Tracked vehicle for preparing ski slopes and method of driving the tracked vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12441399-B2
Application number	US-202318115267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2023
Priority date	Mar 2, 2022
Publication date	Oct 14, 2025
Grant date	Oct 14, 2025

Abstract

A tracked vehicle for preparing ski slopes has a chassis extending along a longitudinal axis; a winch mounted on the chassis; a boom pivoting about a pivot axis to guide and orientate the cable of the winch between the chassis and the cable anchor point; an actuation system for rotating the boom about the pivot axis relative to the chassis in a first and second direction; and a user interface comprising a first and a second switch arranged in front of an operator and to the right and left of each other and configured to rotate the boom so as to steer the tracked vehicle to the right and to the left respectively when the cable is anchored to the cable anchor point.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tracked vehicle configured to prepare a ski slope, the tracked vehicle comprising:
a chassis extending along a longitudinal axis;
a winch mounted on the chassis;
a boom rotatable about an axis to guide and orientate a cable of the winch between the chassis and a cable anchor point;
an actuation system configured to rotate the boom about the axis relative to the chassis in a first direction and in a second direction;
a user interface comprising:
a first switch arranged in front of an operator position and configured to cause a rotation of the boom to always steer the tracked vehicle to the right when the cable is anchored to the cable anchor point, and
a second switch arranged in front of the operator position and to the left of the first switch, the second switch configured to cause a rotation of the boom to always steer the tracked vehicle to the left when the cable is anchored to the cable anchor point; and

a control device comprising:
a sensor configured to detect a direction of travel of the tracked vehicle, and
a control unit configured to:
enable the first switch to cause a rotation of the boom in the first direction when advancing uphill and to cause a rotation of the boom in the second direction when advancing downhill, and
enable the second switch to cause a rotation of the boom in the second direction when advancing uphill and to cause a rotation of the boom in the first direction when advancing downhill.

2. The tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the actuation system comprises at least two actuators which are each at least one of concordantly actuatable to rotate the boom and discordantly actuatable to lock the boom in a designated position.

3. The tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the actuation system comprises:
at least two hydraulic actuators,
a pump configured to supply a fluid under pressure, and
a pressure modulating valve.

4. The tracked vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the control device comprises, for each hydraulic actuator, a direction control valve configured to selectively shut off power to a respective hydraulic motor, supply power to the respective hydraulic motor in a first flow direction and supply power to the respective hydraulic actuator in a second flow direction opposite the first flow direction.

5. The tracked vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the control device comprises a control module configured to control each direction control valve.

6. The tracked vehicle of claim 3 , wherein the control device comprises a control module configured to manually control the pressure modulating valve.

7. The tracked vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the user interface comprises a joystick and the first switch and the second switch are each mounted on the joystick.

8. A method of driving a tracked vehicle configured to prepare a ski slope, the method comprising:
connecting the tracked vehicle to an anchor point via a cable of a winch;
advancing the tracked vehicle;
selectively rotating a boom to guide and orientate the cable;
responsive to operating a first switch arranged in front of an operator position and to the right of a second switch, causing a rotation of the boom to always turn the tracked vehicle to the right;
responsive to operating the second switch arranged in front of the operator position and to the left of the first switch, causing a rotation of the boom to always turn the tracked vehicle to the left;
acquiring a signal related to a direction of travel of the tracked vehicle;
rotating the boom in a first direction when the first switch is operated and the tracked vehicle is traveling uphill;
rotating the boom in the first direction when the second switch is operated and the tracked vehicle is traveling downhill;
rotating the boom in a second direction when the first switch is operated and the tracked vehicle is traveling downhill; and
rotating the boom in the second direction when the second switch is operated and the tracked vehicle is traveling uphill.

9. A tracked vehicle configured to prepare a ski slope, the tracked vehicle comprising:
a chassis extending along a longitudinal axis;
a winch mounted on the chassis;
a boom rotatable about an axis to guide and orientate a cable of the winch between the chassis and a cable anchor point;
an actuation system comprising at least two hydraulic actuators, a pump configured to supply a fluid under pressure, and a pressure modulating valve, the actuation system configured to rotate the boom about the axis relative to the chassis in a first direction and in a second direction;
a user interface comprising:
a first switch arranged in front of an operator position and configured to cause a rotation of the boom to steer the tracked vehicle to the right when the cable is anchored to the cable anchor point, and
a second switch arranged in front of the operator position and to the left of the first switch, the second switch configured to cause a rotation of the boom to steer the tracked vehicle to the left when the cable is anchored to the cable anchor point; and

a control device comprising, for each hydraulic actuator, a direction control valve configured to selectively shut off power to a respective hydraulic motor, supply power to the respective hydraulic motor in a first flow direction and supply power to the respective hydraulic actuator in a second flow direction opposite the first flow direction.

10. The tracked vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the control device comprises a control module configured to control each direction control valve.

Assignees

• Prinoth Spa

Inventors

• Kirchmair Martin
• Paoletti Alberto
• Salis Francesco

Classifications

• B66D1/40

  Control devices · CPC title

• E01H4/00

  Working on surfaces of snow or ice in order to make them suitable for traffic or sporting purposes, e.g. by compacting snow (production of artificial snow F25C3/04) · CPC title

• B62D1/12

  Hand levers · CPC title

• B66D1/7463

  Accessories · CPC title

• B66D1/7442

  having a horizontal rotation axis · CPC title