Front-end loader finish grading apparatus

• US 20060249293A1
• Filed: 05/03/2005
• Published: 11/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Frank Stanaland Christian
• Original Assignee: Frank Stanaland Christian
• Inventors: Christian, Frank Stanaland
• Application Number:
  US11/120,597
• Publication Number:
  US 20060249293A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 172/684.500
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/8152 Attachments therefor, e.g. wear resisting parts, cutting edges E02F3/8155, E02F3/8157 take precedence; teeth per se E02F9/28
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/8155 provided with movable parts, e.g. cutting discs, vibrating teeth or the like

Abstract

An attachment apparatus, which represents a reconfiguration and redesign of the traditional box blade, to enable a front-end loader type machine to finish grade a land surface having a cutting edge or blade, a rigid frame, a method of attachment of rigid frame to a given front-end loader, such as a skid-steer loader, a pair of gauge wheels attached to the rigid frame just before the cutting edge, which are able to move vertically under variable tension between two limiting positions, whose exact location and resistance is either fixed or adjustable manually. To achieve its purpose the apparatus has been designed to correlate the physics of a “forward moving, pushing and lifting machine” with the requirements of the grading process and thereby extend the traditionally limited use of a front-end loader machine into the finish grading market.

Claims

1. An attachment apparatus, which represents a reconfiguration and redesign of the traditional box blade, to enable a front-end loader type machine to finish grade a land surface, comprising:

a cutting edge or blade attached to a rigid frame and set at a right angle to the central axis of the machine;

the front of said cutting edge facing away from the front of the loader machine;

said cutting edge set at a distance far enough ahead of the loader machine such that operator can see the bottom of the cutting edge from the rear;

2. said rigid frame, comprising:

a front panel perpendicular to the central axis of the machine to support the cutting edge;

two side panels extending ahead and behind the cutting edge and attached at right angles to the ends of the front cross panel such that two spaces are created, one in front of and one behind the cutting edge where material can be collected;

a rear cross panel parallel to the front cross panel completing the enclosure of the space behind the cutting edge;

3. An attachment apparatus for a front-end loader style machine, comprising:

a method or means of attachment of the rigid frame and cutting edge to a front-end loader style machine as required by the individual type of loader and mounted to the rear of the rear cross panel;

4. An attachment apparatus to enable a front-end loader style machine to finish grade a land surface, comprising:

a pair of ground supports or gauge wheels set immediately in front of the cutting edge and attached to the sides of the rigid frame;

said ground supports able to slide or move vertically;

5. said vertical movement of ground supports resisted by source of tension that is variable and increases as ground supports move upwards;

said vertical movement of ground supports operating between two limiting positions, a lowest position where bottom edge of ground supports are even with bottom edge of cutting edge and whose tension is manually adjustable, up to a highest position created by an external stop, whose exact location is also vertically and manually adjustable;

6. said vertical movement of ground supports being effected by no other external or automatic or powered means that the forces exerted by the loader style machine as transmitted through the lift and/or curl functions of the loader arms and/or the terrain supporting the ground supports.

7. An attachment apparatus to enable a front-end loader style machine to finish grade a land surface, comprising:

a row of scarifier teeth set in a rigid cross member and located before the sides of the rigid frame and cutting edge;

said scarifier teeth being individually adjustable vertically or removeable;

8. said row of scarifier teeth as a whole being liftable out of the way of cutting edge and made inoperable;