Iм- PROVEMENTS IN SWEEPING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Orth, of White Hall, Wickham,
in the County of Essex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN SWEEPING MACHINES."
Scaled the 25th July 1871, and dated the 28th January 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Orth
J
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th January 1871.
I, WILLIAM HENRY ORTH, of Whitehall, Wickham, in the County of
Essex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SWEEPING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to
say :-
The object of my Invention is to obtain a less expensive and more
effective machine for sweeping floors, carpets, and other like surfaces.
The sweeping machine to which I apply my improvements is con-
structed of a box, at one end of which is a circular or spiral brush, the

page_text: axle of which works in suitable bearings in the sides of the box.
This box receives the dust and is furnished with a door at the back for
removing the same.
To work the machine the ends of the axle of the brush outside the
box are each furnished with a pinion gearing with cog wheels fixed on
the axle of the wheels carrying the box. At the back of the box is
placed a roller or a pair of small wheels for assisting the motion of the
machine, which is furnished with a handle by which it may be moved
over the surface to be swept.
Another arrangement for working the machine consists in a frame
applied to the upper part of the box. This frame is furnished with an
axle provided with a crank handle and carrying a grooved pulley at
each end. These pulleys are connected by bands to smaller grooved
pulleys at the ends of the axle carrying the brush. In this arrangement
the cog wheels, pinions, and wheels carrying the box are dispensed with,
the apparatus moving on suitable rollers. The bearings of the axle
of the brush are constructed to admit of the brush bring lowered as it
wears out.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry Orth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th July 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY ORTH, of White Hall, Wickham, in the County of Essex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Henry Orth, Her special
licence that I, the said William Henry Orth, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry Orth,
my executors, administrators, 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,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SWEEPING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Henry Orth, 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 of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Orth, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:―
The object of my Invention is to obtain a more effective machine for
sweeping floors, carpets, and other like surfaces.
d
The sweeping machine to which I apply my improvements is con-
structed of a box, at one end of which is a circular or spiral brush the
axle of which works in suitable bearings at the sides of the box. This
box receives the dust and is furnished with a door at the back for
removing the same.
To work the machine the ends of the axle of the brush outside the
box are each furnished with a pinion gearing with cog wheels moved by
cog wheels fixed on the axle of the wheels carrying the box. At the
front of the box is placed a roller or a pair of small wheels for assisting
the motion of the machine, which is furnished with a handle by which
it may be moved over the surface to be swept.
Another arrangement for working the machine consists in a frame
applied to the upper part of the box. This frame is furnished with an
axle provided with a crank handle and carrying a grooved pulley at
each end. These pulleys are connected by bands to smaller grooved
pulleys at the ends of the axle carrying the brush. In this arrangement
the cog wheels, pinions, and wheels carrying the box are dispensed with,
the apparatus moving on suitable rollers. The bearings of the axle
of the brush are constructed to admit of the brush being lowered as it
wears out.

page_text: To make my Invention better understood I will now proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a half plan, Figure 2 a side elevation, and Figure 3 a
section of a sweeping machine constructed with my improvements
according to my first arrangement, and Figure 4 a plan (partly in
section), and Figure 5 a side elevation of a sweeping machine shewing
my second arrangements. Similar letters in all the Figures represent
similar parts.
The sweeping machine is constructed of a box a, a, a, at one end of
which is a circular brush b, b, (or the brush may be spiral); the axle c
of the brush works in suitable bearings d, d, which are adjustable as
herein-after described; e, e, is a partition in the box to prevent the
return of the dust, and f is a slide door at the back for removing the
dust; g is a hinged flap, the edge of which always rests on the floor or
carpet when the machine is used. The part of the box under the brush
is open as is also the lower part of the front of the box. At each end
of the axle c of the brush outside the box is fixed a pinion h, each of
which gears with an intermediate wheel i which are driven by the large
cog wheels j fixed on the wheels / carrying the box; 1, 1, are small
wheels at the front for assisting the motion of the box; m is the
handle of the machine which is removeable, as shewn. The bearings d, d,
of the axle of the brush form a regulator for adjusting the brush as it
wears, each bearing consists of a plate, one end of which moves freely
on the spindle o of the intermediate wheel i, and the other end is fixed
by a set screw n. A circular slot is cut in each side of the box (shewn in
dotted lines, Figure 2), so that as the brush wears it can be lowered by
moving down the regulator, the circular slot allowing of the passage
of the axle of the brush. By this arrangement if the machine be moved
forward over a floor or other surface the brush will be caused to rotate
in the direction of the arrow, and taking up the dust will sweep it into
the box behind the partition e, which prevents its return, and the
moveable flap 9 prevents the dust passing under the bottom of the
box. In small machines the pinion h and wheels i and j are only
required on one side of the box.
Another arrangement for working the machine, as shewn in Figures 4
and 5, consists in employing a frame p, p, the lower ends of which fit on
the ends of the axle c of the brush, and the upper end forms the handle
for moving forward the machine. This frame is furnished with a

page_text: handler carrying a crank 8, 8, at each end; each end of the axle o the
brush is also furnished with a crank t, t, which are connected to the
aforesaid cranks 8, 8, by the connecting rods u, u. By this means if
the handler be turned as the machine is moved forward the brush will
be caused to rotate. The cog wheels and pinion and large wheels k
(Figures 1 and 2) are not required in this arrangement. Instead of
employing the cranks 8, s, t, t, and connecting rods u, u, I can employ
grooved pulleys and a band, as shewn by the red lines, Figure 5.
Having now described my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, what I claim is,-
Firstly. The arrangements of mechanism for driving the brushes
of sweeping machines, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in Figures 1, 2, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The employment of the partition e, slide door f, and hinged
flap g, substantially as herein-before described and represented in the
several Figures of the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly. The employment of the moveable bearings d for regulating
the height of the brush, substantially as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Orth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one.
25 Witness,
W. A. GILBEE,
4, South St.,
Finsbury.
W. H. ORTH. (L.S.)