US3631557A

US3631557A - Sweeper

Info

Publication number: US3631557A
Application number: US13134A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gunter Leifheit; Johannes Liebscher
Original assignee: Leifheit International GmbH
Current assignee: Leifheit International GmbH
Priority date: 1969-02-21
Filing date: 1970-02-20
Publication date: 1972-01-04
Anticipated expiration: 1989-01-04
Also published as: BE746229A; SE353653B; SE378980B; GB1293873A; AT323941B; CH500702A; ES183787U; NL7002213A; FR2031579B1; FR2031579A1; ES183787Y; AT313521B; DK137165B; DK137165C

Abstract

A housing defines at least two internal cavities for the collection of sweepings. An operating unit is insertable into and removable from the housing in toto and comprises wheels for advancement of the sweeper on a surface to be swept, journal supports for the wheels, a rotatable brush roller arranged to be positioned intermediate the cavities when the unit is inserted into the housing, and motion-transmitting means linking the brush roller with at least one of the wheels for rotating the former in response to turning of the latter.

Description

llnited States Patent Inventors Gunter Leifheit;

Johannes Liebscher, both of Nassau/Lahn, Germany Appl. No. 13,134 Filed Feb. 20, 1970 Patented Jan. 4, 1972 Assignee Leifheit International Gunter Leifheit KG Nassau/Lahn, Germany Priority Feb. 21, 1969 Germany P 19 08 649.8

SWEEPER 15 Claims, 13 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 1 5/42 Int. Cl A471l1/08 Field ofSearch 15/41,48, 42-44, 38 8 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,204,718 11/1916 Putten 15/388 2,793,378 5/1957 Williams et al. 15/48 2,371,918 3/1945 Rubin 15/41 R 3,517,404 6/1970 Leifheit et a1 15/42 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,131,973 10/1968 Great Britain 15/48 Primary Examiner-Leon G. Machlin Attorney-Michael S. Striker ABSTRACT: A housing defines at least two internal cavities for the collection of sweepings. An operating unit is insertable into and removable from the housing in toto and comprises wheels for advancement of the sweeper on a surface to be swept, journal supports for the wheels, a rotatable brush roller arranged to be positioned intermediate the cavities when the unit is inserted into the housing, and motion-transmitting means linking the brush roller with at least one of the wheels for rotating the former in response to turning of the latter.

PATENTED JAN 4 1972 SHEET 1 OF 5 INVENTOR G-uuTE/l Lem-yen- Jomwme: uses PATENTEU JAN 4 I872 SHEU 3 OF 5 INVENTOR rgg GIN/517' I 70/140415! Q @MJ lawn) Pmmium 4:972 3531.657

SHEET a [1F 5 INVENTOR SWEEPER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to sweepers, and more particularly to sweepers having a housing provided with interior cavities for the reception of sweepings, and at least one brush roller arranged between these cavities and driven by a motiontransmitting arrangement via at least one of the wheels with which the sweeper advances over a surface to be swept.

Such sweepers are already known. For this reason it is not thought to be necessary to discuss them in detail but it is believed to be advisable to point out that in these known constructions the arrangement of the wheels and of the brush roller is such that in particular the assembly of these components with one another and with the housing is difficult and time consuming, thus making the unit more expensive than is economically desirable. Furthermore, it has been found that certain of the prior art devices of this general type do not meet the requirement that they reliably retain the sweepings in the interior cavities during use while subsequent to use affording ready removal of the sweepings from these cavities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to over-' come these disadvantages of the prior art.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide a sweeper of the above-identified type which is not possessed of these disadvantages.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such a sweeper which can be readily and quickly assembled and disassembled.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a sweeper here under discussion which provides, on the one hand for reliable retention of the sweepings in the internal cavities of the housing but which, on the other hand makes possible ready removal of such sweepings when this is desired.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, a sweeper according to the present invention comprises, briefly stated, a housing defining at least two internal cavities for the collection of sweepings, and an operating unit which is insertable into and removable from the housing in toto. The unit comprises wheels for advancement of the sweeper on a surface to be swept, journal supports for the wheels, a rotatable brush roller arranged to be positioned intermediate the cavities when the unit is inserted into the housing, and motion-transmitting means linking the brush roller with at least one of these wheels for rotating the former in response to turning of the latter.

In this manner the sweeper can be assembled in a most simple and rapid manner, particularly because the wheels and the single or several brush rollers can be inserted into their journal supports without interference by portions of the housing. Beyond this the novel construction also permits substantially greater freedom in the construction of the housing itself.

It is advisable and advantageous to provide the housing, which is downwardly open, with downwardly open recesses at spaced opposite walls into which the journal supports can be inserted so that an automatic alignment of the operating unit takes the place when the same is connected with the housing.

It is further advantageous in terms of cleaning and maintenance of the sweeper, and also for facilitating removal and exchange of the wheels and/or the brush roller or rollers to provide releasable arresting means which releasably arrests the unit when the same is inserted in the housing but which permits removal of the unit whenever this is desired. For this purpose the journal supports may be provided with resiliently yieldable projections which cooperate with abutrnents pro vided on the housing. The housing itself may be provided with cutouts or the like through which access may be readily had to the projections so that the same may be displaced out of engagement with the abutments when it is desired to separate the unit from the housing.

It is also advantageous to provide for the mounting of the journal supports in the housing in such a manner that a limited displacement of the journal supports in their position with reference to the housing and to the surface to be swept is possible. This affords a highly desirable accommodation of the position of the wheels and the brush or brushes to pronounced unevennesses of the surface so that the brush roller will always properly contact the surface and provide for maximum sweeping efficiency. It is advantageous to provide the journal supports with projections extending parallel to the axes of the wheels and which snap into recesses provided in the walls of the housing to thereby obtain a mounting for the journal supports permitting the same to be pivoted in the axial plane of the wheels. The journal supports themselves are preferably of frame-shaped configuration and the wheels be provided with shafts which are short and extend into slotlike journal cutouts of opposite frame portions which cutouts are inclined outwardly and downwardly towards the surface to be swept. Special axles for the wheels can be eliminated in this manner. Tolerance variations occurring during the manufacture of the wheels and the journal supports and which otherwise could result in an adequate motion-transmission to the brush roller, are negated by this construction. It is advantageous that the internal cutouts be closed to prevent displacement of the wheels, and insertion and removal of the wheels is made possible by making the journal supports springy so that they can be deflected. Furthermore, to further facilitate the inserting of the wheels into the journal supports the frame portions thereof can be provided above the journal cutouts with regions which converge to the outer edge.

The wheels itself are advantageously and in accordance with a further feature of the invention composed of a two-part hub and a tire, with the hub parts being connectable in axial direction. This permits the securing of the tire on the hubs in a greatly simplified manner, and in fact makes it possible for the first time to do so in small wheels where the extensibility of the tire is extremely limited. For assembly purposes it is advantageous if the portions of the hubs are interengageable with one another, and for this purpose one of the hub portions is provided with the pins constituting the axle for the wheel and with a collar on which the tire may be seated, whereas the other hub portion is provided with annular shoulders which clampingly engage one of the pins and the collar of the first hub portion. The hub portions may be provided with conical tapers where desired to facilitate their connections.

It is further advantageous in accordance with the invention to provide each of the journal supports with a journal element associated therewith and shiftable in direction normal to the surface on which the sweeper is to move. In this manner a simple arrangement is provided for affording a straight-line continuous shifting of the position of the bnrsh roller with reference to the surface which is to be swept. The journal elements are preferably of hook-shaped cross-sectional configuration and can be suspended on one longitudinally extending portion of the journal support between vertical guides so that their connection with the journal supports can be effected with a single motion and without any additional means. To make it possible to construct the brush roller or rollers of the maximum possible lengthwithin the confines of the housing-and to make it possible to provide drive wheels as sociated with it so that they can be arranged immediately between the wheels from which they receive motion which is to be transmitted to the brush roller, it is advantageous to so construct the journal elements that they have arms located at the outer sides of the journal supports and provided with journals for the brush roller, and which arms can be suspended in the outer frame portions of the journal supports. The journal elements are preferably provided in a region located inwardly of the journal supports with a projection for contact of a common adjusting member which in turn cooperates with a setting member in a known manner. Thus, and despite the separate construction of the journal elements which hold the brush roller at its opposite ends, a joint adjustment of the journal elements is guaranteed and an inclined positioning of the brush roller during operation is avoided. In order to assure that the brush roller will always be freely turnable it is also advantageous to provide the longitudinal portions of the journal supports and the limits of the associated recesses in the housing above the axial region of the brush roller with suitable recesses.

If desired auxiliary brushes may be associated with the driven brush roller, and these are preferably joumaled in vertically oriented slots formed in the inner sides of the journal supports. These auxiliary brush rollers cooperate with the driven brush roller and improve the pickup of sweepings as well as its transportation into the internal cavities in which the sweepings are to be received.

These internal cavities are, in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention, formed as downwardly closed troughs which are of one piece with the housing and which each have one wall which is at the same time the outer wall of the housing. Undesired escape of sweepings from these troughs is not possible. Those sides of the troughs which face the brush roller advantageously terminate at the height of the brush roller and are preferably inclined with reference to the same.

To facilitate removal of sweepings from the internal cavities it is advantageous to connect bottom wall portions thereof hingedly with the housing, preferably by means of integral hinges which extend preferably in parallelism with the elongation of the brush roller or rollers. However, it is also possible to make the upper portion of the housing partly or completely removable, and in this case it advantageously extends in part over the remainder of the housing at the walls where the journal supports are connected therewith, forming in these regions arresting projections associated with corresponding recesses in the remainder of the housing. To facilitate separation of the removable portion of the housing suitable means may be provided, such as a member which is provided on the one recess for the journal supports and extends through a cutout in the removable housing portion.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a somewhat diagrammatic perspective view of a sweeper according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but illustrating the underside of the sweeper there shown;

FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIG. 2 but with the brushes and wheels removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the brushes and wheels of the embodiment in FIGS. l3, constructed as a unit which can be inserted into and removed from the housing in toto;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, ofajournal support;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the underside of a removable housing cover;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the housing with the cover of FIG. 6 removed;

FIG. 8 is an axial section on an enlarged scale of a wheel in a sweeper according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 but illustrating a drive or motion-transmitting wheel for the brush roller;

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of a sweeper according to a further embodiment of the present invention, with the sidewall partially broken away;

FIG. II is a partially sectioned view analogous to FIG. 10 and of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a section on line XIIXII of FIG. 10; and

FIG. 13 is a partially sectioned, partially broken away top plan view of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10-12.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail and firstly the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. I and 2, it will be seen that the device per se, that is the embodiment of the sweeper shown in these drawings, is identified with reference numeral 10. It is here shown as a table sweeper or table crumber, but this is only exemplary and the concepts according to the present invention are true even if the sweeper is larger or smaller or is used for other purposes. A housing I] has associated with it a brush roller 13 and auxiliary brush rollers 14, with the former being driven by drive wheels 16 mounted at the ends of the brush roller 13 and located intermediate the wheels 12 with which they can come into motion-transmitting contact. The unit moves over the surface to be swept with the wheels 12, and thereby the drive wheels 16 which are located between the wheels I2 are rotated and in turn rotate the brush roller 13. The brush roller 13 and the auxiliary brushes 14 as well as the wheels 12 extend downwardly beyond the underside 15 of the housing 11, as is of course necessary, and the

brush rollers

13 and 14 are located between the internal chambers 15 (see FIG. 3) in which the sweepings are to be collected.

The

brush rollers

13 and 14 as well as the wheels 12 are journaled, as shown in FIG. 4, injoumal supports 17 which are separable from the housing 11 and which are of generally frame-shaped configuration. The wheels 12 are received between the longitudinally extending frame portions 18 of the journal supports l7 and extend with their axle pins 19 into closed slotlike journal recesses 20 of the portions 17. These recesses 20 extend from below and from the outer side in upwardly and inwardly direction so that with increasing pressure on the device the wheels 16 are pressed against the wheels I2 to transmit motion from the latter to the brush roller 13. The brush roller 13 in turn is joumaled by means of the motiontransmitting wheels 16 which are provided with outwardly extending pins 21 extending into journals 22 of the outer frame portions of the journal supports 17. The inner frame portions of the journal supports 17 are provided with recesses 14 for the hollow projections 23 accepting the ends of the brush roller 13, but the cutouts or recesses 24 are of smaller width than the diameter of the motion-transmitting wheels 16. Thus, these components can be connected to form a unit after the wheels 12 and the brush roller roller 13 with the motion-transmitting wheels 16 are inserted into and connected with the journal supports 17. The latter advantageously consist of a somewhat elastically deflectable material, with the portions 18 provided with the cutouts 20 being deflectable-that is resiliently yieldableby the axial dimension of the wheels 12. This facilitates insertion of the wheels 12, and such insertion can be further facilitated by providing the portions 18 above the recesses 20 with regions (not illustrated) which increasingly taper towards the upper edge.

The inner sides of the inner portions of the journal supports 17 are provided at the ends ofa reinforcing rib 25 with slotlike journals 26 forjoumaling of the auxiliary brushes 14. The slotlike journals 26 extend from the underside towards the upper side of the journal supports so that the brushes 14 can automatically adjust themselves in dependence upon the position of the wheels 12 and the surface over which the latter move.

Opposite sidewalls of the housing ll are provided with recesses 27 extending transversely to the collecting chambers 15 for accepting the journal supports 17. The recesses 27 are dimensioned so as to accommodate the journal supports 17 completely. The latter are connectable with the housing 11 together with the wheels I2 and the brush rollers 13 and I4, and upwardly projecting portions 28 of resilient character are provided on the journal supports 17 which are formed with recesses 29. These can engage with projections 30 formed in the walls bounding the recesses 27 so as to retain the journal supports 17. To remove the latter the upper walls of the recesses 27 are provided with openings or cutouts 31 through which access may be had to the free ends of the projections 28 so that the latter may be lifted off the projections 30 by the use of a suitable instrument or tool. The free ends of the projections 28 are inclined to permit a more ready insertion into the recesses 27 and to permit the more ready use of a tool or instrument.

The chambers 15 or cavities 15 between which the

brush rollers

13 and 14 are arranged, are formed in the housing 11 in form of downwardly closed troughs whose outer walls respectively constitute the outer walls of the housing 11. The inner walls bounding the chambers 15 are inclined towards the center of the housing and thereby to the

brush rollers

13 and 14, as shown in FIG. 7. The upper edges of these inner walls are located approximately at the level of the axis of rotation of the brush roller 13. This inclination causes the inner walls 32 to be in part located above the auxiliary brushes so that sweepings picked up by the same cannot fall back onto the surface from which they were originally picked up.

When the device is in use the housing 11 and thereby the cavities or chambers 15 can be closely upwardly by a cover 33 angled portions. 34 of which in part extend over the sidewalls of the housing 11. This is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 from which it will be seen that the angle portions 34 are provided on the inside with projections 34 cooperating with recesses 36 on the housing 1 l to thereby provide a snap action connection of the cover 33 with the housing 11. Ribs 37 are provided which extend in the upper free space of the housing 11 and abut against the longitudinal walls thereof to prevent shifting of the cover 33 under the influence of lateral forces. As shown in FIG. 8, the wheels 12 are provided with a twosection hub 40, the sections being identified with

reference numerals

41 and 42 and being axially connected by means of mating connecting portions. The section 41 is provided with the journal pins 19 and with an axially extending collar 43 which in turn supports the tire 44 which is retained in axial direction by the shoulders 45 of the two

sections

41 and 42. The section 42 of the hub 40 is provided with annular shoulders 46 one of which clampingly surrounds and engages one of the journal pins whereas the other shoulder fits into the interi or of the collar 43 and clampingly engages the same. The two sections are mounted in that first the tire 44 is mounted on the collar 43 of the section 41, whereupon the section 42 with its annular shoulders 46 is pressed into the space between the collar 43 and the one pin' 19. The free edge faces of the collar 43 and of the annular shoulders 46 are provided with inclined surfaces 47 which facilitate the mating connections.

Coming now to the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 10-13 it will be seen that this is shown as a carpet sweeper. Just as the preceding embodiment can be used for purposes other than a table crumber, the embodiment of FIGS. 1043 is applicable even if it is not embodied in a carpet sweeper, and could for instance be constructed as a table crumber, always assuming of course that the necessary dimensional changes are made.

The sweeper is identified in toto in FIG. 10 with reference numeral 49. Contrary to the preceding embodiment the sweeper 49 is provided with a brush roller 51 which is heightadjustable with reference to the journal supports 52. The connection of the latter, however, is also releasable with reference to the housing 50. They are provided at their outer frame portions 53 with journal elements 54 of substantially hook-shaped cross-sectional configuration (compare FIG. 12) and provided at their long arm 55 with a pin-shaped journal 56 for the brush roller 51.

Because of the hook-shaped cross-sectional configuration of the elements 54, the latter can be hooked from above onto the frame portions 53 of the journal supports 52, the latter being additionally provided with a vertical guide in form of ribs 57 which accommodate the arm 55 between themselves and permit only the vertical shifting of the same with reference to a surface on which the device is supported or over which it moves for sweeping purposes. The arms 55 are guided at the outer sides of the outer frame portions 53 and the journal elements 54 extend from above over the inner side of the outer frame portions 53 with their hook-shaped portion. The journals 56 extend from the arms 55 inwardly of the device, and the frame portions 53 as well as the wall portion of the housing which inwardly bounds the spaces for the journal supports 52, are provided with depressions to assure that the brush roller has complete freedom regardless of what its height level is. With this construction it is possible to position the motiontransmitting wheels 58 which are fast at the ends of the brush roller 51 in known manner, between the frame portions of the journal supports 52 in such a manner that they come directly into motion-transmitting contact with the drive wheels 59.

The inner arms 61) of the journal elements 54 are provided with abutments 61 whose upper edge is slightly concavely curved, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. They cooperate with an adjusting bracket 62 which cooperates in known manner with a setting member 63 which is tumably mounted on the housing 50; operation of the setting member 63 causes the bracket to pivot and thereby to cause a shifting in the vertical position of the journal elements 54 and thus of the brush roller 51. In the illustrated embodiment the journal elements 54-which are separately mounted in the two journal supports 52are both connected by the adjusting bracket 62 so that an identical height displacement at opposite ends of the brush roller is guaranteed when the setting member 63 is operated. The bracket 62 contacts only the upper concavely curved edges of the portion 61 in the embodiment of FIGS. 842, so that when the bracket 62 is operated to lower the setting of the brush roller 51, the journal elements 54 are necessarily moved downwardly towards a surface on which the device is supported, whereas when the brush roller 51 is moved upwardly it follows the bracket 62 together with the journal elements 54 because of the weight of the housing. However, as also possible in like manner to utilize spring means cooperating with the journal elements 54 in a sense displacing them to an upper position, or else to connect the adjusting bracket 62 with the journal elements 54 so that a forced movement of the journal elements 54 is effected by the adjusting bracket 62 both when the brush roller is moved to a lower position and when it is moved to a higher position.

In the illustrated embodiment the journal supports 52 (compare FIGS. 10 and 11) are provided with projections 64 in their longitudinal frame portions which extend into recesses 65 of the walls of the housing 50 which bound the spaces for the journal supports 52. In the illustrated embodiment the projection 64 and the recesses 65 are arranged in a region between one of the wheels 59 and the journal element 54 for the brush roller 51, and are arranged in parallelism with the (not specifically illustrated) axis of the wheels. The spaces 66 for the journal supports 52 are somewhat longer in the intended direction of movement of the device than the journal supports 52 themselves, so as to permit a limited pivoting of the journal supports by the axis defined by the

elements

64 and 65 and thereby make it possible for the wheels 56 with the brush roller 51 to accommodate themselves to any unevenness of the surface over which they pass, while guaranteeing at the same time a proper contact with the surface for the wheels 59 as well as the brush roller 51.

In this embodiment the wheels 59 are joumaled in slotlike inclined cutouts 51 of the journal supports 52, but here these cutouts 71 are open in downward direction with reference to the journal supports 52 by means of the slots 72, so that an insertion of the axles for the wheels into the slots 71 can be effected without elastic displacement or distortion of the journal supports 52 as in the preceding embodiment.

In the illustrated embodiment the bottom wall portion 67 of the cavities 68 for the sweepings is respectively connected with the housing 50 by means of an integral hinge 69 extending in parallelism with the brush roller 51. In other words, the hinge 69 is of one piece both with the housing 50 and the wall portion or bottom portion 67, and the term integral hinge is well known in the art. The provision of this integral hinge makes it possible to open the wall portion 67 for purposes of removing sweepings from the cavities 68 without requiring separate hinges.

It must be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only and not to be considered limiting of the invention. Evidently, a variety of modifications and changes is possible without departing in any sense from the scope of the present invention. It is thus possible, for instance, to change the number of brush rollers in dependence upon the intended use of the device. Similarly, the outer configuration of the device as well as the configuration and construction of individual elements may be varied so as to accommodate them to the optimum extent to prevailing circumstances, without departing from the scope of the invention.

it will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a sweeper, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A sweeper comprising, in combination, an elongated housing defining at least two internal cavities for the collection of sweepings and having an open side; an operating unit insertable into and removable from said housing in toto, said unit comprising longitudinally spaced journal supports, spaced sets of wheels respectively mounted in said journal supports, at least one rotatable brush roller joumaled in said journal supports and connecting the same so as to form said unit therewith, and motion-transmitting means linking said brush roller with at least one of said wheels for rotating the former in response to turning of the latter; and cooperating snap action arresting means provided on said unit and housing so that the former is arrestable with a snap action in the latter in response to insertion through said open side.

2. A sweeper as defined in claim 1, said arresting means comprising resiliently yieldable projections provided on said journal supports, and abutments provided on said housing and arrestingly engaging said projections in response to insertion of said unit into said housing.

3. A sweeper as defined in claim 1, said housing having apertures positioned for affording access of a tool to said projections so that the same may be resiliently displaced out of engagement with said abutments when it is desired to remove said unit from said housing.

4. A sweeper as defined in claim 1, said wheels each comprising a hub composed of two axially abutting connected hub sections, and a tire mounted on said hub.

5. A sweeper as defined in claim 4; further comprising mating connecting portions on the respective hub sections interengaging with one another and connecting said two huh sections together.

6. A sweeper as defined in claim 5, wherein one of said hub sections is provided at opposite sides with axially projecting journal pins so as to enable joumaling of the respective hub for rotation and with an annular collar for mounting of said tire and constituting one of said mating connecting portions, and annular shoulders provided on the other of said hub sections constituting additional ones of said connecting portions and wedgingly engageable with said collar and with one of said journal pins. I

7. A sweeper as defined in claim 6, said collar and said shoulders having respective free edges facing in mutually opposite directions when said hub sections are connected; and further comprising inclined surface portions provided on said free edges for facilitating said wedging engagement.

8. A sweeper as defined in claim 1; further comprisingjournal elements mounted in the respective journal supports for joumaling said brush roller for rotation, said journal elements having limited freedom of displacement in direction substan tially normal to a surface which is being swept.

9. A sweeper as defined in claim 8, said journal supports each comprising guide members extending at least substantially normal to a surface being swept, and said journal ele' ments each being retained by the respective guide members and having a slotted configuration.

M). A sweeper as defined in claim 9, said journal supports being substantially frame shaped and having first frame portions facing inwardly and second frame portions facing outwardly of said housing; and wherein said journal elements have arms provided with journals for said brush roller and being connected with said second frame portions of the respective journal supports.

11. A sweeper as defined in claim 8, said journal elements being provided with contact portions; and further comprising an adjusting bracket engaging said contact portions for common adjustment of said journal elements, and an adjustment member cooperating with and displacing said adjusting bracketv 12. A sweeper as defined in claim 8; further comprising depressions provided in said journal supports and in cooperating recesses therefor in said housing, in the regions above said brush roller.

13. A sweeper as defined in claim 1; said housing having an upper side provided with an opening for affording access to said cavities; and further comprising a releasable cover portion for closing said opening.

14. A sweeper as defined in claim 13, said housing having a pair of transversely spaced sidewalls to which said journal supports are connected when said unit is inserted into said housing; and said cover portion in part overlying said sidewalls and comprising locking projections engageable in cutouts provided in said sidewalls.

15. A sweeper as defined in claim 14, said cover portion having margins provided with ribs extending through said opening into said housing, said ribs abutting against the inner side of said housing for preventing shifting of said cover portion in said opening.

Claims

1. A sweeper comprising, in combination, an elongated housing defining at least two internal cavities for the collection of sweepings and having an open side; an operating unit insertable into and removable from said housing in toto, said unit comprising longitudinally spaced journal supports, spaced sets of wheels respectively mounted in said journal supports, at least one rotatable brush roller journaled in said journal supports and connecting the same so as to form said unit therewith, and motion-transmitting means linking said brush roller with at least one of said wheels for rotating the former in response to turning of the latter; and cooperating snap action arresting means provided on said unit and housing so that the former is arrestable with a snap action in the latter in response to insertion through said open side.

5. A sweeper as defined in claim 4; further comprising mating connecting portions on the respective hub sections interengaging with one another and connecting said two hub sections together.

6. A sweeper as defined in claim 5, wherein one of said hub sections is provided at opposite sides with axially projecting journal pins so as to enable journaling of the respective hub for rotation and with an annular collar for mounting of said tire and constituting one of said mating connecting portions, and annular shoulders provided on the other of said hub sections constituting additional ones of said connecting portions and wedgingly engageable with said collar and with one of said journal pins.

8. A sweeper as defined in claim 1; further comprising journal elements mounted in the respective journal supports for journaling said brush roller for rotation, said journal elements having limited freedom of displacement in direction substantially normal to a surface which is being swept.

9. A sweeper as defined in claim 8, said journal supports each comprising guide members extending at least substantially normal to a surface being swept, and said journal elements each being retained by the respective guide members and having a slotted configuration.

10. A sweeper as defined in claim 9, said journal supports being substantially frame-shaped and having first frame portions facing inwardly and second frame portions facing outwardly of said housing; and wherein said journal elements have arms provided with journals for said brush roller and being connected with said second frame portions of the respective journal supports.

11. A sweeper as defined in claim 8, said journal elements being provided with contact portions; and further comprising an adjusting bracket engaging said contact portions for common adjustment of said journal elements, and an adjUstment member cooperating with and displacing said adjusting bracket.

12. A sweeper as defined in claim 8; further comprising depressions provided in said journal supports and in cooperating recesses therefor in said housing, in the regions above said brush roller.