Tennant Company

Donald L Thomsen

Harley E Kroll

Ferdinand J Herpers, Jr

Donald L Olson

A surface maintenance machine is disclosed including a body supported on a plurality of wheels and a power source for driving the wheels. The body carries a driven cylindrical brush and a powered rotary lip which cooperates with the brush to project dirt and debris into the hopper, each end of the rotary lip being supported for vertical movement.

Surface maintenance machine with rotary lip

A powered sweeping machine is disclosed, particularly suitable for efficiently removing light and heavy weight litter from surfaces such as parking lots, warehouse floors and the like. The machine includes a main frame carrying a hopper and a powered brush. The brush operates through an opening in the lower side of a brush housing. The hopper is separated into a debris receiving compartment and a filter compartment. An air fan and an associated duct recirculates air from the far end of the debris compartment to a zone adjacent the brush. This nonfiltered air is discharged into the brush housing and again moved through the debris compartment to aid in moving debris to the far end of the debris compartment. A fan is provided for withdrawing a portion of the air from the filter compartment and discharging the air to the ambient atmosphere. The withdrawal of a portion of the air results in more air flowing into the brush housing than is recirculated through the brush housing and thus provides dust control at the base of the brush housing.

Surface maintenance machine having air recirculation

A method for cleaning surfaces such as floors and pavements that includes incorporating a polyelectrolyte in the cleaning solution and a surface scrubbing machine for carrying out the process. As specifically disclosed, the method comprises applying the cleaning solution to the surface together with agitating the solution on the surface to cause formation of flocs, removing the floc containing solution from the surface by, for example, squeegeeing, and returning the recovered solution to a solution tank and, if desired, separating out the flocs. With a scrubbing machine the solution tank is on the machine, and the agitation may be provided by, for example, a rotary brush on the machine, or by applying the cleaning solution to the surface by forcing the solution under pressure through discharge nozzles. Although not necessary for some cleaning operations, in others a detergent or soap compatible with the polyelectrolyte is incorporated in the solution. With various combinations of polyelectrolyte and detergent, the addition of a suitable flocculation aid such as metallic salts to the solution enhances the degree of flocculation and the strength and size of the flocs.

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Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

Donald L Thomsen