US3924285A

US3924285A - Floor sweeper

Info

Publication number: US3924285A
Application number: US435680A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hiroshi Hukuba
Original assignee: FUKUBA FUTURE RESEARCH
Current assignee: FUKUBA FUTURE RESEARCH; HUKUBA FUTURE RESEARCH KK
Priority date: 1973-01-29
Filing date: 1974-01-23
Publication date: 1975-12-09
Anticipated expiration: 1992-12-09
Also published as: JPS49100854A; GB1396860A; DE2403821A1; IT1004796B; FR2215190B1; FR2215190A1

Abstract

A floor sweeper which comprises a box-shaped housing of which a top and four sides are closed while the bottom is left open, the brush for slidingly rubbing the floor surface while rotating in the direction crossing a direction of travel of a housing and the driving gear for said brush, coupled with the dust receiver facing said brush and disposed on the dust inlet side thereof.

Description

United States Patent 1191 1111 3,924,285

Hukuba [45] Dec. 9, 1975 FLOOR SWEEPER 3,156,937 11/1964 Weir 15/80 [75] Inventor: Hil'OSili Hukuba, Nagareyama, FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATONS Japan 1,403,142 /1968 Germany /50 R [73] Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Hukuba Future 90,301 9/1937 Sweden 15/22 B Research, Nagareyama, Japan [22] Filed: Jan. 23, 1974 Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts 1 pp No: 0 attorney, Agent, or Firm-Woodhams, Blanchard and ynn [] Foreign Application Priority Data 5 s T Jan. 29, 1973 Japan 48-11685 7] AB C A floor sweeper which comprises a box-shaped hous- [52] US. Cl. 15/49 R; 15/41 R ing of which a top and four sides are CIOSed While the [51] Int. Cl. A47L 11/22 b tt i left en, the brush for slidingly rubbing the Fleld of Search 15/22 41 49 R, 50 R, floor surface while rotating in the direction crossing a 99 direction of travel of a housing and the driving gear for said brush, coupled with the dust receiver facing [56] References Clted said brush and disposed on the dust inlet side thereof.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,524,928 10/1950 Platz .5 15/50 R 14 Clams 10 Drawmg Flgures US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 1 of 5 3,924,285

U.S. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 3 of5 3,924,285

US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet4 0f5 3,924,285

FiG. IO

U.S. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 5 of5 3,924,285

FIG. 9

FLOOR SWEEPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention 'The present invention relates to a floor sweeper for the purpose of collecting and sweeping up the dust lying on a comparatively even and smooth surface of floor such as concrete floor, boarded floor and tiled floor.

2. Description of the Prior Art As the cleaner for the purpose of sweeping the floor, there has already been known a floor sweeper wherein the brush to sweep the dust is pivotally mounted on a housing so as to rotate in the direction of travel of said housing and the dust receiver is disposed both in front and the rear of the housing so as to face said brush,

. whereby the brush is made to rotate reversibly with the reciprocating motion of the housing on the floor and the dust collected by the brush is swept in the front dust receiver when the housing is traveling forward while it is swept in the rear dust receiver when the housing is traveling backward. However, this floor sweeper in the prior art has such drawbacks that, when the dust guiding plate equipped on the front edge of the dust receiver for the purpose of leading the dust collected by the brush into the dust receiver is brought into contact with the floor surface, the frictional resistance becomes enormous, hampering smooth movement of the floor sweeper, and that, inasmuch as the dust guiding plate pushes the dust along the floor surface before the brush picks up the dust, the dust cannot be swept off satisfactorily. To make up for these drawbacks, therefore, the dust guiding plate is usually disposed to be slightly distant from the floor surface. However, this countermeasure has entailed a defect that part of the dust collected by the brush escapes by way of the opening between said dust guiding plate and the floor surface to be left unswept.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Principal object of the present invention is to provide a floor sweeper wherein the brush for sweeping the dust lying on the floor is pivotally mounted on a housing so as to rotate in the direction crossing the direction of travel of said housing and the dust receiver is disposed both in front and the rear of the housing along the direction of travel thereof to face the brush.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a floor sweeper wherein the dust guiding plate for the purpose of leading the dust collected by the brush from the floor surface into the dust receiver is disposed in the direction parallel with that of travel of the housing and the lower end of said dust guiding plate is devised to face the brush and come into sliding contact with the floor surface lest the dust should be left unswept.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a floor sweeper, wherein the rollers are installed both in front and the rear of the housing, and the cavity surrounding the brush is to be closed to the floor by virtue of said guiding plate, thereby preventing the floating dust around the brush escaping from the cavity to the outside.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a floor sweeper wherein the brushes rotatable in the direction crossing the direction of travel of the housing are installed bilaterally along the center line of the housing in the direction of travel thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 2 as out along the line IV-IV FIG. 5, is a longitudinal section as cut along the line VV of FIG. 6 and is illustrative of another embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 6 is a transverse section as cut along the line VIVI of FIG. 5,

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal section as out along the line VII-VII of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal section as cut along the line VIIIVIII of FIG. 9 and is illustrative of still another embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 9 is a transverse section as cut along the line IX-IX of FIG. 8, and

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal section as cut along the line XX of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The floor sweeper 1 of the present invention is constructed by installing the housing 2 on the lower end of thehandle H. The housing 2 is, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, formed in almost a rectangular hexahedronshape; the top consists of the upper cover plate 3, the four sides consist of the

side cover plates

4, 5, and the bottom is left open. On the exterior of the housing 2, a plural number of wheels 6 to support the housing 2 are rotatably mounted along the side cover plates 4. The interior of the housing 2 is provided with the brush 7 to collect the dust lying on the floor, a pair of dust receivers 8 to accommodate the dust, a pair of dust guiding plates 9 to lead the collected dust from the. floor into said dust receiver 8, and a pair of rollers 11 to work conjointly with said dust guiding plates 9 for closing the cavity 10 surrounding said brush 7 to the floor surface.

The brush 7 is mounted on the circumference of the endless belt 12 stretched between a pair of belt-driving shafts 14. Each belt-driving shaft 14 is horizontally r0- tatably supported on the confronting walls 13 of the upper cover plate 3 in parallel with the direction of travel of the housing 2. One of these belt-driving shafts 14 is provided with the gear 15 fixed on the end thereof, and this gear 15 is engaged with the gear 17 fixed on the shaft 16 of the foregoing wheels 6.

The dust receivers 8 are bilaterally disposed inside the housing 2 as shown in FIG. 2, each of said dust receivers 8 being formed by enclosing with the upper cover plate 3, the side cover plates 4 and the bottom plate 18 and its portion facing the brush 7 being provided with the dust inlet port 19. A part of the brush 7 is so devised as to protrude into the dust receiver 8 through the dust inlet port 19. Further, the side cover plate 4 facing the dust receiver 8 is provided with the openable cover plate 20 for the purpose of taking out the dust.

The dust 'guiding plates 9 consisting of an elastic material such as rubber are installed on the foremost edge of the lower part of the dust receiver 8 to stretch between said rollers 11 in parallel with the direction of travel of the housing 2, and the lower end thereof is devised to come into contact with the floor surface at a slight angle. At the place where the dust guiding plate '9 confronts the brush 7, the dust guidingplate 9 extends beneath the roller 11 along the sphere of rotation formed on the end of the roller 11 (FIG. 4), while the lower end of the'dust guiding plate 9 is kept in contact with the floor surface along the contact line between the brush 7 and the floor.

The roller 11 consisting of an elastic material such as sponge is, as shown in FIG. 2, pivotally mounted on the housing 2, in front and rear thereof, between the confronting walls 21 of the upper cover plate 3. Both ends of the roller 11 are tapered in the shape of a truncated cone, and this portion is closely mounted on said dust guiding plate 9. Further, above the roller 11, there is installed the partition 22 which projects down from the upper cover plate 3 toward the roller 11 to be close thereto as shown in FIG. 4.

In the case of another embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, the brush extends across the complete width of the housing. The width of the brush 7a is contracted a little, while the dust receiver 8a is installed on either the fore or the back of the housing 2 along the direction of travel thereof, the dust inlet port 19a opens above the side of the brush 7a and a guide plate 23 confronting said dust inlet port 19a as well as the top of the brush 7a is at a fixed angle (usually 45) and is fixed to the upper cover plate 3. The dust guiding plate 9a is fixed on the lower part of the side cover plate 4. Other details of the construction are the same as that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4and, therefore, the explanation thereof is abridged herein by assigning identical numbers to the corresponding parts in the two embodiments.

In the case of still another embodiment shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and'10, the

brushes

7b, 7b having a comparatively narrow width similar to that in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are installed bilaterally along the center line of the housing in the direction of travel thereof, and on one side of each brush 7bv and 7b, there is provided the dust receiver 8b having a structure similar to the dust receiver 8 in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, while on the other side of each

brush

7b and 7b, there is provided the dust receiver 8b having a structure similar to the dust receiver 8a in the foregoing embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Other details of the construction are the same as that in the foregoing two embodiments and, therefore, the explanation thereof is abridged herein by assigning identical numbers to the corresponding parts in these embodiments.

In this connection, each of the

brushes

7, 7a, 7b and 7b in the foregoing embodiments is shown as being providied on an endless belt, but these brushes may be directly provided on the belt-driving shafts 14. On this occasion, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, for instance, it is advisable to install a dust receiver also between the two belt-driving shafts 14. It of course will do to employ only one belt-driving shaft. Further, though the brush in each'embodiment.

above is so devised as to be driven by the driving'force of wheels, it also'will do to devise said brush to be ro- 'tated by other appropriate means such as motor.

, OPERATION In the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4, when the housing 2 is laid on the floor surface, the wheels 6, the brush 7, each of the dust guiding plates 9 and the rollers 11 come in contact with the floor surface, and the cavity 10 surrounding the brush 7 comes to be in the state of being closed to the floor surface. At this, when the housing 2 is made to travel forward and backward by the aid of the wheels 6 along the floor surface by holding the handle H, the driving force by the shaft 16 of the wheels 6 is transmitted to the belt-driving shaft 14 through the

gears

15 and 17, and with each forward movement or backward movement of the housing 2, the brush 7 rotates clockwise or anticlockwise. With the rotation of the brush 7, the dust lying on the floor is collected, and when the housing 2 is traveling forward, the brush 7 rotates anticlockwise. Consequently, the dust is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9 on one side and taken in the dust receiver 8 on the same side. On the other hand, when the housing 2 is traveling backward, the brush 7 rotates clockwise and, consequently, the dust is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9 on theopposite side to be taken in the dust receiver 8 on the same side.

During the travel of the housing 2, the dust guiding plate 9 slides on the floor surface and the rollers 1 1 roll on the floor surface, thereby depressing bulky dust. The cavity 10 surrounding the brush 7 is kept close to the floor surface, so that even when a fine dust is made to float in the air by the rotation of the brush 7, it flows to the outside of this cavity 10.

Next, in the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, with the rotation of the brush 7a, the dust lying on the floor is collected, and when the brush 7a is rotating in one direction, the dust is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9 disposed in the direction of said rotation, is thrown out by centrifugal force at the point where the brush 7a parts from the side cover plate 4, I

strikes against the guide plate 23 and is deflected into the dust receiver 8. On the other hand, when the brush 7a rotates adversely, the dust is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9 disposed in the direction of said rotation, strikes against the guide plate 23 and is deflected into the dust receiver 8. The functions of other parts of the construction are the same as that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 and, therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted herein.

Further, in. the case of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the

brushes

7b and 7b are devised to rotate in opposite directions. Referring to FIG. 9, when the brush 7b to sweep the right side is rotating in one direction, the dust collected is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9b disposed in the direction of rotation of the brush 7b and is directly taken in the dust receiver 8b disposed in the same direction. On the other hand, when the brush 7b is rotating in the opposite direction, the dust collected is swept up along the dust guiding plate 9b disposed on the opposite side, is thrown out by centrifugal force at the point where the brush 7b parts from the dust guiding plate 9b, strikes against the guide plate 23b and is deflected into the dust receiver 8b.

The operation of the other brush 7b is directly opposite to that of the brush 7b. The functions of other parts of the construction are the same as that in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 and, therefore, the explanation thereof is omitted herein.

What is claimed is:

l. A floor sweeper, comprising:

box-shaped hollow housing means having an opening in the bottom thereof;

wheel means rotatably supported on said housing means for movably supporting said housing means on a support surface so that said housing means can be moved along said support surface in a sweeping direction which is substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of said wheel means;

endless beltlike brush means disposed within said housing means and having a lower reach positioned adjacent said opening for engagement with the support surface, said beltlike brush means being provided with a plurality of bristles which have outer end portions, the outer end portions of the bristles associated with the lower reach projecting outwardly of said opening for engaging the support surface;

means supporting said endless beltlike brush means for rotation within a plane which is substantially perpendicular to said sweeping direction;

driving means interconnected between said wheel means and said brush means for causing rotation of said brush means responsive to rotation of said wheel means; dust receiver means positioned within said housing means adjacent said brush means for receiving therein the dust swept up by said brush means; and

elongated handle means connected to said housing means and projecting outwardly therefrom for permitting manual displacement of said housing means in said sweeping direction.

2. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, wherein said means supporting the brush means for rotation includes a pair of substantially parallel shafts rotatably supported on said housing means above said opening, said shafts being disposed with their rotational axes extending substantially parallel to said sweeping direction, said driving means being drivingly interconnected between said wheel means and one of said shafts.

3. A floor sweeper according to claim 2, wherein said wheel means includes a pair of rotatable wheels disposed adjacent the opposite sides of said housing means and an elongated axle rotatably supported on said housing means and extending thereacross, said pair of wheels being fixedly connected to said axle adjacent the opposite free ends thereof, said axle extending in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to said shafts, and said driving means including meshing gear means drivingly connecting said axle to said one shaft.

4. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, including first and second elongated resilient rollers rotatably supported in said housing means adjacent the forward and rearward portions thereof so that said beltlike brush means is disposed between said pair of rollers, said rollers being disposed for rotation about substantially parallel horizontally extending axes which extend substantially perpendicular to said sweeping direction, said first and second rollers being positioned so that the lower peripheries thereof rollingly engage the support surface to effectively define the front and rear edges of said opening.

5. A floor sweeper according to claim 4, including a pair of dust guiding plates mounted on said housing means adjacent the opposite sides thereof, said plates having resilient edge portions which project downwardly for engaging the support surface, said edge portions defining the sides of said opening, said edge portions being positioned adjacent the opposite ends of said brush means and having an interior curvature which coacts with the brush means to enable the dust removed from the support surface to be swept upwardly into the housing means for deposit in the dust receiving means.

6. A floor sweeper according to claim 5, wherein each of said rollers has a conical configuration adjacent the end thereof, and the resilient edge portions extending beyond the brush means and slidably engaging the conical end portions of the rollers.

7. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, including a pair of dust guiding plates mounted on said housing means adjacent the opposite sides thereof, said plates having resilient edge portions which project downwardly for engaging the support surface, said edge portions defining the sides of said opening, said edge portions being positioned adjacent the opposite ends of said brush means and having an interior curvature which coacts with the brush means to enable the dust removed from the support surface to be swept upwardly into the housing means for deposit in the dust receiving means.

8. A floor sweeper according to claim 7, wherein the resilient edge portion has a tapered knifelike edge positioned for engagement with the support surface.

9. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, wherein said brush means includes first and second endless belt-type brushes supported for rotation in a plane substantially perpendicular to said sweeping direction, said first and second brushes being transversely and laterally spaced with respect to one another, said first brush extending from a position adjacent one side of the housing means to a position which is disposed on the opposite side of the housing centerline but spaced a substantial distance from the other side of the housing means, and said second brush extending from a position closely adjacent the other side of said ho using means to a position which is disposed on the opposite side of the housing centerline but is spaced a substantial distance from said one side of the housing means.

10. A floor sweeper according to claim 9, wherein said dust receiver means includes a first dust receptacle positioned between said other side of the housing means and the adjacent end of said first brush substantially in alignment with the plane of movement of first brush, a second dust receptacle positioned between said one side of the housing means and the adjacent end of said second brush and substantially in alignment with the plane of movement of said second brush, a third dust receptacle disposed adjacent said one side of said housing means and spaced sidewardly from but adjacent to the other end of said first brush, and a fourth dust receiving receptacle disposed adjacent said other side of the housing means and spaced sidewardly from but closely adjacent the other end of the second brush.

11. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, wherein said dust receiving means includes first and second dust receptacles disposed adjacent the opposite sides of said housing means and positioned adjacent the opposite ends of said brush means.

12. A floor sweeper, comprising:

box-shaped hollow housing means provided with an opening on the bottom thereof;

rotatable brush means rotatably supported within said housing means and positioned so that a portion of said brush means projects through said opening for rubbing along a support surface, such as a floor, in a direction which crosses the direction of travel of said housing means;

means for causing rotation of said brush means so that said portion thereof rubs along the support surface in said crossing direction;

dust receiver means positioned within said housing means and disposed adjacent said brush means for receiving therein the dust swept up by said brush means; and

dust guiding plate means for permitting the dust removed from the support surface to be swept upwardly into the housing means for deposit in the dust receiving means, said plate means being mounted on said housing means adjacent the bottom thereof and disposed to extend along one side of said opening in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the housing means, said plate means facing the brush means and having a lower platelike end portion extending below the brush means to the vicinity of the point of contact between the brush means and the support surface, the lower platelike end portion being adapted for sliding contact with the support surface.

13. A floor sweeper according to claim 12, including first and second elongated rollers rotatably supported in said housing means adjacent the front and rear sides of the housing means, said first and second rollers being supported for rotation about substantially parallel axis which extend horizontally in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of said housing means, said brush means being positioned between said first and second rollers, each of said rollers having the lower portion thereof projecting downwardly for engagement with the support surface and the side edges of said rollers being disposed close to said dust receiving plate means.

14. A floor sweeper according to claim 13, wherein said first and second rollers are constructed'of a resilient elastomeric material, and wherein at least the lower platelike end portion of said dust guiding plate means is also constructed of an elastomeric material.

Claims

1. A floor sweeper, comprising: box-shaped hollow housing means having an opening in the bottom thereof; wheel means rotatably supported on said housing means for movably supporting said housing means on a support surface so that said housing means can be moved along said support surface in a sweeping direction which is substantially perpendicular to the rotational axis of said wheel means; endless beltlike brush means disposed within said housing means and having a lower reach positioned adjacent said opening for engagement with the support surface, said beltlike brush means being provided with a plurality of bristles which have outer end portions, the outer end portions of the bristles associated with the lower reach projecting outwardly of said opening for engaging the support surface; means supporting said endless beltlike brush means for rotation within a plane which is substantially perpendicular to said sweeping direction; driving means interconnected between said wheel means and said brush means for causing rotation of said brush means responsive to rotation of said wheel means; dust receiver means positioned within said housing means adJacent said brush means for receiving therein the dust swept up by said brush means; and elongated handle means connected to said housing means and projecting outwardly therefrom for permitting manual displacement of said housing means in said sweeping direction.

9. A floor sweeper according to claim 1, wherein said brush means includes first and second endless belt-type brushes supported for rotation in a plane substantially perpendicular to said sweeping direction, said first and second brushes being transversely and laterally spaced with respect to one another, said first brush extending from a position adjacent one side of the housing means to a position which is disposed on the opposite side of the housing centerline but spaced a substantial distance from the other side of the housing means, and said second brush extending from a position closely adjacent the other side of said housing means to a position which is disposed on the opposite side of the housing centerline but is spaced a substantial distance from said one side of the housing means.

12. A floor sweeper, comprising: box-shaped hollow housing means provided with an opening on the bottom thereof; rotatable brush means rotatably supported within said housing means and positioned so that a portion of said brush means projects through said opening for rubbing along a support surface, such as a floor, in a direction which crosses the direction of travel of said housing means; means for causing rotation of said brush means so that said portion thereof rubs along the support surface in said crossing direction; dust receiver means positioned within said housing means and disposed adjacent said brush means for receiving therein the dust swept up by said brush means; and dust guiding plate means for permitting the dust removed from the support surface to be swept upwardly into the housing means for deposit in the dust receiving means, said plate means being mounted on said housing means adjacent the bottom thereof and disposed to extend along one side of said opening in a direction substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the housing means, said plate means facing the brush means and having a lower platelike end portion extending below the brush means to the vicinity of the point of contact between the brush means and the support surface, the lower platelike end portion being adapted for sliding contact with the support surface.

14. A floor sweeper according to claim 13, wherein said first and second rollers are constructed of a resilient elastomeric material, and wherein at least the lower platelike end portion of said dust guiding plate means is also constructed of an elastomeric material.