Patent ID: 6952893

Claim:
A discharge chute assembly for use on a snow throwing machine, the chute assembly comprising: a chute adapter having a first end for mounting to the machine and a second end, said second end comprising a radially outward extending receiving flange; an upper chute mountable on the chute adapter, the upper chute having a chute mounting flange configured to be positioned in an abutting relationship with the receiving flange, said mounting flange comprising at least one key hole and at least one recess and slot combination in registration with said at least one key hole; and at least one locking lever comprising: an elongate body having a pivot end and a locking end, said body comprising a base portion and a ledge extending from the base portion; a pivot tab extending from the pivot end of the body, said pivot tab comprising a post and a locking nub forming a generally inverted L-shaped formation wherein said post and nub are sized and shaped to fit through the key hole when the locking lever is in a first orientation, and wherein said post and nub are prevented from fitting through the key hole when the locking lever is in a locked orientation; and a locking tab extending from the locking end of the body, said locking tab having a tooth extending from a distal end thereof, wherein when the locking lever is in said locked configuration, said locking tab is received by said recess such that said tooth is at least partially inserted into the slot to hold the locking lever in the locked orientation; wherein when the locking lever is in said locked configuration, the ledge engages the receiving flange to hold the mounting flange against the receiving flange in an abutting relationship to lock the upper chute to the chute adapter.