Allis-Chalmers Corporation

Simplicity Manufacturing, Inc.

Alan L Chase

Michael T Prevost

A transmission for a multi-blade mower has a belt trained around a driving pulley and successively around driven pulleys for the blades. For driving, an idler pulley of a tensioner engages a portion of the belt that is 'downstream' from the last driven pulley and 'upstream' from the first one. When the tensioner idler is disengaged from the belt for slippage of the driving pulley relative to it, blade braking is effected by opposing stationary and movable brake members mounted at opposite sides of the belt at a normally straight stretch of it that is 'downstream' from the tensioner and driving pulley and 'upstream' from the first driven pulley, the movable brake member then cooperating with the stationary one to clampwise engage the belt and confine it in a groove in one of those members. Manual shifting of an actuator towards an 'on' position tensions a spring that engages the tensioner with the belt, and such tension, through a toggle connection, tends to maintain the actuator in that position. The movable brake member is biased towards the stationary brake member but has a lost motion connection with the actuator whereby shifting of the latter to its 'on' position moves the movable brake member away from the stationary one to release the belt.

Mower belt transmission with blade brake

A compact, lightweight snow thrower having a power driven impeller rotating about a horizontal, transverse axis to throw snow upwardly and forwrdly through a chute which is substantially coextensive in width with the axial length of the impeller. A plurality of laterally spaced upright vanes are disposed in and pivotally connected to the upper end of the chute for the purpose of directing the discharge of snow. The vanes are pivotally connected to a control bar whereby movement of the control bar effects simultaneous lateral tilting of the vanes. The vanes include a centrally positioned set which are parallel to one another and a pair of vanes at each of the laterally opposite sidewalls of the chute which are disposed at upwardly converging angles to one another so as to compress the column of discharged snow. One of the sidewalls of the discharge chute is also inclined laterally inwardly in an upward direction. The two laterally opposite, outermost vanes cause a converging effect on the snow being discharged to avoid wide dispersion of the discharged snow.

Discharge vane arrangement for a powered snow thrower

A compact, lightweight snow thrower having a power driven impeller rotating about a horizontal, transverse axis to throw snow upwardly and forwardly through a chute which is substantially coextensive in width with the axial length of the impeller. A plurality of laterally spaced upright vanes are disposed in and pivotally connected to the upper end of the chute for the purpose of directing the discharge of snow. The chute includes a front wall portion which serves as a support for the discharge directing vanes and as a strike-off wall preventing jamming of the discharge chute when the snow thrower encounters deep snow. Snow thrown by the impeller against the front wall portion tends to fall down because of its vertical disposition.

Snow thrower with combined discharge vane support and strike-off wall

A compact, lightweight snow thrower having a power driven impeller rotating about a horizontal, transverse axis to throw snow upwardly and forwardly through a chute which is substantially coextensive in width with the axial length of the impeller. A plurality of laterally spaced upright vanes are disposed in and pivotally connected to the upper end of the chute for the purpose of directing the discharge of snow. A vane adjusting mechanism includes a transverse, laterally shiftable vane adjusting bar which is connected to the vanes through pairs of laterally spaced fingers extending forwardly from the control bar on opposite lateral sides of the vanes. Lateral shifting movement of the bar effects simultaneous lateral tilting of the vanes. The vane adjusting bar includes a pair of rearwardly extending stud parts which extend through slots in the rear wall part of the transverse recess in the rear wall of the discharge chute in which the bar is disposed. The slots and stud parts cooperate to guide the control bar when it is shifted between an intermediate position in which the vanes direct the discharged snow straight ahead and laterally adjusted positions in which the vanes direct the snow discharged through the chute to one lateral side or the other. The recess for the control bar is sufficiently deep so that the control bar is disposed therein and does not interfere with discharge of snow through the chute and a resilient detent is provided to selectively, releasably hold the control bar in its intermediate and laterally adjusted positions.

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Oostburg, WI, United States of America

Alan L Chase