AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SWEEPING CARPETS AND FLOORS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SWEEPING
CARPETS AND FLOORS."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th February 1859, and dated the 21st September 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st September 1858.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SWEEPING
CARPETS AND FLOORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the combination of a cylindrical brush with a
traction roller in the construction of a machine for sweeping carpets and
floors. The brush is mounted in a box furnished with a handle, whereby it is
propelled over the carpet or floor to be swept; and outside of this box the
traction roller is mounted in bracket bearings. The brush is formed of
bristles, which are drawn into a helical groove cut around the shaft which
forms the axle of the brush, and held in place by means of a wire in such a
manner as to give the bristles an inclination of about forty-five degrees to the
axis, and to a radial line passing directly outward from it. By this arrange-

page_text: ment one wire will suffice to secure the whole of the bristles that go to make
up the brush. The brush is connected by a belt or cord to the traction roller,
and it is caused to rotate as that roller is passed over the carpet or floor. The
traction roller is made by winding a strip of india-rubber or other suitable
substance around a roller or cylinder, the inclined edges of this strip of rubber
serving to give adhesion to the roller. The dust which is thrown up by the
revolutions of the brush is caught in troughs formed in the bottom of the box.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st March 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED MACHINE FOR SWEEPING CARPETS AND FLOORS," being a
communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed,. to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
relates, firstly, to the combination of a cylindrical brush, the bristles of which
are by preference inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees from a
radial line passing directly outward from the centre of the axis of the brush,
with a traction roller in the construction of a machine for sweeping carpets
and floors, as herein-after more fully set forth; and, secondly, to a peculiar
construction of traction roller, by which a certain and efficient traction and
adhesion, combined with smoothness of action, is secured at a trifling expense.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical transverse section of the
improved machine, shewing the manner in which the parts are arranged;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same, and Fig. 3 is a view of a portion of the brush,
shewing it partly in section and partly in elevation, the object of this Figure
being to explain the construction of the brush.
The brush A is formed by attaching bristles around a roller B, as shown,
by first turning a helical groove b in the roller and doubling the bristles upon
a wire c, or its equivalent, and by drawing them into the groove around the
roller, the wire being fastened at its ends to secure the bristles A in place.
The groove is made in such a manner as to give the bristles an inclination
between a line drawn parallel to the axis of the shaft and a radial line passing
upward from the said axis. The object of this arrangement is to allow them
to yield more readily to the pressure of the carpet; the construction of the
parts, that is, the inclination and helical arrangement of the lines of bristles
upon the cylinder B being such as to produce the desired result. The brush
is revolved in the direction indicated by the arrow, and the lead of the helix
is such as to cause this direction of rotation to draw the bristles of which the
brush is composed along the carpet instead of thrusting them into it. The
brush is mounted in a metal case or box C, which is open at the bottom to
permit of the bristles projecting beyond it to act upon the carpet. Outside
of the case C, and in the rear thereof, the traction roller D is mounted. This
traction roller is made by winding a strip of india-rubber helically around a
roller of wood or other suitable material, which construction ensures great
adhesion between the roller and the ground when the machine is in action by
reason of the continuous inclined edges of the helical strip of rubber acting
upon the carpet. This, it will be understood, is a matter of considerable
importance, because it is not admissible in this place to use a large roller;
and unless a strong traction can be secured the brush will not be operated,
and the rest of the machine, however good in itself, would be worthless. The
traction roller is connected to the cylindrical brush by means of a crossed
band E passing from a pulley on the axle of the roller D to a pulley on the

page_text: axle of the brush, and rotary motion is communicated thereto by pushing the
machine forward by means of the handle F which is attached to the back of
the case C for that purpose.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Machine
for Sweeping Carpets and Floors," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the mounting
of a rotary brush in a case so constructed as to receive and retain the dirt
taken up by the brush when set in rotation, as machines answering to that
description have heretofore been proposed; but what I claim under the above
in part recited Letters Patent is, the combination in a machine for sweeping
carpets and floors of a rotary brush with a traction roller, constructed and
arranged substantially as and for the purposes above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first, day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)