US3678530A

US3678530A - Rotary brush plastic bristle holder and mounting means

Info

Publication number: US3678530A
Application number: US77586A
Authority: US
Inventors: John P Horton; Troy S Sulser
Original assignee: Danline Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: Danline Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1970-10-02
Filing date: 1970-10-02
Publication date: 1972-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-25

Abstract

Disposable hollow plastic holders secure bent wire bristles in rotary brooms such as gutter brooms. Bristle bends are completely enclosed; bottom slots in the holders direct the bristles outward and downward. Holders are constructed in three sections bonded together to form smooth outer surfaces. Several holders are slid radially inward into inverted ''''T'''' shaped bars under a permanent plate. After all holders have been slid into place, an encircling retaining collar is dropped over the holders and is bolted to the plate.

Description

United States Patent Horton et al.

[451 July 25, 1972 [54] ROTARY BRUSH PLASTIC BRISTLE HOLDER AND MOUNTING MEANS [72] Inventors: John P. Horton, Bernardsville; Troy S.

Suker, Union. both of NJ.

[73] Assignee: Danllne Manuiacturing Company, Kenilworth, NJ.

[22] Filed: Oct. 2, 1970 21 1 Appl. No.: 77,586

52 u.s.c| ..15/180 51 in. CI. ..A46bl3/02 58 mu olSearchm. ..|s/|s0, 19s, :91, 193, 199,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,108,079 8/1914 Morrison, Jr. ..l5/196 1,230,325 6/1917 Pride ..l5/I95 X 2,923,958 2/1960 Lechene I 5/ l 98 3,353.20! 11/1967 Horton et al I 5/l68 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 708,l83 4/1954 Great Britain I 5/] 80 8l8,804 8/l959 Great Britain lS/l 80 Primary Examiner- Peter Feldman Attorney-Littlepage. Quaintance. Wray & Aisenberg [57] ABSTRACT Disposable hollow plastic holders secure bent wire bristles in rotary brooms such as gutter brooms. Bristle bends are completely enclosed; bottom slots in the holders direct the bristles outward and downward. Holders are constructed in three sections bonded together to form smooth outer surfaces. Several holders are slid radially inward into inverted "T shaped bars under a permanent plate. After all holders have been slid into place, an encircling retaining collar is dropped over the holders and is bolted to the plate.

ll Claims, 6 Drawing figures PATENTED JULZ 5|912 SHLEI 1 0f 2 JOHN P HORTON TROY S. SULSER F/GZ PATENTEDJULZSIQIZ 3 57 530 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOIIS JOHN P. HORTON TROY S. SULSER A'rtdlnns ROTARY BRUSH PLASTIC BRISTLE HOLDER AND MOUNTING MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Gutter brooms on road sweeping machines are usually built of a number of arcuate segments which, when assembled together, comprise the completed broom. The segments. usually from four to six in number, are mounted on a permanent circular plate, which is attached to a rotary shaft. Bristle holding segments have been made of materials such as wood and steel. Each segment has a number of slots on a face opposite from a face in contact with the plate.

Outward and downward projecting bristles are constructed of conventional materials, for example, high carbon flat steel wire having transverse dimensions of about 0.025 inch by 0.125 inch.

Quantities of perhaps I 8 to 20 strands are medially bent and both ends are pushed down through slots. The media] portion is held by wires extending across the slots or alternatively by a portion of the segment between adjacent slots. When holes are filled with wires, the segments are bolted against the bottom of the permanent plate. The plate prevents the wire from being pushed back up out the slots as the broom contacts a street surface. The bristle bights in the segments have been exposed; in alternate forms the bights have been covered.

Building up of the broom using multiple segments has proved to be a time consuming effort, and the handling of the segments while building the gutter broom has been difficult. Dismantling has been likewise time consuming and difficult because of the great number of bolts involved in each broom. The weight of the segments may be anywhere from 20 to 25 pounds each when filled with flat metal bristles. The weight makes it awkward for a single person to hold the segment against the backing plate. turn a nut and hold a bolt in assembling or dismantling the broom.

Disposable wooden or metal segments were introduced because of the difficulty experienced when the strands of bristle had become worn and needed to be replaced. A disposable segment can be thrown away and replaced by a new segment which has been threaded with new strands of bristle. Increased production costs have resulted from manufacturing segments with drilled holes and from stamping and welding metal segments.

Dangers from exposed bristle bights and wooden splinters or sharp metal edges have increased handling times and have made disassembly and assembly procedures arduous and distasteful to broom operators and maintenance men.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention concerns the production of an improved brush apparatus, and more particularly, to an inexpensive bristle holder means for securing brush bristles which can be easily attached to a brush support and retained using a minimum number of parts.

One of the objects of the invention is to produce a bristle holder means which is inexpensive and disposable. This object is achieved by making the holder of a molded plastic material. Apart from the inexpensiveness of the material, the holder can be made in a shape that permits easy handling. The bristle holder can be made in a number of sections where one of the sections covers the bristle bight. The sections can be secured together before or after the bristles have been threaded. The sections can be secured by means of welding, bolting or bonding. The use of plastic material, also, reduces the total weight slightly.

By making the holders of molded plastic, it becomes possible to arrange the manufacture of a number of distinct holders having their slots so positioned that the bristles can be flared out to a number of different angles, depending upon the nature of the broom, merely by setting at the time of manufacture one member in the molding apparatus in a predetermined position.

A further object of the invention is to produce a bristle holder which will secure plastic bristles or bristles of a nonmetallic material as well as metal bristles. The use of plastic bristles would serve to substantially out both the cost of man ufacture and the total weight of the holder tilled with bristles.

A further object of the invention is to produce a bristle holder which can be easily mounted to a brush support. This object is achieved by sliding the holder into a 'I" shaped bars permanently attached to a circular plate. the plate forming part of the brush support. The advantage of this lies in the fact that the holder need no longer be held by the person securing the holder to the plate, the holders being wedged between inverted T" shaped bars instead, once the holders have been slid into place. After the holders have been inserted, they may be locked in place by a convenient retaining means for securing the holders to the brush support. Preferably, the retainer has a minimum number of fasteners which must be manipulated. Another convenient form of retainer is a collar of a concentric ring design which fits over and encircles the rim of the circular plate.

When the holders are in place, the collar is lowered over the arcuate outer sides of the holders to retain the holders within the radial spaces within the inverted "T" shaped bars. The collar is then bolted to the plate using one or two bolts. The holders need not be bolted to the collar or the plate. To dismantle the brush, two bolts are loosened, the collar is lifted to an upward, detent held position, and the holders are slid out of the "T" bars. Old holder segments are discarded and new ones are inserted. Handling of the holders is reduced to a minimum.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an assembled view ofa gutter broom.

FIG. 2 is a disposable gutter broom segment.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are exploded views of the disposable segments.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of a permanent gutter broom plate configured to hold disposable segments.

FIG. 6 is a view of the carrier plate showing the insertion of a segment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I shows a gutter broom assembly with rotary shaft 10 fixed to a permanent circular steel plate l2. Collar 14 partially overlies and encircles plate 12 and retains bristle holders inward. Collar I4 is attached to plate 12 by means of bolts 16, which are secured in thread holes in the plate. Bristles l8 flare outward and downward for maximum curb dirt digging action as the gutter broom turns. The rotary shaft 10, circular plate 12, collar 14 and bolts 16 are permanent components of the road sweeping assembly; bristle holders and bristles 18 are disposable.

FIG. 2 shows assembled bristle holder 20 with bristles l8 directed outward and downward from slots on the bottom of holder 20. In conventional gutter brooms, holder 20 is bolted to the bottom of a permanent circular plate by the usual means of bolts. Thus, the holder segments of the present invention are useful in known gutter brooms as well as in the quick assembly brooms which are described herein.

Sides 30 of bristle holder 20 are convergent plane surfaces. F rom and rear 32 and 34 are segments of cylindrical surfaces. Bristle holder 20 comprises cover section 22, middle section 24 and lower section 26. Preferably, the holder sections are molded from similar resins having qualities of toughness, flexibility, resilience and form retention. A suitable resin is, for example, a polyolefin, typically polypropylene.

Preferably, the bristle holding segments 20 are hollow, with each section having a generally planar medial portion. Middle and bottom sections have integrally formed spacing edges generally transverse to their medial portions. Bristles are in serted in corresponding slots in the middle and bottom sections, and the cover section is added. Abutting edges of the sections are permanently joined such as by fusing or bonding with a suitable adhesive, and the bristle holding segments are ready for use.

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of holder 20 having a cover section 22, a middle section 24 and a bottom section 26. Bristle 36 has a central bight portion 38 and leg portions 39. Bight portion 38 overlies bar 40 in holder middle section 24. Leg portions 39 and bristle 36 are directed downward and outward through slots 42 laterally adjacent bars 40. Leg portions 39 extend through slots 44 in lower holder section 26.

The bight 38 of bristle 36 is in contact with the curved portion of bar 40. There is a space between bight 38 and the underside of cover section 22. In use, the space is entirely filled by bristles. For example, there may be approximately 20 bristles around each bar 40 so that the space between bar 40 and the underside of cover section 22 is filled by these bristle bights. In a similar manner. slots 42 in mid-section 24 and slots 44 in mid-section 24 are tightly packed with bristles to prevent wear-causing hammering vibrations from bristle leg portions in contact with the walls of the slots.

Cover section 22 has elongated depressions 50 which extend downward into high! receiving recesses to force the bights downward toward bar 40 and to distribute the bights along the bars.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, bight holding bars 40 are solidly formed elements which extend from the inner face of holder section 24 to the outer face of the holder section. Recesses 52, which contain bight holding bars 40 and slots 42, have substantially vertical outer faces 54 and have sloping inner faces 56. Since depressions 50in cover 22 have front to rear dimensions less than similar dimensions of the upper portions of recesses 52, pressing the depressions in toward the bristle bights tends to distribute the bights along the bars so that bristle legs extend outward at slightly varying angles to give a full brush efi'ect at the active ends of the bristles.

The forward depression 58 simply spaces the bristle holding recesses toward the inside of middle section 24 to facilitate the outward flaring of the bristles.

ln lower holder section 26, walls 60 of slots 44 are extended upward into the body of the section and are solid to promote strength of the section.

The upper edge of central section 24 is recessed 62 to receive a corresponding downward extending lip 64 spaced inward from the periphery of cover 22. Lower section 26 has an upper recess 66 to receive a corresponding downward extend ing lip 68 on middle section 24.

After all of the bristles have been assembled, the downward extending lips may be coated with an adhesive material before the sections are snapped together to form a permanently joined assembly. Alternatively, the sections may be snapped together and heat applied around the intersections to fuse the corresponding lips and recesses. In the finished product, the holder comprises a smooth surface body without rough inter ruptions.

Holes 70 extend through the cover, middle and

outer sections

22, 24 and 26, respectively, so that the bolts may fasten the holders to permanent plates of conventional gutter broom assemblies.

FIG. shows a view of the permanent plate of the present invention with inverted T" shaped bars 72 mounted radially on one face of the plate. The bars 72 have base or throat sections 74, which are connected to the plate, and ledge portions 76, which extend outward. The ledges hold bristle retainers up against the downward face 78 of plate 12. When holders have been inserted between the ledges and the plate, collar 14 is lowered to its downward position to encircle the holders 20 and bars 72, wedging the holders into place.

In alternative forms of the invention, fingers may be cantilevered outward to underly portions of the bristle holders between bristle rows to further rigidify the brush structure.

As shown in FIG. 6, when bristles are worn, bolts 16 are loosened or removed so that retaining collar [4 may be lifted. The disposable segment holders 20 are withdrawn from between the T" shaped bars 72 and are discarded. New holders 20 with fresh bristles are inserted between the webs or bases 74 of adjacent T" shaped bars 72 and between ledges 76 of the bars and face 78 of plate 12. Then the retaining collar 14 is lowered over the holders and bars, and bolts 16 are tightened, readying the assembly for use.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. Bristle holder apparatus comprising a middle bristle holding section having integrally-formed bars as bristle retaining means, an outer section connected to the middle section and having bristle directing slots therein cooperating with complementary bristle retaining means in the middle section, and peripheral sealing means interconnecting the middle section and the outer section thereby forming a smooth outer surface of the holder apparatus.

2. Bristle holder apparatus comprising a middle bristle holding section having bristle retaining means, an outer section connected to the middle section and having bristle directing slots therein cooperating with complementary bristle retaining means in the middle section, wherein the middle section has an upward extending wall portion surrounding the middle section and wherein the outer section has an upward extending wall surrounding the outer section whereby bristle directing slots in the outer section are displaced from the corresponding bristle retaining means in the middle section, and peripheral sealing means interconnecting the middle section and the outer section, the walls thereby forming a smooth continuous outer surface of the holder apparatus.

3. The bristle holder apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a cover section overlying the middle bristle holding section opposite the outer section, the cover section having inward extending troughs opposite the bristle retaining means for forcing the bristles toward the retaining means.

4. The bristle holder apparatus of claim 2 wherein the middle section has a downward extending peripheral lip and wherein the wall of the lower section has a depression in an upper edge thereof for receiving the downward extending lip of the middle section whereby the middle section and lower section are interconnected against lateral movement.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 further comprising a cover section overlying the middle section and further comprising a downward extending peripheral lip on the cover section and a complementary depression in an upper edge of the wall of the middle section whereby the cover section and middle section fit together and are held against lateral displacement.

6. The bristle holder apparatus of claim 1 wherein the bris tle retaining means comprises a plurality of integrally formed bars extending along a bottom of the middle portion and a plurality of open grooves in the bottom of the middle section, the grooves including portions of the bars whereby bristle bights overly the bars and bristle legs extend through the grooves.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the grooves are elongated and wherein the grooves have substantially vertical walls at one longitudinal end thereof and have sloping walls at opposite longitudinal ends thereof.

8. Bristle holder apparatus comprising a middle bristle holding section having bristle retaining means, an outer section connected to the middle section, the outer section comprises a substantially flat base having a plurality of bristle directing slots therein cooperating with complementary bristle retaining means in the middle section, the slots being surrounded by upward extending slot walls, and peripheral sealing means interconnecting the middle section and the outer section thereby forming a smooth outer surface of the holder apparatus.

9. Rotary brush apparatus comprising a shaft, a plate fixed on the shaft for rotation therewith, a plurality of radially extending bars mounted on the plate, the bars having ledges extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions and movable annular retaining means connected to the plate and extending between the plate and ledge portions and whereby the retaining means hold the bristle holders inward.

ll. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the movable annular retaining means comprises a cylindrical hoop with an inward projecting flange overlying the plate on a side thereof opposite the bars. and fasteners connecting the inward flange to the plate, whereby unfastening the fasteners from the flange permits moving of the hoop, thus opening spaces between the bars for access to bristle holders.

k I i l

Claims

1. Bristle holder apparatus comprising a middle bristle holding section having integrally-formed bars as bristle retaining means, an outer section connected to the middle section and having bristle directing slots therein cooperating with complementary bristle retaining means in the middle section, and peripheral sealing means interconnecting the middle section and the outer section thereby forming a smooth outer surface of the holder apparatus.

6. The bristle holder apparatus of claim 1 wherein the bristle retaining means comprises a plurality of integrally formed bars extending along a bottom of the middle portion and a plurality of open grooves in the bottom of the middle section, the grooves including portions of the bars whereby bristle bights overly the bars and bristle legs extend through the grooves.

9. Rotary brush apparatus comprising a shaft, a plate fixed on the shaft for rotation therewith, a plurality of radially extending bars mounted on the plate, the bars having ledges extending laterally therefrom in opposite directions and movable annular retaining means connected to the plate and extending outward therefrom circumferentially enclosing the bars, whereby bristle holders supported on ledges of the bars are retained inward by the retaining means.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the bars comprise ''''T'''' shaped bars having central portions connected to the plate and having ledge portions remote from the plate for partially enclosing a space between the plate and the ledge portions and wherein the retainer means further partially encloses the space between the plate and the ledge portions whereby bristle holding apparatus are placed on the ledge portions between the plate and ledge portions and whereby the retaining means hold the bristle holders inward.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the movable annular retaining means comprises a cylindrical hoop with an inward projecting flange overlying the plate on a side thereof opposite the bars, and fasteners connecting the inward flange to the plate, whereby unfastening the fasteners from the flange permits moving of the hoop, thus opening spaces between the bars for access to bristle holders.