GB2282318A

GB2282318A - Mounting of brushes on a floor polishing machine

Info

Publication number: GB2282318A
Application number: GB9419028A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michele Liscio
Original assignee: PULIMAT SpA
Current assignee: PULIMAT SpA
Priority date: 1993-10-04
Filing date: 1994-09-21
Publication date: 1995-04-05
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-21
Also published as: ITMI932112A1; FR2710926B3; GB9419028D0; ITMI932112A0; IT1271476B; FR2710926A1; DE4434520B4; GB2282318B; DE4434520A1

Description

2282318 1 ARRANGEMENT FOR AUTOMATIC FITTING AND REMOVAL OF THE BRUSHES IN

FLOOR WASHING-DRYING MACHINES The present invention concerns an arrangement which permits automatic fitting and removal of the brushes in machines referred to as floor washing-drying machines which are used particularly for large areas, in which at least two circular brushes with substantially vertical axes are mounted removably on associated rotary drive plates by way of a bayonet-type connection comprising projections and shaped openings which belong to the brushes and the drive plates.

Washing-drying machines for industrial use or the like are provided, usually at the front or at the side, with two (or possibly also more) brushes which are disposed with their axes vertical and which are slightly staggered in the direction of forward movement of the machine in order to overlap the polishing zones in that direction and to avoid breaks in continuity. The brushes are operated by discs which are driven in rotation and to which they are connected, as stated, by a bayonet-type connection. For removing the brushes from the discs, a known method involves lifting the discs from the ground, together with the brushes, and applying to the discs themselves a command for rotation thereof in the opposite direction, in such a way as to cause separation of the bayonet connection, while also overcoming possible elastic resistances involved, by making use of the inertia of the brushes in starting to rotate. The brushes which are disengaged in that way fall onto the ground below the discs and can be recovered by moving the machine so that they are caused to come out of an opening provided in the frame structure or casing of the machine. The brushes when detached in that way can obviously be replaced by brushes of another type for carrying out jobs 2 involving different characteristics, or with other brushes which are not worn.

The operation of reconnecting the brushes in the machine is however relatively burdensome and complicated since it requires access to the discs which are disposed within the frame structure or casing of the machine, centering of each of the brushes on the associated disc, mutual connection as between the discs and the brushes and finally lowering the assembly again into the operative position on the ground. All those operations, except for the latter, have to be effected manually and involve difficulties, time wastage, and the need on the part of the operator to handle brushes, which are frequently dirty, and moreover under conditions such as to give rise to the risk of injury to the operator from components of the machine or brushes.

That being said, the aim of the present invention is now that of providing an arrangement for fitting and removal of the brushes in a washing-drying machine which makes it possible to carry out the above-mentioned phases in a completely automatic manner without any need for the operator to touch in particular the brushes to be connected, by picking up and reliably fixing in the operative position in the machine the brushes which are disposed on the ground, by means of the exclusive use of the mechanical means of the said arrangement.

According to the present invention, there is provided a floor washingdrying machine having an arrangement for automatic fitting and removal of the brushes in which at least two circular brushes with a substantially vertical axis are removably mounted on associated rotary drive plates by way of a bayonet-type connection comprising projections and shaped slots belonging to the brushes and to the drive plates, wherein the working location of the brushes is defined in the interior of the machine by at 3 least one rearward or lateral support for the brushes in a position corresponding to the working position; and the brushes and the drive plates have conical mutual centering surfaces at least with the axis parallel or coincident with respect to the axis of rotation.

Using an arrangement as defined above in a washing-drying machine as defined, the invention also concerns a method for fitting and connection of the brushes, comprising the following phases:

a) disposing on the ground the brushes to be fitted; b) maintaining the drive plates in a raised position; c) advancing the machine over the brushes, is causing them to pass through the front lateral opening of the machine until they are disposed against the support edging member or members; d) axially lowering the drive plates with the plates and the brushes being mutually centred by means of the conical and inclined guide and centering surfaces; and e) rotating the drive plates until the projections on the brushes engage into the bottom of the bayonet slots, overcoming possible retaining spring means.

The invention will be further described by way of non-limitative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view in section illustrating the front part of a washing -drying machine with the brushes in the working location; Figure 2 is a plan view of the machine of figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a brush which is suitable for automatic fitting and removal in an arrangement according to the invention; 4 Figure 4 is a perspective view of a drive plate for the brush shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a view in section taken along section line V-V in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a view in section taken along section line VI-VI in Figure 3; and Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view corresponding to that shown in Figure 2, illustrating the arrangement of the brushes in a machine of the "ride-on" type.

Figures 1 an 2 diagrammatically illustrate a washing-drying machine 10 provided with a front casing 11, below which operate two brushes 12 and 13 mounted on related drive discs 14 and 15 which produce the rotary movement thereof. As can be clearly seen from Figure 2 the brushes is 12 and 13 are staggered relative to each other in the direction X of forward movement of the machine, in order to avoid breaks in continuity in the area which is polished by the brushes.

The discs 14 and 15 which are provided with means (not shown) for controlling the rotary movements of the brushes are supported by an arm 16, in per se known manner, which can be operated to produce a lifting movement thereof in the interior of the casing 11 to permit the operations for disconnection and connection of the brushes, as will be seen more clearly hereinafter.

In accordance with the invention, an edging member or bar 17 is disposed in a fixed position with respect to the casing in the interior of the casing and substantially at a position corresponding to the position attained by the edge of the brushes, which is disposed and turned towards the interior of the machine. The edging member 17 is formed by two circumferential arcs joined by a connecting portion 1V, being intended to act as a stop means for initial positioning of the brushes in the interior of the machine, at positions corresponding to the drive plates, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

With reference to Figures 3 and 5, the brushes, for example the brush 12, are each formed by an annular body 18, to the underneath surface of which are fixed the bristles 19, while disposed on its oppositely disposed surface is a series of mushroom-shaped (i.e. with enlarged heads) projections 20 (there being three in the illustrated case) which serve for bayonet-type fixing to the associated drive plate 14. The hollow internal part of the annular body 18 is defined by a frustoconical surface 21 having the larger diameter disposed upwardly and which, as will be seen hereinafter, is used to co-operate in centering of the brush on the drive plate.

The last-mentioned element, as illustrated in Figures 4 and 6, has a lowered central seat 22 which externally carries a frustoconical surface 23 with the smaller diameter downwards, in such a way as to couple to the surface 21 of the brush 12, mutually centering the brush on the plate in the axial direction. In the central lowered part the disc 14 carries a projection 24 for coupling thereof to the rotary drive means.

The periphery of the disc 14 is provided with three shaped slots 25 having a central part 26 of larger radial dimension and at least one terminal part 27 of reduced radial dimension, which is connected to the central part 26 as indicated at 28 in the slot illustrated at the front in Figure 4 which, for the sake of better comprehension, is without the cover element which will be described below.

The central part 26 of each slot 25 is surmounted by a substantially Ushaped capping portion 29 having a predetermined circumferential extension and whose internal circumferential surfaces are inclined upwardly in the form 6 of a truncated cone as can be seen from figure 6 for a purpose which will be described hereinafter.

Also fitted at one of the ends of at least one of the slots 25 is an elastic retaining element 30, for example in the form of a spring having two arms, which partially closes off access to the reduced end 27 of the slot 25, wherein the arms of the spring can be moved apart by the corresponding mushroom-shaped projection 20 as a result of a relative circumferential movement as between the disc and the brush, which is produced by a sufficient amount of acceleration or force.

In a washing-drying machine bearing the above illustrated arrangement, fastening of the brushes to a pair of empty discs like those described above and disposed in a raised position within the casing 11 is effected in the following manner. With the brushes 12 and 13 first being disposed on the ground in their normal operative position, or supported on the bristles 19, the machine 19 is advanced so as to cause the brushes to be introduced beneath the casing 11 through a front opening 31 in the casing 11. The machine is then further advanced until the brushes 12 and 13 are each caused to bear against the corresponding arcuate part of the shaped edging member 17.

Under those conditions the brushes are disposed below the drive plates 14 and 15 respectively in more or less centred relationship therewith and they have been moved into that condition without any need for the operator to touch them with the hands.

At that point the assembly is operated for downward movement of the plates in such a way as to produce mutual centering of the plates and the brushes by way of the conical surfaces at 23 of the plates and at 21 of the brushes, and also by way of the conical surfaces of the U shaped capping portions 29 and the mushroom-shaped projections 20 on the brushes. A centering action is a A 7 movement in the radial direction as a result of the rotary movement of the electrically operated discs co-operates with and contributes to mutual centering in the axial direction, which discs, initially rotating with respect to the brushes, provide that the mushroom-shaped projections 20 on the latter are moved by way of the connecting region 28 into the narrower part 27 of the respective slot, where at least one of the projections is retained by the elastic means 30.

In that way the brushes 12 and 13 have been picked up, fixed in place and disposed in the operative condition, without any need for the operator to manipulate them.

For detachment of the brushes, it is only necessary to raise the drive plates 14 and 15 and to impart thereto a rotary impulsion in the opposite direction which causes the pins 20 on the brushes to be uncoupled form the spring means 30 and move into the central part of the respective slots 25, permitting the brushes to fall onto the ground, being definitively detached from the raised drive plates. A simple reverse movement of the machine now makes it possible to cause the brushes to come out by way of the front opening 31 of the casing 11.

The washing-drying machine illustrated by way of example in Figures 1 and 2 is of a design configuration which is devised to provide that the machine is guided and moved by an operator who follows it on foot. Washing-drying machines of the so-called "ride-on" type are also available on the market, in which the operator is precisely installed on a seat of the machine. In this latter case the brushes 121, 131 are installed centrally with respect to the machine 101 - which advances in the direction indicated by the arrow A - and can be fitted into and disengaged from the working position by way of lateral openings 311 in the casing or frame structure 11, as indicated by the arrows B. In the machine 101 the brush-carrying discs are designed as described hereinbefore, while the machine has two shaped 8 edging members 171 which are disposed as illustrated to centre the brushes below the discs in preparation for the brush-connecting operation 9

Claims

1. A floor washing-drying machine having an arrangement for automatic fitting and removal of the brushes in which at least two circular brushes with a substantially vertical axis are removably mounted on associated rotary drive plates by way of a bayonet-type connection comprising projections and shaped slots belonging to the brushes and to the drive plates, wherein the working location of the brushes is defined in the interior of the machine by at least one rearward or lateral support for the brushes in a position corresponding to the working position; and the brushes and the drive plates have conical mutual centering surfaces at least with the axis parallel or coincident with respect to the axis of rotation.

2. A floor washing-drying machine according to claim 1 wherein the rearward or lateral support for the brushes is formed by at least one edging member which is shaped with a double circular arc and which is disposed in the interior of a casing or frame structure of the machine and behind one or more openings provided in said casing for the passage of the brushes, the edging member or members being positioned downstream of the drive plates with respect to said opening or openings of the casing and at a spacing from the ground such as to interfere with the brushes when the latter are freely resting on the ground.

A floor washing-drying machine according to claim 2 and including a support edging member formed by two circular arcs which are staggered in the direction of forward movement of the machine, the centres thereof substantially coinciding with the centres of the two drive plates.

4. A floor washing-drying machine according to claim 2 and comprising two support edging members which are formed by two circular arcs and which are disposed at a spacing and in opposite relationship at the sides of the openings of the casing of the machine, each edging member co-operating with the other to form two supports for the brushes, the centres of which coincide with the centres of the two drive plates.

5. A floor washing-drying machine according to one of the preceding claims of a type in which the brushes, on a surface perpendicular to their axes of rotation, have a plurality of shaped projections which are capable of being inserted into the same number of shaped slots in the drive plates and moving with the rotary motion of the drive plates to the narrower end of such slots where at least one of the projections is retained by spring means; wherein co-operating with said slots are surfaces which are fixed with respect to the drive plates and which are inclined with respect to the plane of the slots and with respect to the axis of rotation of each plate to act on the corresponding projections of the brushes, co-operating in axial centering of each brush on the associated drive plate.

6. A floor washing-drying machine according to claim 5 wherein the shaped slots comprise a central region of larger radial width than the dimensions of the mushroom shaped projections, and at least one terminal region of a radial width which is substantially equal to the dimensions of the mushroom-shaped projections and connected to the region of greater radial width.

7. A floor washing-drying machine according to any one of claims 4 to 6 when appendant thereto wherein the machine comprises a casing having at the front a passage 11 mouth or opening of a width substantially equal to that of the machine and of a height which is at least slightly greater than the axial height of each brush.

8. A floor washing-drying machine according to claim 3 or any one of claims 4 to 6 when appendant thereto, wherein the machine comprises a casing which is provided laterally with a pair of passage mouths or openings of a width which is at least slightly greater than the diameter of a brush and of a height which is at least slightly greater than the axial height of each brush.

9.

A method of fitting and connecting the brushes in a floor washing-drying machine, especially of the washing- drying type having A floor washing-drying machine according to one of the preceding claims, comprising the following phases:

f itted; position; c) advancing the machine over the brushes, causing them to pass through the front or lateral opening of the machine until they are disposed against the support edging member or members; d) axially lowering the drive plates with the plates and the brushes being mutually centred by means of the conical and inclined guide and centering surfaces; and e) rotating the drive plates until the projections on the brushes engage into the bottoms of the bayonet slots, overcoming possible retaining spring means.

a) disposing on the ground the brushes to be b) maintaining the drive plates in a raised

10. A floor washing-drying machine constructed and arranged to operate substantially as hereinbefore described 12 with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

11. A method of fitting and connecting the brushes in a floor washing-drying machine substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings 1