Abstract: A towable sweeping apparatus includes a housing supported by a plurality of surface-engaging wheels and an impeller mounted to the housing and adjustable relative to the surface. The impeller includes a plurality of blades rotatable about an axis. A space permitting air flow is present between a portion closest to the axis of at least one of the plurality of blades and the axis. The towable sweeping apparatus also includes a drive motor inter-operably connected to the impeller and a bin arranged to receive debris collected by the impeller. The bin includes an angulated surface adapted to facilitate removal of debris from the towable sweeping apparatus.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for cleaning generally hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas uses a turbine blower attached to at least one duct for blowing debris located in the hard-to-reach or inaccessible area into an accessible area. The apparatus is most typically mounted on a street-cleaning machine that collects debris as the machine is driven over the debris. The duct can be directionally adjusted from a driver's position of the street-cleaning machine. Air flow volume per unit time can be adjusted from the driver's position. The debris is moved using the apparatus from the inaccessible or hard-to-reach area into an area that permits the street-cleaning machine to be driven over the debris to collect the debris.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for cleaning generally hard-to-reach or inaccessible areas uses a turbine blower attached to at least one duct for blowing debris located in the hard-to-reach or inaccessible area into an accessible area. The apparatus is most typically mounted on a street-cleaning machine that collects debris as the machine is driven over the debris. The duct can be directionally adjusted from a driver's position of the street-cleaning machine. Air flow volume per unit time can be adjusted from the driver's position. The debris is moved using the apparatus from the inaccessible or hard-to-reach area into an area that permits the street-cleaning machine to be driven over the debris to collect the debris.

Abstract: A layer based paint system permits painting of an image raster of a composite image while viewing subsequent processing on the image raster. The composite image is mapped to an image processing tree. Each of the elements in the image processing tree are defined by an associated data structure that identifies their parent and children elements in the tree. Each of the elements may be, for example, an image element or a process element. Associated with each image element is an image raster and a transform. Viewing and painting of an image element may be done at any level in the image processing tree. Painting of the element directly modifies the pixels in the image raster. The pixel coordinates of brush strokes in the viewed image are transformed into pixel coordinates of the image raster material by applying the inverse transform of the viewed layer, the image element layer and all of the intermediate layers to the pixel coordinates of the brush strokes.

Abstract: A sweeping apparatus is provided with means for coupling to a motorized vehicle for towing therebehind and brushing dirt, debris, and the like off a surface over which the vehicle may pass. The sweeper comprises a housing having a transversely extending sweeping brush rotatably mounted in a generally horizontal surface engaging configuration adjacent a bin structure for collection of the sweepings. The brush is directly driven by the surface engaging wheels through a frictional engagement between one or both of the wheels and expandable drive capstans coaxially affixed to the brush. A tow frame is pivotally mounted to the housing at the forward end, which frame is adapted for releasable coupling to the towing vehicle. Means are provided for controlling the pivotal angularity between the tow frame and the housing which provides selectivity in adjusting the degree of interengagement or nonengagement between the brush and the swept surface.