Improvements in Apparatus for Sweeping Streets.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Sweeping Streets.
I, JOHANN SCHOPP, Merchant, of 274, Kölnerstrasse, Düsseldorf, Germany, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement:—
This invention relates to a street sweeping machine which is provided with a
special kind of rotary brush adapted to follow the inequalities of the pavement
and to sweep the mud towards the middle, where it is taken up by a scoop or
apron delivering it in the known manner upon an elevator which conveys the mud
to a receptacle mounted on the travelling sweeper or on a separate vehicle.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine embody-
ing my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the principal parts; Figs. 3 and 4
are detail views of the travelling brush.
The rotary brush B has either a flexible core consisting of a wire rope or other
flexible material, or a series of short hollow sections joined together, the bristles
or wires being set into the said core or sections, or into a mantle surrounding
the same.
The brush follows the shape of the road surface, so as to be in contact with
the same on its entire length, and forms a curve as shown by Fig. 2.
In the example shown by the drawings-Figs. 3 and 4-the core is chiefly
composed of hollow sections or short tubes having at each end recesses a and
projections or teeth a', so that the teeth of one section enter the recesses of the
adjoining section and vice versa, which tubes are mounted on a bent axle and
form a continuous tube. The latter carries at one end or at each end a rope
pulley or chain wheel C adapted to impart rotary motion to the said tube from a
corresponding pulley or chain wheel R geared together with the carriage axle,
as represented by Fig. 2.
If the flexible core consists of a wire rope, the driving pulley or wheel is
fixed directly upon the said rope, and there is no fixed axle or inner core required.
Owing to the curved shape of the brush, the mud will be swept towards the
middle of its length and delivered upon an apron S leading to the elevator E
which in the example shown has the shape of a bucket chain.
A sprinkler may be applied, so as to throw down any dust, that may arise as
the dry street refuse is swept towards the centre and upon the apron.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A street sweeping machine comprising in its construction a rotary brush
forming a curve adapted to follow the shape of the road surface, the axle or core
of the brush consisting either of a flexible shaft or wire rope or of a curved shaft
on which are mounted short tubes carrying the brush material, substantially
as described.

page_text: 2. In a street sweeper provided with an elevator and a mud receptacle, the
combination of a curved rotary brush adapted to operate as described, with a
receiving apron or scoop adapted to guide the mud or other road refuse into the
elevator.
3. A street sweeping machine constructed and adapted to operate substantially
as described and shown by the drawings.
Dated this 26th day of October 1898.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents, 37 and 39, Essex Street, Strand, London,