Patent Application
20250198102
The present invention relates to a snowblower. In particular, the present invention relates to an inverted snow blower with a pivotably mounted trip bar at its trailing edge.
Inverted snowblowers are used with a traction vehicle, such as a farm type tractor, for example, for residential snow removal. Such an inverted snow blower is shown in Canadian Patent No.: 2729514 issued on Jun. 15, 2011, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference.
An inverted snow blower is typically mountable at the rear of a traction vehicle equipped with a power take-off, to blow snow. The snow blower typically features a housing configured to receive the snow to be blown, the housing is mounted at the rear of the traction vehicle through a linkage system. The blower is liftable vertically from its lowered position near or at ground level where it operates to blow snow. The blower also typically includes a snow chute, mounted operatively on the housing to discharge the snow from the housing. The snow blower also typically includes an auger, mounted so that it rotates inside the housing to drive the snow from the housing towards the chute. The snow blower also typically includes a gear box configured to receive a shaft coupled from the traction vehicle's power take-off. The gear box is connected operatively to the housing auger to drive the auger through a rotational force supplied by the power take-off shaft. The inverted snow blower provides the advantage allowing the operator to lift the blower vertically and then move the trailing edge of the snow blower close to a wall or garage door or other structure by backing snow blower via the traction vehicle next to the wall or other structure. Then, the snow blower can be lowered to or near the ground and the traction vehicle can be operated by driving forward (as opposed to backwards as with a conventional snow blower or plow) while the blower is activated to blow the snow blocking the wall or structure.
However, the aforementioned prior art inverted snow blower suffers for some serious disadvantages. For example, since the inverted snow blower is mounted at the rear of the traction vehicle and lowered to blow snow, the snow blower is not visible to the driver when the driver of the traction vehicle drives forward. Accordingly, the driver may not be able to see the actual height of the blower. If for some reason, the height of the blower is insufficient and the driver cannot see the same, a situation may exist where the blower when being driven by the traction vehicle may hit a projection or item on the ground or road. And, if the item or projection is high enough and/or anchored to the ground, when it impacts the trailing edge of the blower, severe damage to the blower or vehicle can occur. For example, such items or projections may include manhole covers or collars, pipes, curbs, etc. And, impacting the same with the trailing edge of the inverted snow blower can damage both the blower and traction vehicle and its drive train and/or power take off.
Therefore, and in view of the above, it would therefore be very useful to provide an inverted snow blower which offers solutions to the aforementioned problem caused by impacting the trailing edge of an inverted snow blower.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an inverted snow blower which can minimize or avoid damage when an impact occurs with the trailing edge of the blower and its housing.
In one embodiment, an inverted snowblower mountable behind a traction vehicle includes a housing configured to receive snow to be blown. The housing is configured to mount behind a traction vehicle and has an open face directed towards the traction vehicle when the housing is mounted behind the traction vehicle. The housing is moveable vertically relative to the traction vehicle when mounted thereto. A chute is in fluid communication with the housing to remove snow within the housing. An auger within the housing moves snow within the housing towards the chute. A gear assembly is operatively coupled to the traction vehicle, and coupled to the auger to transfer power from the traction vehicle to rotate the auger and to facilitate blowing of snow. At least one bar extends lengthwise at the rear of the housing between opposite sides of the housing and having a leading edge extending more towards the traction vehicle when the housing is mounted behind the traction vehicle. The at least one bar is pivotably mounted on a portion of the housing to pivot away from the traction vehicle when impacted. The pivotable mounted bar acts as a trip bar so that when impacted it pivots opposite the direction of impact.
The bar or bars are operatively coupled to at least one spring coupled to the housing and the at least one spring absorbs a force transmitted to the bar or bars upon impact thereto. The at least one spring may include a plurality of springs.
The at least one spring biases the least one bar to orient the at least one bar and its leading edge at an initial angle relative to the housing. The initial angle may include an angle of between zero degrees and forty five degrees, measured between (i) a line from the leading edge of the bar from its pivot point to (ii) a vertical line extending from the bar's pivot point to a plane normal to a surface supporting the housing during operation of the blower. The initial angle may preferably be thirty degrees from the vertical line. This angle corresponds to a scraping angle where the angle of the leading edge of the bar and the ground below is between forty five and ninety degrees, and preferably about sixty degrees.
The at least one bar may be a single bar or a plurality of bars. The at least one spring may include a coil spring. The plurality of bars may be oriented along a line to form a leading edge, and each of the plurality of springs is coupled to one of the bars.
The at least one bar is coupled to at least one flange extending at an angle away from the traction vehicle and extending outside of the housing. The at least on flange may support at least one of said plurality of springs. A plurality of brackets may be mounted outside of the housing and the plurality of springs may be coils springs. Each coil spring may be mounted between one of the brackets and one of the flanges. Each coil spring may be positioned coaxially with a guide, and the guide is slidable through an opening within one of the brackets.
The at least one bar may include an active section and a mounting section, the active section includes the leading edge, and the mounting section includes the at least one flange. The active section and the mounting section may be removably connectable with one another, so that a worn or damaged active section may be replaced. The initial angle of the bar may be adjustable. And, the initial angle may be adjustable via adjusting the compression of the at least one spring. For example, the guide or guides may comprises a series of apertures configured to receive a pin or bar which restricts the initial angle by contacting the spring or springs wherein the initial angle is adjustable via adjusting the compression of the spring or springs by inserting said pin or bar into the apertures. Alternatively, or additionally, the housing may comprise a series of apertures configured to receive a pin or bar which restricts the initial angle by contacting the at least one bar.
The objects, advantages, and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from reading the non-exhaustive description which follows from preferred embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings attached, given as examples only.
In the following description, the same numerical references identify similar components. Features, including geometries, dimensions, etc., shown in the figures and characteristics described herein are preferential only. In addition, although the present invention is primarily designed for snow removal purposes for use with a traction vehicle, such as a farm tractor for example, provided with 3-point attachments, the invention can be used with any other type of vehicle. Therefore, expressions such as “vehicle”, “traction”, “tractor”, “snow removal”, “snowblower”, etc., as used herein, and/or any other reference and/or any other equivalent or similar expression to the latter have to not be considered as limiting the scope of the present invention and include any other object/substitute to a person skilled in the art. In addition, the term “rearward” when referred to direction of pivot of the bar, refers to the leading edge of the bar rotating about the bar's axis of pivot in the direction opposite the front of the traction vehicle or blower housing. Conversely, the term “forward” when referred to direction of pivot of the bar, refers to the leading edge of the bar rotating about the bar's axis of pivot in the direction towards the front of the traction vehicle or blower housing. The terms “leading” “forward” or “front” refer to a direction or location towards the direction of movement of the traction vehicle when towing the inverted snow blower. Conversely, the terms “trailing” “rearward” or “back” refer to a direction or location opposite the direction of movement of the traction vehicle when towing the inverted snow blower. The terms “raise” “up” or “top” refer to a direction or location opposite the location of the ground or earth, while the terms “lower” “down” or “bottom” refer to a direction or location towards the location of the ground or earth.
Moreover, although the preferred embodiments of the system illustrated have several components, all these components are not necessarily essential to the invention and consequently should not be taken in their restrictive sense, that is to say, should not be considered of to limit the scope of the present invention. And, to a person skilled in the art, other components and appropriate geometries and/or other possible cooperation between components can be used for the system according to the present invention, such as they will be described below, without departing from the scope of the invention.
A typical inverted snow blower configuration is shown in Canadian Patent No.:2729514, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. The details of the configuration of the mechanical power transmission from the traction vehicle to the rotor and auger may vary with various inverted snow blowers. However, a pivotable trip bar on the trailing edge of the blower housing in accordance with the teachings herein may be incorporated in to all such inverted blowers. Thus, a pivotable trip bar on the trailing edge of the lower portion of the housing, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, of the snow blower may be used in all such inverted snowblower configurations.
An inverted snow blower includes similar features of a regular snowblower but is pulled by the vehicle rather than pushed. Thus, the vehicle will have to pass over the snow to blow before it is received by the snowblower. For this reason, traction vehicles, such as a farm tractor, are used to pull or tow an inverted snow blower. For better visualize this action, reference is made to
In the inverted snow blower, the blower 1 is attached to the traction vehicle by a three point attachment 10. A transmission shaft also called a power take-off 31 transfers the rotational power of the tractor 3 to the snowblower 1 via a shaft 12. On the blower 1, this shaft 12 is connected directly to the rotor 14 which is inserted on the main shaft of a gearbox or assembly 13 which is located near the rotor 14. The gearbox 13 is connected by a shaft 12 to the rotor and via a chain 29 or other linkage to the auger 11 to drive the same. A gear leads the chain 29 which in turn drives the auger 11. This type of configuration is known in art. However, other configurations for an inverted snow blower having the auger, chute and/or rotor in different locations and/or operatively connected differently are possible. In accordance with such principles of the invention, a trip bar mechanism 8 is mounted at the trailing edge of the housing 5.
Referring to
Referring to
The bar assembly 15 may be formed of multiple components as shown in
Referring to
The configuration of the housing, shafts, bar, flanges, brackets, guides and coil springs, operate as a trip mechanism which cause the bar 15 to pivot or “trip” when the bar contacts an obstruction on the ground or road during operation of the snow blower. Such obstructions include, for example, a rock, curb, bar, manhole cover or any other obstruction or protrusion affixed to the road or ground, or other type of object which will not move or is not easily moveable when impacted by the leading edge of the bar. With this type of mechanism, when the inverted snow blower is in operation or moving when towed by a traction vehicle, the if the housing of the blower hits an obstruction or object near the ground or road which contacts the leading edge of the bar, the bar will trip or pivot rearward and then pass over the obstruction or object. This will prevent the obstruction or object from hooking onto the lower trailing edge of the housing, or impacting the housing in such a way, so as to cause damage to the blower, traction vehicle, drivetrains, connection points and/or power take off. After the leading edge of the bar pivots rearward and passes over the object, the springs will force the bar to pivot in the opposite forward direction and reposition the bar so that its leading edge is at its initial angle.
The bar assembly 15 may be formed as a single length assembly, which may extend at least substantially the width of the housing at its trailing edge as shown in
As shown in
Referring now to
The inverted snowblower and its corresponding components are preferably made of substantially rigid, such as metallic materials (steel stainless, etc.), hardened polymers, composite materials, and/or any other material, while the other components of the system according to the present invention, in order to obtain the advantages discussed above, can be made of any other suitable material, such as polymeric (plastic, rubber, etc.), and/or any other suitable material, depending on the particular applications for which the system is designed and the different parameters involved, as is obvious to a person versed in art.
Although the present invention has been previously explained through of its preferred achievements, it must be made clear that any modification to these preferential achievements is not considered to change or alter the nature and scope of the present invention, as defined in the attached claims.
