Dustpan

Dustpan and duster

A dustpan is a cleaning utensil (also known as Dustpan and brush (UK)), commonly used in combination with a broom. The dustpan may appear to be a type of flat scoop. It is often hand held for home use, but industrial and commercial enterprises often use a hinged variety on the end of a stick to prevent the user from constantly stooping to use it.

Handheld dustpans may be used with either a full-size broom or with a smaller whisk broom or brush sometimes called a duster. This second combination may be sold as one unit.

It was invented by the American inventor T.E. McNeill in 1858 ([1])

Lloyd P. Ray is sometimes falsely credited for the invention of the dustpan. Ray was in fact awarded a patent for a similar design nearly forty years after McNeill's invention. This was one of almost 200 variants of McNeilll's dustpan that were granted patents by the turn of the century.