Pick-up head system

Abstract

A pick-up head system for use with a surface cleaning vehicle comprises a housing extending between a first end and a second end, and having a front and a back, and a suctioning bottom opening. A debris outlet is disposed in the housing for permitting dust and debris to egress from the housing into a hopper. A debris passage is disposed within the housing in dust and debris delivery relation with respect to the debris outlet. There is at least one non-rotating main broom operatively mounted in the housing adjacent the debris passage for cleaning contact with a surface to be cleaned, thereby loosening debris for subsequent suctioning into the debris outlet.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A pick-up head system for use with a surface cleaning vehicle, said pick-up head system comprising:
 a housing extending between a first end and a second end, and having a front and a back, and a suctioning bottom opening;   a debris outlet in said housing for permitting dust and debris to egress from said housing into a hopper;   a debris passage disposed within said housing in dust and debris delivery relation with respect to said debris outlet; and,   at least one non-rotating main broom operatively mounted in said housing adjacent said debris passage for cleaning contact with a surface to be cleaned, thereby loosening debris for subsequent suctioning into said debris outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom has an overall front-to-back thickness and a bottom contact surface with a front-to-back thickness, and wherein said overall front-to-back thickness of said at least one non-rotating main broom is substantially the same as said front-to-back thickness of said bottom contact surface. 
     
     
         3 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said housing has a front wall, and further comprising a debris receiving main inlet in said front wall of said housing in debris receiving relation with respect to a surface to be cleaned, for receiving debris to said housing, and a door apparatus operatively mounted at said debris receiving main inlet. 
     
     
         4 . The pick-up head system of  claim 3 , wherein said door apparatus comprises a substantially sealed door apparatus. 
     
     
         5 . The pick-up head system of  claim 4 , wherein said substantially sealed door apparatus comprises a rotatable door assembly defining a substantially horizontally oriented central pivot axis and an outer periphery, and a seal operatively disposed in sealing relation between said rotatable door assembly and said housing. 
     
     
         6 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , further comprising a partition disposed between said debris passage and said at least one non-rotating main broom. 
     
     
         7 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom is disposed forwardly of said debris passage. 
     
     
         8 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom is disposed rearwardly of said debris passage. 
     
     
         9 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom comprises a stationary main broom. 
     
     
         10 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom comprises a movable main broom. 
     
     
         11 . The pick-up head system of  claim 8 , wherein said movable main broom comprises a vibrating main broom and a selectively operable motor means for operating said vibrating main broom. 
     
     
         12 . The pick-up head system of  claim 8 , wherein said movable main broom comprises an oscillating main broom and a selectively operable motor means for operating said oscillating main broom. 
     
     
         13 . The pick-up head system of  claim 10 , wherein said oscillating main broom oscillates longitudinally along the length of said oscillating main broom. 
     
     
         14 . The pick-up head system of  claim 10 , wherein said oscillating main broom oscillates substantially transversely with respect to the length of said oscillating main broom. 
     
     
         15 . The pick-up head system of  claim 14 , wherein said movable main broom comprises a segmented main broom comprising a plurality of broom segments, and a selectively operable motor means for operating said segmented main broom. 
     
     
         16 . The pick-up head system of  claim 13 , wherein said plurality of broom segments are each mounted to a chain drive mechanism comprising a drive chain operatively engaged on a plurality of sprockets, and wherein said selectively operable motor means drives at least one of said sprockets. 
     
     
         17 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom extends substantially along the length of said debris passage. 
     
     
         18 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said debris outlet is disposed in between said first end and said second end of said housing, and wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom comprises a first non-rotating main broom disposed between said first end of said housing and said debris outlet, and further comprising a second non-rotating main broom disposed between said second end of said housing and said dust and said debris outlet. 
     
     
         19 . The pick-up head system of  claim 16 , wherein said first non-rotating main broom and said second non-rotating main broom together extend substantially along the length of said debris passage. 
     
     
         20 . The pick-up head system of  claim 17 , further comprising a left partition and a right partition disposed between said debris passage and said first non-rotating main broom and said second non-rotating main broom, respectively. 
     
     
         21 . The pick-up head system of  claim 18 , wherein said debris passage is disposed between said first non-rotating main broom and said second non-rotating main broom. 
     
     
         22 . The pick-up head system of  claim 19 , further comprising substantially rigid skirt disposed at said bottom peripheral edge of said housing for interfacing said housing in substantially sealed relation with the surface to be cleaned as the surface cleaning vehicle moves along said surface to be cleaned. 
     
     
         23 . The pick-up head system of  claim 20 , further comprising an air supply passage within said housing having an air inlet adjacent said debris outlet and an air outlet adjacent said first end of said housing, wherein said air inlet is connectable to a source of high speed air flow, wherein said air supply passage provides a flow of high speed air to said debris passage at the first end of said housing for cleaning the surface to be cleaned substantially evenly from the first end of said housing to said debris outlet. 
     
     
         24 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , further comprising an airflow obstructing means depending from the front of said housing for generally obstructing the passage of air between the bottom edge of said main housing and the surface to be cleaned. 
     
     
         25 . The pick-up head system of  claim 24 , wherein said airflow obstructing means is stiff. 
     
     
         26 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom is less than about eight centimeters in width. 
     
     
         27 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom is about four centimeters in width. 
     
     
         28 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one non-rotating main broom has a ratio of length to fore-aft width of greater than 20:1. 
     
     
         29 . The pick-up head system of  claim 1 , further comprising a debris suctioning inlet in said housing disposed adjacent said first end of said housing for suctioning dust and debris into said debris passage, and wherein said debris passage extends from said debris suctioning inlet to said debris outlet. 
     
     
         30 . The pick-up head system of  claim 29 , wherein said debris suctioning inlet is disposed at said first end of said housing.