SNOW TILLER

Abstract

A snow tiller for preparing ski piste has a frame configured to be coupled to a crawler vehicle and advanced in a forward direction; at least one rotor rotatably supported around an axis of rotation by the frame; an electric motor driving the rotor; and a plurality of linear actuators of control, each of which is a DC electric actuator or a hydraulic actuator driven by a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic circuit mounted on board the snow tiller, the hydraulic pump being driven by an additional electric motor mounted on board the snow tiller or by the electric motor driving the rotor.

Claims

1. A snow tiller comprising: a frame configured to be coupled to a crawler vehicle and advanced in a forward direction; a rotor rotatably supported, by the frame, around an axis of rotation; an electric motor configured to drive the rotor; and a plurality of linear actuators, each of the linear actuators being one of a DC electric actuator and a hydraulic actuator driven by a hydraulic pump and a hydraulic circuit mounted on board the snow tiller, wherein the hydraulic pump is configured to be driven by one of the electric motor configured to drive the rotor and an additional electric motor mounted on board the snow tiller.

2. The snow tiller of claim 1, further comprising: a rotor housing arranged around the rotor; a finisher arranged downstream of the rotor in the forward direction and attached to the rotor housing to define, with the rotor, a snow working chamber; and two side wings hinged to the frame at opposite ends of the frame wherein the plurality of linear actuators comprise: a first linear actuator configured to adjust a position of the rotor relative to a snowpack; a second linear actuator configured to adjust at least one of: a relative position between the rotor housing and the rotor, and a relative position between the rotor housing and the finisher, and two third linear actuators respectively configured to adjust a position of each of the side wings.

3. The snow tiller of claim 1, in which the rotor comprises two drums connected by a homokinetic joint and configured to rotate around respective axes coincident with and supported by two respective rotor housings mounted to the main frame such that the drums are configured to adapt to a conformation of the snowpack transversely to the forward direction.

4. The snow tiller of claim 3, wherein the electric motor is connected to the homokinetic joint by a mechanical transmission.

5. The snow tiller of claim 3, wherein the electric motor is connected to one end of one of the drums by a mechanical transmission.

6. The snow tiller of claim 3, wherein the electric motor is connected to one end of both drums by a mechanical transmission.

7. The snow tiller of claim 3, further comprising two additional electric motors, each of which is directly connected to opposite ends of the drums.

8. The snow tiller of claim 1, wherein the electric motor and any additional electric motors are AC electric motors.

9. The snow tiller of claim 8, in which at least one of each electric motor and each additional electric motor includes a respective inverter to switch high-tension direct current to alternating current.

10. The snow tiller of claim 1, further comprising at least one equipment of track tracing for preparing a cross-country ski piste, the at least one equipment comprising an additional rotor configured to mill the snowpack arranged downstream of the snow finisher, an additional electric motor configured to drive the additional rotor; a tracking device arranged downstream of the additional rotor; a linear actuator configured to adjust a vertical position of the additional rotor; a another linear actuator configured to adjust a position of the additional rotor in a direction transverse to the forward direction; and another linear actuator configured to adjust a working depth of the tracking device, wherein the linear actuators are one of DC electric actuators and hydraulic actuators driven by the hydraulic pump and the hydraulic circuit mounted on board the snow tiller.

11. The snow tiller of claim 1, further comprising an electrical connector configured to connect to an electrical connector of the crawler vehicle to transfer electrical power from the crawler vehicle to the snow tiller.

12. The snow tiller of claim 1, further comprising a DC power distribution BUS including at least one line of high voltage to power the electric motor.

13. The snow tiller of claim 12, further comprising a plurality of lines at low voltage to feed the plurality of linear actuators.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Further characteristics and advantages of the present disclosure will become clear from the following description of a non-limiting example of embodiment thereof, with reference to the figures of the attached drawings, wherein:

[0024] FIGS. 1 and 2 are plan views, with parts removed for clarity, of a snow tiller coupled to a crawler vehicle in accordance with two alternative embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIGS. 3 to 7 are rear elevational views, with parts removed for clarity, of variants of the present disclosure;

[0026] FIG. 8 is a view, with parts removed for clarity, of a diagram of electrical power distribution between the crawler vehicle and the snow tiller; and

[0027] FIG. 9 is a view, with parts removed for clarity, of a diagram of electrical power distribution between the crawler vehicle and the snow tiller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a snow tiller, which comprises a frame 2 configured to be connected to a crawler vehicle 3 configured to advance the snow tiller 1 in a forward direction D1.

[0029] The snow tiller 1 comprises a rotor 4, which is rotatably supported by the frame 2 around an axis of rotation A1; a rotor housing 5 arranged around the rotor 4; a finisher 6 arranged downstream of the rotor 4 relative to the forward direction D1 and attached to the rotor housing 5; and two side wings 7 configured to prevent powdery snow from depositing upstream of the snow tiller 1.

[0030] The confined space between the rotor 4, the rotor housing 5, and the finisher 6 is called the snow working chamber and the volume of the snow working chamber is a relatively important parameter to provide relatively high quality snow working.

[0031] The rotor 4 comprises a drum 8 and a plurality of teeth 9 distributed along the drum 8 configured to mill the snowpack.

[0032] The snow tiller 1 comprises an electric motor 10 driving the rotor 4 in rotation around the axis of rotation A1. In this case, the electric motor 10 is an AC motor, is powered by direct current at a voltage of 700 Volts, and comprises an inverter 11 configured to transform direct current into alternating current.

[0033] The snow tiller 1 further comprises a plurality of linear actuators 12, 13, 14. In this case, the linear actuator 12 has the function of varying the working depth of the rotor 4; the actuator 13 has the function of varying the relative position between the rotor 4 and the rotor housing 5 (such as shown in EP Patent Document 3,775,844 B1) to vary the volume of the snow working chamber; and the actuators 14 have the function of orienting the side wings 7 around respective articulation axes B1 and B2 thereof relative to the frame 2.

[0034] In an alternative embodiment, the actuator 13 has the function of varying the relative position between the finisher 6 and the rotor housing 5 (such as shown in PCT Patent Document WO 2020/165799 A1).

[0035] In accordance with a further alternative embodiment, the snow tiller has a plurality of actuators 13 to control both the relative position between the rotor housing 5 and the rotor 4, and the relative position between the rotor housing 5 and the finisher 6.

[0036] With reference to the embodiment of FIG. 1, the linear actuators 12, 13 and 14 are electric actuators powered by direct current, in particular at a voltage of 24 Volts.

[0037] With reference to the embodiment of FIG. 2, the electric motor 10 is an AC motor powered by direct current and provided with an inverter 11 as in the embodiment of FIG. 1, while the linear actuators 12, 13 and 14 are hydraulic actuators. The snow tiller 1 comprises a hydraulic pump 15 and a hydraulic circuit comprising a tank 16 supported by the frame 2 to power and control the linear actuators 12, 13, and 14. The hydraulic pump 15 is driven by an AC electric motor 16, powered by direct current and provided with a respective inverter 17.

[0038] FIG. 3 is a relative variant of the snow tiller 1 having a rotor 18, which comprises two drums 19 connected by a homokinetic joint 20 and rotating around respective axes A2 and A3 incident with and supported by the frame 2 so that the drums 19 can adapt to the conformation of the snowpack transversely to the forward direction D1. In practice, drums are articulated around an axis C1 parallel to the forward direction D1 (FIGS. 1 and 2). In this case, the drums 19 are rotatably supported around respective axes A2 and A3 by respective rotor housings 21, which also have the function of supporting frame and are articulated to the frame 2 around respective axes C2 and C3 parallel to the axis C1. The articulation around the axes C2 and C3 is made by rubber bushes R to enable lateral displacements of the rotor housings 21 with respect to the frame 2.

[0039] The drums 19 are provided with respective teeth (not shown in FIG. 3) and are rotated by a single AC electric motor 22, mounted on a rotor housing 21 and powered by alternating current and provided with an inverter 23, which is connected to the homokinetic joint 20 by a mechanical transmission 24.

[0040] In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the drums 19 are driven by a single AC electric motor 22, mounted on one of the rotor housings 21, powered by direct current and provided with an inverter 23. The electric motor 22 is connected to the side end of a drum 19 by a mechanical transmission 25.

[0041] In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the drums 19 are driven by a single AC electric motor 22, mounted on one of the rotor housings 21, powered by alternating current and provided with an inverter 23. The electric motor 22 is connected to the side ends of the drums 19 by a mechanical transmission 26.

[0042] In the embodiment of FIG. 6, the drums 19 are driven by two AC electric motors 22, mounted on the rotor housings 21, powered by alternating current and provided with an inverter 23. The electric motors 22 are directly connected to the side ends of the drums 19.

[0043] With reference to FIG. 7, the snow tiller 1 is associated with four equipments 27 of track tracing for preparing cross-country ski pistes. Each equipment 27 comprises a frame 28 connected to the frame 2; a rotor 29 configured to mil the snowpack and arranged downstream of the finisher 6; an additional electric motor 30 to rotate the further rotor 29; a tracking device 31 arranged downstream of the further rotor 29; a linear actuator 32 to adjust the vertical position of the milling rotor 29; a fifth linear actuator 33 to adjust the position of the rotor 29 in a direction transverse to the forward direction D1; and a linear actuator 34 to adjust the working depth of the tracking device 31.

[0044] Each electric motor 29 is a motor driven by alternating current and powered by direct current at 700 Volt, such that it comprises an inverter (not shown in the Figures).

[0045] The linear actuators 32, 33, and 34 are electric actuators driven by direct current or alternatively hydraulic actuators driven by the hydraulic pump and hydraulic circuit mounted on board the snow tiller 2 as shown in FIG. 2.

[0046] With reference to FIG. 8, the diagram shown refers to the configuration described with reference to FIG. 1. In accordance with this diagram, the electrical power is transferred from the crawler vehicle 3 to the snow tiller 1 by two connectors 35 and 36 and is distributed on board the snow tiller 1 through a bus comprising a line 37 at high voltage, in particular 700 Volts, to feed the electric motor 10, and four lines 38 at low voltage, in particular 24 Volts, to feed the linear actuators 12, 13, 14. The crawler vehicle 3 comprises a control unit 39 connected to the lines 37 and 38 to manage the delivery of electrical power.

[0047] It should be appreciated that the number of lines 37 and 38 varies depending on the configuration of the snow tiller 1 and the number of equipment 27 associated with it.

[0048] With reference to FIG. 9, the diagram shown refers to the configuration described with reference to FIG. 2. In this case the lines 38 at low voltage are omitted and there are only lines 37 at high voltage to feed the electric motors 10 and 16. In this case, the pump 15 feeds the fluid to the actuators 13, 14 and 15 circulates the fluid in a hydraulic circuit comprising a collection tank 40. The hydraulic circuit is fully mounted on the snow tiller 1.

[0049] It should be appreciated that the number of lines 37 varies as a function of the configuration of the snow tiller 1 while the hydraulic circuit varies as a function of the number of equipment 27 associated with it.

[0050] Further, the snow tiller may comprise more than two articulated shafts.

[0051] It is clear that the present disclosure is also applicable in variants not expressly described and falling within the scope of protection 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.