US2742658A - Broom and scraper - Google Patents

Description

April 24, 1956 E. SPROSTON 2,742,658

BROOM AND SCRAPER Filed NOV. 18, 1953 United States Patent BROOMSCRAPER Edmund Sproston; Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Application-November?18, 1953,'Serial No. 392,912

' 3 Claims." cl; =-1'I 1) This invention relates to improvements in floor sweeping utensils which are known as brush brooms or push brooms, and-:more particularly it relates to scraperscomhinediwith-tsuch brooms.

.Gonventionally these brooms consist of an". elongate head to which sweeping bristles are. attached, and a pole extendingfrom the head, roughly at 45-", used asra handle. Gommonly the handle is screwed intoaconforming'socket in the head, and usually there are two of these sockets approximately at right angles to each other so that the handle may be transferred from one to the other when the bristles show signs. of swept-back deformation from use. The two sockets merge and form an opening in the bottom of the brush head, and there is thus formed a V-shaped passage open at two points in the upper face of the head and at a median point in the bottom face.

Brush brooms with associated scrapers are known in the art of floor cleaning utensils, but in all such known combinations the scrapers are in fixed relation to the brushes, and not extensible. They are therefore located close to the brush.

The scrapers are used principally for the removal of sticky substances which resist sweeping until loosened from the floor. A good'example of such substances is discarded chewing gum, particularly when it has been trampled upon, and so pressed to the floor that it adheres. Such scrapers are brought into operative position by reversing the brush; that is to say, the brush or broom head is turned upside down, the bristles upstanding. On clear floors it does not matter if the scraper is located close to the broom head, but on floors which have fixed obstacles such as theatre seating, a scraper located close to the broom head is of little use, since it is not long enough to go past the seat legs; that is to say, the elongate'broom head is blocked by the seat legs and therefore the scraper is often stopped short of the substance which it is intended to clear from the floor.

On the other hand, if the scraper were to be extended sulficiently far ahead of the broom head, and there fixed, obviously it would impede the sweeping operation.

So far, a conventional brush broom has been considered. The invention, however, which consists essentially of a unit comprising a scraper element, an adjustable element and a pole or handle, is also applicable to a brush (head and bristles) which has been produced particularly to accommodate it. That is to say (in reverse order) the invention may be produced with the brush head inclusive, .or the aforesaid unit may include a kit for adaptation to a conventional brush head from which the pole or handle has been removed, the only difierence being in the brush head by itself considered.

The principal object of the invention, therefore, is to provide, in a combined brush broom and scraper, a. scraper which is protractable and retractable as conditions demand as aforesaid.

Another important object is to provide a unit consisting of a scraper element, an adjustable element and a 2,742,658 Patented? Apr. 24,v 195.6

handle which may be applied either. to a special brush (head 'and bristles) or to aconventionalbrush from which the conventionalhandle has been removed and inserted in-said unit.

A further importantobject isto provide a device of the character specified which will. be simple, durable and inexpensive to produceandv to purchase.

These together with other objects which may later appear may be attained by the structure hereinafter defined, specifically claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a top view ofa broom and scraper, showing the pole or. handle brokenxaway, asit is-also shown in allthe figures wherein it appears;

Figure 2 is a side elevation;

Figure 3 is an enlarged front sectional elevation taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlargedtdetailed perspective view. of the unit comprising a certain slide bar, scraper element and pole socket;

Figure. 5 is an enlarged. end view, in median crosssection,.ofa conventional .brush head, showing the. U-bolt employed as means to adapt the said unit to such a head;

Figure 6 is a detailed perspective view of a certain keeper or clamp member.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

Referring now to the drawing, a brush or broom head is indicated by H, the bristles by B and the pole by P.

The special brush head, that is the head which is preferably supplied when the combination broom and scraper is sold as a unit, is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. In the upper face of this head, midway between the ends of the head and running clear across transversely, is a pair of grooves 10, see Figure 3, which are preferably about half the depth of, and conform to, a pair of rods later to be described.

The conventional head, that is the head which has been previously sold and to which the unit including the scraper is to be subsequently applied, is shown in Figure 5. In this head there are two threaded screw sockets 12 formed at approximately right angles to each other and at angles of approximately 45 to at least the face of the head having the bristles. These sockets commence in the upper face of the head and merge, thus constituting a broad V-shaped passage opening twice at the top and again at the bot-tom of the head. A U-bolt 13 is inserted in this V-shaped passage from the bottom so that the threaded end portions of its shanks extend Well above the upper face of the brush head, its web engaging the apexial portion of the passage.

Since the proportions of these brush heads vary, preferably the U-bolt 13 is formed in two equal portions which are pivoted together at 34. It is understood that the pole or handle which previously has been screwed into one or the other of the sockets 12 has been removed.

In its present embodiment the unit, which has been previously mentioned, consists of a slotted slide bar. On one end of this bar is the scraper blade 14, and on the opposite end a threaded socket 15 for the pole P. The blade lies at an angle such that when the broom is turned upside down will position it at the proper scraping angle when the pole is roughly 45 from horizontal, the approximate inclination the latter assumes when the broom is in bristles-to-floor position. That is to say, the working angle of the pole is roughly the same whether the brush or the scraper is at work.

Conveniently the slotted bar may take the form, as here shown, of a pair of spaced parallel rods 16. In the form illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the rods 16 preferably lie half in and half out in the grooves 10, such arrangement preventing the rods (the slotted bar) from turning,

or pivoting, on the broom head H. Spanning the slot 17 is a laterally flanged keeper or clamp member 18, the rounded and downwardly directed flanges 19 of which embrace the bar and prevent the keeper from twisting.

A wing-head bolt 20 passes through a centre hole in the keeper 18, thencethrough the'slot 17, finally being received in a socket 21, which is introduced with a tight fit into the head H from the bottom. The socket 17 has a flange or base 22 which prevents it from moving out of place when the bolt 20 is screwed into it. Thus by loosening the bolt 20the bar 16 may be slid forward or backward and be temporarily fixed in its shifted position by re-tightening-the bolt.

The keeper is provided also with two additional holes or passages 23 located one on each side of the center hole. These holes 23 are not used in the form of assembly according to Figures 1, 2 and 3, but in the form according to Figure 5 the shanks of the U-bolt 13 pass through these additional holes, thereupon to receive wing nuts 24. In the latter form the center hole of the keeper is not used. The holes 23 are elongate rather than round in order to provide a tolerance for varying shank spans of the U-bolt 13. Thus the keeper is universal to both types of brush head.

In the latter form of the invention, obviously the original pole may be used, unscrewing it from one of the sockets 12 and screwing it into the socket 15 being all that is necessary for that particular step of the conversion.

I claim:

1. In a combined push broom and scraper, a brush head characterized by a substantially V-shaped passage, a slotted slidable bar disposed across the upper face of said head, a scraper blade on one end of said bar, a pole socket inclined upwardly on the opposite end of said bar, a U-bolt disposed in said passage with the threaded end portions of its shanks extending through the slot in said bar, and nuts on said end portions for loosening and tightening said bar against said face of said head whereby said head may be selectively shifted along said bar."-

2. The device according to claim 1 in which a clamp plate is interposed between said bar and said nuts.

3. The device according to claim 1 in which the U-bolt comprises two identical portions pivotally connected.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Landes Sept. 22, 1874

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