JPS633083B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a load detection and safety device for a snow blower that detects the load on the snow layer to control the amount of snow removed, and also detects obstacles in the snow to protect the machine base. be.

As a type of snow blower, an auger-type snow blower is known that is equipped with an auger that crushes and scrapes snow, and a blower that throws the shoveled snow from a snow shovel. The auger of this type of snow blower is formed in a spiral shape and is mounted on a shaft at the front end of the machine base perpendicular to the direction of movement of the machine base, and by rotating the outer peripheral front end in a downward direction, Its spiral action sweeps snow toward the blower, which then scoops up the snow and throws it out of the machine.

On the other hand, snow conditions on roads that require snow removal include soft new snow that has just fallen, snow that has become hard and compacted several days after snowfall (hereinafter referred to as old snow), and snow that has fallen in the lower layer. There are three types of snow: old snow and new snow on top. And if there is only fresh snow,
Since the snow is soft and the amount of snowfall is limited, snow removal is easy unless there is a particularly large amount of snowfall, and the running speed of the machine base can be increased. However, in the case of old snow, if the traveling speed is high, the auger will often dig into the hard snow, resulting in an overload and the engine stopping, and the work will be extremely inefficient, such as having to thin the snow removal layer and start again. It was hot. Therefore, if the driving speed is unavoidably slowed down to match the old snow, it will take a longer time than necessary to clear the new snow, causing problems such as not being able to clear the snow from the school route in time for the commute to school. Ta.

Therefore, in order to efficiently deal with both new and old snow, it is conceivable to install separate transmission devices for the machine running speed and the auger rotation speed, but this would result in a complicated structure. The disadvantage is that it cannot be provided at a low price.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and includes a flat snow cutting plate that projects from the front of the snow removal auger that slopes higher toward the front end, and a soft tire at the rear of the machine base. By installing a drive wheel consisting of In this case, the present invention provides a load detection and safety device for a snow blower that is configured to enable high-speed snow removal and also detect obstacles in the snow to prevent damage to the machine base. be.

Hereinafter, its configuration and the like will be explained in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings.

1 to 3 show a load detection and safety device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view of a snow blower implementing this device, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the main parts of the snow removal device, and FIG.
The figure is also a front view. In these figures, a snow remover 1 includes a drive vehicle 2 and a snow removal device 3 detachably connected to the drive vehicle 2. The drive wheel 2 includes a pair of left and right connecting plates 4, a transmission case 5 attached to one of the connecting plates 4, and a U-shaped frame 6 in plan view that connects the other connecting plate 4 and the conductive case 5. An engine 8 is mounted on a base 7 integrally formed at the rear end of the frame 6. Further, on the left and right connecting plates 4, a handle 9 for steering the machine base is provided to protrude obliquely toward the rear, and an operating device including a traveling clutch lever 10 and the like is attached to the handle 9. There is. Furthermore, an input shaft 11 that is belt-driven and connected to the engine 8 is pivotally supported at the upper end of the transmission case 5 . The signal is configured to be transmitted to the axle shaft 13 at the lower end of the transmission case 5 through the device. The drive wheels 14 are low-pressure, wide-width soft tires such as those used for rice harvesting in wet fields. This one-wheel type drive vehicle 2 has one drive wheel 1 at the center of the axle 13.
4 is attached to the shaft. Furthermore, a pair of upper and lower notches are provided at the front ends of the left and right connecting plates 4, and an L-shaped lever is provided at the center with a rotational force biased clockwise in the figure by a tension spring 15. 16 is pivotally mounted.

On the other hand, the snow removal device 3 includes a connecting frame 17 formed in a U-shape when viewed from the rear at its rear end, and pins 18 are attached to two positions above and below the connecting frame 17. By engaging this pin 18 with the notch of the connecting plate 4 and holding the lower pin 18 with the L-shaped lever 16, the driving vehicle 2 and the snow removal device 3 are removably connected. It is configured. Furthermore, four stays 19 are provided to protrude forward from the connecting frame 17, and a bearing (not shown) provided upright on the upper stay 19 is driven by a belt between it and the input shaft 11. A connected auger drive shaft 20 is pivotally supported. When the driving vehicle 2 and the snow removal device 3 are attached to and detached from each other, the belt between the shafts 11 and 12 is attached and detached together with the belt cover 21.

Furthermore, an auger cover 22 is attached to the front end of the four stays 19 and is formed in a semicircular shape concentric with an auger 26 whose side view will be described later, and which opens forward. An auger shaft 24, which is drivingly connected to the auger drive shaft 20 by a chain, is rotatably supported on the auger bearing 23. A blower 25 and a pair of augers 26 disposed on the left and right sides sandwiching the blower 25 are integrally formed and pivotally attached to the auger shaft 24.
Of these, the blower 25 is integrally formed with a pair of left and right arms 25a projecting from the auger shaft 24 in a cross shape, and four blades 25b connecting the tips of the cross to the left and right, respectively. It rotates in the direction indicated by A in Figure 2. The blades 25b are formed in an arc shape so that the center part lags behind the direction of rotation so that the thrown snow does not scatter.
In addition, the outer end is inclined so as to lag behind the inner end in the direction of rotation. In addition, the left and right augers 26
are formed symmetrically with each other, one end is fixed to the fixed plate 26a on the auger shaft 24, and the other end is fixed to the tip of the arm 25a of the blower 25.The side view is a semicircular arc, and the whole is spiral. Each blade 26b is provided with two blades 26b. And these blades 26
Two pieces b are provided facing each other to form a circular shape, and their spiral direction and inclination direction are as indicated by the arrow A.
It is set so that snow is raked toward the blower 25 by rotation in a direction in which the lower end of the outer periphery faces rearward. Incidentally, the sprocket 27 that stretches the chain for driving the auger 26 described above is provided between the auger 26 and the auger bearing 23 on one side. Further, the auger cover 22 has a large portion of the lower half of the arc member formed separately from the main body so as to be openable and closable, and is biased in the closing direction by a compression coil spring 28.

Further, a cylinder 29 serving as a discharge port for the blower 25 is integrally formed on the upper surface of the auger cover 22, and a snow removal tube 30 is rotatably joined to the cylinder 29. This snow removal pipe 30 has a U-shaped cross section and an arc shape when viewed from the side, and is divided at the center and joined by a hinge 31 so that the degree of curvature can be adjusted. It is composed of Further, the tip of a rotating lever 33 is pivotally attached to a rotating arm 32 attached to the snow removal tube 30, and by gripping this and rotating the snow removal tube 30, the snow removal direction can be adjusted. After adjustment, the rotary lever 33 is fixed by a rubber receiver 35 at the upper end of the lever receiver 34 erected on the connection frame 17. On the other hand, a pair of left and right sleds 36 are attached to the lower end of the side plate of the auger cover 22, each having a sharp, arcuate end facing forward.

Furthermore, a pair of arms 37 are horizontally protruded from both side plates of the auger cover 22 and have their bases screwed onto the auger bearing 23 mounting portions. The auger cover 22 is attached to the tip of the arm 37.
A rectangular flat snow cutting plate 38 spanning the entire width of the machine is provided by connecting the left and right arms, and this snow cutting plate 38 is formed in an inclined shape such that the front part is higher with respect to the direction of movement of the machine. ing.

The operation of the snow remover 1 configured as above will be explained. First, to connect the snow removal device 3 to the drive vehicle 2, hold the handle 9, tilt the drive vehicle 2 so that the front part is lower, and engage the inclined plate 4 with the connection frame 17 of the snow removal device 3. The pin 18 is held by the notch in the connecting plate 4 and the L-shaped lever 16. Thereafter, a belt is stretched between the input shaft 11 and the auger drive shaft 20, and the belt cover 21 is attached to complete the connection. Therefore, engine 8
When the machine is started, the snow cutting board 38 provided at the front end of the machine plows through the snow, and the sled 36
plunges into the snow and moves forward while determining the width of the snow removal.
Then, as it moves forward, the auger 26 and blower 25
The snow is crushed by the auger 26 and the snow is crushed by the blower 2 due to its spiral action.
After being raked to the 5 side, the blade 2 of the blower 25
5b, the snow is scooped up in the direction of the snow removal tube 30, and thrown outside through the opening of the snow removal tube 30.
In this case, since the blades 25b of the blower 25 are formed in an arc shape and are provided at an angle, the snow can be scooped up smoothly and the snow is not scattered during snow removal. Note that the throwing direction can be freely selected by adjusting the degree of curvature of the snow removal tube 30 and adjusting the rotation of the rotation lever 33.

The snow removal work performed as described above will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 4, dividing it into the case of fresh snow and the case of old snow. First, in the case of fresh snow, the snow cutting plate 38 can easily plunge into the soft fresh snow as the machine moves forward, and the snow can be removed at high speed even when the amount of snow is large. Next, in the case of old snow or when there is new snow on top of old snow, the tip of the snow cutting plate 38 contacts the old snow layer 39 as the machine moves forward, and when it moves further forward, the snow Because the cutting plate 38 is slanted, the front end of the machine rises up as shown by the chain line in the figure due to the reaction force of the old snow layer 39, and the weight of the whole machine is reduced to a wide, low-pressure, large-contact area. The drive wheel 1 is supported by a drive wheel 14 consisting of a tire.
4 runs easily on snow. After this, the snow cutting board 38 slides on the upper surface of the old snow layer 39 and regulates the height of the machine base, so the thickness of the snow removal layer crushed by the auger 26 is constant, and the snow layer has heights. A constant amount of snow removal is always maintained. That is,
Even if you move forward at the same high speed as with fresh snow, the snow removal layer will not be too thick and overloaded.
If the old snow layer 39 is so thick that it cannot be removed in one go, the system goes back and removes the lower layer of snow in the same area repeatedly, performing so-called step-sliding snow removal, which is more efficient than before even if the snow removal distance is long. Snow removal work can be carried out well. Furthermore, since the drive wheels 14 of the drive vehicle 2 are equipped with soft tires used for rice harvesting in wet fields, it is easy to drive on snow even in the case of step-sliding snow removal. Also, old snow layer 3
Similarly, when there is a new snow layer on top of the snow layer 9, it is possible to remove old snow of a certain thickness and new snow on top of it in one go.

In this way, in the case of old snow, snow removal efficiency is improved compared to the conventional method by repeatedly removing snow with a layer thickness commensurate with the driving speed, and the driving speed can be set based on the case of fresh snow. Therefore, since the snow removal work is basically removing fresh snow, the effect is extremely large. According to experiments, we succeeded in increasing the running speed to almost twice that of the conventional model. The inclination angle of the snow cutting board 38 is determined based on empirical values and is of a fixed type, but it may be of an angle adjustable type.

Furthermore, the snow cutting board 38 can also be used as a safety device. In other words, when an obstacle that is not exposed from the snow surface is encountered during snow removal work, in the past, the presence of the obstacle was known after the auger 26 came into contact with it, which could damage the auger 26, etc. However, by providing the snow cutting board 38, the snow cutting board 38 can hit the damage object in advance and protect the machine base.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, in a snow blower, a flat snow cutting plate is provided in front of the snow removal auger and is sloped upwardly toward the front end, and A drive wheel made of soft tires is installed on the top of the machine, and in the case of old snow, the machine is floated with a snow cutting board to prevent overload and equalize the amount of snow removed.
In the case of fresh snow, the snow cutting board is configured to cut off the snow, so even if the traveling speed is increased, the engine will not stop due to overload. Settings can be made based on snow removal, and the ability to remove new snow is significantly improved compared to the conventional method, and the efficiency of removing old snow is also improved. In addition, damage to the machine base can be prevented from occurring because it is possible to know in advance whether there are any objects in the snow that could be damaged by contact with the snow cutting board.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show a load detection and safety device for a snow blower according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a side view of a snow blower implementing this device, FIG. The figure is a front view, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation. 1...Snow blower, 3...Snow removal device, 14...Drive wheel, 26...Auger, 38...Snow cutting board.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A snow removal auger is characterized in that a flat snow cutting plate that slopes upwardly toward the front end is protruded from the front of the snow removal auger, and a drive wheel made of soft tires is provided at the rear of the machine base. Load detection and safety device for snow blowers.