Lateral Snow Clearing Attachment for Bus Stop Clearance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing snow clearing vehicles struggle to efficiently clear areas adjacent to roadways, such as sidewalks and bus stops, due to obstacles like traffic signs and curbs, requiring manual labor and posing safety risks, while conventional attachments suffer from low working speed, complex design, and excessive force requirements, especially with wet snow.
Innovation Solution
A pivoting and displaceable attachment for snow clearing vehicles that allows the working tool to be positioned laterally relative to the vehicle's lane, equipped with a guide carriage and drive cylinder for maneuverability, height adjustment, and obstacle detection, enabling clearing without leaving the lane and minimizing mechanical stress.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional snow clearing vehicles are used to clear areas adjacent to roadways, then the clearing task can be performed, but the vehicle must leave the lane which reduces working speed and increases safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The snow clearing system is divided into a main vehicle body that remains on the roadway and a detachable lateral clearing attachment that extends into adjacent areas. This segmentation allows the vehicle to maintain its lane position for high-speed travel while the attachment performs clearing operations in sidewalks and bus stops, resolving the contradiction between clearing efficiency and working speed.
Solution Approach 2:
A lateral extension attachment acts as an intermediary between the main vehicle and the adjacent clearing areas. This attachment can be deployed laterally to reach sidewalks and bus stops while the vehicle body remains on the roadway, enabling the vehicle to clear adjacent areas without leaving its lane, thus maintaining high working speed while improving productivity.
2Reliability
If manual labor is used to clear areas with obstacles, then safety risks are reduced, but the clearing time and physical effort increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral clearing attachment is equipped with its own drive cylinder and guide carriage system that automatically positions and operates the clearing tool. The system can detect obstacles and adjust its operation autonomously, eliminating the need for manual labor while maintaining safety. The attachment serves itself by having integrated positioning and obstacle response capabilities, thus reducing clearing time without compromising safety.
3Adaptability or versatility
If articulated boom arms are used for lateral clearing, then the working tool can reach adjacent areas, but the design becomes more complicated and forces on the vehicle increase
Solution Approach 1:
The complex articulated boom arm mechanism is extracted and replaced with a simpler lateral extension attachment that uses a guide carriage and drive cylinder system. This extracted design achieves the same lateral reach capability but with significantly reduced structural complexity and lower forces transmitted to the vehicle, while maintaining the ability to clear adjacent areas effectively.
4Productivity
If the clearing vehicle drives over areas multiple times to clear snow, then complete clearing is achieved, but the snow becomes compacted and inaccessible areas remain
Solution Approach 1:
The clearing approach transitions from longitudinal multiple-pass clearing to lateral single-pass clearing. By extending the clearing capability laterally through the attachment while the vehicle remains on the roadway, the system can clear adjacent areas in a single pass without compaction issues. This dimensional change in clearing strategy allows complete clearing of inaccessible areas without repeated vehicle entry, maintaining ease of operation while improving clearing completeness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient, safe, and rapid clearing of areas adjacent to roadways without manual labor, reducing the risk of accidents and maintaining operational speed, while effectively handling wet snow and debris.
Implementation Method 1
a guide carriage (40) that can be moved in a horizontal direction by means of a drive cylinder (46)
Implementation Method 2
a swivel joint (34) arranged at one end of the guide carriage (40), by means of which a working tool (18) can be pivoted about a substantially vertical swivel axis (36)
Implementation Method 3
a working tool, in particular a clearing blade (12), which can be attached to the guide carriage (40)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A mounting device and a snow removal vehicle with such a mounting device are described, which can be moved or pivoted laterally out of the snow removal vehicle's lane, so that areas to be cleared, in particular areas to be cleared of snow, such as bus stop areas, can be cleaned or cleared at least partially to the side of the snow removal vehicle without changing the lane, and which, in the case of snow removal, is additionally equipped with a spreading and/or spraying device.