CAR WASH CLOTH ROLL ASSEMBLY
First Claim
1. A cloth-type vehicle laundering implement, comprising:
- a support mechanism consisting of a rotatable drive shaft;
a plurality of generally parallel, adjacently arranged spacers mounted on said support mechanism, each spacer having a first face and a second face;
a plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements disposed between said first face of one of said plurality of spacers and said second face of another of said plurality of spacers, each of said plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements extending outwardly beyond an outer circumference of each of said spacers;
each of said individual circular fabric disk elements consists of a single piece of non-woven material having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, said inner diameter being retained by a securing mechanism such that more material per linear inch is located adjacent said inner diameter than said outer diameter to provide a more rigid element;
wherein said outer diameter and said inner diameter consist of substantially the same linear length of material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cloth-type vehicle laundering implement includes a support mechanism consisting of a rotatable drive shaft and a plurality of generally parallel, adjacently arranged spacers mounted on the support mechanism. Each of the plurality of spacers includes a first face and a second face. The implement includes a plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements disposed between the first face of one of the plurality of spacers and the second face of another of the plurality of spacers. Each of the plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements extends outwardly beyond the spacers. Each of the individual circular fabric disk elements consists of a single piece of non-woven material having an inner diameter and an outer diameter. The inner diameter is retained in a single plane by a securing mechanism such that more material is located adjacent the inner diameter than the outer diameter to provide a more rigid element. The outer diameter and the inner diameter consist of substantially the same linear length of material.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A cloth-type vehicle laundering implement, comprising:
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a support mechanism consisting of a rotatable drive shaft; a plurality of generally parallel, adjacently arranged spacers mounted on said support mechanism, each spacer having a first face and a second face; a plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements disposed between said first face of one of said plurality of spacers and said second face of another of said plurality of spacers, each of said plurality of individual circular fabric disk elements extending outwardly beyond an outer circumference of each of said spacers; each of said individual circular fabric disk elements consists of a single piece of non-woven material having an inner diameter and an outer diameter, said inner diameter being retained by a securing mechanism such that more material per linear inch is located adjacent said inner diameter than said outer diameter to provide a more rigid element; wherein said outer diameter and said inner diameter consist of substantially the same linear length of material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A car wash roll assembly for laundering a vehicle as it proceeds along a predetermined direction of travel, comprising:
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a drive shaft assembly; a plurality of individual cloth disk segments disposed on said drive shaft assembly; an actuator in communication with said drive shaft assembly to effectuate rotation thereof such that each of said plurality of individual cloth disk segments rotate to provide more effective cleaning as they contact an exterior surface of the vehicle; each of said plurality of cloth disk segments being individually removable from said drive shaft assembly; each of said plurality of cloth disk segments being formed of a single piece of material with a first side and a second side, said first side and said second side having substantially equal linear lengths of material; wherein said single piece of material is retained as it is formed into a generally circular shape having an outer diameter and an inner diameter defining a center through hole for receipt of said drive shaft assembly, whereby said outer diameter of said generally circular shape is measured along said first side and said inner diameter is measured along said second side of said single piece of material; whereby said material is bunched adjacent said inner diameter such that more material per linear inch is located adjacent said inner diameter of said disk segment than adjacent said outer diameter of said disk segment. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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- 15. A replaceable element for a cloth-type vehicle laundry implement wherein the implement rotates in an edge-wise manner, the element having an overall shape of a circle and having opposite, generally parallel faces, being made of single sheet of a non-woven, synthetic fabric and having a first vehicle-containing peripheral edge, the element having an inner periphery and an outer periphery, said inner periphery being secured by a retention mechanism, wherein said fabric has a greater density of fabric adjacent said inner periphery than adjacent said outer periphery to assist the implement in retaining its shape.
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19. A car wash roll assembly for laundering a vehicle in a vehicle cleaning process as the vehicle proceeds along a predetermined direction of travel, comprising:
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a drive shaft assembly having a pair of opposing ends and having a longitudinally extending axis of rotation, said drive shaft assembly having a plurality of protrusions uniformly spaced about a shaft periphery of said drive shaft assembly; an actuator in communication with said drive shaft assembly to effectuate rotation about said axis of rotation as commanded; a plurality of spacers having a spacer opening, said spacer opening having a plurality of mating notches for engagement with a respective one of said plurality of protrusions on said shaft periphery to effectuate rotation of said plurality of spacers as said drive shaft assembly rotates; a plurality of cloth rolls consisting of a single sheet of non-woven material having an inner edge secured by a clinch ring to create a non-pleated finishing surface for engaging the vehicle as it proceeds along the horizontal path of travel, each of said plurality of cloth rolls being disposed between two of said plurality of spacers; and a cap secured to said drive shaft at one of said ends for applying sufficient pressure to said spacers to create friction between each of said cloth rolls and said spacers to sandwich and secure each of said cloth rolls between a pair of adjacent spacers such that said plurality of spacers and said plurality of cloth rolls can be rotated as a unit without relative movement therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification