This invention relates to an improved drag shoe for use on street sweepers. Such sweepers generally comprise a tractor-like vehicle beneath which is mounted a horizontally axised, rotary sweeper brush. As the brush rotates while the vehicle is driven along a street, debris is swept from the ground into a hopper on the vehicle, from which the debris is periodically unloaded. Conventionally, such sweepers also include vertically axised rotary gutter brooms or brushes to sweep debris, located adjacent the curb of a street, into the path of the horizontally axised brush.
As the horizontally axised brush rotates, debris near the outer edges of the brush tend to move sidewise of the vehicle rather than be swept up into the hopper. To prevent this generally sidewise drift of debris from the brush edges, it is conventional to mount a drag shoe at each of the opposite ends of the brush. These shoes function as walls or barriers, to contain and to guide the debris against sidewise movement relative to the brush.
Conventional drag shoes include a ground-engaging edge portion which is shaped like an elongated ski and moves longitudinally or endwise along the ground. An upwardly extending plate secured to the shoe and to the vehicle, cooperates with the shoe to form a barrier for debris.
One conventional form of drag shoe is made of an elongated strip of rubber-like material which is approximately rectangular in cross-section and has one of its narrow edges forming a bottom, ground-engaging surface. The upper edge portion is secured within a channel which, in turn, in secured to the support plate which connects the drag shoe to the vehicle.
Naturally, the lower ground-engaging edge of a drag shoe tends to wear away rapidly due to the friction between the ground-engaging surface and the ground. Thus, various attempts have been made to reduce the wear, but nevertheless, such shoes have relatively short lives. This is particularly true where the shoes are made of the resilient, softer rubber-like materials.
The invention herein is concerned with an improvement to sweeper drag shoes which materially increases the life of each shoe with a relatively nominal increase in cost.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds