AU607839B2

AU607839B2 - Industrial sweeping apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU607839B2
Application number: AU29608/89A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John James Ewing
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1988-02-08
Filing date: 1989-02-03
Publication date: 1991-03-14
Anticipated expiration: 2009-02-03
Also published as: AU2960889A

Description

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068Z9VU? 4-AI1 W--jT1 I']IFp11 ZAMnso0',1rH 0a 'Id 8 0681-9gt'Z I zAxMAnsbdouwjj!iL~jpxjr ZAXMAnis8?DdONW1)IrIH0:1BaDV 'id 01 I- 1.8 1.25 1.6 .1 4- W- _0 -1 I 23 This docume'- o~ntains the amendments made Linder Section 49 and is corr-ect for Iprinting.

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1952 9 0 -,Name of Applicant Address of Applicant Actual Inventor Address for S .,rvice COMPLETE SPECIFI CATION JOHN JAMES EWING 99 North Street, Toowoomba, Queensland, 4350

AUSTRALIA

JOHN JAMES EW7ING GRANT ADAMS COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 333 Adelaide Street, BRISBANE. QUEENSLAND. 4000

AUSTRALIA.

FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: "INDUSTRIAL SWEEP:NG APPARATUS" The following statement i~s a full description of the invention includi~ig the best method of performing it known to us.

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i THIS INVENTION relates to an industrial sweeping apparatus.

Regularly conducted airfield safety surveys continually highlight the need for effective sweeping of aircraft movement areas to ensure that foreign object damage does not become a flight safety hazard. Damage caused to propellor blades, skin of aircraft and control surfaces is known to have contributed to a number of major accidents and therefore the presence of foreign objects and debris on aerodrome movement areas is considered to be a serious safety problem.

The damage and likely consequent accidents caused to car windscreens and bodies as a result of loose stones thrown from the tyres of passing vehicles is also well known and efficient sweeping of road surfaces is required to obviate or reduce such accidents.

There are many other areas which for reasons of safety, hygiene or general efficiency require to be 20 swept and cleaned at frequent intervals.

The general object of the present invention is to provide an industrial sweeping apparatus which is particularly efficient in operation.

Other objects achievable in preferred 25 embodiments of the invention are to provide such sweeping apparatus which may be of compact size and capable of being towed or propelled by a prime mover vehicle; which may have a large dump capacity; may have a sweeper brush the speed of operation of which may be pre-set and variable to suit prevailing requirenments, and independent of the speed of the towing or propelling vehicle; and may be sturdy and trouble-free in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention resides broadly in industrial sweeping apparatus of the type having a mobile frame, means for yr i: U

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The Commissioner of Patents, COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

~llr~ 'i ri j propelling the frame, a brush housing on the frame, a substantially cylindrical flexible-bristled rotary sweeping brush within the housing and transverse to the direction of travel of the frame, and means for driving the brush to cause it, as the frame is advanced, to sweep debris from the ground and impel it to a receptacle; wherein a flexing member is mounted in the housing; the rotary brush is driven to sweep across the ground from rear to front relative to the frame, the flexing member being so made and arranged that the bristles of the brush, when approaching the ground as the brush rotates, strike against and are flexed by the flexing member so that they strike and pass across the ground in a backswept condition; and a deflector plate is spaced in front of and above the brush to direct swept debris upwardly between the brush and the deflector plate and to impel it rearwardly from above the brush. Preferably the spacing of the deflector plate from the brush increases progressively from its 20 lower front part to its upper rear part, and flexible skirts depend from the housing at front, back and sides to or near to the ground. The receptacle may be mounted on the mobile frame and may be capable of being pivoted to dump its contents; or the mobile frame may include means for releasably mounting it in front of a bucket of a front-end loader or other earth-moving equipment by which the sweeping apparatus is propelled, the bucket serving as the receptacle for the swept debris. Again, the sweeping apparatus may be towed by a tray truck or the like and be provided with a rotary transfer brush counter-rotated rel.'tive to the sweeping brush from which it receives debris and discharges it to an elevator for conveying it to the tray of the truck. Other features of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

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ii-- I In order that preferred embodiments of the invention may be readily understood and carried into practical effect, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:- 0 t C 0 t 4" 9 4 t 4. t 3a FIG. 1 is a side elevationa3. view of an industrial sweeper according to the invent,on, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectiona l view of the principal parts of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a partly broken-away side elevational view of an alternative embodiment of the invention for application to the bucket of earth-moving equipment, and FIG. 4 is a partly broken-away side elevational view of a further enrbodiment of the invention.

"I 'The industrial sweeper shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, i to which reference is initially made, includes a rectangular main frame or chassis 10 supported at its S ;i 15 rear on a pair of pneumatically tyred wheels 11 carried a' 0 on stub axles 12 fixed to the chassis; and at its front by a single pneumatically tyred wheel 13. This front wheel is carried in a fork 14 depending from a pivot shaft 15 rotatable in bearings in a bracket 16 extending 20 forwardly from a telescopically adjustable squaresection front standard 17, the inner tube 18 of which is fixed centrally to the front of the main frame 10. The outer tube 19 of the standard, to which the bracket 16 is fixed and braced by a gusset 20 and a stay 21, may be 25 adjustably raised or lowered by a height adjustment nut 22 with handles, engaged on a screw 23 extending up from the inner tube 18 through a hole in the otherwise closed j upper end of the outer tube, the nut 22 being locked in adjusted position by a lock nut 24. A bifurcated tow bar 25 has its arms pivoted at the rear to a pair of lugs 26 at the head of the fork 14.

A brush housing 7 is mounted within the front part of the rectangular main frame 10. Bearings 28 below the sides of the main frame 10 carry the shaft 29 of a rotary brush 30 located within the housing and of cylindrical form with radiating flexible bristles. The 4 -r( o'

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qt at I 1 Ir brush may be rotated in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2 by a motor 31 with a chain drive, within a chain case 32, from the motor to the brush shaft.

Flexible side skirts 33 depend from the bottom sides of the brush housing to or close to the ground.

Located transversely within the front and upper part of the brush housing 27 is a deflector plate 34 curved more or less arcuately but eccentrically with respect to the brush 30 so that the deflector plate, which at its bottom is fairly close to the lower front part of the brush, increases its spacing from the brush as it rises and curves to the rear above the brush. A flexible front skirt 35 is fixed across the bottom of the deflector plate 34 and extends to or near to the ground. To enable the spacing of the deflector plate 34 from the brush 30 to be adjustable, the deflector plate is fixed to the rear of a transverse slide plate 36 slidably mounted under the front meniLr 10a of the main frame 10. A pair of adjustable screws 37 engaged in 20 nuts 38 fixed to both sides of the front of the brush housing can be used to advance the slide plate 36 to bring the deflector plate 34 closer to the brush, for example to compensate for wear of the brush, the deflector plate then being locked by clamp bolts 39 through the slide plate and the front members 10a of the main frame.

As the brush is rotated within its housing its bristles, before being swept across the ground, are brought close to a sealing plate 40 and subsequently against a flexing plate 41 so that the resiliently flexible bristles are flexed from their normal radial disposition to swept-back positions, as shown in FIG. 2.

As the back-swept bristles take some time to revert to radial, they tend to remain flexed from the time they make contact against the flexing plate 41 and have been 4 I) I 0O 4 t 4r 4 a

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I i 4i swept past this plate and subsequently over the ground and are brought towards the upper front part of the brush housing 27.

The plates 40 and 41 may be adjusted to compensate for wear of the brush 30, and to this end they radiate from a pair of shafts 43 and 44 carrying a pair of meshing gear wheels 45, the sealing plate inclining forwardly and upwardly from its shaft 43, the flexing plate 41 inclining forwardly and downwardly from its shaft 44 and having a flexible rear skirt 46 depending from its bottom. An actuating rod 47 with one end pivoted to the lower sealing plate 41 and clearing one end of the brush 30 has its other end threaded and carried chrough the upper front part of the bru,:h housing 27 and engaged by a nut 48 which, when tightened, causes both plates to swing closer to the brush.

The rapidly rotated brush 30 sweeps forwards over the ground to sweep debris up under the deflector 20 plate 47 and impel it rearwardly over the sealing plate the brush acting somewhat similarly to a centrifugal pump rotor, suctionally inducing a flow of air in under the skirts over the swept ground and around the brush. The debris thus impelled by the brush is 25 thrown into an opening 49 in the front of a dump receptacle 50 of box-like form, normally located within the rear part of the main frame 10 of which the rear member 10b is of U-shape, and within which the rear bottom part of the receptacle 50 is pivoted at 51.

The top opening of the dump receptacle 40 has a peripheral flange 52 across which are fixed a series of staggered transverse rods 53. Filter fabric 54 is wound in zig-zag fashion about these rods to prevent or restrict the escape of dust from the receptacle, and a series of longitudinal bars 55 are fixed over the filter.

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i 1 1 1 rr i ;r -r -Ui s -lli- I Yl..ii.l. The rear of the dump receptacle is normally closed by a tail-gate 56, hinged at its top and with lugs 57 extending up at both sides. A gantry 58 is mounted on the main frame 10, and a winch 59 is mounted on a bracket 60 fixed behind the outer tube 19 of the standard 17. A cable 61 from the winch is carried over a sheave between a pair of lugs 62 on the gantry 58 and fixed to the middle of a chain 63 the ends of which are fixed to a pair of lugs 64 at opposite sides of the front of the dump receptacle 50. When the winch is operated to tension the cable 61, the dump receptacle is V tilted, as indicated in broken lines in FIG. 1, and at the same time the tail gate 56, its catches 65 having been released, is automatically swung to open position by a pair of chains 66 fixed to the tail-gate lugs 56 and to a pair of lugs 67 on the sides of tne gantry.

It will be found that the sweeper is particularly efficient i 11 operation, the brush bristles pre-flexed by the plate 41, sweeping over the ground to lft debris and impel it with considerable force, I *assisted by air pressure, under the deflector plate and into the dump receptacle. The filter 54 prevents any undue escape of dust and the large capacity dump I receptacle will only infrequently require to be unloaded. This can be done quickly and easily by releasing the tail-gate catches 65 and operating the winch 59 to tilt the receptacle and open the tail gate to discharge the collected debris. It is found that the pre-flexing of the brush bristles adds notably to the wearing quality of the brush, but when the brush does wear significantly the deflector plate 34 and sealing j and flexing plates may be adjusted, and the brush may be lowered, to make due compensation.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.

3 is of simpler character than that described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, dispensing with the dump 7 i i receptacle and instead impelling debris into the bucket of a front-end loader or other earth-moving equipment (not shown). The sweeping equipment includes a housing 71 for a rotary brush 77, the front and top plate 78 o the housing being shaped to serve as a fixed deElector plate, the shaft 79 of the brush being carried by bearings 80 on the sides of the housing and driven from a hydraulic motor 81 on a bracket 82 on one side of the housing. A pair of wheels 83 are carried on stub axles 84 fixed to the lower ends of telescopically adjustable standards 85 the upper parts of which are fixedly connected to the housing 71 by brackets 86 extending forwarly of the housing. Side skirts 87 of flexible sheet material depend from the sides of the brush housing.

A pair of carrier arms 88 are fixed, at their front ends, to a mounting frame 89 on the top plate 78 of the brush housing and at their rear ends are pivoted, at 90, to a pair of attachment plates 91 which are releasably bolted to the sides of the front-end loader bucket 70. By means of a pair of hydraulic rams 32 connected between the attachment plates 91 and plates 93 depending from the carrier arms 88, the sweeping apparatus may be raised to an inoperative position, or 25 brought down to its operative position in front of the lowered bucket i0, the sweeping apparatus riding on its wheels 83. At both sides of the rear of the housing 71 there are provided vertically adjustable legs 94 which can be lowered to support the apparatus when disconnected from the bucket '70, and raised when the sweeper is to be put into operation.

A sealing plate 95 is fixedly mounted laterally within the brush housing 71, being disposed similarly to the upper sealing plate shown in FIG. 2; and a flexing plate 96 plate similar to that indicated at 41 in FIG. 2 is also provided. A front skirt (not r

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shown) depends from the front of the housing 77 and a back skirt 97 leads down from the flexing plate 96.

In use, the sweeping apparatus is propelled by the front end loader instead of being towed, and it i 5 operates to impel swept-up debris directly into the loader bucket 70. After the sweeper has been swung upwards to full extent by the hydraulic rams 92, the bucket 70 may be tilted to discharge its contents.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.

4 is devised to be towed by, for example, a top truck or tray truck (not shown) and to elevate and discharge swept-up debris into the tipping body or tray of the vehicle.

4 The sweeper includes a brush housing 100 within which is enclosed a rotary brush 101 substantially as described with reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The sweeper may be drawn by a draw-bar assembly, part of which is indicated .tt at 102, and it is supported at its rear, in vertically adjustable manner, by a pair of wheels 103 carried on a tl, transverse axle 104 fixed to a pair of trailing arms 105 pivoted to the housing 100, which may be raised or lowered relative to the wheels by a pair of hydraulic rams 106 between the arms 105 and a pair of brackets 107 fixed on the housing 100.

The housing 100 is extended to the rear to accommodate, in addition to the sweeper brush 101, a substantially similar transfer brush 108 parallel to and somewhat above and to the rear of the sweeper brush. A drive sprocket 109 of a hydraulic motor 110 on the housing 100 drives a sprocket 111 on the sweeper brush shalft 112 through an endless chain 113 which also drives in opposite direction a sprocket 114 on an idler shaft 115 which also carries a larger sprocket 116 which, through a second chain 117 drives a sprocket 118 on the shaft 119 of the transfer brush 108.

Within the housing 100 a deflector plate 120 is curved in front of and above the sweeper brush 101, as before described. The brush closely approaches a sealing plate 121 and a flexing plate 122 bears against and flexes the bristles of the sweeper brush. Side skirts 123 and front and back shirts 124 and 125 extending to the ground are provided as before described.

it The sweeper brush, rotating in the direction indicated by an arrow, sweeps up debris and impels it, between the brush and the deflector plate 120, upwards and to the rear under a transfer brush sealing plate 126 adjustably mounted under the top of the housing 100 and bearing against the transfer brush 108, which is rapidly rotated in the direction indicated by an arrow and opposite to the direction of rotation of the sweeper brush. The debris swept up by the sweeper brush, then, is thrown into the transfer b r sh which conveys the debris between itself and a curved rear plate 127 of the 20 housing 100 and under a tangentially extende4 guide plate 128 onto any suitable elevator such as that C indicated in broken outline at 129. This elevator, shown by way of example only, is of endless belt type, i but an alternative elevator may include a receptacle for 25 the debris and an auger from the receptacle to the tipping body or tray of the truck.

Industrial sweeping apparatus according to the invention will be found to be very effective in achieving the objects for which it has been devised. It will be understood, of course, that the particular embodiments of the invention herein described and illustrated may be subject to many modifications of constructional detail and design, which will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art, without departing from the scope and ambit of the invention hereinafter claimed.

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Claims

1. Industrial sweeping apparatus of the type having a mobile frame, means for propelling the frame, a brush housing on the frame, a substantially cylindrical flexible-bristled rotary sweeping brush within the housing and transverse to the direction of travel oE the frame, and means for driving the brush to cause it, as the frame is advanced, to sweep debris from the ground and impel it to a receptacle, wherein: a flexing member is mounted in the housing, the rotary brush is dxriven to sweep across the ground from rear to front relative to the frame, the flexing member being so made and arranged that the bristles of the brush, when approaching the ground as the brush rotates, strike against and are flexed by the flexing member so that they strike and pass across the ground in a back-swept condition, and a deflector plate is spaced in front of and above the brush to direct swept debris upwardly between 20 the brush and the deflector plate and to impel it rearwards from above the brush.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 wherein: flexible side skirts depend from the brush housing near to both ends of the brush, and front and 25 back skirts depend from the deflector plate %pd the flexing member respectively to or near to the ground.

3. Apparatus according to either of the preceding claims wherein: the spacing of the deflector plate from the 30 brush increases progressively from its lower front part to its upper rear part.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein: a sealing plate within the brush housing inclines upwardly towards the front, its front edge closely approaching the upper rear part of the brush. 6414 Il Ib 44 4.4i 464f flexing member so that they strike and pass across the ground in a back-swept condition, and a deflector plate is spaced in front of and above the brush to direct swept debris upwardly between the brush and the deflector plate and to impel it rearwards from above the brush.

Cl IL _II i-l-i---Y I 4 4 4 .44 It( '4y Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein: the receptacle is a box-like container mounted on the mobile frame, thle brush housing opens at its rear into the front of the receptacle, the receptacle is pivoted at its rear about a transverse aris and is provided with a tail-gate, and the receptacle has a top opening closed by a dust filter.

6. Apparatus according to Claim C wherein the dust filter includes: a series of rods in staggered arrangement across the top opening of the receptacle, and a section of filter fabric extending across and from end to end of the top opening is engaged in zig-zag fashion with the staggered rods.

7. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 inclusive wherein: 20 a bucket or scoop of earth-moving equipment serves as the receptacle, a pair of carrier arms are secured at their front ends to the brush housing and at their rear are pivoted about a transverse axis to a pair of attachment 25 members for releasable attachment to the sides of the bucket or scoop, and lifting means are provided for lifting the carrier arms to raise the brush housing and associated parts relative to the bucket or scoop.

8. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 inclusive wherein: the b;rush housing leads at its rear into a transfer brush housing, a substantially cylindr2cal flexible- bristled transfer brush is rotatably mounted in the transfer brush housing, its axis parallel to that of the 4444 44 &t L' i j sweeping brush, the transfer brush housing being at its bottom and back spaced from the transfer brush and having a top opening, means being provided for rotating the transfer brush in opposite direction to the sweeping lrush to receive debris swept up and impelled rearwards by the sweeping brush and to expel it from the top opening of the transfer brush housing to an elevator for conveying the debris to an elevated receptacle.

9. Industrial sweeping apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

Industrial sweeping apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to FIG. 3 of the 15 accompanying drawings.

11. Industrial sweeping apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to FIG. 4 of the accompanying drawings. 3 It to 041 -o 1r I 004 0 0# 0 6r JOHN JAMES EWING By his Patent Attorneys GRANT ADAMS COMPANY. 0 O *Os, 0 0 0 04 0 IA. IA .yI i