JP7525097B2 - Duct cleaning tools and equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a duct cleaning tool and duct cleaning device that removes dirt such as oil and soot that has adhered to the inner walls of exhaust ducts.

For example, exhaust ducts in restaurants are installed to exhaust smoke from around tables and the kitchen to the outside. In particular, exhaust ducts that suck in and exhaust smoke from roasters installed in yakiniku restaurants tend to become clogged with a lot of oil and soot, making it necessary to regularly clean the exhaust duct and remove the dirt that has built up on the inner walls.

Patent Document 1 discloses a duct cleaning tool that can easily insert a rotating brush deep into the corners of a duct. This duct cleaning tool is equipped with a flexible shaft that is made of a metal wire wound in a spiral shape and coated with flexible resin and is connected to a rotary drive device to be rotated, and a rotary cleaning tool that is made of a rotating brush or a rotating buff that is detachably connected to the tip of the flexible shaft.

JP 2018-118217 A

The exhaust duct is connected to the main duct through branch ducts that run from inside the store to under the floor or above the ceiling. Branch ducts are often bent along the way, making them difficult to clean. In addition, in order to clean the duct without removing the floor or ceiling, a brush must be inserted into the duct and scrubbed, but scrubbing with a brush alone is not enough to remove all of the dirt that has built up. Furthermore, if the brush gets caught on an obstacle such as a duct joint or screw, or if the brush part falls from the branch duct into the main duct, the brush cannot be removed, which can cause problems.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a duct cleaning tool and duct cleaning device that can be easily inserted into a duct, can thoroughly remove dirt, and can work inside the duct without getting caught.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a duct cleaning tool that is inserted into a duct, and is characterized by having a cylindrical main body that is rotatable within the duct by receiving a driving force from a driving source, and a plurality of pins that are arranged to be movable forward and backward in a radial direction from the circumferential surface of the main body and protrude from the circumferential surface by centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the main body. The present invention also provides a duct cleaning device that cleans the inside of a duct, and is characterized by having the above-mentioned duct cleaning tool, a flexible shaft to which the duct cleaning tool is attached at its tip, and a driving source that rotates the flexible shaft.

The present invention provides a duct cleaning tool and duct cleaning device that can be easily inserted into a duct, can thoroughly remove dirt, and can work inside the duct without getting caught.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a duct cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a duct cleaning tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a duct cleaning tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a duct cleaning tool according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1A to 1C are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of a pin of a duct cleaning tool. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of cleaning a duct. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating an example of a duct before and after cleaning;

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

(Duct cleaning device)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a duct cleaning device according to this embodiment.
The duct cleaning device 100 is a device that cleans the inside of a duct D that discharges smoke, dust, etc. The duct cleaning device 100 includes a duct cleaning tool 1, a flexible shaft 102 to the tip of which the duct cleaning tool 1 is attached, and a drive source 103 that rotates the flexible shaft 102. Details of the duct cleaning tool 1 will be described later.

The flexible shaft 102 transmits the rotational force of the driving source 103 to the duct cleaning tool 1 at the tip. The flexible shaft 102 has sufficient rigidity not to buckle when the duct cleaning tool 1 attached to the tip is inserted into the duct D, and is flexible enough to transmit the rotational force of the driving source 103 to the duct cleaning tool 1 even when bent.

A rotary tool such as an electric drill (e.g., an impact drill or a driver drill) is used as the driving source 103. A jig 1032 is attached to the chuck 1031 of the driving source 103. The rear end of the flexible shaft 102 is fixed to this jig 1032. For example, an operator can hold the driving source 103 in his/her hand and operate a switch to rotate the motor, thereby rotating the duct cleaning tool 1 via the flexible shaft 102.

(Duct cleaning equipment)
Next, the duct cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the duct cleaning tool according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the duct cleaning tool according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a plan view (partially see-through) illustrating the duct cleaning tool according to the present embodiment.
A duct cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment is inserted into a duct D (see FIG. 1 ) to clean the duct D and functions as a rotating brush. The duct cleaning tool 1 includes a main body 10 and a plurality of pins 20. The main body 10 is cylindrical in shape and is rotatable within the duct D upon receiving a driving force from a driving source 103.

The main body 10 is formed, for example, from a synthetic resin (such as fluororesin) or a metal (such as aluminum), and has an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the duct D so that it can be inserted axially into the duct D. It is preferable that the edges of the front and rear end faces 10a of the main body 10 are provided with tapered portions 10t. This makes it easier to insert the main body 10 into and remove it from the duct D. A fixing portion 10b for fixing the flexible shaft 102 is provided at the rear end of the main body 10.

The multiple pins 20 are provided so that they can move forward and backward in the radial direction from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10. The multiple pins 20 are provided so that they protrude from the peripheral surface 10c due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the main body 10. The pins 20 are inserted into holes 10h that penetrate the center of the main body 10 in the radial direction. The hole 10h has an expanded diameter portion 10h1 with a large inner diameter and a reduced diameter portion 10h2 with a small inner diameter. The pins 20 are inserted from the expanded diameter portion 10h1 side of the hole 10h to the reduced diameter portion 10h2 side.

When the pin 20 is inserted, a bolt 25 is attached to the enlarged diameter portion 10h1 side of the hole 10h to prevent the pin 20 from falling out of the hole 10h. A retaining portion 20a that is smaller than the enlarged diameter portion 10h1 and larger than the reduced diameter portion 10h2 is provided at the rear end of the pin 20. This allows the pin 20 to be attached so that it can move back and forth within the hole 10h, and it can protrude from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10 until the retaining portion 20a hits the reduced diameter portion 10h2, and can enter from the peripheral surface 10c into the main body 10 until the retaining portion 20a hits the bolt 25.

The multiple pins 20 are provided at different positions in the axial direction of the main body 10. Also, the multiple pins 20 are provided at equal intervals from each other in a plan view in the axial direction of the main body 10. In other words, the positions of the multiple pins 20 protruding from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10 (the positions of the opening ends of the holes 10h) are spiral along the peripheral surface 10c.

For example, when twelve pins 20 are provided, the twelve pins 20 are arranged radially at 30° intervals when viewed from the tip side of the main body 10. Furthermore, each of the twelve pins 20 is provided at a different height in the axial direction of the main body 10. As a result, the twelve pins 20 are arranged in a spiral shape on the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10. Here, it is preferable that each of the multiple pins 20 is provided at equal intervals from each other in the axial direction of the main body 10.

The material of the pin 20 is metal (iron wire, hard steel wire, stainless steel wire, brass wire, etc.) or resin (fluororesin, nylon, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, acrylic, polyester, heat-resistant nylon, etc.). The material of the pin 20 is appropriately selected according to the condition and type of dirt in the duct. The duct cleaning tool 1 is detachably attached to the flexible shaft 102 by the fixing part 10b provided at the rear end of the main body 10. Therefore, multiple types of duct cleaning tools 1 equipped with pins 20 made of different materials may be prepared, and a duct cleaning tool 1 equipped with a pin 20 made of a material suitable for removing dirt from the duct D may be selected and used by replacing it with the fixing part 10b. Note that, although it is necessary not to interfere with the pin operation described below, the shape of the pin 20 itself or the shape of the tip of the pin 20 (for example, brush-like) may be changed according to the condition and type of dirt.

(Duct cleaning tool pin action)
5(a) to 5(c) are cross-sectional views illustrating the operation of the pins of the duct cleaning tool. For ease of explanation, FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of one pin 20.
5(a) shows the pin 20 in its most retracted state, FIG. 5(b) shows the pin 20 in its partially protruding state, and FIG. 5(c) shows the pin 20 in its most protruding state.
The pin 20 is provided so as to be movable radially forward and backward within the hole 10h of the main body 10. Therefore, by rotating the main body 10, centrifugal force acts on the pin 20, causing it to protrude from the state shown in Fig. 5(a) as shown in Fig. 5(b) and (c) in response to the centrifugal force.

In this way, the rotation of the main body 10 causes the multiple pins 20 to protrude due to centrifugal force, and as the multiple protruding pins 20 rotate with the main body 10, the tips of the pins 20 scrape the inner wall of the duct D. This makes it possible to scrape off dirt adhering to the inner wall of the duct D.

On the other hand, when the rotation of the main body 10 is weakened, the centrifugal force on the pin 20 weakens, and the pin 20 can return to the main body 10. For example, if the centrifugal force on the pin 20 weakens and the reaction force caused by the tip of the pin 20 hitting the inner wall of the duct D becomes greater than the centrifugal force, the pin 20 will return to the main body 10.

In this way, the multiple pins 20 protrude due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the main body 10, so the force with which the pins 20 protrude can be adjusted by the rotation speed of the main body 10. In other words, if you want to strongly scrape off the inner wall of the duct D, you can increase the rotation speed of the drive source 103 and rotate the main body 10 at high speed. On the other hand, if you want to gently scrub the inner wall of the duct D, you can reduce the rotation speed of the drive source 103 and rotate the main body 10 at a slower speed.

In addition, because the pin 20 can be returned by stopping the rotation of the main body 10, when the duct cleaning tool 1 is inserted into the duct or when the duct cleaning tool 1 is pulled out of the duct after cleaning, the pin 20 is not fully protruding, and can be pulled out smoothly without getting caught on bolts, joints, or bends inside the duct.

(Duct cleaning example)
Next, an example of duct cleaning will be described.
6A and 6B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of cleaning a duct.
FIG. 6 shows an example in which a duct D provided on a floor is cleaned from a table T with a roaster.
As shown in Fig. 6(a), the table T with a roaster is provided with a duct D that draws in oil and smoke produced when food is roasted on the roaster R so that they do not escape into the store. When multiple tables T with roasters are placed in a store, the duct D is drawn from each table T with roasters under the floor. A main duct MD is provided under the floor, and the duct D of each table T with roaster is connected to the main duct MD as a branch duct.

When cleaning the duct D, the top plate TP and roaster R of the table T with roaster are removed to expose the inlet D1 of the duct D as shown in FIG. 6(b). Then, the duct cleaning device 100 according to this embodiment is prepared, and the duct cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment is inserted from the inlet D1 of the duct D. Since the multiple pins 20 provided on the main body 10 of the duct cleaning tool 1 are not protruding, the duct cleaning tool 1 can be smoothly inserted into the duct D from the inlet D1.

Next, with the duct cleaning tool 1 inserted at an appropriate position in the duct D, the main body 10 is rotated by an impact driver, which is an example of the driving source 103. This rotation causes multiple pins 20 to protrude from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10 due to centrifugal force, and as they rotate, they scrape the inner wall of the duct D and scrape off the dirt that has adhered to them. The worker moves the duct cleaning tool 1 back and forth within the duct D as appropriate, adjusting the protruding strength of the multiple pins 20 due to the centrifugal force by the number of rotations of the driving source 103. Even if the duct D is bent, the duct cleaning tool 1 can be inserted deep into the duct D by the flexible shaft 102, and a rotational force can be applied to the main body 10. In this way, the dirt on the inner wall of the duct D is scraped off.

7(a) and (b) are diagrams illustrating the state before and after cleaning of a duct.
Fig. 7(a) shows the state of the duct D before cleaning, and Fig. 7(b) shows the state of the duct D after cleaning with the duct cleaning device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 7(a), oil stains and soot are attached all over the inner wall of the duct D before cleaning. By cleaning this with the duct cleaning device 100 according to this embodiment, it can be seen that the oil stains, soot, etc. on the inner wall of the duct D are sufficiently removed as shown in Fig. 7(b).

In the duct cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment, multiple pins 20 are provided radially on the circumferential surface 10c of the main body 10, and the protruding positions are arranged in a spiral. Therefore, by setting the interval (linear distance) between adjacent pins 20 wide and rotating, the entire multiple pins 20 can scratch the inner wall of the duct D and remove any deposits.

In addition, by providing a wide gap (linear distance) between adjacent pins 20, even if there are screws or other protrusions at the joints of the duct D, they will not get caught between adjacent pins 20 (they will easily slip out from between the pins 20).

Furthermore, even if the duct cleaning tool 1 is advanced into the duct D and is about to fall into the main duct MD, the main body 10 is cylindrical (has a length in the axial direction), so it is easy to prevent the main body 10 from falling completely into the main duct MD. Even if the duct cleaning tool 1 falls into the main duct MD, stopping the rotation of the main body 10 allows the pin 20 to move freely back and forth, and in this state, moving the duct cleaning tool 1 back and forth makes it easier to pull it back from the main duct MD to the duct D side.

As described above, the duct cleaning tool 1 according to this embodiment is a tool that is inserted inside the duct D, and is characterized by having a cylindrical main body 10 that is rotatable inside the duct D upon receiving a driving force from a driving source 103, and a plurality of pins 20 that are movable radially from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10 and protrude from the peripheral surface 10c due to the centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the main body 10.

With this configuration, when cleaning the duct D, the main body 10 can be rotated to cause the multiple pins 20 to protrude radially and come into contact with the inner wall of the duct D while rotating, allowing deposits on the inner wall of the duct D to be accurately scraped off. In addition, before or after cleaning the duct D, the main body 10 can be prevented from rotating to prevent the multiple pins 20 from protruding, allowing the duct cleaning tool 1 to be easily inserted into or removed from the duct D.

In the above duct cleaning tool 1, it is preferable that each of the multiple pins 20 is provided at a different position from the others in the axial direction of the main body 10. This prevents the multiple pins 20 from becoming overcrowded in the rotational direction of the main body 10, and suppresses entanglement of foreign matter in the pins 20.

In the above duct cleaning tool 1, it is preferable that each of the multiple pins 20 is provided at equal intervals from one another when viewed in a plan view in the axial direction of the main body 10. This allows the multiple pins 20 to protrude in a balanced manner when the main body 10 is rotated, allowing for stable rotation to remove deposits.

In the above duct cleaning tool 1, the positions of the pins 20 protruding from the peripheral surface 10c of the main body 10 are preferably in a spiral shape along the peripheral surface 10c. This allows the spacing (linear distance) between adjacent pins 20 to be set wide, suppressing entanglement of foreign matter, while allowing the entire pins 20 to rotate and scrape the inner wall of the duct D to effectively remove deposits.

In the above duct cleaning tool 1, it is preferable that each of the multiple pins 20 is provided at equal intervals from each other in the axial direction of the main body 10. This allows the multiple pins 20 to be arranged in a balanced manner in the axial direction of the main body 10, thereby preventing entanglement of foreign matter and removing attached matter in a balanced manner.

The duct cleaning device 100 according to this embodiment is a device for cleaning the inside of a duct D, and is characterized by comprising the above-mentioned duct cleaning tool 1, a flexible shaft 102 to the tip of which the duct cleaning tool 1 is attached, and a drive source 103 for rotating the flexible shaft 102. With this configuration, when cleaning the duct D, the main body 10 is rotated to cause the multiple pins 20 to protrude in the radial direction and to abut against the inner wall of the duct D while rotating, thereby enabling the attachments on the inner wall of the duct D to be accurately scraped off. Furthermore, before or after cleaning the duct D, the main body 10 is not rotated to suppress the protrusion of the multiple pins 20, and the duct cleaning tool 1 can be easily inserted into or removed from the duct D.

As described above, the present invention provides a duct cleaning tool 1 and a duct cleaning device 100 that can be easily inserted into a duct D, can thoroughly remove dirt, and can operate without getting caught inside the duct D.

In the above explanation, an example was shown in which the pin 20 is provided so that it can freely advance and retreat within the hole 10h, but the pin 20 may be biased by a spring in a direction returning to the main body 10. In this case, the biasing force of the spring is set to a force that allows the pin 20 to protrude due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the main body 10. In this way, when the main body 10 is rotated, the centrifugal force overcomes the biasing force of the spring and causes the pin to protrude, and when the rotation of the main body 10 is stopped, the biasing force of the spring can reliably store the pin 20 in the main body 10.

The positions of the multiple pins 20 in the axial direction of the main body 10 do not have to be different for all of them, and some or all of them may be the same. Furthermore, the multiple pins 20 do not have to be arranged at equal intervals from each other when viewed in a plan view in the axial direction of the main body 10. For example, the pins may be arranged so that the intervals alternate between narrow and wide, or they may be arranged at random intervals.

The pin 20 may also be fixed in the hole 10h. Even if the pin 20 is fixed, the duct cleaning tool 1 can be inserted into the duct D as long as the outer diameter of the pin 20, including the tip thereof, is smaller than the inner diameter of the duct D.

In addition, when the main body 10 is rotated, the rotation of the main body 10 may be made unbalanced by the amount of protrusion and arrangement of the multiple pins 20, the setting of the center of gravity of the main body 10, etc. In this way, regardless of the advancement and retreat of the pins 20 or the fixing of the pins 20, the unbalanced rotation of the main body 10 can cause the tips of the pins 20 to irregularly abut against the inner wall of the duct D, thereby scraping off the deposits.

The present invention provides a duct cleaning tool 1 and a duct cleaning device 100 that can be easily inserted into a duct D, can sufficiently remove various types of dirt in addition to oil and soot, and can work without getting caught inside the duct D. Therefore, they can be suitably used when cleaning the inside of various pipes other than exhaust ducts D.

Reference Signs List 1 Duct cleaning tool 10 Body 10a Surface 10b Fixing portion 10c Circumferential surface 10h Hole 10h1 Enlarged diameter portion 10h2 Reduced diameter portion 20 Pin 20a Anti-pullout portion 25 Bolt 100 Duct cleaning device 102 Flexible shaft 103 Driving source 1031 Chuck 1032 Jig D Duct D1 Inlet MD Main duct R Roaster T Table with roaster TP Top plate

Claims (6)

A duct cleaning tool that is inserted into a duct,
a cylindrical main body that is rotatably provided within the duct upon receiving a driving force from a driving source;
A plurality of pins are provided so as to be movable in a radial direction from a peripheral surface of the main body and protrude from the peripheral surface by centrifugal force caused by rotation of the main body ,
The main body is provided with a through hole for receiving the pin,
The through hole has an expanded diameter portion and a reduced diameter portion having an inner diameter smaller than that of the expanded diameter portion,
A retaining portion is provided at one end of the pin, the outer diameter of which is smaller than the inner diameter of the enlarged diameter portion and larger than the inner diameter of the reduced diameter portion.
A duct cleaning tool characterized by: The duct cleaning tool according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the multiple pins is provided at a different position in the axial direction of the main body. The duct cleaning tool according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that each of the multiple pins is provided at equal intervals from one another in a plan view seen in the axial direction of the main body. The duct cleaning tool according to claim 1, wherein the positions at which the pins protrude from the circumferential surface of the main body are helical along the circumferential surface. The duct cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that each of the multiple pins is provided at equal intervals from one another in the axial direction of the main body. A duct cleaning device for cleaning the inside of a duct,
A duct cleaning tool according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
a flexible shaft to which the duct cleaning tool is attached at its tip;
A drive source that rotates the flexible shaft;
A duct cleaning device comprising:

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