SWEEPER WITH SPEED CONTROL FOR BRUSH AND VACUUM FAN

Abstract: This invention is concerned with a sweeper (10), meaning a sweeper (10) with a rotary main brush (20) opposite a hopper (22), and in­ creasing its ability to load light debris, such as paper, dry leaves and the like so that light debris will be propelled farther into the debris hopper (22). This is done by setting the speed of the main brush (20) at a lower speed for normal operation to effectively throw what may be thought of as heavier materi­ al, such as sand, forwardly into the hopper (22) with the speed being such that excessive wear of the brush (20) is avoided and a higher speed of rotation being effected from time to time so that paper, dry leaves and the like, which may be considered lightweight material, are thrown farther into the hopper (22) with the increased speed of the main brush (20) overcoming the air re­ sistence that normally stops such lightweight material which, at normal operation of the brush (20), tends to pile up in the rear of the hopper (22). The sweeper (10) uses a vacuum fan (32) to create a suction in the hopper with the vacuum fan also being speeded up with the brush speed increase which assists in loading the lightweight debris in the hopper (22). Since the increased speed is used for the main brush (20) and vacuum fan (32) only from time to time when light debris is encountered and on a limited basis, the increased brush wear and power consumption caused thereby is tolerable.

Description: The invention relates to a method of operating a power-driven sweeper and to a power-driven sweeper according to the preambles of claim 1 and 5, respectively. Such a power-driven sweeper is disclosed in US-A 4 138 756. This sweeper has a main brush which is generally horizontally disposed and power-driven and is positioned opposite a hopper which has a rear opening opposite the brush to receive material which is swept up and thrown forward by the brush into the hopper, normally referred to as a direct throw sweeper. Such a unit normally has a vacuum fan, connected to the hopper tending to create a vacuum therein which draws air in under and around the sides of the sweeper, for example, the side skirts to draw in the dust that is created by the brush which is objectionable if it escapes from the machine. However, with this sweeper it is difficult to load light material, such as paper, dry leaves and the like. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method and a power-driven sweeper for effectively loading lighter material such as paper, dry leaves and the like with a minimum of alteration of the basic structure of a power-driven sweeper. This object is attained by the characterizing clause of claims 1 or 5, respectively. With this new method and with this new power-driven sweeper it is possible to load light material, such as paper, dry leaves and the like with a minimum of alteration to the basic structure of the machine. Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are subject matter of the dependent claims. An embodiment of the invention is described in the following in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a schematic of a forward throw sweeper; Figure 2 is a schematic of a speed control; and Figure 3 is a hydraulic circuit for the unit. In Fig. 1, a sweeper has been shown in outline generally at 10 with a frame 12 on wheels 14 and an engine, not shown, so that it is self-propelled in the usual manner. It is a rider type unit with the operator having a seat or compartment 16 and various controls 18. A main brush 20 is disposed laterally across the unit and rotates counterclockwise in Fig. 1 so that is propels debris forwardly through an inlet opening 21 into a trash bin or hopper 22 which may be a low dump or high dump unit. A baffle 24 generally divides the hopper into a lower trash compartment 26 and an upper filter compartment 28 which has a suitable filter, diagrammatically indicated at 30, which may be of the pleated paper variety. A vacuum fan 32 of any suitable type exhausts air from the trash hopper through a suitable connection 34 which, in this case, is shown at a point remote from the inlet 21 for the hopper. The unit is also shown with a side brush 36 often referred to as a gutter brush which is rotated so as to move trash and debris from the side to in front of the unit so that the main brush 20 will then throw the debris into the hopper. Such a sweeper is very effective in sweeping sand and other dense and heavy debris off of a floor or other surface to be cleaned, but problems have been encountered in the past in sweeping up light debris, such as paper, dry leaves and the like.Such light debris is thrown forward, but the air resistance tends to stop such material so that it piles up near the inlet or opening 21 while the heavier material will be propelled forwardly into the front of the hopper. The result of the light material piling up in the hopper inlet is that the hopper will become blocked off before it is full or loaded. The vacuum fan 32 is conventionally used to create a vacuum in the hopper so that the dust that is stirred up or created by the main brush 20 draws air in under the side skirts and through the hopper inlet 21 so that the dust will not escape. The dusty air is pulled through the filter 30 by the fan and then exhausted to the atmosphere. The present invention solves the problem of loading the light debris, when it is encountered, by speeding up the operation of the main brush and/or the vacuum fan for the time that light debris is being swept so that the light debris does not block the hopper inlet. The speed of the main brush 20 is normally set for what is optimum sweeping of the heavy material, i.e. sand, consistent with maximum brush life and what will stir up a minimum of dust. Speeding up the operation of the main brush 20 and the fan 32 on occasion will fully or adequately carry the light material, such as paper, dry leaves, and the like forwardly into the hopper and prevent the inlet 21 from being prematurely clogged. The unit thus may be characterized as a two-speed unit, a normal speed which might be characterized as low speed and a high speed for loading the light debris. In a given unit, representative values are as follows: A representative and diagrammatic two-speed control has been shown in Fig. 2 in which a control lever 38 for the operator has a detent plate 40 with a three position cam track 42 and a pivot 44 for the lever with a push-pull cable 46 connected to the other end. The control lever is movable between "idle" and "normal" positions but must be manually raised before it can be pushed forward to "high", the pivot 44 being in a slot so that it also may be raised. The lever may be spring biased downwardly by a light spring to assist gravity as a safety to prevent the operator from inadvertently "going into high", if that is found desirable. The control cable 46 in turn operates a lever 48 on a governor 50 which is belt driven from the engine crankshaft by a belt pulley 51. Lever 48 is connected by a spring 52 to a bell crank or throttle control arm 54 on the governor which, through a throttle control link 56, is connected to a throttle control lever 58 on the carburetor 60. The arrangement in Fig. 2 is diagrammatic and is only intended to illustrate the principle. The governor, carburetor and the linkage connecting them may be conventional and are well known to those familiar with industrial engines. Engine governors are available which do not operate on traditional mechanical principles but instead are electronic. They normally employ a sensor which detects engine speed and converts it into a signal. This is processed into a suitable signal to supply to a servomechanism that opens and closes the throttle in response to engine speed variations, thereby maintaining a desirable engine speed. Such governors would be applicable or usable with or in this invention and are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure, but will not be described in detail. The invention may also be used with a sweeper having a diesel engine which customarily has a speed governor built into its fuel pump, with a lever on the pump housing for controlling engine speed. This lever is comparable in function and operation to the lever 48 of Fig. 2 and a similar control such as that designated 40 in Fig. 2 can be applied or used or in the invention. The sweeper may have a conventional hydrostatic transmission in the traction drive with a variable displacement reversible piston pump coupled directly to the engine which supplies a fixed displacement hydraulic motor on the drive wheel. Such a unit is conventionally steered with travel speed controlled by a conventional heel-and-toe foot pedal. The engine is operated at full governed speed at all times with the travel speed being controlled from 0 to maximum forward and reverse by the control pedal, all of which is conventional. In the hydraulic circuit diagram in Fig. 3, a variable displacement reversible pump 62 driven by the engine is connected by a closed loop circuit to a fixed displacement motor 63 on the rear drive wheel 14 in a conventional manner. The entire unit 64 as shown enclosed by phantom lines may be a conventional commercially available hydrostatic transmission pump unit, comprised of variable displacement reversible pump 62, charge pump 65 with associated low pressure relief valve 66, four check valves 67 and two high pressure relief valves 68. A fixed displacement pump 69 is also driven by the engine and supplies hydraulic fluid for the various other components. Fluid from pump 69 passes through a priority flow control valve 70 to be explained later, through line 71 to a main control valve unit 72 which has a first manually operated valve 74 shown in the neutral position where it supplies fluid to a second manually operated valve 76. In position 78, first valve 74 operates a hopper lift cylinder 80. Position 82 on the first valve will hold the hopper in lifted position and also pass fluid through a valve 76. When the second valve 76 is in position 84, it supplies fluid to a pair of hopper rollout cylinders 86 if the unit is a high dump system. Position 88 on the second valve reverses the rollout cylinders 86 and causes the hopper to roll back. Position 90 on the first valve sends fluid through a line 92 to a motor 94 that operates the side brush 36. Neutral position as shown on valve 74 will shut off the side brush motor. The priority flow control valve 70 operates in a conventional manner. It serves to direct a constant flow of fluid though line 71 to side brush motor 94 regardless of excess flow from pump 69 within the limits of the device. The excess fluid is directed through line 98 to main brush motor 102 which operates main brush 20 shown in Fig. 1 and to vacuum fan motor 104 which operates vacuum fan 32 shown in Fig. 1. Thus when engine speed is increased, the speed and fluid output of pump 69 will increase. The flow through line 70 will remain constant and the increased flow will pass through line 98 and increase the speed of main brush motor 102 and vacuum fan motor 104. A selector valve 100 is in parallel with main brush motor 102 and vacuum fan motor 104. The selector valve 100 may include a solenoid operated valve 106 which, when the solenoid is operated, moves valve 106 to blocking position so that the main brush motor 102 and vacuum fan motor 104 are operated. The solenoid may be controlled, for example, by a toggle switch on the dashboard, operated by the driver, to start or stop the main brush and vacuum fan. A cooler 108 and filter 110 in the return line as well as the reservoir or sump 112 are shown and may be conventional. Two high pressure relief valves 114 may be installed for protection against excess pressure in lines 71 and 98. The use, operation and function of the invention are as follows: The invention has been disclosed in connection with a forward throw sweeper in which material is propelled by a brush through a rear opening in a hopper. The hopper is divided into two chambers, the lower chamber for debris and the upper chamber for a filter unit. A vacuum fan is connected to the hopper so as to create a partial vacuum therein so that dust created by the brush will be kept inside the sweeper by atmospheric air drawn in under the side skirts, etc., all of which may be conventional. Such a sweeper adequately handles heavy material, such as sand and the like. But light material such as leaves, paper, etc. resist being thrown by the brush and will pile up in the hopper inlet. In the present arrangement, when light debris is encountered, the main brush and vacuum fan are speeded up. This gives the main brush more throw and provides more vacuum from the vacuum fan. The result is that paper and dry leaves that might otherwise clog the hopper inlet will be carried forward in the hopper. The speed of the side brush 36 is normally set to move debris from alongside the sweeper into the path of the main brush. The speed is selected to dislodge the material in front of the side brush and move it under the main body of the sweeper but not fast enough to throw the debris completely across the path of the sweeper. It is desirable that the speed of the side brush be held constant regardless of the speed of the main brush and vacuum fan to avoid throwing debris across the path of the sweeper and outside the path of the main brush. The operator of the sweeper may be provided with a speed control, as in Fig. 2, which allows him to operate the sweeping brush and vacuum fan at two speeds. The lower brush speed is chosen for optimum sweeping of sand, for example. This gives maximum brush life and stirs up a minimum of dust. The fan speed which is associated with this brush speed gives adequate dust control and requires a minimum of power to run the fan. This is an economical setting which will be used most of the time in normal sweeping. The higher speed setting increases the brush speed and air flow volume through the hopper to a point where the amount of light debris loaded in the hopper is acceptable. The increased brush wear and fan power consumption can be tolerated because sweeping light debris is usually a relatively small part of the total duty cycle of the sweeper. When the brush and fan are put in the second or higher speed, however, the side brush maintains its speed because of the inclusion of the priority flow control valve in the circuit. In the disclosed hydraulic circuit, the connections for hydraulically raising the hopper when it needs to be dumped, then rolling it out for dumping into a receptacle, are also shown. During these operations, all of the fluid in line 71 is diverted from driving the side brush and used for the lift and dump functions. Operating the engine at either or two speeds will not affect the operator's ability to control the travel speed of the sweeper. If the engine is running at "normal" and the sweeper is moving at a certain speed and the driver changes the engine speed to "high", the sweeper might tend to increase its speed. But the operator can maintain his previous speed by making a compensating change in the setting of the speed control pedal and continue his work that setting. Thus, the addition of a second engine speed does not need to increase the travel speed of the sweeper. One of the main advantages of the present invention is that it increases loading of light debris without introducing major added components, such as a compactor plate, an auxiliary blower, etc., all of which are expensive. While an engine has been referred to, it should be understood that it may be a gasoline, LP or diesel engine. In fact, any suitable type of power driven may be used. Another approach might be to have the vacuum fan 32 driven directly by the engine, for example, through a belt with the main brush, side brush, hopper lifting and dump cylinders, etc. all operated by a hydraulic circuit. Two-speed engine control could still be used. The invention can also be applied to a sweeper in which the side brush is driven by an electric motor off of a battery. In that case, the engine which drives the main brush and vacuum fan could be operated at two speeds without affecting the speed of the side brush. While the invention has been referred to in connection with two speeds, it should be understood that more than two speeds might be used. In that sense, a variable range of speeds could be used although two is considered adequate. There is another type of sweeper which is battery powered for indoor use where engines are not favored. In that type of sweeper, electric motors drive the various components. And it will be understood that this two speed arrangement for the purposes indicated could be used on such a battery operated sweeper with two speed electric motor controls applied to the main brush and vacuum fan motors. Also, the vacuum fan has been shown as connected to the hopper at a point remote from the debris inlet which is considered an advantage since the air current created by the fan will tend to draw light material farther into the hopper. There is a line of sweepers that draw this air from directly above the sweeping brush and the two speed approach outlined above may be used on such an arrangement although it is considered more desirable to draw the air fully through the hopper in loading light debris. Whereas the Fig. 3 form of hydraulic circuit uses a single pump with a flow divider for driving the various components so that the side or gutter brush has a constant speed and the main brush and fan have variable speeds, it should be understood that the same result may be accomplished by using more than one pump. For example, a unit might have a separate variable displacement pump for the main brush and fan with the side or gutter brush, dumping cylinders and controls, etc. being driven by a separate fixed displacement pump. But the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 is considered more desirable because a separate variable displacement pump would be more expensive. In addition, in a forward throw sweeper, the invention might be used for high speed patrol sweeping of large areas, such as in parking lots having only occasional light debris. It could also be used to sweep heavy accumulations of any debris, such as sand and the like, without slowing down as much as a sweeper with a normal speed brush. It will also be effective in sweeping fine dust, such as starch, talc and the like, better than the machine with standard air and brush speeds. Further, it will give a better polish or luster to a fine floor, if that is considered desirable. As well, the increased air flow should give better dust control in any type of sweeping operation. Of particular advantage is the fact that the sweeper may and will be operating much, if not most, of the time at lower noise levels, lower emission levels and lower fuel consumption. Whereas the preferred form and several variations of the invention have been shown and suggested, it should be understood that suitable additional modifications, changes, substitutions and alterations may be made without departing from the invention's fundamental theme as defined by the appended claims.

Claims: A method of operating a power-driven forward throw sweeper (10) having two elements for moving material, such as sand, dirt, paper, etc. from a surface to be cleaned into an opening (21) of a generally enclosed trash receiving hopper (22), one element being a main horizontal rotary brush (20) adapted to be rotated opposite the hopper opening and the other being a vacuum fan (32) constructed and arranged to exhaust air from the enclosed hopper so that dust created by the main brush will tend to be drawn into the trash hopper, including the steps of rotating the brush and operating the vacuum fan the majority of time that the sweeper is in use at what may be considered a normal operating speed, characterized by, from time to time, increasing the speed of operation of the vacuum fan or the speed of rotation of the main brush so as to cause lightweight material, such as paper, dry leaves and the like to be moved farther into the trash hopper. The method of claim 1 further characterized in that from time to time the speed of both the main brush and the vacuum fan are increased. The method of claim 1 or 2, operating a sweeper having a power driven rotary side brush (36) that is arranged to move materials from along side the sweeper into the path of the main brush, characterized by the step of maintaining the speed of rotation of the side brush substantially constant when the speeds of the main brush and the vacuum fan are increased. The method of one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the main brush and the vacuum fan are operated at just two speeds, the normal speed and an increased speed. A power driven forward throw sweeper (10) having two elements for moving material, such as sand, dirt, paper, etc. from a surface to be cleaned into an opening (21) of a generally enclosed trash receiving hopper (22), one element being a main horizontal rotary brush (20) adapted to be rotated opposite the hopper opening (21) and the other being a vacuum fan (32) constructed and arranged to exhaust air from the enclosed hopper (22), for executing the method of one of claims 1-4, characterized by means for increasing the speed of the vacuum fan so as to cause lighter material such as paper, dry leaves and the like to be moved farther into the trash hopper. A power driven sweeper according to claim 5, characterized in that said means for increasing the speed of the vacuum fan (32) is also adapted to increase the speed of the main brush (20). A power driven sweeper according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the driving means for the main brush (20) and the vacuum fan (32) are adapted to be operated at just two speeds, the normal speed and an increased speed. A power driven sweeper according to one of claims 5-7, further having at least one driven side brush (36) to move material from along side the sweeper into the path of the main brush, characterized in that said means for increasing the speed of the main brush (20) and the vacuum fan (32) are adapted to increase the speed thereof without increasing the speed of the side brushes (36).

Inventors: CRIMES, CHARLES E., FREDERICK, SHERMAN B., KIMZEY, PAUL W.
Applicants: TENNANT COMPANY
Application year: 1985
Main classification: E01H1
IPC codes: E01H1