On September 19, 1876, Melville Reuben Bissell received U.S. Patent No. 182346 on a Capet-Sweeper:

Bissell improved the design and obtained a second patent (US Patent No. 199612) two years later in 1878. He went on to obtain at least eight more patents on carpet sweepers, the last issuing after his death from pneumonia in 1889. U.S. Patent Nos. 217322, 217854, 233137, 233596, RE9783, 239924, 240224, 349684, and 435268).

Bissell and his wife Anna formed the Bissell Carpet-Sweeper Co., which survived a fire in 1884 that destroyed his first factory, but he was able to overcome the loss and continue to expand the business. After Mellville’s untimely death on March 15, 1889, at 45, his wife Anna took over the Company, becoming the first female CEO, continuing to build the company. She established new guidelines on trademarks and patents and moved Bissell carpet sweepers into the international market. In 1919 she became the chairman of the Bissell company.