Tennant Company

Charles E Grimes

Bruce F Field

Joseph G Kasper

Sherman B Frederick

Paul W Kimzey

Ralph C Peabody

Keith R Westrum

A floor scrubber has rotating brushes for scrubbing a floor, drive motors for the brushes, and a brush height control circuit for raising and lowering the brushes in accordance with a desired brush pattern. The scrubber includes a solution tank, a recovery tank and a detergent tank for application and recovery of the cleaning solution. A solution tank pump, a detergent tank pump and a fan for use in vacuuming used cleaning solution into the recovery tank are each connected to their respective tanks. There are actuating means connected to the brush drive motors, pumps, fan and brush height control circuit. Sensors monitor the solution tank, recovery tank and detergent tank, as well as the speed of the floor scrubber. A start signal for the actuating means is only provided when the sensors determine certain prestart conditions have been met in the solution tank, recovery tank, detergent tank and a certain predetermined speed has been reached for the floor scrubber.

Control and monitor for a floor maintenance device

This is a belt drive arrangement in which two belts are used, the inside surface of one running in contact with the outside surface of the other for part of their lengths and both running within the width of one belt, with input and output shafts, and one or more idler pulleys providing forward or reverse rotation of the output shaft with the input shaft having a constant direction of rotation.

Belt drive

This invention is concerned with a sweeper, meaning a sweeper with a rotary main brush opposite a hopper, and increasing its ability to load light debris, such as paper, dry leaves and the like so that light debris will be propelled farther into the debris hopper. This is done by setting the speed of the main brush at a lower speed for normal operation to effectively throw what may be thought of as heavier material, such as sand, forwardly into the hopper with the speed being such that excessive wear of the brush is avoided and a higher speed of rotation being effected from time to time so that paper, dry leaves and the like, which may be considered lightweight material, are thrown farther into the hopper with the increased speed of the main brush overcoming the air resistance that normally stops such lightweight material which, at normal operation of the brush, tends to pile up in the rear of the hopper. The sweeper uses a vacuum fan to create a suction in the hopper with the vacuum fan also being speeded up with the brush speed increase which assists in loading the lightweight debris in the hopper. Since the increased speed is used for the main brush and vacuum fan only from time to time when light debris is encountered and on a limited basis, the increased brush wear and power consumption caused thereby is tolerable.

Growing community of inventors

Bloomington, MN, United States of America

Charles E Grimes