GB965340A - Improvements in or relating to sweepers particularly for factory floors - Google Patents

Abstract

965,340. Floor cleaning machines. LAMBERT Inc. Nov. 13, 1962 [Nov. 17, 1961], No. 42988/62. Heading A4F. [Also in Division E1] A sweeper particularly for factory floors comprises a mechanism for minimising the discharge of dust into the atmosphere during operation of the sweeper which comprises plates extending longitudinally of the sweeper adjacent the sides of a housing for a rotable brush, said plates being movable vertically independently of said brush or housing, and transverse closure means at both the forward and rearward ends of said housing for limiting escape of dust therefrom, the closure means at one of said ends comprising a plurality of independently mounted sealing members in side by side sealing relationship with each other and adapted to yield individually when passing over particles of debris, the arrangement being such that when the rotatable brush engages the surface for sweeping debris, the lower edges of said plates are positioned for sliding along the surface to be cleaned thereby forming side closures to limit escape of dust through the spaces between the sides of the bottom opening and said surface. The housing comprises an outer shell 18 (Fig. 3) having side walls 16 surrounding an inner shell having side walls 24 and an upper wall 22, said inner shell being fixidly spaced from said outer shell 18, the combined housing being open at the bottom and the rear at which point it is connected to a debris receptacle 20. Closure members 174, 176 (Fig. 2) are provided at the forward and rearward ends of the bottom opening, said members comprising a plurality of rollers in side by side sealing relationship having openings 178, 180 for vertical movement upon shafts 164, 166, said openings 178 being greater than openings 180. The members 174, 176 mounted upon shafts 164, 166 are mounted on side plate 162 each of which has a pair of vertical slots 168 for engagement with pins 170 (Fig. 6 not shown) to permit vertical movement of said side plates. The housing is connected to the debris receptacle 20 by flanges engaging sealing strips 192. A brush 28 is mounted upon a shaft 26 and supported by triangular plates 8 on said outer shell 16 and is adjustable by means of an adjusting screw 148, the brush being positioned in the inner shell. A supplemental brush 88 (Fig. 1 not shown) for sweeping vertical surfaces not reached by the main brush 28 is adjustably mounted on arm 82 at the front end of the machine. A rotary blower 300 has a flexible intake conduit 302 connected to the passage between the inner and outer shells, and a dust bag 306 to receive dust which may be present in the space between the two shells, and so not discharged into the atmosphere.