Abstract
A snow grooming vehicle for refining ski slopes; the snow grooming vehicle including: a main frame to laterally support tracks and a cab at the top; a support frame coupled to the front or to rear of the main frame; a working assembly configured for refining the surface. A pre-existing coupling interface is provided between the support frame and the working assembly, formed by corresponding portions of the support frame and the working assembly configured to enable the selective coupling of the working assembly with the support frame. The snow grooming vehicle further includes a quick-coupling assembly at the pre-existing coupling interface between the support frame and the working assembly to selectively couple the working assembly with the support frame, so that the coupling between the support frame and the working assembly is no longer direct but mediated by the quick-coupling assembly, which forms a new coupling interface.
Claims
1. A snow grooming vehicle comprising: a main frame configured to laterally support a plurality of tracks and support a driver cab; a support frame coupled to one of a front of the main frame and a rear of the main frame; a working assembly configured to refine a surface as the snow grooming vehicle advances; a preexisting coupling interface between the support frame and the working assembly, wherein the preexisting coupling interface is formed by corresponding portions of the support frame and the working assembly and configured to enable a selective coupling of the working assembly with the support frame; and a quick-coupling assembly configured to selectively couple the working assembly to the support frame, the quick-coupling assembly being at the preexisting coupling interface between the support frame and the working assembly and comprising a first coupling body coupled to the support frame at the corresponding portion of the preexisting coupling interface, and a second coupling body coupled to the working assembly at the corresponding portion of the preexisting coupling interface such that an indirect coupling between the support frame and the working assembly is mediated by the quick-coupling assembly to form a new coupling interface.
2. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein the coupling of the first coupling body with the support frame and the coupling of the second coupling body with the working assembly comprise releasable couplings.
3. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein the first coupling body comprises telescopic rod elements as an active part of the quick-coupling assembly, the telescopic rod elements being movable between: (i) a retracted configuration that do not limit an approach step to the working assembly to be coupled, and (ii) an extracted position in which, in a coupling position, the telescopic rods penetrate seats obtained in the second coupling body as a passive part of the quick-coupling assembly.
4. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 3, wherein an actuation of the movement of the telescopic rod elements comprises a hydraulic actuation.
5. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein the quick-coupling assembly is operable by a driver directly from the driver cab.
6. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein the quick-coupling assembly comprises a locking system that, in a working configuration, binds the working assembly to the support frame.
7. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 6, wherein the locking system comprises one of a mechanical locking system and a hydraulic locking system.
8. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 7, wherein a control is located in the driver cab to deactivate the locking system.
9. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein a quick-coupling interface is between first coupling body and the second coupling body of the quick-coupling assembly, the quick-coupling interface configured to transfer at least one of a cooling fluid, a low-voltage electrical signal, and a high-voltage electrical power signal to the working assembly.
10. The snow grooming vehicle of claim 1, wherein the working assembly comprises at least one of a tiller and a refining blade.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will be made clear from the following description of a non-limiting embodiment thereof, with reference to the figures in the attached drawings, wherein:
[0019] FIG. 1 shows a schematic side elevation view of a snow grooming vehicle for refining ski slopes;
[0020] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of some components of the snow grooming vehicle of FIG. 1; the rest of the vehicle has been omitted for convenience;
[0021] FIGS. 3 and 4 show two different positions of the tiller assembly relative to the main frame, a lowered working position and a raised rest position, respectively;
[0022] FIGS. 5 to 8 show a schematic illustration of an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0023] FIGS. 9 and 10 show a schematic illustration of a detail of an example of an embodiment of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0024] With reference to the figures listed above, certain embodiments of the present disclosure, namely, a snow grooming vehicle, will be described.
[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, the figure shows a schematic view of a snow grooming vehicle 1, namely, an example of a tracked vehicle that can be provided with the technical solution described in the present disclosure to improve the assembly steps of a front or rear working assembly. The snow grooming vehicle 1 is a tracked vehicle and is motorized to move along the surface 2 in a forward direction 3. Typically, during use of the snow grooming vehicle 1, the surface is a snowpack, but the surface could be a different contact surface, for example, an icy or hard surface or other. Additionally, the forward direction 3 may also be different from that indicated, namely, for example, the snow grooming vehicle 1 can also move in reverse. The snow grooming vehicle 1 of FIG. 1 comprises a rear tiller assembly 30 (i.e., a working assembly) configured to work the snowpack 2, a front shovel 29 (which can be considered a second working assembly) configured to move masses of snow, and a winch assembly 31. The snow grooming vehicle 1 of FIG. 1 further comprises a main frame 4, a cab 5 for the driver mounted on the frame 4, and two tracks 6 mounted on opposite sides of the frame 4. Each track 6 comprises a plurality of belts 10 conveyed between a front wheel 9 and a rear wheel 8. Furthermore, each track 6 comprises a plurality of transverse bars 11 fixed to the belts 10. The movement direction of the belts 10 defines the direction that will be referred to in the following of the description as the longitudinal direction 3, while the rotation axes of the wheels 8, 9 define the transverse direction 7, orthogonal to the longitudinal direction 3.
[0026] FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of certain components of the snow grooming vehicle of FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 2 shows the tiller assembly 30 and parts of the vehicle 4. In this example, the tiller assembly comprises a frame 40 that supports a tiller device 12 and a blade device 13. Further construction details of the tiller assembly 30 are omitted since the tiller assembly can be of any type and can be any suitable working assembly different from a tiller assembly. The frame 40 of the tiller assembly 30 of FIG. 2 is configured to be selectively connected to a lifting frame 14 (i.e., the support frame) attached to the main frame 4 of the vehicle 1 on the opposite side to the blade 13. The reference 15 denotes a lifting arm 15, namely, a device configured to lift the support frame 14 and therefore also the tiller assembly 30. In this example, a pair of stabilizing devices 16 are provided between the lifting frame 14 and the tiller assembly 30. In FIG. 2, the rest of vehicle 1 has been omitted for convenience.
[0027] FIGS. 3 and 4 show two different positions of the tiller assembly 30 with respect to the vehicle, namely, with respect to the surface 2, due to the movement of the support frame 14. Respectively, FIG. 3 shows a lowered working position of the tiller assembly 30 in which the tiller 12 and the blade 13 act against the surface 2 (namely, the snowpack). FIG. 4 shows a raised rest position of the tiller assembly 30 in which the tiller 12 and the blade 13 are in a position so to not interact with the surface 2. In this example, the lifting device 15 is a hydraulic actuator configured to lift the support frame 14 by rotation around an axis parallel to the transverse direction 7. According to FIG. 3, the lifting device 15 comprises a cylinder 17 in which a piston 18 slides and is actuated by a fluid fed into the cylinder. The lifting rotation axis of the tiller assembly 30 corresponds to the coupling point between the lifting device 15 and the main frame 4. The point is schematized by reference 19. As shown in FIG. 4, the piston 18 is most deeply inserted into the cylinder 17 due to its actuation and to the lifting of the tiller assembly 30.
[0028] FIG. 5 shows an exploded view of the vehicle (schematized by the support frame 40 only) and of the working assembly 30. In this figure, the reference 31 indicates standard bolt-type coupling elements that are provided on the rear face 32 of the frame 33 of the working assembly 30 in symmetrical positions with respect to the centerline and which extend towards the support frame 40. The bolts 31 represent the first original interface configured to couple the working assembly 30 with the support frame 40 (namely, what would be used in the absence of the present disclosure to connect the working assembly and the frame). FIG. 5 shows how, according to the present disclosure, the quick-coupling assembly of certain embodiments of the present disclosure comprises a first body 50 and a second body 51 interposed between the working assembly 30 and the support frame 40. As seen in FIG. 5, the first body 50 is on the side of the support frame 40 and the second body 51 is on the side of the working assembly 30. As indicated above, the first body 50 and the second body 51 are configured to couple to the support frame and to the working assembly without requiring modifications to the components. In this regard, FIG. 6 shows how in this example the second body 51 is in the shape of a bar that runs transversely between the bolts 32 and is constrained to the rear face 33 of the frame 31 of the working assembly precisely at the bolts 32. FIG. 6 shows how the bar 51 substantially at the fixing ends to the bolts 32 has two protruding perforated lips 53 to obtain circular seats with an axis along the transverse direction. FIG. 7 similarly shows how the first body 50 is also configured to couple to the support frame 40 without requiring the latter to be modified. In this example, the first body 50 comprises a hooked upper portion 54 configured to couple to a transverse pin 41 of the support frame 40, in which the transverse pin 41 forms the transverse rotation axis to tilt the working assembly 30 upwards (when coupled to the rest of the structure). The first body 50 comprises, furthermore, shaped lateral lower portions 55 configured to couple to corresponding shaped lateral lower portions 42 of the support frame 40.
[0029] FIG. 8 shows the coupling steps of the first body 50 with the second body 51 after their preliminary coupling with the support frame 40 and the working assembly 30, respectively. In particular, as shown in this example, the first coupling body 50 comprises transverse telescopic rod elements 52 as an active part of the coupling assembly. The transverse telescopic rods 52 are movable between a retracted configuration (in which the latter do not limit or hinder the approach step to the working assembly 30) and an extracted position in which, in the coupling position, the same telescopic rods penetrate the seats or holes 53 (passive part of the coupling assembly) obtained in the second coupling body 51. The arrows F in FIG. 8 exemplify the transverse movement of the telescopic rods 52 entering and exiting the holes 53. When the rods 52 engage the holes 53, the second body 51 is mechanically coupled to the first body 50 and therefore the working assembly 30 is mechanically coupled to the support frame 40.
[0030] FIGS. 9 and 10 show an embodiment wherein the coupling between the first body 50 and the second body 51 is not only mechanical but also hydraulic and electrical. In this example, an interface is formed between the first body 50 and the second body 51 with corresponding facing coupling plates 50 and 51 on the first body 50 and on the second body 51, respectively, which are configured to enable the passage of cooling fluid and/or oil for component actuation and/or low and/or high voltage electrical signals. In this way, the fluid and/or electrical signal reaches the working assembly 30 from the support frame 40 passing in series through the first connecting body and the second connecting body.
[0031] Finally, it is evident that modifications and alternatives may be made to the disclosure described herein without departing from the scope of the appended claims. That is, the present disclosure also covers embodiments that are not described in the detailed description above as well as equivalent embodiments that are part of the scope of protection set forth in the claims. Accordingly, various changes and modifications to the presently disclosed embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
