Device for removing snow and other debris from ground surfaces

Apparatus for removing debris or snow from ground surfaces, comprising:

• a) a pick-up assembly having a drum array supported on a floating chassis, said drum array including a first drum having a first drum disk, a second drum disk, and a plurality of first brackets mounted parallel to the axis of said drum array and perpendicular to said first drum disk and said second drum disk, said plurality of first brackets being spaced evenly around said first drum, a subsequent drum being formed by mounting a plurality of subsequent brackets between said second drum disk and a subsequent drum disk, said plurality of subsequent brackets being mounted in a similar manner as were said plurality of first brackets and being radially offset 20° to said plurality of first brackets, additional subsequent drums being formed in a similar manner, a first plurality of finger modules removably attached to said plurality of first brackets and a second plurality of finger modules removably attached to said plurality of subsequent brackets, a finger module in said plurality of finger modules including a triad of stepped fingers:
• a leading finger, a middle finger, and a trailing finger, wherein said leading finger is shorter than said middle finger and said middle finger is shorter than said trailing finger, said fingers being constructed as flat blade 4 like elements and fabricated of steel, each bracket of said plurality of first brackets and of said plurality of subsequent brackets having a bracket overlap on each side of said bracket onto which an overlap finger module is removably attached, said bracket overlap extending into an area of an adjoining drum or toward a drum shaft end, said pick-up assembly being enclosed in a housing, said housing including a curved pick-up assembly housing, an end shield and a belt shield on each end of said pick-up assembly, a curved backplate, a straight-incline plate, and a removable access cover;
• b) an impeller assembly and a discharge tube enclosed in an impeller assembly/discharge tube housing, said housing including a removable access cover and said discharge tube having a right discharge tube end, said impeller assembly comprising a plurality of impeller units, each impeller unit in said plurality of impeller units having an impeller shaft, an impeller, an impeller chamber, an impeller intake, and an impeller discharge, said impeller including an impeller base plate rotatably supported on a lower support bearing and an impeller blade set having a plurality of flat, rectangular, notched impeller blades permanently affixed to said impeller shaft and said impeller base plate, said impeller chamber being formed by impeller walls, an impeller chamber cover having an opening above said impeller blade set, and an impeller exit opening into a discharge tube, said impeller intake having a divider plate positioned vertically between said impeller chamber plate and said impeller assembly/discharge tube housing and placed between any two of said plurality of impeller units, said impeller assembly and said discharge tube being mounted on a floating chassis and;
• c) a fixed chassis, pushable or pullable by a prime mover, and onto which is mounted said floating chassis, said floating chassis having three operating positions—a working position, an idle position, and a transport position—and a maintenance position, said operating and maintenance positions being effected by a pair of dolly wheels and a lifting frame mounted on said floating chassis, and a commercially available hydraulic lifting ram positioned external to the apparatus.

Method for removing snow and other debris from a ground surface, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) moving a rotating drum having flat, blade-like fingers along a ground surface;
• b) transporting snow and other debris toward and into an impeller assembly by means of said blade-like fingers wherein said drum has a drum length and said impeller assembly is arranged parallel to said drum and co-extensive with said drum length;
• c) operating said impeller assembly so as to fling said snow and other debris from said impeller assembly into a discharge tube, wherein said impeller assembly has an impeller assembly length and said discharge tube has a tube length substantially equal to said impeller assembly length;
• and
• d) expelling said snow and other debris from said discharge tube at a relatively low height from the ground.