Patent Publication Number: US-5836037-A

Title: Plastic sleeve for wire wound broom

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to improvements in brooms wherein the broom head is made separate from the handle. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel broom having a broom head which includes a broom head sleeve and method of making a broom employing the same. 
     2. Related Art 
     The art of broom making is very extensive including myriads of designs for various purposes. Brooms commonly include a handle and broom head which has a plurality of debris gathering fibers. The fibers are arranged in rows in a side by side lengthwise manner and are bound together and attached to the handle directly or to a head which is then attached to the handle. 
     To save in costs of packaging, shipping and shelf storage space, various designs for separate broom heads and handles have been made. This is desirable to the consumer for reasons that a consumer may need only replacement of a worn broom head or a broken handle. 
     Nevertheless, the art of making conventional wooden handle brooms with sewn broom corn fibers wound to the handle has remained popular and relatively unchanged. This is due to the fact that such broom making equipment is relatively simple and provides a consumer with an inexpensive product. In making such brooms, broom corn fibers are placed adjacent an end of the handle to become the broom head and a piece of winding is tacked through the broom corn fibers to the wooden handle end. A clockwise rotatable collet attaches to another end of the wooden handle and the handle is rotated to draw the winding about the broom corn fibers in a manner to secure the broom corn fibers to the handle wherein a terminal end of the winding is stapled or tacked to the wooden handle. 
     There is a desire and need to continue making this type of broom yet have a separate broom head and handle, and, for the reasons stated, employ the described conventional broom making equipment to accomplish the same. Additionally, it is desired that broom handles be made from other materials, such as metal or plastic, and integrated into the conventional broom making process. Presently, no such methods or devices are available to satisfactorily accomplish this. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object to improve brooms. 
     It is another object to improve broom manufacturing. 
     It is an object to solve the need described above by providing a wound broom corn type broom with a separable head and handle. 
     Other objects and advantages will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon viewing the drawings and reading the detailed description hereafter. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a cross section of a broom sleeve of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows a shaft for use in the method of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 shows the sleeve of FIG. 1 disposed on the shaft of FIG.2 which is fixed to a collet with a threaded eyebolt for use in the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 shows winding about broom corn fibers being attached to the sleeve. 
     FIG. 5 shows winding about broom corn fibers having been attached to the sleeve to form a broom head. 
     FIG. 6 shows a cross section of the sleeve, shaft and stud at line 6--6 in FIG. 5. 
     FIG. 7 shows a wooden handle inserted into the broom head depicted in FIG. 5 to form a broom. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the drawings, the present invention includes a generally cylindrical sleeve 10 for use in a novel method of making a wound broom corn type broom. As seen in FIG. 1, the sleeve 10 is preferably made of material, such as moldable plastic. The sleeve 10 has a first end 12 which defines an open surface 14 extending axially therethrough and a second end 16 which defines a forward threaded open surface 18 extending axially therethrough and in communication with the open surface 14 of the first end 12. The first end 12 has integrally formed on an outer surface thereof a stud 13 having a head 15 to retain the wire 40 as described below. The second end 16 has a bored surface 20 extending radially therethrough. The outer diameter of the first end 12 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the second end, thus forming a shoulder 21 therebetween. 
     The open surfaces 14 and 18 are configured to receive an end 22 of shaft 24, as seen in FIG. 2, or end 26 of a broom 28 as seen in FIG. 7. Each of the ends 22 and 26 have a forward threaded surface 30 and 32, respectively, to thread to the threaded surface 18. 
     The shaft 24 is made of any suitable material, such as metal or plastic, to carry out the invention. The shaft 24 has an end 34 which is fixably connectable to a motorized rotatable collet 36, as seen in FIG. 3, wherein the collet 36 is connectable to a power source (not shown) to enable the shaft 24 to be conventionally clockwise rotated. The end 30 has an open threaded surface 31 to receive a threaded eyebolt 33 for reasons apparent hereinafter and a washer 35 is also provided in preventing damage to the sleeve 10 in carrying out the winding process. The washer 35 has an opening slightly larger than a threaded portion 37 of the eyebolt 33 to receive the same therethrough but smaller than the eyelet head 39. 
     In carrying out the invention, the sleeve 10 is threadably connected to the shaft 24 which is in turn connected to the collet 36. Since the collet 36 is geared to rotate clockwise, the threaded portion 37 of the eyebolt 33 is inserted through the opening of the washer 35 and open surface 18 and threaded to the threaded opening 31. The eyebolt 33 is threaded to tightly draw the sleeve 10 tight to the shaft 24 and prevent unthreading from each other during the winding process. The washer 35 is provided between the eyebolt 33 and the end 20 to prevent any disfiguring of the end 20 by the eyelet head 39. 
     As seen in FIG. 4, an end 38 of winding wire 40 is passed through the bored surface 20 and tied off to secure the end 38 to the sleeve 10. Broom corn fibers 42 are placed adjacent the sleeve 10. While holding the wire 40 in a feeding manner, the collet 36 is powered to cause the rotation of the sleeve 10 in a clockwise direction. The forward threaded shaft 24 is prevented from backing out of or off of the sleeve 10 during the winding process as described above. As the sleeve 10 rotates, the wire 40 wraps about the broom corn 42 to tightly bind the same to the second end 16. The initial winding proceeds up to the shoulder 21 whereat a portion of the broom corn 44, as seen in FIG. 7, is left unbound. The winding continues about the remainder of the broom corn 42 and first end 12 of the sleeve 10 to a terminal point 46 of the sleeve 10. At this point, the rotation of the collet 36 and in turn the sleeve is stopped. 
     The integrally formed stud 13 positioned adjacent the terminal point is wrapped with a piece 50 of the wire 40 and tied off. The head 15 prevents the wire 40 from sliding off the stud 13. Any remainder of the wire 40 beyond piece 50 can be cut off. 
     At this point, the eyebolt 33 and washer 35 are removed. The newly formed broom head 56 is unthreaded from the shaft 24 and is threaded to the handle 28 to form a broom 58 contemplated by the present invention. 
     The above described embodiments are set forth by way of example and are not for the purpose of limiting the present invention. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that obvious modifications and variations can be made to the embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the claims appended hereto should be read in their full scope including any such modifications and variations.