Excavating – Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device – Vehicle mount including power lift
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-06
2001-08-07
Batson, Victor (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device
Vehicle mount including power lift
C172S817000, C172S246000, C172S247000, C074S528000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269557
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to snow removal devices and, more particularly, to a manually adjustable snowplow apparatus that is mountable to an all terrain vehicle.
All terrain vehicles (ATV's), such as three-wheel or four-wheel vehicles with motorcycle engines, are being increasingly utilized for both recreational and utility purposes. ATV's are useful in farming to access locations not suitable for larger conventional vehicles and to transport small implements or materials. It has also been recognized, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,130 to Racicot, that a snowplow may be attached to an ATV for clearing snow or other material such as sand, rocks, or the like. Although assumably effective in operation, existing snowplow devices adapted for use with an ATV are not easily adjustable such that the blade is a desired height above a ground surface. Further, existing devices are generally complex and expensive in construction and inconvenient to attach or remove from an ATV.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a snowplow apparatus that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easily mountable to an ATV. It is further desirable to have a snowplow apparatus which can be manually raised or lowered to a desired position by a user.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the adjustable snowplow apparatus according to the present invention utilizes a snow blade assembly pivotally mounted to the frame of an ATV such that the snow blade assembly extends in front of the ATV and is movable in up and down directions. The apparatus includes a vertical plate adapted to be mounted to the tubular utility rack typically found attached to the top surfaces of the front fenders of an ATV. The plate presents a hemispherical cutout which forms a plurality of notches along an upper edge thereof. A handle assembly is pivotally coupled to the plate, the handle assembly including a hollow cylindrical housing and an L-shaped rod. A first portion of the rod extends through the housing with a free end extending from an upper end of the housing. A second portion of the rod is normal to the first portion and selectably engages a notch in the plate. A user depression of the free end of the first rod portion releases the second portion from the notches such that the handle may be pivotally moved in a forward or rearward direction. The first portion of the rod is spring biased such that the rod automatically returns to its non-depressed position upon a release thereof. A release of the free end allows the second portion to again mate with a selected notch in the plate.
A cord extends between the handle assembly and the snow blade assembly such that a movement of the handle either raises or lowers the snow blade assembly. More particularly, the blade assembly is lowered as the handle is moved in a forward direction and is raised as the handle is moved in a rearward direction. A pulley is also mounted to the ATV utility rack for guiding the cord between the handle assembly and snow blade assembly. The apparatus can obviously be adapted for lifting implements other than snowplows.
Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus that is mountable to an all terrain vehicle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which can selectably raise or lower a snow blade assembly to a desired height above a ground surface.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a handle for manually raising or lowering the blade assembly.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, wherein the blade assembly is raised or lowered using the leverage of the handle coupled to a pivot axis.
A further object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which can hold the blade assembly at a plurality of different height positions.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a cord extending between the handle and blade assembly such that the height of the blade assembly is varied upon a movement of the handle.
Another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a pulley positioned intermediate the handle and blade assembly for guiding the cord therebetween.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which is simple and inexpensive to use and manufacture.
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Batson Victor
Ream Dale J.
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