IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SWEEPING ROADS OR WAYS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in
the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SWEEPING ROADS OR WAYS."A
communication from abroad by Léon Monfils, Superintendent on the
Western Railway Panic France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th November 1864.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Iun, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SWEEPING ROADS OR WAYS,"
(a communication to me from abroad by Léon Monfils, Superintendent on the
Western Railway, Paris, France,) to be as follows:-
Sweeping by hand entails considerable expense, and the men thus employed
are exposed to frequent dangers, especially in populous towns where the traffic
is large, besides these dangers hinder the freedom of the work, and the men:
impede the traffic, and can only sweep in an ineffectual manner.

page_text: The machine which forms the subject of the present Invention dispenses
with the use of men for sweeping public thoroughfares, and by the aid of a
horse and one man, will sweep easily and carefully about three acres per
hour. By these means an economy of at least forty per cent. is obtained, and
the sweeping can be done in a much shorter time.
The horizontal framing of the machine is in the form of a right-angled
triangle, and upon the hypothenuse are mounted the brushes made of ratan,
whalebone, or other substance. The brushes are pressed on to the ground by
a number of helical springs which are held down by a horizontal bar of wood,
and are capable of rising and. falling. The brush frame with the brushes
can be raised or lowered by means of a lever provided with a handle. The
machine is furnished with one shaft and a rope by means of which it is drawn
along the road, the line of draught being at right angles to the base of the
triangle, so that the brushes lie in a diagonal line across the road. As the
machine is drawn along, the mud or sweepings collected in front of the brushes
will pass along this diagonal line, and escaping past the angle formed by the
hypothenuse and base of the triangle will be left in a line parallel to the side
of the road. If it should be desired to collect the mud or sweepings into
heaps at intervals a curved scraper is placed behind the angle last named,
which being raised occasionally by means of a lever, will have the desired
effect.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said
George Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all;

page_text: 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 Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR SWEEPING ROADS OR WAYS," (communicated to me.
from abroad by Léon Monfils, Superintendent on the Western Railway, Paris.
France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Davies,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davies, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
that is to say :-
Sweeping by hand entails considerable expense, and the men thus employed
are exposed to frequent dangers, especially in populous towns where the
traffic is large; besides, these dangers hinder the freedom of the work, and
the men impede the traffic, and can only sweep in an ineffectual manner..
The machine which forms the subject of the present Invention dispenses
with the use of men for sweeping public thoroughfares, and by the aid of a
horse and one man will sweep easily and carefully about three acres per hour.
By these means an economy of at least forty per cent. is obtained, and the
sweeping can be done in a much shorter time.
The horizontal framing of the machine is in the form of a right-angled
triangle, and upon the hypothenuse are mounted the brushes made of. ratan,
whalebone, or other substance. The brushes are pressed on to the ground
by a number of helical springs which are held down by a horizontal bar of
wood, and are capable of rising and falling; the brush frame with the brushes.
can be raised or lowered by means of a lever provided with a handle. The
machine is furnished with one shaft and a rope by means of which it is drawn
along the road, the line of draught being at right angles to the base of the
triangle, so that the brushes lie in a diagonal line across the road. As the
machine is drawn along, the mud or sweepings collected in front of the brushes
will pass along this diagonal line, and will, escaping past the angle formed by
the hypothenuse and base of the triangle, be left in a line parallel to the sido
of the road. If it should be desired to collect the mud or sweepings into .

page_text: heaps at intervals, a curved scraper is placed behind the angle last named,
which being raised occasionally by means of a lever, will have the desired
effect.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention for "Improvements
in Machines for Sweeping Roads or Ways," I will now proceed to describe
more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect. And in order that the same may be distinctly
understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof,
and have marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding
with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say:-
In the annexed Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the
improved machine; and Fig. 2 a plan view of the same as seen from above;
Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are views of various details, herein-after referred to.
The framing of the apparatus is formed by three joists or beams 1, 2, 3,
which constitute a right-angled triangle, upon the hypothenuse of which are
mounted the brushes A made of ratan, whalebone, or other substance. The
brushes are pressed on the ground by a number of helical springs B, which
themselves receive the pressure of a horizontal bar of wood C furnished with
an iron rod D. The metal plate p attached to the beam 3, and fixed by a
number of bolts or screws, permits of the brushes sliding up and down; the
iron uprights E fixed on the bar C are connected to the branches G and G
of the lever F, which is worked by the hand; this lever, which passes through
the upright I (represented detached at Figs. 4 and 5) is held in a convenient
position by a pin i, which is passed through one of the holes of the upright,
the holes thus permitting any desired degree of pressure to be given to the
brushes, and at the same time giving facility for their being used or worn
down to the wood of the bar which carries them. The handle of the lever is
within reach of the seat S intended for the driver of the machine.
The triangle 1, 2, 3, or framing of the machine is mounted (at the back)
on the two wheels I and I¹ fixed on an axle 7 of square or round iron, which
is carried in two boxes fixed on the beams 1 and 3 of the frame.
Two scrapers d and d¹ fixed to the cross beam 2 serve to constantly clean
the wheels L and L'; a third wheel or roller L" is placed at the front, and is
mounted in a cap which allows it to turn in all directions. This wheel or
roller (as well as the wheels L, L') is mounted in a box, not shown in the
Drawing, which is furnished with a regulating screw to lift the triangle or
frame 1, 2, 3, when the machine is not at work.
The shaft or pole M is fixed by means of a pin in a strap or staple n
bolted to the beam or cross bar N; this shaft (which is provided with a

page_text: hinge m allowing it to be folded back when not in use) rests on the support P,
seen in detail at Fig. 3.
A second shaft is formed by the rope R attached to the back of the
machine, and passing through the support (see Figs. 6 and 7,) which is
mounted on the cross bar N. As the machine is drawn along in the direction
of the arrow (Fig. 2) the mud or sweepings will pass along the diagonal
line formed by the face of the brushes A from a to a¹, and will form at the
latter point a line parallel to the side of the road, which may either be left
or be gathered into heaps by the aid of a supplementary arrangement fixed
at the left hand corner of the triangle, Fig. 2. This arrangement comprises
a curved brush fixed to the piece K, which is moveable around the point k
when the lever O is displaced; this lever passes through a support o fur-
nished with holes, through one or the other of which a pin is passed according
to whether it is desired to collect the sweepings or to make a heap. To
make the heaps, it is only necessary to move the lever O from time to time in
such a manner as to raise the brush fixed to the piece K. The addition of
this supplementary mechanism is entirely optional.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
Improvements in Machines for Sweeping Roads or Ways," together with
the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim, as the Invention
communicated to me by the within-named Léon Monfils, the general con-
struction and arrangement of machine for sweeping roads or ways, as above
described and illustrated by the Drawing annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)