Composite side skirt for powered sweeper
First Claim
1. A sweeping machine having a body, wheels for supporting the body for movement over a surface to be swept, a rotatable brush mounted to the body transversely of the direction of movement of the sweeping machine, a debris hopper adjacent said rotatable brush, a dust collection chamber in said body, a vacuum fan mounted on said body to draw dust laden air from the area about the brush, through said debris hopper and into said dust collection chamber, the improvement comprising a dust control side skirt assembly mounted on each side of said body generally in alignment with said brush, each assembly including a flexible inner skirt and a flexible outer skirt spaced from the inner skirt, a flexible spacer extending between and attached to said inner and outer skirts, said spacer and skirts defining a cavity which has an air opening at a lower portion of said assembly and formed by a discontinuity in said spacer, and an opening in said inner skirt connecting said cavity with the area about said brush assembly whereby said vacuum fan creates an airflow path through said air opening, into said cavity, through said inner skirt opening and into said debris hopper and dust collection chamber.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A sweeping machine has a wheel supported body and a rotatable brush mounted transversely of the direction of machine movement. There is a debris hopper adjacent the brush and a dust collection chamber on the body. A vacuum fan draws dust laden air from the area about the brush, through the debris hopper, and into the dust collection chamber. The improvement comprises a dust control side skirt assembly mounted on each side of the body generally in alignment with the brush. Each such assembly includes a flexible inner skirt and a flexible outer skirt spaced from the inner skirt. A flexible spacer extends between and is attached to the inner and outer skirts, with the spacer and skirts defining a cavity which has an air opening at a lower portion of the side skirt assembly. The air opening is formed by a discontinuity in the spacer. There is an opening in the inner skirt connecting the cavity with the area about the brush whereby the vacuum fan creates an airflow path through the air opening, into the cavity, through the inner skirt opening and into the debris hopper and dust collection chamber.
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Citations
11 Claims
- 1. A sweeping machine having a body, wheels for supporting the body for movement over a surface to be swept, a rotatable brush mounted to the body transversely of the direction of movement of the sweeping machine, a debris hopper adjacent said rotatable brush, a dust collection chamber in said body, a vacuum fan mounted on said body to draw dust laden air from the area about the brush, through said debris hopper and into said dust collection chamber, the improvement comprising a dust control side skirt assembly mounted on each side of said body generally in alignment with said brush, each assembly including a flexible inner skirt and a flexible outer skirt spaced from the inner skirt, a flexible spacer extending between and attached to said inner and outer skirts, said spacer and skirts defining a cavity which has an air opening at a lower portion of said assembly and formed by a discontinuity in said spacer, and an opening in said inner skirt connecting said cavity with the area about said brush assembly whereby said vacuum fan creates an airflow path through said air opening, into said cavity, through said inner skirt opening and into said debris hopper and dust collection chamber.
- 7. A side skirt assembly for use on a sweeping machine having a rotatable brush, with the side skirt assembly being formed and adapted to be mounted generally in alignment with the brush, said side skirt assembly including a flexible inner skirt and a flexible outer skirt spaced from the inner skirt, a flexible spacer extending between and attached to said inner and outer skirts, said spacer and skirts defining a closed cavity which has an air opening at a lower portion thereof formed by a discontinuity in said spacer, and an opening in said inner skirt connecting said cavity with the area about said brush whereby a flow path is created through said side skirt assembly from the air opening, into the cavity, and through said inner skirt opening to the area adjacent an end of said brush.
Specification