Patent Publication Number: US-6662480-B1

Title: Bucket level

Description:
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and method for landscaping preparations and particularly to an apparatus and method for preparing a site for landscaping by moving dirt and leveling the ground as desired. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     At times during the preparation of a site for final landscaping substantial reworking of the soil is necessary. This reworking of the soil can involve smoothing and/or leveling of the ground surface before the desired plantings and other landscaping features can be added. Where precision is not required, often a blade or bucket attached to and pushed by a skid-steer loader, tractor or other motive power source is used to move the dirt around as desired. Subsequently, it is typically necessary to change attachments and mount a leveling bar to the motive power source to level the ground to the preferred specifications. Landscapers are therefore typically required to purchase two separate attachments and devote precious time and labor to changing attachments from bucket or blade to leveling bar and back, resulting in lost time, increased labor costs, and, perhaps most importantly, additional obstacles to a rapid completion of a landscaping task. 
     It would be desirable to have an apparatus both for the selective removal of dirt and foliage to a desired depth and for the subsequent leveling of the terrain. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide new and useful apparatus that is not subject to the previously mentioned disadvantages. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a landscaping attachment for attachment to a motive power source that can be used to remove dirt from a site and to level the terrain afterward in a preferred manner. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing a site for final landscaping tasks by providing for the selective removal of soil and subsequent leveling of the ground surface to the desired contours. 
     The foregoing objects of the present invention and others that will become apparent to those skilled in the art are provided by a bucket level mountable to a motive power source such as a skid steer loader, tractor, or the like. A bucket level in accord with the present invention may have a frame substantially configured as a bucket with a floor, side walls, and a rear wall. The bucket floor will comprise front, middle, and rear sections, with the front and rear sections being fixedly attached to the side walls and the middle section being movable relative to the side walls to raise it above the front and rear sections. The front and rear sections may have blade edges on both their forward and back edges to aid in cutting into the ground and leveling when the bucket level is used as a leveling bar. 
     The rear wall will include upper and lower sections with the lower section taking the general form of a pivotable door or gate that opens when the middle floor section is raised. This opening of the door creates a flow-through in both forward and rear directions during operation. When the middle floor section is raised, then, the rear gate opens to allow the bucket level to be pushed or pulled by the power source along the ground, enabling the blade edges of the front and rear sections to level the ground and enabling material to flow through the rear gate in a controlled volume. When the middle section is in its operational or lowered position, the rear gate will be closed and the bucket level can be used as a traditional bucket. An appropriate linkage operates to open the gate as the middle floor section is raised and to close the rear gate as the middle section is lowered. 
     In a method in accord with the present invention there is provided a landscaping apparatus that is selectively configurable to adopt the configuration of a bucket or a leveling bar. An apparatus useful in a method in accord with the present invention may have a bucket and a leveling bar apparatus formed by selective displacement of a portion of the bucket floor. The apparatus is mounted to an appropriate power source and topsoil and other materials are removed using the bucket to a desired depth. The movable portion of the bucket floor is moved to form the leveling bar apparatus and the landscaping apparatus is moved over the ground to smooth and contour it as desired. 
     These and other objects, advantages, and features of an embodiment of the present invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art when the following drawings are considered in conjunction with the accompanying text description. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention in a perspective view. 
     FIG. 2 illustrates the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in a front elevation view. 
     FIG. 3 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a side elevation, cross sectional view taken along viewing plane  3 — 3  of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 4 shows the embodiment of FIG. 1 in a side elevation, cross sectional view taken along the same viewing plane as that of FIG. 3 but with the ?? in its elevated, non-operational position and the rear door in its open position. 
     FIG. 5 depicts a bucket level in accord with the present invention being used as a bucket to pick up and haul dirt and other materials from one location to another. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a bucket level in accord with the present invention wherein the bucket level is being moved forwardly and the gate is partially opened and the bucket level is being used in its leveling bar position to level or otherwise smooth an uneven ground surface. 
     FIG. 7 shows the level bucket with the gate farther open than shown in FIG.  6  and wherein the bucket level is being moved in a rearward direction. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     An embodiment of a bucket level  10  in accord with the present invention is shown in FIG. 1 attached to a motive power source  12  in the form of a skid steer loader. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a level  10  in accord with the present invention could also be mounted to other power sources, such as a tractor, with the appropriate mounting equipment. When used with a skid steer loader such as loader  12 , standard mounting brackets  14 , shown in phantom in FIGS. 3 and 5, can be provided on the bucket level  10  for mounting the bucket level  10  to the arms  16  of the loader. 
     The bucket level  10  includes a pair of side walls  20  and  22 , a bottom floor  24 , and a rear wall  26 . One or more reinforcement members  28 ,  30  may be provided and may be attached to and extend between the interior surfaces  32  and  34  of side walls  20  and  22 , respectively. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 generally and FIGS. 3 and 4 in particular, floor  24  will be described. Floor  24  includes a front, middle, and rear sections  40 ,  42 , and  44 , respectively. Front and rear sections  40  and  44  are attached to and extend between interior surfaces  32  and  34  of side walls  20  and  22 , respectively. Each floor sections  40 ,  44  may include a base member  46 ,  48 , which in turn may each have a front blade edge  50 ,  52  and a rear blade edge  54 ,  56 , respectively. 
     Front and rear floor sections  40  and  44  may further include an agitator member  58  and  60 , respectively, that are attached to each section base member  46  and  48  and that extend therealong its length between the side walls  20  and  22 . The agitators  58  and  60  can also serve a strengthening function for the floor sections  40  and  44 , respectively. As shown, each agitator  58 ,  60  takes the form of an angle iron, though other forms may also be used. Each agitator  58 ,  60  includes long sides  62 ,  64  and short sides  66 ,  68 , respectively. The short sides  66 ,  68  are disposed nearest the middle section while the long sides  62 ,  64  extend toward the front and rear, respectively, of the bucket level  10 . A bucket level  10  with agitators such as agitators  58 ,  60  functions to also tumble the soil passing thereover, thereby contributing to the breaking up of dirt clods when the apparatus  10  is used as a leveling bar. 
     Middle floor section  42  will now be described. As shown, middle floor section  42  may include a middle section base member  80  and end plates  82  and  84  lying substantially adjacent to the side walls  20  and  22 , respectively. The end plates are attached to the base member  80  in any known, appropriate manner. Middle floor section  42  is, as previously noted, movable upwardly relative to the front and rear floor sections  40 ,  44 . To facilitate this movement, a pair of guide plates  86 ,  88  are attached to side wall  20  and a pair of guide plates  90 ,  92  are attached to the side wall  22 . Guide plates  86 ,  88  are space apart to slidably receive end plate  82  therebetween. Guide plates  86 ,  88  thus constrain the end plate  82  to move substantially upwardly relative to the floor sections  40 ,  44  by inhibiting its movement in a forward or rear direction. Guide plates  90 ,  92  are space apart to slidably receive end plate  84  therebetween. Guide plates  90 ,  92  thus constrain the end plate  84  to move substantially upwardly relative to the floor sections  40 ,  44  by inhibiting its movement in a forward or rear direction. If desired, middle floor section  42  may also include an agitator  94  comprising an angle iron with equal sides attached thereto. As shown, agitator  94  is attached substantially in the center of the base member  80 . Agitator  80  may also function to tumble soil as it passes thereover to break up clods and may also act to strengthen and support the base member  80 . 
     Referring particularly now to FIGS. 3 and 4, rear wall  26  will now be described. Rear wall  26  may include an upper rear wall section  100  and a lower rear wall section comprising a pivotable gate section  102 . Upper rear wall section  100  extends between and is attached to the inner surfaces  30 ,  32  of the side walls  20 ,  22 , respectively. As shown the rear wall section  100  comprises an angle iron, but other configurations may also be used, if desired. The rear wall section  100  engages but is not attached to the gate section  102 . 
     The gate section  102  comprises a gate  104  including a gate collar  106  that receives a shaft  108 . The ends of the shaft  108  may be mounted in appropriate bearings  110  attached to the side walls  20  and  22  as best seen in FIG.  1 . As shown, the gate  104  is fixedly attached to the shaft  108  so that the two pivot or rotate jointly, though if desired the gate  104  could rotate or pivot about a shaft fixed in position. Comparing FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be appreciated that the gate  104  can be pivoted from its closed position in FIG. 3 to its open position in FIG.  4 . 
     As will be explained hereafter, gate  104  and middle floor section  42  are mechanically linked so that movement of one results in movement of the other. With the mechanism to be described hereafter, the movement of the gate  104  and the floor section  42  is accomplished simultaneously through individual connections to an actuator, though it will be understood that other mechanisms for moving them could also be used wherein only one of the two were connected to an actuator and the other was moved through a mechanical linkage. 
     Thus, referring to FIGS. 1,  3  and  4  in particular, it will be observed that an actuator in the form of an hydraulic cylinder  120  is attached to the front member  30 . The piston  122  of the cylinder  120  is pivotally attached to a rocker arm  130  at a first rocker arm end  132 . The rocker arm  130  is attached at the other or second end  134  to an actuator collar  136  that receives an actuator shaft  138  supported by appropriate bearings  140  attached to the side walls  20  and  22 . 
     At the outside ends the actuator collar  136  is pivotally attached to a gate link  142  at a first gate link end  144  and to floor link  146  at a first floor link end  148 . The other end  150  of gate link  142  is pivotally attached to a gate member  152 , which is fixedly attached to the gate collar  106 . The other end  154  of the floor link  146  is pivotally attached to an end  156  of a floor arm  158 . The other end  160  of the floor arm  158  is pivotally attached to a middle floor section attachment member  162 . The attachment member  162  is attached to the end plate  82  of the middle floor section  42 . 
     In operation, as the piston  122  is extended the various linking members previously described transfer the extension motion to the gate  102  and the middle floor section  42 , causing the gate to pivot rearwardly to open and the middle floor section  42  to be raised, creating the leveling bar position. Thus, as the piston  122  extends, the rocker arm  130  is rotated backwards or counterclockwise about the axis of the shaft  138  as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. This rotation of the rocker arm  130  in turn rotates the collar  136 , causing the gate link  142  to rotate downwardly as can be seen from comparison of the Figures. This downward movement in turns pushes the gate member end  164  downwardly to rotate it clockwise about the axis of the gate shaft  108  and thus rotating the gate  102  also clockwise and opening it. As the gate  102  is opening, the floor link  146  is rotating counterclockwise thereby lifting the end  154  of the floor link  146 , which in turn lifts the middle floor section  42  upwardly to create a gap  170  between front floor section  40  and rear floor section  44 , thus creating the leveling bar formation. Retracting the piston  122  will reverse the previously describe motions and result in the gate  102  being closed and the floor section  42  being lowered to create the bucket formation. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, the operation of an apparatus in accord with the present invention will be described. In FIG. 5 the bucket level  10  is shown with the gate  102  and middle floor section  42  both closed to create the bucket formation. In this formation, the apparatus  10  can be used as a traditional bucket and can carry dirt or other material  174  therein. In such a use, it would be tipped slightly backward as shown to minimize material falling off the front. As known in the art, in this formation the bucket level would be slid along the ground to pick up dirt and materials or pushed into a pile of material to fill it. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a use of the apparatus  10  as a leveling bar. As shown there, the gate  102  is partially opened and the middle floor section  42  is slightly raised above the other floor sections. As indicated by the arrow  180 , the bucket level  10  is being pushed forwardly over an uneven ground surface  182 . The front edge  50  of the front floor section  40  cuts into the high surface areas such as area  184  and the loosened material flows backwardly into the apparatus  10  and out the partially opened gate  102 . As the material flows into and out of the bucket level  10 , it will pass over the agitators  58  and  60  and a portion of the material may pass over agitator  94 . As the material passes over the agitators it is rolled or tumbled, thereby helping to break up the clods that may be present. As the material exits the back of the apparatus  10  through the partially opened gate  102 , the gate may be used to further level the material so that it exits in a substantially smooth layer and leaves the side with a substantially smooth surface. It will be understood that the front edge  62  of the rear floor section  44  may also cut away high areas during a forward motion operation such as that depicted in the Figure. 
     FIG. 7 represents a use of the apparatus  10  wherein the gate  102  is fully raised above the highest ground surface level and the apparatus  10  is being pulled rearwardly as indicated by arrow  186 . During this operation rear edges  54  and  56  of the front and rear floor sections  40  and  44  are both capable of shearing the soil layers. 
     It will be understood that the gate  102  and the middle floor section  42  are capable of assuming incrementally opened positions between the fully closed position shown in FIG.  3  and the fully open position shown in FIG.  4 . Thus, the operator is able to fully control the operation of the bucket level  10  by controlling the depth into which the apparatus is directed into the ground and the degree of open positions assumed by the gate  102  and the middle floor section  42 . 
     A method of preparing a landscape in accord with the present invention then includes providing an apparatus capable of assuming a bucket and a leveling bar configuration; placing the apparatus in a bucket configuration for the removal of large amounts of materials and subsequently placing the apparatus in a leveling bar configuration for leveling uneven spots in the surface. 
     The present invention thus provides landscapers and others with a single mountable attachment capable of adopting two different two configurations, thus eliminating or reducing the need to switch attachments during landscaping operations. With the gate closed the apparatus has the configuration of a common bucket. With the gate open and the middle floor section elevated, the apparatus has the configuration of a leveling bar. The ability to control the depth into the ground in which the tool is placed facilitates the control of the volume of dirt going through the bucket level in either the forward or rear direction of operation. 
     The present invention having thus been described, other modifications, alterations, or substitutions may now suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, all of which are within the spirit and scope of the present invention. By way of example only, other mechanisms could be used in lieu of hydraulic cylinder  72 , such as an air cylinder, linear actuator, or other known mechanical or electrical actuators to aid in the incremental opening and closing of the gate  102  and middle floor section  42 . Also, the present invention has been illustrated herein with an embodiment wherein a mechanical linkage is used to place the gate and the middle floor section in their operating positions. However, other known forms of providing motion, such individually actuated hydraulic cylinders or linear actuators or other devices known to the art could be used to provide this positioning function and thus the physical linkage between them as shown herein could be obviated. It is therefore intended that the present invention be limited only by the scope of the attached claims below.