Snow and ice remover for vehicle roofs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11084466-B2
Application number	US-201916274553-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 13, 2019
Priority date	Feb 13, 2018
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A vehicle snow and ice remover comprises a plurality of modular pieces assembled together to form a pair of vertical supports and a cross piece connecting the pair of vertical supports and a roof clearing device movable along the pair of vertical supports. The plurality of modular pieces include at most two different shapes and each having a maximum outer dimension that is less than or equal to 75% of a height of each of the vertical supports.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle snow and ice remover, comprising:
a plurality of modular frames assembled together to form a pair of vertical supports, the plurality of modular frames including at most two different shapes and each having a maximum outer dimension that is less than or equal to 75% of a height of each of the vertical supports; and
a cross piece connecting the pair of vertical supports; and
a roof clearing device carried by the cross piece and movable along the pair of vertical supports.

2. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , wherein all of the plurality of modular frames has a same shape.

3. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of modular frames includes a plurality of first modular frames each having a triangular shape and a plurality of second modular frames each having a rectangular shape.

4. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of first connectors attaching the plurality of modular frames together to form the pair of vertical supports, each of the first connectors is a plate-shaped member.

5. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 4 , further comprising a second connector attaching the plurality of modular frames together to form the cross piece, the second connector is a plate-shaped member.

6. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 5 , further comprising a plurality of third connectors connecting the cross piece to the pair of vertical supports, each of the third connectors is an L-shaped bracket.

7. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , further comprising a pair of wheel assemblies each attached to one of the modular frames of one of the pair of vertical supports, each wheel assembly including a wheel disposed on an end of a jack and movable into and out of contact with a ground surface.

8. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , further comprising a wheel assembly connecting one of the modular frames of each of the pair of vertical supports to each other.

9. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 8 , wherein the wheel assembly includes a rack bar, a wheel disposed on an end of a jack is attached to the rack bar and is movable into and out of contact with a ground surface.

10. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 9 , wherein the wheel assembly includes a rack connector having a tow attachment.

11. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of modular frames are assembled together to form an outrigger attached to each of the pair of vertical supports and extending along a direction of movement of a vehicle through the snow and ice remover.

12. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 11 , further comprising a ballast including a platform and a weight disposed on the platform, the platform is attached to the outrigger.

13. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 1 , further comprising a ballast including a platform and a weight disposed on the platform, the platform is attached to one of the modular frames of one of the pair of vertical supports.

14. A vehicle snow and ice remover, comprising:
a pair of vertical supports;
a roof clearing device movable along the pair of vertical supports; and
a ballast assembly attached to a first one of the pair of vertical supports, the ballast assembly including:
side supports;
a platform connected between the side supports and structure to support a weight, the platform having a length in a direction of vehicle travel through the snow and ice remover extending from a first side of the first one of the pair of vehicle supports to a second side of the first one of the vertical supports; and
a jack connected to the platform, the jack having an engaging portion disposed on an end of the jack that is movable into and out of contact with a ground surface.

15. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 14 , wherein the jack is operable to raise and lower the engaging portion to raise and lower the snow and ice remover with the ballast assembly on to the ground surface.

16. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 14 , wherein the platform is aligned with the one of the pair of vertical supports in a direction perpendicular to the direction of vehicle travel through the snow and ice remover.

17. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 14 , wherein the engaging portion is at least one of a flat surface or a wheel.

18. A plow assembly for a vehicle snow and ice remover, the plow assembly comprising:
a plow frame piece;
a plow sheet attached to a front section of the plow frame piece;
a plow flexible blade attached to the plow sheet and extending from the plow sheet in a height direction; and
a transverse frame flexible blade attached to a rear section of the plow frame piece opposite the front section, the transverse frame being oriented non-parallel relative to the plow flexible blade, the transverse frame flexible blade having a straight profile and extending between respective ends of the plow flexible blade.

19. The plow assembly of claim 18 , wherein the plow flexible blade extends at an angle with respect to a width direction perpendicular to the height direction and at an angle with respect to a length direction perpendicular to the width direction and the height direction.

20. The plow assembly of claim 19 , wherein the transverse frame flexible blade extends in the width direction.

21. The plow assembly of claim 20 , further comprising an inline frame flexible blade attached to the plow frame piece and extending in the length direction from the front section to the rear section.

22. The plow assembly of claim 18 , wherein the plow sheet is attached to the front section by a plurality of plow sheet connectors, each of the plow sheet connectors is V-shaped and holds a top end of the plow sheet at a distance from a top end of the plow frame piece.

23. The plow assembly of claim 18 , further comprising a plurality of brush tracks attached to the plow frame piece and a plurality of brushes attached to the brush tracks and extending in the height direction.

24. A vehicle snow and ice remover, comprising:
a pair of vertical supports;
a pair of plow retainers each attached to one of the pair of vertical supports and forming a confined plow track with a side of the one of the pair of vertical supports, the track defining a slot between a first end of a respective one of the retainers and a second end opposite the first end of the respective one of the retainers; and
a plow assembly movable along the pair of vertical supports and having a pair of brackets positioned at opposing ends of the plow assembly, each bracket extends through the confined plow track and has a shaped end to retain the plow assembly within the slot of the track, each bracket has a wear pad engaging one of the pair of vertical supports and one of the pair of plow retainers as the plow assembly moves along the pair of vertical supports.

25. The vehicle snow and ice remover of claim 24 , wherein a first end of the track defines an upper travel limit of the plow assembly in a height direction and a second end defines a lower travel limit of the plow assembly in the height direction.

Assignees

• Rite Hite Holding Corp

Inventors

• Livingston Jr Howard
• Livingston Howard
• Werhel Doug
• Lawson Stephan
• Chang Eric
• Murray Thomas William
• Kasilag Christian

Classifications

• B60Y2200/148

  Semi-trailers, articulated vehicles · CPC title

• B60S3/04 Primary

  for exteriors of land vehicles {(B60S3/002, B60S3/004 take precedence; specially adapted for railway vehicles B60S3/006)} · CPC title