A skid shoe assembly for use on a snow thrower includes a bracket having a mounting portion configured to couple to the snow thrower and a support portion extending outwardly from the mounting portion. The skid shoe assembly also includes an insert including an annular body having a central aperture and a linear section configured to engage a ground surface. The central aperture receives the bracket so that the annular body is disposed around the mounting portion of the bracket. A portion of the annular body is configured to be captured between the support portion of the bracket and the snow thrower to secure the insert to the snow thrower.

A snow removal brush includes a brush rotary shaft that is disposed on each of opposite lateral surfaces of a vehicle body traveling along a track and in a vehicle width direction of the vehicle body and is supported by the vehicle body to be rotatable about an axis extending in a direction intersecting a track surface of the track, and a brush part that protrudes from an outer circumferential surface of the brush rotary shaft to a radial outer side. The brush part is formed to come into contact with trolley wires provided for the track and supplying electricity to the vehicle body.

A snowthrower includes an internal combustion engine and a starter battery pack that provides electrical power to operate an electric starter motor. The starter battery pack is received within a receptacle of the snowthrower and is selectively coupled to the starter motor to initiate operation of the internal combustion engine. The starter battery pack can further include a battery heating circuit that is operable to heat the starter battery pack above ambient temperatures to increase the current output of the starter battery pack. The battery heating circuit includes a controller that utilizes electrical power from the starter battery pack to heat the starter battery pack.

A snow thrower includes a frame, a prime mover supported by the frame, and a handle assembly coupled to the frame. The handle assembly includes a grip for an operator to grasp. The snow thrower further includes an auger housing supported by the frame, and an auger blade rotationally coupled to and disposed within the auger housing. A track drive system is coupled to the frame to facilitate movement along a ground surface. The track drive system includes a drive wheel rotatably driven by the prime mover, an idler wheel rotatably supported by the frame, and a flexible track interconnecting the drive wheel and the idler wheel. The idler wheel is translatable relative to the frame to adjust an orientation of the auger housing relative to the ground surface.

A building intelligence gathering, assessment and decision-support system including a GPS system deployed about the Earth and supporting a plurality of GPS satellites for transmitting GPS signals to the surface of the Earth. A building data sensor network, including a plurality of GPS-tracked rooftop-mounted sensors, are mounted on the rooftop surface of the building, and adapted for collecting GPS-indexed data specifying conditions on the rooftop surface at particular dates and times of the year. The building rooftop conditions includes one or more conditions selected from the group consisting of snow load conditions, windspeed and direction, and temperature. The system also includes one or more hand-held mobile augmented-reality (AR) based rooftop navigation and inspection devices, each configured for communication with communication servers within a data center over a wireless data communication network. Each hand-held mobile AR-based inspection device is capable displaying digital images of objects and scenery captured in its field of view (FOV) while the user is moving about the rooftop surface, along with graphical indications of GPS-tracked rooftop-mounted sensors collecting data regarding conditions on the building rooftop surface. By virtue of the present invention, users can now navigate building rooftops, inspect rooftop situations, identify where GPS-tracked rooftop-mounted sensors have been installed, and quickly determine where particular conditions have been automatically detected during rooftop inspections.

A snowthrower comprising an auger housing incorporating a resilient scraper attached to a lower edge of a rear wall of the housing. The scraper is configured to permit effective scraping of snow at the ground surface, while reducing damage to the housing that may otherwise result from traversal of the housing over obstacles such as handhole and manway covers during snowthrower operation.

A chute control assembly for a snow thrower having a housing, handle, and a chute includes a control mechanism, a connecting mechanism, and a guide mechanism. The control mechanism includes an actuator mechanism that allows an operator to manually control the orientation of the chute from a position spaced apart from the chute. The connecting mechanism transfers rotation of the actuator mechanism to the guide mechanism. The guide mechanism is attached to the chute and rotates and adjust the orientation of the chute in response to rotation of the actuator mechanism in order to change the direction that snow is thrown from the snow thrower.

In an apparatus for conveying and discharging bulk material or snow, comprising at least one conveying device which has a tubular, circumferentially partially open conveying housing (1) and the conveying direction of which extends substantially in the direction of the tube axis (5), and comprising at least one centrifugal ejector, adjoining the at least one conveying device in the conveying direction and having at least one centrifugal wheel (8), which has at least one discharge lever (9), is arranged in a centrifugal-wheel housing (11) having a discharge opening (14) and can be driven to rotate about an axis of rotation (12), the conveying housing (1) has a smaller diameter than the ejector wheel (8) and the tube axis (5) is arranged parallel under the axis of rotation (12) of the ejector wheel (8), at a vertical normal distance.

A three-stage snow thrower having a housing, a power supply operatively connected to said housing, a longitudinal drive shaft extending from the power supply into the housing, and a lateral drive shaft extending rotatably attached to opposing side walls of the housing and being meshingly engaged with the longitudinal drive shaft within a gear assembly. The power supply drives the longitudinal drive shaft, thereby causing the longitudinal drive shaft to rotate, and at least a portion of such rotation is transferred to the lateral drive via a gear assembly. The first stage assembly includes a plurality of augers attached to the lateral drive shaft, wherein the first stage assembly pushes loosened snow axially toward the gear assembly. The second stage assembly includes at least one auger attached to the longitudinal drive shaft, wherein the second stage assembly pushes the snow from the first stage assembly axially rearward in a transverse manner relative to the first stage assembly. The third stage assembly includes an impeller that rotates to throw the snow from the second stage assembly through a chute attached to the housing to expel the snow from the housing.

A three-stage snow thrower having a housing, a power supply operatively connected to said housing, a longitudinal drive shaft extending from the power supply into the housing, and a lateral drive shaft extending rotatably attached to opposing side walls of the housing and being meshingly engaged with the longitudinal drive shaft within a gear assembly. The power supply drives the longitudinal drive shaft, thereby causing the longitudinal drive shaft to rotate, and at least a portion of such rotation is transferred to the lateral drive via a gear assembly. The first stage assembly includes a plurality of augers attached to the lateral drive shaft, wherein the first stage assembly pushes loosened snow axially toward the gear assembly. The second stage assembly includes at least one auger attached to the longitudinal drive shaft, wherein the second stage assembly pushes the snow from the first stage assembly axially rearward in a transverse manner relative to the first stage assembly. The third stage assembly includes an impeller that rotates to throw the snow from the second stage assembly through a chute attached to the housing to expel the snow from the housing.