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US 8,769,755 B2Granted
Side brush assembly mechanism
AssigneeTennant Company
InventorMatthew R. Hetler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A side brush assembly mechanism for a floor surface maintenance vehicle including a linkage assembly supporting a brush deck, a pivot assembly and a cable connected to the linkage assembly, and a cable tensioning device for retracting the cable. The cable tensioning device is capable of lifting and retracting the brush deck. The side brush assembly mechanism may include a biasing mechanism for lowering and extending the brush deck.
Claims21
A side brush assembly mechanism for a floor surface maintenance machine comprising:
- a brush deck carrying a floor-engaging brush;
- a linkage assembly supporting the brush deck above the floor surface;
- a pivot assembly connected to a machine frame and adapted to rotate the brush deck and linkage assembly about a pivot pin, said pivot pin being generally vertical relative to the floor surface, with the pivot assembly adapted to swing the brush deck about the pivot pin either toward or away from a machine centerline;
- a cable connected at one end to the linkage assembly;
- a downforce spring connected at one end to a link of the linkage assembly, said downforce spring for biasing the brush deck downwardly toward the floor surface;
- and
- a selectively controlled cable tensioning device attached to a machine frame away from the linkage assembly and the pivot assembly, said cable tensioning device for retracting the cable during use of the machine to both raise and retract the brush deck, wherein upon activation by an operator the cable tensioning device provides a tension force on the cable tending to both lift the brush deck away from the floor surface and swing the brush deck about the pivot pin toward the machine centerline and extend the downforce spring, and when the tension force is decreased the brush deck swings about the pivot pin away from the machine centerline and lowers into contact with the floor surface and the downforce spring retracts causing the linkage assembly to pivot the brush deck toward the floor surface.
4 more elements
A side brush assembly mechanism for a floor surface maintenance machine comprising:
- a pivot assembly adapted to pivot away from a machine centerline;
- a linkage assembly connected to the pivot assembly;
- a brush deck connected to the linkage assembly;
- a downforce spring connected to the linkage assembly, said downforce spring providing a downward bias force tending to move the brush deck toward contact with the floor surface;
- and
- a cable connected at one end to the linkage assembly and connected to a selectively controlled tensioning device at the other end, said tensioning device being connected to a machine frame away from the pivot assembly and linkage assembly, wherein application of a tension on the cable by the tensioning device causes the pivot assembly to retract toward the machine centerline about a generally vertical pivot pin and causes the linkage assembly to lift the brush deck away from a floor surface and causes the downforce spring to extend, and wherein upon a decrease in tension on the cable the pivot assembly pivots about the pivot pin away from the machine centerline and the downforce spring retracts and the linkage assembly lowers the brush deck into contact with the floor surface.
3 more elements
A side brush assembly mechanism for a floor surface maintenance machine comprising:
- a brush deck carrying a floor-engaging brush;
- a linkage assembly supporting the brush deck above the floor surface;
- a pivot assembly connected to a machine frame and adapted to rotate the brush deck and linkage assembly about a generally vertical pivot pin, with the pivot assembly adapted to swing the brush deck about the pivot pin either toward or away from a machine centerline;
- a cable and at least one pulley operatively connected to the linkage assembly and brush deck;
- a downforce spring connected to the linkage assembly and biasing the brush deck toward contact with the floor surface;
- and
- a cable tensioning device attached to a machine frame away from the linkage assembly and the pivot assembly, said cable tensioning device for retracting the cable during use of the machine to both raise and retract the brush deck, wherein upon activation by an operator the cable tensioning device provides a tension force on the cable tending to both lift the brush deck away from the floor surface and swing the brush deck about the pivot pin toward the machine centerline and extend the downforce spring, and when the tension force is decreased the brush deck swings about the pivot pin away from the machine centerline and the downforce spring retracts and lowers the brush into contact with the floor surface.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.