Tymco, Inc.

Gary B Young

Kenneth R Veselka

Albert L Hanel

James C Crow

Joseph Dvorsky

A road sweeper includes a blower housing having an opening, a hopper having an opening, and the openings being in axial alignment when the hopper and blower housing are each in a sweeping position thereof. The blower housing is biased for tilting movement from its sweeping position to an inclined dump position upon relative movement of the hopper to preclude abrasion, wear and damage to an O-ring seal disposed between the openings. The blower housing can also be moved to a third repair position in which components thereof are accessible from the cab side of the sweeper.

Surface sweeping machine with tilting blower housing

A dump hopper for a road sweeper includes a dump door, a debris guide chute, and an actuating mechanism for pivoting the dump door and debris chute between travel and dumping positions. The dump door is sandwiched between a hopper and the guide chute in the travel position and seals a debris discharge opening of the hopper. A pair of fluid cylinders are pivotally connected to the dump door and the guide chute and cooperate with cam and cam followers to hold the dump door in sealed relationship to the debris discharge opening until the debris guide chute has been fully deployed.

Surface sweeping machine with a dump door and chute actuating mechanism

A closed-loop Regenerative.RTM. air sweeper is provided which constitutes an improvement of that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,206. The sweeper of the latter patent is provided as an integral portion thereof, whereas a conversion, a 'dustless' mechanism having first and second chambers into the first chamber of which is directed a portion of the air stream from a pressure conduit associated with a pickup head of the sweeper. Particles of debris are separated by cyclone separators and thereafter by membrane filters after which substantially clean air is discharged to atmosphere. Air entrained particles separated by the cyclone separators and the cartridge filters are returned to a vacuum side of the pickup head thereby maintaining substantially closed-loop air flow of the sweeper. Clean air is controllably exhausted to atmosphere by flue vanes which can be selectively moved under pressure differential sensing means associated with the cyclone separator. The pressure in the two air chambers is also sensed with the read-out thereof being in an instrument panel to permit an operator to monitor and diagnose the system. Pulses of high pressure air are utilized to clean the membrane filter and a pop-off valve serves as an emergency vent to atmosphere under undesired high pressure within the second chamber of the housing. An extremely important aspect of the present invention is that achieved by creating and maintaining a substantially negative pressure at and across the pickup head. The latter is achieved by assuring that the air drawn into the pickup head is approximately a nominal ten percent (10%) and the clean air discharged to atmosphere is maintained at the substantially the same nominal ten percent (10%) through appropriately operating a valve under the control of a pressure differential sensor which measures pressure drop across the cyclone separators.

Dustless regenerative air sweeper

A pick-up head is formed by a housing which defines a broom chamber rearward of an associated air pressure chamber and its associated blast orifice. The broom is rotated in a direction to impel debris from a surface in the same direction as air emitted from the blast orifice toward an associated air suction chamber. Due to the latter arrangement, debris which is 'tacky' which is 'stuck' onto the surface, or which is too heavy to be moved into the suction air stream by the blast air alone is impelled at a relatively high entrainment velocity toward and into the air suction stream which continues the movement of this debris for eventual discharge into an associated hopper.

Broom assisted pick-up head

A road sweeper which includes a hopper between a cab and a centrifugal separator, a pair of relatively telescopically extendable and retractable members, one member of each pair being pivoted to a frame of the vehicle and another member of each pair being pivoted to a hopper, a pair of control arms pivoted one each between one of the extendable members and the vehicle, and a tilt cylinder and occupant-protecting mechanism cooperatively operative such that upon relative extension of the extendable and retractable members the control arms effect compound motion of the hopper to a position over-the-cab for subsequent dumping and the automatic interpositioning of the occupant protection mechanism between the hopper and the cab.

Surface sweeping machine with over-the-cab hopper dumping

A street sweeper which includes a frame, a hopper, a cab and a centrifugal separator on opposite sides of the hopper, a mechanism for moving the hopper from a position behind the cab to a position above and forward of the cab for dumping debris from the hopper, the hopper moving mechanism including a pair of first and second relatively extendable and retractable members, each of the first members being connected to the hopper and each of the second members being connected to the frame, a rotator carrying a slider, and a mechanism for pivoting each rotator which through its associated slider elevates the extendable and retractable members to permit movement of the hopper above and along the cab.

A high-speed pick-up head includes an air pressure chamber and an air suction chamber respectively associated with an elongated blast orifice and a suction orifice. The chambers are arranged in side-by-side relationship generally normal to the direction of vehicle/pick-up head travel and have opposite first and second ends. Each chamber defines an elongated volume corresponding in length generally to the orifice associated therewith with each volume decreasing in cross-sectional area toward its closed end. Respective air inlets and air outlets of the pressure and suction chambers are opposite each other and the blast orifice can be changed in size and/or shape, preferably diverging in a direction away from the pressure chamber air inlet to maintain maximum air velocity/flow which blasts or blows sand or similar dense debris from airport runways for subsequent removal/separation at extremely high efficiencies.

High speed pick-up head

This disclosure relates to a sweeper for roads, parking lots or like surfaces which is particularly adapted to be mounted upon a bed of a pickup truck, the sweeper including a hopper into which air-entrained debris is discharged, the hopper having a fore-aft axis to coincide with the direction of travel of an associated pickup truck, a pickup head, the pickup head being supported in transverse relationship to the fore-aft axis of the hopper, the hopper and pickup head each including an inlet and an outlet and conduits therebetween for conducting air-entrained debris from the pickup head into the hopper and conducting air from the hopper to the pickup head, and a centrifugal separator within the hopper having an axis disposed generally parallel to the hopper fore-aft axis.

Growing community of inventors

Waco, TX, United States of America

Gary B Young