Road salt spreader mount assembly

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a road salt spreader for driving along a road, and that the granular salt particles can with this device be spreaded in a zone extending on each side of the central line until the zone destined for circulating.

2. Description of the Related Art

A search of prior art records has unveiled the following patents:

• 1. U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,418 issued in 2002 to Smith.
• 2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,677 issued in 1996 to McCaffrey.
• 3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,759 issued in 1999 to Patterson.
• 4. U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,551 issued in 2004 to Williams et al.
• 5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,386 issued in 1977 to Caye.
• 6. U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,196 issued in 2006 to Kime.
• 7. U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,753 issued in 2002 to Anderson.
• 8. U.S. Pat. No. 7,143,771 issued in 2006 to Kaipainen.
• 9. U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,393 issued in 1999 to Alsip et al.
• 10. U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,773 issued in 1994 to Lewis.
• 11. U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,947 issued in 1992 to Houle et al.
• 12. CA 2,271,593 issued in 2007 to Hollinrake.
• 13. CA 2,572,521 registered in 2006 to Tremblay.
• 14. CA 2,435,106 issued in 2008 to Kost.
• 15. CA 2,733,576 registered in 2011 to Sandler.
• 16. CA 1,053,620 issued in 1979 to Richardson.
• 17. CA 2,440,266 registered in 2003 to Ward.
• 18. CA 2,523,289 issued in 2010 to Sandler.
• 19. CA 2,126,035 issued in 1996 to Lewis.
• 20. CA 1,238,070 issued in 1988 to Houle et al.
• 21. CA 2,230,674 registered in 1998 to Belley.
• 22. CA 2,263,615 registered in 1999 to Belley.
• 23. CA 833,420 issued in 1970 to Vincent.
• 24. CA 2,306,860 issued in 2008 to Hedegard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a perpetually recurrent problem that the friction of the roadway surfaces is reduced substantially by ice and snow when the temperature falls below freezing point. Thereby, the roads become slippery and dangerous to drive on to the wheeled traffic.

In the past, numerous types of salt spreaders have been developed to be attached to the conventional vehicles. Typically, the spreader is mounted on the rear of the vehicle to spread particulate material, such as salt, sand, etc. onto the surface being traveled by the vehicle.

A method to reduce the risk of traffic accidents on icy roads consists in a spreader assembly that is adapted to be mounted to the chassis of a vehicle. The spreader assembly is utilized for the specific purpose of depositing granular salt particles upon roadways.

The novel and unique features according to the invention, whereby this is achieved, is the fact that the spreader assembly includes two chutes that are retained to the chassis of the vehicle by the chains and connected to a trap that is pivotally mounted therefrom.

The trap is actuated by a hydraulic cylinder designed to close inwards or outwards for sending granular salt particles via a chute to be directed toward a spreader disc that rotate by a motor-driven shaft for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending on each side of the central line until the zone destined for circulating.

When the salt spreader is operating and that the vehicle operator closes the trap outwards the granular salt particles are oriented inwards via a chute to be directed toward the spreader disc that rotate for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending on each side of the central line.

And when the salt spreader is operating and that the vehicle operator closes the trap inwards the granular salt particles are oriented outwards via a chute to be directed toward the spreader disc that rotate for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending until the zone destined for circulating.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spreader assembly mounted to the chassis of the vehicle and sending the granular salt particles outwards of the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the spreader assembly mounted to the chassis of the vehicle and sending the granular salt particles under the wheels of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the spreader assembly mounted to the chassis of the vehicle and sending the granular salt particles inwards of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the spreader assembly shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the spreader assembly shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the spreader assembly shown in FIG. 3.

FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 show the operation of the spreader assembly according to the invention.

FIG. 11 is an exploded view of the spreader assembly according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting the same, in FIGS. 1 to 6 there is shown a vehicle (C) having a spreader assembly secured to the chassis (B) of the vehicle by the use of plates, bolts, and nuts.

In the shown case, the spreader assembly is adapted to be mounted to the chassis (B) of the vehicle (C).

The spreader assembly includes two chutes (11)(25) that are retained to the chassis (B) of the vehicle (C) by the chains (37)(38) and connected to a trap (1) that is pivotally mounted therefrom.

The trap (1) is actuated by a hydraulic cylinder (34) designed to close inwards or outwards for sending granular salt particles via a chute to be directed toward a spreader disc (39) that is assembled to the chassis (B) of the vehicle (C) and that rotate by a motor-driven shaft (41) for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending on each side of the central line until the zone destined for circulating.

Returning to FIGS. 3, 6 and 7, when the salt spreader is operating and that the vehicle operator closes the trap (1) outwards the granular salt particles (A) are oriented inwards via a chute (25) to be directed toward the spreader disc (39) that rotate for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending on each side of the central line.

Looking now to FIGS. 1, 4, 8, 9 and 10, when the salt spreader is operating and that the vehicle operator closes the trap (1) inwards the granular salt particles (A) are oriented outwards via a chute (11) to be directed toward the spreader disc (39) that rotate for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending until the zone destined for circulating.

Returning to FIGS. 2 and 5, when the salt spreader is operating and that the vehicle operator closes the trap (1) inwards the granular salt particles (A) are also oriented outwards via the chute (11) to be directed toward the spreader disc (39) that rotate for spreading over iced or snowed zone extending under the wheels of the vehicle (C).

The spreader can be seen in detail in FIGS. 7 to 10, which shows the operation of the spreader assembly.

As shown in FIG. 11, it is shown an exploded view of the salt spreader assembly.

Although the preferred form of embodiment of the invention is thoroughly described and illustrated hereto, it is understood that the invention is not limited to this particular form of embodiment and that many other modifications could be made without departing from the scope or spirit of the said invention.

Others forms of embodiment are possible but they must fall within the range of the following claims.