Abstract:
A manually adjustable snowplow apparatus for mounting to an all terrain vehicle comprises a blade assembly pivotally mounted to a frame member of the ATV and adapted for relative up and down movement. The snowplow apparatus further includes a vertical plate mounted to the ATV and forming a plurality of spaced apart notches. A handle is pivotally attached to the plate and includes a rod that selectably mates with one of the notches. A cord extends between the handle and the blade assembly such that a forward or rearward movement of the handle decreases or increases, respectively, the height of the blade assembly above a ground surface.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to snow removal devices and, more particularly, to a manually adjustable snowplow apparatus that is mountable to an all terrain vehicle. 
     All terrain vehicles (ATV&#39;s), such as three-wheel or four-wheel vehicles with motorcycle engines, are being increasingly utilized for both recreational and utility purposes. ATV&#39;s are useful in farming to access locations not suitable for larger conventional vehicles and to transport small implements or materials. It has also been recognized, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,130 to Racicot, that a snowplow may be attached to an ATV for clearing snow or other material such as sand, rocks, or the like. Although assumably effective in operation, existing snowplow devices adapted for use with an ATV are not easily adjustable such that the blade is a desired height above a ground surface. Further, existing devices are generally complex and expensive in construction and inconvenient to attach or remove from an ATV. 
     Therefore, it is desirable to have a snowplow apparatus that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and easily mountable to an ATV. It is further desirable to have a snowplow apparatus which can be manually raised or lowered to a desired position by a user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the adjustable snowplow apparatus according to the present invention utilizes a snow blade assembly pivotally mounted to the frame of an ATV such that the snow blade assembly extends in front of the ATV and is movable in up and down directions. The apparatus includes a vertical plate adapted to be mounted to the tubular utility rack typically found attached to the top surfaces of the front fenders of an ATV. The plate presents a hemispherical cutout which forms a plurality of notches along an upper edge thereof. A handle assembly is pivotally coupled to the plate, the handle assembly including a hollow cylindrical housing and an L-shaped rod. A first portion of the rod extends through the housing with a free end extending from an upper end of the housing. A second portion of the rod is normal to the first portion and selectably engages a notch in the plate. A user depression of the free end of the first rod portion releases the second portion from the notches such that the handle may be pivotally moved in a forward or rearward direction. The first portion of the rod is spring biased such that the rod automatically returns to its non-depressed position upon a release thereof. A release of the free end allows the second portion to again mate with a selected notch in the plate. 
     A cord extends between the handle assembly and the snow blade assembly such that a movement of the handle either raises or lowers the snow blade assembly. More particularly, the blade assembly is lowered as the handle is moved in a forward direction and is raised as the handle is moved in a rearward direction. A pulley is also mounted to the ATV utility rack for guiding the cord between the handle assembly and snow blade assembly. The apparatus can obviously be adapted for lifting implements other than snowplows. 
     Therefore, a general object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus that is mountable to an all terrain vehicle. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which can selectably raise or lower a snow blade assembly to a desired height above a ground surface. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a handle for manually raising or lowering the blade assembly. 
     Yet another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, wherein the blade assembly is raised or lowered using the leverage of the handle coupled to a pivot axis. 
     A further object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which can hold the blade assembly at a plurality of different height positions. 
     A still further object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a cord extending between the handle and blade assembly such that the height of the blade assembly is varied upon a movement of the handle. 
     Another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, having a pulley positioned intermediate the handle and blade assembly for guiding the cord therebetween. 
     Still another object of this invention is to provide a snowplow apparatus, as aforesaid, which is simple and inexpensive to use and manufacture. 
    
    
     Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the adjustable snowplow apparatus mounted to the front of an all terrain vehicle according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mounting assembly on an enlarged scale; 
     FIG. 3A is a side view of the mounting assembly of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 3B is a sectional view of the handle assembly taken along line  3 B— 3 B of FIG. 3A; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the mounting assembly of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of the apparatus as in FIG. 1 with a tire of the ATV removed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment of the adjustable snowplow apparatus will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1-5 of the accompanying drawings. 
     The adjustable snowplow apparatus  10  according to the invention generally comprises a mounting assembly  50  and a snow blade assembly  30 . As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the blade assembly  30  includes a snow removal blade  32  having a concave configuration. The blade assembly  30  further includes a pair of spaced apart support arms  34  which are fixedly attached to the blade  32  with a bracket  38  and extend rearwardly therefrom. A swivel mechanism  40  extends between the support arms  34  adjacent the bracket  38  such that the side-to-side angle of the blade  32  may be selectably adjusted by a user. Free ends  36  of the support arms  34  are pivotally coupled to a frame member  16  of an all terrain vehicle  12  (ATV) with bolts or other similar fasteners. The all terrain vehicle may be a three-wheel or four-wheel vehicle which utilizes a motorcycle engine. A pivot axis is defined by this point of attachment. A U-bolt  42 , D-ring, or the like, may be attached to the swivel mechanism  40  for connection to a cable  130  as to be more fully described below. 
     Turning to FIGS. 2 through 4, the mounting assembly  50  includes a mounting plate  52  having a hemispherical configuration and an L-shaped mounting bracket  56  integrally depending from a lower edge  54  thereof. The mounting plate  52  includes a hemispherical cutout  58  forming a plurality of notches  62  along an arcuate upper edge  60  thereof. The mounting bracket  56  comprises a first portion  64  depending from the lower edge  54  of the plate  52  and having a rectangular configuration. The first portion  64  includes two pair of circular apertures  66  for receiving U-bolts  68  when mounting the plate  52  to a tubular element of an ATV utility rack  14 . It is understood that a tubular utility rack  14  is a standard feature on most ATV&#39;s and is usually fixedly attached to the upper surfaces of the front or rear fenders thereof. A second portion  70  of the mounting bracket  56  is normal to the first portion  64  and includes a pair of spaced apart slots  72  therein. Where a utility rack is not available, the mounting plate  52  may be mounted directly to the fender or hood of an ATV by inserting bolts through the slots  72 . 
     The mounting assembly  50  further comprises a handle assembly  80  having a cylindrical handle  82  fixedly mounted atop a first portion  90  of a bracket  88 . A second portion  92  of the bracket  88  depends from the first portion  90 , the free end of which is pivotally coupled to a shaft  96 . The shaft  96  extends through a spacer  102  and the plate  52 , the spacer  102  being intermediate the plate  52  and second portion  92  of the bracket  88 . The shaft  96 , therefore, provides a pivot axis for the handle assembly  80 . The free end of the second bracket portion  92  is securely coupled about the shaft  96  by a washer  98  and pin  100 . The second bracket portion  92  also includes a slot  94  intermediate the free end thereof and the first bracket portion  90 . A brace  104  extends between the first bracket portion  90  and the free end of the second portion  92 . A D-ring  106  or similar attachment means extends from an edge of the first bracket portion  90 . 
     A bore  110  extends between upper  84  and lower  86  ends of the handle  82 . The handle assembly  80  includes an L-shaped rod extending through the bore  110  and into engagement with the notches  62  in the plate  52 . More particularly, a first portion  112  of the rod extends through the bore  110 . In a normal position, a free end  114  of the first rod portion  112  extends beyond the upper end  84  of the handle  82  while an opposed end  116  extends beyond the lower end  86  thereof. The handle  82  further includes a wall  118  mounted transversely within the bore  110  and displaced from the upper end  84 , the wall  118  having an aperture through which the first rod portion  112  extends (FIG.  3 B). The handle  82  includes a compression spring  120  between the wall  118  and upper end  84 . The first rod portion  112  includes a circular flange  122  adjacent the upper end  84  within the handle bore  110 . Thus, a depression of the free end  114  of the first rod portion  112  causes the spring  120  to be compressed or biased by the flange  122 , a release of the free end  114  allowing the first rod portion  112  to spring back to its normal or unbiased position. 
     A second portion  124  of the rod is integrally attached to the opposed end  116  of the first rod portion  112  and normal thereto. The second rod portion  124  extends through the slot  72  in the second bracket portion  70  and through the cutout  58  in the plate  52 . When the rod is in its normal position, the second rod portion  124  mates with a selected notch  62  in the plate  52 . When the rod is moved to a biased or depressed position, the second rod portion  124  is released from the previous mating engagement and is free to be moved into engagement with a different notch according to movement of the handle  82  by a user. 
     A wire cable  130  is attached at one end to the D-ring  106  of the first bracket portion  64  and at an opposed end to the U-bolt  42  of the blade assembly  30 . It is understood that the D-ring  106  and U-bolt  42  could be replaced with hooks or other types of rings or fasteners. A pulley  132  is coupled to a tubular element  18  of the utility rack  14  with a swivel sheave  134 . The cable  130  passes through the pulley  132  to prevent the cable  130  from wearing grooves in the rack elements during use. 
     In use, the support arms  34  of the blade assembly are pivotally coupled to a frame member  16  of an ATV. The mounting assembly  50  is attached to the utility rack  14  by cradling a rack member  18  against the first  64  and second  70  portions of the mounting bracket  56  and securing the bracket thereto with U-bolts  68 . Alternatively, the mounting bracket  56  can be bolted directly to the fenders of the ATV. The pulley  132  is mounted to a rack member  18  or may be mounted directly to the fender of the ATV. The height of the blade assembly  30  above the ground is increased by depressing the free end  114  of the first rod portion  112  of the handle  82  which releases the second rod portion  124  from a notch  62  and then moving the handle  82  in a rearward direction. A release of the free end  114  allows the second rod portion  124  to mate with a different notch to hold the blade assembly  30  at that position. The height of the blade assembly  30  is decreased in substantially the same manner except that the handle is moved in a forward direction rather than rearward. 
     It is understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims and allowable functional equivalents thereof.