US293908A - oevis - Google Patents

Description

A UNITEDv4 STATES PATENT-1 OFFICE.

OREL D. ORVIS AND NELSON B. ADAMS, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

sTRgET-SWEAEP'ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent vNo. 293,908, dated February 19, 1884.

AApplication filed November 6, 1883. (No model.)

1"'0 @ZZ 1071/077@ it nfl/tty` concern.-

Be it known that we, OREL D. ORVls and NELSON B. ADAMS, bothof the city, county,

and State of New York, have invented a ceraforesaid patent consists of tunnels below the surface of the street, each containing a trackrail' and each communicating with the street by a narrow longitudinal slot, and the cars for use upon such street-railways'are connected with their wheels, which run on the track-rails in the tunnels, by means of thin vertical plates,which pass through the narrow longitudinal slots. werek run over a street provided with a railway structure of the kind above described,

dirt and snow would be brushed through the longitudinal slots, and to prevent the accumulation of dirt in the tunnels .from impeding the traffic it would be necessary to clean them out frequently, whilesnow would melt and render the tunnels wet and dirty.-

One object of ourinvention therefore is to enable streets provided with our railway structure to be swept without brushing dirt and snow through the slots into the tunnels; and to this end the invention consists in the combination, in a sweeper for use in connec tion with a railway structure of the kind de-l scribed, of a body or platform and wheels connected by vertical plates, a brush or brushes, and plates or guards carried by thevsweeper, arranged below the brush or brushes, and serving to close the longitudinal slots temporarily as the brush or brushes sweep across them. We make these guards or plates of hinged sections or otherwise flexible, so that they will readily follow any curvesA in the track and slots.

If an ordinary sweeperv plates, so as toenter the slots, and serving to clear the slots and throw upward and out of vthem any obstructions by which they may be clogged.

The feature of our invention which is ap- 6o plicable to street-sweepers generally consists in the combination, with the body of asweeper,

'of a yielding frame connected therewith,- a

driving-wheel supported in said yielding frame and having a bevel-wheel at its side, and a rotary brush provided with a bevelwheel gearing with the bevel-wheel first named, the yielding frame enables the wheel to maintain a proper frictional engagement with the irregular street'surface. 7o

The invention also consists in a novel construction of said frame, whereby it is made capable .of yielding within itself while itis rigidly connected to the body of the sweeper.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section of one of the track-tunnels lof a street-railway structure of the kind above described, and a side view of a sweeper embodying our invention'. Fig. 2 is a trans verse section of the structure and sweeper. 8o Fig. 3 is a plan of the two longitudinal slots' of the structure, and a horizontal section of the sweeper in a plane just below the body or platform, the outline of the body or platform being represented by dotted lines5-and Figs. 8 5 4 and 5 are respectively a side view and a plan upon a larger scale of a portion of one of the guards which are carried by the sweeper.

Similar letters of reference designate correspending parts in all the figures. r 9o The street-railway structure here shown is substantially like that shown in our aforesaid Letters Patent. Thev structure is principally formed of masonry A, and comprises two tunnels, B, each of which contains a trackrail, a, 95

and a third tunnel, C, located between the tunnels B. VThe third tunnel C may contain gas or water pipes C', and telegraph or other electric wires, or cables may be extended through it. In the tunnels B are placed, at intervals, ties or frames D, which may be made of cast-iron, and are arched lover the tunnel C, and connected as shown at D. The propulsion is effected by a traveling rope or cable, E, and in the tmmels B are placed wheels or sheaves Z), for supporting said rope or cable. Each tunnel B communicates with the street-surface F by a narrow longitudinal slot, c, the width of which is preserved uniform by longitudinal bars d, secured to the ties or frames D, and against which the paving-blocks c are laid.

G designates the wheels of the sweeper, which run upon the rails a, and the frames G of which are connected with the body or platform H of the sweeper by vertical plates GrL passing through, and adapted to slide or move in the narrow longitudinal slots c. l

I designates the grip whereby the sweeper is attached to the rope or cable E, and which is also connected with the body or platform H by a thin vertical plate, I, which moves in the slot c.

The rotary brushes J are supported by hangers J/, depending from the body or platform H, and are arranged obliquely, as is customary. At the inner ends of the brushes is a driving-wheel, K, having a broad surface, which may be faced with india rubber or other suitable material, and adapted to be rotated by frictional contact with the street-surface as the sweeper moves along. The wheel K has at opposite sides bevel-wheels f, which gear with bevel-wheels f/ on the brushes J, and so rotate the latter. In order to preserve the proper frictional contact of the driving-wheel K with the irregular surface of the ground, we support said wheel in a yielding frame connected with the body or platform H. The frame here shown consists of four springs, two of which, 7L 71, extend transversely ofthe body or platform II, andthe other two of which, i i, extend longitudinally thereof. These springs are connected together at their ends, or are produced integral with each other, so as to form a rectangular frame. The two springs h 7L have an upward flexure, and are secured to the platform H at about the middle ot' their length. The springs t' i have a downward flexure, and have the bearings of the wheel K connected to their lowermost points. This arrangement of springs will allow the wheel K to yield upward, and yet will hold it pressed against the street-surihce with sufficient force to insure the rotation of the brushes. The brushes J work across the slots c, and therefore would brush snow and dirt through the slots into the tunnels B, unless means were taken to prevent l it. In order to temporarily close the slots c,

below the brushes J, we provide guards or plates L, which are connected with the sweeper, and are of a size to nearly ill the slots. As here shown, these guards or plates L exneeting the wheel-fran'lcs G with the platform H to the plate I, which connects the grip I with the platform; but if the grip should be arranged forward or in rear of the wheels G, as might be desirable, then the guard would extend from one to the other of the plates G2. The upper edges of the guards or plates L are about level with the street-surface, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the brushes work over them, and they prevent dirt and snow from dropping into the tunnels. These guards L may be of metal or other material, and to enable them to turn curves we prefer to make them flexible. This may be done by making them of plates or pieces j, connected by knuckles or eyes j and pintles in the same manner that hinge-leaves are connected. Their construction is most clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

In order to clear the slots c ol' any obstructions in advance of the sweeper we ,attach to the vertical plates G2, at one end of the sweeper, curved plates or pieces k. (Shown best in Fig. I.) These pieces run in the slots c, and form plows for throwing any obstructions upward and outward from the slots.

Vhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

I. The combination, in a sweeper for use upon a railway structure of the kind herein described, of a platform and wheels connected by vertical plates, a' brush or brushes, and plates or guards arranged below the brush or brushes and serving to temporarily close the longitudinal slots as the brush or brushes sweep across them, substantially asherein described.

2. The, combination, in a sweeper for use upon a railway structure of the kind herein described, of a platform and wheels connected by vertical plates, a brush or brushes, and plates or guards composed of hinged sections arranged below the brush or brushes and serving to temporarily close the longitudinal slots as thebrush or brushes sweep across them, substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, in a sweeper for use upon a railway structure of the kind herein described, of a platform and wheels connected by vertical plates' extending through longitudinal slots, and plows projecting in front of said plates, entering said slots, and serving to throw upward and out of lthe slots any obstructions by which they may be clogged, substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with the body or platform of a street-sweeper, of a yielding frame connected therewith, a driving-wheel supported in said yielding frame and by it held in frictional contact with the street-surface, a bevel-wheel at the side of said driving-wheel, and a brush provided with a bevel-wheel en gaging with the first-mentioned bevel-wheel, substantially as herein described.

5. The combination, with the body or plattend from one of the vertical plates G2, conl form of a street-sweeper, of a yielding frame IOO IIO

composed of springs h h i z', the springs 71J 7L l eeiving motion from said Wheel, substantially having an upward ieXure and being connected as herein described. between their ends to the body or platform, OREL D. ORVIS.

and Jhe springs M having a downwardilexure Y NELSON B. ADAMS. 5 and being connectedat their ends to the ends Vitnesses:

of the springs h h, a driving-wheel supported FREDK. HAYNEs,

by the springs fi fi, and a brush or brushes rel ED. L. MORAN.

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