Pneumatic vehicle sanding apparatus

Claim 1

A motor-vehicle mounted apparatus for distributing sand and the like onto a road surface ahead of the drive wheels of the vehicle, said apparatus comprising storage means for containing a supply of sand, an enclosed duct positioned in said storage means beneath the sand contained therein and providing a passageway, said duct having inlet and discharge openings with the discharge opening being outside said storage means, said duct having a plurality of inlet openings spaced along the portion of said duct inside of said storage means, said inlet openings being located along a side of said duct with each of said openings being a notch where the side of the duct extends into said passageway and forms a constriction in the upstream direction, a power operated fan having an air discharge opening connected to the inlet of said duct for causing air to flow through said duct at a sufficient velocity to create a suction effect at the location of each of said openings to there-by move sand from said storage means through said openings into said duct and then through said duct to the discharge open-ing thereof, a control switch operatively connected to said fan and operable by the vehicle operator to start and stop said fan, and means connected to the discharge end of said duct for directing the sand to a place ahead of said drive wheels.