Patent Publication Number: US-9885159-B1

Title: Vehicle debris clearing device

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/278,289, filed on Jan. 13, 2016, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of emergency responder equipment and more particularly, to a new vehicle-mounted apparatus that allows emergency vehicles to remove debris from travel surfaces. 
     Emergency responders, such a police officers, firefighters, and ambulance crews sometimes come upon debris that presents a risk to the general public. The debris may include animal carcasses, bags of trash, parts of vehicles, furniture, large rocks, tire treads, unsecured dunnage, and other items that may have fallen onto the road from vehicles, bridges, or the roadside. Left on the road the debris could cause an accident leading to injury or death. To prevent scenarios such as these, emergency responders will typically attempt to remove the debris from the travel surface. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The front-mounted debris clearing device is a repositionable push frame mounted on the front of a vehicle that can be used to clear debris off of the travel surface of a road. The device utilizes pyrotechnic bolts at several key locations so that a portion of the device may be jettisoned if necessary for unimpeded use of the vehicle. 
     An object of the invention is to provide a vehicle with front-mounted push frame that is useful for removing debris from a road surface. 
     A further object of the invention is to be able to move the push frame into an upward home position or into a downward deployed position from within the vehicle. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to be able to quickly jettison a portion of the front-mounted debris clearing device under circumstances where a malfunctioning mechanism would prevent an emergency vehicle that is equipped with the front-mounted debris clearing device from answering an emergency call. 
     These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the front-mounted debris clearing device will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the front-mounted debris clearing device in detail, it is to be understood that the front-mounted debris clearing device is not limited in its applications to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the front mounted debris clearing device. 
     It is therefore important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the front mounted debris clearing device. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. They are meant to be exemplary illustrations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure while in the home position. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure while in the home position. 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of an embodiment of the disclosure while in the deployed position. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of a deviation subassembly consistent with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a top view of an operator interface consistent with an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments of the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. 
     As used herein the word “or” is intended to be inclusive. As used herein, the word “debris” is intended to include any form of hazardous or potential hazardous material or object produced by vehicular or non-vehicular sources, which is located on or near the travel surface of a road and which is foreign to a normal road surface. As used herein, the word “control” is intended to include any device which can cause the completion or interruption of an electrical circuit; non-limiting examples of controls include toggle switches, rocker switches, push button switches, rotary switches, electromechanical relays, solid state relays, touch sensitive interfaces and combinations thereof whether they are normally open, normally closed, momentary contact, latching contact, single pole, multi-pole, single throw, or multi-throw. 
     Throughout this document reference to the usage of a bolt includes the usage of one or more nuts, flat washers, star washers, cotter pins, or other hardware ordinarily associated with the use of a bolt and appropriate for the embodiment whether explicitly stated or not. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. 
     Detailed reference will now be made to a first potential embodiment of the disclosure, which is illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 . The front-mounted debris clearing device  100  (hereinafter invention) comprises a mounting subassembly  200 , a pushing subassembly  300 , an actuator subassembly  400 , and an operator interface  600 . 
     The mounting subassembly  200  comprises a left mounting arm  205 , a right mounting arm  210 , and an actuator arch  215 . The right mounting arm  210  fastens to a vehicle  700  using a first mounting bolt  701  and a second mounting bolt  702 . The first mounting bolt passes through a first mounting hole  220  located near the upper rear portion of the right mounting arm  210  and a corresponding hole in a vehicle chassis  710 . The second mounting bolt  702  passes through a second mounting hole  221  located near the upper center portion of the right mounting arm  210  and a corresponding hole in the vehicle chassis  710 . The left mounting arm  205  fastens to the vehicle  700  using a third mounting bolt (not depicted) and a fourth mounting bolt (not depicted). It shall be noted that the third mounting bolt and the fourth mounting bolt are duplicates of the first mounting bolt  701  and the second mounting bolt  702 , respectively. The third mounting bolt passes through a third mounting hole  266  located near the upper rear portion of the left mounting arm  205  and a corresponding hole in the vehicle chassis  710 . The fourth mounting bolt passes through a fourth mounting hole  267  located near the upper center portion of the left mounting arm  205  and a corresponding hole in the vehicle chassis  710 . When installed on the vehicle  700 , the left mounting arm  205  and the right mounting arm  210  lie substantially parallel to each other. In some embodiments the left mounting arm  205  and the right mounting arm  210  might be welded to the vehicle chassis  710  instead of bolted. 
     A first mount pivot hole  800  is located on the lower rear portion of the right mounting arm  210 . A first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  passing through the first mount pivot hole  800  serves as one of the pivot points for the pushing subassembly  300  which will be described later. A second mount pivot hole  801  is located on the lower rear portion of the left mounting arm  205 . A second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331  passing through the second mount pivot hole  801  serves as one of the pivot points for the pushing subassembly  300 , which will be described later. It shall be noted that the second mount pivot hole  801  is a mirror of the first mount pivot hole  800 . 
     The actuator arch  215  connects between the front of the left mounting arm  205  and the front of the right mounting arm  210 . The purposes of the actuator arch  215  is to help to maintain the spacing between the left mounting arm  205  and the right mounting arm  210  and to provide a high, central mounting point for the top end of the actuator subassembly  400 . 
     The pushing subassembly  300  comprises a left deployment arm  305 , a right deployment arm  310 , a push frame  315 , and an actuator crossbar  320 . The left deployment arm  305  and the right deployment arm  310  lie substantially parallel to each other. A first deployment pivot hole  366  is located near the rear of the right deployment arm  310 . A first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  passing through the first deployment pivot hole  366  serves as one of the pivot points for the pushing subassembly  300 . A second deployment pivot hole  367  is located near the rear of the left deployment arm  305 . A second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331  passing through the second deployment pivot hole  367  serves as one of the pivot points for the pushing subassembly  300 . 
     The push frame  315  connects to the front of the left deployment arm  305  and to the front of the right deployment arm  310 . The actuator crossbar  320  connects between the left deployment arm  305  and the right deployment arm  310  near the front of the left deployment arm  305  and right deployment arm  310 , but far enough towards the rear of the pushing subassembly  300  to act as a mounting point for the bottome end of the actuator subassembly  400 . In some embodiments the actuator crossbar  320  may be located far enough back in the pushing subassembly  300  that when the mounting subassembly  200  and the pushing subassembly  300  are connected using the first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  and the second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331 , the actuator crossbar  320  on the pushing subassembly  300  will be located just to the rear of the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200 . 
     The purpose of the push frame  315  may include providing a large, sturdy surface for pushing debris from the road surface. In some embodiments the push frame  315  may comprise two or more horizontal, straight members interconnected by two or more short, vertical members where the horizontal and vertical members are constructed from tubular steel. 
     The pushing subassembly  300  is installed into the mounting subassembly  200  such that the left deployment arm  305  and the right deployment arm  310  are located between the left mounting arm  205  and the right mounting arm  210  with the left deployment arm  305  adjacent to the left mounting arm  205 , and the right deployment arm  310  adjacent to the right mounting arm  210 . 
     The right deployment arm  310  attaches to the right mounting arm  210  using a first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  and a first nut for a pyrotechnic pivot bolt  335 . The right deployment arm  310  may pivot with respect to the right mounting arm  210  around the first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330 . 
     The left deployment arm  305  attaches to the left mounting arm  205  using a second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331  and a second nut for a pyrotechnic pivot bolt  336 . The left deployment arm  305  may pivot with respect to the left mounting arm  205  around the second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331 . 
     The first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  and the second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331  locate on the sides of the front-mounted debris clearing device  100  allow the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot within the mounting subassembly  200  and this pivoting action allows the distance between the pushing frame  315  to move between an upward home position (see  FIG. 2 ) and a downward deployed position (see  FIG. 3 ). In the downward deployed position the push frame  315  may touch a ground surface  900 . 
     The purpose of the actuator subassembly  400  may include lowering the push frame  315  towards the ground surface  900  by expanding itself between the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200  and the actuator crossbar  320  on the pushing subassembly  300 . Since the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200  is in a fixed position relative to the vehicle  700  and the ground surface  900 , expansion of the actuator subassembly  400  causes the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot at the first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  and at the second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331 , which results in the push frame  315  moving down towards the ground surface  900 . The reverse may also be true—the actuator subassembly  400  may cause the push frame  315  to lift off of the ground surface  900  by contracting. Contraction of the actuator subassembly  400  reduces the distance between the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200  and the actuator crossbar  320  on the pushing subassembly  300 . Since the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200  may be in a fixed position relative to the vehicle  700  and the ground surface  900 , contraction of the actuator subassembly  400  causes the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot around the first pyrotechnic pivot bolt  330  and second pyrotechnic pivot bolt  331 , which results in the push frame  315  moving up away from the ground. 
     The actuator subassembly  400  comprises a linear actuator  405 , a top mounting point  410  for the linear actuator  405 , a bottom mounting point  415  for the linear actuator  405 , and a deviation subassembly  500 . The linear actuator  405  may be a device that converts an electrical energy into mechanical motion—specifically linear motion of a shaft. A number of different types of linear actuators are available but for the purposes of this disclosure all that may be important is that the linear actuator  405  comprises the top mounting point  410 , a movable shaft  420 , the bottom mounting point  415 , and an actuator electrical connection  425  such as a cable. The top mounting point  410  of the linear actuator  405  connects to the center of the actuator arch  215  on the mounting subassembly  200 . The bottom mounting point  415  of the linear actuator  405  connects to the deviation subassembly  500 . The bottom mounting point  415  of the linear actuator  405  connects to the bottom end of a movable shaft  420 . 
     The purpose of the deviation subassembly  500  may be to provide leeway in the up and down motion of the pushing subassembly  300  when the invention  100  is deployed and in use. As a non-limiting example, if the push frame  315  is in the deployed position such that the bottom of the push frame  315  is against the ground surface  900 , and the vehicle  700  starts moving it is possible there may be an upward pressure applied to the bottom of the push frame  315  due to an uneven ground surface  900 , railroad tracks, the edge of a pot hole, or other road surface anomalies. 
     If some mechanism for compensating for this upward pressure is not provided, then the force of the upward pressure may be communicated to the linear actuator  405  or some other part of the invention  100  or to the vehicle  700  that the invention  100  is mounted on resulting in damage. The deviation subassembly  500  provides this relief mechanism by proving a compression spring on each side of the connection between the actuator subassembly  400  and the actuator crossbar  320  on the pushing subassembly  300 . 
     The deviation subassembly  500  comprises a mounting bracket  505 , a guide rod  520 , a top compression spring  510 , a bottom compression spring  515 , and a bottom retention mechanism  525 . The mounting bracket  505  of the deviation subassembly  500  may be attached to bottom mounting point of the linear actuator  405  via a pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430  and nut for the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  435 . The guide rod  520  connected to the mounting bracket  505  runs through the top compression spring  510 , through the actuator crossbar  320  on the pushing subassembly  300 , through the bottom compression spring  515 , and terminates with the bottom retention mechanism  525  to hold the deviation subassembly  500  together. In a certain embodiments, the guide rod  520  may be threaded and the bottom retention mechanism  525  may comprise a retention washer  530  and a retention nut  535 . 
     The linear actuator  405  may be configured to feed the movable shaft  420  out of the bottom of the linear actuator  405  or to pull the movable shaft  420  into the linear actuator  405  based upon the presence and polarity of an electrical signal applied to the electrical connection to the linear actuator  405 . 
     In some embodiments, the left mounting arm  205 , the right mounting arm  210 , the left deployment arm  305 , and the right deployment arm  310  may be constructed from sheet steel and the actuator arch  215  and the push frame  315  members may be constructed from tubular steel. In certain embodiments, the actuator crossbar  320  may be constructed from heavy wall square steel tubing. 
     The operator interface  600  comprises a control box  605  with a control electrical connection  650 . The control box  605  may be mounted inside of the vehicle and the control box  605  may comprise a control panel  610 . The control panel may provide access to a push frame deploy control  615 , a jettison enable control  620 , a first jettison activation control  625 , and a second jettison activation control  630 . The push frame deploy control  615  may be a momentary contact control, which, when activated, causes electrical energy from the vehicle electrical system to be applied to the linear actuator  405  by way of the control electrical connection  650  and thereby causing the actuator subassembly  400  to expand and force the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot in a direction, which brings the push frame  315  into contact with the ground surface  900 . The push frame  315  may remain in contact with the ground surface  900  for only as long as the push frame deploy control  615  is activated. If the operator deactivates the push frame deploy control  615 , then the control box  605  sends an appropriate signal to the linear actuator  405  to cause the linear actuator  405  to contract and thereby pivot the pushing subassembly  300  back to its home position where the push frame  315  is no longer in contact with the ground surface  900 . 
     In some embodiments, the control panel  610  may provide a separate power on/off control (not shown in the figures) and the power on/off control may need to be set to the ‘on’ position in order for any portion of the front-mounted debris clearing device  100  to function. 
     The jettison enable control  620  may be located under a protective cover  635  to prevent accidental activation. A non-limiting example of a protective cover may be a hinged, clear plastic shield which prevents contact with the jettison enable control  620  and which may be lifted to expose the jettison enable control  620 . When the jettison enable control  620  has been activated, an electrical signal may be applied to the first jettison activation control  625 . The first jettison activation control  625  and the second jettison activation control  630  may be electrically wired to form a series circuit capable of energizing the pyrotechnic pivot bolts  330  and the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430 . 
     If the jettison enable control  620  is activated, then simultaneous activation of the first jettison activation control  625  and the second jettison activation control  630  may allow electrical energy to flow to the pyrotechnic pivot bolts  330  and the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430 . This may result in the detonation of a small explosive charge contained within the pyrotechnic pivot bolts  330  and the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430 . Detonation of the charge within a pyrotechnic bolt causes the bolt to bring into two or more pieces. The pushing subassembly  300  connects to the mounting subassembly  200  at only three points—the two pivot points and at the actuator. Breaking the two pyrotechnic pivot bolts  330  and the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430  may cause a complete separation between the pushing subassembly  300  and the rest of the vehicle. In the event that an electrical or mechanical failure of the front-mounted debris clearing device  100  causes the push frame  315  to be stuck in the deployed position and it is necessary for the vehicle to respond to an emergency call, the operator of the vehicle may use this mechanism to jettison the pushing subassembly  300  so that the vehicle can back away from it and proceed to the emergency call. 
     In some embodiments the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430  is located at the lower end of the actuator subassembly  400  where it joins the pushing subassembly  300  so that linear actuator  405  and the deviation subassembly  500  are retained with the vehicle  700  after an emergency jettison of the pushing subassembly  300 . 
     In some embodiments the control box electrical connection  650  may be protected by thermal overload breakers. 
     In operation, the operator of the invention  100  would position their vehicle  700  so that debris  750  to be removed is in front of the vehicle  700 . They would then activate the push frame deploy control  615  causing the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot downward into a deployed position and bringing the push frame  315  into contact with the ground surface  900 . While holding the push frame deploy control  615  in the activated position, the operator would then maneuver their vehicle  700  to push the debris  750  off of the travel surface of the ground surface  900 . The operator would then deactivate the push frame deploy control  615 , causing the pushing subassembly  300  to pivot upwards to its home position and raising the push frame  315  away from the ground surface  900 . 
     If for some reason the push frame  315  gets stuck in the downward position and the vehicle  700  must respond to an emergency call, the operator may open the protective cover  635  over the jettison enable control  620 , activate the jettison enable control  620 , and simultaneously activate the first activation control  630  and the second activation control  625 . This sequence will cause the pyrotechnic pivot bolts  330  and the pyrotechnic actuator bolt  430  to break thus releasing the pushing subassembly  300  from the mounting subassembly  200 . The operator may then back the vehicle  700  away from the detached pushing subassembly and proceed to the emergency call. 
     With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the various components of the invention described above and in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , 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 all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the invention. 
     It shall be noted that those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the various embodiments of the present invention which will result in an improved invention, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.