Mcgaffey Whirlwind Carpet Sweeper

However it was difficult to operate because of the need to turn a hand crank whilst pushing it across the floor.

Mcgaffey whirlwind carpet sweeper.

Mcgaffey patents the whirlwind sweeping first carpet sweeper. The first patent for an electrically driven carpet sweeper and. The bulky device worked with a belt driven fan cranked by hand that made it awkward to operate although it was commercially marketed with. Thurman made his device available through house calls and his business became a success.

The first manually powered cleaner using vacuum principles was the whirlwind invented in chicago in 1868 by ives w. On june 8 1869 chicago inventor ives mcgaffey patented a sweeping machine while this was the first patent for a device that cleaned rugs it was not a motorized vacuum cleaner. Called a carpet sweeper it gathered dust with a rotating brush and had a bellows for generating suction. Unfortunately this wasn t mass produced.

Grand rapids were invented a carpet sweeper that had brushes connected to wheels and when sweeper moves brushes rotate and clean the floor. The cost was an eyebrow raising 25 price tag which would be 456 today. Mcgaffey called his machine a wood and canvas contraption the whirlwind. This carpet sweeper had round brushes that spun around to pick up the dirt.

The first hand powered cleaner was called the whirlwind above used the vacuum design and was invented in chicago illinois in 1865 by ives w. Mcgaffey invented his whirlwind a cleaner that had a hand operated fan that although awkward to operate sold better than hess carpet sweeper but not much better 1876. The whirlwind was difficult to use because the operator had to manually turn a crank while pushing it across the floor. Based on us patent records hiram h.

Of boston mcgaffey sold models in chicago and boston. Mcgaffey it was lightweight and compact. Another early model 1869 was the whirlwind invented in chicago in 1868 by ives w. Before 1868 before chicago before ives w.

Herrick invented the ives w. With the help of the american carpet cleaning co. Despite his grand intentions mcgaffey s whirlwind was not a success. It used bellows on top to produce suction and incorporated two water chambers to capture dirt.

Today it is known as the first hand pumped vacuum cleaner in the united states. It wasn t much of a success because it was complex to use and inefficient. His invention also had a detailed bellows system on top of the body to produce suction. The most technological cleaners of the time were carpet sweepers.

With a retail price of 25 dollars about 450 today and a hand crank the whirlwind was considerably harder to use than a.