WO1998035728A1

WO1998035728A1 - Ball cleaning and polishing device

Info

Publication number: WO1998035728A1
Application number: PCT/KR1998/000033
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sang Bae Shim
Original assignee: Sang Bae Shim
Priority date: 1997-02-17
Filing date: 1998-02-17
Publication date: 1998-08-20
Also published as: GB2322083B; KR19980068154A; KR100210757B1; GB9803319D0; GB2322083A

Abstract

A ball cleaning and polishing device is designed to subject a plurality of mutually isolated game balls to planetary movement in a forward direction at the time of cleaning operation and in a reverse direction at the time of subsequent polishing operation. The ball cleaning and polishing device includes a housing (10) and a cylindrical cleaning barrel (12) extending vertically upwards from the housing (10) and terminating at a top access opening openably closed by a lid. A turntable (30) with a replaceable cleaning fabric (34) is disposed inside of the cleaning barrel (12) to support a plurality of balls which remain isolated from one another by means of an impeller (38). The impeller (38) is coaxially provided above the turntable (30) and has a plurality of equally spaced, radially outwardly projecting blades (40) each cooperating to define ball receiving compartments therebetween. A differential drive mechanism is employed to cause the turntable (30) to rotate at a first speed and the impeller (38) at a second speed no greater than the first speed. In order to assure increased cleaning efficiency, the balls are supplied with cleaning fluid only in the process of cleaning operation.

Description

BALL CLEANING AND POLISHING DEVICE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a ball cleaner and, more particularly, to a ball cleaning and polishing device that has the ability to clean and polish soiled game balls, e.g., balls for the game of billiards, snooker and the like in an automated, time-effective and partial-wear-free fashion.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

As a rule, billiard balls need to be cleaned as frequently as possible to wipe out chalk powders, dirts, specks and finger marks left to the surface of the billiard balls during the course of their use. This is mainly because the billiard balls with soiled or unclean surfaces are unlikely to travel straight, when struck by a cue stick, and thus fail to roll over as long a distance as the players normally expect, eventually depriving the cueist of amusement.

Manual cleaning is a traditional mode of rendering the soiled balls clean and lustrous. Stated more specifically, the billiard balls are first applied with cleaning agent one by one and then vigorously rubbed by use of a soft fabric until the surfaces thereof grow clean. It is customary for the commercialized billiard halls to provide the customers with tens or hundreds of balls at a time, which means that the number of balls to be cleaned within a given period of time would increase accordingly. To manually clean so many billiard balls on an one-by-one basis is time-consuming and highly cumbersome, as a matter of course. At a large-scale billiard hall where scores of cueists may have the games of billiards, no sufficient time would be left to make clean the used balls for the next cycle of use. This will make it unavoidable either to prepare an exceedingly great number of fresh balls beforehand or to employ clerks who should devote themselves to a ball cleaning work.

As an alternative for the traditional manual cleaning, U.K. Patent Publication No. 2189156A teaches a ball cleaning apparatus comprising a housing, the upper part of which contains a motor connected by a transmission means to a cleaning band or belt, the band or belt being arranged in the lower part of the housing in such a manner, in use, as to make frictional contact with the surfaces of a plurality of balls placed in a container disposed in the housing beneath said band or belt. The container comprises a tray provided with individual compartments for each ball. The housing contains a reservoir for a cleaning medium which is accessible from the exterior of the housing and which has a delivery means that feeds the cleaning medium to the surface of the cleaning band or belt, from which it is transferred to the balls themselves during the cleaning process.

The ball cleaning apparatus referred to just above may be said to offer a significant advantage over the conventional cleaning technique in that a plurality of balls are cleaned automatically within a short period of time. During the cleaning process, however, the balls would rotate only in a single direction by means of the cleaning belt, thus leaving certain parts of the ball surface uncleaned at all. Another drawback is that specific area of the ball surface is continually kept in frictional contact with the cleaning belt, with the result that a biased or partial abrasion takes place, adversely affecting the rolling characteristic of the balls. Insufficiency in tension of the cleaning belt may cause the cleaning belt to come out of contact with some of the balls placed on the tray such that the non-contacted balls remain dirty even after the cleaning process comes to an end. Additionally, with the ball cleaning apparatus discussed in the '156 publication, it is hard to remove residual cleaning agent from the surfaces of the cleaned balls, nor be it easy to polish the balls at the end of the cleaning process.

With these drawbacks in mind, the present inventor has developed an idle wheel type ball cleaning device which was matured into U.S. Patent No. 5,546,629 with an issue date of August 20, 1996. The ball cleaning device comprises a housing having a generally cylindrical side wall, a top access opening and a closed bottom, a turntable coaxially mounted on the spindle for rotational movement therewith, the turntable supporting the game balls, an idle wheel mounted on the turntable for rotation relative to the turntable, the idle wheel having a plurality of compartments arranged along its circumference, each of the compartments receiving the game balls in a spaced apart relationship with one another, and means for rotatably driving the spindle and the turntable in unison to subject the game balls to a rolling movement and a planetary movement around the spindle so that the idle wheel is pushed by the game balls into rotation about the spindle. Additionally, means is employed whereby the turntable and the idle wheel can be subject to an up-down movement between a lowered position where the game balls are cleaned and a raised position where the game balls are polished.

The ball cleaning device taught in the '629 patent has proven to be of bulky and heavyweight structure due mainly to the employment of the turntable up-down means. In addition, it is difficult or almost impossible to make constant the rotational speed of the idle wheel whose rotation is caused by the rotating force of the turntable indirectly applied to the idle wheel via the game balls. This means that, depending on the number and size of the balls loaded, the speed of rotation of the idle wheel may vary to a significant extent, adversely affecting the cleaning and polishing efficiency. A further disadvantage is that the cleaning fluid continues to be supplied to the game balls in an uncontrolled amount throughout the operation period of the ball cleaning device, leading to contamination and dissipation of the cleaning fluid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a ball cleaning and polishing device that can clean and polish a plurality of game balls in an automated manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ball cleaning and polishing device capable of subjecting game balls not only to random rotation about its own axis but also to planetary movement at a constant speed, regardless of the number and size of the game balls to be cleaned.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ball cleaning and polishing device which has the ability to supply game balls with a controlled amount of cleaning fluid in a cleaning process but isolate the game balls from the cleaning fluid in a polishing process.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a ball cleaning and polishing device which can assure easier replacement of a used cleaning fabric with a new one.

With these objects in view, the invention resides in the provision of a ball cleaning and polishing device, comprising: a housing; a cleaning barrel extending vertically upwards from the housing and terminating at a top access opening; a turntable disposed inside of the cleaning barrel to support a plurality of balls and provided with a cleaning fabric; an impeller coaxially provided above the turntable and adapted to keep the balls isolated from one another; and differential drive means drivingly connected both to the turntable and the impeller for causing the turntable to rotate at a first speed and the impeller at a second speed smaller than the first speed so that the respective one of the balls can be subjected to rotation about its own axis and planetary movement about an axis of the turntable.

The ball cleaning and polishing device is further provided with cleaning fluid supplying means which comprises a fluid reservoir received in the housing, a liquid permeable applicator pad provided on an inner surface of the cleaning barrel for making contact with the balls, a fluid dispenser provided outside of the cleaning barrel for dispensing a controlled amount of the cleaning fluid to the applicator pad, and a fluid pump for forcing the cleaning fluid to the fluid dispenser.

Moreover, the ball cleaning and polishing device comprises fluid application control means for allowing the balls to make contact with the applicator pad as the turntable and the impeller are caused to rotate in a first direction and for prohibiting the balls from contact with the applicator pad as the turntable and the impeller are subjected to rotation in a second direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, advantages of the invention will become apparent from a review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a top sectional view showing a ball cleaning and polishing device in accordance with the invention, with six game balls loaded into a cleaning barrel;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational sectional view taken along line II - LI in Fig. 1, best illustrating the internal structure of the ball cleaning and polishing device according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a partially enlarged sectional view showing a speed reducer adapted to deliver the torque of a reversible electric motor to an impeller at a reduced speed;

Fig. 4 shows the fluid reservoir and the fluid pump of a cleaning fluid supplying unit employed in the present ball cleaning and polishing device;

Fig. 5 is a partially cutaway enlarged sectional view best depicting the fluid dispenser of a cleaning fluid supplying unit electromagnetically operable to dispense a controlled amount of cleaning fluid to a liquid permeable applicator pad;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI -VI, showing the positional relationship of the fluid dispenser, the applicator pad and the game ball;

Fig 7 illustrates an elastically deformable flap bent into a clockwise orientation in the process of cleaning operation so that the applicator pad can apply the cleaning fluid to the moving game balls through direct contact therewith; and

Fig. 8 shows the elastically deformable flap bent into a counterclockwise orientation during the polishing operation so that the applicator pad can be hidden behind the flap against any contact with the moving game balls.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, it can be seen that a ball cleaning and polishing device in accordance with the invention includes a housing 10 and a substantially cylindrical cleaning barrel 12 extending vertically upwards from the housing 10. On the front slanting section 10a of the housing 10, a series of push buttons 14 are disposed to enable the user to operate the ball cleaning and polishing device in a selected mode by way of pressing the push buttons 14. A control board 16 is positioned just inside of the front slanting section 10a and serves to control the operation of an electric motor and a cleaning fluid dispenser set forth below.

The cleaning barrel 12 terminates at a top access opening 12a which is openably closed by a lid 18. Removably fitted on the inner circumference of the cleaning barrel 12 is an elastically deformable lining 20 made of relatively soft material, e.g., rubber. The lining 20 has a multiplicity of pin-like projections 20a protruding radially inwardly of the cleaning barrel 12. The pin-like projections 20a help reduce shock and noise which may produce in the cleaning and polishing process described in detail later. The lining 20 is provided with a cutout 20b that holds a liquid permeable applicator pad 22 in place. The applicator pad 22 remains soaked with cleaning fluid which contains abrasive particles and, in the cleaning process, will apply the cleaning fluid to a plurality of game balls 24 to enhance cleaning efficiency of the latter.

A reversible electric motor 26 with a hollow output shaft 28 is mounted inside the housing 10. Around the upper extension of the output shaft 28, a turntable 30 is fixedly secured by way of a hub 32 at an elevation substantially equal to the bottom end of the cleaning barrel 12. The turntable 30 can rotate in a forward or reverse direction at the same speed as the output shaft of the electric motor 26 to impart rotational movement to the game balls supported thereon. A cleaning fabric 34 is replaceably or detachably attached to the top surface of the turntable 30 by means of, e.g., velcro fastener, such that a worn-out cleaning fabric 34 can be replaced with a new one. The cleaning fabric 34 is preferably made of a cotton fabric which assures efficient cleaning of the game balls without causing any damages to the latter.

As clearly shown in Fig. 1, a center shaft 36 is inserted through the hollow output shaft 28 and carries at its top end an impeller 38 for unitary rotation therewith. The impeller 38 is rotatably supported on the hub 32 at a position above the turntable 30 so that it can rotate relative to the turntable 30. The impeller 38 has a plurality of, e.g., six, substantially equally spaced, radially outwardly extending blades 40 each cooperating to define ball receiving compartments therebetween, which means that the impeller 38 functions to keep the game balls isolated from one another to thereby inhibit mutual collision of the game balls in the cleaning and polishing process. As the impeller 38 rotates, the game balls are subjected to planetary movement about the axis of the cleaning barrel 12.

The center shaft 36 is operatively connected to the lower extension of the hollow output shaft 28 of the electric motor 26 via a belt transmission mechanism 42 and a speed reducer 44. As best illustrated in Fig. 3, the belt transmission mechanism 42 includes a drive pulley 46 affixed to the output shaft 28 of the electric motor 26, a driven pulley 48 mounted to the speed reducer 44 and a belt 50 wound around the drive and the driven pulleys 46, 48 to deliver torque of the drive pulley 46 to the driven pulley 48. The speed reducer 44 is provided with a casing 52 that rotatably supports input, intermediate and output shafts 54, 56, 58.

The input shaft 54 of the speed reducer 44 holds at its external end the driven pulley 48 of the belt transmission mechanism 42 for unitary rotation therewith and has an input gear 59 of small diameter. The output shaft 58 of the speed reducer 44 is keyed to the center shaft 36 at its external end and has an output gear 61 of large diameter. In the meantime, the intermediate shaft 56 has a small diameter intermediate gear 63 in meshing engagement with the output gear 61 and a large diameter intermediate gear 65 in meshing engagement with the input gear 59. Such gear train assures that the torque of the electric motor output shaft 28 is delivered to the center shaft 36 with a preselected speed reduction ratio, e.g., 25:1, thus causing the impeller 38 to rotate at a far smaller speed than the turntable 30.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 4, it can be appreciated that a fluid reservoir 60 containing the cleaning fluid is provided in the housing 10 in a parallel relationship with the electric motor 26. The fluid reservoir 60 has a pouring port 62 through which the cleaning fluid can be filled into the fluid reservoir 60. A filter 64 is provided at the internal end of the pouring port 62 to remove alien material from the cleaning fluid to be filled. Mounted in proximity to the bottom of the fluid reservoir 60 is a fluid pump 66 which has a spindle 68 extending vertically upwards through the top wall of the fluid reservoir 60. As shown in Fig. 2, the spindle 68 is drivingly connected to the electric motor 26 through a drive pulley 70, a driven pulley 72 and a belt 74 such that it can be caused to rotate upon energization of the electric motor 26. The fluid pump 66 serves to force the cleaning fluid contained in the fluid reservoir 60 to a fluid dispenser 90 by way of a supply hose 76 which has a filter 78 at its intermediate section.

Carried at the medial extension of the spindle 68 is a stirring blade 80 that can rotate with the spindle 68 to prevent precipitation of the abrasive particles contained in the cleaning fluid, thereby making the cleaning fluid homogeneous. A baffle plate 82 of narrow width extends in a vertical direction along the side wall of the fluid reservoir 60 in order to increase the stirring efficiency of the cleaning fluid.

Turning to Figs. 5 and 6, the fluid dispenser 90 is designed to receive the cleaning fluid fed from the fluid pump 66 via the supply hose 76. A controlled amount of the cleaning fluid is dispensed to the applicator pad 22, while the surplus cleaning fluid is returned back to the fluid reservoir 60 via a return hose 84. The fluid dispenser 90 is provided with a cylindrical casing 92 which consists of upper and lower halves 92a, 92b threadedly engaged with each other to define a pressure chamber 94. As best shown in Fig. 6, a relief valve 96 is mounted through the side wall of the casing 92 to inject a measured amount of the cleaning fluid toward the applicator pad 22 as the pressure in the pressure chamber 94 grows over a predetermined limit value.

A diaphragm 98 is sandwiched at its peripheral edge between the upper and lower halves 92a, 92b of the casing 92 and at its center fixedly secured to the top end of a push rod 100. The middle extension of the push rod 100 is surrounded by a solenoid 104 which, when energized, brings the push rod 100 into an extended position whereby the diaphragm 98 is pushed upwardly to reduce the volume of the pressure chamber 94, in response to which the cleaning fluid in the pressure chamber 94 is injected through the relief valve 96 toward the applicator pad 22. A main return spring 106 is employed to normally bias the push rod 100 into a retracted position as depicted in Figs. 5 and 6. Accordingly, upon deenergization of the solenoid 104, the push rod 100 will be retracted together with the diaphragm 98 to increase the volume of the pressure chamber 94.

A stroke regulator rod 108 is threadedly fitted to the ceiling of the casing 92, with the inner end thereof spaced apart from but exactly aligned with the center of the diaphragm 98. The spacing between the inner end of the stroke regulator rod 108 and the center of the diaphragm 98 is such that, at the end of extending movement of the push rod 100, the diaphragm 98 abuts to the inner end of the stroke regulator rod 108 thus preventing any further extending movement of the push rod 100. This means that, by way of adjusting the spacing between the diaphragm 98 and the stroke regulator rod 108, it becomes possible to regulate the stroke of the push rod 100, the volume reduction rate of the pressure chamber 94 and hence the injection amount of the cleaning fluid through the relief valve 96. An auxiliary return spring 110 is retained between the diaphragm 98 and the stroke regulator rod 108 to normally urge the diaphragm 98 into contact with the top end of the push rod 100.

Actuation of the solenoid 104 is controlled by pressing the push buttons 14 as shown in Fig. 1 in a manner that the cleaning fluid can be injected through the relief valve 96 with a selected frequency only in the cleaning process as distinguished from the polishing process. Embedded along the periphery of the diaphragm 98 is a reinforcing metal ring 98a that help increase the strength of the diaphragm 98 at its peripheral mounting section. To avoid unwanted precipitation of the abrasive particles on the bottom of the pressure chamber 84, the outlet port 84a of the fluid dispenser 90 is located near the diaphragm 98 while the inlet port 76a is positioned at an elevation higher than the outlet port 84a, as best shown in Fig. 5.

Referring back to Fig. 1, it is noted that an elastically pliable flap 112 is attached to the lining 20 at a position close to the liquid permeable applicator pad 22. The flap 112 can be bent clockwise to expose the applicator pad 22 to the moving game balls 24 during the time the truntable 30 and the impeller 38 are caused to rotate in a forward direction as illustrated in Fig. 7. This allows the game balls 24 to make contact with the applicator pad 22 so that the cleaning fluid can be applied to the game balls 24. In case the turntable 30 and the impeller 38 are subjected to reverse rotation, the flap 112 is bent counterclockwise as noted in Fig. 8 to hide the applicator pad 22 behind thereof. This inhibits the game balls 24 from any contact with the applicator pad 22, interrupting application of the cleaning fluid to the game balls 24.

Operation of the ball cleaning and polishing device will be described hereinbelow with reference to Figs. 1 through 8 of the drawings.

Under the condition that the game balls 24 to be cleaned are placed on the truntable 30 as in Fig. 1, one of the push buttons 24 is pressed to have the electric motor 26 rotate in a forward direction. As the turntable 30 is rotatingly driven by the electric motor 26, the game balls 24 are rubbed with the cleaning fabric 34 while rotating in random directions about its own axis. At the same moment, the torque of the electric motor 26 is delivered to the impeller 38 via the belt transmission mechanism 42, the speed reducer 44 and then the center shaft 36 to thereby have the impeller 38 rotate at a speed far slower than the turntable 30. This assures that the game balls 24 are subjected to planetary movement about the axis of the cleaning barrel 12 together with the blades 40 of the impeller 38. A key function of the impeller blades 40 is to prevent the game balls 24 from overspeed planetary- movement which would otherwise cause the game balls 24 to uncontrollably rebound upwards.

As clearly shown in Fig. 4, the electric motor 26 enables the spindle 68 of the fluid pump 66 to rotate, whereby the fluid pump 66 forces the cleaning fluid to the fluid dispenser 90 via the supply hose 76. As the cleaning fluid is fed into the pressure chamber 94 of the fluid dispenser 90, the solenoid 104 is repeatedly energized and deenergized for a predetermined period of time. Energization of the solenoid 104 brings the push rod 100 and the diaphragm 98 into the extended position, thus reducing the volume of the pressure chamber 94 so that a controlled amount of the cleaning fluid in the pressure chamber 94 can be injected toward the applicator pad 22 through the relief valve 96. Upon deenergization of the solenoid 104, the push rod 100 and the diaphragm 98 are returned back into the retracted position by the biasing force of the main and the auxiliary return springs 106, 110.

It should be noted that the amount of the cleaning fluid supplied to the applicator pad 22 can be controlled by tightening and loosening the stroke regulator rod 108 to change the spacing between the center of the diaphragm 98 and the inner end of the stroke regulator rod 108. Tightening the stroke regulator rod 108 leads to reduction of the stroke of the push rod 100 thus decreasing the amount of the cleaning fluid to be injected through the relief valve 96, whereas loosening the stroke regulator rod 108 results in increment of the stroke of the push rod 100 thus increasing the injection quantity of the cleaning fluid.

During the forward rotation of the turntable 30 and the impeller 38, the elastically pliable flap 112 is bent clockwise as shown in Fig. 7 to expose the applicator pad 22 to the game balls 24 such that the cleaning fluid is applied to the moving game balls 24 to increase the cleaning efficiency. Such a ball cleaning operation continues to be performed for a preselected period of time.

At the termination of the cleaning operation, the electric motor 26 begins to rotate in the reverse direction, whereby the turntable 30 and the impeller 38 are subjected to reverse rotation at different speeds with each other. This causes the game balls 24 to be rubbed with the cleaning fabric 34 of the turntable 30 as they are subjected to rotation about its own axis and, at the same time, to planetary movement about the axis of the cleaning barrel 12. Although the cleaning fluid is circulating through the fluid dispenser 90 even in case of reverse rotation of the electric motor 26, no cleaning fluid will be injected to the applicator pad 22 because the solenoid 104 remains deenergized.

As the turntable 30 and the impeller 38 are caused to rotate in the reverse direction, the elastically pliable flap 112 is bent counterclockwise to hide the applicator pad 22 out of contact with the game balls 24. Thus the game balls 24 is applied with no cleaning fluid and simply rubbed with the cleaning fabric 34, which is the polishing process of the game balls 24. This polishing operation continues to be carried out for a preselected period of time.

Once the entire cleaning and polishing operation comes to an end, the lid 18 is opened to take out the game balls 24 from the cleaning barrel 12 for reuse. After a long time operation of the ball cleaning and polishing device, it becomes necessary to replace the cleaning fabric 34 with a new one and to supplement the cleaning fluid into the fluid reservoir 60.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A ball cleaning and polishing device, comprising: a housing; a cleaning barrel extending vertically upwards from the housing and terminating at a top access opening; a turntable disposed inside of the cleaning barrel to support a plurality of balls and provided with a cleaning fabric; an impeller coaxially provided above the turntable and adapted to keep the balls isolated from one another; and differential drive means drivingly connected both to the turntable and the impeller for causing the turntable to rotate at a first speed and the impeller at a second speed smaller than the first speed.

2. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the differential drive means comprises a reversible electric motor with an output shaft connected to the turntable and a speed reducer with an input shaft operatively coupled to the electric motor and an output shaft connected to the impeller.

3. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the cleaning fabric is replaceably attached to the turntable.

4. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 1, wherein the impeller is provided with a plurality of substantially equally spaced, radially outwardly extending blades each cooperating to define ball receiving compartments therebetween.

5. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 1, further comprising an elastically deformable lining provided on an inner surface of the cleaning barrel.

6. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 1, further comprising means for supplying cleaning fluid to the balls.

7. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 6, wherein the cleaning fluid supplying means comprises a fluid reservoir received in the housing, a liquid permeable applicator pad provided on an inner surface of the cleaning barrel for making contact with the balls, a fluid dispenser provided outside of the cleaning barrel for dispensing a controlled amount of the cleaning fluid to the applicator pad, and a fluid pump for forcing the cleaning fluid to the fluid dispenser.

8. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 7, further comprising fluid application control means for allowing the balls to make contact with the applicator pad as the turntable and the impeller are caused to rotate in a forward direction and for prohibiting the balls from contact with the applicator pad as the turntable and the impeller are subjected to rotation in a reverse direction.

9. The ball cleaning and polishing device as recited in claim 8, wherein the fluid application control means comprises an elastically pliable flap projecting inwardly from the cleaning barrel in proximity of the applicator pad.

10. A ball cleaning and polishing device, comprising: a housing; a cleaning barrel extending vertically upwards from the housing and terminating at a top access opening; a turntable disposed inside of the cleaning barrel to support a plurality of balls and provided with a cleaning fabric; an impeller coaxially provided above the turntable and adapted to keep the balls isolated from one another; means for causing the turntable and the impeller to rotate at different speeds so that the balls are subjected to planetary movement; a liquid permeable applicator pad provided on an inner surface of the cleaning barrel for making contact with the balls to apply cleaning fluid thereto; and means for feeding the cleaning fluid to the liquid permeable applicator pad.