US3014228A - Combination load-hauling vehicle and floor sweeper - Google Patents

Description

J. M. MORROW Dec. 26, 1961 COMBINATION LOAD-HAULING VEHICLE AND FLOOR SWEEPER Filed March 19, 1958 1 FY r Z1 57' 7 JOHN M. Mo

INVENTOR:

EQOW

BY ZOi OYL M 'PW ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofilice 1 Patented Dec. 26', 1961 3,014,228 COMBINATION LOAD-HAULING VEHICLE AND recon SWEEPER John M. Morrow, 828 N. 6th 52., Albemarle, N.C. Filed Mar. 19, 1958, Ser. No. 722,483 6 Claims. (Cl. 1s 79 This invention relates to yarn, thread and fabric production from textile fibers of various types, and more particularly, to improved apparatus for cleaning the floors of textile mills and the like to prevent the accumulation of short fibers, lint, yarn and any loose foreign matter in the aisles between the rows of textile machinery.

It is well known that the making of yarn, threads and fabrics from textile fibers, such as cotton and the like, includes the separation, cleaning and blending of the fibers and then drawing them out through various operations so that individual fibers tend to become parallel and form indefinite length, slightly twisted, rope-like strands, generally known as roving. This roving is then fed into spinning frames which further parallel the fibers and twist them into yarn. This yarn may then be further processed in various ways if desired before normally being formed into a fabric or garment.

Now, during these various stages of yarn and fabric preparation, a considerable problem arises in the accumulation and removal of textile waste from the mill fioor. This waste is, of course, undesirable in all parts of the mill in that (1) it presents a fire and safety hazard, (2) it tends to collect and become entangled around and bind the wheels or casters of bobbin trucks and other article carrying trucks and the like as they move throughout the mill, and (3) it is unsightly. More importantly, waste presents an especially acute problem in spinning rooms. Here the forming of the roving and yarn takes place, and the waste which accumulates on the flor comprises the short broken fibers known as fly or lint and any insecurely retained longer fibers which tend to be thrown out to float in the air and settle, to a large extent, on the aisle floors between the rows ofmachines. If this loose lint or fly is not readily removed, it is stirred up from the floor by -air currents and machine attendants walking about and tends to gather in the roving or the yarn being spun and materially reduces the quality of the finished yarn by forming thick places, commonly known as slabs, which cause weakness, breakage and loss of yarn product.

In an effort to reduce these problems caused by the various forms of floor waste in textile mills, it has long been the practice to provide personnel commonly known as sweepers whose primary, and often sole, duty is to manually sweep the floors with brooms on plough-like brushes. It is not uncommon for an average size spinning room to employ as many as three such sweepers whose sole duty it is .to sweep the fly or lint waste from the floor.

This necessity for additional personnel is, of course, expensive, and furthermore, the presence of these additional personnel in the small aisles between the machines tends to hinder the efficiency of the machine attendants and other personnel organic to the operation.

During recent years the waste and sweeper problems have been somewhat alleviated in some spinning operations by the use of automatic sweeping apparatuses. One type of automatic apparatus, for example, is in the form of a fan mounted beneath each spinning frame and adapted to reciprocate the length thereof and blow the the lint from the floor beneath the spinning frame and across the adjacent aisle and underneath the next adjacent machine and, ultimately, to a collecting device or waste receptacle usually at one side of the spinning room. The automatic apparatuses have proven to be highly satisfactory and have enabled mills using such apparatuses to reduce or completely eliminate the number of sweepers necessary, dependent on the type of apparatus used. The fact still remains, however, that these automatic apparatuses have not completely eliminated the necessity for manual sweeping in all cases due to the accumulation of waste between cleaning cycles. In addition, these apparatuses naturally require capital expenditures which may not be warranted in some cases, and further, they are not always feasible or economically adapt-able to mill operations other than spinningand the like.

With the above problems in -mind, I have invented a new apparatus for sweeping floors of textile mills which results in the reduction, to a large extent, of the necessity for sweeper operators or personnel. In this apparatus, I take advantage of the fact that almost all operations in textile mills require the use of carrying trucks of various types. These trucks are used primarily by personnel whose duty it is to keep the machines filled with the necessary materials to be processed and also, in many cases, to dolf or remove the processed product from the machines.

For example, bobbin trucks are used in a spinning room and are operated by personnel who place bobbins of roving onto spinning frames and remove empty bobbins when the roving is exhausted therefrom. Now, these trucks are consistently moved up and down the aisles between the rows of machines, and I therefore take advantage of this movement by mounting a self-dotting or self-cleaning elongated brush or the like underneath these trucks. In may apparatus, I am therefore able to incorporate a floor sweeping function into another necessary organic function-that of moving trucks throughout the mill-without any additional effort on the part of the truck operator and, thus, substantially reduce the necessity for manual sweeping and, at the same time, provide simple means for keeping the wheels or casters of the truck substantially free of waste clinging thereto since the brush is moved ahead of at least some of the truck wheels or casters due to its being mounted preferably at a medial portion of the bottom wall of the truck.

Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide new and labor-saving apparatus for sweeping floors of textile mills which will aid or supplement automatic cleaning apparatuses in those mills that are so equipped and reduce the number of manual sweepers sometimes necessary to complete the sweeping function. Also, the present invention results in materially or substantially reducing the number of manual sweepers necessary in those mills that are not equipped with automatic sweeping apparatuses.

It is also an object of this invention to provide sweeping means in combination with a movable truck and the like for sweeping floors in textile mills.-

It is a further object of this invention to provide a movable truck with sweeping means mounted underneath the same and extending substantially the width of the truck for sweeping the floor upon which the truck is moved about, and wherein the sweeping means is so mounted to sweep the floor in advance of at least some of the truck wheels or casters to thus prolong the periods between cleaning the wheels or casters to remove waste which has entangled around them and interfered with their operation.

It is also a further object of this invention to mount sweeping means underneath a movable truck in such a manner that the same may readily doff itself upon the mass of swept material reaching certain proportions and wherein the sweeping .means is so mounted that it will readily ride over any obstacle in its path of travel to avoid interfering with the movement of the truck.

Some of the objects of the invention have been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds 3 when taken in Connection with the ings, in which FIGURE 1 is a side elevation showing a bobbin truck or the like with sweeping means mounted thereunder in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary isometric view, with parts broken away for clarity, on a somewhat larger scale and showing the manner in which the sweeping means is mounted underneath the truck;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary side elevation on still a larger scale showing the sweeping means in its normal sweeping position;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the sweeping means as it is dofiing itself;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the position of the sweeping means immediately following the dofiing operation;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary side elevation on a larger scale than FIGURE 5 showing the bracket for supporting the sweeping means being in a lowered adjusted position to permit a partially worn sweeping means shown in theform of a brush to be lowered to the proper sweeping height;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary side elevation view on the same scale as FIGURE 6 showing a modified form of the invention wherein the bracket for supporting the sweeping means is shown as being non-adjustably secured to the bottom of the truck.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, reference numeral 10 designates the body of a conventional bobbin truck or the like. Wheels or casters 11, 12, 13 and 14 are mounted to the underside of body 10 by any suitable well known means. Sweeping means, shown in the form of an elongated brush 15 comprising a head 16 and bristles 17 suitably secured thereto is mounted beneath body 10 so that bristles 17 are in contact with the floor beneath the truck. Brush 15 may be made from a conventional elongated push broom wherein the bristles are preferably stiff. It should be noted, however, that the sweeping means may be other than a brush. For example, an elongated blade made of hard rubber or the like could be employed but tests have shown that a bristle-type brush is much more effective.

Referring now more specifically to FIGURES 1 to 6, the brush 15 is provided with studs or pins 18 extending in a horizontal plane from opposite ends of the head 16 thereof. These pins 18 serve to pivotally carry the opposite ends of the brush in suitable brackets 22, 22'. Since each bracket and the means for mounting the same are identical, a description of only one will now be given with the identical elements of the other differentiated by the addition of the prime notation to the reference numerals thereof. Each of the brackets is shown in the form of a substantially U-shaped member having spaced apart leg portions 22a defining an elongated vertical slot therebetween to permit the pin 18 to rest in the lower end or cradle portion thereof and at the same time to readily ride upwardly therein in the event that the brush 15 encounters an obstacle or obstruction in its sweeping operation.

The upper end of the bracket 22 is provided with horizontally flanged ends as indicated by reference numeral 22b, each of which is provided with an opening or aperture which is penetrated by a threaded bolt or pin 23. A nut 24 is provided for firmly securing each of the bolts 23 to the underside of the truck 10' and pairs of adjusting nuts 25 are provided for engaging opposite sides of each of the flange ends 22b of the bracket 22.

Normally the bristles 17 of the brush 15 will tend to wear after extensive use and for this reason the simple adjusting means heretofore described with reference to accompanying drawvarying the position of the bracket 22 is preferably proto lower the brush 15 by merely adjusting the adjusting nuts 25.

Referring now more specifically to FIGURE '7, the embodiment shown therein varies from the preferred embodiment heretofore described merely by fixedly securing the supporting brackets for the brush to the underside of the truck. The same reference numerals heretofore used with reference to the brush elements are used for describing the brush elements of this embodiment of the invention. However, for clarity, different reference numerals are being employed for the supporting means for the brush.

As shown in FIGURE 7, a bracket 30 similar to the bracket 22 heretofore described is shown for pivotally supporting each of the studs 18 on the brush 15. It should be noted however that the bracket 30 is substantially longer than the bracket 22 since the same is suitably secured by bolts 31 and nuts 32 to the underside of the truck 10. As in the preferred form of the invention, the bracket 30 is provided with spaced apart leg portions 30a which define an elongated vertical slot therebetween to permit the stud 18 to move upwardly therein in the event of the brush 15 running into an obstruction or obstacle in its sweeping operation. It is to be understood, of course, that if the obstacle or obstruction is relatively small that the brush 15 will readily rise thereover without the stud 13 moving upwardly in the slot defined by the bracket 30 by merely pivoting on its axis and swinging rearwardly and riding thereover.

Referring now more specifically to the mode of operation of the apparatus and to FIGURES 3, 4 and S, W designates a quantity of swept floor waste, such as fly or lint, which would accumulate in front of bristles 17 as the truck is moved in the direction of the arrows shown. Since brush 15 is pivotally suspended from member 22, 22' by virtue of studs 18, 18 resting in the brackets 22, 22, the brush 15 is free to pivot upwardly and rearwardly towards wheels 12, 13 and 14. In normal operation, brush 15 will initially start in a substantially vertical position and collect the floor Waste W in the front of brush 15 as the truck moves along the floor as illustrated in FIGURE 3. As the waste accumulates and builds up into a large mass, an increasing amount of force is necessary to push it along the floor. Accordingly the waste W ultimately builds up to such a size that the pivotally mounted brush pivots rearwardly and rides over this mass thus doffing itself of this mass of waste as illustrated in FIGURE 4 and returns to normal sweeping position leaving waste W therebehind as illustrated in FIGURE 5.

Therefore, it can readily be seen that with the provision of my novel apparatus on all or many of the bobbin trucks in a spinning room, or on other types of trucks in other phases of textile operations, the floors of these particular rooms can be swept merely by the consistent, and necessary, movement of these trucks throughout the particular rooms where such trucks are used, thus substantially reducing the necessity for manual sweeping and the labor required therefor. In addition to this, my apparatus also provides novel and inexpensive means for preventing the accumulation of waste around the wheels of bobbin trucks on which my apparatus is employed.

In the drawings and specification there have been set forth several embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a wheeled truck adapted to carry bobbins or the like, elongated sweeping means mounted beneath said truck and extending substantially the full width thereof, substantially U-shaped cradleforming members on said truck freely supporting the ends of said sweeping means in the cradles thereof for pivotal movement of said sweeping means about an axis angularly disposed to the direction of travel of the truck, and means for vertically adjusting each U-shaped member relative to the surface on which the truck travels to permit the sweeping means to be periodically lowered to compensate for wear thereof.

2. In a truck having a plurality of wheels for transporting bobbins or the like of textile yarn across a floor of a textile mill likely to accumulate foreign matter such as lint, fly, threads and the like; the improvement comprising the combination therewith of sweeping means positioned underneath said truck for engagement with the floor to sweep foreign matter thereon as the truck is moved across the floor, and mean mounting said sweeping means on the underside of said truck for pivotal movement about an axis angularly disposed to the direction of travel of said truck, said mounting means comprising a pair of spaced laterally extending pins rigidly afiixed to one of said truck and said sweeping means, and a pair of brackets affixed to the other of said truck and said sweeping means, each of said brackets having spaced parallel legs connected together at one end by a cradle portion to define a vertically extending channel, said pins being received in the channels adjacent said cradle portions, each of said channels having a constant width throughout its vertical extent of a magnitude to loosely receive its respective pin for pivotal and floating movement therein, and the floating movement of said pins in their respective channels being confied bysaid parallel legs to substantially straight-line movement, whereby said sweeping means exhibits a tendency to be raised upwardly from the floor in response to its engagement with an amount of foreign matter suflicient to cause it to be pivoted rearwardly.

3. The structure defined in claim 2, wherein means are provided to vertically adjust said mounting means for periodically lowering said sweeping means relative to the underside of said truck to compensate for wear of said sweeping means.

4. In combination with a wheeled truck of the type for transporting textile bobbins or the like across a floor of a textile mill, elongated sweeping means extending substantially the entire width of the truck and positioned underneath the truck, means dependingly mounting said sweeping means to the underside of said truck for free pivotal movement forwardly and rearwardly about an axis angularly disposed to the direction of travel of the truck, said mounting means comprising a pair of U-shaped brackets secured to the underside of said truck in spaced apart relationship and freely supporting the respective ends of said sweeping means, and means for vertically adjusting said brackets with respect to the underside of said truck to position said sweeping means in floating engagement with the floor for cleaning the floor as said truck is moved across the floor.

5. In a truck having a plurality of wheels for transporting bobbins or the like of textile yarn across a floor of a textile mill likely to accumulate foreign matter such as lint, fly, threads and the like; the improvement comprising the combination therewith of an elongated sweeping means extending substantially the entire width of said truck and positioned underneath said truck, said sweeping means comprising a head and bristles aifixed to said head, said bristles extending downwardly from said head, and means mounting said sweeping means on the underside of said truck for free pivotal movement forwardly and rearwardly about an axis. angularly disposed to the direction of travel of the truck, said mounting means comprising a pair of pins affixed to the opposite ends of the head of said sweeping means and extending outwardly therefrom and a pair of brackets secured to the underside of said truck, each of said brackets having spaced parallel vertically extending legs connected together at their lower ends by a cradle portion to define a vertically extending channel, said pins being received in the channels adjacent said cradle portions, each of said channels having a constant width throughout its vertical extent of a magnitude to loosely receive its respective pin for free pivotal and vertical floating movement. therein, said pins being confined to substantially straight-line movement in their respective channels by said parallel legs, and said pins supporting said sweeping means in freely depending relation from said brackets for floating engagement of said bristles with the floor to sweep foreign matter thereon as said truck is moved across the floor, whereby said sweeping means exhibits a tendency to be raised upwardly from the floor in response to its engagement with an accumulation of foreign matter suflicient to cause said sweeping means to be pivoted rearwardly.

6. The structure defined in claim 5, each of said brackets further including outwardly extending horizontal flanges at the upper ends of said parallel legs, vertically extending threaded bolts secured to the underside of said truck and penetrating corresponding flanges of said brackets, and a pair of nuts threadably received by each of said bolts on opposite sides of the respective flanges penetrated by each said bolt, whereby said brackets are vertically adjustable to raise and lower said sweeping means with respect to the floor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 417,477 Dundon Dec. 17, 1889 600,222 Hasson Mar. 8, 1898 759,930 Stow May 17, 1904 1,367,923 Semofi Feb. 8, 1921 1,660,934 OBrien Feb. 28, 1928 2,607,941 Price Aug. 26, 1952 2,645,503 Johnson July 14, 1953

Images