Threaded gear assembly and a hand-held applicator to clean teats of a milk-producing animal

1. A hand-held applicator of a system for cleaning teats of a milk-producing animal, said hand-held applicator comprising:

a housing having an internal volume within which a plurality of brushes are positioned for engaging a teat of the milk-producing animal having been inserted in the volume for cleaning;

a gear assembly including a plurality of gears, each gear comprising:

a disk-shaped member having a perimeter,

a plurality of radiating teeth circumferentially arranged and integrated with the perimeter of the disk-shaped member, the plurality of radiating teeth being configured to impart torque on an adjacent gear; and

a bore hole in a center of the disk-shaped member, the bore hole including internal threading along a surface within the bore hole wherein each gear is operatively connected to a respective brush, wherein a collar is on a first side of the disk-shaped member and the bore hole extends through the collar and terminates at a depth of the disk-shaped member and does not extend through a second side of the disk-shaped member;

each brush comprising a shaft portion with external threading corresponding to the internal threading of a corresponding gear and each gear is rotated in a respective first direction or each brush is rotated in a respective second direction for threaded engagement between a gear and corresponding brush, and wherein a respective second direction for one brush is opposite to a respective second direction of another brush;

wherein in operation of the hand-held applicator, each gear rotates in its respective first direction to impart a torque onto the brush to rotate each brush in the respective first direction.

2. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of brushes and gears includes a first brush and first gear in mechanical drive communication and a second brush and second gear in mechanical drive communication wherein in operation the first brush and first gear rotate in a direction and the second brush and second gear rotate in an opposite direction during operation of the hand-held applicator.

3. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the threaded engagement between the gear and the corresponding brush is configured to maintain an alignment between a rotational axis of the gear and a central longitudinal axis of the corresponding brush.

4. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the gear rotation in its first direction is configured to maintain the threaded engagement between the gear and the corresponding brush.

5. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the internal threading and the external threading have a depth configured to maintain an alignment between a rotational axis of the gear and a central longitudinal axis of the corresponding brush.

6. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the internal threading and external threading have a cross-sectional trapezoidal shape.

7. The hand-held applicator of claim 1 , wherein the gear assembly is self-lubricating.

8. A hand-held applicator of a system for cleaning teats of a milk-producing animal, said hand-held applicator comprising:

a housing having an internal volume within which a plurality of brushes are positioned for engaging a teat of the milk-producing animal having been inserted in the volume for cleaning;

a gear assembly including a plurality of gears, each gear comprising:

a disk-shaped member having a perimeter;

a plurality of radiating teeth circumferentially arranged and integrated with the perimeter of the disk-shaped member, the plurality of radiating teeth being configured to impart torque on an adjacent gear; and

a bore hole in a center of the disk-shaped member, the bore hole including internal threading along a surface within the bore hole wherein each gear is operatively connected to a respective brush, wherein the bore hole extends through a first side of the disk-shaped member and terminates at a depth and does not extend through a second side of the disk-shaped member;

each brush comprising a shaft portion with external threading corresponding to the internal threading of a corresponding gear and each gear is rotated in a respective first direction or each brush is rotated in a respective second direction for threaded engagement between a gear and corresponding brush, and wherein a respective second direction for one brush is opposite to a respective second direction of another brush;

wherein in operation of the hand-held applicator, each gear rotates in its respective first direction gear.

9. The hand-held applicator of claim 8 , wherein each gear further comprises a collar extending circumferentially around the bore hole on the first side of the disk-shaped member.

10. A hand-held applicator of a system for cleaning teats of a milk-producing animal, said hand-held applicator comprising:

a housing having an internal volume within which a plurality of brushes are positioned for engaging a teat of the milk-producing animal having been inserted in the volume for cleaning;

a gear assembly including a plurality of gears, each gear comprising:

a disk-shaped member having a perimeter;

a plurality of radiating teeth circumferentially arranged and integrated with the perimeter of the disk-shaped member, the plurality of radiating teeth being configured to impart torque on an adjacent gear; and

a bore hole in a center of the disk-shaped member, the bore hole including internal threading along a surface within the bore hole wherein each gear is operatively connected to a respective brush, wherein the bore hole extends through a first side of the disk-shaped member and terminates at a depth of the disk-shaped member and does not extend through a second side of the disk-shaped member; and,

each brush comprising a shaft portion with external threading corresponding to the internal threading of a corresponding gear.

11. The hand-held applicator of claim 10 , wherein each gear further comprises a collar extending circumferentially around the bore hole on the first side of the disk-shaped member.

12. The hand-held applicator of claim 10 , wherein each gear is rotated in a respective first direction or each brush is rotated in a respective second direction for threaded engagement between a gear and corresponding brush, and wherein a respective second direction for one brush is opposite to a respective second direction of another brush.