Self-cleaning hanging magnetic sweeping apparatus

A self-cleaning magnetic sweeping module for a vehicle, comprising:

• a housing;
• a rare-earth magnet assembly disposed in the housing;
• a conveyor belt routed about a plurality of rollers such that a belt portion traverses a debris collection region adjacent the rare-earth magnet assembly;
• and
• a motor configured to drive the conveyor belt to carry ferrous debris from the debris collection region to a discharge region where the ferrous debris is removed from the magnetic field and released.

A method of protecting pneumatic tires of a street sweeper from ferrous road debris, the method comprising:

• suspending one or more magnetic sweeping modules from a front region of the street sweeper such that the one or more magnetic sweeping modules are positioned forward of steer tires;
• collecting ferrous debris on a rare-earth magnet assembly of the one or more magnetic sweeping modules while the street sweeper travels forward;
• and
• during a clean-off cycle, driving a conveyor belt of the one or more magnetic sweeping modules to transport the ferrous debris out of a magnetic field of the rare-earth magnet assembly and depositing the ferrous debris at a location configured to be collected by a main cleaning head of the street sweeper.