AU612642B2 - A rotary broom - Google Patents

Description

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9* Keith Joseph GOODRIC-H and Eonnie June GOODRITCH loth of 1020 Moggil. Road,.

Kenmore, QUEENSLAITD. A()59

AUSTRALIA

Jc1 1 .eh 1ODRIC- SPANT ADAMS a COMPAN7Y, Patent Trade Mark Attorno, 333 Adelaide Street, BRISBANE. QUEENSLAND". A7USTRALIA.

ON FOR THE IlIVENTIO14 ENTITLED: 999999 COMPLETE SPECIFICAT! 'A ROTARY BR0CM9 The following statement is a full description of th~e invention including the best method of performing it known to us.

THIS INVENTION relates to a rotary broom.

Mechanically operated and normally tractordrawn rotary brooms are used in road construction and maintenance work, factory cleaning and for sweeping streets, parks, racecourses and drive-in theatres, for example.

A disadvantage of rotary brooms previously used is that in certain conditions they throw up excessive amounts of dust which, being directed forwards, causes great disconfort to the drivers of the tractors.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a rotary broom in which this disadvantage is very greatly reduced.

15 Other objects achieved in .preferred S embodiments of the invention are to provide such a ee rotary broom which is particularly simple and convenient to operate and sturdy, durable and trouble-free in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, 20 the invention resides broadly in a rotary broom for sweeping aside material on surfaces such as road surfaces comprising: a mobile frame; •an elongate rotary brush turning on a 25 substantially horizontal axis and carried by the mobile frame to effect a sweeping action in a forward direction at the surface; dust collection means mounted on the frame by which airborne dust generated by the sweeping action may be collected; an elongate suction head mounted to extend along the length of the elongate rotary brush in parallel thereto and ahead of the elongate rotary brush in the sense of the sweeping direction; and means are provided for drawing air with 2 entrained dust into the elongate suction head and passing it to the dust collection means whereat entrained dust is collected.

In a preferred form the invention resides in a rotary broom of the above type having a motor driven brush carried by a mobile frame and having; means for mounting the frame at its front on the three-point suspension of a tractor, wherein the frame is pivoted at its front about a transverse axis and supported at its rear by a land wheel; Xf1 2a spring-loaded means being provided for limiting the downward pivotal movement of the frame.

other features of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

In order that a preferred embodiment of the invention may be readily understood and carried into practical effect, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a rotary broom according to thb invention; and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the broom, its brush h4:ousing being slewed and its dust collector being opened fcr cleaning or maintenance.

The rotary broom shown in the drawings ease includes a main frame 10 consisting of two rigidly interconnected rearwardly convergent side members 11.

At their front ends these side members are pivoted about a transverse axis at 12 to two pairs of pivot brackets 99. 13 on a mounting frame 14, and at their rear ends they are fixed in a carrier bracket The mounting frame 14 is anl upright closed, rectangular structure carrying a pair of apertured lugs 16 for connection to the central or stabilizing arm 17 of a tractor's three-point suspension, and two further pairs of apertured lugs 18 for connection to the lifting arms 19 of the three-point suspension.

The main frame 10 is supported at its rear end I by a pneumatically tyred castor land wheel 20 carried on the lower end of a square-section shaft 21 slidable in a bearing 22 on the carrier bracket 15 and locked in desired vertically adjusted position by a retaining pin 23 through the bearing 22 and any selected one of a series of holes 24 through the shaft 21.

A more or less semi-cylindrical housing 25 for a rotary brush 26 is suspended, by brackets 27, from a turntable 28 fixed under the main frame 10. Bly means of a hydraulic cylinder 29 the brush and its housing 25 may be swung about a vertical axis in either direction from the transverse position illustrated in FIG. 1, so that it may be brought, as shown in FIG. 2, to desired angle to the direction of travel of the apparatus.

A pair of flexible chain stays 30 extend from the main frame side members 11 to a pair of stay brackets Oi1 on the mounting frame 14, where they are adjustably spring-loaded at 321. These stays restrain the main frame 10 from undue pivotal downward movement relative to the mounting frame 14.

*The rotary brush 26 consists of a series of *~.circular sections mounted adjacently on an axial shaft 33 one end of which is detachably engaged in a bearing 34 mounted on end plate 35 removably bolted on one end *of the brush housing 25. The other end of the brush shaft is releasably connected by an adaptor or coupling (not shown), to a hydraulic motor 36 mounted on the *brush housing's fixed other end plate 37. Dy removing 210 the detachable end plate 35 the brush shaft '33 may be withdrawn from connection co the motor 36, so that any or all of the brush sections mcy be 21.idably r-emoved for., repair or replacement.

25 may carry its own hydraulic tote incudnga ydauic fluid tank and a hydraulic pump connectible to the tractor's power take-off shaft, the embodiment illustrated is operated from the tractor's own hydraulic system, for driving the motor 36 and the slewing hydraulic cylinder 29.

The apparatus is provided with a dust collector assembly including a suction head 38 which is a hollow body open at the bottom and mounted to extend across the lower front part of the brush housing 25. A flexible flap 39 is mounted, preferably in vertically

_I

adjustable manner, to depend from the front and also from the sides of the suction head 38.

The central top part of the suction head 38 leads into an outlet duct 40 extending up the front of the housing 25 and passing coaxially up through tho turntable 28, above which it is engaged closely but rotatably in one end of a 900 rubber elbow 43. The other end of this elbow is connected to the tangential inlet 42 of a cyclone-type unit 43 mounted between the IC side members 11 of the main frame 10, before the brusl housing 25. The cyclone 43 has a coned bottom sectiio 44, its bottom outlet normally closed by a hinge' closure flap 4E. Hingedly mounted abov e he cyclon unit 43 is a cylindrical dust collector casing 4C, normally upright and coaxial with the cyclone %unit, a.1 shown in FIG. 1, but capable of being unlatched an2 folded down tc cne side, as shown ii FIG. 2, tc rest o a support 47 on the main frame I0. Within the casing 1% is a cylindrical dust filter or collector (not shown) of well-known corrugated form, acne 48 leading to it; bottom end. A centrifugal fan unit 49 driven by i hydraulic motor 5- is mounted on the top of the casing 46 and arranged to induce a strong flow of air up through the axial passage of the filter and it through 15 a rearwardly directed exhaust 51.

When the apparatus is to be disconnected fro:.

the tractor, it is first supported at its front by lowering a pair of legs 52 telescopically slidable in sleeves 53 fixed tc the sides of the mounting frame 14 and locked in position by retaining pins 54.

In use, the tractor-mounted apparatus is driven over an area to be swept, the brush housing being angled, as from time to time required to achieve best results, by the hydraulic cylinder 29 and the brush 26 being rapidly rotated in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1, sweeping towards the front. Most of the dust raised by the broom is drawn suctionally into the suction head 38 and thence through the duct elbow 41 and inlet 42 to the cyclone unit 43. Soe drawn into the cyclone fall into its coned bottom section 44, and dust is drawn up into and trapped by the filter or collector within the casing 46, filtered air being expelled rearwards through the e, haust 51, Froir time to time the stones may be removed from the cyclono unit 43 by opening the closure flap 45. The collected dust may be removed by tilting the casing 46 over to one, Os .side, as Shown in FIG. 2,so that the contained filter can be easily withdrawn and shaken o~r tapped -to cause the dust to fall to the ground. or into a receptacle.

Alternatively, the fanl unit 49 may be of reversibl.& type, and used to clean the Aitrb.bc-lwigt 9 dust through the opened bottom of the cyclone unit, A feature of t.he invention lies in the pi voted 9999mounting of the main frame IC and it- rear support b,1y *the castor w-heel 20, which will be found to be very 2 effective in preventing damage 4-c the apparatus as a result of wheel-bounce of the tractor. if the back of the tractor should drop relative to its front, the mailframe will still remain fairly close to horizontal, At the same time, the apparatus may be lifted lear .Df the road to travelling position, by the tractor's threepoint suspension gear. owing tc the provision o~f the flexible stays 29.

Although -the embodiment f 'the invention herein 'described and illustrated will be found to be very effective in achieving the objects for which it has been devised, it will, of course, be understood that it 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.

Claims (2)

1. 3. A rotary broom according to either of the preceding claims wherein: the upper part of the elongate rotary brush is enclosed in a housing pivotal about an upright axis z a7 7 M Im r below the frame; and slewing means are provided for turning the housing and the elongate rotary brush about the axis to vary the inclination of the elongate rotary brush to the direction of travel of the frame. i 4. A rotary broom according to any one of the preceding claims wherein: the mobile frame is pivotal at its front, in the sense of the direction of sweeping, about a transverse axis, on a mounting frame having means for connection to the three-point suspension of a tractor; the mobile frame is supported at its rear by a land wheel; and spring-loaded stays are provided between the 15 mobile frame and the mounting frame to limit downward pivotal movement of the frame relative to the mounting .frame.
2. 5. A rotaty broom substantially as herein S described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 20 DATED this twenty-third day of April 1991. KEITH JOSEPH GOODRICH and I BONNIE JUNE GOODRICH, S by their Patent Attorneys, GRANT ADAMS COMPANY, o