Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ROTARY BRUSH WITH DECREASED TRASH THROW OUTSIDE SWATF3
s This invention is in the field of cleaning equipment and
brushes, and more particularly deals with improvements to the
bristles on a rotary brush which will result in a decreased
amount of debris being thrown outside of the swath of the
brush.
o
BACKGROUND:
The particular field to which the present invention pertains
i5 is that of mechanical street sweepers such as that disclosed
in Canadian Patent Application Ser. No. 2, 020, 201 by Hulicsko.
The main element of this sweeping mechanism is a large rotary
pickup brush which is mounted at the rear Qf the chassis of
the street sweeper. This pickup brush sweeps debris forward
zo towards the front of the street sweeper and into an elevator
which in turn deposits the debris in a hopper for eventual
removal from the street sweeper unit.
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The pickup brush of these street sweeping units is a variation
on a very basic design. A cylindrical brush core is rotatably
mounted on axis parallel to the rear of the street sweeping
unit such that the core can be rotated in a circle towards the
s remainder of the street sweeping unit. Bristle assemblies are
attached about the outer surface of the brush core such that
as the brush core is rotated towards the remainder of the
street sweeping unit, debris can be swept from the surface
passing below the pickup brush into the elevator. The pick-up
xo brush can be raised or lowered.
A great deal of effort has been concentrated in the art on the
mounting of the pickup brush and the elevator in relation to
the chassis of the unit such that the swath of the pickup
is brush is wide enough to cleanly sweep and collect debris froze
the surface being swept in irregular situations such as during
the turning of corners.
The bristle assemblies themselves generally consist of a
zo straight mounting bar from which extend a number of pliable
bristles made of plastic, metal or another material. The
bristles extend straight out from the mounting bar. In order
that debris swept forward by the bristle assembly be swept
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towards the center of the street sweeping unit and not off to
one side, the bristle assemblies axe mounted straight across
the brush core such that as each bristle assembly is rotated
into brushing position along the relative bottom of the brush
s core, in contact with the surface being cleaned, the mounting
bar of the bristle assembly and the row of bristles extending
'therefrom are parallel to the collection area of the elevator.
To view such a conventional pickup brush fxom the side, the
bristles extend outwards approximately xadially from the
io center of the brush core. The radial orientation of the
bristles and bristle assemblies in relation to the brush core
provides for the most effective and most aggressive brushing
movement by the bristles as they pass over the surface being
cleaned.
is
The bristle assemblies are generally removable from the brush
core individually, such that they can be changed from time to
time as the bristles wear down.
:o There is one problem inherent in the mounting of these bristle
assemblies across the brush core. As can be imagined, the
pliable bristles towards each end of each bristle assembly
will in many cases flick dust or debris up and outside of the
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swath of the pickup brush as they sweep across the surface and
then will come away from the surface and snap back into their
resting position as the brush continues to rotate. In street
sweepers using such a basic pickup brush, the problem exists
of small deposits or rows of debris being deposited or left on
the surface being cleaned along the edges of the pickup brush
swath.
The first attempts to avoid this problem involved the addition
~to of retaining walls extending back from the elevator to a
position past the side of the pickup brush. In the industry
these are commonly referred to as drag shoes. The drag shoes
axe allowed to drag along the street surface and stop any
debris from flying outside of the swath of the pickup brush.
is One of the major problems with street sweepers using drag
shoes, as is evident from the name of that component, is that
the constant drag of thESe debris guides on the road surface
results in their need to be changed quite regularly due to
wear and tear. In addition to the downtime of the street
Zo sweeping unit during the change of such components, there is
considerable additional cost both in terms of labor and parts,
to maintain these parts in working condition. It is
particularly problematic because as the drag shoes wEar, their
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effectiveness is decreased. Drag shoes are also not
completely effective in a situation where the surface being
cleaned is very dirty.
s Other attempts have being made to decreased the side to side
throw of debris outside of the swath of the pickup brush such
that the need for the drag shoes is decreased, or their
effectiveness is increased due to less debris being thrown in
their direction. One such attempt which is known in the art
~o is the modification of the shape of the bristle assemblies.
One way of narrowing or eliminating the overthrow of the
pickup brush outside of its swath is to aim the bristles near
each end of each bristle assembly towards the center of the
is swath. In at least one case, manufacturers in the industry
have attempted to address this problem by changing the shape
of the mounting bar of the bristle assembly from that of a
straight bar to that of a modified arc. This prior art method
is demonstrated in Figures 1 and 2.
There axe several problems associated with the changing of the
overall shape of the bristle assembly. In the case of the
mounting bar of the bristle assembly being modified from a
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straight bar into a semi circle, the first problem which is
encountered is that it is impossible to properly control the
amount of debris which is swept to the center of the swath.
If the arc of the mounting bar is not sharp enough, the
s performance of the bristle is not satisfactory and debris is
still thrown out to the sides. Tf the arc is too much, all of
the debris is thrown to the center of the elevator which does
not work either. Where all of the debris is moved towards the
center of the swath, the performance of the elevator can be
~o detrimentally affected because too much debris is moved
towards the center of the unit. The elevator may have trouble
picking up all of this debris, and the extreme ends of the
elevator will be under utilized. As well, whexe too much
debris is thrown to the center of the swath the bristles at
xs the center of the swath will not work effectively and they
will pass over some of the debris.
A second serious problem which is encountered with altering
the shape of the mounting bar of the bristle assembly is that
20 of the increased complexity of assembling or maintaining the
pickup brush. I't will be far more difficult to mount the
bristle assemblies on the brush core. Additional mounting
hardware may be required, and certainly additional time will
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be necessary to properly mount the bristle assemblies on the
brush core. Tt would likely be much more difficult to remove
individual bristle assemblies from the brush core for repair
or maintenance. In addition to the increased difficulty in
using a semi circular shaped bristle assembly, they would also
bE more difficult to manufacture.
As well, the overall sweeping behavior of the pickup brush is
detrimentally affected by these alterations to the shape of
1o the mounting bar, since most of the bristles do not extend
outwards radially from the axis of the brush core.
Some of the problems encountered with the semi circular
bristle assembly might be avoided by providing for a modified
xs straight mounting bar in each bristle assembly where only
portions of the mounting bar closest to each end of said
mounting bar would be bent into a semi circular pattern
directing bristle throw towards the center of the brush swath.
While this might alleviate some of the problems associated
ao with the movement of all of the debris to the center of the
swath, and the ability of the elevator to deal with all of the
debris being deposited at its center point, the problems
encountered in the manufacture, installation and the use of
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the semi-circular bristle assemblies would still exist.
It would be advantageous to be able to reduce the amount of
debris thrown outside of the swath of the pickup brush on a
s street sweeper without having to change the shape of the
mounting bar of the bristle assemblies from being straight,
since the straight bristle assemblies are far easier to mount,
build and maintain. In addition, being able to maintain the
orientation of the bristles of the bristle assemblies when
o mounted as extending outwards approximately radially from the
center of the brush core provides for the most aggressive
cleaning motion by the pickup brush.
15 SL1I~IARY O~' THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a rotary
brush for use in such applications as the pickup brush on a
mechanical street sweeper which brush would decrease the
ao amount of debris or dust thrown outside of the path or swath
of the brush.
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Optimally, in a mechanical street sweeper application, it is
the object of the present invention to provide significant
enough reduction in the amount of debris thrown outside of the
swath of the brush to eliminate or significantly reduce the
s need for drag shoes.
It is the further object of the present invention to provide
such a rotary brush with the ability to decrease the amount of
debris thrown outside the swath of the brush, wherein the
1o portion of the mounting bar of each bristle assembly which is
used to attach the bristle assembly to the brush core remains
straight.
The invention, a rotary brush with decreased trash throw
xs outside the swath of the brush, accomplishes its objects
comprising a cylindrical brush core, which brush core can be
rotatably mounted in position at its axis of rotation from its
ends: and a plurality of bristle assemblies attached about the
outer circumference of said brush core, each said bristle
ao assembly comprising a mounting bar having a brush attachment
edge for attachment to the brush core and a bristle mounting
edge, and pliable bristles attached along the bristle mounting
edge of said mounting bar, wherein the brush attachment edge
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is straight along its entire length and when attached to the
brush core is approximately parallel to the axis of the brush
core, and wherein the bristle mounting edge of said mounting
bar is angled inwards towards the centre of the mounting bar
s at one or both ends at an angle of deflection, which will
result in the bristles mounted along these angled portions of
said bristle mounting edge being deflected towards the centre
of the mounting bar while the remainder of the bristles remain
parallel to the axis of the brush core.
io
Since the majority of the bristles of the bristle assembly of
the present invention will be mounted such that they extend
outwards approximately radially from the centre of the brush
core, the sweeping motion of the bristle assembly and rotary
is brush of the present invention will be more aggressive than
those rotary brushes employing semi circular bristle
assemblies. As well, since the angled portions of each end of
the bristle assembly do not extend all the way to the centre
of the bristle assembly, i.e. a v shape is not formed, debris
Zo swept forward by the brush will not be thrown all the way to
the centre of 'the swath and the elevator can then be counted
on to work at its maximum efficiency.
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The mounting bar of the present invention, with its straight
brush attachment edge and angled bristle mounting edge, could
be manufactured by die or by any number of other conventional
art methods.
The bristles could be made of plastic, metal or any other
conventional material.
The angle of deflection at each end of the bristle assembly
~o could be adjusted in manufacture for various situations and it
will be understood that various angles are contemplated within
the scope of the present invention.
Since the brush attachment edge of each bristle assembly would
is remain straight, the assembly of the rotary brush of the
present invention by attaching the bristle assemblies to the
brush core would be quick and easy since they are all attached
in straight lines. The labour requirements would be less and
the mounting hardware might also be decreased. Repair of the
zo brush by replacement a removal of individual bristle
assemblies would also be easier.
Given the straight nature of the brush attachment edge of the
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bristle assembly of the present invention, it will be
understood that the bristle assembly of the present invention
could also be used as a retrofit item on older cylindrical
brush cores. This would allow for the modification of
s preexisting street sweeping equipment or other rotary brush
equipment for increased performance and reduced throw outside
of the swath of the brush.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions
hereof, preferred embodiments are provided in the accompanying
detailed description which may be best understood in
is conjunction with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in
each of the several diagrams axe labeled with like numbers,
and where:
Figure 1 shows the mounting bar of a traditional straight
zo bristle assembly, as well as the mounting bar of
semicircular bristle assembly, and the mounting bar of
the bristle assembly of the present invention;
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Figure 2 shows the prior art bristle assembly which is
formed into a semicircle to direct debxis to the center
of the swath;
s Figure 3 demonstrates an embodiment of the bristle
assembly of the present invention;
Figure 4 shows an end cross section rotary brush
employing the bristle assemblies of Figure 3, which
~o demonstrates the angled ends of the bristle assemblies;
and
Figure 5 is a cross section of the center of the brush of
Figure 4, demonstrating the radial disposition of the
i5 majority of the bristles.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS:
20 XX
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Thus it can be seen that the invention accomplishes all of its
stated objectives. The foregoing is considered as
illustrative only of the principles of the invention.
s Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily
occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit
the invention to the exact construction and operation shown
and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or
modifications in structure or operation which may be resorted
to axe intended to fall within the scope of the claimed
invention.
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