US3463550A - Broom core winding machine - Google Patents

Description

g 26, 969 L. L. LECHENE 3,463,550

BROOM CORE WINDING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1967 2'Sheets-Sheet 1 mvemofi LEO L. LECHENE ATTORNEYS Au zs, 1969 LVL. LECH ENE BROOM CORE WINDING MACHINE Filed March 15, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5 2/). 4 3,434

FlG-9 FIG-8 INVENTOR LEO L. LECHENE V mf $43 M KM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,463,550 BROOM CORE WINDING MACHINE Leo L. Lechene, R. Rte. 1, Box 364, Patton, Pa.

Filed Mar. 15, 1967, Ser. No. 623,264 Int. Cl. A46d 3/05 U.S. Cl. 300-14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of invention Machines have been provided in the past for winding bristles onto power driven cylindrical brooms such as are used for pavement sweeping. The bristles for such brooms are preformed into a generally hairpin shape, and these are secured to the cylindrical broom core by a retaining cable which is wound over the apexes of the bristles and seated in a helical groove in the surface of the broom core.

These bristles may be fabricated of any suitable material, polypropylene being preferred. The method of fabricating the bristles is described in my prior Patents Nos. 2,980,467 and 3,207,556.

A problem with previous machines used for winding broom cores has been the provision of suitable means for accepting cores of a variety of lengths and diameters. A further problem has been that of preventing bristles which have been secured to the core on a previous revolution of the core from blocking the path of the winding cable and freshly applied bristles as they are being fed into the adjacent groove of the helical surface. Both of these problems have been successfully overcome in the uniquewinding machine of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a winding machine of this invention, showing a broom core partially wound with bristles.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of the bristle retracting means, viewed in the direction of arrow 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the driving connection between the broom core and the power drive means, viewed in the direction of arrow 3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the drive train for driving the winding drum and broom core.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 6--6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 77 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale showing the technique for applying bristles to the core.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary section taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 1.

Detailed description Referring now to FIG. 1 in particular, the winding machine generally comprises a base 10, a drive housing 12, a winding drum 14 rotatably secured at one end to housing 12 and at the other end to an upright portion of base 10, and retractor guide tracks 16.

An adjustable core-supporting trunnion 18 is slidably mounted on base 10, so that it may be positioned to accept a broom core of any length. For this purpose a screw shaft and handle 19 engages a nut secured to the bottom portion of trunnion 18 and riding in a slot 20 of machine base 10.

As can be seen most clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3, broom core 21 is provided with a helically grooved surface 22 which is secured to a central supporting shaft 24. The broom bristles are secured to core 20 by a bristle-retaining cable 26 which will be described more fully hereinafter.

Rotation of broom core 21 is derived from drive shaft 28 having a removable split section 30, illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The lower section of shaft 28 terminates in a semicircular flange 32, which nests with a second semicircular flange portion 34 forming the left end of the removable section 30 of drive shaft 28. These two hollow elements are bolted together at bosses 36 and 38.

It can be seen that with the removable section 30 of drive shaft 28 removed, central shaft 24 can be readily laid in place in the core of drive shaft 28 and thereafter clamped thereto by the reassembly of removable section 30 to drive shaft 28. Driving connection between shaft 28 and broom core 21 is achieved by a pair of bolts 40 which may be radially adjusted in slots 42 in flanges 32, 34. These two driving bolts 40 engage a pair of holes in broom core sprocket 44 which is fixed for rotation with central shaft 24 of the broom core. Sprocket 44 also serves to provide the driving connection with a chain drive which causes the broom to rotate when installed on a street cleaning vehicle.

Referring now to FIG. 5, drive shaft .28 is driven by a chain drive connection through sprocket 46 to drive motor 48. The output shaft 50 of motor 48 has a positive clutch 52 splined for axial movement thereon. Clutch 52 when moved toward the right of the figure will engage winding drum sprocket 54 which is rotatably mounted on shaft 50 and connected by a driving chain 55 to sprocket 56 on winding drum 14. When moved to the left, clutch 52 will engage core sprocket 58 similarly rotatably mounted on shaft 50 and connected by a driving chain 59' to sprocket 46 on drive shaft 28. Control of clutch 52 is achieved by clutch lever 60 which can be moved from a neutral position to eifect engagement with either the winding drum or the broom core. Reversible motor 48 is controlled by a three way switch 62.

A cable tensioning device 64 is illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 6. This device comprises a brake drum 66 fixed for rotation with drive shaft 28 and brake band 68 anchored to housing 12 to 70 and being adjustably positioned at threaded end 72. Rotation of handle 74 adjusts the gripping or retarding action of brake band 68 on drum 66 and shaft 28.

Retractor guide housing 76 (FIGS. 1 and 7) is mounted for reciprocating movement along a pair of channel-shaped guide tracks 16. Screw shaft 78 is rotatably and vertically mounted through the center of housing 76, which shaft is threadably engaged with internally threaded shaft 80. Secured to the lower end of shaft 80 is follower yoke 82 having a pair of follower wheels 84 which ride in grooved surface 22 of broom core 21. Vertical adjustment of yoke 82 is achieved by handle 86 at the upper end of screw shaft 78. Four pairs of guide wheels 88 are rotatably mounted on the inside face of retractor guide housing 76, and these wheels ride on the channel shaped track 16. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bristle retractor arm 90 is also fixed to the lower end of yoke 82. Retractor arm 90 serves to retain bristles 92 out of the way during the winding operation, as will be described below.

Operation In operation, the broom core 21 is first secured to the winding machine by positioning adjustable trunnion 18 and removing section 30 of drive shaft 28. Broom core shaft 24 may then be dropped into place and secured by bolting bosses 36 and 38 together again. Driving bolts 40 are then positioned in slots 42 according to the radial location of the bolt receiving holes of broom core sprocket 44. Since various core sizes have different sizes of sprockets, slots 42 allow the machine to accommodate any size core.

If the broom is a previously used one, retaining cable 26 would be slowly unwound onto winding drum 14, and the worm bristles removed from the cable. If the broom core is a new one, the winding cable would be previously wrapped around winding drum 14 and secured at one end to core '21 for winding purposes.

Before commencing the winding operation, the retractor guide assembly 76 must be positioned at the right hand end of the core (as viewed in FIG. 1), so that follower wheels 84 are positioned directly above the first groove 22 of the core. Then the follower yoke 82 is lowered by handle 86 until wheels 84 rest in the end groove of the core. Next, motor control switch 62 and clutch lever 60 are set in the winding position so that the motor becomes connected for driving engagement to drive shaft 28 and broom core shaft 24. Switch 62 is preferably a foot pedal operated switch, so that the hands of the operator may both be free for loading bristles onto cable 26.

Tensioning device 64 is then adjusted by means of handle 74 to take up any backlash in the driving connections and to assure sufiicient tensioning of winding cable 26. The actual winding operation is achieved through a series of starting and stopping steps of the broom core. The individual bristles are permanently preformed into a V or hairpin shape and bonded to each other in strips a foot or more in length to permit easy handling and winding. A set of bristles is laid onto winding cable 26 as shown in FIG. 8. The core is then rotated through a distance sufiicient to leave only one or two inches of the set of fibers extending tangentially from the lower edge of the drum. The drum is then stopped and a second set of fibers is laid into place adjacent to or slightly overlapping the still exposed portion of the first set of bristles. The core is then rotated far enough to wind most of this second set of bristles onto the drum, and this process is repeated until the entire surface is coated with bristles.

During this winding operation, follower wheels 84 and retractor guide assembly 76 slowly move toward the left of FIG. 1, following the helical grooves 22. It will be seen that as a newly applied set of bristles passes under the core and around the far side as viewed in FIG. 1, it will gradually come into contact with bristle retractor arm 90 and be cammed toward the right (toward the left as viewed in FIG. 2). The bristles, which would otherwise tend to spread or widen their V shape, are thus retained in a position which avoids any interference with the path of cable 26 and newly applied bristles as they are fed into the core. This greatly speeds up the winding operation and produces a more uniformly covered core.

Tensioning device 64, 74, FIGS. 1 and 6, applies adjustable tension to the broom core 21. A similar tensioner is provided for cable drum 14, controlled by handle 74', FIG. 1. The construction of the cable drum tensioner is exactly the same as shown in FIG. 6 except for the type of handle.

The trunnion 18 once adjusted on base 10, is secured in position by friction clamp 96, FIG. 9, which is slidably mounted on said base at 94 and includes a securing screw with hand knob 98.

The trunnion 18 at the side opposite feed screw 19 is vertically adjustable relative to base 10 by hand screw 100, which is threaded through said trunnion and is operatively engageable with the top surface of said base. This provides for adjustment of the journal for shaft 24.

In the operation of the present machine for winding bristles, instead of an interrupted operation, the bristle mats may be assembled successively in a continuous manner with a continuous winding of the core till filled with bristle mats, after which the cable end from the cable drum is clamped in tension onto the said broom core.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims. Accordingly, the above specification is to be interpreted as illustrative of only a single operative embodiment of this invention, rather than in a strictly limited sense.

I now claim:

1. A machine for winding bristles onto the spirally grooved cylindrical core of a commercial broom comprising:

a frame for rotatably supporting the broom core on its axis;

a winding drum rotatably mounted on said frame in parallel relationship to the broom core and laterally spaced therefrom;

reversible power drive means mounted on said frame and selectively operatively engageable with said Winding drum or the broom core to alternatively cause said winding drum to unwind a bristle-retaining cable from the core onto said drum or to cause the core to rewind the cable from said drum onto the core;

bristle retractor means slidably mounted on said frame along an axis parallel to the core axis and laterally spaced therefrom, said retractor means including core groove following rollers engageable with the spiral grooves of the broom core to cause the bristle retractor means to travel linearly along the broom core in the direction of rewind when said power drive means is causing the broom core to rewind the bristle retaining cable from said winding drum, said bristle retractor means further including a retractor arm for camming and retaining previously wound bristles out of the path of said cable and bristles being wound onto the broom core;

said bristle retractor means further comprising a guide housing which rolls along a track forming part of said frame and laterally spaced in parallel relationship to the core axis, said core groove following rollers being rotatably mounted on a yoke which is adjustably mounted to said guide housing through a screw feed shaft which permits said yoke to be advanced or withdrawn radially of said core.

2. The broom core winding machine of claim 1 wherein the drive shaft for the broom core has a flange on the core-engaging end, said shaft end portion and flange being hollow and diametrically split, thus producing a section which is removably mounted on said shaft and which when removed permits the broom core shaft to be laid into the hollow portion of said drive shaft and thereafter secured in place by said removable section, said drive shaft flange having radially adjustably mounted driving pins which extend axially of said drive shaft for driving engagement with holes provided in a broom core driving sprocket mounted on the broom core shaft.

3. In the broom core winding machine of claim 1,

wherein said frame further comprises an upright trunnion upon said base adapted to journal one end of an axial shaft projecting through said core;

and manually operable screw means on said base engageable with said trunnion for moving the same to- 5 wards and away from said power drive means.

4. In the machine for winding bristles of claim 3, friction means adjacent one side of said trunnion for securing the trunnion in adjusted position on the base;

and adjustable screw means threaded through said trunnion adjacent its opposite side and operably engageable with said base for selective adjustment of the trunnion relatively thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1943 Plurneau et a1 300-14 5/1960 Koback 300-14 BERNARD STICKNEY, Primary Examiner

Images