US3678531A

US3678531A - Adapter for floor maintenance machines

Info

Publication number: US3678531A
Application number: US116147A
Authority: US
Inventors: Theodore Hill
Original assignee: B J POWELL
Current assignee: B J POWELL
Priority date: 1971-02-17
Filing date: 1971-02-17
Publication date: 1972-07-25
Anticipated expiration: 1989-07-25

Abstract

An adapter for floor maintenance machine to secure an accessory pad to the brush carried by the machine. The adapter includes a mounting bracket attached to the backing plate of the brush within the central opening in the bristles, a circular support plate carried by the mounting bracket in an adjustably spaced position with respect to the bracket and a circular clamping plate adapted to fit over the support plate to clamp the accessory pad between the support plate and clamping plate. A plurality of pins may be provided for extending through the accessory pad to selectively lock same against radial movement with respect to the brush and a venting means may be provided for supplying air to the motor of the maintenance machine.

Description

United States Patent Hill 3,678,531 [451 July 25,1972

[54] ADAPTER FOR FLOOR MAINTENANCE MACHINES 72 Inventor: Theodore Hill, Atlanta, Ga.

[73] Assignee: B. J. Powell, Decatur, Ga. a part interest [22] Filed: Feb. 17, 1971 21 Appl. No.1 116,147

521 U.S.Cl ..l5/230.l9 s11 lnt.Cl ..A47l1l/l4,A47ll3/28 58 Field of Search ..l5/230. i9, 246; 51/376, 377,

51/378, 379; 16/108; 287/D1G. 13; 52/678; 285/399, 403, DIG. 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,995,765 8/1961 Ballato et al ..15/230.19 3,172,142 3/1965 Garth 15/246 3,135,981 6/1964 Fitch et al ..15/230.19

2,855,206 10/1958 Haviiand ..285/DlG. 22

Primary ExaminerLeon G. Machlin Attorney-B. .1. Powell [57] ABSTRACT An adapter for floor maintenance machine to secure an accessory pad to the brush carried by the machine. The adapter includes a mounting bracket attached to the backing plate of the brush within the central opening in the bristles, a circular sup port plate carried by the mounting bracket in an adjustably spaced position with respect to the bracket and a circular clamping plate adapted to fit over the support plate to clamp the accessory pad between the support plate and clamping plate. A plurality of pins may be provided for extending through the accessory pad to selectively lock same against radial movement with respect to the brush and a venting means may be provided for supplying air to the motor of the maintenance machine.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEU JUL 2 5 i972 SHEU 1 (IF 2 PAIENIEU JUL25 I972 SHEET 2 OF 2 1 ADAPTER FOR FLOOR MAINTENANCE MACHINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Floor maintenance machines for polishing, scrubbing, shampooing and butfing floors and floor coverings are usually provided with a circular brush which rests flat on the floor and which is driven by a motor, the weight of which rests on the brush. While the conventional brush is used for most floor maintenance operations, it is frequently necessary to use accessory pads such as steel wool or synthetic pads. Various adapters have been devised for securing the accessory pads to the brush, however, these adapters usually did not satisfactorily secure the pads. This is because these adapters had projections which would extend below the pad working surface to strike and mar the floor, especially as the pad became worn, or did not grip the pad about its central hole sufficiently to prevent the hole from enlarging to a point where the adapter was ineffective in securing the pad to the brush.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These and other problems associated with the prior art are overcome by the invention disclosed herein by providing for the adjustment of the adapter to compensate both for pad wear and brush wear in order to prevent the adapter from striking the floor, for the gripping of the pad about its central hole to prevent the enlargement of the hole with the resulting loss of effectiveness of the adapter, and for the cooling of the motor of the maintenance machine.

The apparatus of the invention includes a mounting bracket releasably secured to the backing plate for the brush of the maintenance machine within the central opening in the brush bristles, a circular support plate carried by the mounting bracket in a selectively adjustable relationship with respect to the mounting bracket, and a clamping plate adapted to overlie the support plate and clamp the pad therebetween about its central hole. A retaining means is provided for precluding the radial displacement of the pad adjacent the central hole and a cooling means is provided on the apparatus for assisting in cooling the motor of the maintenance machine.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood upon consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of the invention on a floor maintenance machine;

FIG. 2 is a partial transverse cross-sectional view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the invention of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the spacing means of the invention.

These figures and the following detailed description disclose specific embodiments of the invention, however, it is to be understood that the inventive concept is not limited thereto since it may be embodied in other forms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1 the floor maintenance machine F with which the invention is used includes a motor M and brush B carried in housing A for rotation by motor M. The machine F includes the usual wheels W and handle H with control C. The machine F is shown tilted up in FIG. 1, however, it is to be understood that the brush B is parallel to the floor when in use.

An accessory pad P is provided on which the brush B sits to drive same. The pad P may be steel wool or a synthetic material used to scrub, polish or otherwise maintain a floor or floor covering. 7

The pad P is provided with a central hole HL. The brush B includes a backing plate BP, usually of wood, and a plurality of bristles BR embedded in the underside of plate BP. This is best shown in FIG. 2. A passage PA is centrally located through the plate BP to receive the driveshaft D from motor M and a conventional locking device L is provided about passage PA to releasably attach driveshaft D to brush B. The driveshafl D is vented at V to provide for the passage of air into motor M to cool same. The bristles BR have a central opening 0 about passage PA larger in diameter than the passage PA and hole HL in pad P.

The invention resides in an adapter 10 mounted on the underside of backing plate BP within the opening 0. The adapter 10 includes generally a mounting bracket 11 attached to plate BP, a support plate 12 and a clamping plate 14. Spacer assem' blies l5 adjust the spacing between the bracket 11 and support plate 12.

The mounting bracket 11 is cross-shaped member having four legs 16 which span the passage PA of backing plate BP. Each leg 16 is secured to plate BP by a screw 18 passing through appropriate apertures 19 in the outer ends of legs 16. A central aperture 20 is provided in bracket 11 to receive a clamping bolt therethrough as will be explained and an internally threaded nut 21 is attached to the bracket 11 over aperture 20 to engage the bolt. An intermediate aperture 22 is provided in each leg 16 to receive a support mandrel as will be explained.

The support plate 12 is circular with a diameter smaller than the opening 0 in the bristles BR to be easily positioned therein but larger than the hole I-IL through pad P. A central hole 30 is provided therethrough for the passage of the clamping bolt as will be explained. Equally spaced about a path concentric with hole 30 are four upstanding support mandrels 31 which extend up from the plate .12 and pass through intermediate apertures 22 in bracket 11 as seen in FIG. 2 when the plate 12 is in position under bracket 11. A pair of diametrically opposed passages 32 are provided through plate 12 outwardly of mandrels 31 to receive a pair of driving dogs as will be explained. A plurality of passages 34 are provided about the peripheral edge 35 of plate 12 to receive retaining pins therethrough as will be explained. Three arcuate vent slots 36 are provided through plate 12 between the central hole 30 and mandrels 31 for the passage of air to motor M through driveshatt D and impellers 38 are provided on the top side of plate 12 to draw air through slots 36 when the brush B and plate 12 are rotated as will be explained.

Clamping plate 14 is also circular with a diameter equal to plate 12 and a central hole 40 which overlies hole 30 in plate 12. The plates 12 and I4 clamp the pad P therebetween. A pair of driving dogs 41 are attached to the plate 14 and extend from the top surface thereof up through passages 32 to cause plate 14 to be rotated as plate 12 is rotated. A plurality of retaining pins 42 are carried by plate 14 adjacent its peripheral edge 44 and extend through the pad P adjacent its central hole HL and passages 34 in plate 12 to prevent radial movement of the pad P about hole HL to enlarge same.

A threaded clamping bolt 50 is provided for insertion up through

holes

40 and 30 to engage nut: 21. As the bolt 50 is tightened, it will be seen that the

plates

12 and 14 will clamp the pad P therebetween and they will be spaced a predetermined distance d below bracket 11 by the spacer assemblies 15.

Each spacer assembly 15 is adapted to be received around mandrel 31 between bracket 11 and plate 12 to adjustably space the plate 12 below bracket 11 as seen in FIG. 2. The spacer assemblies 15 each include a plurality of interlocking spacers 60 as best seen in FIG. 4. Each spacer 60 is cylindrical with a central passageway 61 therethrough for the receipt of the mandrel 31. One end of spacer 60 is recessed at 62 around passageway 61 with a locking groove 64 around the innermost comer of recess 62. The opposite end of spacer 60 has an annular projection 65 extending therefrom around passageway 61 adapted to be received in the recess 62 of another spacer 60 as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4. A head 66 is provided on the outermost edge of projection 65 to engage the groove 64 of another spacer 60 to lock same together. The spacers 60 are constructed of a material resilient enough to allow the spacers to be snapped together yet Strong enough to position support plate 12. Since the effective height h of each spacer 60 is considerably less than the distance d to be used, the necessary number of spacers 60 are snapped together and placed over each mandrel 31 as seen in FIG. 2 to define the prescribed distance d between bracket 11 and plate 12. Also, the plate 12 could be recessed around mandrels 31 similarly to recesses 62 and grooves 64 in spacers 60 to lock each spacer assembly 15 to plate 12.

OPERATION In operation, the bracket 11 of adapter is permanently installed on base plate BP of brush B so that the center thereof is aligned with the center of brush B. In this condition, the brush B can be used in conventional manner. When it is desired to secure pad P to brush B, the necessary number of spacers 60 are selected and snapped together to form assemblies 15, each having a total height equal to the desired prescribed distance D. The distance d is usually such that the bottom surface of plate 12 will lie in the plane of the bottom of brush B or slightly thereabove. The pad P is then placed under plate 12 and centered thereon and plate 14 positioned under pad P so that pins 42 extend through pad P and passages 34 in plate 12 while dogs 41 extend through passages 32. The bolt 50 is inserted through

holes

40 and 30 and screwed into nut 21 to clamp the

plates

12 and 14 together and connect same to bracket 11 as shown in FIG. 2. This serves to firmly connect pad P to brush b and position the plate 14 above the working surface of pad P to prevent man-ing the floor or floor covering.

The machine F and pad P are then operated in conventional manner with bristles BR of brush B assisting in rotating pad P.

As pad P and bristles BR wear, the spacer assemblies 15 can be varied in height by changing the number of spacers 60 used for each to compensate for this wear and insure that the lower surface of plate 14 and bolt 50 will always be above the working surface of pad P.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been disclosed herein, it is to be understood that full use of modifications, substitutions and equivalents may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

1 claim:

1. An adapter for mounting an accessory pad having a second central opening on the motor driven rotary brush of a floor maintenance machine comprising:

a mounting bracket attached to the rotary brush and rotatable therewith;

, a support plate carried by said mounting bracket and including a first flange adapted to underlie said pad about its central opening in engagement with the underside of said pad to support same from that side of said pad facing said brush;

clamping means including a second flange adapted to overlie said pad about its central opening on that side of said pad opposite said brush; and,

holding means for forcing said clamping means and said support plate together and clamping said pad between said first and second flanges.

2. The adapter of claim I further including a plurality of retaining members engaging said pad between said first and second flanges to prevent radial displacement of said pad about its central opening.

3. The adapter of claim 2 wherein said retaining members are mounted on said second flange and wherein said first flange includes a plurality of apertures therethrough in alignment with said retaining members through which said retaining members extend when said first and second flanges are forced together.

4. The adapter of claim 1 further including means for selectively adjusting the spacing between said mounting bracket and said support plate.

5. The a apter of claim 3 further including means for selectively adjusting the spacing between said mounting bracket and said support plate.

6. The adapter of claim 5 further including venting means in said adapter for supplying air to the motor of the maintenance machine as said brush is rotated.

7. The adapter of claim 3 further including drive means connecting said mounting bracket with said support plate and said clamping means for rotating said support plate and said clamping means as said mounting bracket is rotated.

8. The adapter of claim 1 wherein the brush has a backing plate with bristles extending from one face thereof and a first central opening in the bristles of a first prescribed diameter to expose a central portion of said backing plate, wherein the pad is annular with the second central opening therethrough having a second prescribed diameter smaller than said first prescribed diameter, wherein said mounting bracket is mounted on said backing plate within the central opening of the bristles, wherein said first flange of said support plate has an outside diameter smaller than the first central opening in the bristles and larger than the diameter of the second central opening in the pad, and wherein said second flange of said clamping means has an outside diameter smaller than the first central opening in the bristles and larger in diameter than the pins carried by said second cumferentially spaced thereabout to extend through said pad about the second central opening, said first flange defining a plurality of apertures therethrough, one of said apertures underlying each said retaining pin.

Claims

1. An adapter for mounting an accessory pad having a second central opening on the motor driven rotary brush of a floor maintenance machine comprising: a mounting bracket attached to the rotary brush and rotatable therewith; a support plate carried by said mounting bracket and including a first flange Adapted to underlie said pad about its central opening in engagement with the underside of said pad to support same from that side of said pad facing said brush; clamping means including a second flange adapted to overlie said pad about its central opening on that side of said pad opposite said brush; and, holding means for forcing said clamping means and said support plate together and clamping said pad between said first and second flanges.

2. The adapter of claim 1 further including a plurality of retaining members engaging said pad between said first and second flanges to prevent radial displacement of said pad about its central opening.

5. The adapter of claim 3 further including means for selectively adjusting the spacing between said mounting bracket and said support plate.

8. The adapter of claim 1 wherein the brush has a backing plate with bristles extending from one face thereof and a first central opening in the bristles of a first prescribed diameter to expose a central portion of said backing plate, wherein the pad is annular with the second central opening therethrough having a second prescribed diameter smaller than said first prescribed diameter, wherein said mounting bracket is mounted on said backing plate within the central opening of the bristles, wherein said first flange of said support plate has an outside diameter smaller than the first central opening in the bristles and larger than the diameter of the second central opening in the pad, and wherein said second flange of said clamping means has an outside diameter smaller than the first central opening in the bristles and larger in diameter than the second central opening in the pad; and further including a plurality of retaining pins carried by said second flange and circumferentially spaced thereabout to extend through said pad about the second central opening, said first flange defining a plurality of apertures therethrough, one of said apertures underlying each said retaining pin.