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Introduction
This article will give detailed information on cylinder brushes regarding:
What are Cylinder Brushes?
Fill Materials Used for Cylinder Brushes
Types of Cylinder Brushes
Cylinder Brush Patterns
Cylinder Brush Mounting Options
Capabilities of Cylinder Brushes
…and much more
Chapter 1: What are Cylinder Brushes?
Cylinder brushes are also known as “coil brushes,” “rotary brushes,” or “spiral brushes.” Cylinder brushes are formed by rolling a metal strip around a cylindrical rod (or mandrel) until it reaches a designated interior brush diameter.
They often have bristles constructed from various materials, including flexible synthetics, soft natural fibers, metal wires, and lightweight, yet strong, polymer materials. Bristles are stapled, glued, or knotted in the desired pattern perpendicular to the axis of the core through holes that have been drilled into the mandrel The arbor hole in the center of the core enables users to insert a shaft so a cylinder brush can be attached to a motor allowing it to be mechanically spun around its axis. The appropriate building technique for a specific cylinder brush will rely on the required number of bristles, the operating RPM where employed, and other brush characteristics.
Fill Materials Used for Cylinder Brushes
Ironically, fill material refers to the bristle material that is attached to the exterior of a cylinder brush. There are a number of materials used as fill material, each featuring different strengths and useful for different applications. We examine some of the more popular materials used for cylinder brush fill material and their specific strengths below.
Proex®: Proex is made from the synthetic resin, polypropylene. As opposed to pure polypropylene, Proex features an X-shaped filament. Proex is great for dust pick-up because its X (horizontal) & Y (vertical) profile section improves its effective cleaning surface-wide area by almost 25% over pure polypropylene. Proex provides excellent sweeping performance in indoor and outdoor settings, including wet or humid conditions. Proex features the benefit of having a long wear life. Proex is not advised for use in applications requiring very high temperatures, such as foundries.
Polypropylene: Polypropylene is a synthetic thermoplastic polymer that features good chemical and fatigue resistance. Polypropylene provides good sweeping performance in indoor and outdoor settings, even in moist or humid conditions. Polypropylene is not advised for high-temperature applications. Polypropylene is inferior to its Proex offshoot for picking up fine particles. However, polypropylene is still effective in below-freezing temperatures. Polypropylene does pick up larger, heavier particles quite well. The wear life of polypropylene is good.
Nylon: Compared to polypropylene, nylon provides a less-forceful sweeping performance and is less effective in damp, or moist, environments. It is frequently utilized on rough outdoor surfaces or in high-temperature situations because of its hardness and extended-wear properties. It can sweep trash that may be up to 150 °Celsius (over 300 ° Fahrenheit) in foundries. Nylon has a great wear life.
Organic Fiber: Although natural fibers wear out more quickly than synthetic materials, organic fibers are excellent for sweeping fine trash and controlling extremely light dust. Natural fibers are not suggested on damp floors because they are waterproof. Natural fibers are advised for sweeping carpets because they won't produce static.
Goat Hair: It is exceptionally silky and fine, making it the perfect material for short, supple brushes like those used in electronics.
Horsehair: Horsehair brushes are suitable for delicate dusting, cleaning, and polishing tasks.
Wire & Polymer: The wire in this brush provides a gentle cutting action for eliminating compacted dirt or muck, while the polymer gives it exceptional all-purpose sweeping capabilities. Wire and polymer cylinder brushes have short wear lives. Although polymer & wire brushes have a short wear life, they offer excellent dust control.
Wire and Proex®: This brush has good all-purpose sweeping capabilities thanks to Proex, and impacted dirt or mud can be easily removed with the wire's gentle cutting action. The use of wire-containing brushes is prohibited in both food manufacturing facilities and airports for health and safety purposes. The wire wears out before the Proex component of the brush does. Overall, this type of brush has a decent wear life.
PBT Polyester: Polyester is more expensive than nylon, but it is firmer, has better flick action, lasts as long, and works better in damp or wet situations. Large diameter (over 0.8mm) polyester in cylinder brushes will begin to wear out after approximately 120 hours of usage. Excellent wear life is a property of polyester PBT.
Chapter 2: Types of Cylinder Brushes
Cylinder brushes are used in numerous industries to clean equipment. Cylinder brushes are used to clean the fruits and vegetables we eat. Without thinking about it, we encounter cylinder brushes in our daily lives as they perform work at our car washes and in our vacuum cleaners. Cylinder brushes can be produced with a very thick brush filling or a spiral shape for applications that require light brushing or product directionality, and they are simple to attach onto shafts.
Epoxy Wound Brushes
Wound brush construction is a flexible design used in both small and big-diameter cylinder brushes. The core of wound brushes is made of steel, aluminum, brass, stainless steel, or plastic, and an acme screw thread-like groove is carved into it helically. The filaments are then drawn into the core by a stainless steel holding wire secured at both ends. The fact that the filaments and the retaining wire are recessed into the core is an advantage of this design as it makes refilling simpler and enables smaller outer diameters. Epoxy wound brushes are ideal when greater RPMs (revolutions per minute) or balancing are necessary because they have integral cores which can be mounted on a shaft, and they don't wobble. First, directly wound filaments are secured to the shaft with epoxy before curing. Then, brushes can be taken out, and shafts can be repeatedly wound. Due to their distinctive brush-wound shape, filament contact is consistently provided by a uniform distribution of filaments over the brush’s surface. The intended use of a brush always dictates the bristle material choice. For instance, a spiral brush used to remove burrs must be made of a sturdy metal that won't rust significantly or easily when coming into contact with another metal.
Steel Wire Cylinder Brushes
Steel wire has the highest fatigue life and longest cutting action of all the regularly-available brush wires. Steel wire cylinder brushes are the most cost-effective of the several metal brush alternatives and are appropriate for many applications. Although they may be used on wood, concrete, and other softer metals, steel wire cylinder brushes are best suited for work on steel and ironwork parts. As a general rule, a steel wire brush is more likely to cut into and remove base material, and any targeted coating or contamination, the softer the material that it comes into contact with during the brushing action.
Heat and Moisture: Steel wire cylinder brushes can be used in applications where they may briefly come into contact with temperatures up to 275°F. They are not suited for settings with excessive humidity or moisture due to corrosion concerns. Steel wire cylinder brushes are excellent for cleaning large surfaces or conveyors in manufacturing settings. Due to modern technology, steel wire cylinder brushes can be custom-made to suit a specific application.
Steel cylinder brushes can be used for various purposes, including:
Conveyor cleaning
Bakery conveyor cleaning
Scrubbing applications
Material handling applications
Cleaning metal parts without removing any of the basic materials
Satin finishing aluminum extrusions or sheets
Stainless-Steel Wire Cylinder Brushes
Stainless-steel wire cylinder brushes are appropriate for work on items made of stainless steel and aluminum, for use in applications involving direct contact with food, in settings featuring more heat than would be appropriate for a steel wire cylinder brush, and in environments where the brush wire may frequently be exposed to moisture or excessive humidity. In general, stainless-steel wire is acceptable for continuous operation at temperatures up to 600 °F. A more specialized wire, such as Inconel®, is required for temperatures exceeding this threshold (600& deg; F).
Brass Wire Cylinder Brushes
Brass wire cylinder brushes are softer compared to brushes loaded with steel or stainless steel wire, and provide a brushing action that won't harm harder metals. Brass wire is an alloy called Alloy 260, which has 30% zinc and 70% copper. A brass wire cylinder brush might be the best option if a workpiece is either brass or copper. When struck against other metallic surfaces, brass wire (as well as bronze wire) will not spark, making them ideal for many potentially-hazardous environments. When placed into a brass, steel, or stainless-steel channel backing, brass wire, which has a 28% conductivity, is suited for static-reduction applications. Brass wire is suitable for operating conditions with steady temperatures up to 300 ° F. Cylinder brushes made of brass wire are also comparatively corrosion-resistant.
Cylinder brass brushes are ideal for wide-surface brushing or cleaning in industrial settings, such as conveyor cleaning or during surface roughening to provide adhesion. As with other types of metal filament cylinder brushes, brass cylinder brushes can be designed to fit specific applications. Brass cylinder brushes are designed for a variety of cleaning purposes, including:
Conveyor maintenance
Applications for scrubbing or surface-roughening
Material-handling software
Cleaning metal parts without removing any of the basic material
Extrusions or sheets of aluminum with a satin finish
Staple-Set Cylinder Brushes
Staple-set cylinder brushes are crafted using a cylinder with holes drilled into it in a particular pattern (as determined by a required application). Filaments are stuffed into those holes in a U shape, and a staple goes over the bottom of the folded filaments securing the filaments to the cylinder. A small quantity of these specialty brushes may be crafted by hand, and automated manufacturing equipment is also used to produce large quantities. Some specialty applications might require a unique filament pattern, for instance, a very lightly filled brush, an auger pattern, or straight rows with unique spacing. Staple-set cylinder brushes contain a plastic core and may be the best option when a cylinder brush with a lighter weight is required.
Twisted-In-Wire Cylinder Brushes
Usually two, but occasionally four, wires are used to create these unique brushes. A mechanism holds the filament firmly in place on one end while the other end twists the wires together. A twisted-in-wire brush is made when the filament wraps itself around the wires. Because they frequently have a portable stem or loop, these specialized brushes are sometimes referred to as stem brushes. Test tubes, equipment containing holes, and other items can all be cleaned with twisted-in-wire brushes. Although they are frequently employed in motorized applications, these brushes can also be utilized in hand-held applications, such as when deburring holes from pieces that have been machined. Twisted-in-wire brushes can also be used on freshly-machined components or used parts that need to be cleaned to remove dirt or residue buildup or coating. These specially-constructed brushes can prepare an item featuring a hole for painting, powder coating, or anodizing. Twisted-in-wire cylinder brushes can also be manufactured using different organic or synthetic materials, although wire filament is the most commonly-used construction.
Cylindrical Coil Brushes
Vacuum cleaners, street sweepers, and industrial compound applicators may all feature external cylindrical coil brushes. An external cylindrical coil brush is a long strip brush coiled spirally to form a cylinder. Depending on the task they are required to complete, they can be almost any diameter and length. Additionally, external cylindrical coil brushes can be tightly twisted to resemble solid cylinders. Other visions of this brush feature gaps depending on the application. Spiral-wound cylindrical brushes and coil brushes are both known as cylindrical coil brushes. They are employed in numerous applications and range in size from very small (condenser tube cleaning) to very large (glass washing). Cleaning applications include dusting plywood, cleaning condenser tubes, processing photos, and many more. Other applications include dusting, polishing, deburring, and cleaning. In addition, internal cylindrical coil brushes have been used as a drill to move products in a given direction. Cleaning, deburring, polishing, and other uses are also possible.
Bronze Wire Cylinder Brushes
In manufacturing, bronze wire cylinder brushes are used to clean conveyors or brush a substrate's wide face. Based on strip brush technology, spiral-wound bronze cylinder brushes are specially created to satisfy a user’s specific requirements. Strip brush technology is also used in paddle wheel-style bronze conveyor cleaning brushes, which provide a refillable brush core. Bronze wire cylinder brushes are designed for a variety of purposes, including:
Cleaning the rollers on tenter frames used to dry synthetic fiber plants.
Cleaning machine parts where sparks could cause an explosion or fire.
Cleaning metal parts without removing any of the basic material.
Cleaning extrusions or sheets of aluminum with a satin finish.
Brushes used for static reduction in commercial settings.
Bronze Wire Cylinder Brushes' Physical and Mechanical Characteristics
Compared to brass wire, bronze wire is stiffer and tougher. Phosphor bronze wire, Alloy 510, mostly composed of copper (95%) and tin (5%), is used in bronze wire. Compared to C-260 brass wire, the addition of tin enhances fatigue strength and tensile strength.
Bronze wire may be appropriate for hazardous areas because it typically won't spark when struck against other metallic surfaces. When used in a wire strip brush with a brass or steel channel backing, bronze wire, a good conductor of electrical energy (15 percent IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard)), is suitable for static-reduction applications. In addition, bronze is suitable for operating conditions with steady temperatures up to 400°F. Bronze wire is also comparatively resistant to corrosion.
Spiral-wound bronze cylinder brushes are typically installed on a shaft or a tubular core. The arbor is wrapped with brush strips coiled around and fastened with the proper density or spacing.
Conveyor cleaning brushes that are tightly coiled have a dense brush surface and consistently cleanse a wide area. To make it easier to move loose products or trash to one side, both sides, or the center, open-wound brushes feature space or pitch between the rows of helically-wound brush strips.
Bronze cylinder brushes come up to 20 feet long, with outside diameters ranging from 1-5/8" to 45" and interior diameters from 1/2" to 30" or bigger. Galvanized steel, stainless steel, brass, and aluminum are available for strip channels. Steel, stainless steel, or other materials suited for a specific application may be used to make the shaft or core onto which the brush will be placed.
Nylon Cylinder Brushes
Circular nylon-filled brushes are frequently used to scrub, dust, and clean conveyor belts that transport items across factories. Plating procedures used to coat items with metal, timber mills, block, brick manufacturers, are a few additional examples of where nylon cylinder brushes are employed. In most applications, cylinder nylon brushes have the following qualities: good abrasion resistance, low to moderate water absorption (between 3 and 9 percent), excellent bend recovery, resistance to most common solvents, and suitable for use in weak acids.
Applications and Physical Characteristics of Nylon Cylinder Brushes
Nylon 6.6 absorbs moisture at a rate of 9%, which is higher than nylon 6.12's rate of 8 percent. Therefore, exposure to moist environments causes nylon 6.6 to lose almost half its rigidity. Nylon 6.6 only offers sporadic resistance to various typical chemicals. Therefore, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has given nylon 6.12 approval for direct food contact. In addition, heat-stabilized nylon has undergone post-extrusion treatment to increase the temperature at which the physical qualities start to degrade. Both a 100% load and a reduced 20% load of conductive nylon are available for static reduction applications to reduce costs. In addition, conductive nylon can be combined with various brush fill materials to increase brushing functionality while still reducing static charges in order to lower price.
Abrasive nylon is a durable filament option in powered brushes for deburring, surface finishing, edge blending, and radiusing (providing a round corner to a square edge) following machining. Wheel brushes, cup brushes, end brushes, and powered cylinder brushes are all examples of abrasive nylon power brush types.
Polyester Cylinder Brushes
Polyester filament can be used in cylinder brushes when polypropylene or nylon is not appropriate for the environment or an application. Due to its slower water absorption rate, polyester is more rigid in the wet state than nylon but less stiff than polypropylene in the dry state. Polyester, like nylon, has a higher melting and softening point than polypropylene, as well as better memory or bend recovery. Polyester outperforms nylons and polypropylene due to their propensity to lose physical qualities over time at high temperatures. While more expensive than polypropylene filaments, polyester is less expensive than nylons. FDA-approved (Food and Drug Administration) polyester versions are available by special order. In terms of resistance to moderate acid strengths, polyester cylinder brushes outperform nylons. When exposed to certain substances, such as acetone, benzene, ethyl acetate, hydrocarbons, methyl ketones, potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, and toluene, nylon 6.12 exhibits excellent resistance.
Polypropylene Cylinder Brushes
Depending on the brush type, filament size, and trim length chosen, polypropylene cylinder brushes are appropriate for various applications ranging from vigorous scrubbing to mild dusting. In addition, polypropylene cylinder brushes are very helpful in humid environments where it's important to maintain a constant brush head stiffness. Applications subjected to sanitation cleaning or environmental conditions where polypropylene cylinder brushes are used include conveyor cleaning brushes, fruit and vegetable washing, and water-based part washing.
Except for trichloroethylene hydrocarbons, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, chlorine, and camphor, a polypropylene cylinder brush has strong chemical resistance to acids, corrosive alkalis, and many solvents. Compared to nylon or polyester, polypropylene filaments used in cylinder brushes degrade noticeably (225 ° F) and melt (330 ° F) at lower temperatures.
Tampico Cylinder Brushes
Custom cylinder brushes made of Tampico fiber, and other natural fibers made from vegetable fibers are available for spiral brushes. Tampico fiber, which offers better water absorption and retention than synthetic filaments, is obtained from the agave lechuguilla plant that grows wild in Mexico. Tampico cylinder brushes are rated for a maximum wet operating temperature of 400 ° F and offer strong heat resistance (higher than synthetic materials). Cylinder Tampico brushes are useful for both wet and dry cleaning methods to clean scrub, wash, polish, and dust with. Tampico fibers can also be treated to make them stiff and tacky so that abrasive and grease-sticking materials can be applied.
Tampico cylinder brushes can be used as driven scrub brushes to remove loose material or as an applicator of wet or dry coatings when mounted to make contact with a transported product. In addition, Tampico brush strips enable one to perform brush refills in-house when inserted into a cylinder brush assembly in the paddle-wheel design for applications such as conveyor cleaning or polishing. A Tampico-filled strip brush is transformed into a scrubbing or polishing brush with a wide face and the ability to cover a large work surface when wrapped around a shaft to form a cylinder brush.
Tampico Cylinder Brush Fill Options
In recent years, synthetic substitutes for cylinder Tampico brushes have been created. Therefore, when selecting brush fill materials, each of these synthetic materials should be taken into account to determine which material works best for a specific application.
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Chapter 3: Cylinder Brush Patterns
24 SR – 24 single rows: The diameter is surrounded by 24 tufts, or groupings, of fibers. These brushes are also commonly known as &qout; full fill. &qout; brushes. High concentrations of dust, sand, soot, and similar small-particle spoilage can be swept up with great effectiveness with a 24 SR cylinder brush, but bulkier litter cannot. Since the number of bristles in a brush is not what determines how long it will last, but rather how often it will hit the floor, a high-density 24-row brush will last just as long as its 6-row or 8-row equivalent.
The 6 or 8 Double Row Helical Pattern (6. DRH or 8. DRH): The most common brush fill pattern for primary sweeping brushes is the 6 or 8 double row helical pattern. The spiral design enhances the brush's pick-up properties. This is a versatile brush design that works well for sweeping all spoilage. The rows of bristles in this fill design collect small material, while the empty spaces between the rows trap larger debris. The DR pattern is a popular option among consumers. All fill materials come in this pattern because it performs well with both small and heavy trash.
Herringbone (or Patrol Pattern), with 6 Double Rows or 5 Triple Rows of Chevrons (lines formed in a V pattern) (DRC or 5. TRC.): The 6 double row or 5 treble row chevron (herringbone or patrol) design is the most common brush fill pattern for exterior sweeping brushes. Its &qout;V&qout; row architecture is designed to funnel dirt into the hopper's center for quick, high-speed sweeping. This design features fewer rows and wider intervals between them, making catching larger objects like leaves and debris easier. This brush works well for routine maintenance sweeping of expansive areas like outdoor parking lots. This design is typically filled in nylon for long life.
“WWW,” or “Sand Wedge ”: The “WWW, ” is a specific high-density brush. Its design features a zig-zagged succession of “ WWW ” and open-space patterns, which allows it to clean deep accumulations of small debris more effectively. It has the same quantity of fill material as a conventional high-density brush. The “ WWW ” brush works best when there are concentrations of fine materials, like sand or gravel.
“Flip Flap,” or “Window ”: The “flip flap ” brush is another specialized brush. Its exposed ”windows ” collect light debris, such as paper fragments that are challenging to remove with other brushes. The window brush works particularly well on smooth floors.
Cylinder Scrubs: Cylinder scrub brushes are available in any of the following materials up to 60“ (1524 mm) in length: polypropylene, polyester, nylon, and abrasive nylon. They are mostly used to remove rubber imprints and heavily compacted dirt.
Chapter 4: Cylinder Brush Mounting Options
Shaft: Keyways may be included in shafts as needed for drive purposes. Metal clips affixed to the shaft can secure steel cylinder brushes or be directly welded to the shaft. Brushes placed on a shaft are normally refillable as long as the shaft is in excellent shape.
Throw-Away Core: Cylinder brushes can be assembled on a cheap, thin-walled tube with end bushings which can then be attached to a drive shaft for easy replacement. Rather than keeping a spare on hand while returning an entire worn brush for filling, one can simply order a new brush and install it in place of the old one.
Refillable Core: The core can be manufactured of heavier wall tubes and refilled numerous times for a longer-term, more cost-effective solution. As a crucial component of the core design, shafts may be detachable for simple replacement. This feature avoids the cost of recreating the shaft or core by simply refilling the core.
Dynamic Balancing: Dynamic balancing may be advised for cylinder brushes running at higher rates, typically between 350 to 500 revolutions per minute, as well as when it may be required to lessen vibration and enhance the consistency of brushing action due to issues caused by a brush’s size and weight.
Chapter 5: Capabilities of Cylinder Brushes
There are several industrial uses for cylinder brushes. They could be utilized, for instance, to make machine cleaning tasks easier. They can also clear chipping, rust, and grease debris. Smaller, more delicate cylinder brushes can be employed for delicate tasks like pre-installation cleaning of a computer's circuit board. These brushes penetrate the board's crevices to ensure the removal of particulates, dust, and other impurities. Below are some industrial applications of cylinder brushes:
Medical devices
Pipelines
Food processing
Circuit board manufacturing
Metallurgy
Processing of ceramics and glass, particularly optical glass
Machine and automation applications
Plastics and rubber processing
Aerospace industry
Food Processing Brushes
Food-processing brushes are most frequently used for the following purposes:
Fruit and vegetable washing, polishing, and waxing
Beef, poultry, and fish processing
In-field food processing for the military
Conveyor cleaning
Fryer cleaning
Breading applications
Surface glazing/coating applications
Food packaging, sorting, guiding, metering
Egg processing, cleaning
Pest control
Contamination control
Common Applications of Cylinder Brushes
There are several industrial uses for cylinder brushes, including but not limited to the following:
Applying and distributing paints, coatings, and adhesives
Applying labels
Cleaning
Metal finishing
Other production processes include polishing, cleaning, deburring, and coating
Debris removal and other contamination removal
Texturing
Washing and waxing produce
Advantages of Cylinder Brushes
Cylinder brushes have the following benefits over other brush types:
They can simultaneously sweep and scrub, making cleaning activities more productive and efficient.
Since sweeping may be done while wet, they can reduce dust.
They permit faster rotational speeds for cleaning procedures which, in turn, permit more efficient cleaning.
Cylinder brushes don’t tear or need to be recentered like pads do and don’t require expensive laundering. A cylinder brush uses 20–30% less water and doesn’t squirt cleaning agents onto baseboards and walls like is required with pads. Additionally, there are cylinder brush cleaning machines that can be placed directly on baseboards to clean edges and corners more effectively than round pad machines. Finally, cylinder machines work at just 67 dBa (decibel noise level) making them perfect for healthcare facilities, nursing homes, educational institutions, and other buildings with noise restrictions.
Machines with cylinder brushes provide floating head pressure, around six times greater than those using a standard disc unit. The floating head provides more full-floor contact, enabling the brush to adapt to high and low locations making them more tolerant of uneven flooring and spaces. Whereas pads would pass over the grout and texture lines, cylinder brushes can reach and clean them.
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