Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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~ATEP~ BROQ~ APPA~,TU~
BACRGROU~ID OF T~E I~VENTIO~
The inven~ion o this application applie5 to
water brooms which can be used to clean pavement and the
like by spraying water under soft pressure from several
nozzles simultaneously.
Water brooms are known in the prior art. One
` such prior art water broom is a T-shaped structure having a
: generally uprigh~ or "leg" member, and having a cross
member, in which the leg ~ember of the "T" serves as a
handle for controlling the water broom,- ana as a conduit
for channelling water to the cross m~mber of the "Tn. The
cross member is mounted on wheels and has several water
dispensing nozzles aIigned in a row along the cross member
for spraying water onto the pavement.
The leg and cross members in prior art wa~er
brooms are joined by using an internally threaded ~ipe
sheath whi~h is welded to the center of the cross member
and into which the leg Member is threaded.
The wheels in prior art water brooms are mounted
indirectly to the cross member. Two brackets are mounted to the
cross member and then the wheels are attached to the brackets at
a point on the bracket away from the cross piece.
This prior art wa-ter broom is built of a plurality of
separate fabricated pieces. It is a strong and durable device,
and is well suited to the commercial and industrial application
for which it is designed. However, the prior art broom has the -~
formidable disadvantage that it is expensive, because of its
design, to fabricate and to assemble and the consumer market for
such water brooms is, therefore, greatly limited. A new design
which is simpler to fabricate, having few component parts and
capable of being ~uickly and simply assembled, yet which is still
strong and durable, is needed in order to increase the market- -
ability of the water broom.
SUMMARY OF THE INV~NTION
The present invention addresses itself to the men-
tioned needs for improving on the prior water broom.
Stated in general terms, the present invention seeks
to provide a water broom which is of simplified and inexpensive
construction and which consistently results in a structure having
fewer parts to be fabricated and subsequently assembled.
The invention in its broader aspects pertains to a
water broom apparatus including a water dispensing member com-
prising a unitary elongated hollow tube having a pair of opposed ``
ends and an intermediate portion and a water conducting handle
means which is jolned at an end to the interme~iate portion of
the water dispensing member. Each end of the hollow unitary
tube has a portion which is a unitary part of the tube and which
is substantially pinched flat to provide a watertight seal of
the unitary hollow tube at each end thereof. Wheel means are
secured to each o:E the flattened end portions and operative to
maintain the unitary hollow tube in elevated relation above a
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support surface on which the wheels rest.
Pre~erably there is an improved connector means for
interconnecting the water dispensing member and the water con-
duits handle means. The improved connector means is a
modified "T" joint, that is, the joint has two pipe sheaths
attached to one another in perpendicular alignment. The
joint is modified by removing a longitudinal section from the
sheath which holds the cross member such that the sheath has '~
an approximate "C" profile and does not completely encircle
the circumference of the cross member. This new modified
"T" joint greatly simplifies and speeds up assembly of the
water broom. The handle means is threaded into its respective `
sheath and the "C" shaped sheath is simply disposed over `;
the diameter of the water dispensing member after a binding
cement has been locally applied.
These and other aspects of the invention will
become apparent from reference to the following description, ~;~
attached drawings and appended claims.
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i~ BRIEF DESCP~IPTION o~ ~HE D~ 1INGS
I Fig. 1 is a pic~orial view of an e~bodiment of
~, the water broom in accordance with th2 present in~ention.
1, - Fig. 2 is a ~ragmented front view of the water
li broom in Fig. 1. ~ -
I ¦ Fig. 3 is an isolated, ~utaway view showin~ the
joining o~ the leg and cross me.mbers.
Fig. 4 is an isolated, cutaway vie~w of the 1at
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~ounting and sealing sur~ace of the cross member.
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- DETAILED DESCRIPTIO~I . -
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l Referring now to the drawings in which like
- ¦ co~ponents have like numerals, Fig. 1 shows the water ~room
I 10 of the present invention. The water broom 10 has a "T"
-¦ shaped frame compris-ing a first wzter channelling pipe
referred to as the leg member 11 and a second water
conducting pipe, re~err2d to as the cross mem~er }2. There
are a plurality of water spraying nozzles 13 threaded into
~¦ the cross mem~er 12 in a line along the length of the cross
20 ll ~ember. These no~zles 13 are threaaed into nozzle holes 14
hich ar2 drilled into the cross member 12. The ends 15 of
ll the cross mem~er 1~ hava been pinchea flat and serve as
- li mounting surfaces 15 for the caster wheels 16. ~ ~olt hole
¦¦ 17 is drilled in each flat end 15. The caster wheels 16
11 are mounted to the mounting surfaces 15 by b~lts 18
extending through the bolt holes 17~ 1
The pinched flat ends 15 o~ the cross member 1
serve a second function o~ sealing the ends 15 of the cr~ss
member 1~ to make th~ ends water tight. To more
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_ i eÇfectively seal these ends lS, a quantity of bonding
cement ~0 (see Fig~ 4) is ap?lie~ .o the inside ~eams 21 of
the ~lattened ends 15. This cement 20 is applied, after
Il the ends 15 have been plnched flat, by inserting ~
5 ¦¦ cement-ap~licating nozzle through the end ones of ~he
nozzle holes 14 prior to inserting the corresponding
nozzles 13~
¦ The leg menber 11 and cross m~mber 12 are joined
I ¦ together by wha~ shall be re~erred to as a modified nTn
joint 24 ~see Fig. 3). The "T" joint 24 comprises two
pipe engaging couplers disclosed in this embodiment as two
cylindrical pipe sheaths 25, 26 integrally formed in
- - per~enaicular relationship to one another. These pipe
sheaths 25, 26 are herein referred to-~s the leg me~ber
1~ pipe sheath 25 and cross member pipe sheath 26. In this
way the double pipP sheath "T" joint 24 suppor.s the leg
and cross members 11, 12 iA perpendicular relationship.
l The nT" joint 2~ is modified by removing a longitudinal
¦ cross sectian ~rom the cross member pipe sheath ~6. As
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~ seen in Fi~. 3 the cross member pipe sheath 26 now
I 1 resembles a "C" in pro~ile. The leg member 11 has a water
¦¦ inlet 28 and a water outlet 29 (within the "T" joint 24).
¦ The ~Tn joint 24 has a hollow water pas~age 30 connecting
¦ the two pipe sheaths 25,-26. The cross memher 12 has a
~25 ¦ water inlet 31 intermediate of its ends 15 and over which
¦ the "T" joint 24 is ~ositione~.
¦ To assemble the water broom 10, the leg ~ember 11
is threaded into the leg member pipe sbeath 25 of the "T~
joint 24 and the c~oss me~be~ 12 is snapped into the cFoss
. 5 '.
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2~`b
ember pipe sheath 26. ~he cross ~ember 12 is held firmly
'i in its pipe sheath 26 by the pinchin~ act;on of the "C"
shaped sheath ~6 and by bonding ce~.en~
. I The water broom 10, especially the leg ana cross
~ me~bers 11, 12, i~ preferably ~ade of a hard pIastic
¦ material such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or ~he like. By
using such plastic materials, fabrication oE the water
broom 10 is greatly facilitated. Tnis is especially true-
. .of t~e wheel ~ounting surfaces 15 o the cross. member l2
10which can be readily formed by.heating the plastic and
. pressing it in a suitable ~old or other forming de~ice.
. .In operation, a water source is attached to the
: : . les me~ber water inlet 28 and is channeled through the leg
.member I2, through the "T" joint water ~zssage 30, into the
15cross member 12 at the cross ~ember water inlet 31 and out
. . of the spray nozzles 13. The leg member ll.serves as a
.~ . handle to direct movement of thQ water broom 10~ The
¦. caster wheels 16 hold the cross member 12 o~f the pavement
or like surface and make the water broom easily movable
I over the pavement as water is 9prayed undar soft pressure
onto the pave~ent.
. ~hile this invention has been described in detail
with particulàr reference to preferr~d embodi~nts thereoE,
: ....... it will be understood that variations and ~odl~ications can
l be e~e~ted within the spirit and SCO~Q of.~he in~ention as
described hereinbefore and as deined in the appended
. 1 claims.
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