Excavating – Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device – With melter
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-03
2001-10-23
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Snow or ice removing or grooming by portable device
With melter
C037S199000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305105
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to the removal of snow from streets and sidewalks. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus that removes snow from streets and melts the snow for convenient disposal.
BACKGROUND ART
Locations that expect any appreciable amount of snow during the year must keep roads drivable during the winter. For those locations receiving only a small amount of snow, it is typical to remove snow from roads using a plow or blade attached to a truck or other vehicle. Typically the weather in such locations is warm enough to melt the snow after a few hours or days. However, simply pushing the snow to the side of a road may not be an acceptable solution in locations that receive a great deal of snowfall or that experience sustained sub-freezing temperatures. Snowplows are notorious for plowing thick banks of snow or frozen slush off of a main street such that entrances to side streets and driveways are effectively blocked. Furthermore, narrow streets may have no room along their sides to place the plowed snow. Pushing large amounts of snow into piles is an especial challenge for owners of parking lots and airports, where it may be difficult to push the snow to a place that will not interfere with the normal operation of the parking lot or airport.
One alternative to plowing or pushing snow off of a surface has been to remove the snow to another location. This may be done by loading the snow into dump trucks and having the dump trucks unload the snow at a remote location. This is typically done in parking lots, where large piles of plowed snow may otherwise interfere with the use of the parking lot. This solution requires a high commitment in machinery and manpower, and is therefore an expensive method of snow removal. Another solution has been to spread gravel or other particulate upon the snow surface to provide traction for vehicles driving upon the plowed or unplowed surfaces. However the gravel damages the vehicles when propelled by the spinning tires of the vehicles, and the gravel must be cleaned off of the surface when the snow eventually melts. The gravel also clogs up sewer drainage systems. Still another method is to spread a chemical upon the snow to encourage the early melting of the snow. Known snow-melting chemicals may be hazardous to the health of humans and animals, and some of the chemicals are corrosive to automobiles. Furthermore, most such chemicals work only at temperatures close to the freezing temperature of water. Such chemicals are therefore unreliable in colder climates.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an apparatus for disposing of snow that is deposited on a surface. The apparatus includes a removal mechanism that removes the snow from the surface and guides the snow into the apparatus. A first chamber is connected to the removal mechanism. The first chamber has a first aperture that permits fluid to be injected into the snow to aid in melting the snow. A second chamber is connected to the first chamber. The second chamber has an agitating device that moves the snow and separates the snow into a slurry to further melt the snow into water. A third chamber is connected to the second chamber and is configured to store the melted snow. A disposal mechanism is provided that removes excess melted snow (water) from the third chamber. Snow is removed from the surface by the removal mechanism and is melted as it moves through the first chamber, the second chamber, and the third chamber.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for disposing of snow that is deposited on a surface. The apparatus includes a removal mechanism that removes the snow from the surface and guides the snow into the apparatus. A first chamber is connected to the removal mechanism. The first chamber has a first aperture that permits fluid to be injected into the snow to aid in melting the snow. A second chamber is connected to the first chamber. The second chamber has a first agitating device that moves the snow and separates the snow into a slurry to further melt the snow. The first agitating device includes a substantially horizontally disposed rotatable shaft and a first plurality of paddles attached to and radially extending from the shaft and configured to rotate about the shaft. Snow is agitated within the second chamber when the shaft rotates. The second chamber further includes a second aperture disposed therein, which is configured to permit fluid to be injected into the second chamber to aid in melting the snow. A third chamber is connected to the second chamber and is configured to store the melted snow. The third chamber encloses a second agitating device that has a vertically-disposed shaft and a plurality of paddles attached to and radially extending from the vertically-disposed shaft. A disposal mechanism is connected to the third chamber and is configured to remove excess water from the third chamber.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1160205 (1915-11-01), Smith
patent: 3066428 (1962-12-01), Raiti
patent: 3309798 (1967-03-01), Devlin et al.
patent: 3484961 (1969-12-01), Coslowsky
patent: 3766586 (1973-10-01), Krickovich
patent: 5787613 (1998-08-01), Derome
Petravick Meredith
Pezzuto Robert E.
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