Excavating – Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device – Scraper blade
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-20
2001-06-05
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device
Scraper blade
C037S281000, C037S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06240660
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new or improved attachment for use with snow handling equipment, and in particular although not exclusively to an attachment for mounting on the ends of a snow pusher blade to effect an increase in the volume of snow which can be contained in front of the blade. The invention is also useful to provide attachments which can be mounted on similar equipment such as the bucket of a wheeled loader or the sides of a snow thrower machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In regions which experience significant snowfalls, a great deal of energy and expense is required to clear snow off the surfaces of roads, laneways, driveways and parking lots. Roadways can be kept clear of snow by making successive passes with heavy duty snowplows which have angled blades which displace the snow laterally to one side of the snowplow in a continuous pass of the latter along the roadway. However parking lots and the like often cannot be cleared of snow in the same manner. Often it is necessary to utilize a snowplow blade carried on a vehicle to clear the snow from across the parking lot to one location where it can be formed into a heap, and perhaps later removed by truck. The quantity of snow that can be displaced or pushed in front of a transversely arranged snowplow blade is severely limited and if a large amount of snow is involved the maximum holding capacity of the blade is exceeded and excess snow spills from both ends of the blade thus making necessary numerous additional passes of the blade before the surface can be satisfactorily cleared. To some extent this difficulty can be overcome by increasing the length of the blade, but this solution comes at a cost in terms of moneuverability.) A very wide blade will not be able to operate effectively in constricted locations, e.g. in attempting to clear snow between parked cars in a parking lot.
The aim of the present invention is to provide an improved snow clearing apparatus which will increase the capacity of snow that can be handled without significantly affecting the moneuverability of the snowplow or the vehicle upon which it is carried.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides an attachment for mounting on an end of a transversely elongate implement that is useful for pushing loose friable material across a ground surface, said attachment being deployable to increase the material-handling capacity of said implement and comprising: a mounting bracket adapted to be fixed on said implement to define a pivot axis that is generally parallel to the length of said implement; a plate pivotally carried on said mounting bracket for angular movement about said pivot axis; and abutment means operatively associated with said plate and said mounting bracket and positioned to delimit said angular movement and define a first limiting position wherein said plate in operation occupies a deployed position in a generally upright plane with a major part of said plate at an attitude projecting forwardly of said implement; said plate being freely pivotable upwardly from said deployed position.
The free pivotal mounting of the plate enables it to accommodate readily to changes in slope of the surface on which the attachment is operated. For example if a vehicle equipped with the attachment passes from a downwardly inclined surface to a horizontal surface, upon meeting the latter the plate will pivot upwardly and thus avoid gouging into the horizontal surface. Preferably the front lower corner of the plate is rounded at a large radius so that when in use the plate encounters a step or a curb, the plate can pivot upwardly freely to avoid damage which might otherwise be occasioned by impact with such an obstruction.
Preferably the plate has a range of pivotal movement from its deployed position through at least about 90° to a retracted position, and a latch arrangement is provided to secure the plate in its retracted position so that the implement on which it is attached can be used in a normal mode of operation without interference from the plate. The latching means can be spring loaded and arranged to operate automatically upon movement of the plate to the retracted position. Alternatively a powered actuator can be provided to control the latching arrangement.
The invention also includes an implement such as a snowplow blade in combination with a pair of attachments as discussed above, arranged one at each end of the snowplow blade. Such snowplow blades are usually employed in combination with light trucks, being mounted on usually the forward end but sometimes the rear end of such trucks and normally controlled for vertical displacement thereon. When not required the plates of the attachments can be pivoted upwardly to their retracted positions where they are latched, allowing the snowplow blade to be used in its normal mode of operation. Movement of the plates from the latched to the deployed position is effected manually and can be done quickly.
Mounting of the attachment on the ends of a standard snowplow blade can be effected relatively simply by welding a horizontal bracket at each end of the rear side of the blade, the bracket having a socket for receiving a horizontal pivot pin that is attached to the plate. The deployed position of the plate can be defined simply by a lug on the upper rear portion of the plate which is adapted to engage against the rear side of the blade. The latching means can simply be a horizontal pin on the upper rear part of the blade which is positioned to engage into a hole which is suitably positioned near the front end of the plate.
Wheeled mobile loaders having large capacity buckets are often used in snow clearing operations, particularly where the snow has to be loaded into trucks for transport to a dump site. One embodiment of the invention is specifically designed for use with the bucket of such a loader and comprises at each end of the bucket a mounting bracket in the form of a plate that is secured to the cheek of the loader bucket along the front end of the cheek (which can be reinforced by addition of a strengthening plate) and also near the rear of the cheek. Since it is not permissible to obstruct the interior space of the bucket by an elongate mounting bracket, the pivot axis in this arrangement is defined by an axially-short large-diameter bearing on the mounting plate received within a similar shaped opening in the attachment plate, there being abutment means acting between the mounting plate and the attachment plate to define a range of pivotal movement delimited by a deployed position and a retracted position. Latching means in this arrangement is preferably provided by a powered actuator controlling a pin engageable with an aperture in the attachment plate. Movement of the attachment plate between its deployed and retracted positions can be effected by tilting the bucket about a horizontal axis using the bucket mounting control linkage, the attachment plate being acted upon by gravity to be moved in the desired direction in response to such tilting of the bucket.
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Mammen Nathan
Pezzuto Robert E.
Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty & McNett
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