System for cleaning underwater surfaces, improvements and variations

Abstract

A system for cleaning underwater surfaces, comprised of an assembly which includes a brush or abrasive component which presses and scrubs against the surface to be cleaned, and further comprising a fluid jet which drives water away from the surface, consequently producing force against the surface. The brush is a stationary brush, with a handle for guidance by an underwater diver or from an arm at the surface; or the brush may be rotary or oscillatory to aid the scrubbing action. The water jet may be incorporated into a tube which guides the water away from the surface. The tube produces a Venturi or Bernoulli effect which increases the water thrust and thus additional force against the surface.

I claim the following:  
     
         1 . An underwater surface cleaning system comprising: 
 a head assembly formed of a body,    a brush attached to said body on one side,    said brush moving over an underwater surface to be cleaned,    one or more nozzles attached to said body on the opposing side to the said brush,    a water supply to said body,    said body incorporates pipe means to distribute said water to said nozzles,    said nozzles direct water from the body in the opposite direction of said brush to produce force on said brush in the direction of the said underwater surface,    a handle on a pivot connected to said assembly, and    said handle available to an operator to allow manually powered movement of the head assembly over the said surface to be cleaned.    
     
     
         2 . An underwater surface cleaning system as in  claim 1 , in which said nozzles are housed within a pipe, said pipe guides the jet stream of water away from the said surface, said pipe entry placed close to said surface causing sucking force between said pipe and said surface, thus further increasing the force of the said assembly toward the said surface.  
     
     
         3 . An underwater surface cleaning system as in  claim 2 , in which the exit end of said pipe is capped with a mesh bag, said bag allowing water to pass but trapping particles cleaned from the said surface, thus reducing the amount of contamination in the surrounding water.  
     
     
         4 . An underwater surface cleaning system as in  claim 1  comprising additionally a water driven turbine, in which the said water supply additionally supplies said water driven turbine, said turbine driving a gear drive to a rotary member, said rotary member carrying brushes bearing scrubbing bristles, and said bristles scrub over the said surface to be cleaned, resulting in better cleaning action with less manual effort required.  
     
     
         5 . An underwater surface cleaning system as in  claim 4  comprising additional exit nozzles for said water from said turbine, said exit nozzles pointing away from said surface, and water flow through said exit nozzles further increasing the force on the said assembly towards the said surface.  
     
     
         6 . An underwater surface cleaning system as in  claim 4 , further comprising a high pressure water source, said source feeding an inner chamber of said rotating member, said rotating member bearing nozzles on the outer perimeter of said rotating member, said nozzle connected to said inner chamber, said nozzles directed toward said surface to produce high pressure cleaning action against said surface, thus additionally cleaning the said surface with a high pressure jet stream of water, and said rotation of chamber distributes the cleaning action over a large segment of said surface.