Excavating – Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device – With endless conveyor
Patent
1997-09-16
1999-08-24
Batson, Victor
Excavating
Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device
With endless conveyor
37219, 37464, 37465, E01H 509
Patent
active
059409959
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to an apparatus for shaping a snow course, particularly so-called half-pipe used in snow-boarding on the faces of a piste.
This task is conventionally accomplished by means of movable equipment intended for working and servicing skiing pistes, typically a snow course maintenance tractor which is a self-actuated vehicle moving on wide tracks. Such a vehicle is provided with a power outtake, and standardized implement links can be attached to it for operating different accessories and implements. For shaping a snow course, to the links is conventionally attached a shovelling scraper which is contoured to shape the snow course to a desired cross section. Snow-boarding is conventionally carried out in a half-pipe having its walls circularly shaped with a radius of curvature of approx. 3-4.5 m. The width of the flat bottom area between the curved walls may vary in the range 5-20 m.
Drawbacks of equipment with a conventional construction include problems related to the heavy weight of the equipment resulting from the forward cutting operating principle which requires an enormous pushing capacity from the equipment. Hence, the equipment must be dimensioned to cope with the stresses imposed on the parts of the machine. Moreover, shaping of a half-pipe using such equipment is cumbersome as the snow course inclination varies according to the moguls of the course terrain. A further problem in the maintenance of a half-pipe using conventional embodiments arises from the need of snow replenishment. When the walls of the half-pipe become worn with grooves through use, conventional equipment can remove such grooves only by cutting away snow from the walls of the half-pipe down to the bottom of the groove. While this may be possible with a sufficiently thick snow wall, in many cases snow replenishment to the walls is necessary to achieve a satisfactory result.
An essential improvement over the above-mentioned draw-backs hampering the construction and function of prior-art equipment is achieved by means of the apparatus according to the present invention, the essential characterizing properties of the apparatus being disclosed in the annexed claim 1. Additional characteristics of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.
In the following, the invention will be explained in greater detail by making reference to the appended drawings in which
FIG. 1 is a view of an apparatus according to the invention as seen in its intended working direction;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the working section of the apparatus; and
FIG. 3 a perspective view of the scraping element of the apparatus.
Referring to the drawings, the apparatus according to the invention is constructed supported by a lattice framework 2 and is designed mountable its attachments 1 to an appropriately moving self-actuated vehicle. Advantageously, such a self-actuated vehicle is the above-mentioned maintenance machine of skiing courses.
Over the working section of the apparatus, said framework 2 is designed into a curved guidance path 2' incorporating suitable supports and guides for the power-actuated movement of a flexible drive means such as two parallel running chains 3. The guides may comprise guide rolls and slide surfaces in a conventional manner. The parallel chains 3 are formed into an closed loop driven by a drive unit actuated by a hydraulic motor 9.
To the parallel chains 3 are attached a plurality of scraper members 4 which project outward from said chain and arranged into a row along the movement direction of the chains. The scraper members 4 form the actual tool elements of the apparatus, and their structure and function will be explained in greater detail later in the text.
The framework 2 is advantageously connected to the support links 1 so that the apparatus can be turned in the vertical plane to different angles of inclination. Furthermore, the apparatus may be equipped with arrangements facilitating swinging of the apparatus from one side of the self-actuated vehicle to the other side for the purpose of shaping bot
REFERENCES:
patent: 1235456 (1917-07-01), Fossum
patent: 1535699 (1925-04-01), Talbot
patent: 1727186 (1929-09-01), Webster
patent: 1816389 (1931-07-01), Moberg
patent: 1882382 (1932-10-01), Gerlach
patent: 2402976 (1946-07-01), Olson
patent: 3539014 (1970-11-01), Jonsson
patent: 3744568 (1973-07-01), Beyers et al.
patent: 3777822 (1973-12-01), Stedman et al.
LandOfFree
Apparatus for forming a snow half-pipe does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus for forming a snow half-pipe, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus for forming a snow half-pipe will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-456293