Vehicle for dust and trash collecting

A vehicle for dust and trash collecting comprises: wheels, a framework supported by said wheels, a storage tank (8) for dust and trash, at least one rotating brush (10), means (6) for setting said wheels in motion, and control means (7) comprising a fluid-operated work circuit (26), at least one peripheral motor (33) fed from the work circuit (26) and engaging the rotating brush (10), at least one fluid-operated cylinder (39) fed from the work circuit (26) and adapted to shift the rotating brush (10) towards a surface (11) to be swept, and elastically deformable members (42) active against the action of said work circuit (26) in the fluid-operated cylinder (39) and adapted to lift up the rotating brush (10) in the absence of pressure in the fluid-operated cylinder (39) itself, the work circuit (26) having a single control element (29) for actuation of the peripheral motor (33) and the fluid-operated cylinder (39).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a vehicle for dust and trash collecting. 
It is known that vehicles for dust and trash collecting can be either of 
small sizes and low cost and adapted for cleaning floorings in stores, 
sheds and the like, or of larger sizes and higher costs being also 
suitable for cleaning streets and residential districts. 
Depending on their sizes and structural features, these vehicles are used 
and driven by more or less qualified operators. 
In particular, it has been found that small-vehicles and medium-sized 
vehicles are in many cases used by unskilled operators, that only 
occasionally have the task of driving said vehicles. 
The possible presence of unskilled operators makes it necessary to 
manufacture vehicles capable of reducing driving and control errors to a 
minimum. 
These errors very often include an incomplete deactivation of the brushes 
acting on the ground for conveying dust and trash to appropriate suction 
members, for example. 
In fact, in an ordinary medium-sized vehicle of the above type, at the 
beginning of each work cycle the operator starts the motor of a dust 
sucking fan and the motors setting in rotation one or two front side 
brushes in the form of a cup or a truncated cone, as well as a cylindrical 
or roller brush adapted to throw dust and trash into a storage tank. 
In addition the operator actuates the members setting the different brushes 
to the work position, that is those members that lower said brushes to a 
position in which they are in contact with the surface to be swept or 
cleaned. 
At the end of the cleaning operations, before the vehicle is moved for 
discharging of the collected rubbish and sheltering of the vehicle in a 
depot, said motors must be stopped and said brushes must be lifted up 
again. 
Lifting and lowering of the brushes takes place by means of actuators of 
different types the intervention of which is to be controlled from the 
driving seat. 
Lifting of the brushes at the end of work is necessary because, should they 
stay in the lowered position while the vehicle is moving at a relatively 
high speed for carrying out transfer, a strong and uneven wear of the 
brush bristles would occur. 
When the brushes rest on the ground there is also the risk that they may 
get damaged due to unintentional shocks between the brushes themselves and 
the surrounding environment, since at least some of these brushes 
definitely project from the overall plan dimensions of the vehicle. 
Vehicles having a simpler structure can have a rotating brush alone, of the 
type in the form of a truncated cone for example, projecting from the fore 
end of the vehicles themselves to convey dust and trash to sucking members 
located more rearwardly. 
However, even if only one rotating brush is concerned, the above mentioned 
problems remain unchanged. 
Rather, it is more likely that a single brush will be left in contact with 
the ground because positioning of same in a vertical direction is often 
carried out by the operator himself acting manually on the brush. 
Forgetting the brushes in a lowered position at the end of work is a 
mistake occurring rather often when the operators are not very skilled 
because when an operator stops rotation of the brushes the noise they 
usually produce stops at once too, and he has the impression that no 
further operations are needed. 
The arrangement of special brush-lifting controls does not obviate the 
above mistake in a sure manner, since an operator can always neglect said 
controls. 
In addition it is to note that in any case complicated structures are not 
satisfactory, in that they are inappropriate to vehicles of a simpler 
type, that is exactly those vehicles that are commonly used by unskilled 
operators. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Under this situation, the technical task underlying the present invention 
is to devise a vehicle capable of substantially obviating the mentioned 
drawbacks of the known art. 
The technical task mentioned above is substantially achieved by a vehicle 
for dust and trash collecting comprising: wheels, a framework supported by 
said wheels, a storage tank for dust and trash, dust and trash collecting 
members comprising at least one rotating brush, means for setting the 
wheels in motion, and control means for said collecting members, said 
control means comprising: a fluid-operated work circuit, at least one 
peripheral fluid-operated motor fed from said work circuit and engaging in 
rotation said at least one rotating brush, at least one fluid-operated 
cylinder fed from said work circuit and adapted to move said at least one 
rotating brush towards a surface to be swept, and elastically deformable 
members active against the action of said work circuit in said at least 
one fluid-operated cylinder and adapted to lift up said at least one 
rotating brush in the absence of pressure in said at least one 
fluid-operated cylinder, said work circuit having a single control element 
to actuate both said at least one peripheral motor and said at least one 
fluid-operated cylinder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
With reference to the drawings, the vehicle of the invention is generally 
identified by reference numeral 1. 
Briefly, in the case herein shown it comprises three wheels resting on the 
ground: two front wheels 2 and one rear wheel 3. The rear wheel 3 is both 
a driving and steering wheel. 
The wheels 2, 3 support a framework 4 carrying dust and trash collecting 
means 5, means 6 for movement of the vehicle 1, means 7 for controlling 
the collecting members 5, and a tank 8 for dust and trash storage. 
The tank 8 is substantially placed between the front wheels 2 and is 
provided with an opening and closing door 9 also adapted to perform the 
function of a chute for introduction of dust and trash into the tank. 
The collecting members 5 comprise one or more rotating brushes 10 adapted 
to operate on a surface 11 to be swept. 
In the preferred embodiment herein depicted three rotating brushes 10 are 
provided. Exactly, as shown, there are a first rotating brush 10a, an 
auxiliary rotating brush 10b and a second rotating brush 10c. 
The first rotating brush 10a and the auxiliary rotating brush 10b are 
shaped in the form of a cup or a truncated cone and have a rotation axis 
transverse to the surface 10. In addition they are positioned at the front 
and on opposite flanks of the vehicle, so as to convey dust and trash to 
the central region of the vehicle itself. In many cases the auxiliary 
rotating brush 10b is not necessary and therefore it is only shown in 
chain line in FIG. 2. 
The second rotating brush 10c is on the contrary of cylindrical form or a 
roller brush, having its rotation axis substantially horizontal, and is 
positioned in the central region of vehicle 1. 
When the door 9 is lowered as shown in FIG. 1 and the tank 8 is open, the 
second rotating brush 10c throws into the tank 8 the dust and trash 
conveyed thereto by the first rotating brush 10a and the auxiliary 
rotating brush 10b, if present. 
The collecting members 5 comprise a sucking fan 12 located upstream of the 
tank 8 and, upon interposition of a filter, adapted to suck the air from 
the tank 8 in order to prevent the dust from coming out of the tank 8 and 
spreading into the surrounding atmosphere, and also to carry out an 
efficient sucking function extending until over the surface 11. 
The framework 4 performs the function of oscillatably supporting the 
collecting members 5 consisting of the rotating brushes 10, to enable 
raising and lowering of said rotating brushes 10 relative to the surface 
11 to be swept. In fact, as diagrammatically shown in FIG. 1 and in detail 
in FIGS. 3 to 6, each of the rotating brushes 10 is supported by a 
swinging arm 13. 
In particular, each of the rotating brushes 10 engages a supporting end 13b 
of the arm 13, opposite to an operating end 13a thereof, at which control 
of said oscillations occurs, as stated in the following. 
The arm 13 is pivotally mounted between the operating end 13a and the 
supporting end 13b by means of a pin 14 disposed in such a manner that it 
makes the swinging arm 13 movable in a substantially vertical plane. 
For operation and control of the wheels 2 and 3 of vehicle 1, said movement 
means 6 comprises a drive equipment known per se, the steering wheel 15a 
and the related driving seat 15b of which are shown in FIG. 1, and a 
traction apparatus shown in FIG. 2, provided with a main motor 16 engaging 
a fluid-operated traction pump 18 through driving members 17. 
Connected with the fluid-operated traction pump 18 is a fluid-operated 
traction system 19 with which a fluid-operated traction motor 20 is in 
turn connected, which motor engages the rear driving wheel 3. 
The main motor 16 may be an endothermic motor or an electric motor. 
For actuation of the collecting members 5, control means 7 comprises a 
fluid-operated work pump 21 and a fluid-operated work system 22. 
The fluid-operated work system 22 is shown in FIG. 2 where one can see that 
the system pipelines are connected, through appropriate filters 23, to a 
container 24 for working oil. 
The fluid-operated work system 22 comprises three circuits in parallel to 
each other, controlled by a maximum-limiting valve 25 and formed of a work 
circuit 26 and a first and a second auxiliary circuits 27 and 28, 
respectively. 
The work circuit 26 actuates all collecting members 5 and has a single 
control element: a first lever 29 operating a first distributor 30 from 
which first pipelines 31 extend. 
Connected with said first pipelines 31 is one or more peripheral motors 33 
of the fluid-operated type. 
In the embodiment shown, four peripheral motors 33 are identified. Indeed, 
there are a first peripheral motor 33a, an auxiliary peripheral motor 33b, 
a second peripheral motor 33c, and finally a third peripheral motor 33d. 
The first peripheral motor 33a is adapted to rotate the first rotating 
brush 10a, and it is mounted coaxially with said brush, as shown in detail 
in FIGS. 3 and 5. 
The auxiliary peripheral motor 33b is similar to the first one and is 
intended for rotation of the auxiliary rotating brush 10b. In the same 
manner as said auxiliary brush, the auxiliary peripheral motor 33b can be 
omitted too and therefore it is shown only in chain line. 
The second fluid-operated peripheral motor 33c is adapted to set in 
rotation the second rotating brush 10c which is a roller brush, and it is 
mounted coaxially therewith for example, as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 
1. 
Finally, the third peripheral motor 33d is adapted to set the sucking fan 
12 in rotation. 
Still with reference to the work circuit 26, it is pointed out that two 
check valves 35 and 36 are present therein for suitably preventing 
refluxes to the first pipelines 31. 
It is to note that the third peripheral motor 33d can be isolated by a 
diverting element 37 operable by a lever 38 and capable of bypassing to 
the container 24, the oil directed to the third peripheral motor. 
Still for actuation of the collecting members 5, the control means 7 
further comprises one or more fluid-operated cylinders 39, located along 
the work circuit 26. 
In the embodiment shown provision is made for three or more fluid-operated 
cylinders. 
Identified therein is in fact a first fluid-operated cylinder 39a, an 
auxiliary fluid-operated cylinder 39b, shown in chain lines in FIG. 2, and 
a second fluid-operated cylinder 39c. 
The first fluid-operated cylinder 39a is associated with the first rotating 
brush 10a, the auxiliary fluid-operated cylinder 39b is associated with 
the auxiliary rotating brush 10b, and the second fluid-operated cylinder 
30c is associated with the second rotating brush 33c. 
All the above mentioned fluid-operated cylinders 39 substantially have the 
same structure as the first fluid-operated cylinder 39a shown in FIGS. 3 
to 6. 
It is pointed out that each fluid-operated cylinder 39 is fed from the work 
circuit 26, is provided with a movable piston 40 located inside it and 
integral with a rod 41, and is associated with elastically deformable 
members 42 acting on the piston 40 against the action of the work circuit 
26. 
The elastically deformable members 42 can be disposed in any manner and in 
the embodiment shown in the drawing they are located inside the 
fluid-operated cylinders 39 and are embodied by a compression spring 
extending between the piston 40 and one end 43 of the fluid-operated 
cylinders 39. 
The second end 44, opposite to the first one, is instead connected to an 
attachment 45 for the pipelines 31, so that insertion of working oil is 
allowed between the piston 40 and the second end 44. 
The rod 41 passes through the second end 44 and is of an adjustable length, 
due to the presence of a ferrule 41a to be axially screwed down in the rod 
44 itself. 
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the first fluid-operated cylinder 39a, in the 
same manner as all the fluid-operated cylinders 39, is fastened to the 
vehicle 1 above the corresponding swinging arm 13, so as to cause 
engagement between the operating end 13a of the arm 13 and the ferrule 
41a, by mutual abutment. If the rod 41 is in a position of maximum 
extension due to the action of the compression spring 42, as shown in FIG. 
4, said rod 41 pushes the operating end 13a to such an extent that the 
rotating brush is maintained in a raised position relative to surface 11 
(FIG. 3). 
Practically, the compression spring 42 acts against the action exerted by 
the weight of the first rotating brush 10a and the first peripheral motor 
33a, said weight tending to cause lowering of the brush 10a towards the 
surface 11. 
In the position in FIG. 6 the rod 41 is at its minimum degree of projection 
and the compression spring 42 is compressed to the most by piston 40, 
which is under the action of the oil present in the work circuit 26. 
The rod being in this position of minimum projection, the weight of the 
first rotating brush 10a and the first peripheral motor 33a can cause 
rotation of the arm 13 about the pin 14, thereby causing the first 
rotating brush 10a to rest on the surface to be swept in an inclined 
position. 
Inclination of the first rotating brush 10a and the auxiliary brush 10b 
relative to the surface to be swept is a necessary requirement to enable 
these brushes to operate without creating vortices. 
No inclination occurs with the second rotating brush 10c in the form of a 
roller and having a horizontal axis. 
The lowered position of the rotating brushes 10 is not fixed and these 
brushes can freely move upwardly in case of unevenness of the ground, 
since the ferrule 41a is not integral with the operating end 13a of the 
arm 13. 
As already pointed out, the fluid-operated work system 22, in addition to 
the above described work circuit 26, further comprises a first auxiliary 
circuit 27 and a second auxiliary circuit 28. 
Said auxiliary circuits 27 and 28 are controlled by a second lever 46 and a 
third lever 47 respectively, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. These levers 46 and 
47 operate, through a second distributor 48 and a third distributor 49, a 
first and a second fluid-operated actuator 50 and 51 respectively, which 
are known per se and are double-acting cylinders for example. 
The first and second fluid-operated actuators 50 and 51 are intended for 
raising and lowering of the tank door 9 and lifting and lowering of the 
whole tank 8 relative to the framework 4, when emptying of the tank into a 
rubbish skip or the like is necessary. 
Operation of vehicle 1 is as follows. 
At the beginning of a work cycle, an operator drives the vehicle 1 to the 
place where dust and trash collecting is to be carried out, a shed or a 
store for example. 
When the work place has been reached, the operator actuates the collecting 
members 5 by merely moving the first lever 29 that immediately causes 
lowering of all rotating brushes 10 in a vertical direction, and setting 
in rotation of said brushes and the sucking fan 12. 
Only when the brushes operate on wet surfaces and therefore suction may 
cause drenching of the filters and, as a result, damage of same, 
intervention of the diverting element 37 by means of lever 38 is possible, 
and in this manner actuation of the sucking fan 12 is avoided. 
In particular, the oil circulation within the work circuit 26 leads to a 
downward displacement of the rotating brushes 10, since the insertion of 
oil into the fluid-operated cylinders 39 causes the piston 40 to be pushed 
against the action of the compression spring 42, so that said spring is 
compressed and the rod 41 is retracted. Thus the rotating brushes 10 are 
free to come down due to their own weight. 
At the end of the operations for dust and trash collecting, it is only 
necessary to discharge the tank 8. 
The required operations are closing of the tank door 9 by the second lever 
46 and lifting of the tank 8 over a rubbish skip or the like by the second 
lever 47. 
At the end of the collecting operations and before moving the vehicle 1 to 
the discharge place, it is however necessary to carry out a complete 
deactivation of the collecting members: as already said, in the devices of 
the known art it often happens that the brush rotation is stopped, but the 
brushes are then left in contact with the ground, since said brushes 
become immediately noiseless and the operator forgets to lift them up. 
Thus the transfer movements of the vehicle 1 give rise to a strong and 
uneven wear of the brush bristles. 
In addition, since at least the first rotating brush 10a projects from the 
vehicle, shocks of the brush against parts of the surrounding environment 
may occur, which will further damage the brush and also cause damages to 
other external structures. 
When the inventive vehicle 1 is used, forgetting to lift the brushes up is 
impossible: in fact, at the end of the collecting step, operation of the 
first lever 29 simultaneously causes stopping of the brushes and lifting 
of same. 
The simultaneous stopping and lifting of the brushes also takes place when 
in the work circuit 26 interruptions occur in the oil circulation. 
It is to note in fact that, on the one hand, the peripheral motors 33 
cannot work in the absence of an oil flow and, on the other hand, in the 
fluid-operated cylinders 39 the intervention of the compression spring 42 
takes place automatically: if the oil pressure is lacking, the compression 
spring 42 is capable of pushing the piston 40 until its end-of-stroke 
position, making the rod 41 project, which rod, acting against the action 
of arm 13, urges the respective rotating brush to move up from the ground. 
The invention achieves important advantages. 
In particular, it is pointed out that the vehicle of the invention offers a 
substantially errorproof control. 
In addition, arrangement of the collecting members in a rest position 
occurs in an automatic manner even in case of failure in the work circuit 
26. In this case, in fact, the vehicle itself takes the best arrangement 
for transferring to a repair shop. 
Furthermore, it is to note that the work circuit causing lowering of the 
rotating brushes does not exert a locking action on said brushes and it 
does not even force them to the lowered position. 
On the contrary, in a work position the brushes are conveniently moved 
close to the surface to be swept only by effect of their own weight and 
the weight of the related peripheral motors and said brushes are free to 
oscillate in a vertical direction. 
The fact that the rotating brushes are free to oscillate up and down during 
the dust and trash collecting step brings about the important advantage 
that said brushes, as regards their position, spontaneously adapt 
themselves to the surface to be swept. 
Thus, no difficulties arise in case of differences of level in the ground 
or presence of platforms. 
Finally, the vehicle structure is simple and adaptable to different 
requirements: for example, the dust and trash collecting members can be of 
any type and the fluid-operated system can be structured in different 
manners. 
In particular, a work circuit operating with high inner pressures it not 
required, because a light effort may be sufficient for overcoming the 
action of the compression springs: the work circuit acts in the same 
direction as the weight force of the peripheral motors and the brushes and 
if the compression springs are such calibrated that they overcome the 
weight force by a little value, pressure in the work circuit may be very 
reduced.