| abstract |
A system for cleaning a moving substrate includes a rail mounted adjacent to the substrate surface and substantially transverse to the direction of movement thereof. A carriage for supporting a polymer-covered contact cleaning roller (CCR) is deployed on the rail for allowing axial translation of the CCR transversely of the substrate while in rolling contact therewith. The rail extends beyond at least one longitudinal edge of the substrate by a distance at least equal to the length of the CCR such that the CCR may be translated sufficiently to be brought out of contact with the moving substrate surface, from which position the CCR may be readily and safely renewed by an operator or automatically by any convenient means. The CCR mounted on the carriage may be a primary CCR and the substrate may be an object to be cleaned by the system, or the CCR mounted on the carriage may be a secondary CCR and the substrate may be a primary CCR. The extension of the rail beyond the edge of the substrate defines a renewal station for the rail-borne CCR, either primary or secondary, at which the CCR may be renewed automatically or manually by an operator, as by washing, replacement, or removal of a tape convolution. Separation of the renewal station from the CCR-cleaning portion of the rail permits the renewal station, if so desired, to be located outside the primary CCR cleaning area, the rail passing through a light lock, for example, if the substrate must be cleaned in the dark, or an air lock if the substrate must be cleaned in a toxic or otherwise unhealthy atmosphere. |