SE2150372A1

SE2150372A1 - A snowplow configuraded to be mounted to a vehicle

Info

Publication number: SE2150372A1
Application number: SE2150372A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Dan Zethraeus
Original assignee: Elonroad Ab
Priority date: 2021-03-26
Filing date: 2021-03-26
Publication date: 2022-09-27
Also published as: WO2022200300A1

Abstract

A snowplow (100) configured to be mounted to a vehicle (10), the snowplow (100) comprising:a blade (102),a plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) arranged at a lower bottom portion (106) of the blade (102), the plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) forming a lower portion (108) of the snowplow (102),wherein an intermediate portion (110) of each pivotable plow element (104) is articulatedly mounted to the blade (102) along a common pivot axis (A1).

Description

The present invention relates to removal of snow from roads, specifically to snowplowing and even more specifically to a snowplow configured to be mounted to a vehicle.

Background art Clearing of roads from snow is commonly performed with snowplows mounted to a suitable vehicle such as a truck. Often, the truck may dispense salt and/or gravel that is used for further improving the road surface. The snowplow blade itself may be provided with varying shapes such as a straight blade or a V-shaped blade. Typically, the blade is curved and held at an angle in relation to the travelling direction of the vehicle to which it is attached to facilitate that snow is pushed to the side of the road.

The cutting edge of the snowplow is configured to be in contact with the road surface and forms the part of the snowplow which removes the snow. lt is however a known problem that snowplows may risk damaging the road surface and vice versa if for instance a sudden obstacle such as a protrusion on the road surface encounters the snowplow cutting edge.

However, as road travel changes with electrification and electric road tracks being provided along the roads, the obstacles that snowplows must be able to handle also changes. An electric road track is a charging track that may be provided to the road from which an electric or hybrid vehicle may draw electric power, for instance conductively or inductively. Such electric road track may protrude some from the road surface.

Prior art snowplows risk damaging important charging infrastructure and cannot provide satisfactory snowplowing performance on a road provided with an electric road track.

Summary of the invention ln view of that stated above, the object of the teachings herein is to provide a snowplow which improves on prior art solutions and which facilitates traversing and plowing over obstacles on the road such as electric road tracks.

To achieve at least one of the above objects and also other objects that will be evident from the following description, a snowplow is provided according to the teachings herein. Preferred embodiments of the device will be evident from the dependent claims.

More specifically, there is provided according to the present invention a snowplow configured to be mounted to a vehicle. The snowplow comprises: a blade, a plurality of pivotable plow elements arranged at a lower bottom portion of the blade, the plurality of pivotable plow elements forming a lower portion of the snowplow, an intermediate portion of each pivotable plow element is articulatedly mounted to the blade along a common pivot axis.

An upper portion of each pivotable plow element is resiliently attached to a support structure of the blade via a spring element, the support structure being arranged at the rear side of the blade. A snowplow is thus provided in which the pivotable plow elements thereof allows adaptation of the lower portion of the snowplow to an obstacle such as an electric road track. The snowplow will thus facilitate ensuring that the functionality of the electric road track can be maintained as well as the safety of the road on which the electric road track is arranged, as snow can be efficiently removed.

A lower portion of the plurality of pivotable plow elements may in a relaxed position thereof be arranged forward of the common pivot axis in relation to a travelling direction of the vehicle. The pivotable plow elements will thus cut through the snow and allow the snow to be pushed up against the blade of the snowplow and subsequently away from the road.

The common pivot axis may be arranged parallel to a longitudinal direction of the blade.

The support structure may be arranged parallel to the Iongitudinal direction of the blade.

The support structure may be arranged above the common pivot axis.

Each pivotable plow element may be arranged obliquely in relation to the common pivot axis.

The snowplow may further comprise at least 10 pivotable plow elements.

Each of the plurality of pivotable plow elements may have a width of between 1 cm to 5 cm.

A tip portion of a lower portion of each pivotable plow element may extend at an angle upwardly in a direction away from a road surface. The tip portion facilitates reducing the risk of the pivotable plow elements becoming stuck on an obstacle on the road and facilitates lifting the lower portion of the pivotable plow elements upwards as it traverses the obstacle.

A portion between a lower portion and the intermediate portion of each pivotable plow element may be covered by a non-rigid sheet. The non-rigid sheet improves plowing performance as snow that could otherwise move between the pivotable plow elements is stopped by the non-rigid sheet and can thus be removed from the road. The non-rigid sheet which rests against the pivotable plow elements further adapts to the shape of the pivotable plow elements as they adapt to the surface of the road.

Generally, all terms used in the claims are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the technical field, unless explicitly defined otherwise herein. All references to "a/an/the [element, device, component, means, step, etc.]" are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of said element, device, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any method disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless explicitly stated.

Brief description of the drawinqs The above, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood through the following illustrative and non-limiting detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings, where the same reference numerals will be used for similar elements, wherein: Figure 1 discloses a side view of vehicle and a snowplow travelling on a road.

Figure 2 discloses a side view of a snowplow.

Figure 3 discloses a top view of a snowplow.

Figure 4 discloses a front view of a snowplow comprising a non-rigid sheet.

Figure 5 discloses a front view of a snowplow arranged on a road provided with an electric road track.

Figure 6 discloses a rear view of a snowplow.

Description of embodiments The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided for thoroughness and completeness, and fully convey the scope of the invention to the skilled person.

Figure 1 discloses a side view of vehicle 10 travelling in a travelling direction T on a road 20, the vehicle 10 being provided with a snowplow 100. The vehicle 10 may be a truck, a tractor or any other type of vehicle that is suitable for use with a snowplow.

The snowplow 100 may be mounted to the vehicle via an attachment system 12, the attachment system 12 may be any type of prior art attachment system 12 which allows raising and lowering of the snowplow 100 as well as pivoting vertically and horizontally by means of one or more hydraulic cylinders powered by one or more hydraulic pumps. Such attachment systems 12 are well known in prior art and a person skilled in the art would be familiar therewith, the attachment system 12 will thus not be elaborated further on herein. The teachings herein are applicable to any type of attachment system 12 such as hydraulic or electric etc. The attachment system 12 may also be a fixed attachment that does not allow movement of the snowplow 100.

The snowplow 100 comprises blade 102. The snowplow 100 is illustrated as a straight blade snowplow, but it is to be realized that the teachings herein could be applied to other types of snowplow blades as well, for instance such as a V-shaped snowplow blade.

The blade 102 is preferably curved vertically for facilitating that snow that is being removed from the road 20 stays on the plow blade 102 and is pushed to the side of the road 20 and not over the blade 102. The blade 102 is further preferably arrangeable, for instance by means of the attachment system 12, such that a longitudinal direction L of the blade 102 is at an oblique angle in relation to a travelling direction T of the snowplow 100 on the vehicle 10.

Preferably, the snowplow 100 is made from steel or another metallic material that is suitable for use for a blade of a snowplow 100.

The snowplow 100 further comprises a plurality of pivotable plow elements 104, the pivotable plow elements 104 form a lower portion 108 (shown in Figure 2) of the snowplow 100. The lower portion 108 is to be interpreted as the portion of the snowplow that is in contact with the road 20 and which removes/cuts through the snow that is present on the road 20. The pivotable plow elements 104 thus forms the cutting edge of the snowplow 100.

Turning now to Figure 2 in which the snowplow 100 is shown in a side view. The snowplow 100 as mentioned comprises a plurality of pivotable plow elements 104 arranged at a lower bottom portion 106 of the blade 102.

An intermediate portion 110 of each pivotable plow element 104 is articulatedly mounted to the blade 102 along a common pivot axis A1 _ For a V-shaped snowplow more than one pivot axis A1 may be provided. The pivot axis A1 may be formed by one or more shafts 128 onto which each pivotable plow element 104 is pivotably mounted. The pivotable plow elements may be mounted to a shaft 128 on the rear side 112 of the blade 102, such that the pivot axis A1 is arranged at the rear side 112 of the blade 102. Rear is to be interpreted as not on the side facing in the direction of travel T.

An upper portion 114 of each pivotable plow element 104 is resiliently attached to a support structure 116 of the blade 102 of the snowplow 100 via a spring element 118. The spring element 118 is illustrated as a coil spring but other elastic spring elements are also considered, for instance may an elastic polymer material be used or another type of spring.

The support structure 116 is arranged at the rear side 112 of the blade 102.

The pivotable plow elements can thus 104 pivot in relation to the blade 102, which allows the lower portion 108 of the snowplow 100 to adapt to the surface of the road 20 on which the snowplow 100 is plowing. This facilitates plowing snow on a road 20 provided with an electric road track 30 (shown in Figs 4 and 5), which may form a protrusion extending along the length of the road 20, whereby the pivotable plow elements 104 can adapt to the shape of the electric road track 30 and facilitate removal of snow from both the electric road track 30 as well as from the surrounding road 20. The support structure 116 is preferably arranged above the common pivot axis A1.

The snowplow 100 preferably comprises at least 10 pivotable plow elements 104, but also less or more pivotable plow elements 10 may also be provided. Moreover, the entire width of the snowplow 100 does not need to be provided with pivotable plow elements 104. A combination of a common prior art plow blade for a part of the width of the snowplow 100 and pivotable plow elements 104 for the remaining part of the width is also envisioned. The width is to be interpreted as the width along the longitudinal direction L of the snowplow 100.

The snowplow 100 may further be provided with plow shoes 14, these set a lower limit for how close the snowplow 100 can come to the road 20. The plow shoes 14 may be adjustable to a desired height and may be configured to slide on the road 20 during plowing.

Moreover, a lower portion 120 of the plurality of pivotable plow elements 104 in a relaxed position thereof may, as is illustrated in Figure 2, be arranged forward of the common pivot axis A1 in relation to the travelling direction T of the vehicle 10. The lower portion 120 of the plurality of plow elements 104 thus forms the leading edge of the snowplow 100. The lower portion 120 of the pivotable plow elements 104 will thus encounter any obstacle on the road 20 first, whereby it allows the lower portion 108 of the snowplow 100 as a whole to adapt to the obstacle on the road 20 while still providing satisfactory snowplowing performance.

What is further shown in Figure 2 is that each pivotable plow element 104 may be provided with a tip portion 122 arranged at the lower portion 120 of each pivotable plow element 104. The tip portion 122 preferably extends at an angle oi upwardly in a direction away from a road surface 20 in the travelling direction T. The angle d may be between 5° and 60°, preferably between 5° and 25°, preferably approximately 10°. The tip portion 122 reduces the risk of the pivotable plow elements 104 becoming stuck on an obstacle on the road 20, as the encountered obstacle will push against the underside of the tip portions 122 and the resulting force will cause the lower portion(s) 120 of the affected pivotable plow element(s) 104 to move upwards and away from the road 20.

An angle between the extension of the tip portion 122 and the longitudinal extension of each pivotable plow element 104 may be between 10° and 65°, preferably between 15° and 35° and more preferred approximately 30°.

Each pivotable plow element 104 may further be arranged at an approach angle ö between each pivotable plow element 104 and the road surface 20. A larger approach angle ö will more efficiently cut through snow on the road 20 but with an increased risk of catching on obstacles, a smaller approach angle ö providing the opposite effect. The approach angle ö may be between 10° and 50°, preferably between 15° and 30° and even more preferred approximately 20°.

The approach angle ö and the angle oi may be adjustable for instance by means of raising/lowering the plow 100 such that the pivotable plow elements 104 pivot around the common pivot axis A1 as the vertical distance between the common pivot axis A1 and the road 20 varies. A decreased vertical distance between the common pivot axis A1 and the road 20 increases angle oi and decreases approach angle ö, while the opposite is true for an increased vertical distance between the common pivot axis A1 and the road 20.

Alternatively or in combination, the plow 100, or more specifically the plow blade 102, may be pivoted vertically in relation to the attachment system 12. Plow blade spring elements 142 may be provided which extends between a top portion of the rear side 112 of the plow blade 102 downwards to the attachment system 12, the plow blade spring elements 142 facilitating pivoting of the plow blade 102 vertically in relation to the attachment system 102. The tension of the plow blade spring elements 142 may be adjustable in order to alter the approach angle ö along with the angle d.

The angle oi and the approach angle ö combined may be between 15° and 45°, preferably approximately 30°.

Turning now to Figure 3 which shows a top view of the snowplow 100. lt is shown in Figure 3 that the common pivot axis A1 may be arranged parallel to a longitudinal direction L of the blade 102. The longitudinal direction L is to be interpreted as the direction of the extension of the blade 102 of the snowplow 100. ln case the snowplow is a V-shaped snowplow 100, the snowplow blade 102 will have two longitudinal directions L. Each common pivot axis A1 will then be arranged parallel with a respective longitudinal direction L. The longitudinal direction L is thus to be interpreted as a direction extending horizontally and tangentially along the surface of the plow blade 102.

As is illustrated in Figure 3, each pivotable plow element 104 can be arranged obliquely in relation to the common pivot axis A1. Preferably, each pivotable plow element 104 is to be arranged essentially in the direction of travel T. This provides satisfactory performance of the snowplow 100 as any obstacles on the road 20 will be encountered by the plow elements 104 in the longitudinal direction thereof, reducing the risk of bending of the pivotable plow elements 104 by the obstacle pushing them sideways horizontally.

The angle ß between each pivotable plow element 104 and the common pivot axis A1 may be between 40° to 85°, preferably approximately 60°.

Moreover, every two pivotable plow elements 104 may be spaced apart by between 0,2 cm and 2 cm, preferably approximately 1 cm. The space between the pivotable plow elements 104 facilitates avoiding that the pivotable plow elements 104 become stuck on each other. Due to manufacturing tolerances and wear during prolonged use, each pivotable plow element 104 may be subject to movement not only around the common pivot axis A1 but also such that the angle ß may vary to a certain extent for each pivotable plow element 104. The space between the pivotable plow elements 104 reduce sensitivity of the snowplow 100 for such movements.

Figure 4 shows a front view of the snowplow 100 as it is arranged over an electric road track 30. ln the embodiment shown in Figure 4, which is applicable to all of the embodiments herein, a portion 124 between a lower portion 120 and the intermediate portion 110 of each pivotable plow element 104 is covered by a non-rigid sheet 126. As can be seen, more than one non- rigid sheet 126 may be provided. Three non-rigid sheets 126 are shown but any number of non-rigid sheets 126 is envisioned. The non-rigid sheet 126 facilitates removal of snow from the road 20 as it covers the pivotable plow elements 104. As a space may be provided between two adjacent pivotable plow elements 104 as mentioned in the foregoing, the non-rigid sheet 126 facilitates catching the snow that would otherwise fall between the pivotable plow elements 104. Moreover, as it is non-rigid and thus flexible, the non-rigid sheet 126 adapts to the movements of the pivotable plow elements 104.

The non-rigid sheet 126 may be made from a plastic material such as polyurethane or other plastic materials having similar properties. As the snowplow 100 is to be used during cold temperatures, the material properties of the non-rigid sheet 126 should preferably be such that it is flexible also at temperatures below 0 °C. Other non-rigid materials than plastic are however also envisioned such as rubber or a thin metal sheet material or a woven metallic material.

Figure 5 shows a front view of the snowplow 100 as it is lowered over an obstacle in the shape of an electric road track 30. As is illustrated, the lower portions 120 of the pivotable plow elements 104 which are arranged above the electric road track 30 are lifted upwards by contact with the electric road track 30.

The resilience in the pivoting of the pivotable plow elements 104 which in an embodiment may be provided by the spring elements 118 allows the snowplow 100 be arranged such the lower portion 120 of the pivotable plow elements 104 pushes against the road 20. The relaxed state of the pivotable plow elements 104 is to be considered as the state/position in which the pivotable plow elements 104 are arranged when no obstacle is present on the road 20 but when the snowplow 100 is lowered for plowing. The relaxed state may thus still imply that a certain pretension force is provided from the spring elements 118 with which the lower portion 120 of each pivotable plow element 104 pushes against the road.

When an obstacle is encountered which overcomes the force from the spring elements 118, the lower portion 120 of each pivotable plow element 104 subjected to the obstacle will be pushed upwards/forvvards as the pivotable plow elements 104 pivot around the common axis A1.

When the obstacle is traversed, the spring elements 108 will cause the pivotable plow elements 104 to return to their respective relaxed position.

Figure 6 shows a rear perspective view of the snowplow 100. As is shown in Figure 6, the snowplow 100 may be provided with a tensioning mechanism 130 configured to adjust the pretension of the spring elements 118. The support structure 116, which may be in the shape of one or more rods onto which one end of the spring elements 118 is attached, may be attached to a support 132 arranged on the rear side 112 of the blade 102 of the snowplow 100 by means of one or more adjustable tensioners 134. The adjustable tensioners 134 allow adjustment of the position of the support structure 116 in relation to the upper portion 114 of the pivotable plow elements 104, thus allowing adjustment of the pretension force of the spring elements 118.

The tensioners 134 may be in the shape of a tension rod having a threaded shaft and a nut which allows is to adjust and reliably fixate the position of the support structure 116 in relation to the upper portion 114 of the pivotable plow elements 104 an in relation to the support 132. 11 The support structure 116 is preferably, as shown in Figure 6, arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction L of the blade 102. Moreover, in case the snowplow 100 is a V-shaped snowplow, a separate support structure 116 may be provided on each of the blade 102 portions. ln Figure 7 is a detail view of a pivotable plow element 104 shown. The pivotable plow element 104 may have a width of between 1 cm to 10 cm, preferably between 3 cm and 7 cm and even more preferred approximately 5 cm. The width is defined as the extension perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the pivotable plow element 104, i.e. vertically in Figure 7.

Moreover, each pivotable plow element 104 may be provided with a cutting edge 136 at the lower portion 120 thereof. The cutting edge 136 is configured to be arranged at the point where the pivotable plow elements 104 are in contact with the road 20, whereby the cutting edge 136 efficiently cuts through the snow. Preferably, the cutting edge 136 extends at an angle v in relation to the longitudinal direction of the pivotable plow element 104. The angle v may between 30° and 60°, preferably approximately 45°.

The cutting edges 136 may in one embodiment be configured to be arranged essentially parallel with the longitudinal direction L of the blade 102.

The cutting edges 136 are preferably configured to not be perpendicular to the travelling direction T but to be arranged at an oblique angle thereto, which may be beneficial to avoid that the cutting edges 136 catches on obstacles on the road 20 and thus reducing the risk of damage to the pivotable plow elements 104. ln an embodiment in which the pivotable plow elements 104 are provided with a tip portion 122 arranged at the lower portion 120 of each pivotable plow element 104 in addition to the cutting edge 136, the tip portion 122 preferably has a width that is less than the width of the pivotable plow element 104, as is illustrated in Figure 7. The tip portion 122 may furthermore be arranged on the side of the cutting edge 136 that is intended to be arranged forvvardmost in the direction of travel T, thus providing the beneficial function of the cutting edge 136 for removing snow in combination with the tip portion 122 for lifting the lower portion 120 of the pivotable plow elements 104 when encountering obstacles. 12 As is further shown in Figure 7, each pivotable plow element 104 may be provided with a sleeve 138. The sleeve 138 is configured to be arranged onto the shaft 128 which defines the common pivot axis A1. The interface between the sleeve 138 and the shaft 128 may alternatively comprise a bearing for reduced friction and wear. The sleeve 138 is preferably arranged at an angle ß in relation to the longitudinal direction of the pivotable plow element 104, which is equal to the angle ß between each pivotable plow element 104 and the common pivot axis A1, which may be between 40° to 85°, preferably approximately 60°. ln Figure 8 a top view of the snowplow 100 is shown with the blade 102 removed for allowing the mounting of the pivotable plow elements 104 to the common pivot axis A1 _ As is illustrated in Figure 8, the sleeve 138 of each pivotable plow element 104 may be arranged onto the shaft 128. The shaft 128 is attached to a rear side 112 of the blade 102. As is shown in Figure 8, shaft 128 may be attached to a support blade 140 which is attachable to the blade 102. The pivotable plow elements 104, the shaft 128, the spring elements 118 and the support structure 116 for the spring elements 118 may form an assembly that can be mounted onto a prior art blade. Moreover, the assembly may comprise the tensioning mechanism 130 illustrated in Figure 6 and/or the support blade 140. lt will be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown. Several modifications and variations are thus conceivable within the scope of the invention which thus is exclusively defined by the appended claims. For instance, the blade 102 does not necessarily have to be a straight or V-shaped blade, the teachings herein are equally applicable to a blade 102 which is curved along the longitudinal direction L thereof. lt is to be realized that the shaft 128 and the support structure 116 along with the pivotable plow elements 104 and the features thereof may be adapted to suit many different types of plow blades.

Claims

1. A snowplow (100) configured to be mounted to a vehicle (10), the snowplow (100) comprising: a blade (102), a plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) arranged at a lower bottom portion (106) of the blade (102), the plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) forming a lower portion (108) of the snowplow (102), wherein an intermediate portion (110) of each pivotable plow element (104) is articulatedly mounted to the blade (102) along a common pivot axis (A1), wherein an upper portion (1 14) of each pivotable plow element (104) is resiliently attached to a support structure (1 16) of the blade (102) via a spring element (118), the support structure (116) being arranged at the rear side (112) ofthe blade (102).

2. The snowplow (100) according to claim 1, wherein a lower portion (120) of the plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) in a relaxed position thereof is arranged forward of the common pivot axis (A1) in relation to a travelling direction (T) of the vehicle (10).

3. The snowplow (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the common pivot axis (A1) is arranged parallel to a longitudinal direction (L) of the blade (102).

4. The snowplow (100) according to claim 3, wherein the support structure (116) is arranged parallel to the longitudinal direction (L) of the blade (102).

5. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support structure (116) is arranged above the common pivot axis (A1 ).

6. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each pivotable plow element (104) is arranged obliquely in relation to the common pivot axis (A1).

7. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the snowplow (100) comprises at least 10 pivotable plow elements (104).

8. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of the plurality of pivotable plow elements (104) has a width of between 1 cm to5cm.

9. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a tip portion (122) of a lower portion (120) of each pivotable plow element (104) extends at an angle (d) upwardly in a direction away from a road surface (20).

10. The snowplow (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a portion (124) between a lower portion (120) and the intermediate portion (110) of each pivotable plow element (104) is covered by a non-rigid sheet (126).