Vacuum snow remover for removing snow from roads and other snow covered surfaces

Claim 2

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a wheeled motorized vehicle for driving upon a snow covered road having a cab at its front end and a snow-receiving collection tank at its rear end; a main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road, said intake conduit being located and spaced rearwardly of said cab; pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction less than atmospheric pressure to effectively draw snow upwardly from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank; and at least one auxiliary inlet conduit for drawing in snow from locations adjacent said road, said auxiliary inlet conduit having one end operatively connected to said fan means and communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and another end defining a manually graspable intake portion adapted to be manually moved to said locations adjacent said road.

Claim 3

A snow remover in accordance with claim 1 wherein: said main intake conduit is generally rigid and stationary, and said auxiliary inlet conduit is generally portable and flexible.

Claim 4

A snow remover in accordance with claim 1 wherein: said fan means includes exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; and said vacuum snow remover further includes snow-melting conduit means having one end operatively connected to said exhaust means and another end defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from the exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road; and electrical heating wire means located adjacent said manually graspable outlet portion for heating the air being blown through said outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means.

Claim 5

A snow remover in accordance with claim 3 wherein said electrical heating wire means includes a coil circumscribing said manually graspable outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means.

Claim 6

A snow remover in accordance with claim 1 wherein said manually graspable intake portion of said auxiliary inlet conduit includes a nozzle having a diverging generally triangular shaped snow-receiving suction head with a generally planar top and bottom.

Claim 7

A snow remover in accordance with claim 1 wherein said melting chamber includes a criss-cross grid of electrically heated tubes electrically connected and energized by a battery in said wheeled motorized vehicle, said electrically heated tubes extending generally longitudinally and laterally across said collection tank to define a plurality of melted snow-receiving passageways for passage of melted snow into said basin.

Claim 8

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like without the aid of a brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop, comprising: a snow-receiving collection tank; a main intake conduit having a lower front portion positioned away from any brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road; pneumatic snow removing means positioned away from and operable wholly without said brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop for removing snow from said snow covered road without the aid of said brush, screw conveyor, plow and scoop, said pneumatic snow means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction to draw snow from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; and discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank.

Claim 9

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like without the aid of a brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop, comprising: a snow-receiving collection tank; a main intake conduit having a lower front portion positioned away from any brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road; pneumatic snow removing means positioned away from and operable wholly without said brush, screw conveyor, plow or scoop for removing snow from said snow covered road without the aid of said brush, screw conveyor, plow and scoop, said pneumatic snow means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction to draw snow from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; and discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank.

Claim 10

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a wheeled motorized vehicle for driving upon a snow covered road having a cab at its front end and a snow-receiving collection tank at its rear end; a generally stationary and rigid main intake conduit having a lower front portion defining an inlet, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road, said intake conduit being located and spaced rearwardly of said cab; pneumatic snow-removing means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow-covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction less than atmospheric pressure to effectively draw snow upwardly from said snow covered road through said intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving, said fan means including exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber for melting said snow including a plurality of heated tubes extending longitudinally and laterally across said snow-receiving collection tank to define a criss-cross grid with a plurality of melted snow-receiving passageways, said snow-receiving collection tank defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tanks; at least one flexible auxiliary inlet conduit for drawing in snow from locations adjacent said road, said flexible auxiliary inlet conduit having one end operatively connected to said fan means and communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and another end defining a portable manually graspable intake portion adapted to be manually moved to said locations adjacent said road; snow-melting conduit means including at least one elongated flexible hose of substantially fluid-impervious material having one end operatively connected to said exhaust means of said fan means and another end of said hose including a nozzle defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from said exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road; and heating means including an electrical coil internally circumscribing said outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means for heating said air being blown through said snow-melting conduit means.

Claim 11

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a wheeled motorized vehicle for driving upon a snow covered road having a cab at its front end and a snow-receiving collection tank at its rear end; a generally stationary and rigid main intake conduit having a lower front portion defining an inlet, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road, said intake conduit being located and spaced rearwardly of said cab; pneumatic snow-removing means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow-covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction less than atmospheric pressure to effectively draw snow upwardly from said snow covered road through said intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving, said fan means including exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber for melting said snow including a plurality of heated tubes extending longitudinally and laterally across said snow-receiving collection tank to define a criss-cross grid with a plurality of melted snow-receiving passageways, said snow-receiving collection tank defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tanks; at least one flexible auxiliary inlet conduit for drawing in snow from locations adjacent said road, said flexible auxiliary inlet conduit having one end operatively connected to said fan means and communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and another end defining a portable manually graspable intake portion adapted to be manually moved to said locations adjacent said road; snow-melting conduit means including at least one elongated flexible hose of substantially fluid-impervious material having one end operatively connected to said exhaust means of said fan means and another end of said hose including a nozzle defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from said exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road; and heating means including an electrical coil internally circumscribing said outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means for heating said air being blown through said snow-melting conduit means.

Claim 12

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a snow-receiving collection tank; a main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road; pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction to draw snow from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank; and at least one auxiliary inlet conduit for drawing in snow from locations adjacent said road, said auxiliary inlet conduit having one end operatively connected to said fan means and communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and another end defining a manually graspable intake portion adapted to be manually moved to said locations adjacent said road.

Claim 13

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a snow-receiving collection tank; a main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road; pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction to draw snow from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank; and at least one auxiliary inlet conduit for drawing in snow from locations adjacent said road, said auxiliary inlet conduit having one end operatively connected to said fan means and communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and another end defining a manually graspable intake portion adapted to be manually moved to said locations adjacent said road.

Claim 14

A snow remover in accordance with claim 9 wherein: said fan means includes exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; and said vacuum snow remover further includes snow-melting conduit means having one end defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from the exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road.

Claim 15

A snow remover in accordance with claim 10 wherein said auxiliary snow-melting conduit means includes auxiliary heating means for heating said air being blown through said snow-melting conduit means onto said ice and snow.

Claim 16

A snow remover in accordance with claim 9 wherein said melting chamber includes a plurality of heated tubes defining a criss-cross grid with a plurality of melted snow-receiving passageways for passage of melted snow into said basin.

Claim 17

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a wheeled motorized vehicle for driving upon a snow covered road having a cab at its front end and a snow-receiving collection tank at its rear end; a main intake conduit having a lower front portion sloping downwardly and forwardly in a direction generally towards said cab, said lower front portion defining an inlet, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road, said intake conduit being located generally adjacent and spaced rearwardly of said cab; pneumatic snow removing means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction less than atmospheric pressure to effectively draw snow upwardly from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank; said fan means including exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; said vacuum snow remover further including snow-melting conduit means having one end operatively connected to said exhaust means and another end defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from the exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road; electrical heating wire means located adjacent said manually graspable outlet portion for heating the air being blown through said outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means, said electrical heating wire means including a coil circumscribing said manually graspable outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means; and electrical generally water-impervious insulating means covering at least a portion of said electrical heating wire means about said manually graspable outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means for electrically insulating and waterproofing said electrical heating wire means at said manually graspable outlet portion from said ice and snow.

Claim 18

A vacuum snow remover for removing snow from a snow covered road and the like, comprising: a wheeled motorized vehicle for driving upon a snow covered road having a cab at its front end and a snow-receiving collection tank at its rear end; a main intake conduit having a lower front portion sloping downwardly and forwardly in a direction generally towards said cab, said lower front portion defining an inlet, said main intake conduit communicating with said snow-receiving collection tank and extending to a position adjacent said snow covered road, said intake conduit being located generally adjacent and spaced rearwardly of said cab; pneumatic snow removing means providing the primary source of removing snow from said snow covered road, said pneumatic snow removing means including fan means operatively associated with said snow-receiving collection tank for creating a suction less than atmospheric pressure to effectively draw snow upwardly from said snow covered road through said main intake conduit and into said snow-receiving collection tank as said vehicle is stopped and while said vehicle is moving; said snow-receiving collection tank having a melting chamber with melting means for melting said snow and defining a basin below said melting chamber for receiving said melted snow; discharge means communicating with said basin for discharging said melted snow from said collection tank; said fan means including exhaust means for blowing air away from said fan means; said vacuum snow remover further including snow-melting conduit means having one end operatively connected to said exhaust means and another end defining a manually graspable outlet portion for manually directing said air being blown from the exhaust means of said fan means onto ice and snow covering and lying adjacent said road; electrical heating wire means located adjacent said manually graspable outlet portion for heating the air being blown through said outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means, said electrical heating wire means including a coil circumscribing said manually graspable outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means; and electrical generally water-impervious insulating means covering at least a portion of said electrical heating wire means about said manually graspable outlet portion of said snow-melting conduit means for electrically insulating and waterproofing said electrical heating wire means at said manually graspable outlet portion from said ice and snow.