A carpet sweeper is a mechanical device for the cleaning of

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester ...

s. They were popular before the introduction of the

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

and have been largely superseded by them. However, they continue to be used in many home and commercial applications because they are lightweight and quiet, enabling users to quickly clean small messes up from the floor without disturbing patrons, patients, babies and pets, and because they do not require electricity to operate.

Operation

A carpet sweeper typically consists of a small box. The base of the box has wheels and brushes, connected by a belt or gears or rollers. There is also a container for dirt. The arrangement is such that, when pushed along a floor, the rollers/wheels turn and force the brushes to rotate. The brushes sweep dirt and dust from the floor into the container. Carpet sweepers frequently have a height adjustment that enables them to work on different lengths of carpet, or bare floors. The sweeper usually has a long handle so that it can be pushed without bending over.

Design

The design was patented by Melville R. Bissell of

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the second most-populated city in the state after Detroit. Grand Rapids is th ...

, United States, in 1876. Bissell began selling carpet sweepers in 1883. They became popular in the UK after the first Ewbank model went on sale in 1889.Gantz, Carroll (2012) ''The Vacuum Cleaner: A History'', McFarland and Co Inc, , p. 33 New powered versions were designed at the beginning of the 21st century with rechargeable batteries and an

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate f ...

to spin the rollers and brushes.

Modern usage

Carpet sweepers are still available commercially. Their legacy lives on in floor cleaning robots that have limited

suction power Airwatt or air watt is a measurement unit of the effectiveness of vacuum cleaners which refers to airflow and the amount of power (watts) a vacuum cleaner produces and uses. It can also be referred to as a measurement of the energy per unit time of ...

and rely on sweeping to collect larger bits of debris from the floor. While some research models of robotic vacuums only rely on vacuum motors, models on the market such as

Roomba Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners made by the company iRobot. Introduced in September 2002, they have a set of sensors that enable them to navigate the floor area of a home. These sensors can detect the presence of ob ...

or bObsweep invariably combine suction and sweeping. Thursday, 11 March 2021

In popular culture

A very early appearance in film occurs in the 1914

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is conside ...

film ''

Laughing Gas Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has ...

'', where Chaplin uses a sweeper to clean the waiting-room floor of a dentist. Another appearance occurs in the 1989 computer adventure game '' The Colonel's Bequest'', where the butler, Jeeves, uses one to clean up the library and the parlor after the murders of Dr. Wilbur C. Feels and Gloria Swansong. In

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself and ...

Season 3, Episode 15, ‘The Suicide’, Newman offers Kramer the use of his carpet sweeper, when Kramer is unable to access and use his vacuum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpet Sweeper Cleaning tools Floors American inventions