Patent Application
20120073079
The present invention relates to street sweepers, and more particularly to pick-up heads for street sweepers, specifically pick-up heads for street sweepers wherein large debris is shredded at the pick-up head.
Various types of street sweepers are well known in the industry. Street sweepers are typically used to sweep streets, parking lots, and so on. In use, as the street sweeper moves forwardly, they typically encounter various types of debris including dirt, sand, stones, leaves, branches, plastic bottles, dirt and debris that is adjacent to the curbs and so on.
Dust and small debris, such as dirt, sand and leaves, are initially passed over by the front of the pick-up head and are suctioned into the pick-up head through its bottom opening. The bottom edge of the pick-up head at the front of the housing is only a very small distance above the surface being cleaned, perhaps one-eighth of an inch. Accordingly, only dust and very small debris can pass under it during use. This small distance between bottom edge of the pick-up head at the front of the housing and the surface being cleaned must be kept minimized in order to maintain the minimum suctioning that is necessary to suction the dust and small debris off the surface being cleaned. The dust and small debris are suctioned by the suctioning system of the vehicle, whether it be a vacuum type suctioning system or a recirculating air type suctioning system.
Larger debris is plowed by the front of the pick-up head and, in prior art street sweepers must be separately suctioned up typically by a manually manipulated vacuum wand connected to the same source of vacuum on the sidewalk sweeper or factory floor sweeper that suctions air through the pick-up head. This is undesirable for a number of reasons. Accordingly, in some pick-up heads, there is a front opening that permits debris to egress into the pick-up head. A door mounted on the pick-up head at the front opening closes off air flow into the pick-up head; however, when the door opens to permit large debris to egress into the pick-up head, the full suctioning of the airflow that picks up the dust and small debris off the surface being cleaned is greatly reduced, thus leaving some dust and small debris on the surface being cleaned, which is unacceptable.
Further, larger debris, such as branches and plastic bottles may or may not be able to enter the inlet of the suctioning system of the vehicle, depending on how large the branches and plastic bottles are. Even if they are of a size to be suctioned into the suctioning system of the vehicle, the branches and plastic bottles might become lodged in the air flow duct of the suctioning system, thus substantially blocking the air flow duct, which may render the street sweeper ineffective and inoperable.
Moreover, for large debris, the amount of air flow required to suction the debris from the pick-up head and into the hopper of the street sweeper is quite considerable, thus making it even more important that the air flow duct is not blocked at all.
It is known in waste collection vehicles, but not in street sweepers, to shred debris using the fan blade of the air suctioning system. The advantage of shredding debris is that there is a 4:1 reduction in volume of debris in a hopper if the debris is shredded. Use of the fan blade for this purpose has sewerage disadvantages associated with it. First, all the debris (sticks, stones, sand, bottles, and so on) must pass through the fan blade, which wears out the fan blade quickly. It is known that such fan blades typically have a useful life of about 1200 hours. Such debris suctioning fan blades are expensive, which makes their frequent replacement highly undesirable. Further, such large debris such as small branches are precluded from entering the air flow ducts and reaching the fan blade, or even become lodged in the air flow duct, which is highly undesirable.
One such patent that teaches the use of a fan blade to shred debris is U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,744 issued Jun. 23, 1998 to Hamilton, and entitled Self-Propelled Waste Collection Vehicle. This waste collection vehicle has a waste collection apparatus that comprises a first fluid duct having an inlet. A fan creates a first fluid flow path to draw waste material into the inlet and alternately deposits the debris in the hopper. The fan shreds the debris as it passes through. Having a fan shred debris is well known in the industry, especially for leaf collection vehicles, and is highly undesirable for various reasons. Firstly, there is extreme wear on the fan, which is an expensive component. Further, it requires that large debris be suctioned a considerable distance through a duct, which might lead to the lodging of material in the duct, thus substantially reducing the air flow within the duct, and also potentially plugging the air flow duct. Further, the amount of shredding that can actually be performed by the fan blade is completely dependant on the speed of the fan blade, which is highly undesirable.
Another such patent that teaches the use of a fan blade to shred debris is United States Published Patent Application No. 2006/0059652 published Mar. 23, 2006 to Vry, entitled a Debris Collector. This debris collector has an impeller mounted forwardly of the vehicle. The impeller is coupled to a movable flexible hose used to collect debris from the path of the vehicle and also the surrounding area. The impeller blades shred the debris after it has travelled through the initial flexible hose. The disadvantages of this debris collector include the possibility of large debris becoming lodged in the initial flexible hose. Further, the debris collector cannot actually clean a surface such as a street as there is no pickup head.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pick-up head for use with a street sweeper, wherein larger debris is shredded at the pick-up head.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pick-up head for use with a street sweeper wherein a small front opening in the pick-up head can be used, thereby helping to minimize the loss in suctioning of the air flow in the pick-up head during entry of large debris.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pick-up head for use with a street sweeper, thereby reducing the amount of air flow necessary for suctioning debris to the hopper.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a novel debris shredding pick-up head system for a mobile sweeper. The debris shredding pick-head system comprises a housing extending between a first end and a second end, and has a suctioning bottom opening. A debris receiving opening is disposed in the front of the housing for receiving debris into the housing. A debris shredder is operatively mounted in the housing adjacent the debris receiving opening such that debris passing through the debris receiving opening is received by the debris shredder. The debris shredder shreds the received debris and thereby produces shredded debris. There is also a dust and debris outlet in the housing for permitting dust and debris, including the shredded debris to be suctioned from the substantially hollow interior of the housing into a hopper.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a novel debris shredding mobile sweeper comprising a powered vehicle and a debris receiving hopper. A pick-up head operatively is mounted on the vehicle and has a housing defining a longitudinal axis extending from front to back. The housing has a substantially hollow interior and a suctioning bottom opening for suctioning dust and small debris into the substantially hollow interior of the housing. A debris receiving opening is disposed in the housing for receiving debris into the substantially hollow interior of the housing, in debris receiving relation with respect to a surface being cleaned. A debris shredder is operatively mounted on the housing adjacent the debris receiving opening such that debris passing through the debris receiving opening is received by the debris shredder. The debris shredder shreds the received debris and thereby produces shredded debris. A dust and debris outlet is disposed in the housing for permitting dust and debris, including the shredded debris to be suctioned from the substantially hollow interior of the housing into a hopper.
Other advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the latter of which is briefly described herein below.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the debris shredding pick-up head system for a mobile sweeper according to the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following drawings in which the presently preferred embodiments of the invention will now be illustrated by way of example. It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. In the accompanying drawings:
Referring to
Reference will now be made to
The debris shredding pick-up head 20 further comprises a debris receiving opening 60 disposed in the front of the housing 30 for receiving debris into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30, and in debris receiving relation with respect to a surface being cleaned 29. Preferably, the debris receiving opening 60 is disposed generally centrally in the front of the housing 30. The debris receiving opening 60 needs to be large enough to accept large debris, such as most sizes of cans and plastic bottles therethrough.
The pick-up head 20 has a width “W1” measured generally transversely to the longitudinal axis “L” and the debris receiving opening 60 has a width “W2” measured generally transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”. The width “W1” of the pick-up head 20 is between five and ten times the width “W2” of the debris receiving opening 60. The debris shredder 70 has a width “W3” measured generally transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”. The width of the debris shredder 70 is about equal to the width “W2” of the debris receiving opening 60.
The debris shredding pick-up head system 20 further comprises a selectively openable and closable door means operatively mounted on the debris plowing pick-up head for selectively opening and closing the debris receiving opening 60. The openable and closeable door means comprises at least one door member mounted in hinged relation on the housing, and in the first preferred embodiment as illustrated, comprises that left door member 51 mounted on the housing 30 at the left half of the debris receiving opening 60 by means of a vertically oriented left door hinge 53, and a right door member 52 mounted on the housing 30 at the right half of the debris receiving opening 60 by means of a vertically oriented left door hinge 54. The left door member 51 and the right door member 52 are mounted so as to open inwardly into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30, as can be seen in
The debris shredding pick-up head 20 further comprises a selectively operable actuation means for causing the left door member 51 and the right door member 52 to open. The selectively operable actuation means preferably comprises a pair of hydraulic actuators 58 mounted on top of the housing 30 above the debris receiving opening 60. The hydraulic actuators 58 are controlled by the operator of the mobile sweeping vehicle 22, via a suitable manually operable control. Alternatively, any other suitable type of motor means could be used.
There is a dust and debris outlet 39 in the housing 30 for permitting dust and debris to be suctioned from the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 into a hopper 23 that is mounted at the back of the mobile sweeping vehicle 22, via a duct 26. Dust and debris are suctioned into the hopper 23 via a fan 24. The dust and debris outlet 39 is preferably disposed in the back 33 of the housing 30, so as to take advantage of the relative travel of debris with respect to the debris shredding pick-up head 20 as the mobile sweeping vehicle 22 travels forwardly.
The debris shredding pick-up head 20 further comprises means for urging large debris towards the debris receiving opening 60. In the first preferred embodiment, as illustrated, the means for urging debris towards the debris receiving opening 60 comprises a “V”-shaped front wall portion 32w of the housing 30. The debris receiving opening 60 is disposed at the vertex of the “V”-shaped front wall portion 32w, so as to receive large debris that is pushed along the left and right front walls of the housing 30, as the mobile sweeping vehicle 22 travels forwardly.
It should also be noted that the debris shredding pick-up head 20 for a mobile sweeping vehicle 22 according to the present invention can be used as part of a vacuum type system on a sidewalk sweeper or a factory floor sweeper, or a re-circulating type system on a sidewalk sweeper or a factory floor sweeper.
In use, as the mobile sweeping vehicle 22 travels forwardly, dust and debris on the surface being cleaned 27 are encountered by the debris shredding pick-up head 20. As the mobile sweeping vehicle 22 moves forwardly, any debris that is encountered by the left and right front walls of housing 30 will be moved to the debris receiving opening 60, due to slope of the “V”-shaped front wall portion 32w of the housing 30. The debris will enter the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 through the debris receiving opening 60, when the left door member 51 and the right door member 52 are open. Dust enters the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 via the suctioning bottom opening 38. Dust and debris that enter the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 are suctioned into the housing 30, and the suctioned out of the housing 30 through the dust and debris outlet 39, the duct 26, and into the hopper 23, by a source of suction, such as the fan 24.
A debris shredder 70, as indicated by the general reference numeral 70, is operatively mounted on the housing 30 adjacent the debris receiving opening 60, immediately behind the debris receiving opening 60, such that debris passing through the debris receiving opening 60 is received by the debris shredder 70. The debris shredder 70 shreds the received debris and thereby produces shredded debris. In the first preferred embodiment, the debris shredder 70 is operatively mounted on the housing 30 rearwardly of the selectively openable and closable door means. In this manner, the housing 30 remains substantially closed off except when the left door member 51 and the right door member 52 are open.
In the first preferred embodiment, the debris shredder 70 comprises left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 that are each substantially vertically oriented, and also a left outer cylindrical blade assembly 73 and a right outer cylindrical blade assembly 74 that are also each substantially vertically oriented. The first rotating shredder blade mechanism 71 is rotatable about a first shredder axis “SA1”. The first shredder axis “SA1” is preferably oriented substantially vertically, and is oriented substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”. Similarly, the second rotating shredder blade mechanism 72 is rotatable about a second shredder axis “SA1”. The second shredder axis “SA1” is preferably oriented substantially vertically, and is oriented substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”. Further, the third rotating shredder blade mechanism 73 is rotatable about a third shredder axis “SA1”. The third shredder axis “SA1” is preferably oriented substantially vertically, and is oriented substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”. Also, the fourth rotating shredder blade mechanism 71 is rotatable about a fourth shredder axis “SA1”. The fourth shredder axis “SA1” is preferably oriented substantially vertically, and is oriented substantially transversely to the longitudinal axis “L”.
The left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 rotate such that their expose surfaces converge at the front of the left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72, thereby drawing debris received at the front of the debris shredding pick-up head in between the left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72. The left outer cylindrical blade assembly 73 rotates in the same rotational direction as the left counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 71 in order to feed debris to the left counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 71. Similarly, the right outer cylindrical blade 74 assembly rotates in the same rotational direction as the right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 72 in order to feed debris to the right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 72.
Each of the left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 and each of the left and right outer cylindrical blade 74 assemblies comprises a plurality of cylindrical blades. The cylindrical blades 71a on the left counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 71 and the cylindrical blades 72a on the right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 72 intermesh one with another. The cylindrical blades 71a on the left counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 71 and the cylindrical blades on the left outer cylindrical blade 73 assembly also intermesh one with another. The cylindrical blades 72a on the right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 72 and the cylindrical blades on the right outer cylindrical blade 74 assembly intermesh one with another.
The left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 are spaced apart by only a small distance, just enough to permit debris to pass therethrough as it is shredded.
Similarly, the left outer cylindrical blade assembly 73 is spaced apart from the left counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 71 and the right outer cylindrical blade assembly 74 is spaced apart from the right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assembly 72 by only a small distance just enough to preclude their blades from contacting one another.
Additionally, as can readily be seen in the Figures, each of the left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 and the left and right outer cylindrical blade assemblies 73,74 has a plurality of cutting teeth 71b,72b,73b,74b projecting outwardly from the cylindrical blades 71,72,73,74. These cutting teeth 71b,72b,73b,74b are preferably sharp in order to help latch onto debris that reaches the rotating blade assemblies 71,72,73,74. Further, the cutting teeth 71b,72b,73b,74b are removably and replaceably mounted on the cutting blades 71,72,73,74 so that the cutting teeth 71b,72b,73b,74b can be replaced as necessary, or can be removed, sharpened and replaced.
The debris shredder 70 is actuated by means of a hydraulic motor 78 mounted on top of the housing 30. The hydraulic motor 78 is preferably reversible to permit the direction of rotation of the cutting blades 71,72,73,74 to be reversed in the even that debris becomes jammed in between adjacent cutting blades 71,72,73,74. The hydraulic motor 78 is controlled by the operator of the mobile sweeping vehicle 22, via a suitable manually operable control.
As can be seen in the Figures, the debris shredder 70 is mounted in the housing 30 adjacent the debris receiving opening 60 such that debris passing through the debris receiving opening 60 is received by the debris shredder 70. The debris shredder 70 shreds the received debris and thereby produces shredded debris. The shredded debris is passed into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 due to the rotation of the left and right counter-rotating main cylindrical blade assemblies 71,72 and also due to the forward travel of the mobile sweeping vehicle 22 along the surface being cleaned 27.
The dust and debris outlet 39 in the housing 30 permits dust and debris, including the shredded debris to be suctioned from the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30 into the hopper 23. It will also be noted that the dust and debris outlet 39 is generally centrally disposed in the back of the housing 30, so as to be generally laterally aligned with the debris receiving opening 60, and with the debris shredder 70, so as to directly receive debris therefrom.
In the above described manner, since debris is shredded as it enters into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30, the housing 30 can be lower in height. Accordingly, the housing 30 can have a smaller cross-section than prior art housings, and the dust and debris outlet 39 and the duct 26 can have a smaller cross-section, thus helping to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the first preferred embodiment debris shredding pick-up head system 20.
In another aspect, the present invention comprises a debris shredding mobile sweeper 29, comprising a powered vehicle 22 and a debris receiving hopper 28. The pick-up head 20 operatively is mounted on the vehicle 22 and has a housing 30 defining a longitudinal axis “L” extending from front to back. The housing 30 defines a substantially hollow interior 31 and having a front 32, a back 33, a left end 34 and a right end 35, a top 36 and a bottom 37. There is a suctioning bottom opening 38 for suctioning dust and small debris, such as dirt and small stones, and the like, into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30. A debris receiving opening 60 is disposed in the housing 30 for receiving debris into the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing 30, in debris receiving relation with respect to a surface being cleaned. A debris shredder 70 is operatively mounted on the housing 30 adjacent the debris receiving opening 60 such that debris passing through the debris receiving opening 60 is received by the debris shredder 70. The debris shredder 70 shreds the received debris and thereby produces shredded debris. A dust and debris outlet 39 is disposed in the housing 30 for permitting dust and debris, including the shredded debris to be suctioned from the substantially hollow interior 31 of the housing into a hopper 28.
Reference will now be made to
It should also be noted that the debris shredding pick-up head for a mobile sweeper according to the present invention can be used as part of a vacuum type system on a sidewalk sweeper or a factory floor sweeper, or as part of a re-circulating type system on a sidewalk sweeper or a factory floor sweeper, and the like.
As can be understood from the above description and from the accompanying drawings, the present invention provides a debris shredding pick-up head for use with a sidewalk sweeper or a factory floor sweeper, wherein larger debris is shredded at the debris shredding pick-up head, wherein a smaller front opening in the debris shredding pick-up head can be used, thereby helping to minimize the loss in suctioning of the air flow in the debris shredding pick-up head during entry of large debris, and wherein the amount of air flow necessary for suctioning debris to the hopper is significantly reduced, all of which features are unknown in the prior art.
Other variations of the above principles will be apparent to those who are knowledgeable in the field of the invention, and such variations are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Further, other modifications and alterations may be used in the design and manufacture of the pick-up head for a mobile sweeper of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.
This patent application is a non-provisional application claiming priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/386,982 filed on Sep. 27, 2010, which is herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61386982 | Sep 2010 | US |
