US2973591A - Ice crushing and blading mechanism - Google Patents

Description

March 7, 1961 Filed July 30, 1956 LE GRAND H. LULL ICE CRUSHING AND BLADING MECHANISM '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. 4562mm 6. 041.

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hydraulic tilting United States Patent C l h 2,973,591 ICE CRUSHING'AND READING MECHANISM Le Grand H. Lull, 7716 S. Cedar Ave, Minneapolis, Minn.

Filed July 30, 1956, Ser. No. 600,881

Claims. (Cl. 37-41) This invention relates generally to improvements in equipment for crushing or shattering and blading ice and quently occur and many solutions for this problem have, 7 been. suggested, without much success.

Where the snow falls'to a considerable-depth the ordinary snow plow is practical but-such equipment is of little or no utility Where ice freezes on the surfaces of the roadways, run- .ways, etc, or where a thin layer of the snow becomes compacted to practically the consistency of ice by traffic,

and such ice or compacted snow sometimes offers an even greater hazard totraific than does the ordinary heavier snow fall as is well known. a

It is the primary object of my invention to provide equipment suitable for underb'ody mounting upon a truck or the like, which will permit the rapid, effective and safe removal of compacted snow or ice from surfaces over which vehicle's travel, and which equipment consists of interchangeable ice blades for scraping the sur face and roller crushers for, crushing the ice or hard compacted snow, either to facilitate blading or making salting more effective.

. Another object is to .prov'idean that it will withstand all stresses to which it subjected'in use .whi1e actually reinforcing .and stiffening the truck chassis, and which will permit the change from improved ur rderbody' mounting for "connecting. either the blade or roller: crushers to the truck frame and which is so designed Patented Mar. 7, 19l

of the hold-down rams for the blade is shown as broken away in order to illustrate in horizontal section one of the pivot connections between the blade and the associated drawbar. 1

Fig. -2 is a side elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale and showing a part of the cab as well asthe rear wheel suspension for the truck or vehicle operating the blade.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the assembly of Figs. 1 and 2, with the small portion of the transverse tie frame structure shown in section.-

f 'Fig. 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view through ,one of the vertical pivot connections for the blade and associated parts, this view being taken substantially along the line 44 in Fig. l. V

Fig. 5 isan enlarged fragmentary side elevation, similar to the lower lefthand portion of Fig. 2, but illustrating the arrangement by which the blade may be mechanically .or manually adjustedas to tilt.

I Fig. :6 is a top plan view similar to Fig. l, but showing the ice roller crusher-s which are employedupon the same mounting frame and drawbar structure as the .ice blade, and with the hold-down rams and their mounts broken .away-forclarity;

Fig. 7 is'an enlarged transverselsectional detail view taken substantially along the line 77 in Fig. .6. Fig; 8 -is a.s-ide elevation like Fig. 2 but showing the .icerollercrusher assembly. J In this view one of the 6 drawbars lS- b1'0kfl .away .and the swaybarconnection to the cross member which tiesthedrawbars together shown-in section.

. one of the sections 'or assemblies of disks which go to i 1 Etail blade to roller crushersin a very short. time. In con- .nection with this object of my invention I provide pivoted, cross connecteddrawbars' on: whiohjtheblade or. roller .crushers are mounted,-fwith hydraulic rams. connected to Referring now moreflpai'ticularly -and by "reference lsaid drawbars to :raisehndlower the blade or; crushers i as required, and alsoprovid eiforeither mechanical or V v of the 'blade fon best 'operation under all Condit ns, l V

' 9 Another and imp ortant object of my inventionis to 'provide ari improveddce roller crusher madeup of a K series of disks the peripheraledges of which are adapted to roll in fcontact with the 'ice dgsurface to. crush and 6 'crachthe same;- In accordauce with myinventionthese .to']acco mmodate, itself-to the roadfsurface, and, such.

- peripheral. edgejs o f the disks are wrinkled oriuhdulated i so that they willfform' irregular rats in the surface over which they travel, making: trafiic over the ice safer andovercoming;- the tendency of-straight edgeddisks to cause thetrucl; to movesidewise .offthe intended'pathf H of travel. Also in accordance with this. object of my inventionthe disksare arranged in sections c rgangs each I ;-of; which is oscillatably v supported from ithei drawbars Fig.3. is. an enlarged transverse sectional view. through makeupthe ice roller crusher mechanism.

Fig.;;l-0 is angenlarged longitudinal sectional and dej ew showing' thetrunnion oroscillatablemounting for on'eofvthe disk sections as viewed substantially. along the line re rain Fig. 6.; r r

- @Fig. .11: isr-aJcomposite side elevationand end view of.oneofthe spacercollars locatedzbetween the disks.

,Qcharacters to thedrawingjit will: be understood .that "the mechanismgoing Jto make up -my present inventioii is .carried -and, ;operated by; a vehicularflframe, such as ,a truck, pnly the'side chann'elsA and cab-B. of'whichappear in the drawing. My ice.bladingiandIcrushingimech anism. is .underbody' :mounted, that is} .it extends, crosswisebeneath the, body or chassis frame j of v the '-truck, 0 ,;and inFigsQl and -6 :the directionof travel is;to.ward the;

right ,so that. frontfland rear designations .of the parts .as

ehereinafter described will ber understood; Also thefright l and left hand designations of certain parts .will-be under-l.

stood if it is assumed; that these parts are. viewed front the .rear of the machine. I

designated collectively at '13, with intermediategspacers gi twhich space the side plates outward from saidgchannels. In addition there is a transversely extending'tie in ;-accordance. with myinvention a mounting frame, designated ;'genera1ly=at 1 0,: is-secured to the .chaniiels'A' v andihe same includes side plates andlz Which paraliermschannasA and are securedthereto by bolts,"

In the structureasshown drawbars 27-28 carry an ice scraper blade 44 which and comprising end plates 15 which are bolted at 16 to the aforesaid side plates 11-12 and which depend well below the level of such side plates as is best seen in Fig. 3. At their lower ends the plates 15 are rigidly joined by a tubular tie member 17 diagonally braced at 18 to the upper parts of the plates and pivotally mounted by means of sleeves 19 upon this member 17 is a center frame 20 provided with spaced side rails 21 which define therebetween a generally forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway 22. This center frame structure, as well as the guideway, isthus permitted oscillating movement about a transverse axis for a purpose presently to appear and in order to restrain the center frame from movement toward either side lock collars 23 are suitably secured to the member 17 outwardly of the sleeves 19. In addition the mounting frame structure 10 includes side bars 24 and 25 which parallel the side plates 11-12 and are secured thereto with intervening spacers 26 which space the side bars in an outward direction, as is clearly apparent in Fig. 1.

In accordance with my invention the mounting frame 10 also comprises drawbars 27 and 28, each made up of two rigidly connected plies of suitable bar material, and at their forward ends these drawbars 27-28 are pivotally mounted by pins 29 between the ends of heavy brackets 30 which are clamped to the forward ends of the side bars 24-25 and held thereto by means of bolts indicated throughout at 31. Rearward displacement of the drawbars 27-28 under draft is prevented by means of rearwardly extending portions 32 of the brackets 30 which are bolted at 33 to the side bars 24-25 themselves. As is shown to best advantage in Fig. 1 the drawbars 27-28 angle outwardly at a point rearward of the brackets 30 and then extend in planes parallel with the side bars 24-25, with these parallel rear portions of the drawbars bifurcated to provide an intermediate space or channel in each, as designated at 34. The open rear ends of the drawbars are normally closed by blocks 34 (Figs. 3 and removably held in place by bolts 34*. Atsome distance forwardly of their rear ends the drawbars 27-28 arefitted with apertured lugs 35 welded or otherwise suitably secured in place and forming attachment points for the lower ends of hold-down rams 36-37, one at each side of the assembly. These rams 36-37 each comprise a cylinder 38 the upper end of which is pivoted by a pin 39 in the upper end portion of a saddle bracket 40, one of which is secured (as by bolts 41) to the rear end of each of the side bars 24-25. The rams, of course, include the usual-pistons which do not appear herein but. from which there downwardly extend reciprocatable piston rods 42 the lower ends of which are pivoted by pins43 to the aforesaid lugs 35. Thus it will be seen that the hold-down rams 36-37 are in e'ffectbraced between the stationary portions of the mounting frame and the drawbars 27-28 so that the selective admission of fluid to the upper and lower ends of the ram cylinders 38 will raise and lower the drawbarstand parts carried thereby with respect to the mounting and vehicle frames as well as the surface over which the machinetravels. i

in Figsl through 5 the also acts as across member to tie togetherand space the rear end portions of the drawbars. The blade 44 isitself out of conventional configuration having. a removable 'cutting edge 45 and aswill now be described this blade. 'is pivotally carried by the drawbars 27-28 for movements about a generally upright axis, as'well as in such' fashion as to permiteither end of the blade to be arranged in. advance ofthe other to thus'adjust the blade angle according to the nature of the work being done. Also as will now be described and asseen in. Figs; 1

through 4 the blade 44 is arranged to be hydraulically tilted in a vertical plane paralleling the direction of travel so that the angle of the 7 cutting edge" to the surface traveled by the machine may be adjusted as working conditions may dictate.

The blade mountings comprise for each end of the blade a slide 46 which is substantially I-shaped in cross section, as seen in Fig. 4, with a center web 47 adapted to slidably enter the spaces 34 in the bifurcated rear end portions of the drawbars 27-28. Also as is clearly shown in Fig. 4 the slides 46 overlie both the upper and lower edges of the bifurcated drawbars, thus to prevent any tendency of the assembly to tilt in a transverse direction, while permitting the slides to be adjusted forwardly and rearwardly in the spaces 34 in adjusting the working angle of the blade. The slides 46 are locked in adjusted positions by means of lock pins 48 which may be thrust through any of a series of registering openings in the rear portions of the drawbars and the webs 47 of the slides, these openings being indicated throughout at 49. Cast integrally with each slide 46 or otherwise suitably secured thereto is a large hollow pivot stub or sleeve 50 which is circular in horizontal section and the open lower end of which is closed by a circular bottom plate 51 in which is a cap screw 52 welded to said bottom plate 51. These pivot stubs 50 are journaled or oscillatably mounted down into upwardly opening bearing sockets 53 which are formed in bearing members 54, the lower ends of such sockets 53 being closed except for central apertures 55 to pass the aforesaid cap screws 52, so that when the nuts 56 are screwed upon the lower ends of the cap screws then these bearing assemblies will be held against relative vertical displacement of the parts as will be readily understood. As is seen in Fig. 1 each bearing member 54 is provided with side plates 57 and 58 extending generally forwardly and rearwardly and the forward ends of these side plates fit between brackets 59 and 60 which are welded to the upper rear portion of the blade 44 adjacent each end thereof and above the rearwardly extending stiffening flange 61 which extend substantially the full length of the blade. A main pivot pin 62 then fits through the forward lower corners of the sides 57-58 of each bearing member 54 and through the brackets 59 and 60 so that the blade may tilt about the generally transverse axis of these main pivot pins 62 in order to adjust the tilt of the blade as aforesaid.

At the sides of the machine, outwardly of the bearing structures just described, there are hydraulic tilting rams only one of which appears at 63 and each of which has a cylinder 65 with its lower end pivotally attached by a pin.66 between the outer brackets 60 aforesaid and additional brackets 67 which are secured to the back of the blade 44 and extend rearwardly therefrom, parallel to the brackets 60. The cylinders 65 contain the usual pistons (not shown) from which are upwardly extended piston rods 68 the upper ends of which are pivoted by pins 69 in the upper portions of upright brackets 70 welded to the bearing members 54 aforesaid. Thus the admission of fluid to the upper or lower ends of the cylinders '65 to retract or extend the piston rods 68 will swing the blade about the axes of the pivot pins 62 and adjust the tilt of the blade to thereby provide the best angle of attack upon the ice-or compacted snow I (Fig. 2 on'theroad surface S (Fig. 2). ,In combination with the raising and lowering of the blades by the hold-down rams 36-37 and the angling of the blade by adjustmentof the slides 46 on the drawbars 27-28 this tilting adjustment provides for all necessary adjustments of the blade and I find that it is very effective in removing v a readily understood.

.raszsmsa 74. As the blade is raised and lowered the sway 'bar 75 moves forwardly and rearwardly in the guideway 22, which tilts as necessary by virtue of its pivotal supporting sleeves 19, and such sliding motion also occurs asthe "blade is angled and tilted. However, thesway :bar being laterally confined in the guideway, it effectively functions to overcome any tendency of the entire blade assem- -bly 'to sway or move toward either side of the vehicle, holding it to the'pathtnaveled'by the vehicle'as will be I InFig the blade 44 isshown as arranged to be tilted mechanically by contrast with the hydraulic tilting afforded by-t-he rams 63 as just described. -Where the "parts cor'respondin. both structures they are designated with respect to the bearing members andlthen locked in position by thrusting the pins 78 "through any of these openings 79; --As here shown .therexare" three of. such openings "79 in each bearing member permitting the blade to betilted to and locked in any one .ofthree different positions. Also in Fig. 5 I illustrate a .nniversal I joint connection at 80 between the hold-down ram piston rod 42. and the pin 43 on the drawbar27, whichmay 'beusedl'throughout ifdesirable.

Referring now to Figs. 6 through 11 .I will describe what I refer to herein as :the ice crushing mechanism or ice roller crusher forming a part of my present invention.

This mechanism is arranged in conjunction with a mounting' frame and tie bar assembly identical to that pre- "viously described with reference toFigs. '1 through 5 and Jslopinghighway or runway surfaces as will be readily ,;understood.

'against center' collars 104 engaging the inner races of the thrust bearings 8687 and entering the bearing housings 85 through dust and oil seals 105 provided in end plates 106 which are held by cap screws 107 to the opposite ends of the housings. The outermost disks 83 are held in place by outer collars 108 which slip over the extremities of the shaft 84 and which are forced into place by circular, marginally flanged retainer plates 189 held upon the ends of the shaft 84 by'means of cap screws 110 passing through the retainers and threaded into the shaft. It is important to note that the collars 103 and 10 8 are :all split longitudinally, as is designated at 111 in Fig. 11, and that each of these collars is beveled olf on one end at.112,to fit internal bevels 113 in the outer edges of the disk hubs 102. It will thus be evident that when the disks and collars are arranged upon the shaft 84 as shown all corresponding parts are. accordingly designated 'bythe "reference numerals heretofore used. This mechanism comprises two rotatably and oscillatably mounted disk gangs or sections, designatedgenerallyat 81' and 82, each of which .is. made up of'a s'eriesof circular disks designated 'throughout-at 8.3"and arranged side by side upon a commonshaft 84, as'is seen to best advantage in Fig. 9.

As":here shown the disks 83 are arranged in groups of fo'urlupon opposite end portions offthe shaft! and at oppositeisides of ahcenter bearing housing 85 within which are opposed thrust bearings 86'andj87 rotatably 'supporti'ngtheshaft 34 and bearing against-the opposite "sides of a diametrically enlarged centerrib 88' thereon.

. wardlyextending'trunnions 89 and 90,.asseen in Fig; 10,

which are oscillatably' mounted'fin bearing socketsg91 and 92 formed in trunnion bearings-93 and 9 4' 'depending and described herein'the retainer plates 10% may bring endwise pressure on the assemblies, at each side of the bearing housings 85 as the cap screws. 110 are bolted tight. The interfitting bevels 112-113 on the collars and hubs will then cause the collars 193 and 108 tobe constricted on the shaft and will'firmly lock all of the disks to the shaft to rotate as a unit therewith. It will,

however, be also understood that the disks may be vfreed forcrelative angularadjustment about ,the axis of the shaft merely by slightly loosening the cap screws 110. The cap screws'are protected by cover caps 114 held in place by cap screws 115, in order to protect them, as well as the ends of the shaft, and the-collar assembliesfrom the entrance of foreign matter of any kind.

I am aware that it has-been proposed heretofore to crush or" remove icefrom vehicular surfaces by the use 7 of disks; the peripheral edges of which are-:caused'to roll overthe iced surface. In accordance with my inventiomhowever, these peripheral edges 116 of the disks are not straight, as viewed from the'edg'e, but instead are iwrinkled or undulated so that alternate'portions of. the

:disks are offset in opposite directions, entirely around i the disks as designated at 117 118. The disks, however,

are truecircles as viewed in an axial direction, and these (wrinkled or undulated edges have ashattering effect upon the iced surface due to the lateralstresses to which the iceis subjected as the opposite undulations o-f the edges ---.of the rolling disks come: into contact therewith. Not

only does this configuration of 'the disks thus have an increased shattering and crushing effect uponthe ice but -{ff0111 slides 95 and. 5 ,6, which otherwise are identical to. the; slides 46 heretofore described. These slides,95--96 l are Zpositionedin the spaces34' in the bifurcated rear ends'of the drawbar s 27- 23 and "are held-.in properly spaced-apartrelation to support-thebearinghousings15 bymeans of removablelock pins 97 and 98 thrust through: a

' suitable'openings formed in the rear ends of the 'drawbars studio the webs of the slides and indicated throughout at f 99. "There are severallof such openings 99 in the-draw- :bars so thatthei disk gangs or"--sections may be adjusted lforwardly' or rearwardly as may be requiredgand the forw-ardmost slide 95 is provided with a rearward exten- I .re argslide 96- as ;a further aidin holding thes'lidesand 1 their associated trunnion bearings against ;spreadingnapart in a-forward or rearward direction. Thistrunnionsupprefer, .-.as 'shown'in'Fig: 6; to arrangecorrespondingly ,port for the diskggangs 81:482 permits each; to oscillate ina generally transverse-and vertical plane, so. that its ,jt ks zl fimay mmodat themselves to-irregulargor undulated portions of the disk edges on adjacentdisks in 1 directly opposing relation the disks may-as aforesaid be readily turned and adjusted..:about the. ages of the shafts ;84:,in order to 'set up the disks in'anyv desired relative positions which may be desiredtupon the: partof the -operator. ThiSiS one reason for the beveledhub and 1 I collar mounting for the disks 'uponrthe shaftsf84, in; ad'- dition to'which thismounting provides forztheconvenient replacement or the disks when necessary, as well. as 'for variationsin the distance, between adjacentdisksmerely by tusing-spacer collars 103 of varying lengths;v 0

In order,totiethe drawbars-27+28together transverse :ly and to attach them to the-sway bar 75I provide a tie bar or cross membendesignat'e'd,generally at 119,: At one end this tie bar 119 has a fork 120 to fit over upper and lower edges of the drawbar 27 to which this fork is then held by means of a bolt 121 passing through the space 34 in the drawbar. At the opposite end the tie bar is fitted with a tubular sleeve 122 in which the shank 123 of a similar fork 124 is fitted and held in any adjusted position by means of a lock collar 125 pinned to the shank inwardly of such sleeve, as is best seen in Fig. 7. The fork 124 is then attached by means of a bolt 126 to the other drawbar 28 in order to prevent the drawbars from spreading or moving relative to the other at their rear ends. At its center the tie bar is then provided with apertured lugs 127 to receive the aforesaid pin 72 by which the clevis 74 of the sway bar 75 is attached, as a further guard against transverse swaying motion of the assemblies with respect to the mounting frame and the vehicle. Stops 128 on the drawbars 27-28 prevent rearward displacement of the tie bar as well be readily evident.

It is understood that suitable modifications may be made in the structure as disclosed, provided such modifications come within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Having now therefore fully illustrated and described my invention, what I claim to be new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. In an ice and snow loosening mechanism of the character described for mounting beneath the body of a vehicle, a mounting frame secured to said body and including a rearwardly located tie frame having a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway, forwardly and rearwardly extending drawbars pivoted at their forward ends to said mounting frame for upward and downward movements at their rear ends, means connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars for moving the latter upwardly and downwardly at their rear ends, apparatus mounted on the drawbars for loosening ice and snow over which the vehicle travels, a member extending in a generally crosswise direction beneath the vehicle body and secured to said drawbars between their front and rear ends, and a sway bar pivotally attached to said last mentioned member for movement about a generally crosswise pivot axis and extending rearwardly therefrom and into said guideway for longitudinal sliding movement therein.

2. In an ice and snow loosening mechanism of the character described for mounting beneath the body of a vehicle, a mounting frame secured to said body and including a rearwardly located tie frame including a part pivoted on a transverse axis and having a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway, forwardly and rearwardly extending drawbars pivoted at' their forward ends to said mounting frame for upward and downward movements at their rear ends, hydraulic rams connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars for moving the latter upwardly and downwardly at their rear ends, means mounted on the drawbars for loosening ice and snow on a surface over which the vehicle travels, a member extending in a generally crosswise direction heneath the vehicle body and pivotally attached to said drawbars between their front and rear ends, and a'sway bar universally pivoted to said last mentioned member and extending rearwardly therefrom and into said guideway for longitudinal sliding movement therethrough, said guideway having a transverse dimension such as to engage the sides of the bar to restrict such sliding movement to a fore and aft path.

3. In an iceand snow cutting mechanism of the character described for mounting beneath the body of a vehicle,

a mounting frame secured tosaid body and including a rearwardly located tie frame having a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway, forwardly and rearwardly extending drawbars pivoted at their forward ends to said mounting frame for upward and downward movements at theirrear ends, means connected between the mounting'frame and the drawbars for moving the latter upwardly and downwardly at their rear ends, a member extending in a generally crosswise direction beneath the vehicle body and secured to said drawbars between their front and rear ends for vertical movement with the drawbars relative to said guideway, a sway bar pivotally attached on a crosswise pivot axis to said last mentioned member and extending rearwardly therefrom slidably into the guideway and laterally confined by said guideway, a generally transversely extending device for working upon ice and compacted snow over which the vehicle tnavels, mounting means for attaching said device to the drawbars, said mounting means including slides engaging the drawbars and movable forwardly and rearwardly thereon, means for securing said slides in adjusted positions upon said drawbars.

4. An underbody ice blade mechanism for mounting beneath a vehicle body, comprising a mounting frame secured to said vehicle body, a drawbar at each side of the frame and said drawbars being pivoted at forward ends to the frame for upward and downward swinging movements at their rear ends, slides on the rear end portions of the drawbars and adjustable forwardly and rearwardly thereupon, means for locking theslides in adjusted positions on the drawbars, an ice blade extending crosswise beneath the drawbars, a pair of brackets secured to the blade adjacent each end, a bearing member pivoted between each pair of brackets and said bearing members having upwardly opening sockets, pivot means extending downwardly from the slides and oscillatably mounted about generally upright axes in said sockets to pivotally connect the blade to the drawbars through said slides, means connected between the mounting frames and the drawbars to swing the latter upwardly and downwardly and vertically adjust the-blade with respect to the vehicle body, a tie frame forming a rear part of the mounting frame and having a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway, a swaybar slidable in said guideway and pivotally connected at its forward end to the back of the blade, and means for pivotally adjusting and locking the bearing members with respect to said brackets and the blade to thereby vary the tilt of the blade.

5. In an ice blade mechanism for mounting beneath 'a vehicle body, a mounting frame secured to said vehicle body, a drawbar at each side of the frame and said drawbars being pivoted at forward ends to the frame for upward and downward swinging movements at their rear ends, slides on the rear end portions of the drawbars and adjustable forwardly and rearwardly thereupon, means for locking the slides in adjusted positions on the drawbars, an ice blade extending crosswise beneath the drawbars, a pair of brackets secured to the blade adjacent each end, a bearing member pivoted between each pair of brackets and said bearing members having upwardly opening sockets, pivot means extending downwardly from the slides andoscillatably mounted about generally upright axes in said sockets to pivotally connect theblade to the drawbars through said slides, means connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars to swing the latter upwardly and downwardly and vertically adjust the blade with respect to the vehicle body, said bearing members having a series of openings and pins for locking the bearing members through said openings to the brackets to thereby vary the tilt of the blade. 6. An underbody ice blade mechanism for mounting beneath a vehicle body, comprising a mounting frame secured to said vehicle body, a drawbar at each side of the frame and said drawbars being pivoted at forward ends to the frame for upward and downward swinging movements at their rear ends, slides on the rear end portions of the'drawbars and adjustable forwardlyand rearwardly thereupon, means for locking the slides in adjusted positions on the drawbars, an ice blade extending crosswise beneath the drawbars, a pair ofbrackets secured to the blade adjacent each end, a bearing member pivoted between each pair of brackets and said'bearing 9 members having upwardly opening bearing sockets, pivot means extending downwardly from the slides and oscillatably mounted about generally upright axes in said sockets to pivotally connect the blade to the drawbars through said slides, hydraulic rams connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars to swing the latter upwardly and downwardly and vertically adjust the blade with respect to the vehicle body, a tie frame forming a rear part of the mounting frame and having a forwardly and rearwardly extending guideway, 21 sway bar slidable in said guideway and pivotally connected at its forward end to the back of the blade, supports connected to and extending upwardly from the bearing members, and hydraulic rams connected between said supports and the blade to vary the tilt of the blade.

7. In an underbody ice blade mechanism for mounting beneath a vehicle body, a mounting frame secured to said vehicle body, a drawbar at each side of the frame and said drawbars being pivoted at forward ends to the frame for upward and downward swinging movements at their rear ends, slides on the rear end portions of the drawbars and adjustable forwardly and rearwardly thereupon, means for locking the slides in adjusted positions on the drawbars, an ice blade extending crosswise beneath the drawbars, a pair of brackets secured to the blade adjacent each end, a bearing member pivoted between each pair of brackets and said bearing members having upwardly opening bearing sockets, pivot means extending downwardly from the slides and oscillatably mounted about generally upright axes in said sockets to pivotally connect the blade to the drawbars through said slides, means connecting the said pivot means in the bearing sockets to lock the bearing members against downward movement, means connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars to swing the latter upwardly and downwardly and vertically adjust the blade with respect to the vehicle body, and means for pivotally adjusting and locking the bearing members with respect to said brackets and the blade to thereby vary the tilt of the blade.

8. Mechanism for use upon a traveling frame and for crushing ice upon a surface traveled by said frame, comprising an assembly of circular disks, a shaft on which the disks are mounted in spaced apart relation, means connecting the shaft to said frame so that the peripheral edges of the disks will roll on and crush the ice on said surface, the peripheral edges of the disks being wrinkled and undulating from side to side entirely around the disks whereby to form ruts in the ice of varying widths, said disks having hubs to fit said shaft and one end of each of said hubs being internally beveled, split spacer collars located on the shaft between said hubs and each collar having an end externally beveled to fit the internally beveled end of the hubs, and means for exerting endwise pressure along the shaft on the assembly of hubs and collars to constrict the beveled ends of the collars within the beveled ends of the hubs and tightly around the shaft to lock the disks to the shaft.

9. Mechanism for use upon 'a traveling frame and for crushing ice upon a surface traveled by said frame,

comprising an assembly of circular disks, a shaft on which the disks are mounted in spaced apart relation, means connecting the shaft to said frame so that the peripheral edges of the disks will roll on and crush the ice on said surface, the peripheral edges of the disks being wrinkled and undulating from side to side entirely around the disks whereby to form ruts in the ice of varying widths, said disks having hubs to fit said shaft and one end of each of said hubs being beveled, split spacer collars located on the shaft between said hubs and each collar having an end beveled to fit the beveled end of the hubs, means for exerting endwise pressure on the assembly of disks, hubs and collars whereby said beveled ends of the hubs and collars will lock the disks to the shaft, said last mentioned means comprising caps at the ends of the shaft, cap screws passing through the cap into the shaft to crowd the caps endwise against the assembly of disks, hubs and collars thereon, and covers removably mounted over the caps and enclosing the cap screws.

10. In an ice and snow crushing mechanism of the character described for mounting beneath the body of a vehicle, a mounting frame secured to said body, forwardly and rearwardly extending drawbars pivoted at their forward ends to said mounting frame for upward and downward movements at their rear ends, means connected between the mounting frame and the drawbars for moving the latter upwardly and downwardly at their rear ends, a member extending in a generally crosswise direction beneath the vehiele body and secured to said drawbars between their front and rear ends, a pair of disk assemblies for working upon ice and compacted snow over which the vehicle travels, mounting means for attaching said disk assemblies one to each of the drawbars, said mounting means including slides engaging the drawbars and movable forwardly and rearward-1y thereon, means for securing said slides in adjusted po sitions upon said drawbars, and trunnions connecting said disk assemblies to the slides for oscillating movement of the assemblies in generally transverse and upright planes.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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