US1301927A - Street-sweeper. - Google Patents

Description

B. FRAME.

STREET SWEEFER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15.1918.

Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

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Patented Apr. 29, 1919.

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STREET-SWEEPER.

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Specification of 'Letters Patent.

Patented Apr.. 22, 1212.

Application filed April 15, 1918. Serial No. 228,783.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BRUCE FRAME, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements in Street-Sweepers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to street sweepers in general, and particularly to such sweepers as'are used to sweep the street gutters, and are mounted upon and operated from power propelled vehicles. l

The object of my invention is to provide such a device as will sweep the dirt from the gutters toward the street center, and while being operated from power-mounted upon the vehicle to which my device is at-Y tached will be universally supported from such vehicle, so that the device may be raised or lowered to clear obstructions in the street, swung sidewise to clear vehicles or other obstructions in the guttersand oscillated upon a horizontal axis to accommodate itself to the crown of the street.

l accomplish the above object, and other desirable results that will hereinafter appear, by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this application for Letters Patent, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my device attached to an. automobile.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the saine, the frame of the automobile being sectioned.

Fig. 4f is an enlarged assembled view of the operating mechanism of my device, all parts being revolved upon their respective axes into the same plane.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the universal gears and their housing, the cap thereof being removed.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the swinging yoke.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the suction housing and transmission shaft mountings.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In general my invention consists of a cylindrical broom 8 rotatably mounted within a yoke 9 upon a shaft 10; means to revolve said shaft by power from the motor of the automobile; means whereby said yoke may oscillate upon a horizontal shaft l1; means.,

whereby said yoke may swing upon the axis of a vertical shaft 12; means whereby said yoke may be raised or lowered about a hori- Zent-al shaft 13; and means to remove the dust from the sweepings by pneumatic induction.

To drive the broom 8 I provide a spur pinion le upon the motor shaft 15 of the automobile motor 15a, and meshing therewith a spur gear 16 mounted upon a shaft 17, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, upon the opposite end of which shaft is secured a bevel pinion 18.

Said pinion 18 meshes with a bevel gear `19 secured upon a shaft 13, and journaled in brackets 20 and 21 suspended from the vehicle frame members 22.

Near the outward end of said shaft 13 is secured thereto a bevel pinion 23 which meshes with one set of teeth upon a double faced bevel gear 24, the opposite set of teeth of said gear 24 meshing with a pinion 25 secured to shaft 11, said gear 24 having trunnions 24a integral therewith and being rotatably mounted thereon within a housing which surrounds said gears and its meshing pinions 23 and 25, and provides journals for the shaft 11, which housing will be eX- plained hereinafter. i

Upon said shaft 11 is also secured a bevel gear 26 which meshes with a bevel gear 27 secured to shaft 30, which shaft is journaled in a gear housing 31 incasing gears 26 and 27, and in a bracket 32 mounted upon the broom yoke 9, as shown in Figs. 2 and Ll. i

Upon shaft 30 is secured a sprocket wheel 33 which is connected by a chain 34 to a sprocket wheel 35 secured upon shaft 10, as shown in. Figs. 2 and 4.

By means of the power transmission members explained above it will be seen that the broom 8 is driven from the motor shaft 15 by the automobile motor 15a, there being a clutch 36 which engages or disengages the gear 16and the shaft 17 at the will of the operator.

It is necessary in such a device that the broom should be vertically oscillatable so that it may automatically accommodate itself to the crown of the street, and this I accomplish by mounting the yoke 9 rotatably upon a thimble 37 surrounding shaft 11 within housing 31, and having thereon a flange 37 which makes the yoke 9 a prisoner thereon, said thimble 37 being prevented from leaving the shaft 11 by friction washers 38 and nut 39 thereon, as shown in Fig. 4.

The thimble 37 provides a journal for the end of shaft 30, and as both the thimble 3T and the gear casing 31 are rotatable upon shaft 11, the yoke 9 and the shaft 30 with its gear 27 may rotate upon said shaft carrying with them the thimble 37 and gear housing 31, the gear 27 simply revolving about gear 26 meanwhile.

Thus it is evident that the yoke 9 and the broom 8 mounted therein may oscillate about shaft 11 without interfering with the driving mechanism previously described.

It is necessary in such a device that the broom should swing ,horizontally so as to clear any obstruction it may meet, and this should be accomplished in two ways; first, the broom should automatically recede upon contact with any obstruction, such as a post or hydrant, and automatically return to its initial position upon clearing said obstruction; second, the operator should be enabled to swing said broom independently of its Contact with an obstruction.

This l accomplish as follows.

To enable the broom to swing horizontally without affecting the propelling mechanism thereof l provide a double faced bevel gear 24 between bevel pinions 23 and 25, as shown in Fig. 4.

Surrounding these gears 24, 23 and 25, I provide a housing consisting of four parts, two body members 40, and two caps 41.

Each body member is provided with a centrally disposed bearing 42 attached to its respective body 40 by arms 43, as shown in Figs. 4 and-5, said arms having spaces 44 wherein gears 23 and 25 may rotate.

The gear 24 rotates in said bearings 42 upon its trunnions 24a, being placed therein when the two bodies 40 are placed together.

The two bodies 40 are rotatably secured together by means of a grooved collar embracing adjacent flanges 46 upon said bodies, said collar being split and secured in place by bolts 47, as shown in Fig. 5.

By this construction the yoke 9 and its broom 8 may swing horizontally about the axis of trunnions 24, without disturbing the propelling mechanism, by rotating the lower housing body 40 upon the upper body 40 within collar 45 while pinion 25 rotates upon gear 24.

This rotation of the broom may be effected by the yoke 9 striking some obstruction, as a post or hydrant, and a guard 48 is provided of such shape as to cause a glancing blow upon such obstruction.

To cause the broom 8 and the yoke 9 to return to their initial positions, as shown in Fig. 2, I provide a vertical rotatable shaft 12 mounted in brackets 20 and 49 and axially disposed above and alined with trunions 24a, as shown in Fig. 4.

The lower end of said shaft 12 is squared as shown at 12a, and a casing 50 is mounted upon said squared portion to rotate therewith.

A bevel segment 51 is loosely mounted upon shaft 12 and meshes with a bevel segment 52 secured upon a shaft 53 upon which shaft is secured a hand lever 54 operating in connection with a notched quadrant 55 and a latch 56, so that when said latch engages one of the notches in said quadrant the gear segments 51 and 52 are held stationary.

A flange 57 is secured to the hub 51a of segment 51, and intermediate said flange 57 and said casing 50 is a coil spring 57a one end of which is secured to said flange 57 and the other end of which is secured to said casing 50, as shown in Fig. 4.

The lower portion of casing 50 is squared as shown at 50a and is provided with trunious 50b upon two opposite sides thereof.

Mounted upon said trunnions and closely embracing said squared portion 50a is a forked yoke 58, each fork having a curved slot 59 therein struck with a radius having its center at. the axis of shaft 13, as shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 6.

An arm 58a extends from said fork and upon the extremitythereof is a depending arm 58b having a slot 58c therein adapted to rotatably encompass the thimble 37 between the yoke 9 and the gear housing 31, as shown in Fig. 4.

When the broom 8 and the yoke 9 oscillate upon shaft 11 the thimble 37 rotates freely within slot 58"'.

Then the broom 8 and the yoke 9 rotate horizontally about the axis of trunnions 24a they move the forked yoke 58 therewith because of the connection thereof with the thimble 37, and thereby rotate casing 50.

The rotation of casing 50 stresses the spring 57a between the rotating casing and the stationary .flange 57, and therefore when the obstruction causing the horizontal movement of the broom is passed the spring 57a will return the broom to its initial position, as shown in Fig. 2.

It is desirable that `the operator should be able to swing the broom 8 in toward the machine to clear obstacles without contact therewith, and this I accomplish as follows.

Integral withsegment 51 I provide a jaw clutch 51, and secured to shaft 121 provide a jaw clutch 60 to engage with jaw clutch 51a, there being lost motion between the jaws of said clutches, which however are normally in contact, as shown in lFig. 4.

When broom 8 is moved by contacting with an obstruction the clutch 51a remains stationary with segment 51 of which it is an integral part, while the clutch 60 rotates with the shaft 12, the respective jaws of said clutches parting to allow the movement of said shaft because of said lost motion, said `shaft 12 being rotated by casing 50 by means of the squared portion 12a.

When the operator wishes to swing the broom 8 he moves the lever 54: and thus, by means 0f shaft 53 and segment 52 moves segment 51, and therewith shaft 12 by means of clutches 51a and 60, ange 57 securedto segment 51, and casing 50 secured to shaft 12.

`Thus by moving the lever 54 the operator rotates the mechanism mounted. upon shaft 12'as a unit, thereby causing the rotation of forked yoke 58, which carries therewith theV for the entire mechanism, as shown in Fig.V

3, and an inner bearing at the juncture of brackets 20 and 61.

The broom 8 and yoke 9, and forked yoke 58, and also shaft 11 and the mechanism mounted thereon all can swing lvertically upon shaft 13 by means of bearings 40a of casings 10 upon said shaft, the curved slots 59 in said forked yoke 58 allowing said'yoke' to follow the vertical motion of yoke 9, taking an inclined position' upon the squared portion 50a of casing 50 and being retained thereon by trunnions 50h.

By this construction the broom may ride over a raised place in the street, and may also be vertically adjusted by a suspension device that I provide as follows.

The gear segments 51 and 52 are inclosed by a casing 62 which is immovably attached to bracket 20, and which has an upwardly extending hub 62a surrounding shaft 12, as shown in Fig. 4f.

Upon said hub 62a is rotatably mounted a thimble 63 having integral therewith an arm 641 into which is secured a rod 65 havin thereon a turnbuckle 66 with another rod 6 therein, the latter rod being secured to a chain 68 which is attached to the broom yoke 9 as a bail thereto, as shown only in Fig. 1.

By this means the weight of the mechanism is removed from the broom bristles which therefore only lightly touch the surface of the street, the broom may be lowered as the bristles wear, and the broom may be raised and held suspended by looping up the chain 68.

In a device of this character it is desirable that the dust arising from the sweeping operation should be collected and not allowed to spread over the street surroundings, and this I accomplish by providing a hood 69 over the broom 8, said hood having a depending apron 70 forward of the broom, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

In the forward wall of said apron I provide a transverse slot 71 parallel with the broom 8 and connecting with a nozzle 72 to which nozzle is attached one end of a flexible air induction hose 73, the opposite end of said hose being secured to the depending portion of a pipe fitting 74, as shown lin Fig. 3.

Said pipe fitting, together with gear casing 75V forms arigid connection and brace between brackets 20 and 21, and surrounds shaft 13, as shown in Figs. 3 and 7.

Said gear casing 7 5 has a forward extension 75a forming a bearing for shaft 17, as shown in Fig. 2.

Said pipe fitting 741 has an upward exten-V sion whereto an air induction pipe may be attached to conduct the dust to any suitable receptacle.

The air induction means and the dust receptacle are well known to the art, and

form no part of my present invention, so are omitted in the drawings.

My invention may be made of any size and' constructed of any materials deemed convenient and suitable fora device of this character, and while I have illustrated and described a form of construction and arrangement of parts found desirable in materializing my invention, I wish to include in this application for Letters Patent all mechanical equivalents and `substitutes that may fairly be considered to come within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having disclosed my invention so that others skilled in the art may be enabled to construct and use same, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1sz- 1. In a street sweeper, a vehicle; a broom attached to said vehicle and extending transversely therefrom; means whereby said broom may move toward said vehicle upon contacting with an obstruction, means whereby the operator may cause said broom to move toward said vehicle to avoid an obstruction; and means to cause said broom to return to its initial position after the operation of either of the first mentioned two means.

2. In a street sweeper, a vehicle; a power driven rotatable shaft extending transversely therefrom; a longitudinally disposed shaft adjacent thereto; a system of universal gears connecting said shafts; means A ing the operation of said universal gears; a ally connected with said arm and a rotabroom pivotally mounted upon said longitud-inally disposedI shaft andiV movable there with;l and means-,tof rotate said broom from saidlongitudinally disposed shaft.

3. In, a street sweeper, a vehicle; a power driventransversely disposed shaft extending therefrom; a longitudinally disposed shaft adjacent thereto; bevel pinions adjacently disposed upon each of said shafts; a double faced bevel, gear intermediate said pinions, each of said faces coaeting` with one of said pinions, and the axis of rotation of said gear intersecting the axis of rotation of said shafts; a. split housing incasing said pinions and said gear, the upper part of said housing being journaled upon said transverse shaft, and the lower part of said housing having journals for said longitudinal shaft, said parts being relatively rotatable upon the meridian plane of rotation of said double faced gear; a broom pivotally mounted upon said longitudinal shaft and movable therewith; and means to rotate said broom from said longitudinal shaft.

4. In a street sweeper, a vehicle; a spring controlled rotatable member mounted thereon; a forkedr arm embracing said member and slidably attached thereto; a yoke pivottable broom mounted within said yoke.

5i In a, street sweeper; a vehicle; a power driven broom; means to; attach said broom to said vehicle; means whereby said broom may move through a horizontal arc; means whereby said broom may move through a vertical arc; a vertical shaft axially dis-V posed above the center of said horizontal arc; a membermounted upon said shaft and rotatable therewith; a stationary member mounted upon said shaft; a spring intermediate. said members and attached to each,

thereof; a forked arm embracing said rotatable memberthe forks of said arm having therein curved slots struck from the center of said vertical are; trunnions upon said rotatable member coacting with said slots; said attaching means and said arm being pivotally connected.

In witness whereof I claim the foregoing as my own I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of the subscribing witness, at

Portland, county of Multnomah, State of Oregon, this 20 day of March, 1918.

BRUCE FRAME.

Witness C. F. BLAKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for vecents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. Y

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