. 2, there is an overall environmental view illustrating the device hanging over the ship 20. It should be further noted, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, that a safety strap 40 can be mounted to the ship at a connection point 42 and also mounted at a slidable attachment member 44. The safety strap ensures that if one of the items fails, such as the upper connection line 46, the item does not fall into the body of water.

Now referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, there are shown two views illustrating the operating principle of the cleaning device 22. In general, as shown in FIG. 3, the center bristle member 24 is in a substantially vertical position, and the buoy member or flotation device 30 is skimming along the surface 30 of the body of water 21. It should be noted that the large vessels 20 generally will travel between 10 and 16 knots. Present analysis indicates that when the vessel is traveling at, for example, 14 knots with respect to the running water, there is a sufficient amount of a drag which occurs, and on occasion, the flotation member will “catch” and submerge as shown in FIG. 4. When the flotation member 30 submerges or partially submerges, additional drag occurs and the flotation member will exert a force indicated by the force vector 52 upon the brush member 22. When this occurs, the plurality of bristles 34 are pulled back and have a gyrating motion and clean the outer surface 31 of the ship 23. Of course, the attachment line of the flotation member 30 can be by a line 38, or can be connected to the very lower portion indicated at 38′. After the buoy has partially submerged, it will generally lift out of the water and position forward and the weight of the bristle member 24 will bring the entire unit back to a substantially vertical orientation, which facilitates additional cleaning and scrubbing action.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, it can be appreciated that FIG. 1 shows the connection of the flotation member 30 by way of the connection line 38 to a lower region 60 of the substantially vertical brush member 22. As shown in for example FIG. 3, the line 38′ could be attached to, for example, a central region 62 of the brush member 22. In general, the line attached to the buoy member or flotation device 30 is attached to the lower portion of the brush.

Now referring back to FIG. 1, there is shown another variation where a water supply inlet 60 is shown which in one form is attached to a water supply 62, such as a fire hose. The water supply inlet 60 has an output nozzle which can be positioned adjacent to the center portion of the plurality of bristles 38, roughly indicated at the location 64. This water supply flushes and facilitates the cleaning action.

In operation, the connecting member 46 is moved along the longitudinal direction of the boat to clean various portions of the lateral surface 31. The proper method as shown in FIG. 2 would be to attach the unit 22 to a plurality of locations along the lateral surface 31 of the vessel for cleaning of the entire ship. Of course it should be noted that the action of the cleaning involves utilizing the energy of the passing water, requires very little manpower, and further can clean below the ship's water line.

In general, the overall height of the brush member 22 can extend in a plurality of distances, for example at the waterline 35 as shown in FIG. 3, or it can extend up the side portion of the ship. Therefore, the brush member can extend from, for example, 3 feet to 30 feet in one range. Present analysis indicates that the brush member itself can have a wide range of mass and still function very well in conjunction with the flotation member 30.

While the present invention is illustrated by description of several embodiments and while the illustrative embodiments are described in detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications within the scope of the appended claims will readily appear to those sufficed in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and methods, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicants' general concept.

Claims

1. A cleaning apparatus configured to clean the lateral wall portion of a large water vessel greater than 80 feet in length having a longitudinal axis which has an operating environment in a body of water having a water surface, the cleaning apparatus comprising:

a. a brush member having a plurality of bristles and a core region, the brush member having an upper, middle and a lower region,

b. a flotation member tethered between the middle and lower regions of the brush member, the flotation member operatively configured to be positioned in a manner with the brush member so as to float along the water surface adjacent to the large water vessel and be at least partially submerged thereunder so as to induce drag in a direction substantially along the longitudinal axis of the large water vessel to provide a scrubbing action along the lateral wall portion of the water vessel.

2. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1 where the flotation member is connected at a lowermost portion of the brush member.

3. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1 where a safety strap is operatively attached to the brush member.

4. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1 where a water supply is operatively connected to the brush member to provide a water rinsing action as the brush member moves substantially along the longitudinal axis when the water vessel is in motion with respect to the surrounding body of water.

5. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 1 where the flotation member is a buoy.

6. The cleaning apparatus as recited in claim 5 where the flotation member is connected to the brush member by way of a line which is connected to the core region of the brush member.

7. A method of cleaning a lateral wall portion of the water vessel, the water vessel having a path of travel in a forward direction, the method comprising:

a. positioning a substantially vertical brush along the lateral wall portion of the water vessel and hanging the substantially vertical brush at an upper portion thereof;

b. attaching a flotation member to the substantially vertical brush by a connection line;

c. providing the water vessel to move in the forward direction with respect to a surrounding body of water so as to provide sufficient length of the connection line from the substantially vertical brush to the flotation member so the flotation member is configured to come in contact with the surrounding body of water and have a sufficient amount of drag thereupon as the water vessel travels substantially in the forward direction so as to reposition the substantially vertical brush along the lateral wall portion of the vessel and create a scrubbing action thereupon to clean a region of the lateral wall portion of the water vessel.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 where the flotation member is attached in to the lower half of the substantially vertical brush.

9. The method as recited in claim 7 where a water supply is operatively connected to the brush to supply a rinsing action along a portion of the contact of the substantially vertical brush and the lateral wall portion of the water vessel.

10. The method as recited in claim 7 where the water vessel is longer than 150 feet and travels over 10 kn.

11. The method as recited in claim 7 where the flotation member is operatively configured to become completely submerged in the surrounding body of water of the water vessel, creating drag in a longitudinal rearward direction with respect to the forward direction of the water vessel so as to reposition the substantially vertical brush longitudinally rearwardly whereas the flotation member is operatively configured to become un-submerged in the surrounding body of water and the substantially vertical brush swings and the flotation member skips along the surface in the forward direction of the water before becoming re-submerged.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 where a water supply rinses debris from the substantially vertical brush as the substantially vertical brush scrubs a lateral wall portion of the water vessel.

13. A water vessel cleaning system configured to work on a water vessel larger than 100 feet in length having an upper connection line, the water vessel configured to travel in a body of water, the water vessel cleaning system comprising:

a. a brush member having a central axis with a plurality of brushes extended therefrom, the brush member having an upper attachment portion operatively configured to be attached to the upper connection line.

b. a connection line attached between a middle and lower portion of the brush member of the first connection location and further attached to a flotation member at a second connection location;

c. the flotation member being operatively configured to be in contact with the body of water wherein the connection line has sufficient slack to allow the flotation member to at least be partially submerged so as to induce drag to reposition the brush member as the water vessel moves with respect to the body of water.

14. The water vessel cleaning system as recited in claim 13 where the flotation member is operatively configured to be completely submerged under the body of water as the water vessel moves in a forward direction.

15. The water vessel cleaning system as recited in claim 14 where the water vessel is moving at a speed greater than ten knots.

16. The water vessel cleaning system as recited in claim 13 where a rinsing system is provided to facilitate the cleaning action between the brush member and the water vessel as the brush member repositions in a longitudinal direction as the water vessel travels through the body of water.

17. The water vessel cleaning system as recited in claim 13 where a safety line is attached to the brush member in the event the brush member is de-attached from the upper connection line.