JPH0345563Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a sweeper that can be suitably used to suck up collected materials such as grass that have fallen to the ground after weeding work or the like.

[Prior Art] This type of sweeper consists of a running trolley, a rotating brush that is arranged at the bottom of the running trolley and can be raised and lowered according to the undulations of the ground, and a brush that hangs in front of the rotating brush and attached to the running trolley. A device is known that includes a fixed skirt, a suction mechanism mounted on the traveling carriage with a suction port facing between the skirt and the rotating brush, and a hopper. Then, the solid collected material such as grass that is rolled up forward by the rotating brush is sucked into the hopper along with the conveying air by the fan of the suction mechanism, the collected material is dropped into the hopper and stored, and the conveyed air is drawn into the hopper. The air is discharged to the outside through an exhaust port provided at the top.

Further, the hopper usually has a lid hinged to a main body that opens to the rear, a lock bar is provided on the main body, and a pin is provided protruding from the lid. When collecting grass, etc., the lid is locked, and when the collected items inside the hopper are to be taken out, the lock is released and the hopper is raised by a link member etc. pivoted to the traveling cart. , the lid section is opened from the lower end side to discard the collected materials.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, among the collected objects introduced into the hopper by the suction mechanism, there are objects that can easily fall, and objects that are difficult to fall, such as sand and dust. Therefore, according to the sweeper configured as described above, relatively light collected materials do not fall to the bottom of the hopper, but are carried to the exhaust port together with the conveying air, clogging the exhaust port, or leaking from the exhaust port to the outside. be discharged. Then, there are problems such as dust being stirred up in the surrounding area and dust falling on people working in the surrounding area. In order to eliminate such problems, for example,
Publication No. 37377, Publication No. 135652 of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 50-135652, or
As shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 49-48065, a filter made of wire mesh or the like is placed over the exhaust port located at the top of the hopper to prevent collected materials from being discharged from the exhaust port. There is something I did.

However, in devices in which a filter is provided at the exhaust port and only air that has passed through the filter is exhausted, the filter is likely to become clogged. Therefore, in order to maintain the desired performance, it is necessary to frequently clean the filter.

Furthermore, in the conventional device, when locking or unlocking the lid, the lock bar must be moved manually, which tends to make the work cumbersome.

The object of the present invention is to provide a sweeper that can solve all of the above-mentioned problems.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, the sweeper according to claim 1 has the following features:
A running trolley, a rotating brush that is placed at the bottom of the running trolley and winds up collected materials such as grass that have fallen on the ground, and a suction port facing the front of the rotating brush that is mounted on the running trolley and winds it up. a suction mechanism that sucks up the collected material and discharges it from the discharge port;
The sweeper is equipped with a hopper that is connected to the discharge port and separates the collected material discharged from the discharge port from the conveying air and stores it on the bottom side, and the sweeper has an upper part of the hopper that directs the conveying air to the outside. An exhaust port for discharging solids is provided, and a collision plate is provided in the hopper at an intermediate position between the exhaust port and the discharge port of the suction mechanism to cause the solids introduced into the hopper from the discharge port to fall to the bottom. It is characterized by

The collision plate is a plate-shaped member that is fixed in the hopper with its front end located near the discharge port and its rear end located near the exhaust port,
The part from the front end to the rear end is bent toward the bottom side.

The sweeper according to claim 2 further includes a traveling carriage, a rotating brush disposed at the bottom of the traveling carriage for winding up collected materials such as grass that has fallen on the ground, and a suction port in front of the rotating brush. A suction mechanism is mounted on a traveling trolley facing the vehicle and sucks up the collected material that has been rolled up and discharges it from a discharge port. The hopper is provided with a hopper for storage on the side, and the hopper is made up of a main body that opens rearward, and a lid that is hinged to the opening of the main body and whose lower end side opens rearward. In the sweeper, the rear ends of a pair of pivotally connected vertically parallel link members are connected to the main body, and the hopper can be raised by rotating the link members upward. A lock bar having an engaging recess is provided on the lower surface from the rear end of the link member, and a pin is provided on the lower end side of the lid of the hopper, and when the hopper is lowered, the lock bar is attached to the pin. It is characterized by being set so that the engaging recesses can be engaged with each other.

[Function] If a collision plate is provided at an intermediate position between the exhaust port and the discharge port of the suction mechanism, the flow velocity of the collected material introduced into the hopper along with the conveying air is reduced by the collision plate, and the material is removed from the hopper. It becomes easy to fall into the interior, and it becomes difficult to be directly discharged to the outside along with the exhaust flow.

In other words, the conveying air introduced into the hopper from the discharge port changes direction when it collides with the collision plate and is guided to the exhaust port with a reduced speed, but if the collision plate is bent toward the bottom, Collected material introduced into the hopper along with the conveying air has a particularly high possibility of being separated from the conveying air and falling to the bottom side after impacting the impact plate.

Furthermore, if a lock bar is provided protruding from the rear end of the link member, an engaging recess is provided on the lower surface of the lock bar, and a pin that engages with the engaging recess is provided protruding from the lid of the hopper. When the link member is rotated upward when the hopper is raised, the lock bar is simultaneously raised and the engagement state with the pin, that is, the locked state of the lid portion is automatically released. On the other hand, when the hopper is lowered to the collection work position, as the link member is lowered,
The engagement recess provided on the lower surface of the lock bar engages with the pin, and the lid is automatically locked.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The sweeper schematically shown in the drawing is used for the work of sucking up cut grass, etc.
A rotating brush 2 disposed at the bottom of the traveling truck 1, a suction mechanism 4 mounted on the traveling truck 1 with a suction port 3 facing in front of the rotating brush 2, and a suction mechanism 4 provided in the suction port 3. It includes a skirt 5 and a hopper 7 connected to the discharge port 6 of the suction mechanism 4.

The traveling trolley 1 is used by being towed by a towing vehicle, and has guide wheels 1a and rear wheels 1 at the front and rear.
b.

The rotating brush 2 has approximately the same width as the traveling carriage 1, is disposed between the guide wheel 1a and the rear wheel 1b, and has both ends supported by the traveling carriage 1 via swing arms 8. It rotates in the opposite direction to the traveling trolley 1, and also moves up and down according to the undulations of the ground 10 by a brush lifting mechanism 9, and rolls up collected materials such as grass that have fallen on the ground 10 forward. As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the brush lifting mechanism 9 includes a plate 11 connected to the swing arm 8, an L-shaped link plate 12 connected to the plate 11, and a guide hole 12a of the link plate 12. The rotary brush 2 includes a first hydraulic cylinder 13 that is engaged with the rotary brush 2, and a detection roller 14 that is disposed near the front of the rotating brush 2.
Then, the detection roller 14
When the rotary brush 2 moves up and down, the rod 13a of the first hydraulic cylinder 13 moves forward and backward in response to the detection signal, and the link plate 12 rotates about the fulcrum O to move the rotary brush 2 up and down.

The suction mechanism 4 includes a suction pipe 15 having a suction port 15a opened at its lower end, and a discharge pipe 16 having the discharge port 6 opened at its upper end, which are connected to a casing 17, and a fan (not shown) is installed in the casing 17. ) is built-in. A cleaning window 18 is provided near the bottom of the casing 17.
A lid body 19 is attached to the window 18 so as to be openable and closable. The lid 19 is a transparent plate-like member, and is supported by the casing 17 via a hinge (not shown).

The skirt 5 is made of rubber and is formed continuously from the side to the front of the suction port 15a, and is supported at the lower end of the suction pipe 15 via a hinge 20. A skirt elevating mechanism 21 allows the skirt to rise and fall in accordance with the elevating and lowering of the rotating brush 2. The skirt elevating mechanism 21 includes a coil spring 22 mounted diagonally between the side surface 5a of the skirt 5 and the suction pipe 15, and both ends of which are fixed above the front surface 5b of the skirt 5 and the fulcrum O of the link plate 12, respectively. The rod 13a is provided with a wire 23 attached to the rod 13a, and utilizes the action of the rod 13a. Then, when the link plate 12 rotates around the fulcrum O with the operation of the first hydraulic cylinder 13, the roller 2 which is brought into rolling contact with the wire 23 midway
4 allows the lower end side of the wire 23 to move up and down.

The hopper 7 consists of a main body 25 that opens rearward, and a lid 26 that is attached to the opening 25a of the main body 25, and the whole includes link members 27 and 28 that form a pair.
It is designed so that it can be raised and lowered. Link members 27 and 28 are provided on both sides of the traveling carriage 1, and are arranged vertically in parallel. The base ends 27a, 28a of each link member 27, 28 are pivotally connected to the traveling truck 1, and the rear ends 27b, 28b are connected to the lower part of the main body 25 of the hopper 7. Between the lower link member 28 and the traveling trolley 1, there are rear ends 27b, 2 of the link members 27, 28.
Second hydraulic cylinder 2 that rotates the 8b side upward
9 is provided.

The upper end of the lid part 26 is hinged to the upper end of the main body 25. And the second hydraulic cylinder 29
When the hopper 7 is raised by the
The lower end side of the is designed to open towards the rear. Also,
A plurality of exhaust ports 30 are provided at the top of the lid portion 26 for discharging the conveying air generated by the fan of the suction mechanism 4 to the outside of the hopper 7. A collision plate 31 is provided in the hopper 7 at an intermediate position between the discharge port 30 and the discharge port 6.
The collision plate 31 is for colliding the solid introduced into the hopper 7 together with the conveying air by the suction mechanism 4 and causing it to fall to the bottom of the hopper 7, and is formed in a wide U-shape in cross section. The front end is located near the discharge port 6, and the rear end is located near the exhaust port 3.
It is positioned near 0 and fixed inside the main body 25, and its middle part is slightly bent towards the bottom side.

On the other hand, the exhaust port 3 is provided on the rear surface 26a of the lid portion 26.
A cover 32 that covers the cover 32 is fixed to the cover 32, and the open end 32a of the cover 32 is located near the bottom of the lid 26, and a downward exhaust passage 33 is formed between the cover 32 and the lid 26.
has been formed.

Also, the rear end 28 of the lower link member 28
A lock bar 34 is provided protruding from b. This lock bar 34 is attached to the opening 25 of the main body 25 of the hopper 7.
It is made to protrude rearward than point a, and a semicircular arc-shaped engagement recess 35 is formed on its lower surface. On the other hand, a pin 36 is provided on the side surface of the lower end of the lid portion 26 so as to project laterally. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, when the hopper 7 is in its lowest position, the pin 36
The engaging recess 35 of the lock bar 34 is adapted to engage from above.

According to the above configuration, among the collected materials introduced into the hopper 7 from the discharge port 6 along with the conveying air, relatively heavy solids fall to the bottom of the hopper 7 and are stored therein. . Then, relatively light solids such as sand and dust collide with the collision plate 31 etc. arranged in the discharge direction of the conveying air and stall.
Alternatively, since the flow rate is reduced, it becomes easy to be separated from the conveying air and fall to the bottom of the hopper 7. Therefore, the exhaust port 30 is less likely to be clogged with easily floating light solids, and the amount of dust and the like discharged from the exhaust port 30 together with the conveying air can be reliably reduced.

Further, the conveying air discharged from the exhaust port 30 is discharged toward the ground 10 side from the open end 32a of the cover 32 through the exhaust passage 33 by the cover 32 covering the exhaust port 30. Therefore, if dust or the like is mixed in the conveying air, the dust or the like will easily fall to the ground 10 and will be less likely to be scattered around the sweeper, making it difficult for those working in the vicinity to do the work. becomes easier to do.

On the other hand, the rotating brush 2
When the brush rises and falls according to the undulations of the ground 10, the skirt elevating mechanism 21 also operates in accordance with the elevating and lowering movement of the rotating brush 2. That is, when the ground 10 becomes convex and the rod 13a of the first hydraulic cylinder 13 retracts (see the arrow in FIG. 2) in response to a signal from the detection roller 14, the link plate 1
The upper part of 2 rotates forward to loosen the wire 23. When the wire 23 becomes loose, the coil spring 2
2, the skirt 5 rotates rearward about the hinge 20 and rises. When the ground 10 becomes concave and the rod 13a of the first hydraulic cylinder 13 extends in response to a signal from the detection roller 14, the upper part of the link plate 12 rotates backward and the wire 2
3 is pulled. Then, when the wire 23 is pulled, the skirt 5 rotates forward about the hinge 20 against the tensile force of the coil spring 22, and the dimension between the lower end of the skirt 5 and the ground 10 is adjusted.
As a result, the dimension between the suction port 3 and the ground 10 is maintained at approximately a predetermined dimension regardless of the ups and downs of the ground 10.
Collected materials on the ground 10 can be efficiently sucked up.

In addition, by providing a window 18 in the casing 17 housing the fan of the suction mechanism 4 and attaching a lid 19 to the window 18 so as to be openable and closable, the inside of the casing 17 can be easily opened. That is, the interior of the casing 17 can be easily cleaned, such as removing residual solids inside the casing 17, if necessary, and maintenance and inspection can be performed easily, so that durability can be improved. In this embodiment, since the lid 19 is transparent, the window 18
It is possible to easily check whether solid foreign matter remains inside the casing 17 without opening the casing 17.

Further, according to this sweeper, when the rear end 28b side of the link member 28 is rotated upward by the second hydraulic cylinder 29 when the hopper 7 is raised, the rear end 28b of the link member 28 protrudes. The provided lock bar 34 rises at the same time and is automatically released from engagement with the pin 36 protruding from the lid portion 26. (See Figure 3). Then, when the hopper 7 rises to a predetermined position, the lid part 26
is opened from the lower end side, and the collected material stored in the hopper 7 is released. When the link members 27 and 28 are lowered to lower the hopper 7, the opening 25a of the main body 25 is closed by the lid 26, and as the link member 28 is lowered, the lock bar 34 is lowered. As shown in FIG. 1, when the hopper 7 descends to the collection work position, the engagement recess 35 provided on the lower surface of the lock bar 34 automatically engages the pin 36 from above, and the lid 26 automatically engages with the pin 36 from above. is locked. Therefore, it is no longer necessary to manually unlock the lid 26 when disposing of the collected material, and there is no need to manually lock the lid 26 when sucking up the collected material, improving work efficiency. is enhanced.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[Effects of the invention] Since the present invention is configured as described above, it produces the following effects.

First, by providing a collision plate at an intermediate position between the discharge port and the exhaust port in the hopper, the solid introduced into the hopper can be caused to collide with the collision plate and fall effectively into the hopper. The exhaust port is less likely to be clogged, and the amount of solids discharged from the exhaust port to the outside of the hopper can be reliably reduced.

That is, according to the present invention, among the collected materials introduced into the hopper by the conveying air, relatively large solids collide with the collision plate and bounce back and are dropped to the bottom side of the hopper. Light objects are separated from the conveying air and dropped to the bottom when the conveying air collides with the collision plate and stalls. Such an effect becomes particularly noticeable when the collision plate is bent toward the bottom in the middle. Therefore, solids introduced into the hopper together with the conveying air can be effectively prevented from clogging the exhaust port or being discharged from the exhaust port together with the conveying air. Furthermore, since such a collision plate does not cause clogging unlike a filter, it is possible to maintain the desired performance over a long period of time without requiring any work such as cleaning the filter.

In addition, a lock bar with an engaging recess on the lower surface is protruded from the rear end of the link member that raises and lowers the hopper.
By providing a protruding pin on the lid that engages with the engagement recess, the lid can be automatically locked and unlocked when the hopper is raised and lowered, so when discarding the collected items in the hopper or removing the collected items. Work efficiency when performing suction work is improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a partially sectional side view schematically showing the entire sweeper, FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing the brush lifting mechanism and the skirt lifting mechanism, and FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing the brush lifting mechanism and the skirt lifting mechanism. FIG. 2 is a schematic side view for explaining the raising and lowering of the hopper. 1... Traveling trolley, 2... Rotating brush, 3... Suction port, 4... Suction mechanism, 5... Skirt, 6...
Discharge port, 7... hopper, 9... brush lifting mechanism,
10...Ground, 15...Suction pipe, 15a...Suction port, 16...Discharge pipe, 1...Casing, 18...
...Window, 19...Lid, 21...Skirt lifting mechanism, 25...Main body, 25a...Opening, 26...
Lid part, 27, 28... Link member, 28b...
Rear end, 30...exhaust port, 31...collision plate, 32...
...cover, 32a...opening end, 34...lock bar, 35...engaging recess, 36...pin.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. A traveling trolley, a rotating brush disposed at the bottom of the traveling trolley for winding up collected materials such as grass on the ground, and a suction port provided in front of the rotating brush. A suction mechanism is mounted on a traveling trolley and sucks up the collected material and discharges it from a discharge port, and a suction mechanism is connected to the discharge port and separates the collected material discharged from the discharge port from the conveying air. The sweeper is equipped with a hopper for storing air in the hopper, and an exhaust port is provided in the upper part of the hopper for discharging conveyed air to the outside, and an exhaust port is provided in the hopper between the exhaust port and the discharge port of the suction mechanism. A collision plate is provided at a position for causing solids introduced into the hopper from the discharge port to fall to the bottom, and the front end of the collision plate is located near the discharge port, and the rear end is located near the exhaust port. A sweeper that is located near the mouth and fixed inside the hopper, and is characterized by being bent toward the bottom part from the front end to the rear end. 2. A traveling trolley, a rotating brush disposed at the bottom of the traveling trolley for winding up collected materials such as grass that has fallen on the ground, and a rotating brush mounted on the traveling trolley with a suction port facing in front of the rotating brush. It is equipped with a suction mechanism that sucks up the collected material that has been rolled up and discharges it from the discharge port, and a hopper that is connected to the discharge port and separates the collected material that is discharged from the discharge port from the conveying air and stores it on the bottom side. The hopper is made up of a main body that opens rearward, a lid hinged to the opening of the main body and whose lower end side opens rearward, and a vertically parallel pair pivotally connected to the traveling carriage. In the sweeper, the rear end of a link member is connected to the main body and the hopper can be raised by rotating the link member upward. A lock bar having a mating recess is provided and a pin is provided protruding from the lower end side of the lid of the hopper, and the engaging recess of the lock bar can be engaged with the pin when the hopper is lowered. A sweeper characterized by being set as follows.