Blade installation tool
AssigneeBrent's Grading Ltd.
InventorBrent Heggestad
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for lifting and aligning a blade to a support, such as a grader moldboard or a scraper bowl. In one aspect the invention is an apparatus with a frame, flexible hoisting means for holding the blade, a drum to which each flexible hoisting means is attached, a stabilizing means for stabilizing the apparatus, and a drive means for rotating the drums. In another aspect, the invention is a method for lifting a blade to a support, which involves inserting flexible hoisting means through different apertures of a support and the corresponding apertures in the blade, and providing means to controllably reduce the length of the flexible hoisting means while holding the blade. The apparatus and method can be used by one person to lift, line up, and securely bolt a blade to a support.
Claims30
An apparatus for moving an elongated blade that has a plurality of apertures, towards a support, that has a plurality of apertures that correspond with the apertures on the blade, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a frame;
- (b) a shaft attached to the frame;
- (c) at least two flexible hoisting means, each having a free end and a fixed end, the free end and the flexible hoisting means sized to pass through an aperture in the support and through a corresponding aperture in the blade;
- (d) a drum mounted to the shaft, to which the fixed end of each flexible hoisting means is attached;
- (e) a drive means for rotating the shaft mounted to the shaft, and
- (f) a stabilizing means that stabilizes the apparatus when in use on the support.
A method for lifting an elongated blade that has a plurality of apertures from the ground to a support that has a plurality of apertures that correspond with the apertures on the blade, said method comprising:
- (a) providing at least two flexible hoisting means, each said flexible hoisting means comprising a free end and a fixed end;
- (b) inserting the free end of each flexible hoisting means through an aperture on the support, said apertures being different from one another;
- (c) inserting the free end of each flexible hoisting means through a corresponding aperture on the blade;
- (d) modifying the free end of each flexible hoisting means so that it is no longer capable of passing through the aperture on the blade;
- (e) providing at least one drum to which each fixed end is attached, and onto which each flexible hoisting means can be wound;
- (f) winding the flexible hoisting means onto the at least one drum until the blade abuts the support;
- and
- (g) securing the blade to the support.
A method for lowering an elongated blade from a support to the ground, said support and blade being coupled together by a plurality of bolts that pass through corresponding apertures in the support and blade, said method comprising:
- (a) removing the bolts from selected apertures in the support;
- (b) providing at least two flexible hoisting means, each said flexible hoisting means comprising a free end and a fixed end;
- (c) inserting the free end of each flexible hoisting means through an aperture on the support and the corresponding aperture on the blade, said apertures on the support being different from one another;
- (d) modifying the free end of each flexible hoisting means so that it is no longer capable of passing through the aperture on the blade;
- (e) providing at least one drum to which each fixed end is attached, and onto which each flexible hoisting means is wound;
- (f) removing all bolts remaining in the apertures of the support and blade, and
- (g) unwinding the flexible hoisting means from the at least one drum until the blade rests on the ground.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.