Front retracting plow with sliding blade sections

• US 9,528,234 B1
• Filed: 05/24/2016
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Equipement VTC Mfg Inc
• Original Assignee: Equipement VTC Mfg Inc
• Inventors: Pigeon, Norbert
• Primary Examiner(s): MCGOWAN, JAMIE LOUISE
• Application Number:
  US15/163,019
• Time in Patent Office: 217 Days
• Field of Search: 172/222, 172/228, 172/815, 172/314, 172/820, 172/618, 172/628, 372/16, 372/18, 372/81, 372/74
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/062 by scraper blades displaceable for shock-absorbing purposes
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/065 characterised by the form of the snow-plough blade, e.g. flexible, or by snow-plough blade accessories E01H5/061, E01H5/063 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/066 Snow-plough blade accessories, e.g. deflector plates, skid shoes
• CPC Class Codes: E01H 5/12 Apparatus or implements specially adapted for breaking, disintegrating, or loosening layers of ice or hard snow with or without clearing or removing E01H5/10 takes precedence; Roughening ice or hard snow by means of tools by means of gritting materials E01H10/00; roughening or breaking-up pavements E01C23/08, E01C23/12
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/76 Graders, bulldozers, or the like with scraper plates or ploughshare-like elements soil-working A01B; Levelling scarifying devices street cleaning E01H; construction of roads E01C19/00, E01C23/00
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/7622 Scraper equipment with the scraper blade mounted on a frame to be hitched to the tractor by bars, arms, chains or the like, the frame having no ground supporting means of its own, e.g. drag scrapers
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/8155 provided with movable parts, e.g. cutting discs, vibrating teeth or the like
• CPC Class Codes: E02F 3/8157 Shock absorbers; Supports, e.g. skids, rollers; Devices for compensating wear-and-tear, or the like

Abstract

A front retracting plow comprising a vehicle mount for mounting the plow ahead of a tractor vehicle, a stationary intermediate blade mounted to the vehicle mount and at least one pair of opposite first and second relatively slidable lateral blades for travel in independently controlled fore and aft paths parallel to each other, and a pivotal linkage arm assembly interconnecting the at least one pair of lateral blades and the intermediate blade and for continuous sliding operational motion of the lateral blades parallel to one another in opposite directions wherein a laterally continuous forward ground scraping action is achieved.

Claims

1. A front retracting plow comprising a vehicle mount for mounting the plow ahead of a tractor vehicle, a plow frame including an overlying platform releasably mounted to the vehicle mount, a stationary intermediate blade pivotally mounted to said platform and at least one pair of opposite first and second lateral blades, slidably mounted to said platform along sliding grooves therein, means for mounting said intermediate blade to said lateral blades for non-translational relative movement of each one of said first and second lateral blades relative to said intermediate blade for travel in independently controlled fore and aft paths parallel to each other, and a pivotal linkage arm assembly interconnecting said at least one pair of lateral blades to said intermediate blade and for continuous sliding operational motion of said lateral blades parallel to one another in opposite directions between an intermediate position, where all lateral blades and intermediate blade are transversely aligned, a first limit position where said first lateral blade of each pair of said lateral blades is at a rearwardmost limit position and said second lateral blade of each pair of said lateral blades is at a frontwardmost limit position, and a second limit position, where said first lateral blade of each pair of said lateral blades is at a frontwardmost limit position and said other of each pair of said lateral blades is at a rearwardmost limit position, wherein a laterally continuous forward ground scraping action is achieved between all said lateral blades and said intermediate blade.

2. A front retracting plow as in claim 1,

further including hydraulic ram power means power operating said pivotal linkage arm assembly.

3. A front retracting plow as in claim 2,

wherein there are two pairs of said lateral blades.

4. A front retracting plow as in claim 2,

wherein each said intermediate blade and each of said lateral blades define a bottom edge portion, and further including secondary blades each mounted for relative movement at a pivot mount to said bottom edge portion of each of corresponding said intermediate blade and said lateral blades, biasing means biasing said secondary blades in an operative downwardly forwardly inclined ground engaging condition but capable of yielding responsively to excess loads sustained to move to an inoperative downwardly rearwardly inclined ground clearing condition.

5. A front retracting plow as in claim 4,

further including adjustment means for adjusting the angular value of said secondary blade in said operative ground engaging condition thereof.

6. A front retracting plow as in claim 5,

wherein said angular value adjusting adjustment means includes a hydraulic ram interconnecting a top portion of the vehicle mount to a lower portion of the platform, said ram defining a socket and a piston rod, and a threaded complementary endless screw type interconnection being provided between an intermediate section of said piston rod with the bottom portion of said socket, wherein in an operating condition of said ram, said ram is in float position, the rod and socket moving freely to allow up and down movement thereof to follow ground contour changes.

7. A front retracting plow as in claim 4,

further including slider carriage plates mounted over each platform sliding grooves, between said lateral blades and said pivotal linkage arm assembly, and clamping said blade members and keeping them parallel with respect to a vertical plane longitudinal to the tractor.

8. A front retracting plow as in claim 6,

further including adjustment means for adjustment of the load of the coil springs, said load adjustment means being of the endless screw type interconnection between a bottom end portion of said rod and a pivotal assembly socket mounted to an rearward portion of a corresponding said secondary blade.

9. A front retracting plow as in claim 8,

wherein the angular value between said secondary blade and a vertical plane intersecting said secondary blade pivot mount widthwise of said plow in operative condition of said scraping blade is about 10°

.

10. A front retracting plow as in claim 4,

further including a ground engaging shoe, pivotally mounted to an underside portion of each said secondary blade.