U.S. inventor of the carpet sweeper.

After growing up in Berlin, Wis., Bissell joined his father in business at Kalamazoo, Mich., where they opened a grocery store. Selling crockery led the younger Bissell into the crockery business in Grand Rapids, where, by the time of the economic panic of 1873, he had made a fortune in industry and real estate. With business temporarily at a standstill, he turned his attention to the carpet sweeper and its large potential market. He soon patented (1876) a device with a central bearing brush; his device was made thoroughly practical by the addition of rubber tires and other improvements. Despite a disastrous fire (1884) in his first factory, he headed a highly successful business with worldwide production and marketing facilities.