Motor grader blade lift and control mechanism and method

Abstract

A motor grader comprises a frame having a circle drawbar mounted thereunder. A normally horizontally disposed mold board or blade is attached to the circle drawbar for multi-directional movements relative thereto and relative to the frame of the motor grader. A pair of generally vertically disposed hydraulic cylinders have their rod ends pivotally connected to the circle drawbar and their housings universally connected to a pair of indexing discs rotatably mounted on either side of the frame. A detent is reciprocally mounted on the frame to engage one of a plurality of circularly disposed recesses formed in each indexing disc. A first link is pivotally interconnected between the frame and a second link which is further pivotally connected to the circle drawbar. A cylinder is pivotally interconnected between the circle drawbar and the first link whereby the blade may be side shifted and disposed substantially vertically on either side of the frame. A motor may be mounted on the frame to selectively rotate each of the indexing plates and the detent may be selectively retracted, also under control of the operator.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.