Patent ID: 6123156
Filing Date: 2000-09-26
Classification: E01H,E02F

Abstract:
A vehicle underbody scrapper blade support system for mounting on a vehicle having a chassis and forward and rearward sets of wheels comprising:(1) a chassis mount for coupling to the chassis of a vehicle to support a scrapper blade at a location intermediate said forward and rearward sets of wheels on said vehicle, said chassis mount comprising a pivot arm assembly, the pivot arm assembly carrying at its rearward end a blade support frame, and at its forward end a hinge means adapted to be attached to a vehicle chassis to allow the pivot arm assembly to pivot in a vertical plane;(2) a scrapper blade with outer ends carried by said blade support frame and extending generally transversely with respect to said vehicle;(3) said blade support frame being connected to the pivot arm assembly at the rearward end of said assembly through rotational coupling means to permit rotation of the blade support frame about a forwardly directed horizontal axis to permit the outer ends of the scrapper blade to effect respective displacements in the vertical direction;(4) two pneumatic pressure actuators positioned respectively between the blade and the vehicle chassis, at spaced locations on either side of the centerline of the vehicle to apply downward pressure on the blade; and(5) pressure actuator control means connected to the pressure actuators by which the pressure applied by the pressure actuators can be controlledwherein tho rotational coupling means comprises a pair of transverse tilting plates, one of said plates being carried by the pivot arm assembly, and the other of said plates forming part of the blade support frame, said plates being joined through a rotational joint whereby the scrapper blade is able to rotate about a horizontal axis generally aligned with the direction of travel of the vehicle, thereby permitting the outer ends of the scrapper blade to effect complimentary displacements in the vertical direction, whereby the scrapper blade may be pressed resiliently against a road surface for lifting-off ice, snow and debris from the surface by pivoting about the hinge means located at the forward end of the pivot arm assembly.