Abstract:
A road/pavement sweeper is provided with a pickup head or debris-intake hood that operates in a conventional manner to entrain or aspirate particles and/or debris from the pavement surface. The air-inlet structure of the debris-intake hood is provided with an air-flow control member that selectively directs the air flow through the debris-intake hood in order to conventionally entrain debris or particles from the surface being swept or through an opening in the side of the air-inlet structure to create an air blast useful to blow debris from the pavement or roadway surface. One or more fixed-position or controlled-position air flow vanes can be provided to selectively direct the air blast.

Description:
REFERENCE TO EARLIER FILED APPLICATION 
   This application claims the benefit of earlier filed provisional patent application 60/559,423 filed Apr. 6, 2004 by the applicant herein. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates generally to road or pavement sweeping machines and, more particularly, to such machines having debris-intake hoods of the type designed to pickup or remove dust, particulates, and other debris from a road or pavement surface. 
   Various types of vehicles have been developed to sweep or vacuum debris from pavements, roadways, and streets. In general, these vehicles use a motor-driven fan to create a high-velocity air flow to effectively vacuum or aspirate the debris from the pavement or street surface. In a typical recirculating air-flow system, a motor-driven fan develops a high-volume, high-velocity air-flow through a debris-intake hood that is mounted closely adjacent the pavement surface. As the high-velocity air flow moves from an air-inflow portion of the debris-intake hood to an air-outflow portion, debris is aspirated by or entrained into the air flow. The debris-carrying air flow is then carried by ducting into and through a debris-collecting hopper or container. A gutter broom is often mounted adjacent to one or both lateral sides of the debris-intake hood to brush debris into the path of the debris-intake hood, and, additionally, a laterally extending cylindrical brush roll can be used to further dislodge debris from the surface being swept. 
   It is oftentimes desirable not to collect debris from the road or pavement surface but to blow the debris off the surface; for example, when cleaning an airport runway or waterfront pier of new-fallen snow, it may be more convenient to merely blow the snow onto ground surfaces adjacent the runway or into the water surrounding the pier. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A road/pavement sweeper is provided with a pickup head or debris-intake hood that operates in a conventional manner to entrain or aspirate particles and/or debris from the pavement surface. The air-inlet structure of the debris-intake hood is provided with an air-flow control member that selectively directs the air flow through the debris-intake hood or through an opening in the air-inlet structure to create an air blast useful to blow debris from the pavement or roadway surface. In one form of the invention, fixed-position air-flow vanes direct the air blast in a preferred direction, and, in other forms of the invention, one or more variable or controllable-position air-flow vanes allow the operator to selectively and variable direct the air-blast direction. 
   The full scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference characters. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       FIG. 1  is a partial side elevational view of a representative pavement/street sweeper having a debris-intake hood with a side or lateral air blast/blower system in accordance with the present invention; 
       FIGS. 2 and 3  are side-to-side lengthwise views of a debris-intake hood showing air flow arrows for a first pickup mode in  FIG. 2  and for a second air blast mode in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a top view of the debris-intake hood of  FIGS. 2 and 3 ; 
       FIGS. 4A and 4B  illustrate an alternate variant of the structure shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIGS. 4C and 4D  illustrate further alternate variants of the structure shown in  FIG. 4 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a detailed side elevational view, in partial cross-section, of the inlet structure of the debris-intake hood of  FIGS. 2 and 3  showing an air flow control structure in an “air blast” mode; 
       FIG. 6  is another side elevational view of the inlet structure of  FIG. 5 , taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 5 , showing an air-blast outlet opening; 
       FIG. 7  is a detailed side elevational view, in partial cross-section, of the inlet structure of the debris-intake hood of  FIG. 5  showing the air flow control structure in an intermediate position; 
       FIG. 8  is a detailed side elevational view, in partial cross-section, of the inlet structure of the debris-intake hood of  FIG. 5  showing the air flow control structure in a “pickup” mode; 
       FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of the air flow control structure; 
       FIG. 10  is a front elevational view of the air flow control structure of  FIG. 9 ; 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the manner by which the air flow control structure of  FIG. 10  is fabricated; 
       FIG. 12  is a front elevational view of a support panel for the air flow control structure of  FIG. 9 ; and 
       FIGS. 13 and 14  are an idealized view of a curvilinear air flow control structure. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   An exemplary pavement/street sweeper upon which a debris-intake hood in accordance with the preferred embodiment can be mounted is shown in representative form in a truck-mounted sweeper  20  in side view in  FIG. 1 ; the particular sweeper shown is exemplary and representative of sweepers manufactured by Schwarze Industries, Inc. of Huntsville, Ala. 35811. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the truck-mounted sweeper  20 , which can be fabricated from a commercial truck chassis, includes a pickup head or debris-intake hood  22  carried beneath the truck frame  24 , a conventional gutter broom  26  that is mounted forwardly of the debris-intake hood  22  on one or both sides thereof, and a power unit  28  that includes (not specifically shown) a high-volume, high-velocity radial flow fan, an internal combustion engine for driving the fan and associated hydraulic pumps and various accessory and related equipment as is known in the art. 
   A debris container  30  is mounted rearwardly of the power unit  28  and is designed to receive and accumulate debris that is aspirated or swept from the roadway surface. The debris container  30  typically includes an inlet (not shown) into which the debris-laden air is conducted into the container  30  and an outlet  30   a  through which the air flow is returned in an air flow recirculation loop as is known in the art. Air handling flexhoses (of which flexhose  30   b  is shown in  FIG. 1 ) interconnect the debris intake hood  22  with the debris container  30  as is also known in the art. The debris-laden air, as it enters the internal volume of the debris container  30 , experiences a decrease in its air velocity so that the entrained particles “drop-out” of the air flow and are collected in the debris container  30 . The air flow within and through the debris container  30  can be directed through various baffles and/or screens to maximize the probability the debris will be collected in the debris container  30 . A more detailed description of the vehicle shown in  FIG. 1  is provided in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,565 issued Apr. 16, 2002 to A. Libhart, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein. 
     FIGS. 2 and 3  are a side-to-side lateral elevational view of the debris-intake hood  22  of  FIG. 1  illustrating the air-flow pattern for the conventional pickup mode ( FIG. 2 ) and the air blast mode ( FIG. 3 ). As shown, the debris-intake hood  22  includes a housing  32  that is typically open on the side thereof facing the ground surface to be swept. An air-flow inlet structure  34  is provided on the right side of the housing  32  into which a high-volume, high-velocity flow of air enters the housing  32 . In a similar manner, an air-flow outlet  36  structure is provided on the opposite end thereof from which the air-flow exits the housing  32 . As is known in the art, the air-flow inlet and outlet structures connect to the vehicle air-flow recirculation system via flexible ducting (of which flexhose  30   b  of  FIG. 1  is representative). 
   A pivotally mounted control arm  38  is provided on the right side of the housing  32  and is designed to be pivoted about an axis A x  between a first position, as shown in  FIG. 2 , and a second position, as shown in  FIG. 3 . The control arm  38  is selectively moveable to and from its first and second position by an actuator  40  connected between the remote end of the control arm  38  and a suitable anchor point  42 . The actuator  40  can take any suitable form including a hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic actuator. While the actuator  40  has been shown as a linear actuator, a rotary actuator is equally suitable. If desired, the control arm  38  can function as a manually controlled handle by which an operator moves the control arm  38  to a selected position or, optionally, the control arm  38  can be operated remotely by a “Bowden” type cable or other mechanical linkage. 
   When the control arm  38  is in its first position as shown in  FIG. 2 , the debris-intake hood  22  is configured in its normal debris removal mode in which a high-volume, high-velocity flow of air enters the air-inlet structure  34  and moves laterally from the right to the left in  FIG. 2  to exit the debris-intake hood  22  through the air-flow outlet  36  as shown by the solid and dotted-line arrows. 
   When the control arm  38  is in its second position as shown in  FIG. 3 , the debris-intake hood  22  is configured in its air blast/blower mode in which a high-volume, high-velocity flow of air enters the air-inlet structure  34  and is directed laterally outward of the debris-intake hood  22  to the right in  FIG. 3 . The high-volume, high-velocity flow of air through the debris-intake hood  22  entrains or otherwise picks-up debris from the roadway surface as is known in the art. 
     FIG. 4  is a top view of the debris-intake hood  22  and illustrates the air-flow inlet structure  34  and the air-flow outlet  36  of  FIGS. 2 and 3  from the top. As shown on the right in  FIG. 4 , one or more air-directing vanes  44  can be optionally provided to direct the air blast in the direction shown. In the preferred embodiment, the air-directing vanes  44  are fixed to the air-flow inlet structure  34  and direct the air blast laterally and fowardly from the vehicle. As can be appreciated and as shown in  FIG. 4  in dotted-line illustration, the air-directing vanes  44  can be pivotally mounted on appropriate hinges (or similar structure) and connected together by a link (not shown) so that they move together. A bi-directional actuator  46  is attached to one or the other of the vanes  44  and selectively controlled to point the air blast in a desired direction. If desired, the actuator  46  can be controlled in a cyclic or oscillatory manner by an appropriate controller to cause the air blast to sweep in a recurring manner to and from its angular limits. As in the case of the actuator  40 , the actuator  46  can take any suitable form including a linear or rotary hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic actuator or mechanical actuator such as a “Bowden” cable or other suitable linkage. 
     FIGS. 4A-4D  represent further alternate variants of the present invention including independent control of the air-directing vanes  44  and further air-directing vanes that allow an up/down control of the air blast. 
   In  FIG. 4A , each air-directing vane  44  is under independent control of a respective actuator  46  so that each air-directing vane  44  can be independently moved. As shown in  FIG. 4A , the air-directing vanes  44  can be pivoted toward one another to “narrow” the air flow or, as a shown in  FIG. 4B , the air-directing vanes  44  can be pivoted away from one another to “widen” the air flow. While  FIGS. 4A and 4B  show their respective air flows as laterally directed, the air-directing vanes  44  can be controlled to direct the appropriately “narrowed” or “widened” air flow in a forward or aft direction as desired and in a manner consistent with that shown in  FIG. 4 . 
     FIG. 4C  shows an embodiment in which the air-control vanes  44  described above are removed and replaced by spaced-apart air-control vanes  44 ′ that are pivoted or hinged along axes that are 90° relative to those of the air-control vanes  44  of  FIG. 4 . The air-control vanes  44 ′ are connected by a link (not shown) so that they move together under the control of an actuator  46  so that the air flow can be directed down toward the ground surface, horizontally relative to the ground surface, or upwardly. As in the case of the embodiments of  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the air-control vanes  44 ′ can be independently controlled by separate actuators  46  to “narrow” or “widen” the air flow as desired while also allowing for up/down directional control. 
   The embodiment of  FIG. 4D  represents a combination of controllable vanes  44  for forward/aft direction control and vanes  44 ′ for up/down direction control. In  FIG. 4D , the air-control vanes  44  are shown as rectangular panels and are mounted in the same manner as in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 4A  or  FIG. 4B  with one or more actuators providing directional control. Baffle plates  62  are affixed to the air-inlet structure  34  and extend outwardly therefrom with sufficient clearance so that the air-control vanes  44  are free to move to control the forward/aft direction of the air blast. In addition, air-control vanes  44 ′ are pivoted to or hinged to the remote ends of the baffle plates  62  and are controlled by one or more actuators to provide up/down directional control. As can be appreciated, the embodiment of  FIG. 4D  provides the operator with the ability to control the forward/aft and the up/down direction of an appropriately “narrowed” or “widened” air blast to effect the desired debris removal or movement solution. 
     FIGS. 5-9  illustrate the operation of an air-flow controller  48  located in the air-flow inlet structure  34 . In  FIG. 5 , an air-flow controller  48  is shown in its air-blast position corresponding to  FIG. 3  in which a high-volume, high-velocity air flow enters the air-flow inlet structure  34  and is directed by the air-flow controller  48  through an opening  50  ( FIG. 6 ) with the air-flow directing vanes  44  assisting in the control of the resulting air blast. In  FIG. 7 , the air-flow controller  48  is shown in an intermediate position as it is moved to its first position corresponding to  FIG. 2 . In  FIG. 8 , the air-flow controller  48  is shown in its first position in which the air flow entering the air-flow inlet structure  34  is directed by interval vanes (not shown) into the debris-intake hood  24  as shown in  FIG. 2  while the opening  50  is concurrently and substantially blocked or occluded. 
   The structure of the air-flow controller  48  is shown in  FIGS. 9-12 ; as shown in the side view of  FIG. 9  and the elevational view of  FIG. 10 , the air-flow controller  48  includes the above-mentioned control arm  38  attached at its one end to a shaft  52  mounted for limited rotation about the axis A x . A multi-plate assembly that includes first, second, and third sub-plates  54 ,  56 , and  58  and a brace  60  are mounted to the shaft  52  (e.g., by welding) for rotation therewith in response to movement of the control arm  38 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 11 , the sub-plates  54  and  56  are assembled as a tab-and-slot weldment; more specifically, tabs A 1 , A 2 , and A 3  in the sub-plate  54  are received in appropriately sized and positioned slots B 1 , B 2 , and B 3  in the sub-plate  56  and secured together with the sub-plates  54  and  56  aligned at an angle α (i.e., about 150°) as shown in  FIG. 9 . The sub-plate  58  includes tabs A 4  and A 5  that interengage with slots B 4  and B 5  in the sub-plate  56  as shown in  FIG. 9 . Preferably, the sub-plate  58  is formed along a curved line that corresponds to internal flow vanes (not shown) in the housing  32  of the debris-intake hood  22  to smoothly transition the high-velocity, high-volume air flow into and through the debris-intake hood  22 . For the preferred embodiment shown, the general angular separation between the sub-plate  54  and that of the sub-plate  58  can be in the general vicinity of about 70° or so. 
   When the control arm  38  is in its first position as shown in  FIG. 2 , the sub-plate  56  substantially blocks or occludes the opening  50  ( FIG. 6 ) with the various margins of the sub-plate  56  engaging with or otherwise pressing against margins of the opening  50  to form an adequate seal therebetween. In this configuration, the high-velocity, high-volume air flow entering the air-inlet structure  34  is guided, in part, by the appropriately curved sub-plate  58  into the interior of the housing  32  and moves laterally from the right to the left in  FIG. 2  to exit the debris-intake hood  22  through the air-flow outlet  36  as shown by the solid and dotted-line arrows in  FIG. 2 . 
   When the control arm  38  is in its second position as shown in  FIG. 3 , the debris-intake hood  22  is configured in its air blast/blower mode in which a high-volume, high-velocity flow of air enters the air-inlet structure  34  and is directed laterally outward of the debris-intake hood  22  through the opening  50  to the right in  FIG. 3 . In this air blast mode, the sub-plates  54  and  56  engage or otherwise press against interior surfaces of the air-inlet structure  34  to direct the high-volume, high velocity air flow through the opening  50  with the air-directing vanes  44  directing or guiding the air blast. In the case of the preferred embodiment, the air-inlet structure  34  is located on the driver side of the vehicle  20  and the air-directing vanes  44  (and/or  44 ′) are oriented or aligned to direct the air blast laterally of the vehicle. As can be appreciated and as mentioned above, the air-directing vanes  44  can be made adjustable as desired. 
   In the exemplary embodiment above, the air-flow controller  48  has been shown as a multi-plate weldment; as can be appreciated, other embodiments are possible. For example and as shown diagrammatically in  FIGS. 13 and 14 , another air-flow controller  48 ′ is shown as an appropriately shaped single curvilinear plate or as a multi-plate weldment that is appropriately shaped to provide the desire operation. As can be appreciated, the air-inlet structure  34  is appropriately modified to accommodated the air-flow controller  48 ′. In yet another variation, a single sub-plate can be welded to the shaft  52  to function as a simple ‘flap’ valve in which the shaft  52  is rotated to substantially block the opening  50  or counter-rotated to substantially block the interior cross-section of the air-inlet structure  34  while unblocking the opening  50 . 
   While the controllers  40  and  46  have been described as any type of linear or rotary hydraulic, electric, or pneumatic actuators, suitable control can also be achieved by manually operable links or linkages, flexible cables, Bowden-type push/pull wires, or combinations thereof. Additionally, the CTRL function shown in  FIG. 4  can be a pre-programmable or otherwise programmable electronic or mechanical/electrical device that controls the actuator  46  to move the various air-control vanes  44  and/or  44 ′ in accordance with a desire back-and-forth and/or up/down motion or any other desired sweep pattern. 
   As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, various changes and modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as determined in the appended claims and their legal equivalent.