Apparatus for neutralizing electrostatic charges and for removing dust from various objects
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to apparatus for neutralizing electrostatic charges and for removing dust from various objects. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Apparatus of the type in question comprises: 
     a hollow handle inside which a piezoelectric transducer is housed; 
     a pushbutton that protrudes from the handle and serves to set the piezoelectric transducer in operation; 
     a trough shaped member carried by the handle; 
     a metal electrode connected electrically to the piezoelectric transducer, carried inside the trough shaped member and turned towards the opening therein. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is to make available an apparatus of the aforementioned type which, compared with known apparatus, is more efficient at collecting and removing the dust. 
     With the apparatus according to the present invention this object is achieved thanks to the fact that the opening in the trough shaped member is sealed, at least in part, by a plate made of high dielectric constant material that can be polarized through induction at the time the piezoelectric transducer is in operation, in such a way as to attract the dust. 
     Because of this particular characteristic, the advantage is created of being able to fully collect and remove particles of dust, including those of very small dimensions. 
     According to a further characteristic of the invention, the control pushbutton is so designed that the apparatus is grounded when it is being manually operated. 
     The advantage is thus derived of obtaining the improved electrical efficiency of the piezoelectric transducer which, when in operation, is grounded through the human body which, as is known, has a low resistivity. 
     As will become apparent from the detailed description given below, the apparatus forming the subject of the present invention can be used for cleaning various types of objects by removing particles of dust or other matter from them, and some examples of possible uses are: as a comb, as a brush for items of wearing apparel or as a device for cleaning photographic negatives or other synthetic material films. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, supplied purely as an unlimited example, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a first preferred form of embodiment for an apparatus according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a second preferred form of embodiment; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to a third preferred form of embodiment; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 5 is a view, partly in sectional form, along the line V--V in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is an elevational view, partly open and partly in sectional form, along the line VI--VI in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is a lateral view, partly in sectional form, of a fourth preferred form of embodiment for the invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a section along the line VIII--VIII in FIG. 7; 
     FIG. 9 is a view in the direction of the arrow IX in FIG. 7. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference to FIG. 1, at A an electrostatic effect apparatus for collecting dust from a gramophone record O is shown. 
     The said apparatus A comprises a trough shaped member D fixed to a handle E in which a piezoelectric transducer G is housed. 
     The said piezoelectric transducer G is connected electrically to an electrode F located inside the trough shaped member D and turned towards the opening in this. 
     The piezoelectric transducer G can be operated, in a way in itself known, through a control pushbutton H that protrudes from the handle E. 
     At I there is a plate with a high dielectric constant which can be polarized through induction at the time the piezoelectric transducer G is being operated. 
     The plate I is so fixed to the trough shaped member D that it partially closes the opening therein, in a position displaced towards the base of the trough shaped member D with respect to the edge thereof in contact with the gramophone record O. In this configuration, the said edge of the trough shaped member D serves as a spacer between the plate I and the gramophone record O. 
     The apparatus shown at B in FIG. 2 is substantially similar to the apparatus A illustrated in FIG. 1, the only difference being that the plate I is on the same level as the edge of the trough shaped member D that is turned towards the gramophone record O. In this configuration, the spacer between the plate I and the gramophone record O is constituted by a soft facing L mounted along the edge of the trough shaped member D. 
     The apparatus shown at C in FIG. 3 differs from the apparatus B in FIG. 2 inasmuch as the spacer is constituted by a plurality of rollers M carried rotatably along a pair of edges, one opposite the other, in the trough shaped member D. Furthermore, the rollers M have the task of enabling the apparatus C to be displaced over the surface of the gramophone record O. The said apparatus C could be advantageously connected, through a control arm that is not illustrated, to an automatic device integral with the body of a record player. 
     The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 and it comprises a hollow handle 2 of elongated shape, one extremity of which carries a trough shaped member 3. 
     The hollow handle 2 is made in two parts, 4 and 5, respectively, that are connected one opposite the other in a way that allows them to be removed in order to give access to a piezoelectric transducer 6 housed in the inside of the said hollow handle 2. 
     At 7 a pushbutton is shown, parallelepiped in shape, protruding from one extremity of the part 5, and this is connected to the piezoelectric transducer 6 through a metal operating lever 8. 
     The said control pushbutton 7 is made in such a way that when the apparatus is manually operated, it is grounded through the body of the person using it. In the example illustrated, this result was achieved by using electrically conductive material, for example metallized plastic material, for making the control pushbutton 7. According to a variant that is not illustrated, the control pushbutton 7 could be made of insulating material, and its operating surface could be connected to the metal lever 8 via an electrically conductive member, for example, a copper strip or a metal connecting screw. 
     The trough shaped member 3 is rectangular and its depth decreases towards the extremity of the handle 2 that carries the pushbutton 7. 
     At 11 there is a plate secured to the trough shaped member 3 through snap-in means 9 and provided on three sides with spacer means constituted by a strip of velvet 10 provided to collect the dust together mechanically. The said plate 11 partially closes the trough shaped member 3, leaving a limited opening 12 therein, oriented parallel to the handle 2. 
     The plate 11 is made out of high dielectric constant material, such as celluloid, polystyrene, plexiglass or bakelite. 
     An electric conductor cable 13 is connected to the piezoelectric transducer 6 and it terminates at a metal electrode 14 formed like a needle. The said electrode 14 is housed inside the trough shaped member 3 and is so fixed to a support 15 that its tip is turned towards the opening 12. 
     The trough shaped member 3 and the handle 2 could be mechanically connected to each other in a way that would permit one to be detached from the other, so as to allow the person using the apparatus to operate, with one hand, the pushbutton 7 that protrudes from the handle 2, and to manoeuver, with the other, the trough shaped member 3 in order to collect the dust. The trough shaped member 3 and the handle 2 would naturally always be interconnected electrically through the cable 13 which would be of a suitable length. In such a case, the piezoelectric transducer 6 could even be operated by means of a pedal control (not illustrated) protruding from the handle 2 and having a connection directly with the ground. 
     When using the apparatus B, the pushbutton 7, pressed down slowly once the edge of the trough shaped member 3 has been placed on a gramophone record, sets the piezoelectric transducer in operation in a way that is in itself known, and this produces, through the electrode 14, local ionization of the air so as to eliminate electrostatic charges from the surface of the gramophone record to be cleaned. All attraction of the record on the particles of dust subject to electrization is, in this way, eliminated. Contemporaneously, the polarization through induction is caused of the plate 11 and this thus exerts an attraction on the minute particles of electrifiable dust which, being free, are collected by the said plate 11 while the apparatus B moves forward over the gramophone record. The mechanical dust collecting effect on the part of the velvet 10 obviously has to be added to that of the electrostatic dust collection. 
     In the variant illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, at 25 there is an apparatus according to the invention destined to clean the scalp. 
     The said apparatus 25 is constituted by an elongated cylindrical shape handle 26, connected to a semi-cylindrical trough 27 through a chamber 28. 
     The cylindrical handle 26 houses internally a piezoelectric transducer 30 connected, via a metal lever 32, to a control pushbutton 34. 
     The pushbutton 34 protrudes from the handle 26 and, just as with the pushbutton 7 for the apparatus B described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, it is made in such a way that the apparatus 25 is grounded at the time it is being manually operated. 
     The piezoelectric transducer 30 is connected, through an electric cable 36, to an electrode 38 formed like a needle and fixed to a support 40 in the inside of the semi-cylindrical trough 27. 
     At 42 two combs are shown, one opposite the other, connected to the opposite edges of the said semi cylindrical trough 27. A plate 44 of high dielectric constant material is mounted, pressed in, between the opposite edges of the semi-cylindrical trough 27, at the base of the said combs 42. 
     The said snap mounting of the plate 44 is achieved through a front hooking member 46 and a rear hooking member 48 which engage with the front extreme edges of the trough 27 and with the chamfer, respectively, through the upper support members 50. 
     The longitudinal edges of the plate 44 and of the semi-cylindrical trough 27 are separated, one from the other, so as to delimitate two slits 52. 
     In use the apparatus is handled just like an ordinary comb and when the control pushbutton 34 is switched on, the piezoelectric transducer 30 polarizes the plate 44 through the electrode 38. The particles of dust and dandruff collected in the hair by the two combs 42 are attracted and gathered up by the plate 44, while the ionized air contained inside the said semi-cylindrical trough 27 overflows through the slits 52 and gives the scalp anti-bacterial treatment. 
     Once the combing operating has terminated, the plate 44 can be taken out of the trough 27 and cleaned. 
     In this case too, the handle 26 and the trough 27 could also be mechanically connected to each other in a way that would permit one to be detached from the other, leaving unchanged the electric connection through the cable 36 which, in this contingency, would be of a suitable length. 
     Naturally with the principles of the invention remaining unchanged, the constructional details and the forms of embodiment may be amply varied without in any way deviating from the framework of protection afforded thereto.