Improvements in Street Sweeping Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 10th July, 1897-Accepted, 21st Aug., 1897
Improvements in Street Sweeping Machines.
I, ANDREW HEERMANCE SMITH, of 15 East 38th Street, New York, in the County
and State of New York, Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:—
This invention relates to street sweeping machines and my improvements include
the provision of an enlarged hollow wheel containing buckets, an apron arranged in
advance of said wheel, and a brush rotatably supported in position to sweep dirt etc.
into said hollow wheel, the buckets whereof deposit the sweepings, when elevated by
the rotation of the wheel, into a chute and thence to the interior of a cart. The
hollow wheel is provided with an annular flexible flange which extends beyond
the wheel of periphery, and, by hugging the road surface closely, enables the smallest
particles of dirt etc. to be swept into the wheel.
The cart is arranged to be tipped; to dump its contents by lever mechanism, which
is operated by a handle placed adjacent to the driver's seat.
In the accompanying drawings:--
Figure 1 is a top plan view of my apparatus, showing the bucketed wheel in
horizontal section..
Figure 2 is a side elevation.
Figure 3 is a side view, showing the bucketed wheel in vertical longitudinal
section.
Figure 4 is a rear view of the apparatus, showing the bucketed wheel in vertical
cross-section, and
Figure 5 is a detail view of the brush.
In said figures, A indicates the frame of the apparatus, from which frame hangers a a¹
depend and support the wheels B, C. Said wheel B consists of a hollow body, which
is composed of the outer circular wall 6, and the inwardly projecting circular flange b¹.
Buckets are provided within said hollow wheel by placing strips or pieces c trans-
versely upon the inner surface of flange b1, at intervals around its circumference.
D indicates an apron placed diagonally beneath the frame, having a rubber or other
flexible lower edge D', filling the space between said frame and the road surface,
one side edged being conterminous with the open side of wheel B; and a circular
brush E, of approximately the same length as the width of said apron, is arranged
rearward of, and parallel with, said apron. Said brush E is rotatably mounted in
trailers F which are pivotally connected to the frame at f, and the brush is turned
by the sprocket chain g which passes over sprocket wheel i on a rod j; the said rod j
being journalled beneath frame A, and having a bevelled pinion k on its opposite
end, which meshes with, and is rotated by, a gear wheel secured to the axle m of
wheel B.
An important feature of the present invention consists of the frustum-shaped
flexible receiving edge G of wheel B, which edging is secured to the peripheral edge
of flange b and forms a flared mouth for the hollow wheel B. The extreme diameter
of edging G is preferably somewhat greater than that of wheel B, so that the outer
circle of said edging, at the point of contact with the road surface, is slightly flattened
by such contact.

page_text: H indicates a substantially triangular shaped piece of rubber or other flexible
material which is secured to the apron D at its lower corner adjacent to wheel B,
covering the opening that would otherwise exist between the edging G, the road
surface, and the apron.
1
One end of the diagonally arranged brush E extends over edging G, and partway
within the hollow of wheel B. Its action therefore, in sweeping, is to deposit the
sweepings over flexible edging G into the bucket formed in wheel B. The apron D
and corner piece H prevent the sweepings from escaping.
I indicates a chute which is connected to a shield J, which latter is supported
upon the frame in position beneath the upper portion of the interior of wheel B, the
function of said shield being to prevent the sweepings collected within the buckets
from falling before the same can enter the chute, as the buckets are brought to the
upper position by the rotation of wheel B."
The lower end of chute J abuts over a cart K and serves to convey the contents of
said buckets to said cart. Cart K is pivotally supported between wheels B and C,
and is arranged to be tipped backwards to dump its contents. Said cart K is retained
in its loaded condition by means of lever n, which is pivoted at n¹ to the cart, and is
pivoted at o to a toggle arm o', which toggle arm is pivotally secured at
a support pl on the frame A. q is the handle of lever n, which handle, when pulled
upwardly and thrust back, dumps the cart, causing said cart and the just described
mechanism for operating same, to assume the position shown in dotted lines in
Figure 2.
to
In the operation of the machine, the brush, which should extend at one end over
the flexible flange G, sweeps all dust and loose particles into the wheel B. The
flexible flange is preferably of a little greater diameter than the wheel, and thus its
outer edge is turned and caused to lay flat upon the road at the point of contact,
thereby enabling the brush to sweep all dust, dirt, etc. into the wheel B over said
flange G, without leaving even the smallest windrow. The function of the
triangularly-shaped flexible piece H is almost equally important, since it prevents the
escape of the sweepings at the aperture which would otherwise exist between
the apron D and flange G. The wheel B, by its buckets, elevates the sweepings in its
rotation, and the shield J prevents said sweepings from falling by gravity until
same are brought over the chute I, which latter directs the sweepings into the
cart.
.
D
101
1
CT
1005
I, ANDREW HEERMANCE SMITH, of 15 East 38th Street, New York, in the County 4
and State of New York, U.S.A. Doctor of Medicine, 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:--
This invention relates to street sweeping machines and my improvements include
the provision of an enlarged hollow wheel containing buckets, an apron arranged in 4
advance of said wheel, and a brush rotatably supported in position to sweep dirt etc
into said hollow wheel, the buckets whereof deposit the sweepings when elevated by
the rotation of the wheel, into a chute and thence to the interior of a cart. The
hollow wheel is provided with an annular flexible flange which extends beyond the
wheel periphery, and, by hugging the road surface closely enables the smallest 5
particles of dirt &c. to be swept into the wheel.

page_text: The cart is arranged to be tipped, to dump its contents by lever mechanism, which
is operated by a handle placed adjacent to the driver's seat.
In the drawings, lodged with the Provisional Specification :-
Figure 1 is a top plan view of my apparatus, showing the bucketed wheel in
horizontal section.
Figure 2 is a side elevation.
Figure 3 is a side view, showing the bucketed wheel in vertical longitudinal
section.
Figure 4 is a rear view of the apparatus, showing the bucketed wheel in vertical
cross-section; and
Figure 5 is a detail view of the brush.
In said figures, A indicates the frame of the apparatus, from which frame
hangers aa¹ depend and support the wheels B, C. Said wheel B consists of a hollow
body, which is composed of the outer circular wall b, and the inwardly projecting
circular flange b¹. Buckets are provided within said hollow wheel by placing strips
or pieces c transversely upon the inner surface of flange b', at intervals around its
circumference. D indicates an apron placed diagonally beneath the frame having a-
rubber or other flexible lower edge D1, filling the space between said frame and
the road surface, one side edge d being conterminous with the open side of
wheel B; and a circular brush E, of approximately the same length as the width.
of said apron, is arranged rearward of, and parallel with said apron. Said brush E
is rotatably mounted in trailers F which are pivotally connected to the frame at f,
and the brush is turned by the sprocket chain g, which passes over the sprocket
wheel on a rod j; the said rod j being journalled beneath frame A, and having
a bevelled pinion k on its opposite end, which meshes with and is rotated by a
gear wheel secured to the axle m of wheel B.
An important feature of the present invention consists of the frustum shaped
flexible receiving edge G of wheel B, which edging is secured to the peripheral
edge of flange b¹ and forms a flared mouth for the hollow wheel B. The extreme
diameter of edging G is preferably somewhat greater than that of wheel B,
so that the outer circle of said edging, at the point of contact with the road
surface, is slightly flattened by such contact.
H indicates a substantially triangularly shaped piece of rubber or other flexible.
material which is secured to the apron D at its lower corner adjacent to wheel B,
covering the opening that would otherwise exist between the edging G, the road:
surface, and the apron.
One end of the diagonally arranged brush E extends over edging G, and partway
within the hollow of wheel B. Its action therefore, in sweeping, is to deposit the
sweepings over flexible edging G into the buckets formed in wheel B. The apron D
and corner piece H prevent the sweepings from escaping.
I indicates a chute which is connected to a shield J, which latter is supported upon
the frame in position beneath the upper portion of the interior of wheel B, the
function of said shield being to prevent the sweepings collected within the buckets,
from falling before the same can enter the chute, as the buckets are brought to the
upper position by the rotation of the wheel B.
The lower end of chute J abuts over a cart K and serves to convey the contents of
scid buckets to said cart. Cart K is pivotally supported between wheels B and C, and
is arranged to be tipped backwards to dump its contents. Said cart K is retained in
its loaded condition by means of lever n, which is pivoted at n' to the cart, and is
pivoted at o to a tuggle arm o¹, which toggle arm is pivotally secured at p to a
support p¹ on the frame A. q is the handle of lever n, which handle, when pulled
upwardly and thrust back, dumps the cart, causing said cart and the just described
mechanism for operating same to assume the position shown in dotted lines in
Figure 2.
In the operation of the machine, the brush, which should extend at one end over
the flexible flange G, sweeps all dust and loose particles into the wheel B. The flexible

page_text: flange is preferably of a little greater diameter than the wheel, and thus its outer edge
is turned and caused to lay flat upon the road at the point of contact, thereby enabling
the brush to sweep all dust, dirt, &c. into the wheel B over said flange G, without
leaving even the smallest windrow. The function of the triangularly shaped flexible
piece K is almost equally important, since it prevents the escape of the sweepings at
the aperture which would otherwise exist between the apron D and flange G. The
wheel B, by its buckets, elevates the sweepings in its rotation, and shield J prevents
said sweepings from falling by gravity until same are brought over the chute I, which
latter directs the sweepings into the cart.
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 consisting of a frame, a hollow wheel journalled
thereto, said wheel containing buckets, a brush to sweep particles into said wheel, and.
means for conveying the sweepings from said wheel into an adjacent receptacle,
substantially as set forth.
2. A hollow wheel containing means for elevating particles, and an outwardly
flaring, flexible flange arranged at the open side of said wheel, substantially as set
forth.
•
3. In a street sweeping machine, a frame, a hollow bucketed wheel journalled
thereto, a brush mounted in trailers depending from the frame, said brush being
arranged to sweep particles into the said wheel, and an apron in advance of
said brush, having one side edge conterminous with said wheel, to confine the
sweepings; together with a flexible, triangular piece connected to said apron,
to cover the space bounded by the wheel, apron, and roadway, substantially as set
forth.
4. In a street sweeping machine, in combination, a frame, a hollow wheel,
journalled thereto, said wheel containing buckets to receive sweepings, a receptacle
supported by the frame adjacent to said hollow wheel, and a chute to convey
sweepings from the interior of said wheel to said receptacle, together with a
shield arranged at either end of said chute, beneath the upper buckets, substantially
as set forth.
5. The improvements in street sweeping machine substantially as and for the
purpose hereinbefore described set forth and illustrated.