Blade implement and method of use

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to road surface treatment, in particular, to apparatus and methods for treating road surfaces with a blade implement.

Road surfaces typically need to be treated for a number of different reasons. Specifically, roads may need to have snow removed, material backfilled into a ditch beside the road, new shoulders cut into existing roadways, the gravel base of existing roadways widened, the entire roadway sub-grade cut out, or generally material displaced from the road. These tasks are achieved in the prior art by specialty equipment. However, it is desirable to be able to quickly and easily modify existing equipment such that they achieve the above results.

Accordingly, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of a blade implement adapted to be attached to a utility loader bucket.

The specialty equipment of the prior art often is incorrectly sized for use upon narrow roadways, residential driveways, shoulders of existing roadways, or other narrow areas. Accordingly, another objective of the present invention is the provision of a blade implement with a narrow blade cutting surface that has the ability of treating surfaces narrower than that which specialty equipment may efficiently treat.

Specialty equipment by their nature is not adapted for more than one use. Accordingly, a further objective of the present invention is the provision of providing a grading feature to a general utility industrial tractor such as a scoop tractor and to provide the option of the user using the scoop tractor for surface treatment.

A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a blade implement which permits adjustable angle of the blade thereby allowing materials to be transferally.

A still further objective of the present invention is the provision of a blade implement having a swivel which permits the blade to rotate 360°. In the prior art, the attachments do not allow a variety of different surface treatments including front treatment and then rear treatment of the road surfaces. As the loader unit travels in reverse, deep cutting action can be achieved by use of the dump or cupping control of the loader unit while traveling forward or backwards.

A still further objective of the present invention is the provision of a blade implement which is economical to manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objectives will become apparent from the following description of the invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The blade implement of the present invention includes a utility bucket adapted to be attached to an industrial vehicle that has an open front, a closed back, and a closed underside. The blade implement also has a support structure attached to the underside of the utility bucket and a blade attached to the support structure that is substantially beneath the utility bucket. The blade implement of the present invention also includes a method of using the blade implement comprising providing an industrial vehicle having a utility bucket with a blade attached to the underside and substantially beneath the utility bucket. The method also has the step of positioning the blade against a road surface and the step of moving the blade across the road surface for road treatment. The blade implement of the present invention also includes a blade implement with a mounting plate adapted to be attached to an industrial vehicle, a swivel moveably attached to the mounting plate, and a blade attached to the swivel radially moveable beneath the mounting plate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of the blade implement attached to the utility bucket of an industrial vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the mounting plate, swivel, and blade.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the mounting plate, swivel with locking bar detail and blade.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view through the middle of the mounting plate, guide ring, swivel plate, retainer ring, and blade components.

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a blade implement upon a skid steer fastened with bolts.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of a blade implement upon a heavy loader tractor and attached by bolts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The blade implement of the present invention is generally designated in the drawings by the reference numeral 10.

As seen in FIG. 1, the blade implement 10 is located on an industrial vehicle 12. The industrial vehicle 12 generally has wheels 14, a vehicle body 16, and a forward facing cab 18 upon the vehicle body 16. Attached to the vehicle body 16 is also a lift system 20 designed to manipulate implements in front of the cab. Typically, the industrial vehicle 12 has hydraulic cylinders 22, coupled with physical joint and pivot points 24 to transmit force from the hydraulic cylinders 22 to the implement 10. The implement 10 is attached to the hydraulic system 20 by bucket pivots (not shown). The implement 10 such as a utility bucket, may be raised or lowered using the lift system 20 and may also be tilted forward or back by a bucket hydraulic system 28 (as shown in FIG. 6).

Implements that might be attached to the industrial vehicle include a utility bucket 30. The utility bucket 30 is common because it is very versatile and often is the only device used upon the industrial vehicle 12. The bucket 30 versatility stems from its familiar use to the operator, the forward location upon vehicle 12, and the vehicle's 12 ability to transmit force from the lift system 20 to the bucket 30.

The blade implement 10, as illustrated in FIG. 1, is attached to the utility bucket 30. The utility bucket 30 has an open front 32, a closed back 34 and a closed underside 36. The bucket 30 has a width “W” and a length “L”.

A support structure 40 is attached to the underside 36 of the bucket 30. A blade 42 is attached to the support structure 40.

As seen in FIG. 2, the support structure has a mounting plate 50. Metal tabs 52 secure the mounting plate 50 to the closed rear side of the bucket 30. Also, as seen in FIG. 1 on the front side of the utility bucket, the mounting plate 50 has an engaging slot 53 attached to the mounting plate 50.

The mounting plate 50 is designed to be a quick attachment to the utility bucket. Attached to the mounting plate 50 as seen in FIG. 2 is a swivel 54. As seen in FIG. 2, the swivel 54 has a guide ring 56 attached to the mounting plate 50 and a swivel plate 58 marked in dash lines 57 which rotates within the guide ring 56 and a retainer ring 60 which fits over the guide ring 56 and swivel plate 58 holding the swivel plate 58 in place and providing a place for the swivel plate 58 to be locked in place. Extending from the swivel plate 58 are moldboard supports 62. Two moldboard supports 62 are positioned against the swivel plate 58. The support 62 is welded to the swivel plate 58.

Attached to the moldboard support 62 is a cross beam 68 which extends between and outward a first and second moldboard supports 62. The moldboard 70 fits against the moldboard support 62 and the cross beam 68 such that force striking against the moldboard 70 is transmitted to the moldboard support 62 and the cross beam 68 and into the industrial vehicle 12.

A cutting edge 72 is attached to the moldboard 70 by attachment 74. The attachment is commonly a bolt and nut combination. Alternatively, the cutting edge 72 may be welded to the moldboard 70. Preferably, the cutting edge 72 is detachable from the moldboard 70 so that replacement cutting edge 72 may be supplied as the cutting edge 72 will wear at a rate faster than the moldboard 70.

Preferably, if the attachment 74 is a bolt, the bolt is flush mounted to join the cutting edge 72 to the moldboard 74 such that particulates traveling along the cutting edge 72 and moldboard 70 are not interfered with the attachment 74.

FIG. 3 illustrates the bottom view of the swivel. Preferably the retaining ring 60 has locking notches 80 around the circumference. A locking bar 82 is moveable between the locking notch 80 and an open position by pulling upon handle 84. When the handle 84 is pulled it moves a locking bar 82 away from the locking notch 80. Preferably a spring 86 is provided which biases the locking bar 82 towards a seated position in the locking notch 80. Alternatively, the locking notches 80 may be on the swivel and the locking bar 82 extend from the retaining ring 60.

An alternate locking system (not shown) is the reverse of the system in FIG. 3. In this alternate system, the swivel has locking notches 80 around the circumference. A locking bar 82 is attached to the retaining ring and is moveable between the locking notch 80 and an open position by pulling upon handle 84. When the handle 84 is pulled it moves a locking bar 82 away from the locking notch 80 upon the swivel.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view provided to show the orientation of the moldboard along a center line of the swivel plate 54.

FIG. 5 is provided showing the industrial vehicle 12 as a skid steer with a support structure 40 that does not use a swivel. Instead, the support structure is made up of a T-bar 90 being bolted to the underside 36 of the bucket 30 at a plurality of locations 92 and also bolted to the moldboard 70 with cutting edge 72 at location 94. The embodiment is much simpler than the swivel plate 54 and provides a similar action across a road surface but requires more extensive manipulation by user to adjust the angle of the cutting edge 72.

FIG. 6 illustrates a blade attached to a large loader bucket tractor 12 without a swivel 54. In this embodiment, the blade only takes up a portion of the loader bucket 30.

In use, the user positions the blade 42 against a road surface and moves the blade 42 across the road surface such that the cutting edge 72 and moldboard 70 contact the surface. The material is moved off to the side if it is angled or pushed forward if it is in a perpendicular position. In further use, the user may angle the blade to permit more specific clearing of the material from the side of the blade. Preferably, the blade 42 is angled such that the material is swept away from the user's front tire 14.

The user may adjust the pressure of the moldboard 70 and cutting edge 72 against the roadside by tilting the utility bucket 30 forward. The user may also manipulate the cutting edge 72 to dig a deep furrow and gouge the roadside. This gouging action is effective for placing conduit underneath a roadway or creating depth for curbing or simply widening an existing roadbed. Finally, the user may move the blade 42 from center of the bucket 30 to the side of the bucket 30, especially when used with heavy industrial vehicles 12. This provides a controlled area of the road being acted upon and also provides a much narrower area to be worked on.

Finally, the user may adjust the blade 42 so that the user may move the industrial vehicle 12 in a backwards direction. This direction provides the user with a more controlled action as the blade 42 can be observed from the cab 18 of the vehicle 12.

The invention has been shown and described above with the preferred embodiments, and it is understood that many modifications, substitutions, and additions may be made which are within the intended spirit and scope of the invention. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the present invention accomplishes at least all of the stated objectives.