JP2015048698A - Snow blower - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a snow blower that improves snow blowing operability by actualizing a sensor capable of estimating and detecting a snow blowing distance directly, namely, a deflector snow blowing angle sensor.SOLUTION: A snow blower that is enabled to adjust a snow blowing distance by changing a snow blowing angle by turning up and down a shooter deflector determining the snow blowing distance by driving by an actuator DA such as a motor-driven cylinder is so configured as to detect the snow blowing angle of the deflector by detecting the up/down turning angle of the deflector substantially in a vertical direction with the machine body substantially horizontal to the snow blowing direction by a displacement sensor DS for an angle, length, etc., connected to a part of a rotary support shaft of a deflector rotating mechanism.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for detecting a snow throwing discharge angle of a shooter, that is, a snow throwing distance, of a rotary snow remover that throws snow removed by a shooter among walking type snow plows.

Aside from riding-type snowplows used on public roads and public facilities managed by the country and prefecture, pedestrian snowplows are now widely used for the individual small mouths in snowy regions. Especially in mountainous areas and mountainous areas where passenger-type snowplows cannot enter, demand is now as high as the necessities of snowy countries. Traditionally, snow removal using this snowplow has been done by adult boys, but gradually it has become a declining birthrate and an aging population. Along with this, various contrivances and improvements in operability have been made by manufacturers so that elderly people and women without physical strength and strength can perform snow removal work as well as skilled men. However, operability improvements and improvements so far have been mainly focused on snow removal parts (automatic horizontal, automatic snow removal, etc.) and traveling parts (automatic speed control, etc.), and snow throwing operations have hardly progressed. The latter is due to technical difficulties such as detection of snow throwing direction and snowfall distance detection required for control.

2-136122 JP 6-23445 JP 10-30220 A

As for the snow throwing discharge angle detection related to the snow throwing distance detection, the idea for the walking type snowplow has been publicly disclosed so far (Patent Document 1), but has not yet been realized without a technical basis. In addition, although there is a passenger-type snow remover as described in Patent Document 3 as a large-scale system, it is excessive for a walk-type snow remover and is not very usable in terms of cost. Since the snow throwing operation by the shooter has been facilitated by the electric drive of the shooter and the deflector (Patent Document 2), several electric mechanisms have become a worm gear mechanism for the shooter and an electric cylinder mechanism for the deflector today. By realizing a sensor capable of indirectly detecting and detecting the snow throwing distance, that is, a deflector snow throwing angle sensor, it contributes to further improvement in snow throwing operability.

Means taken in the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems include a prime mover, an auger that cuts and collects snow, a blower that discharges snow, a shooter that determines the snow throwing direction, and a snow throwing distance. In a snow remover that constitutes a snow removal part with a shooter deflector, the deflector is rotated up and down by driving by an actuator such as a motor or an electric cylinder, and the snow throwing angle can be changed to adjust the snow throwing distance. The vertical rotation angle of the deflector is directly or indirectly connected to a part of the rotation support shaft of the deflector rotation mechanism. It is possible to detect the direction of the snow throwing and releasing the deflector.

  The present invention has the following effects by applying the above means.

  This is the first snowplow that can implement a snow throwing angle sensor for a deflector, enabling control related to snow throwing distances that have not been addressed before.

Since it is only additionally connected to the conventional deflector mechanism, there is no need to change the conventional deflector mechanism, so the cost increase is minimal.

1 is an overall view showing a walking rotary snow remover. It is a right perspective view which shows the structure of a shooter. It is a figure which shows the up-and-down rotation mechanism of a shooter deflector (substantially deflector). It is the figure which attached the snow throwing discharge | emission angle sensor to the rotation spindle of the link of a deflector. It is a rear view of the deflector equipped with the snow throwing discharge angle sensor. It is a perspective view which shows the detail of snow throwing discharge | release angle sensor mounting | wearing. It is a figure which shows the mode of the vertical rotation operation | movement of a deflector. It is the figure (completion figure) which attached the cover to the snow throwing release angle sensor.

In the practical application of the present application, priority was given to stability and reliability rather than seeking accuracy for detection of the deflector snow discharge angle, which is the first time for a walking type snowplow. First, the sensor mechanism is a mechanism that is added to the rotation support shaft of the link mechanism while keeping the link mechanism and actuator operation mechanism of the deflector that have been used so far unchanged. As the angle sensor for detecting the rotation angle of the rotation support shaft, a non-contact potentiometer of Hall IC type that hardly deteriorates in durability of a sensor element that has begun to spread in recent years was used.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the snowplow as viewed from the snow removal side (upper figure) and the control side (lower figure). The snow remover scrapes or removes snow with the normal auger 11 of the snow removal unit 1 and collects and collects it in the center. The blower (not shown) in the center of the auger 11 rotates at high speed and blower peripheral speed. Then, the snow is discharged onto the place intended by the operator by the shooter 13 which is a snow discharge cylinder. The snow throwing operation during the snow removal operation is performed by operating the left / right direction and the snow throwing distance with the shooter cross lever switch 41 on the operation panel 4. These augers, blowers, and shooters are mounted on the upper body 2 together with other control parts and a prime mover (not shown). On the other hand, a crawler 31 for moving the snowplow and a traveling mission (not shown) are mounted on the lower body 3.

  FIG. 2 shows a basic configuration of the shooter 13 when viewed in a different direction from FIG. The shooter main body 131 is supported by a blower projecting opening of the auger case 12 (not shown) in a thrust bearing shape (cylindrical surface thrust sliding bearing) so as to be able to turn. . The tip of the shuter has a one-node link mechanism for small-sized machines, and a two-node link mechanism for medium-sized and large-sized machines. At present, this portion is called a deflector 132 separately from the shooter body. FIG. 1 shows the link operation state of the deflector 132 at the time of long throwing, and FIG.

  Fig. 3 shows a 2-node deflector mechanism for medium and large machines. The deflector 132 includes a driving deflector D1, a driven deflector D2, a fixed link L1, a restraining link L2, a movable link L3, and a deflector actuator DA, of which L1 and L2 are a pair of left and right (FIG. 5). An electric cylinder is usually used for the actuator DA. With the above configuration, the mechanism is mature and has been manufactured with this configuration for over 20 years. Each is connected by rotating support shafts s1 to s5, and by the expansion and contraction operation of the actuator DA, the driving deflector D1 is centered on the connection support shaft s2 with the shooter main body by the push-pull operation of the movable link L3 fixed to the back. Rotate up and down. In conjunction with this, the driven deflector D2 connected to the tip support shaft s3 is constrained by the constraining link L2, and rotates and expands up and down around the support shaft s3. The left figure shows the link operation state of the deflector 132 at the time of long snow throwing when the actuator DA is fully contracted, and the right figure at the time of near snow throwing when the actuator DA is fully extended. With the above link operation, the snow throwing discharge angle range by the terminal follower deflector D2 becomes approximately ± 50 ° with respect to the horizontal of the aircraft (FIG. 5). This is now mature as standardized.

  The deflector snow discharge / emission angle sensor (abbreviated as “deflector sensor”) DS of the present invention was conceived in a state where the deflector link mechanism that has been proven for many years is left as it is. The first embodiment is shown in FIGS. The deflector sensor DS is mounted on the rotation support shaft portion s4 (FIG. 3) of the fixed link L1 so as to detect the rotation angle of the restraining link L2. The connection of the fixed link L1 and the restraint link L2 at the support shaft s4 is usually only by screwing the hollow shaft to the rotating shaft, but this hollow shaft L21 is lengthened and additionally fixed to the original restraint link L2 side. And it fixed with the retaining ring L22 in the axial hole and the thrust direction of the fixed link L1. Then, the sensor bracket DS2 is fixed to the fixed link L1 so that the position of the sensor bracket DS2 can be adjusted so as to surround the shaft hole of the fixed link L1, and the angle sensor DS1 is attached to this so that the input shaft is fitted to the hollow shaft L21. Thus, the sensor input shaft was fixed to the hollow shaft (FIG. 6). In the embodiment, the deflector sensor DS is mounted on the right support shaft s4 in FIG. 5, but may be mounted on the left support shaft s4. Further, in consideration of accuracy, redundancy, etc., it may be mounted on both side support shafts s4-s4. With this configuration, the rotation angle of the restraining link L2 can be detected by the angle sensor DS1.

  The rotation angle of the restraining link L2 is approximately 86 ° with respect to the 100 ° width of the snow throwing discharge angle range ± 50 ° of the driven deflector D2. That is, when the driven deflector D2 rotates 100 ° in the snow throwing discharge angle range with respect to the support shaft s4, the restraining link L2 rotates 86 ° with respect to the support shaft s4. The two rotation angles are similar. Since a standard angle sensor has a 90 ° width of ± 45 ° as a standard, it is an optimum place for measurement. In the present invention, the angle sensor DS1 is a potentiometer configured by a non-contact Hall IC that hardly deteriorates in durability of a sensor element that has started to spread in recent years. It can be said that the present invention can be realized by the fact that it has been widely spread. Although it is functionally possible even with a conventional sliding contact type potentiometer, practical use is hardly difficult for a deflector with many vibrations and impacts in terms of stability and durability.

  FIG. 8 shows a mounted state of the deflector sensor DS which is a finished product and is covered with the sensor cover DS3. The angle sensor DS1 used is originally intended to protect against obstacles because it is dustproof and dripproof. With the above configuration, the snow discharge discharge angle of the driven deflector D2, which is the final discharge port of snow discharge, can be detected by the deflector sensor DS.

In the present invention, the snow throwing discharge angle of the deflector 132 is detected by the rotation support shaft s4 of the restraining link L2, but it can also be detected by other rotation support shafts s1, s2, s3, and s5. This is because, as a result of trial and error, the s4 portion was the easiest to mount the deflector sensor DS.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. By using a deflector actuator DA with a built-in linear sensor (linear displacement sensor) and directly detecting the expansion / contraction displacement of the actuator DA (= moving displacement of the support shaft s1 of the movable link L3), the deflector 132 can be indirectly detected. It is designed to detect the snow throwing release angle. The linear sensor may be mounted in parallel with the actuator DA without being built-in. This method was first conceived as a deflector sensor method. The simplest technique for mounting the sensor on the deflector is more problematic in terms of performance and durability than the first embodiment.

It can be used for most of the current walking type rotary snowplows. The same link mechanism can be used in various places of work machines (agricultural machines, small construction machines, etc.) that rotate at a certain angle.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Snow removal part 2 Upper machine body 3 Lower machine body 4 Operation panel 11 Auger 12 Auger case 13 Shuta 31 Crawler 41 Shuta cross lever switch 131 Shuta body 132 Deflector DA Deflector actuator DS Deflector snow throwing discharge angle sensor (abbreviation, Deflector sensor)
D1 Driving deflector D2 Follower deflector L1 Fixed link L2 Restraint link L3 Movable link

Claims (2)

  A snow remover that is equipped with a prime mover and that forms a snow removal section by an auger that cuts and collects snow, a blower that discharges snow, a shooter that determines the snow throwing direction, and a shooter deflector that determines the snow throwing distance. In a snowplow that is rotated up and down by driving by an actuator to change the snow throwing discharge angle and adjust the snow throwing distance, the substantially vertical rotation angle of the deflector can be directly or indirectly applied to the rotation support shaft of the deflector. A snowplow that is configured to be able to detect in the vertical direction with respect to the horizontal direction of the machine body in the snow throwing direction by a displacement sensor such as a connected angle or length.   The snowplow according to claim 1, wherein the displacement sensor such as the angle or the length is a non-contact type.