Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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SNOW BLOWER WITH MULTIPLE DISCHARGE PORTS
This invention is in the field of snow removal equipment and in particular a
snow
throwing apparatus with multiple discharge ports.
Snow blowers are well known for removing snow from roads, parking lots, and
like
surfaces. Snow blowers generally have a collector housing which includes side
walls
extending forward from a rear wall and is configured to collect or gather snow
and direct
same into an impeller as the snow blower moves forward into the snow. The
impeller is
mounted on a drive shaft that is rotated by a tractor power takeoff (pto) or
like power
source. The impeller is mounted generally in the center of the collector
housing, and a
discharge opening or port is defined in the collector housing above the
impeller and the
snow is thrown out through the discharge port by centrifugal force generated
by the
rotating impeller. The collector housing is typically mounted on a frame which
is
adapted to be mounted to a vehicle, typically a tractor. The necessary
gearboxes, drive
shafts, and the like are also mounted to the frame.
As the snow blower moves into the snow, the collector housing directs the snow
into the
impeller and the impeller blows the snow out through the discharge port.
Typically an
upright curved chute is mounted above the discharge port such that discharged
snow
moves out through the discharge port and up the chute and around the curved
portion of
the chute to be discharged laterally. The chute can typically be rotated about
a vertical
axis to direct the discharged snow to the right or left sides of the snow
blower, or in a
direction between right and left limits of the range of chute movement.
United States Patent Number 6,154,985 to Champagne et al. discloses in Fig. I
thereof a
snow blower with a horizontal. cross auger mounted across the collector
housing and
rotating about a horizontal axis oriented perpendicular to the operating
travel direction.
The impeller is provided by a pair of impeller blades mounted on the middle of
the cross
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auger shaft. Snow is moved toward the center of the collector housing by right
and left
handed auger flighting on corresponding ends of the auger shaft. Radially
extending
impeller blades are mounted on the center of the auger shaft and snow
contacting the
impeller blades is thrown upward and out of the collector housing through the
discharge
port and into a chute.
Fig. 7 of the Champagne et al. patent shows a different style of impeller
located in the
center of the rear wall of the collector housing where a number of impeller
blades extend
radially from a drive shaft oriented horizontal and parallel to the operating
travel
direction. The impeller is mounted inside a cylindrical impeller shroud or
drum
configured such that ends of the impeller blades are close to the inner
surface of the
drum, and the discharge port is defined in the cylindrical wall of the drum.
Again a cross
auger moves snow to the middle where same then moves rearward as the snow
blower
moves forward such that the snow contacts the impeller blades and is thrown
out through
the discharge port.
It is also known to provide a rotatable impeller drum on snow blowers. The
chute is
typically located above the impeller, and the drum can be rotated to align the
discharge
port with the chute to discharge upward through the chute, but also can be
rotated to align
the discharge port to the right or left of the chute, such that snow is
discharged directly
from the drum without moving through the chute. The framework of the snow
blower is
configured to allow the discharged snow to pass out of the discharge port
without
contacting frame parts.
Discharging the snow directly from the impeller drum to the right or left
locations
requires reduced power. Although the snow is generally not thrown as far as it
is when
passing up through the chute, and also the direction of the thrown snow cannot
be
controlled as it can be with the chute, the option to discharge directly from
the discharge
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port in the drum allows the operator to reduce power requirements if desired.
Especially
when the snow is wet and heavy, the power reduction can be beneficial.
The front of the impeller drum is typically supported on a circular lip that
extends
rearward from the back wall of the collector housing into the front of the
drum. A wear
strip of plastic or like material is mounted between the inner surface of the
front edge of
the drum and the lip. The rear end of the drum is supported on rollers, wear
pads, or the
like and the drum is rotated by a hydraulic motor that engages a gear on the
drum.
As the impeller moves snow rapidly against the inner surface of the drum,
friction exerts
a rotating force on the drum, and the drum commonly creeps out of position.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a snow blower apparatus
that overcomes
problems in the prior art.
The present invention provides a snow blower apparatus comprising a snow
blower
frame, and a collector housing mounted to the snow blower frame. The collector
housing
comprises an upright rear housing wall defining a substantially circular drum
opening.
An impeller drum has a substantially cylindrical side wall, a rear drum wall,
and an open
front end. A discharge port is defined in the side wall of the impeller drum,
and a drive
shaft port is defined substantially in a center of the rear drum wall. The
open front end of
the impeller drum is rotatably supported on a rear side of the rear housing
wall such that
the open front end of the impeller drum coincides with the drum opening in the
rear
housing wall, and a drum bearing located substantially at a center of a rear
side of the rear
drum wall rotatably supports a rear end of the impeller drum on the snow
blower frame.
such that the impeller drum is rotatable about a drum axis oriented
substantially
horizontally and parallel to an operating travel direction. An impeller is
rotatably
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mounted in the impeller drum on a drive shaft oriented substantially
horizontally and
parallel to the operating travel direction, the drive shaft extending through
the drive shaft
port to a rotating power source. A hydraulic cylinder is pivotally attached at
a first end
thereof to the snow blower frame and pivotally attached at an opposite second
end thereof
to the rear drum wall of the impeller drum. The hydraulic cylinder is
operative to rotate
the impeller drum about the drum axis from a right drum position, where the
discharge
port is oriented to discharge snow toward a right side of the collector
housing, to a left
drum position where the discharge port is oriented to discharge snow toward a
left side of
the collector housing.
The claimed apparatus provides a stronger more stable assembly, with reduced
random
movement of the impeller drum due to frictional forces exerted by snow moved
rapidly
inside the drum by the impeller.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
While the invention is claimed in the concluding portions hereof, preferred
embodiments
are provided in the accompanying detailed description which may be best
understood in
conjunction with the accompanying diagrams where like parts in each of the
several
diagrams are labeled with like numbers, and where:
Fig. I is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a snow blower
apparatus
of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a rear view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 with the impeller drum in
the right
drum position;
Fig. 3 is a rear view of the embodiment of Fig. 1 with the impeller drum in
the
intermediate chute drum position;
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Fig. 4 is a rear view of the embodiment of Fig. I with the impeller drum in
the left
drum position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
Figs. 1 - 4 illustrate an embodiment of a snow blower apparatus I of the
present
invention. The snow blower apparatus I comprises a snow blower frame 3, and a
collector housing 5 mounted to the snow blower frame 3. The collector housing
5
comprises an upright rear housing wall 7 defining a substantially circular
drum opening
9. Housing side walls 11 extend forward from ends of the rear housing wall 7.
The
frame 3 is configured to be mounted to tractor and moved in a forward
operating travel
direction F so that snow is collected between the housing side walls 11. A
cross auger
(not shown) as is known in the art is mounted across the front of the
collector housing 5
and moves the collected snow toward the middle of the collector housing S.
An impeller drum 13 includes a substantially cylindrical side wall 15, a rear
drum wall
17, and an open front end 19. A discharge port 21 is defined in the side wall
15 of the
impeller drum 13. A drive shaft port 22 is defined substantially in a center
of the rear
drum wall 17.
The open front end 19 of the impeller drum 13 is rotatably supported on a rear
side of the
rear housing wall 7 such that the open front end 19 of the impeller drum 13
coincides
with the drum opening 9 in the rear housing wall 7. In the illustrated
apparatus 1, a lip 25
extends rearward from a periphery of the drum opening 9 in the rear housing
wall 7 and
into the open front end 19 of the impeller drum 13 to rotatably support the
open front end
19 of the impeller drum 13 on the rear side of the rear housing wall 7. A
strip of UHMW
(ultra high molecular weight) polyethylene 27 is placed between the lip 25 and
the inner
surface of the impeller drum 13 to reduce friction and wear.
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A drum bearing 29 is located substantially at a center of a rear side of the
rear drum wall
17 and rotatably supports the rear end of the impeller drum 13 on a rear
member 3A of
the snow blower frame 3. In the illustrated apparatus I the drum bearing 29 is
provided
by a cylindrical bearing surface 31 of the rear member 3A of the snow blower
frame 3
extends forward into a cylindrical recess 33 at the center of a rear side of
the rear drum
wall 17. A bushing 35 between the inner surface of the recess 33 and the
bearing surface
31 reduces friction and wear.
Thus the impeller drum 13 is rotatable about a drum axis DA oriented
substantially
horizontally and parallel to the operating travel direction F.
An impeller 37 is rotatably mounted in the impeller drum 13 on a drive shaft
39 oriented
substantially horizontally and parallel to the operating travel direction F.
The drive shaft
39 extends through the drive shaft port 23 to a rotating power source. In the
illustrated
apparatus 1, the drive shaft 39 extends through the cylindrical recess 33 and
cylindrical
bearing surface 31 and is connected to a gear box 41 mounted on the rear
member 3A of
the snow blower frame 3 rearward of the impeller drum 13. A power shaft 43
also
connected to the gear box 41 is adapted for connection to a tractor power take
off by a
power take off shaft with universal joints as is known in the art. A cross
auger shaft 45
is also shown extending from the gear box 41 and is connected to a drive train
to rotate
the cross auger (not shown).
Snow moved to the middle of the collector housing 5 by the cross auger thus
moves
rearward through the drum opening 9 into the open front end 19 of the impeller
drum 13
and into the impeller 37 as the collector housing 5 moves forward into the
snow. The
rotating impeller moves the snow rapidly along the inner surface of the
cylindrical side
wall 15 of the impeller drum 13 until the snow reaches the discharge port 21
where the
snow is blown out of the impeller drum 13.
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In the illustrated apparatus 1 of the present invention the orientation of the
impeller drum
is changed by a hydraulic cylinder 47 pivotally attached at a first end 47A
thereof to the
snow blower frame 3 and pivotally attached at an opposite second end 47B
thereof to the
rear drum wall 17 of the impeller drum 13. As best seen in Fig. 1, the
discharge port 21
on the impeller drum 13 opens into a snow guide 49 with walls oriented to
guide or
control the direction of travel of the snow that is thrown centrifugally out
of the impeller
drum 13.
The hydraulic cylinder 47 is operative to rotate the impeller drum 13 about
the drum axis
DA from a right drum position illustrated in Fig. 2, where the discharge port
21 and snow
guide 49 are oriented to discharge snow toward a right side of the collector
housing 5, to
a left drum position illustrated in Fig. 4 where the discharge port 21 and
snow guide 49
are oriented to discharge snow toward a left side of the collector housing 5.
In the illustrated apparatus 1, the first end 47A of the hydraulic cylinder 47
is pivotally
connected to the snow blower frame 3 at a bracket 51 located lateral to a
lower portion of
the impeller drum 13 below the drum bearing 29, and the second end 47B of the
hydraulic cylinder 47 is pivotally connected to the impeller drum 13 by a pin
connection
53 rearward of the rear drum wall 17 below the drum bearing 29. Thus when the
hydraulic cylinder 47 is retracted as illustrated in Fig. 2, the impeller drum
13 is in the
right drum position, and the hydraulic cylinder 47 extends across a lower
portion of the
rear drum wall 17 under the drum bearing 29. The snow guide 49 is aligned with
a snow
sleeve 55 fixed to the snow blower frame 3 and configured such that when the
impeller
drum 13 is in the right drum position, snow 57 discharges through the
discharge port 21
in the impeller drum 13, through the snow guide 49 and into an open lower end
of the
snow sleeve 55 and out an open end of the snow sleeve 55.
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When the hydraulic cylinder 47 is extended as illustrated in Fig. 4, the
impeller drum 13
is in the left drum position, and the discharge port 21 and snow guide 49 are
aligned with
an opening 59 in the snow blower frame 3, and snow 57 discharges through the
discharge
port 21 in the impeller drum 13, through the snow guide 49 and the opening 59
in the
snow blower frame 3.
The illustrated apparatus 1 includes a chute 61 mounted to the snow blower
frame 31 and
extending upward from an open bottom end thereof located above the impeller
drum 13.
When the impeller drum 13 is in a chute drum position, illustrated in Fig. 3,
that is
between the right and left drum positions, the discharge port 21 and snow
guide 49 are
aligned with the open bottom end of the chute 61 and snow 57 discharges
through the
discharge port 21 in the impeller drum 13, through the snow guide 49 and
upward into
the open bottom end of the chute 61 and out the output end 63 of the chute 61.
The chute 61 is curved such that snow entering the open bottom end of the
chute 57 is
discharged laterally through the output end 63 of the chute 61. The chute 61
is rotatable
about an upright chute axis CA, and an actuator, illustrated as hydraulic
motor 65, is
operative to rotate the chute 61 about the chute axis CA to discharge snow in
right and
left directions as desired.
Supporting the rear end of the impeller drum 13 on a central drum bearing 29
rather than
on rollers increases the stability of the assembly. While the friction forces
exerted by
snow moving rapidly against the inner surface of the impeller drum 13 cause
the prior art
rotating mechanisms using hydraulic motors to creep out of position, these
forces are
resisted by the hydraulic cylinder 47, and the impeller drum 13 stays in the
desired
position until the hydraulic cylinder 47 is activated by an operator moving a
control.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention.
Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those
skilled in
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the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction
and operation
shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or
modifications in
structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within
the scope of
the claimed invention.
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