The present invention generally relates to blades for snow plows, and more particularly relates to snow plow blades assemblies that comprise sidewalls.
Snow plows are well-known and have a relatively long snow plow blade assembly which extends generally laterally of the surface being worked on. Some of them comprise sidewalls that retain the snow sideways, for controllably displacing more snow before there is an overflow on each side the snow plow blade assembly. However, these sidewalls are farther away from the control cabin, are less visible to the driver and it is thus easier to hit something inadvertently when the ground to be cleaned comprises unevenness such as a concrete step. When hitting the exemplary concrete step, the snow plow either stops and the sidewall undergoes premature wear, or the sidewall causes excessive wear to the concrete step.
There is therefore a need for a snow plow blade assembly comprising sidewalls able to adapt to the unevenness of the ground to be cleaned without causing damage to the blade assembly or its surroundings.
There is further a need for a solution for the sidewall that ensures that a sidewall, once having responded to the unevenness of the ground, returns to its default position in order to optimize the amount of snow displaced.
There is further a need for a solution for the sidewall that mitigates the risks of the mechanism being stuck up in the snow.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved mechanism for snow plow blade assemblies comprising sidewalls that better respond to these drawbacks.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a snow plow blade assembly comprising: a central section comprising a pivot axis; a sidewall assembly pivotably mounted to the central section and pivotable about the pivot axis; and a suspension assembly mounted to the central section, wherein the suspension assembly connects the central section and the sidewall assembly distant from the pivot axis.
According to an aspect, the central section comprises a top edge, and wherein the suspension assembly is mounted to the top edge.
According to an aspect, the snow plow blade assembly further comprises a link member comprising two pivot mounting members distant from each other, wherein the two pivot mounting members are mounted respectively to the sidewall assembly and the suspension assembly.
According to an aspect, the suspension assembly comprises: a rotative damper; and an arm mounted to the rotative damper; wherein one of the two pivot mounting members is connected to the arm.
According to an aspect, the rotative damper comprises a deformable rubber-based component.
According to an aspect, the link member comprises a hydraulic jack.
According to an aspect, the sidewall assembly is controllably pivotable between a pull position and a push position through control of the hydraulic jack between an extended position and a compact position.
According to an aspect, the central section and the sidewall assembly further comprise complementary components limiting pivoting of the sidewall assembly relative to the central section.
According to an aspect, the complementary components comprise a slot and a lug which is travels in the slot.
According to an aspect, the sidewall assembly comprises two sidewall assemblies, wherein each of the two sidewall assemblies pivot independently from each other.
According to an aspect, the central section comprises holder assemblies to connect to a vehicle to mount the snow plow blade assembly to the vehicle.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a snow plow blade assembly to be mounted to a vehicle, comprising: a central section to be mounted to the vehicle, the central section comprising a pivot axis; a sidewall assembly pivotably mounted to the pivot axis; and a suspension assembly connecting the central section with the sidewall assembly distant from the pivot axis, comprising a link member comprising two pivot mounting members distant from each other mounted respectively to the sidewall assembly and the suspension assembly.
According to an aspect, the suspension assembly comprises: a rotative damper; and an arm mounted to the rotative damper; wherein one of the two pivot mounting members is connected to the arm.
According to an aspect, the rotative damper comprises a deformable rubber-based component.
According to an aspect, the rotative damper is mounted to the central section.
According to an aspect, the link member comprises a hydraulic jack.
According to an aspect, the sidewall assembly is controllably pivotable between a pulling position and a pushing position through control of the hydraulic jack between an extended position and a compact position.
According to an embodiment, there is provided a snow plow blade assembly to be mounted to a vehicle, comprising: a central section to be mounted to the vehicle; a sidewall assembly pivotably mounted to the central section; and a suspension assembly connecting the central section to the sidewall assembly comprising a hydraulic jack which is controllable between an extended position and a compact position, wherein the suspension assembly allows the sidewall assembly to pivot up to a first limit angle when contacting an obstacle and to pivot to a second limit angle greater than the first limit angle when changing position of the hydraulic jack.
According to an aspect, the suspension assembly comprises: a rotative damper; and an arm mounted to the rotative damper; wherein the hydraulic jack is connected to the arm.
According to an aspect, the sidewall assembly comprises two sidewall assemblies, wherein each of the two sidewall assemblies is pivotable up to the first limit angle independently from each other.
Features and advantages of the subject matter hereof will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description of selected embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying figures. As will be realized, the subject matter disclosed and claimed is capable of modifications in various respects, all without departing from the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the drawings and the description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive and the full scope of the subject matter is set forth in the claims.
Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in combination with the appended drawings, in which:
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
The realizations will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures, in which realizations are illustrated. The foregoing may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated realizations set forth herein.
With respect to the present description, references to items in the singular should be understood to include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intended to express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations of conjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwise stated or clear from the context. Thus, the term “or” should generally be understood to mean “and/or” and so forth.
Recitation of ranges of values and of values herein or on the drawings are not intended to be limiting, referring instead individually to any and all values falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value within such a range is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. The words “about”, “approximately”, or the like, when accompanying a numerical value, are to be construed as indicating a deviation as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art to operate satisfactorily for an intended purpose. Ranges of values and/or numeric values are provided herein as examples only, and do not constitute a limitation on the scope of the described realizations. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (“e.g.,” “such as”, or the like) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the exemplary realizations and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the realizations. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any unclaimed element as essential to the practice of the realizations. The use of the term “substantially” is intended to mean “for the most part” or “essentially” depending on the context. It is to be construed as indicating that some deviation from the word it qualifies is acceptable as would be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art to operate satisfactorily for the intended purpose.
In the following description, it is understood that terms such as “first”, “second”, “top”, “bottom”, “above”, “below”, and the like, are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
The terms “top”, “up”, “upper”, “bottom”, “lower”, “down”, “vertical”, “horizontal”, “interior” and “exterior” and the like are intended to be construed in their normal meaning in relation with normal installation of the product, with indication of “front” referring to the same orientation as the snow plow on which would be mounted the present snow plow blade assembly and “down” to the component of the snow plow blade assembly intended to contact or to be about the ground.
It should further be noted that for purposes of this disclosure, the term “coupled” means the joining of two members directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary in nature or movable in nature and/or such joining may allow for the flow of fluids, electricity, electrical signals, or other types of signals or communication between two members. Such joining may be achieved with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being integrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with the two members or the two members and any additional intermediate members being attached to one another. Such joining may be permanent in nature or alternatively may be removable or releasable in nature.
In realizations, there are disclosed components of a snow plow and more particularly of a snow plow blade assembly, aka a blade assembly.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to
Referring additionally to
The snow plow blade assembly 100 further comprises hydraulic hoses 161 to be connected and powering hydraulic jacks 160 as explained hereinafter.
The snow plow blade assembly 100 comprises a central section 120 and, on each side, a pivotable side member 140 mounted to the central section 120.
Referring additionally to
The pivotable side member 140 is mounted to a drum 142 having its rotation driven by a hydraulic jack 160. According to an embodiment, the hydraulic jack 160 is more generically referred to as a link member.
Each one of the pivotable side member 140 comprises a vertical extension 144 and a horizontal extension 146 adapted for a sidewall 130 to be mounted thereto.
The pivotable side member 140 comprises a top slot 154 and a bottom slot 156 through which a top lug 134 and a bottom lug 136 extends to mount the sidewall 130 to the pivotable side member 140. The slots 154, 156 provide channels for the lugs 134, 136 to travel thereby allowing movements of the sidewall 130 relative to the pivotable side member 140, and thereby allowing the sidewalls 130 to freely respond to the unevenness of the ground according to the length of the channels. The slots 154, 156 and lugs 134, 136 define thus complementary components cooperating to allow limited relative displacement.
The snow plow blade assembly 100 comprises the pair of sidewalls 130, each sidewall 130 being mounted to a pivotable side member 140.
It is worth noting that the lugs 134, 136 extend outwardly, limiting the contact of the snow with the lugs 134, 136 and the slots 154, 156 and thus mitigating risks of having snow stuck in the slots 154, 156 that would limit the efficiency the lugs 134, 136 traveling in the slots 154, 156 and accordingly movements of the sidewall 130.
The snow plow blade assembly 100 further comprises a hydraulic jack 160 comprising two pivot mounting members 166, 168 (see
Referring particularly to
Referring additionally to
The suspension assembly 170 further dampens movements of the hydraulic jack 160 when the sidewalls 130 are forced to change position when undergoing unevenness and to help return the top end 162 of the hydraulic jack 160, thus also the sidewalls 130, to their default position.
The suspension assembly 170 comprises a casing assembly 180 comprising a mounting member 182 and a damper housing 184. The casing assembly 180 is adapted to be mounted to the top edge 122 of the central section 120 about the hydraulic jack 160.
According to realizations, the casing assembly 180 comprises one, two or more components, with the components being affixed permanently to each other (for example, as depicted, with the mounting member 182 and the damper housing 184 being welded together), or alternatively with removable fixations in order to be dismantled when required.
The casing assembly 180 is further mounted to the top edge 122 of the central section 120 with appropriate fixations, for example using bolts 186 and/or bolt and nut assemblies 188.
The suspension assembly 170 comprises a rotative damper 172 mounted to the damper housing 184, with the interior wall 185 of the damper housing 184 cooperating with the external face 173 of the rotative damper 172 in order to prevent the whole rotative damper 172 from rotating when undergoing an external torque.
According to a preferred realization, the rotative damper 172 is a Rubber Suspension Unit, thus a deformable rubber-based component, of type DR-A from Rosta™ (https://www.rosta.ch/en/products/docs/Rubber-Suspension-Technology/fr/01_GFE_DR-A_F_web.pdf) that is adapted to damp torques.
The suspension assembly 170 further comprises a damping arm 174 mounted at the damping end 176 to the rotative damper 172 and at the distant end 178 to the top end 162 of the hydraulic jack 160 through its pivot mounting member 166.
According to a realization, the damping arm 174 is mounted to the rotative damper 172 through the use of four (4) bolt and nut assemblies 188. However, other solutions are herein contemplated to assemble the damping arm 174 and the rotative damper 172 depending for example on the characteristics of the rotative damper 172 selected to form part of the suspension assembly 170.
Through the mounting of the damping arm 174 to the rotative damper 172, the suspension assembly 170 thereby provides a pivot axis to the damping arm 174 that travels between a first limit angle (a limit top position of its distant end 178, see
The top position of the distant end 178 further provides a fix position for the pivot mounting member 168 of the top end 162 of the hydraulic jack 160 while extending thereby forcing the bottom end 164 to travel downward once the limit position of the distant end 178 of the damping arm 174 is reached, allowing to controllably rotate the drum 142 and thus the sidewalls 130.
Referring now to
Referring to
Thus, when one of the sidewalls 130 moves, the lugs 134, 136 of the sidewall travel in the slots 154, 156 to their limits after which they push the extensions 144, 146 resulting in small changes in the position of the bottom end 164 and the top end 162 of the hydraulic jack 160; changes in the position of the top end 162 of the hydraulic jack 160 being damped by the damping of the damping arm 174 performed by the rotative damper 172. This solution decreases significantly the impact force of the displacements undergone by the hydraulic jack 160 and the force of the impacts of the lugs 134, 136 in the slots 154, 156 when reaching the end of the channels.
For illustration purposes, here is an illustration of the functioning of the snow plow blade assembly 100, and particularly the suspension assembly 170 in an exemplary situation, with the description being provided particularly in relation to
According to a realization, the pivotable side member 140 and its sidewall 130 mounted thereto are designed to be a sidewall assembly 135 pivotably mounted about a pivot axis to the central section 120.
According to a realization, the sidewall assembly 135 comprises either a side member 140 and a sidewall 130 fixedly attached to each other or a sidewall 130 pivotably mounted to the central section 120. In the latter case, no combination of slots and lugs are present. Further, rotation of the sidewall 130 enters instantly in the damping zone as the sidewall assembly 135 rotates about the central section 120 when abutting an obstacle with no combination of slots and lugs provides a free-damping zone for the sidewall assembly 135 to rotate.
Referring to
Further, it is worth noting that in embodiments, such the one depicted on
The present document finally contemplates solutions wherein no hydraulic jack 160 is present, aka wherein the snow plow blade assembly 100 is designed for push or pull operations only, with a suspension assembly 170 mounted to a fixed-length member mounted in a similar fashion or having a function similar to the hydraulic jack 160 of the present disclosure.
While preferred embodiments have been described above and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from this disclosure. Such modifications are considered as possible variants comprised in the scope of the disclosure.
This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application 62/967,112 filed Jan. 29, 2020 and from U.S. provisional patent application 62/968,519 filed Jan. 31, 2020, the specifications of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CA2021/050108 | 1/29/2021 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62967112 | Jan 2020 | US | |
62968519 | Jan 2020 | US |