JP2002088729A - Snowplow - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an auger automatic rising and falling technology suitable for a snowplow. SOLUTION: ST01 confirms that a selection mode is automatically operated, ST06 confirms that an auger clutch is in a state of 'connection', i.e., the auger is rotated, and when the direction of traveling is moved backward by ST08, automatic rising control of the auger is executed by ST09, and when ST06 confirms that the auger clutch is in a state of 'disconnection', the automatic rising of the auger is not executed. Accordingly, the snowplow frequently repeating an action of forward and backward movement can automatically limit the number of risings of the auger, and as a result, the number of connections and disconnections of the clutch can be greatly reduced to prolong the life of the clutch.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a technique for improving the operability of a snow blower.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (c) are diagrams for explaining the operation of a conventional snow blower. (A) shows a snow blower 100 that removes snow while moving forward, moves forward as indicated by an arrow by the action of a crawler 101, and rotates an auger 103 and a blower 104 by the action of an engine 102 to collect snow collected by the auger 103 into a blower 104. Shows an auger-type self-propelled snowplow that can throw snow through a chute 105. At this time, operation panel 1
The run control lever 111 at 10 is in the F (forward) position, and the auger lift lever 112 is in the DN (down) position.

[0003] When the snow removal machine 100 is moved backward, for example, because the length of the snow to be removed is large or the traveling direction of the body is changed, the following operation is performed. In (b), the traveling operation lever 111 of the operation panel 110 is switched to N (neutral) as indicated by an arrow. Thus, the snow removing machine 100 that is moving forward is stopped. Next, move the auger lifting lever 112 to U
Switch to P (up). Then, the lifting cylinder 106 extends, and the swing frame 108 swings upward with reference to the body frame 107 on the crawler 101 side, and as a result, the auger 103 and the like rise.

In (c), the traveling operation lever 111 of the operation panel 110 is switched to R (reverse) as shown by an arrow. Thus, the snow blower 100 moves backward as indicated by the arrow. In this conventional example, the three operations indicated by arrows 1 to 3 must be performed in this order in order to move the snow removal machine 100 that is moving forward backward.
Conversely, when switching from reverse to forward, three operations must be performed in order, such as temporarily stopping the snow remover 100 during reverse movement, lowering the auger auger, and performing forward operation. Therefore, since the operation of the two levers 111 and 112 is complicated and an error in the procedure is not allowed, the operability cannot be said to be good.

Therefore, a snowplow proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-28416 “Snowplow” is required. That is, the snow removing machine disclosed in the above publication is characterized in that "the snow removing machine is automatically raised at the time of the body retreat operation". More specifically, in FIG. 1 of the publication, when the shift lever 22 (the reference numeral is left as described in the publication; the same applies hereinafter) is switched to reverse, the engagement plate 25 attached to the shift lever 22 moves the lifting lever 27 down. Position → neutral position →
The auger is moved to the ascending position, such as the ascending position, and the rotation of the auger is stopped by operating the ascending detection switch 26. That is, when the snow removing machine that performs the snow removing operation while moving forward moves backward, the auger rises and the auger stops.

[0006]

FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are diagrams for explaining the operation of a snow remover equivalent to the snow remover disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-28416. However, the signs and names have been changed.
In (a), the traveling operation lever 111 of the operation panel 110
By simply switching to “F”, the auger 103 can be turned and the snow removing operation can be performed while the snow removing machine 100 is moving forward. In (b), the traveling operation lever 1 of the operation panel 110
Only by switching 11 to "R", the auger 103 is raised and the rotation of the auger 103 is stopped (specifically, the rotation is stopped by switching the unillustrated "auger clutch" from the connected state to the disconnected state) and The snow blower 100 can be moved backward as indicated by an arrow.

In the snow blower disclosed in the above publication, that is, in the snow blower described with reference to FIG. 6, the auger automatically rises and stops rotating every time the vehicle is retreated. However, in snow removal work, when the load is applied to the auger, it is retracted a little and the snow around the auger is sufficiently discharged. In some cases, the vehicle moves forward and backward immediately at a high frequency. Considering such a high frequency forward and backward movement peculiar to the snowplow, the problem of shortening the life of the clutch by turning on and off the "auger clutch" is a problem, and the technique disclosed in the above publication cannot be said to be appropriate. Therefore, the snow blower 100 described with reference to FIG. 5 will be used regularly, and the operability will not be improved at all, and the burden on the operator or driver will not be reduced.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an auger automatic climbing technique suitable for a snow blower.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a swing frame is swingably mounted on a body frame of a traveling body traveling on a road surface, and a snow removing member such as an auger or a dozer is attached to the swing frame. And a drive source for driving the snow removing member, and extending and retracting an elevating cylinder extending between the swing frame and the body frame, whereby the distance from the road surface to the snow removing member can be changed. Obtained three pieces of information: automatic operation selection information for selecting automatic operation, reverse information for moving the traveling body backward, and clutch engagement information for engaging the clutch provided between the drive source and the snow removing member. A control unit for performing automatic ascent control for operating the elevating cylinder to raise the snow removing member is sometimes provided.

When the automatic operation is selected, the snow removing member such as the auger is not raised if the clutch is "disengaged" even in reverse. If the snow removing member is in the non-driving state, it is acceptable to move the snow removing member backward without raising it. As a result, in a snow plow that frequently repeats forward and backward movement, the number of times the snow removing member is automatically raised can be limited, and the number of times of clutch connection and disconnection can be greatly reduced, thereby extending the life of the clutch. it can. It goes without saying that the driver's burden can be reduced because of the automatic driving.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings should be viewed in the direction of reference numerals. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a snow blower according to the present invention. This snow blower 10 allows an electric motor, an auger, a blower, and the like to perform snow removal work using an engine. A swing frame 30 is swingably attached to a traveling body 20 and a body frame 21 of the traveling body 20, and an auger 31 and a blower 32 as snow removing members are arranged in front of the swing frame 30.

More specifically, the traveling body 20 is connected to the body frame 2.
1. Drive wheels 22L, 22R (L is left from the driver, R
Is a subscript indicating the same. The same applies hereinafter), idle wheel 23
L, 23R, crawlers 24L, 24R, drive wheels 22L,
The swing frame 30 is constituted by speed reducers 25L, 25R and electric motors 26L, 26R connected to the frame 22R, and a swing frame 30 is attached to the body frame 22 via pivots 28, 28 so as to be able to swing in the front and rear directions of the drawing.
0 and the body frame 21 with the lift cylinders 33L, 33R
And an auger clutch 36 (indicated by a symbol. The detailed structure will be described with reference to FIG. 2) as a drive source, an auger clutch 36 as a drive source, and a drive shaft 37, a blower. 32, auger shaft 3
8, a self-propelled snowplow equipped with the auger 31 and the auger housing 39 collectively.

Reference numeral 41 is a battery, 42L and 42R are handles, 44 is an operation panel, and 45 is a control unit. Also,
The running body may run on tires or may be provided with a front tire and a rear crawler. In short, any running body may be used as long as it can run on a snow surface. The snow removing member may be a dozer.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the construction and operation of the auger clutch employed in the snow blower of the present invention. (A)
Then, the first pulley 46 attached to the output shaft of the engine 35
And the second pulley 47 attached to the drive shaft 37 and the belt 4
8 was wound, and the belt 48 was tensioned by the clutch cylinder 49. The clutch cylinder 49 is preferably a solenoid driven plunger.

As a result, the second pulley 47 interlocked with the first pulley 46 rotates, and the drive shaft 37 rotates. As a result, FIG.
The auger 31 and the blower 32 connected to the drive shaft 37 rotate as shown in FIG. Accordingly, (a) shows that the auger clutch is in the connected state, and this is referred to as the clutch "connected".

In (b), the belt 48 is loosened by retreating the clutch cylinder 49, and the first pulley 46 rotates but the second pulley 47 does not rotate. Accordingly, in FIG. 3B, the auger clutch is in the disconnected state, and this is referred to as clutch "disconnected".

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the operation panel of the snowplow according to the present invention. The operation panel 44 includes an auger elevating lever 51, an auger clutch lever 52, a traveling operation lever 53 and a direction control lever 53.
The speed control lever 54 is provided. The operation of each lever is as follows.

The auger raising / lowering lever 51 extends and contracts the raising / lowering cylinders 33L and 33R in FIG.
This is a lever that controls the elevation of 1 and the like. Auger lifting lever 5
At 1, automatic operation, up (manual operation), and down (manual operation) can be selected.

The auger clutch lever 52 is a lever that controls the connection and disconnection of the auger clutch by extending and contracting the clutch cylinder 49 shown in FIG. Travel control lever 5
Reference numeral 3 denotes a lever that feeds power to the electric motors 26L and 26R in FIG. 1 to move the snow blower 10 forward or backward, and stops the snow blower 10 by stopping power feeding. The direction / speed operation lever 54 is a potentiometer (variable resistor)
A voltage signal corresponding to forward high speed-forward low speed, reverse low speed-reverse high speed is generated by the potentiometer 55 in a stepless manner, and forward / backward directions and high / medium / low speeds are determined based on this variable signal. Can be.

The operation of the snow blower provided with the above-described operation panel 44 will be described below. FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the snow blower according to the present invention, where STxx indicates step numbers. ST01: First, the position of the auger elevating lever is checked. In FIG. 3, it is checked whether the auger elevating lever 51 is in the automatic, raising or lowering position. ST02: When raising is selected, the lifting cylinder is extended. ST03: As a result, the auger rises. ST04: When lowering is selected in ST01, the lifting cylinder is contracted. ST05: As a result, the auger descends. The above ST02 to ST05 belong to the manual operation, and are different from the automatic ascent of the present invention.

ST06: When automatic operation is selected in ST01, it is checked in FIG. 3 whether or not the auger clutch is at the "contact" position. Auger clutch "contact"
If so, an auger or blower is spinning. If the auger clutch is "disengaged", the auger and blower are stopped, and at this time the engine is not loaded because the clutch is disconnected, and it is not possible to move forward or backward with the auger lowered. There is no problem in terms of engine load.
Accordingly, the process proceeds to ST07 only when the auger clutch is in "contact" where the auger or blower is rotating.

ST07: Here, it is checked whether or not the travel operation lever is in the "run" position, that is, whether the travel operation lever 53 in FIG. 3 is in the "run" or "stop" position. If the travel operation lever 53 is in the "stop" position, the auger remains down and there is no problem. Therefore, when the travel operation lever is not “run”, the control flow is exited.
Proceed to T08.

ST08: It is checked whether or not the direction / speed operation lever is in the "reverse" position, that is, whether the direction / speed operation lever 54 in FIG. 3 is in the "forward" or "reverse" position. If the snowplow is moving forward, it will not be eligible for automatic auger climbing. Therefore, the process proceeds to ST09 only when the direction / speed operation lever is at the "reverse" position.

ST09: The lifting cylinder is extended. ST10: As a result, the auger automatically rises. The above flow is an example, and for example, ST
The order of 06 to ST08 can be changed.

In summary, in FIG. 1, a swing frame 30 is swingably mounted on a body frame 21 of a traveling body 20 traveling on a road surface, and a snow removing member such as an auger 31 and a dozer and the snow removing member are mounted on the swing frame 30. A snow removal machine that can change the distance from the road surface to the snow removal member by attaching a drive source (engine 35) for driving the vehicle, and extending and retracting the elevating cylinders 33L and 33R spanned between the swing frame 30 and the body frame 21. 10, the snow removal machine 10 includes automatic operation selection information (see ST01 in FIG. 4) that selects automatic operation and the traveling body 2.
Three pieces of information, namely, reverse information (see ST08 in FIG. 4) that reverses 0 and clutch engagement information (see ST06 in FIG. 4) that brings the clutch 36 provided between the drive source 35 and the snow removing member into an engaged state. When it is obtained, the lifting cylinders 33L and 33R are operated to raise the snow removing member (ST in FIG. 4).
09) A control unit 45 for performing automatic ascent control is provided.

That is, when automatic operation is selected,
If the clutch is "disengaged" even in reverse, do not raise the auger or blower. If the auger or blower is in the non-driving state, it is safe to move the auger or blower backward without raising it. As a result, the number of times the auger and blower are automatically raised can be limited in a snowplow that repeatedly moves forward and backward, and the number of times the auger clutch is connected and disconnected is also greatly reduced, thereby extending the life of the auger clutch. Can be extended. It goes without saying that the driver's burden can be reduced because of the automatic driving.

The auger clutch may be a clutch having a structure other than that described with reference to FIG. 2, for example, an electromagnetic clutch or a gear meshing clutch. In the embodiment, the drive source for turning the auger or the blower is the engine, but the drive source may be an electric motor. Similarly, the drive source for moving the traveling body forward and backward is an electric motor, but this may be replaced with an engine.

[0028]

According to the present invention, the following effects are exhibited by the above configuration. The snow removal machine of claim 1 includes automatic operation selection information for selecting automatic operation, reverse information for moving the traveling body backward, and clutch engagement information for engaging a clutch provided between the drive source and the snow removing member. When three pieces of information are obtained, a control unit that performs automatic ascent control for operating an elevating cylinder to elevate the snow removing member is provided.

When the automatic operation is selected, the snow removing member such as the auger is not raised if the clutch is "disengaged" even in reverse. If the snow removing member is in the non-driving state, it is acceptable to move the snow removing member backward without raising it. As a result, in a snow plow that frequently repeats forward and backward movement, the number of times the snow removing member is automatically raised can be limited, and the number of times of clutch connection and disconnection can be greatly reduced, thereby extending the life of the clutch. it can. Since the driving is automatic, the burden on the driver can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a snow blower according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram and action diagram of an auger clutch employed in the snow blower of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an operation panel of the snow blower according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of the snow blower according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a conventional snowplow.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the operation of a snow blower equivalent to the snow blower disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-28416.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 snow removal machine, 20 running body, 21 body frame, 2
4L, 24R: crawler, 26L, 26R: electric motor, 30: swing frame, 31: auger as snow removing member, 33L, 33R: elevating cylinder, 35: engine as drive source, 45: control unit, 51: auger elevating Lever, 52: Auger clutch lever, 54: Direction / speed control lever.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Tsutomu Inui, 1-4-1 Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama Prefecture Inside Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (72) Takahiro Yamamoto 1-4-1, Chuo, Wako-shi, Saitama F-term in Honda R & D Co., Ltd. (reference) 2D026 CB03 CG00

Claims (1)

[Claims] A swing frame is swingably mounted on a body frame of a traveling body traveling on a road surface, and a snow removing member such as an auger or a dozer and a drive source for driving the snow removing member are mounted on the swing frame. A snowplow capable of changing a distance from a road surface to the snow removing member by extending and retracting an elevating cylinder stretched over an airframe, the snow removing machine includes: automatic operation selection information that selects automatic operation; When three pieces of information, that is, reverse information for moving the body backward and clutch engagement information for engaging a clutch provided between the drive source and the snow removing member, are obtained, the lifting cylinder is used to raise the snow removing member. A snow remover, comprising: a control unit that performs automatic ascent control for operating the snow remover.