Road grader blade mounting means

Claim 2

In a grader provided with a frame having a front portion, a midportion, and a rear portion, steerable wheel means movably carrying said front portion of the frame, rear wheel means movably carrying said rear portion of the frame, and a blade, means for adjustably mounting the blade relative to said frame comprising: a carrier; means for resiliently connecting said carrier to said frame to be disposed subjacent said frame midportion; means rigidly securing the blade to said carrier to extend generally horizontally, said connecting means resiliently carrying the weight of the blade and carrier while forcibly biasing the carrier and blade downwardly to a grading position; control wheel means; and means for mounting said control wheel means to said carrier including means for adjustably vertically posItioning said carrier relative to said control wheel means thereby to vary the disposition of said blade relative to the level of the bottom of said control wheel means.

Claim 3

The grader means of claim 1 wherein said control wheel-mounting means comprises means for turnably mounting said control wheel means on said carrier to track said front wheel means.

Claim 4

The grader means of claim 1 wherein said positioning means of the control wheel-mounting means comprises piston means.

Claim 5

In a grader provided with a frame having a front portion, a midportion, and a rear portion, steerable wheel means movably carrying said front portion of the frame, rear wheel means movably carrying said rear portion of the frame, and a blade, means for adjustably mounting the blade relative to said frame comprising: a carrier; means for connecting said carrier to said frame to be disposed subjacent said frame midportion; means rigidly securing the blade to said carrier to extend generally horizontally; means carried by the frame for forcibly urging the carrier downwardly; control wheel means; and means for mounting said control wheel means to said carrier including means for adjustably vertically positioning said carrier relative to said control wheel means, said positioning means of the control wheel-mounting means including a link connected to the control wheel means axially thereof and pivotally connected to said carrier to swing about a generally horizontal axis, and piston means acting between said link and said carrier for adjusting the pivotal disposition of the link thereby to selectively raise and lower said carrier.

Claim 6

In a grader provided with a frame having a front portion, a midportion, and a rear portion, steerable wheel means movably carrying said front portion of the frame, rear wheel means movably carrying said rear portion of the frame, and a blade, means for adjustably mounting the blade relative to said frame comprising: a carrier; means for connecting said carrier to said frame to be disposed subjacent said frame midportion; means rigidly securing the blade to said carrier to extend generally horizontally; means carried by the frame for forcibly urging the carrier downwardly; control wheel means; and means for mounting said control wheel means to said carrier including means for adjustably vertically positioning said carrier relative to said control wheel means, said positioning means of the control wheel-mounting means including a link connected to the control wheel means axially thereof and pivotally connected to said carrier to swing about a generally horizontal axis, and piston means acting between said link and said carrier for adjusting the pivotal disposition of the link thereby to selectively raise and lower said carrier.

Claim 7

The grader means of claim 4 including means for horizontally movably securing said link and piston means to said carrier for enabling said control wheel means to track said front wheel means.

Claim 8

The grader means of claim 1 further including means for releasably locking said carrier in an elevated position against the biasing action of said resilient connecting means.

Claim 9

The grader means of claim 1 wherein said carrier urging means comprises spring means compressively extended intermediate said frame and said carrier.

Claim 10

The grader means of claim 7 further including means for releasably locking said spring means for retaining said carrier in an elevated position.

Claim 11

The grader means of claim 1 further including means for adjusting the urging force of said resilient connecting means.

Claim 12

The grader means of claim 9 wherein said urging means comprises spring means and said adjusting means comprises means carried by the frame for adjustably compressing the spring means.

Claim 13

In a grader provided with a frame having a front portion, a midportion, and a rear portion, steerable wheel means movably carrying said front portion of the frame, rear wheel means movably carrying said rear portion of the frame, and a blade, means for adjustably mounting the blade relative to said frame comprising: a carrier; means for connecting said carrier to said frame to be disposed subjacent said frame midportion; means rigidly securing the blade to said carrier to extend generally horizontally; means carried by the frame for forcibly urging the carrier downwardly; control wheel means; and means for mounting said control wheel means to said carrier including means for adjustably vertically positioning said carrier relative to said control wheel means, said urging means comprising a coil spring and means for causing one portion of the coil spring to carry the weight of said blade and another portion of said coil spring to apply pressure against the blade.

Claim 14

In a grader provided with a frame having a front portion, a midportion, and a rear portion, steerable wheel means movably carrying said front portion of the frame, rear wheel means movably carrying said rear portion of the frame, and a blade, means for adjustably mounting the blade relative to said frame comprising: a carrier; means for connecting said carrier to said frame to be disposed subjacent said frame midportion; means rigidly securing the blade to said carrier to extend generally horizontally; means carried by the frame for forcibly urging the carrier downwardly; control wheel means; and means for mounting said control wheel means to said carrier including means for adjustably vertically positioning said carrier relative to said control wheel means, said urging means comprising a coil spring and means for causing one portion of the coil spring to carry the weight of said blade and another portion of said coil spring to apply pressure against the blade.

Claim 15

The grader means of claim 11 wherein the last named means comprises a split washer disposed between turns of the coil spring intermediate the ends thereof, said split washer being fixedly connected to said carrier.