ATTACHMENT FOR SNOW PLOW BLADE

Abstract

A snow plow blade attachment with is fixable to a lower edge of a snow plow blade to better prevent damage to a road or driveway during, in particular those formed by gravel, plowing. The detachable snow plow blade attachment comprises a tubular member having two posts which are designed to fit through holes in the base plate of the snow plow blade, and are detachably fixed thereto.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/320,387, filed Mar. 16, 2022. The disclosure set forth in the referenced application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an attachment to a snow plow blade to assist with packing snow when plowing gravel roads or driveways. The attachment assists in minimizing a loss of gravel caused by plowing which employs a horizontal force of an elongated blade across the road or driveway. A horizontal foot is disposed below the blade and is adapted slidably to rest on the top of a gravel road covering. A mechanism secures said foot to said blade in such manner that the bottom edge of the blade is disposed above the foot. The mechanism is manually adjustable to adjust the vertical separation between the bottom edge of the blade and the bottom surface of the foot to a distance at which the gravel will not be re moved and the snow can be suitably plowed when the device is used on a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When gravel roads are covered with snow, in particular before frost has set into the ground and the snow has been compacted, and snow plows are used to remove the snow, it is common that a portion of the gravel coating is normally removed at the same time. This damages the road bed, and repairs must be made and more gravel added. Furthermore, this results in undesired clumps of gravel where the plowed snow is stored. This invention is directed toward a snow plow attachment which can minimize the loss of gravel. The invention thus is a new device adapted to be attached to a vehicle for plowing snow on gravel covered roads while minimizing loss of gravel caused by plowing.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The Applicant has appreciated that there are disadvantages to snow plow blades used to plow gravel covered roads and driveways. In particular, a bottom edge of the plow blade digs into the gravel covered roads and driveways, in particular before a base of snow is packed down.

The applicant has invented a snow plow blade attachment which has a curved profile, preferably being a tubular member, which is positionable at the bottom edge of snow plow blade. The snow plow blade can be used with a straight snow plow blade or a foldable snow plow blade. The snow plow blade attachment better prevents the bottom edge of the snow plow blade from digging into the base of the road or driveway because of the curved profile of the tubular member as well as the fact that it extends substantially along the entire bottom edge of the snow plow blade which better distributes the weight of the snow plow blade along its entire length.

In one embodiment, the current invention resides in a detachable snow plow blade attachment fixable to a lower edge of a snow plow blade, the detachable attachment comprising and elongated tubular member having a proximal end and a distal end, the snow plow blade attachment having a first post fixed to the tubular member near the proximal end, and a second post fixed to the tubular member near the distal end.

Further and other features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the embodiments thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference may now be had to the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a snow plow blade in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 2 shows a straight snow plow blade with a snow plow blade attachment connected thereto in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows the snow plow blade as shown in FIG. 2, without the snow plow blade attached, from a rear view;

FIG. 4 shows the snow plow blade attachment of FIG. 2 unattached;

FIG. 5 shows the snow plow blade with the snow plow blade attachment as shown in FIG. 2 from a rear view;

FIG. 6 shows a bracket used to better connect the snow plow blade attachment, as shown in FIG. 4, to the snow plow blade; and

FIG. 7 shows a snow plow blade attachment fixed to a folding snow plow blade.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a straight snow plow blade 2 in accordance with prior art. The snow plow blade 2 has a concave profile from a bottom edge 4 of the snow plow blade 2 to a top edge 6 of the snow plow blade 8, as shown. The concave profile assists in scooping snow from a road or driveway. The snow plow blade 2 has a right end 8 and a left end 10. The snow plow blade 2 can be tilted towards the right end 8 or the left end 10 in order to move the snow to a desired side of the road or driveway being plowed.

Also as shown, the snow plow blade 2 has a first foot 12 and a second foot 14 attached to the bottom edge 4. The first foot 12 is positioned proximate to the right edge 8 and the second foot 14 is positioned proximate to the left edge 10. The purpose of attaching the first foot 12 and the second foot 14 to the bottom edge of the snow plow blade 2 is to raise the bottom edge 4 a distance from the base of the road or driveway to prevent the bottom edge 4 from digging into the road or driveway, in particular where they are formed with gravel.

The applicant has appreciated however that the first foot 12 and the second foot 14 of the prior art snow plow blade 2 are deficient because they are unable to adequately distribute the weight of the snow plow blade 2 and they dig into the base of the gravel road or driveway. Thus, the bottom edge 4 also digs into the base of the gravel road or driveway and pushes the gravel in addition to the snow, which disrupts the base which results in repairs to the base being required once the snow melts.

The applicant has invented a snow plow blade attachment 50 as shown in FIG. 2. The snow plow blade attachment 50 is a tubular member which is positionable at the bottom edge 4 of a conventional straight snow plow blade 2. Preferably, the snow plow blade attachment 50 is 3.5 inches in diameter. The snow plow blade attachment 50 better prevents the bottom edge 4 of the snow plow blade from digging into the base of the road or driveway because of the curved profile of the tubular member as well as the fact that it extends substantially along the entire bottom edge 4 better distributing the weight of the snow plow blade 2 along its entire length.

FIG. 3 shows the snow plow blade 2 from a back side. The snow plow blade 2 has an elongated base plate 20 which is fixed along the back of the bottom edge 4. The base plate 20 has a first hole 22 and a second hole 24 therethrough, as shown While the first hole 22 and the second hole 24, as shown, are already existing on the snow plow blade 2 and used to secure the first foot 12 and the second foot 14, the applicant has appreciated that holes could be formed at any desired position on the base plate 20.

FIG. 4 shows the snow plow blade attachment 50 not attached to the snow plow blade 2. As shown, the snow plow blade attachment 50 comprises an elongated tubular member with a proximal end 52 and a distal end 54. A first post 56 is fixed to the snow plow blade attachment 50 close to the proximal end 52. A second post 58 is fixed to the snow plow blade attachment 50 close to the distal end 54. Preferably, the first post 56 and the second post 58 are 1 inch in diameter steel posts and can fit through

FIG. 5 shows the snow plow blade attachment 50 attached to the snow plow blade 2. As shown, the first post 56 is positioned through the first hole 22, and the second post 58 is positioned through the second hole 24. The first post 56 and the second post 58 can be held in place by various means including but not limited to a respective first pin 60 positioned through a respective first aperture 64 in the first post 56, and a respective second pin 62 positioned through a respective second aperture 66 in the second post 58. Preferably the first post 56 and second post 58 are 1 inch in diameter and 6.5 inches to 8 inches long depending on the application. In addition, washers can be used to adjust the displacement of the snow plow blade attachment 50 from the bottom edge 4 of the snow plow blade 2.

Preferably, the snow plow blade attachment 50 is made of steel pipe having a 3 inch outer diameter. However, the snow plow blade attachment 50 can manufactured from other suitable materials including but not limited to high density polyethelyne pipe, plastic, neoprene, aluminum and other suitable materials. In a preferred embodiment, the snow plow blade attachment 50 is 3 inches in diameter and 47 inches to 54 inches depending upon the length of the snow plow blade 2.

FIG. 6 shows a bracket 68 which can be used to assist in fixing the snow plow blade attachment 50 to the base plate 20. The bracket 68 has a rectangular base 70 with a hollow upright support 72 attached thereto. Preferably, the hollow upright support 72 is welded to the base 70 over top of an apperature in the base 70 to permit the post 56, 58 to pass therethrough. The base has a first hole 74 and a second hole 76 which can be used to secure the base 70 to the base plate using mechanical fasteners such as bolts. Alternatively, the base 70 could be secured to the base plate 20 by other means such as welding.

FIG. 7 shows a snow plow blade attachment 100A, 100B in accordance with another embodiment of the current invention. The snow plow blade attachment 100A, 100B is attached to a foldable snow plow blade 102. The snow plow blade attachment 100A, 100B has the same features as the snow plow blade attachment 50 except that it is attached to a respective bottom edge 104A, 104B of the snow plow blade 102. In the event that existing holes in the base plate of the snow plow blade 102 are not in desired locations to attach the snow plow blade attachment 100A, 100B, holes can be drilled in the base plate of the snow plow blade 102 at desired locations.

Although this disclosure has described and illustrated certain preferred embodiments of the invention, it is also to be understood that the invention is not restricted to these particular embodiments rather, the invention includes all embodiments which are functional, or mechanical equivalents of the specific embodiments and features that have been described and illustrated herein.

It will be understood that, although various features of the invention have been described with respect to one or another of the embodiments of the invention, the various features and embodiments of the invention may be combined or used in conjunction with other features and embodiments of the invention as described and illustrated herein.

Claims

1. A detachable snow plow blade attachment fixable to a lower edge of a snow plow blade, the detachable attachment comprising and elongated tubular member having a proximal end and a distal end, the snow plow blade attachment having a first post fixed to the tubular member near the proximal end, and a second post fixed to the tubular member near the distal end.