Floor or carpet sweeper

A floor or carpet sweeper has a hollow housing provided on its lower side with a plurality of floor-engaging wheels. The bottom of the housing is closed by means of a cover plate which is pivoted on the housing about an axis perpendicular to the forward and backward direction of travel of the housing during sweeping. This cover plate is formed with a throughgoing hole and is provided with upwardly bent tabs on which a cylindrical brush is rotatably mounted, this brush extending through the hole in the plate. In addition the ends of the brush are engageable with the wheels when the cover plate is closed on the housing so that the brush is rotatably driven by these wheels. A magnet holds the cover plate in place on the bottom of the housing and engages against an inclined surface on this cover plate. This magnet can be moved along the inclined surfaces so as to vary the height setting of the brush.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
This application is related to the commonly assigned and copending patent 
application 662,934 filed Mar. 1, 1976. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a floor or carpet sweeper. More 
particularly this invention relates to such a sweeper having a cylindrical 
brush rotatable about an axis transverse to the normal direction of travel 
of the sweeper over a surface being cleaned. 
Such a floor-sweeper is already known and in widespread use and usually 
includes a housing in which there are mounted bearings for the shafts of 
driving wheels which rotate in engagement with the surface being cleaned 
and which drive the cylindrical brush into rotation about its axis. The 
housing usually includes a rigid circumferential frame, and the bearings 
for the shafts of the driving wheels are usually located in the lateral 
regions of the housing adjacent the lateral walls of the circumferential 
frame. The conventional housing further includes a cover which closes that 
side of the housing which faces away from the surface to be swept during 
the use of the cleaning device. 
In this conventional floor-sweeper, the bearings are constituted as 
discrete elements which are separate from the housing and also separetely 
manufactured, such bearings having guiding and connecting portions. The 
frame of the housing of this conventional floor-sweeper then includes 
complementary guides in which the guiding portions of the bearing elements 
are received, the connecting portions of the bearings connecting them to 
the housing and preventing the bearings from moving relative to the 
housing once they have been assembled. 
Experience with this type of floor-sweeper has shown that their manufacture 
is rather complex and consequently expensive for several reasons. First of 
all it is necessary in such a conventional floor-sweeper to separately 
produce the frame of the housing of the floor-sweeper device and the 
respective bearings, and then employ a separate assembling operation in 
which the bearings are introduced into the guiding portions of the frame 
of the housing, properly positioned in such guiding portions, and 
connected to the frame in such proper positions. On the other hand, the 
respective components which together form the housing, that is the frame 
and the bearing elements, must have sufficiently large wall thickness for 
the frame and the bearings to have the required rigidity, which is 
especially true when the various components are made of synthetic plastic 
material. The consumption of material is further increased by the need for 
providing the various guiding portions on the frame and on the bearing 
elements, which guiding portions then either cause or call for a further 
increase in the wall thickness of the various components. The increased 
material consumption not only increases the cost of manufacturing the 
device, but also make the floor-cleaning device rather bulky, heavy, and 
unwieldy. 
In such a convention floor-sweeper the bottom of the housing is closed by 
means of a cover plate which is pivoted usually at the back of the housing 
about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the cylindrical brush and 
perpendicular to the normal direction of travel of the sweeper. This cover 
plate can be pivoted away from the housing in order to expose the 
dust-receiving receptacles and allow the sweeper to be emptied out after a 
cleaning operation. 
The disadvantage of this type of construction is that the dust in the 
receptacles often catches on the brush requiring vigorous shaking of the 
apparatus so that its cleaning-out is an onerous job. 
Furthermore such arrangements normally do not allow for a simple adjustment 
of the relative heights of the brush and the wheels so that the device 
cannot be used on bare floors or high-pile carpets. In some of the 
arrangements which have a height adjustment for the brush the complicated 
mechanism required for such height adjustment increases the cost and 
complexity of the sweeper considerably. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to avoid the 
disadvantages of the prior art floor-sweeping devices. 
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
cleaning device in which the housing can be manufactured in a simple and 
economical manner. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device 
of the type here under discussion which is simple in construction and 
inexpensive to manufacture. 
A concomitant object of the present invention is to so construct the 
housing of the floor-cleaning device that it can be manufactured in a 
simple way of one piece, such as in an injection-molding operation. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a housing for use 
in a floor-sweeping device which is very light in weight but sufficiently 
rigid nevertheless. 
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a cleaning 
device the component parts of which can be very easily assembled. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a floor sweeper which 
can readily be cleaned out. 
A final object of the present invention is the provision of a floor sweeper 
wherein the main roller height can readily be adjusted. 
These objects are attained according to the present invention in a floor 
sweeper of the above-defined general type wherein means is provided on the 
bottom cover plate for rotatably mounting the brush. Thus, in accordance 
with this invention when the housing is opened up for cleaning the brush 
is displaced out of the way along with the bottom cover plate. This 
mounting means comprises in accordance with this invention pins aligned 
with the rotation axis of the brush and either carried on the ends of the 
brush engaging at holes and tabs on the plate or carried on tabs on the 
plate and engaged in holes at the ends of the brush. Such mounting is 
relatively inexpensive to carry out in practice and at the same time 
provides a very sure and sturdy mounting of the sweeping brush. 
According to yet another feature of this invention the cover plate is made 
of ferromagnetic sheet metal and is formed with a bent up tongue having an 
inclined surface which is engageable with a magnet carried on the housing 
and constituting means for varying the height of the bottom cover plate 
and, therefore, of the brush relative to the housing. This magnet can be 
displaced via a handle accessible from outside the housing in order to 
allow height adjustment of the brush. Furthermore, according to this 
invention indicia is provided connected to the magnet and visible through 
a window on the housing so that the user can readily ascertain what height 
the brush is set at. 
According to another feature of this invention the sweeper comprises a 
housing having a longitudinal and a transverse axis and transversely 
spaced lateral regions. The housing includes a pair of support walls or 
webs at each of the lateral regions of the housing and extending 
substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing with 
transverse spacing from one another. A plurality of wheels is mounted on 
the support webs intermediate same for rotation in engagement with the 
surface to be cleaned, the mounting means for the wheels including bearing 
recesses in the support walls, having open ends facing toward the surface 
to be cleaned, mounting shafts for the wheels having mounting portions 
supported in the bearing recesses, and at least one cover mounted on the 
housing and having closing portions which close the open ends of the 
bearing recesses. In the currently preferred embodiment of the invention, 
the housing further includes a frame which has longitudinally spaced front 
and rear walls and transversely spaced lateral walls, and the support webs 
are situated between the respective lateral walls of the frame and the 
longitudinal axis. The frame is thus open both toward and away from the 
surface to be cleaned, so that it can be manufactured in a simple manner 
in a simple mold, particularly since the pairs of the support webs which 
are provided with the bearing recesses which are open toward the surface 
to be cleaned can be shaped or molded without encountering any 
difficulties. On the other hand, the provision of the support webs 
increases the stability of the frame so that the thickness of the frame, 
and particularly of the lateral walls thereof, can be much smaller than 
heretofore known. In this manner, a substantial saving of the material of 
which the housing is made is obtained. 
According to a further concept of the present invention, the housing may 
further include a plurality of reinforcing walls which extend between and 
are rigidly connected with the respective lateral walls and the respective 
support webs of the housing. The reinforcing walls may extend not only 
between the support webs of each pair, but also between the inner ones of 
the support webs of the pairs of support webs which are located at 
opposite lateral regions of the housing. In this manner the rigidity of 
the frame is further improved. 
In a currently preferred embodiment of the present invention the closing 
portions of the cover include complementary bearing recesses which are 
open toward and aligned with the bearing recesses of the support webs. 
Thus, the mounting portions of the mounting shafts of the wheels are 
reliably received in the bearing recesses. 
The cover is provided, in a known manner, with arresting arms which are 
formed with arresting banks or projections cooperating with detent 
recesses and detachably connecting the cover to the housing and support 
walls thereof. In this manner, a particularly simple assembling operation 
of the floor-sweeper is obtained, particularly since it is merely 
sufficient to introduce the mounting portions of the mounting shafts of 
the wheels into the respective bearing recesses and then to connect a 
cover to the frame by means of the arresting arms. A simple pressing of 
the cover against the frame is sufficient to connect the cover to the 
frame. On the other hand it is equally possible to disassemble the cover 
from the frame by simply deflecting the arresting arms to thereby 
discontinue the snap-action connection of the latter with the detent 
recesses of the frame. 
According to another feature of this invention at least one cylindrical 
cleaning body constituting the above-mentioned brush is mounted in the 
housing for rotation about an axis which is substantially parallel to the 
transverse axis of the housing, and the wheels are in driving contact with 
the cylindrical cleaning body so as to rotate the same about the axis. In 
this embodiment, each complementary bearing recess and the associated 
bearing recess together form an elongated slot which is inclined with 
respect to a surface to be cleaned. Preferably, the elongated slot has one 
end which is closer to the cylindrical cleaning body and more spaced from 
the surface to be cleaned, and another and more spaced from from 
cylindrical cleaning body and closer to the surface to be cleaned so that 
the forces which act on the device during the use thereof displace the 
mounting portion of the mounting shaft toward the one end of the elongated 
slot and thus the respective cleaning body. In this manner, virtually 
skidless frictional engagement of the respective driving wheel with the 
cylindrical cleaning body is obtained. Preferably, the cleaning body is a 
cylindrical brush which has britles engageable with the surface to be 
cleaned. 
In a further currently preferred embodiment of the present invention, the 
housing includes a partition which extends substantially parallel to the 
transverse axis between the same and the front wall, and mounting walls 
extending between the partition and the front wall. This embodiment of the 
device of the present invention further comprises at least one 
corner-sweeping brush, at least one auxiliary wheel for driving the 
corner-sweeping brush, and means for supporting the corner-sweeping brush 
and the auxiliary wheel on the mounting walls so that the corner-sweeping 
brush rotates about a brush axis extending from the housing toward the 
surface to be cleaned. The supporting means of this embodiment supports 
the corner-sweeping brush at one of the lateral regions of the housing, 
and the corner-sweeping brush has bristles which extend radially outwardly 
of the brush axis and beyond the front wall and the respective lateral 
wall of the housing. In this manner, even the bearing for the 
corner-sweeping brush is likewise formed on the frame. The mounting walls 
of this embodiment can be formed or molded together with the frame in a 
simple manner, and the rigidity of the frame is further improved. 
The partition, each inner of the support webs, and the rear wall of the 
housing together circumferentially bound a confining space, and at least 
one dirt-collecting receptacle is mounted within the confining space. In 
this manner, the respective support walls and partition separate the 
spaces accommodating the bearings for the respective wheels and the 
bearing for the corner-sweeping brush from the confining space so that the 
dirt accumulating in the latter is prevented from reaching and soiling 
such bearings. 
The partition and the front wall of the housing together bound an enclosed 
space, and a closure closes the enclosed space in direction toward the 
surface to be cleaned. In this manner, the housing, which was originally 
open at its both ends facing either toward the surface to be cleaned or 
away from the same is closed even in this region. 
The closure is provided, in a known manner, with arresting arms which are 
equipped with arresting projections cooperating with detent recesses for 
detachable connection of the closure to connecting portions of the 
housing. In this manner, the closure is also attached to the frame of the 
housing in an exceedingly simple manner. 
It is further proposed by the present invention that the supporting means 
each include at least one auxiliary bearing recess which has an open end 
facing toward the surface to be cleaned, and an auxiliary shaft for the 
auxiliary wheel which is partly received in the auxiliary bearing recess, 
the closure having at least one auxiliary closing portion which closes the 
open end of the auxiliary bearing recess. The closure may have additional 
mounting walls which are aligned with the above-mentioned mounting walls 
of the housing and provided with the contact portions, and the respective 
closing portion may be shaped so as to circumferentially complete the 
bearing for the auxiliary shaft of the auxiliary wheel. This assures a 
very simple mounting of the auxiliary shaft of the auxiliary wheel in the 
housing. 
A further currently preferred embodiment of the present invention further 
comprises an additional corner-sweeping brush which is similar to the 
above-mentioned corner-sweeping brush, and the supporting means supports 
the corner-sweeping brush at one, and the additional corner-sweeping brush 
at the other lateral region of the housing. In this embodiment, the 
housing includes compartmenting walls which extend between the front wall 
and the partition and bound a compartment partially receiving the 
auxiliary wheel. 
The cleaning device of this embodiment further comprises means for carrying 
the auxiliary wheel on the compartmenting walls which includes additional 
bearing recess having open ends facing toward the surface to be cleaned, 
and an auxiliary mounting shaft partly received in the additional bearing 
recesses for rotation. In this embodiment, the corner-sweeping brush and 
the additional corner-sweeping brush each have a respective brush shaft. A 
bevel gear transmission is interposed between an auxiliary mounting shaft 
and each of the respective brush shafts and is operative for rotating the 
latter in response to rotation of the auxiliary shaft. As a result of this 
arrangement of the compartmenting walls, the auxiliary wheel is mounted in 
the housing in an especially simple manner, and also very reliably, 
especially when more than one compartmenting wall is arranged to each side 
of the auxiliary wheel. In the latter instance, the bearing for the 
auxiliary shaft is very broad, even though the individual compartmenting 
walls may be advantageously relatively thin. 
According to a further advantageous concept of the present invention the 
closure includes additional compartmenting walls which are aligned with 
the compartmenting walls of the housing when the closure is attached to 
the housing, the closure being provided with a passage for the auxiliary 
wheel intermediate the additional compartmenting walls and having 
additional closing portions which close the open ends of the additional 
bearing recesses. Advantageously, the additional closing portions are so 
configurated as to circumferentially complete the bearing recesses for the 
auxiliary shaft. In this manner, the auxiliary shaft of the auxiliary 
wheel is supported in a relatively broad bearing from all sides thereof. 
The corner-sweeping brush has a brush body and a brush shaft, and the 
mounting walls include at least one mounting wall portion which extends 
parallel to the surface to be cleaned. In this embodiment, the supporting 
means includes a bearing depression in the mounting wall portion adapted 
to receive an end portion of the brush shaft which is remote from the 
brush body. This mounting wall portion which extends parallel to the 
surface to be cleaned can also be formed in a simple manner and in a 
simple mold. 
The supporting means further includes an annular reinforcing portion on the 
mounting wall portion, the reinforcing portion circumferentially 
surrounding the bearing depression provided in the mounting wall portion 
which extends parallel to a surface to be cleaned. This reinforcing 
portion can also be easily formed together with the remainder of the 
housing, also in a very simple mode. 
Furthermore, the mounting walls may include at least one mounting wall 
section which extends between the partition and the front wall and 
substantially normal to the surface to be cleaned. The supporting means 
includes at least one further bearing recess which has an open end facing 
the surface to be cleaned, and an auxiliary shaft for the auxiliary wheel 
is partly received in the further bearing recess. In this embodiment, the 
closure has at least one further mounting wall section which is aligned 
with the mounting wall section of the housing when the closure is attached 
to the housing and which has a further closing portion which closes the 
open end of the further bearing recess. Thus, the auxiliary shaft which 
connects the auxiliary wheel with the corner-sweeping brush is also 
mounted on the housing at its region which is close to the shaft of the 
corner-sweeping brush. The bearing for this auxiliary shaft in this region 
is also very easy to manufacture. 
This embodiment for the present invention further comprises means for 
holding the corner-sweeping brush in the closure, the holding means 
including a bearing aperture in the closure for accommodating the end of 
the brush shaft which is close to the brush body. The brush body has an 
annular depression at the end thereof which faces the closure, and the 
closure has an outwardly bulging projection which is accommodated within 
the annular depression of the brush body and provided with the 
abovementioned aperture. This bearing for the close end of the brush shaft 
can also be formed in a very simple manner on the closure. 
The cleaning device of the present invention further comprises a protective 
cover for closing that end of the frame which faces away from the surface 
to be cleaned, the protective cover being of sheet metal. The profiled 
element has front and rear marginal portions which are inclined with 
respect to the remainder of the profiled element which forms the 
protective cover, and the frame includes clamping portions which receive 
and clamp the marginal portions of the profiled element. In this manner, 
that side of the frame of the housing which faces away from the surface to 
be cleaned can be closed in a very simple manner by merely pressing the 
sheet-metal profiled element against the frame of the housing. 
The profiled element which constitutes the protective cover has lateral 
marginal portions which are inclined with respect to the remainder of the 
profiled element, the inclined marginal portions abutting against the 
lateral wall portions of the frame of the housing. In this manner the 
floor-sweeping device of the present invention obtains a closed appearance 
at that side thereof which faces away from the surface being cleaned. 
The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention 
are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, 
however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together 
with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood 
from the followng description of a specific embodiment when read in 
connection with the accompanying drawing.

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1 thereof, it may be seen 
that the floor-sweeper 20 includes a housing 21 which includes a generally 
annular and circumferentially complete frame 22, and a cover 23 which is 
connected to the frame 22 and which closes that side of the frame 22 which 
faces away from the surface to be cleaned during the use of the device 20. 
The frame 22 is outwardly provided with recesses in which end portions of 
a bracket 24 are accommodated. An elongated handle 25 is connected to the 
bracket 24 and serves the purpose of moving the floor-sweeping device 20 
over the surface to be swept. The frame 22 circumferentially surrounds a 
space in which there are accommodated and mounted various brushes and also 
wheels which serve to support the housing 21 for movement over the surface 
to be swept and also for driving the various brushes. A cylindrical brush 
26 is mounted in the frame 22 which serves to pick up dirt from the 
surface to be cleaned by the floor-sweeper 20, and is rotatable about an 
axis which is transverse to the direction of movement of the housing 21 
over the surface to be swept. The cylindrical brush 26 is rotated with 
respect to the surface from which dirt is to be picked up by means of 
driving wheels 27 which are in driving frictional contact with portions of 
the brush 26. For this purpose, the shaft of the brush 26 is provided with 
enlarged end portions 28, and two of the driving wheels 27 are arranged 
forwardly and rearwardly of the enlarged portions 28 at each lateral 
region of the housing 21, both of the respective two wheels 27 being in 
frictional contact with the enlarged end portion 28 of the shaft of the 
brush 26. 
The wheels 27 are supported on and guided in bearings which are formed on 
support webs 29 which are arranged in pairs at lateral regions of the 
frame 22 and which receive the driving wheels 27 between them. The frame 
22 includes a front wall 30, a rear wall 31 and two lateral or side walls 
32. The support webs 29 increase the stability and ridigity of the frame 
22. This means that the frame 22 and also webs 29 can be relatively thin 
so that the amount of material of which the housing 21 is made is 
significantly reduced. The frame 22 and the support walls 29 are so 
designed that the housing 21 can be easily manufactured of synthetic-resin 
material, such as by injection molding. The frame 22 has two open sides, 
one facing toward and the other away from the surface to be cleaned during 
the use of the device 20. This open configuration of the housing 21 means 
that a simple injection-molding mold or die can be used. 
The webs 29 are provided with downwardly open bearing recesses 33. The 
driving wheels 27 have respective shafts 34 which are received in the 
bearing recesses 33. Covers 35 close the frame 22 in the lateral regions 
thereof with respect to the surface to be swept. The covers 35 include 
closing portions which close the open ends of the bearing recesses 33 and 
thus hold the shafts 34 of the driving wheels 27 therein. The covers 35 
are provided with openings 36 for the driving wheels 27, and the closing 
portions include complementary upwardly open bearing recesses 37 which 
cooperate with the downwardly open bearing recesses 33 of the support 
walls 29 and are aligned therewith. The complementary bearing recesses 37 
are provided on additional support walls 38 provided on the respective 
covers 35. Thus, when the device 20 is to be assembled, the shafts 34 of 
the driving wheels 27 are inserted into the bearing recesses 33 which are 
open toward that side of the housing 21 which faces toward the surface to 
be cleaned during the use of the device 20, and then the respective cover 
35 is connected to the above-mentioned side of the housing 21. In this 
manner, the driving wheels 27 are reliably supported in the frame 22. 
The webs 29 which extend substantially parallel to the respective lateral 
walls 32 of the frame 22 are connected by means of reinforcing webs 39 and 
40 with lateral walls 32 of the frame 22 and/or with the webs 29 which are 
located at the other side of the driving wheels 27. In this manner, the 
ridigity of the frame 22 is further increased. 
The covers 35 are provided with pairs of arms 42 which are equipped with 
barbs 41. The arms 42 with their barbs 41 serve to detachably connect the 
cover 35 to the webs 29 and reinforcing webs 39. As particularly seen in 
FIG. 10, one such pair of arms 42 is formed at the front end of the cover 
35 and cooperates with the reinforcing web 39 which interconnects the webs 
29 which, in turn, receive the driving wheels 27 between themselves. The 
arms 42 receive the reinforcing web 39 between themselves in a positive 
connecting manner. The arresting barbs 41 are provided at those sides of 
the arresting arms 42 which face one another and engage between the side 
of the reinforcing wall 39 which faces away from the surface to be swept. 
When the cover 35 is to be detached from the frame 22, the arresting arms 
42 need merely be forced apart. 
A further pair of arms 42 is provided in the region of the rear end of the 
cover 35. In this arrangement, the arms 42 are arranged at two sides of 
the opening 36 for the respective driving wheel 27, and they cooperate 
with the support webs 29 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5. The 
arresting projections or barbs 41 are located at sides of the arms 42 
which face away from each other and cooperate with edge portions of the 
support webs 29. When the cover 35 is to be detached from the frame 22, 
these two arresting arms 42 are pressed toward each other at their free 
ends. 
The covers 35 which are arranged at the two lateral regions of the 
floor-sweeping device 20 are each provided at their front ends with a 
lateral extension 43 extending toward the center of the floor-sweeper 20. 
As best seen in FIG. 11, a further arresting arm pair 42 is arranged at 
the free ends of the extension 43, these arresting arms 42 cooperating 
with webs 45 and 46. The corresponding arresting projections 41 are 
arranged at those sides of the arresting arms 42 which face away from each 
other. 
Furthermore, a dividing wall 47 is provided between the two arresting arms 
42 in the holding position. When the cover 35 is to be detached from the 
frame 22, these arresting arms 42 are pressed toward each other at their 
free ends. 
As most clearly seen in FIGS. 7 and 10, each bearing recess 33 provided on 
the support wall 29 forms with the corresponding bearing recess 37 formed 
on the cover 35 an elongated slot 48 which extends at an angle to the 
surface to be swept, that end of the elongated slot 48 which is closer to 
the cylindrical brush 26 being more spaced from the surface to be cleaned 
than the end of the elongated slot 48 which is remote from the cylindrical 
brush 26. Because of this inclination of the slot 48, the bearing wheels 
27 are forcefully pressed against the enlarged end portion 28 of the shaft 
of the cylindrical brush 26 when the floor-sweeping device 20 is pressed 
against the surface to be cleaned so that the driving wheels 27 
frictionally force the brush 26 to rotate about its longitudinal axis. 
Dust-collecting receptacles 49 are provided in the frame 22 to both sides 
of the brush 26 and serve to collect dirt which is picked up from the 
surface being swept by the brush 26. The dirt-collecting receptacles 49 
are formed by a cover plate or bottom wall 50 which is pivotable about an 
axle 51. The axle 51 is supported at its ends in holes 52 formed in 
mutually oppositely facing extensions 43 of the covers 35. Thus, when the 
cover 35 is assembled with the frame 22, the bottom wall 50 is 
simultaneously mounted in the housing 21. Tabs or projections 54 serve to 
open the bottom wall 50 but normally abut against the end portion of the 
frame 22 which faces the surface from which dirt is to be removed. The 
bottom wall 50 is provided with an opening 55 for the brush 26. 
Since one dirt-collecting receptacle 49 is arranged in front of the 
cylindrical brush 26 and another dirt-collecting receptacle 49 is arranged 
in back of the brush 26, it is possible, during the operation of the 
device 20 which is moved over the surface to be cleaned in frontward end 
rearward directions of the housing, to deposit dirt in one or the other of 
the dirt-collecting receptacles depending on the direction of movement of 
the housing 21 over the surface to be cleaned since the change of 
direction of movement of the housing 21 over the surface to be cleaned 
simultaneously results in a change of direction of rotation of the wheels 
27 about their axes and thus also in a change of direction of rotation of 
the brush 26 about its axis. 
Inasmuch as the brush 26 can only pick up dirt from regions of the surface 
which are spaced a certain distance from the lateral walls 32 of the 
housing 21 of the floor-sweeper 20, corner-sweeping brushes 36 are 
provided which are operative primarily in the above-mentioned lateral 
regions of the housing 21. By means of these brushes 56 dirt can be lifted 
off the surface even in the lateral regions of the housing 21 which 
renders possible complete cleaning of the surface to be cleaned, that is, 
even in the regions of corners of such surface. 
In the illustrated embodiment, one such corner-sweeping brush 56 is 
arranged at each of the front corners of the floot-sweeper 20 in such a 
manner that each of the brushes 56 is mounted on housing 21 for rotation 
about an axis which is substantially normal to the surface to be swept 
during the operation of the device 20, and each have an essentially 
cup-shaped annulus of bristles which extends radially outwardly and toward 
the surface to be cleaned. The ends of the bristles reach beyond the 
effective pick-up region of the cylindrical brush 26 on the one hand, and 
beyond the front wall and the respective side wall of the housing 21. 
The corner-sweeping brushes are coupled with a driving wheel 57 so that 
they rotate in response to the rotation of the driving wheel 57. The 
driving wheel 57 and the two brushes 56 are arranged in a space 58 
arranged at the front wall portion 30 of the frame 22 of the housing 21. A 
closure 59 is provided which closes the space 58 with respect to the 
surface to be cleaned. The space 58 is separated from the dirt-collecting 
receptacles 49 by a partition 60 which extends parallel to the front wall 
30 of the frame 22. Thus, the dirt-collecting receptacle space 49 is 
bounded by the partition 60 and the inner one of the pair of support webs 
29 which receive the driving wheels 27 between themselves, and the rear 
wall 31 of the frame 22. The corner regions between the partitioning wall 
60 and the support walls 29 which are aligned with the extensions 43 are 
delimited by arcuate walls 98 and thus separated from the dirt-collecting 
receptacle 49. The corner regions which are in alignment with the 
extensions 43 are also in alignment with the bristles of the 
corner-sweeping brushes 56. In other words, the bottom wall 50 which 
closes the dirt-collecting space 49 toward the surface being swept does 
not reach into the effective operating region of the respective 
corner-sweeping brush 56. 
Pairs of compartmenting walls 61 extend between the front wall 30 of the 
frame 22 and the partition 60. The walls 61 have open bearing recesses 62 
for mounting portions 65 of the driving wheel 57. 
The enclosed space 59 is formed with an opening 66 for the driving wheel 
57, and is formed with pairs of additional compartmenting walls 64 at the 
two sides of the opening 66 which are aligned with the compartmenting 61 
of the frame 22 and are formed with open bearing recesses 63 which 
cooperate with the bearing recesses 62 of the walls 61. 
The driving wheel 57 is formed with an axial opening 67 of a non-circular 
cross section. Free ends 68 of shafts 69 which have corresponding 
noncircular cross sections are introduced into the opening 67 from both 
sides of the driving wheel 57 and are thus connected to the latter for 
joint rotation therewith. The shafts 69 connect the wheel 57 with the 
respective corner-sweeping brushes 56. The ends of the shafts 69 remote 
from the driving wheel 57 are provided with respective bevel gears 70. 
Each bevel gear 70 cooperates and meshes with an additional bevel gear 71 
which is formed on a driving wheel 72. As particularly seen in FIGS. 3 and 
4, the driving sleeve 72 is rotatably mounted in a part of the frame 22 
which will be discussed in more detail below. 
The driving sleeve 72 extends substantially normal to the surface from 
which dirt is to be removed and has a longitudinally extending receiving 
space 73 (FIG. 3) which accommodates a corresponding pin 74 of the 
corner-sweeping brush 56. The pin 74 of the corner-sweeping brush 56 is 
mounted in the driving sleeve 72 for limited displacement axially of the 
latter, but is connected to the driving sleeve 72 for joint rotation 
therewith. The pin 74 of the corner-sweeping brush 56 is mounted on the 
driving sleeve 72 in such a manner that a head 75 provided at the free end 
of the pin 74 has a larger diameter than the inner diameter of the driving 
sleeve 72, while an axial slot 76 is provided in the head 75 to allow 
compression of the head of the pin 74. In this manner, when the pin 74 of 
the corner-sweeping brush 56 is introduced into the driving sleeve 72, the 
head 75 of the pin 74 is resiliently compressed so that the head 75 
assumes its original size after the passage of the free end portion of the 
pin 74 through the driving sleeve 72, so that the pin 74 is connected to 
the driving sleeve 72 in the proper operative position. The part of the 
pin which is located between the head 75 and the body of the 
corner-sweeping brush 56 is somewhat longer than the driving sleeve 72. In 
this manner, the corner-sweeping brush 56 can move limitedly axially 
relative to the driving sleeve 72 to compensate for unevenness of the 
surface which is being swept. 
The driving sleeve 72 has a cylindrical end portion which is remote from 
the body of the corner-sweeping brush 56 and which is received in an 
essentially cup-shaped depression 77 formed in a mounting wall 78. The 
mounting wall 78 extends essentially parallel to the surface to be swept, 
is accessible from above and from below, and is formed on the partition 
60. A further partition 79 is located between the partition 60 and the 
front wall 30. Thus, the mounting wall 78 is formed in a very simple 
manner of one piece with the frame 22 and further increases the rigidity 
of the frame 22. The cup-shaped depression 77 has a surface which 
conically diverges toward the body of the corner-sweeping brush, the outer 
diameter of the driving sleeve 72 essentially corresponding to the 
smallest inner diameter of the conical depression 77. An opening is 
provided in the bottom of the cup-shaped depression 77 which accommodates 
the free end of the pin 74 which extends beyond the driving sleeve 72. The 
conical configuration of the depression 77 renders possible a limited 
tilting of the driving sleeve 72 and thus of the corner sweeping brush 56, 
as will be described later. 
The additional mounting wall 79 which is of one piece with the mounting 
wall 78 and is located between the front wall 30 of the frame 22 and the 
partition 60 is provided with a bearing recess 81 for the shaft 69 of the 
auxiliary driving wheel 57. The closure 59 which closes the frame 22 in 
this region in a direction toward the surface being swept is provided with 
an additional mounting wall 82 which is formed with a bearing recess 83 
which opens away from the surface to be swept. The additional mounting 
wall 82 is located adjacent the partition 79 so that each shaft 69 which 
connects the auxiliary driving wheel 57 with the corner-sweeping brush 56 
is reliably supported in the bearing recesses 81 and 83. 
The driving sleeve 72 is further mounted in the region of the body of the 
corner-sweeping brush 56 at the closure 59. The bearing for this and of 
the driving sleeve 72 is constituted by a slot 84 elongated in the 
direction of movement of the floor-sweeping device 20 over the surface 
being swept. The slot 84 is so dimensioned that the driving sleeve 72 can 
move from a central position by 1 millimeter forwardly and rearwardly. The 
end of the driving sleeve 72 which cooperates with the elongated slot 84 
includes a cylindrical portion 85 which forms an annular shoulder 86. The 
annular shoulder 86 abuts against the closure 59 around the elongated slot 
84. In this manner the driving sleeve 72 is reliably held between the wall 
portion 78 and the closure 59. The assembly of the corner-sweeping brush 
56 with the housing 20 is very simple in that merely the driving sleeve 72 
need be introduced into the cup-shaped depression 77 of the mounting wall 
78, and then subsequently the closure 59 is connected to the frame 22 of 
the housing 21. 
The closure 59 which is provided with the elongated slot 84 is formed in 
the region of the bearings with an outwardly bulging portion which is 
received in an annular depression 87 provided in that side of the 
corner-sweeping brush 56 which faces the closure 59. In this manner, the 
overall height of the floor-sweeping device 20 from the surface to be 
cleaned is substantially reduced. 
As already mentioned, the shafts 69 are provided, at their end portions 
remote from the auxiliary driving wheel 57 with bevel gears 70 which 
cooperate and mesh with the bevel gears 71 of the driving sleeves 72. The 
bevel gear 70 which is mounted on the shaft 69 for joint rotation 
therewith abuts against the additional mounting wall 79 with a bearing 
surface 88 provided at the rear end thereof. In this manner, the bevel 
gear 70, and thus the additional shaft 69, are reliably mounted in the 
housing 21 and held against axial displacement. 
The closure 59 is connected to the frame 22 with pairs of snap-action 
arresting arms 42 which are equipped with barbs 41 as described above. One 
pair of arresting arms 42 is arranged at each end of the closure 59 and 
cooperates with a portion 89 which is formed on the mounting wall portion 
78 by an opening 90. The arresting projections 41 are provided on those 
sides of the arresting arms 42 which face away from each other. A similar 
pair of arresting arms 42 is arranged to the right and to the left of the 
opening 66 for the auxiliary driving wheel 57. These pairs of arms 42 
cooperate with portions 91 which are formed on the compartmenting walls 61 
and are connected to the partition 60 by means of brackets 92. Even in 
these arresting arm pairs 42, the arresting projections 41 are arranged at 
the oppositely facing side of the arresting arms 42. When the closure 59 
is to be detached from the frame 22, the free ends of the respective 
arresting arms 42 are pressed toward each other. For connecting the 
closure 59 to the frame 22, the arresting projections 41 are provided with 
chamfered front edge portions, and the brackets and other portions which 
cooperate with the arresting projections 41 also have inclined surfaces so 
that an arresting cooperation of the various components is obtained 
following a simple pressing of the closure 59 against the frame 22. 
The body of each corner-sweeping brush 56 has a ball-shaped surface 93 
which abuts against the surface from which dirt is to be removed. Thus, 
when the floor-sweeper 20 is moved over the surface to be cleaned, the 
body of the corner-sweeping brush 56 is retained by the friction between 
itself and the surface to be cleaned so that the brush 56 is slightly 
displaced within the confines of the elongated slot 84 in the rearward 
direction when considered in the instantaneous direction of movement of 
the housing 21 of the surface to be swept. As a result of this, the 
portion of the annulus of bristles of the corner-sweeping brush 56 which 
is located at the front when considered in the direction of movement of 
the housing 21 over the surface is in brushing contact with the surface, 
while the portion of the annulus of bristles which is in the rear when 
considered in the direction of movement of the housing 21 over the surface 
to be swept is slightly lifted from such surface. The driving movement of 
the driving wheel 57 is so transmitted to and converted into rotation of 
the corner-sweeping brush 56 that the portion of the annulus of bristles 
of the corner-sweeping brush 56 which is in sweeping or brushing contact 
with the surface to be swept moves toward the center of the device 20 so 
that the dirt is moved forward from the lateral regions of the housing 21 
to the path of effective movement of the cylindrical brush 26. Thus, the 
brush 26 is capable of picking up also such additional dirt coming from 
the lateral regions of the housing and depositing the same into the 
dirt-collecting receptacles 49. In view of the fact that the floor-sweeper 
20 moves forwardly and backwardly during cleaning, and in view of the fact 
that such movement of the housing 21 results in corresponding rotation of 
the driving wheels 27 and 57 as well as concomitant reversal of the 
direction of rotation of the brushes 27 and 56, and further in view of the 
fact that the portion of the annulus of bristles of the additional 
corner-sweeping brushes 56 in contact with the surface to be cleaned 
rotates always in direction toward the center of the device 20, the dirt 
which is located in regions which are outside of the path of cleaning of 
the cylindrical brush 26 is constantly moved toward the cylindrical brush 
26 by the additional corner-sweeping brushes 56 in each movement phase of 
the device 20. Thus, corner-sweeping brushes 56 can conduct sweeping 
operations regardless of the direction of movement of the housing 21 over 
the surface to be cleaned. As a result of the mirror-image arrangement of 
the corner-sweeping brushes 56 in both front corner regions of the 
floor-cleaning device 20, such regions of the surface to be cleaned can be 
reached during the movement of the housing 21 over such surface which are 
located to both sides of the path of movement of the cylindrical main 
brush 26, such as regions along baseboards or furniture bases. 
As already mentioned above, the frame 22 is upwardly open and can be closed 
by means of a protective cover 23 which is constituted by a profiled 
sheet-metal element. The cover 23 includes front and rear marginal 
portions inclined with respect to the remainder of the profiled element 
23, and the frame 22 includes clamping slots 76 in which the inclined 
marginal portions 95 of the profiled protective cover 23 are received and 
clamped. The protective cover 23 is further provided with inclined 
marginal portions 97 at the lateral portions thereof, such marginal 
portions 97 abutting against the lateral walls 32 of the frame 22. 
As shown in particular in FIGS. 13 and 14 the brush 26 is pivoted on the 
bottom wall or cover plate 50. To this end the brush is formed at its end 
with cylindrical recesses 101 shown in FIG. 15 in which can fit a pin 
riveted at 104 to tabs 102 extending from lateral projections 103 of the 
plate 50. This plate 50 is generally planar and is formed unitarily of 
chrome-plated sheet steel. Thus when the cover plate 50 is opened the 
brush 26 is also pivoted out of the way so that the receptacles 49 are 
readily accessible. 
In addition as also shown in FIG. 16 the position of the cover plate 50 on 
the housing 21, which also of course determines the position of the brush 
26 relative to the housing 21, can be regulated. To this end the plate 50 
has a bent-up front wall 106 from which is punched out and bent over a tab 
107 along a bend line 108 extending at an angle to the plane of plate 50. 
This bent-up tab or tongue 107 coacts with an abutment 105 carried on the 
housing and constituted as a magnet 110 carried on a slider 111. A handle 
112 accessible from outside of the housing allows the slider 111 and, 
therefore, the magnet 110 to be displaced along the inclined surface 107 
so as to vary the rest position of the plate 50. In addition a window 113 
in the housing exposes indicia on the slide 111 so that the height setting 
of the roller 26 can be read through this window 113. 
As the magnet 110 is moved to the right as shown in FIG. 16 the plate 50 is 
pressed down and the brush 26 can be used to clean bare floors. When the 
magnet 110 is moved to the left as shown in FIG. 16 the brush 26 is pulled 
back up into the housing 21 and can be used for carpets even having a 
relatively deep pile. 
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or 
more together, may also find a useful application in other types of 
constructions differing from the types described above. 
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a 
floor-sweeper, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, 
since various modifications and structural changes may be made without 
departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of 
the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, 
readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, 
from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 
characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.