Construction site sweeper

Abstract

To provide a sweeper suitable for use at a construction site.SOLUTION: A sweeper 1 has front and rear wheels 7, 9 for travelling, a sweeper body 3 that rakes building waste material while self-travelling on a floor, and a dust box to contain raked building waste material. A pair of disk brushes 17 on which brush hair material forms truncated cone shape is disposed on a front part of the sweeper body 3. Drive shafts of a pair of motors 19 are respectively connected to the pair of disk brushes 17. The pair of motors 19 is fitted to a mounting plate 61 so that the brush hair materials partially overlap across the center line of the sweeper body 3. Rear end of the mounting plate 61 is fitted on the front part of the sweeper body 3 so as to be rotatable through a hinge so that self-weights of the pair of disk brushes 17 and the pair of motors 19 cause the pair of disk brushes 17 to lean forward and hair tips of the pair of disk brushes 17 are pressed against the floor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a construction site sweeper. [Background technology]

[0002] There are various types of autonomous sweepers available. Most sweepers mainly suck up and collect relatively small and light garbage such as dust on the floor. On the other hand, garbage (construction waste) generated at construction sites includes not only dust, but also relatively large and heavy garbage such as concrete blocks, scraps of wood, metal pieces, metal scraps, glass fragments, and glass scraps.

[0003] Therefore, it has been difficult to collect and store this construction waste by suction.

[0004] In addition, construction waste is so voluminous that the dust box of a conventional sweeper quickly becomes full. Even if a large-capacity dust box is installed, the dust box filled with construction waste becomes very heavy, and it is not easy to transfer the construction waste from the dust box to the garbage collection site. Furthermore, during construction work, the sweeper needs to be transported to a location away from the work site, but it is not easy to transport a heavy and large sweeper by hand.

[0005] It is also possible to scrape up the construction waste with a rotating brush rather than suction, but the surface of the concrete slab to be cleaned has structural irregularities such as piping spaces, grooves, and post supports, and is not completely flat. Therefore, it is not easy to scrape out the construction waste from these irregularities, especially in the grooves, with a brush and collect it in a dustbin.

[0006] Thus, there is a demand for a sweeper that can handle such situations at construction sites. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] There is a need for a sweeper suitable for use on construction sites. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The sweeper according to this embodiment comprises a sweeper body having front and rear wheels for traveling and for collecting construction waste while moving on the floor surface, and a dust box for storing the collected construction waste. A pair of disc brushes having brush bristles in a truncated cone shape are disposed at the front of the sweeper body in the traveling direction. A pair of motor drive shafts are connected to the pair of disc brushes. A sweeping plate is inclined within the sweeper body so that the rear portions of the disc brushes partially overlap with each other and are aligned with the bristles of the disc brushes. A cylindrical roller brush is installed within the sweeper body to send rearward the construction waste swept up by the disc brushes along the upper surface of the sweeping plate and to collect dust on the floor surface. The dust box has a box shape with an inlet opening at the top of the front plate, and is attached to the sweeper body behind the roller brush so as to receive the construction waste and the collected dust sent out by the roller brush from the inlet and drop them into the dust box at the rear. The pair of motors are commonly attached to a single mounting plate so that the brush bristles partially overlap each other across the center line of the sweeper body. The mounting plate is fixed at its rear end so that the pair of disk brushes and the pair of motors are in a forward tilted position and the tips of the bristles of the pair of disk brushes are pressed against the floor surface. To The sweeper body is rotatably attached to the front portion of the sweeper body via a hinge. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sweeper according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the sweeper of FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a front view of the sweeper of FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line E-E of FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an E-E cross section of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the sweeper body of FIG. 1 with the dust box removed. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the sweeper body from which the dust box of FIG. 1 has been removed. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a side view showing the movable range of the disk brush of the sweeper of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how the disc brush of FIG. 8 follows the unevenness of the floor surface. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] Hereinafter, a construction site sweeper according to this embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 3 show the appearance of a sweeper 1 according to this embodiment, Figure 4 shows an E-E cross section of Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a schematic cross section of the sweeper 1 according to this embodiment. The sweeper 1 has a sweeper body 3 that moves on its own over the floor surface of a construction site and scrapes up relatively large and relatively heavy garbage (construction waste) such as concrete chunks, scraps of wood or the like, metal pieces, metal scraps, glass pieces, and glass waste scattered on the floor surface. A dust box 5 that contains the construction waste scraped up by the sweeper body 3 is detachably fitted into the sweeper body 3 (see Figures 6 and 7).

[0011] The sweeper body 3 has a chassis 15. On the left and right sides of the chassis 15, a moving mechanism 13 is mounted with tracks (crawlers) 11 stretched across front and rear drive wheels 7, 9 for self-propulsion, so that the sweeper body 3 is suitable for traveling on rough ground at a construction site. The moving mechanism 13 causes the sweeper body 3 to travel in the direction toward the left side of the paper in Figs. 2 and 5.

[0012] A pair of motors 19 are disposed at the front of the sweeper body 3 in the traveling direction, with the center line DS of the rotation shaft (drive shaft) inclined forward with respect to a vertical line perpendicular to the floor surface in a side view. A pair of disk brushes 17, in which flexible synthetic resin brush bristles are planted in a base material 18 in a truncated cone shape, are connected to the rotation shafts of the pair of motors 19. The pair of disk brushes 17 are directly connected to the rotation shaft of the motor 19 so that the center line RR of the truncated cones coincides with the rotation center line DS of the motor 19. For ease of explanation, the rotation center line RR and the rotation center line DS of the motor 19 aligned therewith are collectively referred to as the rotation center line RA. When the sweeper 1 is placed on the floor surface, the front brush bristles of the disk brushes 17 are curved to come into close contact with the floor surface.

[0013] The pair of motors 19 are commonly attached to a single mounting plate 61. The rotation center lines DS of the pair of motors 19 are perpendicular to the plate surface. The interval between the pair of motors 19 is set so that the relative positions of the pair of disc brushes 17 are such that the brush bristles of the pair of disc brushes 17 partially overlap each other across the center line CL of the sweeper body 3 in a plan view.

[0014] The mounting plate 61 is rotatably attached at its rear end to the front overhang 71 of the sweeper body 3 via a hinge 69. As a result, the pair of disk brushes 17, the pair of motors 19, and the weight of the mounting plate 61 rotate the mounting plate 61 around the hinge 69 as a fulcrum, and the pair of disk brushes 17 are in a forward tilted position, and the tips of the bristles are pressed against the floor surface. The fulcrum of the rotation of the mounting plate 61, the motor 19, and the disk brushes 17, i.e., the position of the pin of the hinge 69, is shifted rearward from the rotation center line RA, so that the rotation radius R from the fulcrum to the front end of the bristles of the disk brushes 17 can be lengthened (see FIG. 2). By lengthening the rotation radius R, the ability of the disk brushes 17 to follow the unevenness of the floor surface is improved, and the brush tips of the disk brushes 17 can reach the bottom surface of deeper grooves (see FIG. 9(c)).

[0015] As shown in FIG. 8(a), the rotation radius R from the pin position (rotation fulcrum) of the hinge 69 to the front end of the bristles of the disc brush 17 is designed in advance with the weights of the disc brushes 17, the motor 19, and the mounting plate 61, as well as the radius of the disc brush 17 as characteristic values, so that in the reference position when the pair of disc brushes 17 rotate about the hinge 69 as a fulcrum due to the weight of the pair of disc brushes 17, the pair of motors 19, and the mounting plate 61, and the bristles are pressed against the floor surface, resulting in a stable static position (reference position), in other words, when the moment determined by the weights of the pair of disc brushes 17, the pair of motors 19, and the mounting plate 61 and the rotation radius R is balanced against the restoring force (reaction force) generated by the curvature of the brush bundle of the disc brushes 17, the rotation radius R of the disc brush 17 intersects with the vertical axis of the floor surface at 27°.

[0016] As shown in Fig. 7, fasteners 63, 65 for fastening the mounting plate 61 to the sweeper body 3 are provided on the mounting plate 61 and the sweeper body 3, respectively. The fastener 63 has a movable hook structure attached to the mounting plate 61, and by manually tilting the fastener 63 backward and hooking it onto the fastener 65 having a hook receiving structure protruding forward from the overhanging portion 71 of the sweeper body 3, the mounting plate 61 is prohibited from rotating and fixed in the standard position. By manually tilting the fastener 63 forward and disengaging it from the fastener 65, the rotation prohibition state is released and the mounting plate 61 is permitted to rotate.

[0017] By controlling a control unit (not shown), the sweeper 1 can selectively operate in a room cleaning mode suitable for cleaning a wide area of ​​a floor surface with relatively few irregularities, and a groove cleaning mode suitable for cleaning linear recesses, i.e., the inside of grooves along the linear direction. In the room cleaning mode, the mounting plate 61 is fixed, whereas in the groove cleaning mode, it is preferable to release the mounting plate 61 from its fixed state and make it rotatable.

[0018] FIG. 2(a) shows a side view of the sweeper 1, and FIG. 2(b) is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 2(a). The mounting plate 61 is provided with a limiting structure 73 for limiting its rotation to a predetermined movable range including the reference position. Any structure may be adopted as the limiting structure 73, and for example, it may be composed of an upper abutment plate 74 and a lower abutment plate 76 connected to the rear edge of the mounting plate 61. The upper abutment plate 74 and the lower abutment plate 76 rotate together with the mounting plate 61 and abut against the front edge of the overhanging portion 71 of the sweeper body 3, thereby locking the rotation. The crossing angles of the upper abutment plate 74 and the lower abutment plate 76 with respect to the mounting plate 61 are set in advance, and the lower limit (lower limit) of the movable range is determined by the crossing angle of the lower abutment plate 76, and the upper limit (upper limit) of the movable range is determined by the crossing angle of the upper abutment plate 74. At the lower limit of the movable range, as shown in Fig. 8(b), the rotation center line RA of the disc brush 17 intersects the vertical axis of the floor surface at an angle of 39°. At the upper limit of the movable range, as shown in Fig. 8(c), the rotation center line RA of the disc brush 17 intersects the vertical axis of the floor surface at an angle of 22°.

[0019] A motor driver (not shown) rotates a pair of disc brushes 17 in opposite directions in plan view so as to sweep construction waste toward the center line CL from both sides of the sweeper body 3. The left disc brush 17 rotates clockwise, and the right disc brush 17 rotates counterclockwise.

[0020] Inside the sweeper body 3, behind the pair of disc brushes 17, the rear portions of the pair of disc brushes 17 partially overlap, and the sweeping plate 21 is tilted in a position where the rear is higher than the front so as to follow the forward-tilted bristle surfaces of the pair of disc brushes 17. The forward-tilted position of the pair of disc brushes 17 and the sweeping plate 21 realizes that when the pair of disc brushes 17 rotates, it sweeps up the construction waste toward the center line CL, it also sweeps up the construction waste along the sweeping plate 21 (see Figures 4 and 5).

[0021] Inside the sweeper body 3, behind the sweeping plate 21, a cylindrical roller brush 23 is installed with its rotation axis perpendicular to the center line CL. The roller brush 23 is made of flexible synthetic resin brush bristles densely planted radially on the circumferential surface of a cylindrical or columnar support. When the sweeper 1 is placed on the floor surface, the brush bristles that come into contact with the floor surface at the lower part of the roller brush 23 are curved and come into close contact with the floor surface. A motor driver (not shown) drives the motor of the roller brush 23. The roller brush 23 rotates in a direction in which the brush bristles in contact with the floor surface oppose the direction of travel. As a result, dust on the floor surface is captured by the brush bristles of the roller brush 23 and swept up. The construction waste swept up by the pair of disc brushes 17 and swept up along the sweeping plate 21 is sent backward by the brush bristles at the upper part of the roller brush 23.

[0022] A guide plate 25 is installed in the sweeper body 3 behind the roller brush 23 in a backward tilted position. The leading edge of the guide plate 25 is, for example, comb-shaped. Dust collected by the roller brush 23 is scraped off by the leading edge of the guide plate 25.

[0023] The construction waste sent rearward by the roller brush 23 is handed over to the guide plate 25, slides on its top surface, and is guided rearward. The dust collected by the roller brush 23 and scraped off by the tip of the guide plate 25 also slides along the guide plate 25 and is guided rearward. The construction waste and dust guided rearward by the guide plate 25 are received in the dust box 5, drop, and are stored. The construction waste is swept up along the sweeping plate 21 (see Figures 4 and 5). As the pair of disc brushes 17 sweeps the construction waste upward along the sweeping plate 21, the dust box 5 can be made taller, and its capacity can be increased.

[0024] The dust box 5 has a rectangular box shape with the top of the front panel open as an inlet 27 for construction waste and dust. The front-to-back length of the dust box 5 is about half the length of the sweeper body 3. The left-to-right width of the dust box 5 is almost the same as the width of the sweeper body 3. The height of the dust box 5 is configured to be equal to or higher than that of the sweeper body 3. The sweeper body 3 is provided with a recess (fitting portion) 60 (see FIG. 7) above the moving mechanism 13 for fitting the dust box 5 detachably. When fitted into the fitting portion 60 of the sweeper body 3, the upper surface and the upper rear end surface of the dust box 5 are exposed, and a handle 33 described later is attached to the exposed upper surface of the dust box 5, and a base 43 described later is attached to the upper rear end surface. The dust box 5 is fitted into the fitting portion 29 of the sweeper body 3 and fixed by a fixing device 31. When the fasteners 31 are released, the dust box 5 can be removed and separated from the sweeper body 3.

[0025] By concentrating the disc brushes 17 and roller brushes 23 at the front of the sweeper body 3 and positioning the dust box 5 and moving mechanism 13 behind them, it is possible to configure the dust box 5 to be approximately half the length of the sweeper body 3, thereby making it possible to increase the capacity of the dust box 5 and also to prevent construction waste from getting in between the bottom of the sweeper body 3 and the floor, making it impossible to move.

[0026] Furthermore, by placing the dust box 5 above the moving mechanism 13, the load-bearing capacity is improved and an increase in the amount of construction waste stored can be tolerated; furthermore, no matter how the construction waste falls into the dust box 5, the center of gravity of the dust box 5 and the entire construction waste is located between the front and rear wheels 7, 9 of the moving mechanism 13, so that fluctuations in the posture of the sweeper 1 can be suppressed.

[0027] A handle 33 is attached to the dust box 5 on its upper surface. The handle 33 is divided into two parts, a handle portion 35 fixed to the dust box 5 and a handle portion 37 connected to the handle portion 35 by a hinge 39 so that the handle 33 can be folded. The total length of the folded handle 33 is shorter than the total length of the sweeper 1 so that the handle 33 fits within the front-rear range of the sweeper 1. Thus, when the handle 33 is folded, the handle 33 does not interfere with the movement of the sweeper 1. When the handle 33 is unfolded, the handle 33 is extended. The extended state of the handle 33 is locked by a hook-structured fastener 41 and a hook receiver 42. An operator can hold the handle 33 and transport the dust box 5 separated from the sweeper body 3 by itself, and can also transport the sweeper body 3 together with the dust box 5, that is, the entire sweeper 1, with the dust box 5 attached to the sweeper body 3.

[0028] A pedestal 43 is provided at the rear end of the dust box 5. The pedestal 43 has a frustum-shaped pedestal body 45. Wheels 46 are attached to one side of the pedestal body 45. Four legs 47 made of an elastic material such as rubber are attached to the bottom of the pedestal body 45. The pedestal body 45 is rotatably attached to the upper surface of the rear part of the dust box 5 via hinges 49. The pedestal body 45 can be flipped up to the top of the dust box 5 and removed. A hook-shaped fastener 51 is attached to the upper surface of the rear part of the dust box 5, and the pedestal 43 can be fastened to the upper surface of the rear part of the dust box 5 by hooking it onto a hook receiving part (not shown) at the bottom of the pedestal body 45. This prevents the pedestal 43 from interfering with the movement of the sweeper 1.

[0029] When the fasteners 51 are removed, the base 43 can be rotated toward the rear end face of the dust box 5 and lowered. A fastener 48 is provided on the rear end face of the dust box 5 to fasten the base 43 lowered to the rear end face of the dust box 5. The worker releases the fixing device 31 to remove the dust box 5 from the sweeper body 3, rotates the base 43 toward the rear end of the dust box 5, and fastens it with the fastener 48. Then, the worker grasps the handle 33 and gradually lifts the base 43 until the wheels 46 of the base 43 touch the ground. The legs 47 and the wheels 46 are configured and arranged so that the wheels 46 touch the ground before the legs 47 during this lifting operation.

[0030] By pulling the handle 33 with the wheels 46 on the ground, the wheels 46 roll and the dust box 5 loaded with construction waste and the like can be easily transported by itself. By lifting it further upright, the wheels 46 leave the floor and the legs 47 touch the ground, allowing the dust box 5 removed from the sweeper body 3 to be placed upright on the floor by itself.

[0031] Furthermore, with the dust box 5 attached to the sweeper body 3, the sweeper 1 can be easily transported by grasping the handle 33, lifting it, and moving it with the wheels 46 of the base 43 on the ground, as the wheels 46 roll. By further lifting it upright, removing the wheels 46 from the floor and allowing the legs 47 to touch the ground, the entire sweeper 1 can be placed upright on the floor.

[0032] As shown in Figures 8(a) and 9(a), the standard posture is suitable for cleaning a wide area of ​​a floor surface with relatively few irregularities. When cleaning the entire room, it is preferable to fix the mounting plate 61. When the fixing of the mounting plate 61 is released, the mounting plate 61 can rotate freely within the movable range and can follow the irregularities of the floor surface.

[0033] As shown in Fig. 8(b) and Fig. 9(b), when a convex portion such as a groove edge is present on the floor surface, the mounting plate 61 rotates upward from the standard position. In this process, the disc brush 17 can scrape up the construction waste at the corner of the boundary between the floor surface and the convex portion, and can further rotate upward according to the height of the convex portion to scrape up the construction waste at the top of the convex portion. By setting the upper limit of the movable range to 22° and allowing the disc brush 17 to rotate upward by only 5° from the standard position, the bristles of the disc brush 17 are never horizontal or nearly horizontal with the floor surface, and the front bristles of the disc brush 17 are always in contact with the floor surface without leaving the floor surface, so that the function of scraping the construction waste toward the center line CL can always be performed, and a situation in which construction waste is caught between the bristles of the disc brush 17 and the floor surface and operation is stopped can be avoided.

[0034] As shown in Figures 8(c) and 9(c), when a recess such as a groove is present, the mounting plate 61 rotates downward from the standard position. By making the lower limit of the movable range 39° and allowing rotation downward by 12° from the standard position, the bristles of the disc brush 17 can reach the bottom of deeper grooves to scrape up construction waste within the grooves, and since the bristles of the disc brush 17 are never in a position perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the floor surface, the function of scraping up construction waste within the grooves toward the center line CL can always be achieved.

[0035] As described above, according to this embodiment, a sweeper equipped with functions suitable for construction sites, such as a large capacity dust box, a dust box separated from the sweeper body and transported alone and a reduced transport load, a reduced load on the sweeper as a whole, a reduced possibility of a situation where the sweeper cannot run, an easy installation of the dust box alone and with a minimized area, and an easy installation of the entire sweeper and with a minimized area, can be realized without complicating the structure. Furthermore, by providing the disc brush with a tiltable motion, it is possible to sweep and collect construction waste at the boundary between the floor surface and the convex part and at the bottom of the groove by following the unevenness of the floor grain. Moreover, by optimizing the movable range of the disc brush, construction waste can be swept and collected up to the bottom of the deeper groove, and it is possible to prevent the disc brush from being unable to return to its forward tilt, or from falling into a situation where construction waste is caught between the disc brush and the floor surface, making it impossible to sweep, or from being unable to run.

[0036] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims, as well as in the scope and spirit of the invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1...Sweeper, 3...Sweeper body, 5...Dust box, 7, 9...Drive wheels, 11...Crawler tracks, 13...Moving mechanism, 15...Chassis, 19...Motor, 17...Disc brush, 21...Sweeping plate, 23...Roller brush, 25...Guide plate, 31...Fixing device, 33...Handle, 35, 37...Handle portion, 39...Hinge, 41...Fastener, 42...Hook receiver, 43...Base, 45...Base body, 46...Wheels, 47...Leg, 48...Fastener, 49...Hinge, 51...Fastener, 61...Mounting plate, 63, 65...Fastener, 69...Hinge, 71...Extension, 73...Limiting structure, 74...Upper abutment plate, 76...Lower abutment plate.

Claims

1. A sweeper body having front and rear wheels for running and moving on the floor while collecting construction waste; and a dust box for containing the collected construction waste. A pair of disk brushes having brush bristles in a truncated cone shape are disposed at the front of the sweeper body in the direction of travel, A pair of motor drive shafts are connected to the pair of disk brushes, respectively; A sweeping plate is inclined in the sweeper body so that the rear part of the disk brush partially overlaps the rear part of the disk brush and the sweeping plate is inclined along the tip of the disk brush. A cylindrical roller brush is installed in the sweeper body to send the construction waste swept up by the disk brush along the upper surface of the sweeping plate to the rear and to collect dust on the floor surface. The dust box has a box shape with an inlet opening at the top of the front panel, and is attached to the sweeper body behind the roller brush so as to receive the construction waste and the collected dust sent out by the roller brush from the inlet and drop them into the dust box at the rear. The pair of motors are commonly mounted on a single mounting plate such that the brush bristles partially overlap each other across a center line of the sweeper body; A sweeper in which the mounting plate is rotatably attached at its rear end to the front part of the sweeper body via a hinge so that the weight of the pair of disk brushes and the pair of motors causes the pair of disk brushes to lean forward and press the bristles of the pair of disk brushes against the floor surface.

2. The sweeper according to claim 1, wherein fasteners are provided on the mounting plate and the sweeper body to fasten the mounting plate to the sweeper body so that a reference position in which the tips of the bristles of the pair of disk brushes are pressed against the floor surface by the weight of the pair of disk brushes and the pair of motors is fixed.

3. 3. The sweeper according to claim 2, further comprising a limiting structure for limiting the rotation of said mounting plate within a predetermined movable range including said reference position.

4. 4. The sweeper according to claim 3, wherein in the reference position, a rotation center line of the disk brush intersects with a vertical axis of the floor surface at an angle of 27 degrees.

5. 4. The sweeper according to claim 3, wherein at the lower limit of said movable range, a center line of rotation of said disk brush intersects with a vertical axis of said floor surface at an angle of 39 degrees.

6. 4. The sweeper according to claim 3, wherein at the upper limit of said movable range, a center line of rotation of said disk brush intersects with a vertical axis of said floor surface at an angle of 22 degrees.

7. A sweeper body having front and rear wheels for running and moving on the floor while collecting construction waste; and a dust box for containing the collected construction waste. A pair of disk brushes having brush bristles in a truncated cone shape are disposed at the front of the sweeper body in the direction of travel, A pair of motor drive shafts are connected to the pair of disk brushes, respectively; The pair of motors are attached to a mounting plate so that the brush bristles partially overlap each other across a center line of the sweeper body, The pair of disk brushes are pressed against the floor surface with their bristles in a forward tilted position due to the weight of the pair of disk brushes and the pair of motors, The sweeper rotates the pair of disc brushes to sweep the construction waste toward the center line of the sweeper body and sweeps the swept construction waste up along a sweeping plate that is tilted forward.

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