US2736112A - Boissonnault - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 28, 1956 Filed April 21, 1953 R. BOISSONNAULT SNOW THROWER RAKING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor Ronoldo Boissonnoulr Attorneys R. BOISSONNAULT SNOW THROWER RAKING MECHANISM Feb. 28, 1956 Filed April 21, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ronoldo Inventor Boissonnuult W Attorneys Feb. 28, 1956 BQISSONNAULT 2,736,112

SNOW THROWER RAKING MECHANISM Filed April 21, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventor Ronoldo Boissonnoult Ahorneys United States Patent SN OW' THROWER' RAKING MECHANISM Ronaldo BoissonnaulgMontreal, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Sicard Inc.,.Montreal, Quebec,,Canada ApplicationApril 21, 1953, Serial No..350,167

4 Claims. (Cl. 37-43) The present invention relates to power operated snow throwers. and more particularly to a snow raking mechanism for snow throwers such as rotary snow ploughs, snow blowers or the like.

Snow throwers in present use are capable of removing snow banks of a relatively low'height which rarely exceedfour feet.

Consequently, when these snow throwers encounter snow banks offive to tenfeet or more, their efiiciency decreases to a marked degree as they cannot remove the snow in. acontinuous manner, that is by a continuous forward movement of the snow thrower, because the same soon becomes choked by'an excessive amount of snow entering the snow casing. The usual way of operating-snow throwers when working in high snow banks, is to either have several men shovelling the snow down to a lower level in front of the advancing snow thrower, or to advance the snow thrower a few feet at one time with the snow thrower casing at a high level, then to reverse the snow thrower and advance again with the thrower casing at a lower level. Both these methods of operating the snow thrower indeep snow are time consuming and relatively expensive.

Accordingly, mechanical means have been proposed as an attachment toregular snow'throwers for mechanically raking the. snow from. the. upper levels of the snow bank down to. the entrancetof. the snow blower casing.

One type of snow raking mechanism. now in use consists in the provision of. swingable arms mounted on the snow thrower casing and supporting a rotating shaft provided with: snowengaging radial blades. The snow engaging range of this mechanism is limited by the size of said blades. Furthermore, these rotating blades are cumbersome and may be the cause of serious injuries to nearby workers. Moreover, the snow dislodged by said mechanism will not be fed at a uniform rate to the snow thrower and may cause choking of the latter.

Accordingly, the general object of the present invention is the provision of a snow raking mechanism for snow throwers which will obviate the above mentioned defects.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a snow raking mechanism for a snow thrower, which will rake the snow ofi? a snow bank in a very uniform and continuous manner so as to feed the snow at a constant rate to the snow thrower, impeller, thus the same will not become jammed by an excessive amount of snow.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a snow raking mechanism of the character described which will take up a minimum of space in front of the snow thrower and which will not be dangerous for men Working in its vicinity.

Yet another important object of the present invention is the provision of a raking mechanism of the character described which will be very strong in construction and efficient in use and will not be liable to damage even when striking hard obstacles, as stones or the like, embedded in the snow.

2,7 36,1 12 patented Feb. 28, 1956 2 The foregoing andother important objects of themesent invention willi becomezmore apparent during thefollowing: disclosure and by referring to the drawingsv in which:

Figure 12 is av sideview of a. snow blower. and, raking mechanism; in.relation.to. a. snow bank shownin dot and dash'line;

FigureZis a. front perspective view of the snow raking mechanism inposition. on the. snow blower casing;

Figured is. a fractional side elevation of a rake member secured tosan endless chain;

Figure-4 isa front-elevation of the same;

Figure 5 is. a front elevation of. the raking mechanism, the rake members notbeingshown;

Figure 6 is' a side elevation of the raking mechanism; and Figure 7 is a plan section of the raking mechanism taken. justiabovethe lower driving shaft.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like reference: characters indicate like elements throughout, the letter A indicates the front part of the truckor'the like prime mover on which is mounted a snow blower B comprising a casing C housing rotatable screws D, shownlin'. dash and: dottedv line in Figure 2, for feeding the snow toa rotary impeller, notshown, which discharges the snow through: the: chute E. The snow blower is power driven through the shaft F,.shown in Figure l.

The snow raking mechanism, according to the invention, is generally indicated at R and comprises arms 1 rigidly secured to. each side of the top part of the casing C and each consists of an angle bar to the side flange of which aresecured two-plates 2 and 3 respectivel'y'disposed at the upper and=lower ends of said angle bars 1. Journal'boxes 4. and S are rigidly secured to the respective side plates 2i and 3 of the two arms 1 and rotatably support anupper shaft 6 and alower shaft 7 respectively. These shafts 6 and 7 extend in spaced parallel relationship transverselytosthe' direction of motion of the snow blower and in a horizontal" plane. A transverse brace 8 is secured at both endsto the side plates 3 above the shaft 7 and extendsparall'el' to the latter.

A drive box 9 surrounding the shaft 7 is rigidly secured to the brace 8 by means of side plates 10 as shown in Figure-7. A driving'gear wheel 11 is keyed to the shaft 7 inside' the drive'box: 9 and isrotated by means of the endless chain 12 trained on a gear wheel 13 which is secured to a stub shaft 14, extending at the rear of the raking mechanism R and journalled in brackets 15. The stub shaft 14 is drivingly connected to the upper endless screw D by means of universal joint 16, shaft 17, universal joint 18, stub shaft 19, gear wheel 20, endless chain 21 and gear wheel 22 which latter is keyed to the shaft of said screw D.

A frame member 23 rigidly secured to the drive box 9, extends upwardly in parallel relationship with the arms 1 to be secured at its upper end to a journal box 24 enclosing the middle portion of the shaft 6. An upper transverse brace 25 is secured at both ends to the side plates 2 and at its intermediate portion to the journal box 24. This transverse brace 25 extends in parallel relationship with and is adjacent to the upper shaft 6. Diagonally and rearwardly extending braces 26 are secured to the upper end of the side arms 1 and to the top of the casing C at the back of the raking mechanism, and near the lower end of the chute E as shown in Figure 1. These diagonal braces 26 maintain the raking mechanism at the required forwardly inclined position.

The drive box 9, journal box 24 and frame member 23 extend in the middle portion of the raking mechanism whereby the driving torque applied to the lower shaft 7 will not impart to the same excessive shearing stresses.

A pair of sprocket wheels 27 are bolted to the flanges 27' on shaft 7 on each side of the drive box 9, one

sprocket wheel of each pair being disposed close to said drive box 9 and the other sprocket wheel of said pairs being disposed close to the journals 5. Similarly, the upper shaft 6 is provided with two pairs of sprocket wheels 28 bolted to flanges 28 and respectively aligned with the sprockets 27 of the lower shaft 7. Two pairs of endless chains 29 are trained on the sprocket wheels 27 and 28 of the two shafts 7 and 6 so as to connect said shafts.

A plurality of spacedly disposed rake members 30 are secured to each pair of driving chains 29 and extend transversely to the direction of the motion of the snow blower, that is, in parallel relationship with the shafts 6 and 7. Each rake member 30 has a length slightly greater than the distance separating the chains of any one pair whereby said rake members extend for substantially half the width of the raking mechanism R. Each rake member 30 consists in an angle bar, one flange 33 of which is secured flat against the driving chains 29 by means of brackets 31 and nuts and bolts 32, particularly shown in Figures 3 and 4. The other flange 34 of said rake members 30 extend at right angles to the plane of the chains 29 and its edge has serrations constituting a plurality of snow engaging teeth 35, more particularly shown in Figure 2.

It will be noted that the rake flange 33, secured to the chains 29, extends upwardly from the snow engaging flange 34 whereby the stresses imparted by the snow to the rake member will be better resisted by the chains 29.

The rake members, according to the invention, will rake the snow from an upper level uniformly down to a level suitable for engagement by the snow blower casing C. Therefore, the snow blower will be able to progress or advance at a uniform speed without the necessity of backing up.

It should be understood that the height of the raking mechanism may be varied according to the locations in which the snow blower is destined to work. In order to increase the effective working range of said snow raking mechanism, snow slicer blades 36 are mounted at the upper ends of the side arms 1.

While a snow blower has been illustrated in conjunction with the snow raking mechanism according to the invention, it is understood that the latter may be mounted on other types of snow throwers or snow removing machines.

While a preferred embodiment according to the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a snow thrower, a snow raking mechanism comprising a straight arm rigidly secured at each side of the thrower casing and extending upwardly and forwardly thereof, a transverse brace horizontally disposed and connecting said arms, a drive box secured to the middle portion of said brace, a first shaft passing through said drive box and journalled to said arms at its ends, a frame member secured to said brace and extending upwardly in parallel relationship With said arms, a journal box secured to the upper end of said brace, a second shaft passing through said journal box and journalled to said arms at its end, spaced flanges on said shafts, two pairs of sprocket wheels mounted on each of said shafts, and secured to said flanges, one pair on each side of said journal box and said drive box respectively, two pairs of endless chains trained on said sprocket wheels to connect said shafts, a plurality of spaced rake members secured at their ends to each pair'of said chains, a driving gear wheel keyed to said first shaft and disposed within said drive box and means for rotating said driving gear wheel.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, further including snow slicer blades secured to the upper end of said arms.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2, inwhich said rake members consist of angle bars having one flange secured to said chains and having the free edge of the other flange forming snow engaging teeth.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 3, including diagonal braces connecting the upper end of each of said arms to said snow thrower casing and an additional transverse brace connecting the upper end of said arms and secured to said journal box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 361,626 Hendershot Apr. 19, 1887 1,531,755 Radovich Mar. 31, 1925 1,567,495 Fahrney Dec. 25, 1925 1,837,087 Wandscheer Dec. 15, 1931 2,373,318 Lewin Apr. 10, 1945 2,477,257 Lee July 26, 1951 2,621,773 Coggins et al. Dec. 16, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 764,710 Germany Aug. 9, 1951 as; air .1-

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