Endless screw rotor system, snowblower provided with such a system, kit for assembling the same, and corresponding methods of manufacturing, assembling and operating associated thereto

Abstract

A snowblower for blowing snow, the snowblower comprising a propulsion assembly being operatively disposed about a fluid passage for propelling the snow. The snowblower also comprises a pallet assembly being operatively connected to the propulsion assembly for assisting in the propelling of the snow to be blown, the pallet assembly comprising at least one pallet component being rotatable about a main pivot axis, said at least one pallet component comprising base and distal components, the base component being mountable about the main pivot axis of the pallet assembly, and the distal component being made of a flexible material capable of elastic deformation, said distal component being further positioned, shaped and sized for allowing the passage of debris to pass by between a distal edge of the distal component and a complementary component of the fluid passage.

1 . A snowblower for blowing snow, the snowblower comprising:
 a snow-intake assembly for intaking snow to be blown by the snowblower;   a snow-discharge assembly for discharging blown snow away from the snowblower;   a fluid passage being defined between an inlet interface of the snow-intake assembly and an outlet interface of the snow-discharge assembly for allowing the snow to be blown by the snowblower to flow from the snow-intake assembly to the snow-discharge assembly thereof;   a propulsion assembly operatively disposed about the fluid passage for propelling the snow to be blown from the snow-intake assembly to the snow-discharge assembly along the fluid passage; and   a pallet assembly being operatively connected to the propulsion assembly for assisting in propelling of the snow to be blown from the snow-intake assembly to the snow-discharge assembly via the fluid passage, the pallet assembly comprising at least one pallet component being rotatable about a main pivot axis, said at least one pallet component comprising base and distal components, the base component being mountable about the main pivot axis of the pallet assembly, and the distal component being made of a flexible material capable of elastic deformation, said distal component being further positioned, shaped and sized for allowing passage of debris to pass by between a distal edge of the distal component and a complementary component of the fluid passage.   
     
     
         2 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the base and distal components of the at least one pallet component are separate and distinct components. 
     
     
         3 . A snowblower according to  claim 2 , wherein the distal component of the at least one pallet component is removably mountable onto the base component of said at least one pallet component. 
     
     
         4 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the base component of the at least one pallet component has a coefficient of elastic deformation that is stiffer than a coefficient of elastic deformation of the distal component of said at least one pallet component. 
     
     
         5 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the base component of the at least one pallet component is fixedly connectable to a drivable axle being rotatable about the main pivot axis of the pallet assembly; and wherein the snow-intake assembly comprises a snow-intake box, the snow-intake box being provided with an endless screw being positioned, shaped and sized for urging snow towards an interface between the snow-intake assembly and the snow-discharge assembly, the endless screw being rotatable along with a main pivoting axle of the snow-intake box, and wherein the base component of the at least one pallet component is fixedly connectable to said main pivoting axle of the snow-intake box of the snow-intake assembly. 
     
     
         6 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the base component of the at least one pallet component is made of a metallic material; wherein the base component of the at least one pallet component is welded onto the main pivoting axle of the snow-intake box of the snow-intake assembly; and wherein the distal component the at least one pallet component is made of a non-metallic material. 
     
     
         7 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the distal component of the at least one pallet component is removably mountable onto the base component of said at least one pallet component via a corresponding fastening assembly. 
     
     
         8 . A snowblower according to  claim 6 , wherein the corresponding fastening assembly comprises at least one fastener extending through a pair of complementary holes each being provided about the base and distal components respectively; wherein the at least one fastener comprises a pair of fasteners; and wherein each fastener includes a bolt and a corresponding nut. 
     
     
         9 . A snowblower according to  claim 8 , wherein each hole is oblong so as to enable an effective length of the at least one pallet component to be selectively adjusted by a user of the snowblower; and wherein each hole of the distal component is further positioned, shaped and sized so as to enable a variation of the effective length of the at least one pallet component between about 19 mm and about 25 mm. 
     
     
         10 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one pallet component comprises a supporting component for supporting a back portion of the distal component of said at least one pallet component during an operational bending of the distal component. 
     
     
         11 . A snowblower according to  claim 10 , wherein the supporting component of the at least one pallet component includes a curved portion for receiving and supporting the back portion of the distal component of said at least one pallet component during an operational bending of the distal component. 
     
     
         12 . A snowblower according to  claim 11 , wherein the supporting component of the at least one pallet component is a substantially L-shaped supporting component, and wherein an elbow portion of said L-shaped supporting component includes the curved portion for receiving and supporting the back portion of the distal component of said at least one pallet component during an operational bending of the distal component wherein the supporting component of the at least one pallet component includes a hole for receiving a corresponding bolt of the at least one fastener of the corresponding fastening assembly; and wherein the hole of the supporting component of the at least one pallet component is substantially circular. 
     
     
         13 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one pallet component comprises a plurality of pallet components having n pallet components, with n being an integer greater than 1; wherein each of the plurality of pallet components projects radially outwardly away from the main pivot axis of the pallet assembly; and wherein each of the plurality of pallet components are disposed equidistantly from one another about the main pivot axis. 
     
     
         14 . A snowblower according to  claim 13 , wherein the pallet assembly comprises at least one reinforcement component provided between at least one pair of sequential pallet components; wherein the pallet assembly comprises at least one reinforcement component provided between each pair of sequential pallet components; and wherein the at least one reinforcement component has a substantially triangular profile with a portion being positioned, shaped and sized for receiving a complementary portion of a rotating shaft of the snowblower. 
     
     
         15 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein each pallet component has a substantially rectangular profile; wherein each pallet component comprises at least one hole being positioned, shaped and sized for receiving a corresponding bolt of the at least one fastener of the corresponding fastening assembly; wherein said at least one hole of each pallet component comprises a pair of holes; wherein said pair of holes of each pallet component defines an imaginary line being substantially parallel to the distal edge of the pallet component; wherein each base component of each pallet component has a substantially rectangular profile; and wherein each base component comprises at least one hole being positioned, shaped and sized for receiving a corresponding bolt of the at least one fastener of the corresponding fastening assembly; wherein said at least one hole of each pallet component comprises a pair of holes; wherein said pair of holes of each pallet component defines an imaginary line being substantially parallel to the distal edge of the pallet component; wherein each base component of each pallet component has a substantially rectangular profile; and wherein each base component comprises at least one hole being positioned, shaped and sized for receiving a corresponding bolt of the at least one fastener of the corresponding fastening assembly, 
     
     
         16 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein the distal component of the at least one pallet component is made of a polymeric material. 
     
     
         17 . A snowblower according to  claim 1 , wherein a rear rim of the distal component of the at least one pallet component is provided with a chamfer for providing said the distal component with an additional rearward clearance during an operation and corresponding rotation of the at least one pallet component with respect to the complementary component of the fluid passage. 
     
     
         18 . A kit with corresponding components for assembling a snowblower according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         19 . A pallet assembly for use with a snowblower according to  claim 1 , the pallet assembly being operatively connectable to the propulsion assembly of the snowblower for assisting in the propelling of the snow to be blown from the snow-intake assembly to the snow-discharge assembly via the fluid passage, the pallet assembly comprising at least one pallet component being rotatable about a main pivot axis, said at least one pallet component comprising base and distal components, the base component being mountable about the main pivot axis of the pallet assembly, and the distal component being made of non-metallic flexible material capable of elastic deformation, said distal component being further positioned, shaped and sized for allowing the passage of debris to pass by between a distal edge of the distal component and a complementary component of the fluid passage. 
     
     
         20 . A kit with corresponding components for assembling a pallet assembly according to  claim 19 .