Year: 1889

page_text: A communication from abroad by RICHARD WEINBERG (Proprietor of the Firm
Weinberg & Meyer), of Herford, Westphalia, in the Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S. M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street, Manchester both in
the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, 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 following statement :-
The bristles of implements such as brooms or other brush-like articles used for
sweeping, must have a certain rigidity in order to perform the work required. Now in
order to be able to use the broom for a sufficient length of time without renewal, the
bristles must originally be of a considerable length because of the rapid wearing.
away of the same. Hitherto, in order to attain the required stiffness, it has been
usual to arrange the bristles in the broom head in a number of rows, one behind the
other. Through this necessary employment of so much material and bristles, brooms
of even a small size are considerably raised in price. This invention has for its
object an arrangement of brooms or revolving brushes, which not only remedies
the faults complained of but also renders it possible to give the brooms a double
width without increasing the weight, or in other words to increase very con-
siderably the utility and the facility of handling the new brooms, which
circumstance becomes of very great importance in street sweeping. In the
accompanying drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 show a broom fitted with the new arrange
ment, as employed for street sweeping, while Figures 4 and 5 show a so called
birch or carpet broom, and Figures 6 and 7 a revolving brush fitted with a similar
arrangement.
On the opposite side of the broomhead A, to the direction in which the broom is to
sweep, is arranged a flat strip 6 supported by connecting pieces a a¹, and against
ut an
which the bristles can rest when sweeping so that, by placing the strip

page_text: appropriate distance from the broomhead, the sweeping action of the bristles can
be adapted to the work required to be done. The connecting pieces a al are held
by the clamps c c¹ which are fastened to the broomhead and may be held firm by the
frame screws d d¹. On the sweeping side of the broomhead A is fixed a metal
scraper K. In rainy weather causing mud in the streets, the strip b must be lowered
further than in dry weather, as in the first instance a greater rigidity of the bristles
is necessary to remove the street mud. To clean the streets hitherto in rainy or
thawing weather, it has been usual for the street sweepers to make repeated strokes
with a broom on the same spot. Owing to the small size of the street brooms at
present used they are only able to clean half the extent of the street surface that
they would be able to do without any greater physical exertion by using this new
broom. The same applies to the sweeping of carpets. According to whether the
carpets are dirtied by dust or by stickier substances, a lighter or heavier broom or
brush is necessary to clean them. For this purpose also the above described arrango-
quent answers admirably, when attached to a carpet whisk. See Figures 4 and 5.
The strip bis, in this case, firmly connected by strips or rods c c¹ with a ring or
collar placed over the shank e of the brush. The ring is fitted with a
thumbscrew g, and by means of this can be held in any desired position on the
sbank, higher or lower according to the work to be done. Also in this case
by the employment of the strip b, a considerable saving of broom materials is
effected.
In Figures 6 and 7 is shewn a revolving brush fitted with this device. The
strips 66, 3, etcetera, are firmly fixed by their connecting pieces c c, c¹ c³, c² c³,
etcetera, and can be so arranged on the roller of the brush, that each for itself or all
together can be placed at the required distance from the centre. The above described
arrangements offer the following advantages: (a) considerable saving in broom
materials; (b) power of adjusting the broom or brush for different kinds of cleaning,
that is, that the same broom can be advantageously used especially for street sweeping,
either in wet or dry weather; (c) in consequence of the greater breadth of the
broom, an increased offectiveness. The wearing out of the bristles is, by this means,
more even, and therefore less than is the case with brooms or brushes without
supports.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
In brooms, brushes or revolving brushes, the arrangement of an adjustable strip or
strips for supporting the bristles on the opposite side to the pressure or sweeping
direction, for the purpose of preventing uneven wear, of saving materials, and of
adapting the brush to different kinds of work with greater facility of handling,
substantially as described and shown.