Improvements in Carpet Sweepers.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Carpet Sweepers.
I REGINALD HADDAN of the firm of Herbert & Co., Patent Agents of
18 Buckingham Street Strand London W.C. Civil Engineer do hereby declare
the nature of this invention a communication to me from abroad by The Bissell
Carpet Sweeper Co. of Grand Rapids State of Michigau in the United States of
America and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to carpet sweepers and has for its object to provide novel
means for supporting the drive wheels and pivoting the dust pans, whereby the
sweeper can be more economically produced while a simple, efficient, and desirable
construction is obtained.
The invention also has for its object to provide a wire or rod which fulfils the
conditions required to support a drive wheel and pivot one end of a dust pan.
The invention also has for its object to provide a novel wire or rod of such
construction and arrangement that it serves as a support for the drive wheel and
as a pivot pin for one end of a dust pan, and also acts to move or force the drive
wheel into superficial contact with the brush shaft when pressure is brought to
bear upon the drive wheel through the medium of the sweeper case.
The invention also has for its object to provide novel means for connecting a
pivoted dust pan with an actuating lever for the purpose of dumping the dust pan
when occasion demands.
The invention also has for its object to provide novel means for operating a
dust pan and locking or holding it in its closed position.
To accomplish all these objects this invention involves the features of con-
struction, the combination or arrangement of devices and the principles of operation
hereinafter described and claimed reference being made to the accompanying
drawings in which :-
Fig. 1 is an end elevation of sufficient of a carpet sweeper to illustrate this
invention.
Fig. 2 is a similar view omitting the bale, the drive wheels and the transverse
bar exhibited in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing a portion of a dust pan its operating
devices and the wire or rod which serves to pivot the dust pan and to support the
drive wheel.
Fig. 4 is a detail end elevation showing a modification of the dust pan actuating
devices.
In order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use this invention I will
now describe the same in detail referring to the drawings where the numeral 1
indicates a sweeper case of any desired construction, 2 the brush shaft, 3 the drive
wheels, 4 the dust pans, 5 an ordinary transverse band for supporting the brush
shaft and 6 the handle carrying bale.
These elements may be of any construction suitable for the purpose and while
I-have illustrated a particular type of these devices I do not wish to be understood
as confining myself to any particular construction of the same, and further I do
not confine myself to that construction wherein the transverse bar is employed for
supporting the brush shaft.
The numeral 7 indicates a metallic wire or rod which according to this invention
is so constructed as to pivot the dust pan and support the drive wheel. In the
example here illustrated the two end portions of the wire or rod are bent laterally
in reverse directions to form journal or pivot pins 8 and 9 which are arranged
parallel to each other and serve respectively as the journal for a drive wheel and

page_text: the pivot for one end of a dust pan.
Inasmuch as the wires or rods for all the drive
wheels and the ends of the dust pan are in practice substantially all exactly alike,
the description of one will be sufficient for the proper understanding of this
invention.
The metallic wire or rod is confined upon the outside of the sweeper case through
the medium of a suitable guide or bracket 10 and the end portion or pin 9 extends
through an orifice 12 in the case to engage with and constitute the pivot pin of
one end of the dust pan while the opposite end portion 8 engages the drive wheel
hub and constitutes the journal upon which the wheel rotates.
This is the pre-
ferred construction but I do not confine myself to the exact engagement of the
wire or rod with the wheel for the purpose of supporting the latter.
The body portion of the wire or rod is arranged in an incline plane running
from the orifice 12 in the sweeper case towards one side of the latter, in such a
manner that when pressure is brought to bear upon the wheel through the medium
of the sweeper case or otherwise, the tendency of the wire is to swing in the arc
of a circle in a direction towards the axis of the brush shaft, and therefore the
drive wheel is pressed against the brush shaft for the purpose of increasing the
frictional contact therewith. By this means the peculiar wire or rod here illus-
trated not only supports a drive wheel and pivots the dust pan, but it also fulfils
the conditions required to move or force the drive wheel into superficial contact
with the brush shaft when pressure is placed upon the wheel through the medium
of the sweeper case. This is a very desirable and important feature and it
materially simplifies the sweeper and enables me to more economically construct
the same but, I do not confine myself to the arrangement of the wire or rod by
which the frictional contact between the drive wheel and the brush shaft is
secured.
If the wire or rod is arranged in an incline plane as described for the purpose
of moving in the arc of a circle to force the drive wheel into frictional contact
with the brush shaft, the guide or bracket 10 should be of such construction as to
permit the required swinging movement of the wire or rod.
As here shown, the pivot pins for the dust pans are located at or near the inver
edges thereof and for the purpose of dumping each dust pan I provide a lever 13
pivoted to the extremity of the end wall of the sweeper case by a suitable pivot
pin 14 so that the lever can be swung in a vertical plane. The upper end of the
lever is preferably fashioned into a finger or thumb piece 15 arranged in juxta-
position to the top portion of the sweeper case, and between such finger or thumb
piece and the pivot 14 the lever is provided with a pendant arm 15ª with which is
pivotally engaged one extremity of a link 16 having its opposite or lower end
bent laterally as at 17, and extended to the inside of the sweeper case where it is
loosely or otherwise engaged with the dust pan at one side of a vertical line through
the pivot pin thereof.
The engagement of the link with the arm of the lever may be easily effected by
bending the extremity of the link and engaging it with an eye or orifice in the arm
as at 16 Fig. 3 and a similar connection between the link and dust pan may be
employed.
Where two dust pans are arranged at opposite sides of the brush shaft, each will
be provided with its independent lever and link connection, and the lower extremities
of the two levers at one end of the sweeper case may be connected with the
extremities of an arched or bowed wire or other spring 18 which constantly tends
to press the lower ends of the levers in a downward direction, and thereby lock or
hold the dust pans in their closed positions. This is the preferred construction,
because the dust pans are automatically closed and locked or held in closed positions
but as illustrated in Fig. 4 the arched or bowed spring is dispensed with and the
inherent elasticity of the connecting link is relied upon for locking or holding the
dust pan in its closed position. To accomplish this the relative arrangement of
the parts is such that after the dust pan is closed, the movement of the lever is
continued in the direction of the arrow 19. Fig. 4 to place the point of connection

page_text: between the link and the lever above and at one side of a rectilinear line 21 drawn
between the pivot pin 14 of the lever and the axis of the connection 22 between
the link and the dust pan whereby the link hears at a point between its ends against
the pivoted extremity of the lever, and the link is placed under such tension as to
lock or hold the dust pan in its closed position.
As regards the dust pan operating devices it is not essential that the dust pans
be pivoted by a wire or rod which also supports a drive wheel, and obviously this
invention is not confined to a carpet sweeper having a pair of dust pans.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination with a sweeper case, a drive wheel and a dust pan, of a
wire or rod having one end serving as a support for the drive wheel and the
opposite end serving as a pivot pin for the dust pan substantially as described.
2. The combination with a sweeper case, a drive wheel and a dust pan, of a wire
or rod having one end serving as a support for the drive wheel, and the opposite
end serving as a pivot pin for the dust pan, said wire or rod being arranged in
an inclined plane to move in the arc of a circle when pressure is placed upon the
drive wheel through the medium of the sweeper case or otherwise substantially as
described.
3. The combination with a sweeper case and a pivoted dust pan of a swinging
lever pivoted to the sweeper case and formed with an upwardly projecting finger
piece 15 and a pendant arm 15 and a link having one extremity pivoted to the dust
pan and the opposite extremity pivoted to the pendant arm of the lever substan-
tially as described.
4. The combination with a sweeper case and a dust pan of a lever pivoted at the
exterior of the sweeper case, and a link having one extremity engaged with the
lever and the opposite extremity turned laterally extending to the inside of
the sweeper case and engaged with the dust pan substantially as described.
5. The combination with a sweeper case of a pair of dust pans, a pair of levers
pivoted to the case, a pair of links respectively connecting the levers with the dust
pans, and a spring acting upon the lower ends of both levers substantially as
described.
Dated this 12th day of January 1892.
HERBERT & Co.,
Agents to Applicant.