Surface maintenance vehicle with compact side brush assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9498099-B2
Application number	US-201313767867-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2013
Priority date	Feb 16, 2012
Publication date	Nov 22, 2016
Grant date	Nov 22, 2016

Abstract

A surface maintenance vehicle with a compact side brush assembly. The side brush assembly includes a brush deck, a parallel linkage assembly, a swing arm, and an actuator assembly. The brush deck carries a floor-engaging brush. The parallel linkage assembly permits pivoting of the brush deck about a lift axis to raise and lower the brush deck. The swing arm is adapted to rotates to swing the brush deck towards and away from the floor surface maintenance machine. The actuator assembly includes a linear actuator and a slip link.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A side brush assembly for a floor surface maintenance machine comprising:
a brush deck carrying a floor-engaging brush;
a parallel linkage assembly pivoting about one or more pivot axes, and thereby supporting the brush deck generally parallel to the floor surface, one of the pivot axes being a lift axis, the pivoting of the parallel linkage assembly about the lift axis raising and lowering the brush deck;
a swing arm adapted to rotate about a swing axis, the swing arm being connected to the parallel linkage assembly, the pivoting of the swing arm about the swing axis swinging the brush deck towards and away from the floor surface maintenance machine; and
an actuator assembly, including a linear actuator and a slip link, the slip link being a linkage comprising a spring housed internally therewithin the actuator assembly, when actuated, pivots the parallel linkage assembly about the lift axis and pivots the swing arm about the swing axis to move the brush deck to a transport mode or an operational mode, the parallel linkage assembly being connected to one end of the slip link at a position other than along the lift axis and the swing axis, the slip link transmitting a tensile or a compressive force to the connection of the parallel linkage assembly and the one end of the slip link such that the pivoting of the parallel linkage assembly about the lift axis occurs independent of the pivoting of the swing arm about the swing axis.

2. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , wherein the slip link is adapted to stretch axially from a fully retracted length to elongated lengths, the internal spring housed in the slip link permitting the slip link to be spring biased to axially shorten from the elongated lengths to the fully retracted length.

3. The side brush assembly of claim 2 , wherein, at the fully retracted length, the slip link becomes a rigid link that conveys a compressive load from a first end of the slip link to a second end of the slip link.

4. The side brush assembly of claim 2 , wherein, in the transport mode, the slip link is at the fully retracted length, conveying a compressive load adapted to hold the parallel linkage assembly at an upward pivot position about the lift axis above the underlying floor and to hold the swing arm at an inward rotational orientation about the swing axis towards the floor surface maintenance machine.

5. The side brush assembly of claim 2 , wherein, in the operational mode, the slip link conveys a tensile load adapted to hold the parallel linkage assembly at a downward pivot position about the lift axis towards the underlying floor and to hold the swing arm at an outward rotational orientation about the swing axis away from the floor surface maintenance machine.

6. The side brush assembly of claim 5 , wherein, in the operational mode, the slip link is stretched axially to an elongated length, the slip link being spring biased to axially shorten from the elongated lengths to a fully retracted length, the spring bias of the slip link forcing the parallel linkage assembly towards a downward pivot about the lift axis, thereby forcing the brush deck and the brush towards the underlying floor.

7. The side brush assembly of claim 5 , wherein, in the operational mode, the slip link is stretched axially to an elongated lengths, the slip link being spring biased to axially shorten from the elongated lengths to a fully retracted length, the axially stretching of the slip permitting the brush deck and brush to rise and fall when passing over obstructions and low spots on the underlying floor.

8. The side brush assembly of claim 2 , wherein the spring bias urges the brush deck and the brush downward to the floor after the brush passes over obstructions on the underlying floor.

9. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , wherein, when actuated, the actuator assembly pivots the swing arm about the swing axis to move the brush deck inward towards, or outward away from, the floor surface maintenance machine when the parallel linkage assembly is at a downward pivot position about the lift axis towards the underlying floor, thereby the inward and outward pivot of the brush occurs with the brush against the underlying floor.

10. The side brush assembly of claim 9 , wherein, when moving from the transport mode to the operational mode, the pivot motion of the parallel linkage assembly about the lift axis that drops the brush deck to the floor surface occurs first, followed by the pivot motion of swing arm about the swing axis to move brush deck outward.

11. The side brush assembly of claim 9 , wherein, when moving from the operational mode to the transport mode, the pivot motion of the swing arm about the swing axis that moves the brush deck inward occurs first, followed by the pivot motion of the parallel linkage assembly about the lift axis to lift brush deck from the floor surface.

12. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , wherein rotation of the swing arm is limited by a stationary stop operatively connected to a frame of the floor surface maintenance machine.

13. The side brush assembly of claim 12 , wherein the swing arm includes a rotatable cylindrical portion and a leg portion eccentrically positioned relative to the cylindrical portion, and a stationary frame shaft supporting the rotation of the cylindrical portion.

14. The side brush assembly of claim 13 , wherein rotation in one direction is limited when a finger protruding from the rotatable cylinder rotates against the stop.

15. The side brush assembly of claim 13 , wherein rotation in one direction limited when the leg portion rotates against the stop.

16. The side brush assembly of claim 13 , wherein the cylindrical portion includes a shroud with an arcuate slot within which the stationary stop is received, the rotation of the swing arm in either direction being limited when an end of the slot rotates against stop.

17. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , wherein the parallel linkage assembly includes two, parallel suspension arms, the two parallel suspension arms including a main arm and a second arm.

18. The side brush assembly of claim 17 , wherein the two, parallel suspension arms each connect between the brush deck via connections that permit pivoting about parallel, generally horizontal lift axes.

19. The side brush assembly of claim 18 , further comprising a bracket attached to the main arm, and the slip link being attached to bracket, the main arm being reinforced more than second arm since forces force from the slip link are applied to the main arm.

20. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a downforce amplifier assembly that provides a downforce on the brush deck to push brush deck and the floor-engaging brush against the floor.

21. The side brush assembly of claim 20 , wherein the downforce amplifier assembly includes first and second pivotally connected linkages and a compression spring, the second linkage being pivotally connected to the first linkage, to a frame of the floor surface maintenance machine, and to the compression spring.

22. The side brush assembly of claim 1 , wherein when in the transport mode, extends outward from the center of the brush no further than 2.5 times the radius of the brush.

23. A side brush assembly for a floor surface maintenance machine, the surface maintenance machine comprising a frame, and wheels for supporting a body, the side brush assembly comprising:
a brush deck;
a floor-engaging brush carried by the

Assignees

• Tennant Co

Inventors

• Shinler Kevin L
• Wellens Richard W

Classifications

• A47L11/293

  the tools being disc brushes · CPC title

• A47L11/16 Primary

  the tools being disc brushes · CPC title

• A47L11/28

  Floor-scrubbing machines, motor-driven (A47L11/29 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A47L11/00

  Machines for cleaning floors, carpets, furniture, walls, or wall coverings · CPC title

• A47L11/4055

  for lifting the tools to a non-working position · CPC title