WIDE ICE RESURFACING MACHINE

RESURFACEUSE DE GLACE EXTRALARGE

English Abstract

There is provided an ice resurfacing machine for quickly resurfacing large ice
surfaces.
The ice resurfacing machine includes conventional ice resurfacing units with a
scraper, a
water delivery system and a squeegee. The ice resurfacing units extend from
one or both
sides of the ice resurfacing machine in order to resurface a wider strip of
ice as the ice
resurfacing machine moves.

French Abstract

On propose une resurfaceuse pour rapidement refaire la surface de grandes surfaces de glace. La resurfaceuse comprend des unités traditionnelles de resurfaçage avec un racloir, un système de distribution de leau et une raclette en caoutchouc. Les unités de resurfaçage de la glace sétendent à partir dun ou deux côtés sur la resurfaceuse pour resurfacer une bande de glace plus large comme la resurfaceuse se déplace.

Claims

We claim:
1. An ice resurfacing machine comprising:
a vehicle adapted for movement over the ice;
at least one ice resurfacing unit operatively connected to the back of said
vehicle;
wherein each of said at least one ice resurfacing unit comprises:
an arm;
a scraper operatively attached to said arm for scraping the ice surface;
a water delivery system; and
a squeegee;
wherein said at least one ice resurfacing unit extends laterally from a side
of said
vehicle for cleaning a greater width of ice than a width of said vehicle; and
wherein said arm of each of said at least one ice resurfacing unit is operable
to be
in one of a deployed configuration and a folded configuration.
2. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 1, wherein said at least one ice
resurfacing
comprises two ice resurfacing units.
3. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 1 or 2, wherein said deployed
configuration
corresponds to said arm of each of said at least one ice resurfacing unit
extending
laterally from a side of said vehicle.
4. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said
folded
configuration corresponds to said arm of each of said at least one ice
resurfacing
unit being substantially parallel to a side wall of said vehicle.
5. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 4, further
including
hydraulic cylinders operable to move each of said at least one ice resurfacing
units between said deployed configuration and said folded configuration.
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6. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each of
said at
least one ice resurfacing unit further includes an auger for collecting ice
scraped
by said scraper.
7. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the
water
delivery system of each of said at least one ice resurfacing unit comprises
heating
elements.
8. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said
water
delivery system of each of said at least one ice resurfacing unit comprises a
pipe
having apertures thereon.
9. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 8, further comprising a water tank
operatively connected to said pipe of each of said at least one ice
resurfacing unit.
10. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 9, further including a heater for
heating said
water tank.
11. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein each of
said at
least one ice resurfacing units extends laterally from a side of said vehicle
at an
angle between 0 and 90 degrees.
12. The ice resurfacing machine of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein each of
said at
least one ice resurfacing unit further includes a wheel at a distal end of
said arm.
13. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 12, wherein the wheels are powered.
14. The ice resurfacing machine of claim 13, wherein each of said at least one
ice
resurfacing unit further includes a support member extending between a side of
said vehicle and said arm.
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Description

CA 02690767 2010-01-21
WIDE ICE RESURFACING MACHINE
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ice resurfacing machine. In particular, the
present
invention relates to ice resurfacing machine having the capacity to resurface
a wider
surface of ice than a traditional ice resurfacing machine.
Background
Ice resurfacing machines, often referred to as "zambonis", are well known and
are
typically used to resurface hockey rinks, skating arenas and other ice
surfaces. These
consist generally of a vehicle on which an ice resurfacing unit is installed
at the back end,
so that as the operator drives the vehicle on the ice, a trail of clean ice
with a thin film of
water is left behind.
In the prior art, the width of the resurfacing unit is typically the width of
the vehicle.
This means that an operator of an ice resurfacing machine must drive over
every square
inch of the ice surface, a process which can take as much as 10 minutes on a
regular sized
hockey rink. For larger ice surfaces, such as for example, the Rideau Canal in
Ottawa,
Ontario, this problem is compounded, as the cost of operating an ice
resurfacing machine
for the time it takes to resurface the entire ice surface can be prohibitive.
Thus, there is a need for an ice resurfacing machine which can resurface a
larger amount
of ice at a time.
Summary of the Invention
According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, there is
provided an ice
resurfacing machine having a resurfacing unit with a width which is greater
than the
width of the machine.
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According to at least another embodiment, there is provided an ice resurfacing
machine
having an arm extending from one side of the machine, the arm comprising a
resurfacing
unit.
According to at least another embodiment, there is provided an ice resurfacing
machine
having an arm extending from both sides of the machine, both arms comprising a
resurfacing unit.
In the above described embodiments, the arms, or the wide resurfacing units
can be in a
deployed configuration or in a folded configuration. In the folded
configuration, the arms
are essentially parallel to the vehicle, thereby allowing the ice resurfacing
machine to
drive through narrow passageways, such as the gate of a hockey rink. In the
deployed
configuration, the arms are extended sideways for operation.
The ice resurfacing units are of the conventional type. In particular, in at
least one
embodiment, the ice resurfacing units comprise a scraper, a water delivery
system, and a
squeegee which spreads the water evenly over the ice surface.
According to at least one embodiment, the arms also comprise an auger which
collects
the ice shaved by the scraper, and transports it to a holding container, where
it can be
melted into water which can be used by the ice resurfacing machine.
According to at least another embodiment, advantageously designed for outdoor
use, the
water delivery system further includes heating elements to ensure that the
water is not
frozen prior to use.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The present disclosure will be better understood with reference to the
drawings in which:
Figure 1 is an elevated view of a vehicle in accordance with one embodiment of
the
present disclosure operating on an ice surface.
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Figure 2 is an elevated view of a vehicle in accordance with another
embodiment of the
present disclosure operating on an ice surface.
Detailed Description
In at least one embodiment, the ice resurfacing machine of the present
disclosure includes
a vehicle having an engine. The engine powers the movement of the vehicle, and
in some
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CA 02690767 2010-01-21
embodiments, the power of the engine can be used to power all other elements
of the ice
resurfacing machine. In some embodiments, an additional power source may be
needed.
In at least one embodiment, a prior art ice resurfacing machine can be adapted
to include
the features of the present disclosure. Specifically, a prior art ice
resurfacing machine
includes a vehicle having an engine, a water tank, a heater to heat the water
tank, and a
ice resurfacing unit at the back end of the vehicle. The ice resurfacing unit
is typically
moveable between a lowered position (for when the machine is in operation) and
an
elevated position (for when the machine is not in operation). In some prior
art ice
resurfacing machines, there is also included an auger for collecting the ice
shavings and
transporting them to the water tank where they are melted.
Such a prior art resurfacing machine can be adapted to include the features of
the present
disclosure by adding to it an extendible side arm having thereon an ice
resurfacing unit.
The arm is attached generally near the back end of the vehicle, and extends
sideways so
that the ice resurfacing unit is in contact with the ice while the vehicle is
in operation.
It should be noted that in the present disclosure, the term "arm" is used to
refer to any
kind of extension capable of extending sideways from the vehicle and support
at least one
ice resurfacing unit.
The arm may be folded in order to allow the vehicle to pass through
passageways such as
the gate of a hockey rink. According to at least one embodiment, the arm folds
and
unfolds using hydraulic cylinders, however other means of folding and
unfolding the
arms may be known in the art and the above is not intended to be limiting.
The arm generally consists of a frame carrying a blade to scrape off the old
ice surface.
A water delivery system is typically disposed behind the blade. The water
delivery
system consists of at least a single pipe extending the entire length of the
arm and having
apertures at regular intervals for delivering water to the ice surface. As
will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art, a pipe or a hose delivers water from
the water tank
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CA 02690767 2010-01-21
to the arm's water delivery system. The arm further includes a squeegee which
picks up
and evenly spreads excess water deposited by the water delivery system.
According to at least one embodiment, the arm also include an auger which
collects the
snow and ice shavings and stores them in a holding tank, within the vehicle,
to be used as
a source of water.
According to at least one embodiment, the arm's ice resurfacing unit is
aligned with the
main (i.e. conventional) ice resurfacing unit so that during operation, an
uninterrupted
length of fresh ice is created.
According to at least another embodiment, the arm may be deployed at different
angles,
so that the arm's effective length can be varied.
According to at least another embodiment, the arm further includes wheels at
the end
thereof to maintain stability and to prevent sliding. In one embodiment, the
wheels may
be powered. If the wheels are not powered or if the wheels are not provided,
it may be
necessary in some embodiments to provide the arm with a support member to
compensate for sliding. Such a support member could consist of an additional
arm
extending from the side of the vehicle to a point on the main arm.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that in the event the
wheels are powered,
an axle or other means of providing the power to the wheels extends along the
arm.
According to at least another embodiment, a prior art ice resurfacing machine
can be
adapted to include one arm on each side.
According to at least another embodiment, there is provided an ice resurfacing
machine
including a vehicle having an engine, a water tank, a heater to heat the water
tank, and
two arms having thereon an ice surfacing unit.
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CA 02690767 2010-01-21
The two arms are foldable in a folded position where each arm is positioned
substantially
parallel to the side of the vehicle. The two arms may also be deployed so that
they touch
each other at the rear of the vehicle and they extend sideways of the vehicle.
These two arms can also include a blade, a water delivery system, a squeegee,
and
optionally an auger to collect ice shavings. Water can be provided to the
water delivery
system via pipes or hoses. In at least one embodiment, heating elements are
provided
near the pipes to prevent the water from freezing before it is used.
Depending on their length, the arms may fold at a single point, or at multiple
points. As
would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, if the arms have a length
which is
approximately equal to or less than the length of the vehicle, they may fold
at a single
point near the rear of the vehicle. If however the arms are longer than the
vehicle, it is
preferable to fold the arms at more than one point, so that any individual
segment is not
substantially longer than the length of the vehicle.
In an embodiment where arms fold at multiple points, the individual segments
of the
arms may be foldably connected by hydraulic cylinders powered by the vehicle's
engine.
However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the above is merely an
example and
is not intended to be limiting.
In operation on an indoor hockey rink, the present ice resurfacing machine may
resurface
the entire ice surface in only one lap, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows
an ice hockey
rink 10 being resurfaced by ice resurfacing machine 12.
Ice resurfacing machine 12 includes a conventional ice resurfacing unit 14 at
the back of
the vehicle and an arm 16 projecting sideways from the machine 12 also
equipped with
an ice resurfacing unit. The grayed out portion 18 shows the ice surface
already
resurfaced by machine 12. As can be seen from Figure 1, arm 16 extends all the
way to a
dotted line 13 at the center of the ice. Therefore, if the machine 12 follows
the trajectory
defined by dotted line 11, the entire ice surface can be resurfaced in just
one lap of the

CA 02690767 2010-01-21
machine 12. As would be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the area 17
will be
resurfaced by the conventional ice resurfacing unit 14 and the area 15 will be
resurfaced
by the arm 16.
Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention having two arms 24 and
26
extending sideways from the ice resurfacing machine 22. As can be seen from
Figure 2,
in this embodiment, both arms meet at a point behind the machine 22 so that
there are no
gaps in the resurfaced ice (shown by numeral 28).
In some embodiments, the present invention also includes an ice safety
mechanism, to
ensure that the ice is thick enough to support the weight of the vehicle.
It should be appreciated that the present invention may be practiced to
achieve any width
desired. In one embodiment, the operative width of the ice resurfacing machine
is 150
feet, however this is not limiting and even greater widths can be achieved.
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Representative Drawing