Pivotable rotary brush drive assembly
nited States Patent Larkin Apr. 29, 1975 [54] PIVOTABLE ROTARY fiRUSl&#39;l DRIVE 2.248.012 7/1941 Phillips .v l5/82 ASSEMBLY 3,249,958 5/l966 Haracz [5/77 3310.825 3/1967 Tamny 1. 15/82 nt Robert F. a ln, utl r. N- 3.764383 10/1973 McBurnett lS/DIG. 2  
 [73] Assignee: Ecolotec lnc., Kenilworth, N.J  
  Primary Examiner-Edward L. Roberts [22] Flled: 71 1974 Attorney, Agent, or FirmLittlepage, Quaintance, 211 Appl. No.: 440,365 Murphy &amp; Dobyns [52] U.S. Cl 15/21 D; 15/82; 29/115 [57} ABSTRAPT 51 Int. Cl A46b 13/02 A rotatably driven brush core 18 Slidably mounted on a 53 Field f Search I5/DIGI 2, 21 D, 21 E, core-supporting shaft, the shaft pivotally connected to 15 23 2 9 C, 50 C, 53, 55, 77, 79, 82, 83, a drive shaft and core engaging drive flange fixed to 4 3g 9 02 340; 29 1 5 the drive shaft. An idle shaft removably connected to the core-supporting shaft positions the core on the 5 References Cited supporting shaft and prevents relative rotation be- UNITED STATES PATENTS tween the core and the core-supporting shaft.  
 1.320.983 11/1919 Brenckle 15/21 D x 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 48 w 14 34 3O 24 44 Y I j PIVOTABLE ROTARY BRUSI-IDRIVE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF TI-lE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to rotatable cylindrical brush mountings and drive means therefor and particularly relates to powered mobile sweeping equipment having cylindrical brush mountings adapted for simple replacement of worn brush elements.  
 2. Description of the Prior Art Brushes have often been mounted upon shafts journaled at each end of the brush in appropriate bearings. such as split bearings. and driven by power means appropriately connected to the shaft by driving connections such as gears. belts. sprocket chains or the like. As the brushes became worn. they could only be removed from their mountings by completely disassembling the bearings. Considerable time is required for the disassembly. replacement and reassembly of the brush mounting and usually the services ofa skilled mechanic. if optimum service is to be obtained from a given brush.  
  Brushes have more recently been mounted on tubular or annular cores which are supported either by end caps pressed against the ends of the core or by support arrangements fitted within the core. In either case. a drive shaft coaxial with the core and generally extend ing beyond the ends of the core to rotatable end structures is necessary to support the brush and correlate the rotation of the supporting end structures. The replacement of brushes on such an assembly no longer requires the disassembly of bearings. but often requires careful alignment upon reassembly.  
  Typical replacement procedure requires removing at least one end structure and sliding the brush, with or with a brush core. along the central shaft and off the end of the shaft. This procedure is often quite awkward as the brush remains either in contact with or close proximity to the work surface upon which the brush functions or other impeding structure such as guards and deflection shields.  
  Examples of prior art are to be found in US. Pat. Nos. 2.860.354: 3.102.018. 3.310.825 and 3.142.079.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the present invention an idle shaft is removably connected to one end ofa coaxial core-supporting shaft and to a brush core supported thereon. When connected to the core-supporting shaft. the idle shaft properly positions the brush core on the core-supporting shaft and prevents undesired relative rotation therebetween.  
  The other end of the core-supporting shaft is pivotally connected to a drive shaft. When the idle shaft is disconnected, the core-supporting shaft is permitted to pivot away from any impeding structure such as guards. shields and work surfaces. thereby facilitating brush replacement.  
  A drive flange. fixed to the drive shaft. engages a brush core to provide the brush with the necessary rotational motion. The brush core is in turn connected to the idle shaft. thus minimizing or eliminating the necessity that rotational power be transmitted by the pivotal connection and substantially reducing the wear and likelihood of failure of the pivotal connection.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a pivotal rotary brush drive according to this invention with the end plate removed and the brush partially removed.  
  FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the brush drive of FIG. I as seen from the left side with the end plate and brush removed.  
  FIG. 3 is a sectional illustration of the pivotal rotary brush drive of FIG. 2 cut along section line 33, including the brush and end plate.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A brush drive according to this invention, shown in FIG. 1 generally as 10, consists of a core supporting shaft 12 for supporting a brush 15, a stub or idle shaft 18 shown removed from the core supporting shaft 12, and a drive shaft 20 pivotally connected to the shaft 12 by pivotal means 22. The drive shaft 20 is rotatably supported within a bearing housing 24 and is rotatably driven by a motor means 28.  
  A drive flange 32 is fixed to rotate with the drive shaft 20. When the brush 15 is properly in position. as in FIG. 3, drive pins 34 extend from the drive flange 32 into a fixed end flange 36 of brush 15 for rotatably driving the brush and in this manner reducing or eliminating the necessity of transmitting torque from the drive shaft 20 to the core supporting shaft 12 across the pivotal means 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the drive flange 32 should preferably have at least three drive pins 34 for engaging the brush end flange to prevent vibration and wear of the core supporting shaft. drive shaft and pivotal means as well as reduce the force load exerted on the drive pins. Where no torque is to be transmitted. the pivotal means 22 can be a ball joint, as shown in FIG. 3. If some torque needs to be transmitted or other design considerations demanded. the pivotal means 22 could be a universal joint or other equivalent means.  
  The stub shaft 18 is rotatably supported in a removable end plate 38 by a bearing block assembly 40 containing a bearing secured to the shaft 18 by lock collar 44. As shown in FIG. 3, when the end plate 38 is properly positioned, a key 46 secured in the idle shaft 18 by key retaining screw 50 engages the core supporting shaft 12 and brush core end flange 48 to position the brush core on the core supporting shaft and transfer torque from the brush core to the stub shaft 18.  
  The removable end plate 38 is removably secured to the broom housing or guard 52 to permit easy removal and replacement of the brush 15. To remove or replace the brush elements. the end plate 38 is detached from the broom housing 52, thereby permitting the core supporting shaft 12 to pivot about pivot means 22 and permitting the idle shaft to be withdrawn from the core supporting shaft as shown in FIG. 1. With the end plate 38 and idle shaft 18 removed, the brush 15 can be easily slidably removed from the core supporting shaft 12. No special tools or skills are needed to remove or replace the brush. As shown in FIG. 3, the brush 15 can consist of a brush core 14 having a fixed end flange 36 adapted to receive motive power from the drive flange 32 and a removable end flange 48 which is fixed to rotate with the brush core 14 and adapted to engage key 46 in stub shaft 18. The brush further consists of brush elements 16 which may be in any convenient design. including cylindrical rings. spiral strip or longitudinal strip elements In some instances the brush element may also be removed or replaced by detaching the end plate 38 from the broom housing 52 and removing the end plate 38 together with the idle shaft 18. The removable end flange 48 can then be removed from the brush core 14 and the brush elements 16 removed from the brush core 14 while it remains substantially in place on the core supporting shaft 12. Again, no special tools or skills are needed to remove or replace the brush elements.  
  As shown in FIG. 3, the stub shaft or idle shaft 18, when properly in position is coaxial with and removably connected to the core supporting shaft 12. The stub shaft 18 is rotatably supported in the bearing block assembly 40 by bearings 42 secured to the shaft 18 by lock collar 44.  
  The drive shaft 20 is likewise rotatably supported within bearings 26 housed within a bearing housing 24 and is rotatably driven by a motor means 28 keyed to the shaft 20 by a woodruff key 30, or other equivalent means.  
  The support for the drive shaft housing 24, the idle shaft housing 40 and other associated elements when assembled is the guard 52. The guard 52 can in turn be attached by support means 54 to the apparatus with which this brush assembly and brush is to be used. such as a powered, mobile or non-mobile. sweeping apparatus.  
 What is claimed is:  
  l. A rotatable brush mounting adapted to receive a brush core comprising a drive shaft for transmitting to the brush core power for driving the brush core in rota tion, a core-supporting shaft pivotally connected to the drive shaft for supporting the brush core, an idle shaft removably connected to the core-supporting shaft for positioning the brush core on the core-supporting shaft, and pivotal means interconnecting the drive shaft and the core-supporting shaft for permitting the coresupporting shaft to pivot relative to the drive shaft when the idle shaft is removed.  
  2. The rotatable brush mounting of claim 1 wherein the idle shaft further comprises means interconnecting the brush core and the core supporting shaft for preventing relative rotation motion therebetween.  
  3. The rotatable brush mounting of claim 1 further comprising a drive flange fixed to the drive shaft and engaging the brush core for rotatably driving the brush core.