Abstract:
A wheeled suction and blower apparatus for either sucking up debris or blowing debris. The wheeled suction and blower apparatus includes a base member supported upon wheels and being towed behind a prime mover; a motor supported upon the base member; a housing with an impeller being in communication with the motor; a chute fastenable to the housing; a hood being pivotally attached to the chute; and an actuating assembly for adjusting the positioning of the hood.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the benefit of the U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/604,382, filed on Sep. 21, 2012, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to suction/blower devices and more particularly pertains to a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus for either sucking up debris or blowing debris. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     The use of suction/blower devices is known in the prior art. More specifically, suction/blower devices heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior it which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus which has many of the advantages of the suction/blower devices mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art suction/blower devices, either alone or in any combination thereof. The present invention includes a base member supported upon wheels and being towed behind a prime mover; a motor supported upon the base member; a housing with an impeller being in communication with the motor; a chute fastenable to the housing; a hood being pivotally attached to the chute; and an actuating assembly for adjusting the positioning of the hood. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the wheeled suction and blower apparatus in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus which has many novel features that result in a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by any of the prior art suction/blower devices, either alone or in any combination thereof. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus for either sucking up debris or blowing debris. 
     Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus that allows a user to attach the wheeled apparatus to a mover and quickly remove or move debris as desired. 
     Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus that can be quickly adapted or changed from sucking debris and depositing it into a bin or blowing debris that is upon a ground as desired. 
     These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a front and side perspective view of a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a back and side perspective view of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a side perspective view of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 3  thereof, a new wheeled suction and blower apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral  10  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 3 , the wheeled suction and blower apparatus  10  generally comprises a trailer assembly  50  including a base member  11  conventionally mounted upon wheels  19 ,  20 ; a blower and suction assembly  51  conventionally supported upon the trailer assembly  50  for generating suction and forced air; a duct assembly  52  being in fluid communication with the blower and suction assembly  51  for transporting air and debris; and a duct adjustable assembly  53  being in communication with the duct assembly  52 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the base member  11  has elongate members  12 - 14  being spaced apart and having cross members  15 ,  16  interconnecting the elongate members  12 - 14  with the base member  11  also having tongue members  17 ,  18  for conventionally hitching to a prime mover  46 . The base member  11  is conventionally supported upon wheels  19 ,  20 . A motor  21  is securely and conventionally mounted and fastened upon the base member  11  and is also in conventional communication with a fuel tank  22  for supplying fuel to the motor  21 . A housing  23  may also be securely and conventionally mounted and fastened with fasteners upon the base member  11  and also having a top wall with a flue  60  extending therethrough into and from the housing  23 . An impeller  47  may be rotatably and conventionally mounted inside the housing  23  and is in communication with and conventionally connected to a rotatable shaft  21   a  of the motor  21 . The housing  23  may have a lower portion  24  and an opening  25  being disposed in the lower portion  24  adjacent the impeller  47 . A screen member  28  may be hingedly and conventionally attached to the housing  23  above the opening  25  in the lower portion  24  and being removably disposed over the opening  25  in the lower portion  24 . 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the duct assembly may include a first chute  26  with open inlet and outlet ends  27 ,  61 . The first chute  26  at the open inlet end  27  may be removably and conventionally coupled to the flue  60  with first clamping members  65  as illustrated in the drawings. The duct assembly  52  may also include a second chute  29  with open inlet and outlet ends  62 ,  63 . The second chute  29  at the open inlet end  62  of the second chute  29  may be removably coupled to the first chute  26  at the open outlet end  61  of the first chute  26  with second clamping members  34  to form a continuous passageway through the first and second chutes  26 ,  29 . The first chute  26  may be adapted to removably connect to a flexible conduit  66  at the open outlet end  61  of the first chute  26  for transporting debris to a separate receptacle. 
     The second chute  29  may include a plurality of duct sections  30 - 33   a-b . The duct sections  30 - 33   a-b  include an elongate duct section  30 , upper and lower elbow duct sections  31 ,  32  conventionally connected at opposed ends of the elongate duct section  30 , and shorten duct sections  33   a-b  conventionally connected to the upper and lower elbow duct sections  31 ,  32 . The lower elbow duct section  32  is adapted to be disposed at ground level when in use. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the duct assembly  52  further includes a hood  36  hingedly and conventionally attached to the second chute  29  at the open outlet end  63  thereof to direct the forced air exiting the second chute  29 . The open outlet end  63  of the second chute  29  is adapted to be disposed at ground level when in use to blow debris upon a ground from forced air exiting the second chute  29 . 
     The duct adjustable assembly  53  includes an elongate lever support  43  conventionally and securely mounted upon the base member  11  and extending upwardly and having a curved top end  43   a , and further includes a sleeve  44  conventionally connected to the top end  43   a  of the elongate lever support  43 , and also includes a lever  45  engagably extending through the sleeve  44  with the lever  45  being pivotal at the sleeve  44  and adapted to be accessible by a user riding on a prime mover  46 . The duct adjustable assembly  53  further includes a pivot support  37  securely and conventionally mounted to the base member  11  with a ring clamp  35 , and also includes a pivot  40  pivotally and conventionally attached to the pivot support  37 . The duct adjustable assembly  53  further includes a first linkage  38  with a first end  38   a  conventionally coupled to the hood  36  with a fastener and with a second end  38   b  conventionally coupled with another fastener to the pivot  40  to move the hood  36  up or down relative to the ground to direct the forced air exiting the open outlet end  63  of the second chute  29 . The duct adjustable assembly  53  also includes a second linkage  39  with a first end  39   a  conventionally coupled to the pivot  40  with yet another fastener and with a second end  39   b  conventionally coupled to the lever  45  with a fastening member such as a threaded nut. The lever  45  has a threaded end to which the fastening member is threaded to secure the second linkage  39  to the lever  45 . The pivot  40  includes wing portions  41   a-b  with one wing portion  41   a  conventionally coupled to the second end  38   b  of the first linkage  38  and another wing portion  41   b  conventionally coupled to the first end  39   a  of the second linkage  39 . The wing portions  41   a-b  are angled relative to one another. 
     In use, the user hitches the base member  11  to the prime mover  46  and energizes the motor  21  which actuates the impeller  47 , and the user moves the wheeled suction and blower apparatus  10  to an area where the user either wants to pick up the debris or move the debris away. If the user uses the blower function of the wheeled suction and blower apparatus  10 , the user moves the wheeled suction and blower apparatus  10  adjacent to the debris with the open outlet end of the second chute  29  being adjacent to the debris and depending upon how far the user wants to move the debris, the user will grasp and pivot the lever  45  which moves the first and second linkages  38 ,  39  which move the hood  36  up or down relative to the ground, and the user will move the wheeled suction and blower apparatus  10  along the ground and blow the debris away. If the user instead wants to pick up the debris, the user conventionally attaches a hose  67  over the opening  25  in the lower portion  24  of the housing  23  with the screen member  28  removed from over the opening  25  and the impeller  47  will suck the debris into the housing  23  and force the debris through the first chute  26  and into a receptacle if so desired by the user. 
     As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and ail equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the wheeled suction and blower apparatus. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invent-on to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, failing within the scope of the invention.