US649245A - Excavator. - Google Patents

Description

No. 649,245. Patented May 8, I900.

0. HETLESAET-ER.

- EX'CAVATUR.

(Application filed Sept. 18, 1899.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

m: mums PErzns ca, PHUro-Lmm. WASMINGIUN, D. c.

No. 649,245. Patented May 8, I900.

o. HETLESAETER.

EXCAVATOR.

(Application filed Sept. 18, 1599. (No Model.) I 2 Sh.BBf.s--Sheat L THE Noam! mans 50., mmumu. WASHINGTON. D- 0 Nrrsn STATES ATIENT Fmciei.

OLAF l-IETLESAETER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EXCAVATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 649,245, dated May S, 1900.

Application filed September 18,1899. Serial No. 730,829. (No model.)

whereby positive and complete control of the bucket may be had in all positions thereof, and, second, to provide means whereby the bucket may be controllabl y thrust or crowded into the bank with a force additional to the force derived from the hoisting mechanism. -I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of an excavator mounted upon a railway-car and shows the linked bucket-arm supported upon the boom and operated by the hoisting-cable. Said figure also shows the controlling-engines mounted on said boom and the controlling-link conneeting the controlling-crank to the thrustsegment. A portion of the oscillating lever is broken away to expose the controlling gearwheels and said controlling-crank. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the excavator and car, the portions of the bucket-arm above the central supporting-bearing of the oscillating lever being removed to show the arrangement of the controlling engines and gears. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the thrust-segment, showing the relative positions of the bucket-handle and oscillating lever. 7

Similar letters referto similar part-s throughout the several views.

A represents a car \vhereon is mounted machinery suitable for furnishing the necessary power to the moving parts of the excavator. Upon the platform a of said car rest the stanchions a a, whereby the top frame (0 is supported. Theboom B consists of the parallel beams B B, rigidly held in their proper relative positions and having a pivotbearingb in'the said top frame a The boomsupport C, consisting of the beams C C, is socured at its lower extremity to the pint-leguide the said cable D vertically through the apertured pint-le-plate c and base-plate c, and thereby convert the lateral motion of the'forward extremity of said cable into torsion, confined within said cable between said idlers a and 0 The lateral position of said boom and support is governed by means of the cable 11', Working in the peripherallygrooved sheave or sluing-circle attached to said boom B, concentrically with the bearing 1). Each of the said beams B B is securely attached at its forward extremity to the laterally-adjacent one of the said beams C C, where said beams form journal-bearings for the shaft b The oscillating lever E is pivoted upon said shaft b and consists of the parallel plates 6 6, connected at their upper extremities by means of the pin 6' and at their lower extremities by means of the pin 6 The thrust-segment F has a bearing f, whereby it is pivotally supported upon said pin 6- at the upper extremity of the oscillatin g lever E. Said segment consists of a plate resembling in outline a half -disk with the said bearing f approximately at the center of curvature. In the curved periphery of said segment is the groove f, which servesasa guide forthe cable D. Near the forward extremity of said groove f is a pin d, whereby said cable is attached to said segment F.

From said pin d the cable D takes rearward extremity with a yoke g, spanning the excavator-bucket H. Said bucket is of the ordinary pattern and is attached to said handle G by means of studs g, secured to the sides of said bucket and extending through the arms of said yoke g at the lower extremity thereof. The bucket is further secured to said handle G by means of the brace 9 one extremity whereof is fastened to said bucket and the other extremity whereof is fastened to said handle.

The bucket H is provided with the swinging bottom 72, hung upon the hinges 7t, pivotally supported on said bucket by means of the pins 7L2. At the forward portion of the bucket 11 and pivotally attached thereto by means of the trunnions 71,3 are the two bucketlinks K, one on each side of the bucket, extending to and connected with the lower extremity of the oscillating lever E. Said trunnions h are located on opposite sides of the bucket, and said links K are preferably bowed so as to extend from said trunnions to the inthe bucket is adequate and particularlyadapted to the requirements of the lighter machines; but in the larger excavators, to which my present invention is especially applicable, it is desirable that the thrust of the bucket should be at all times and in all positions under the immediate and complete control of the operators. To this 'end a positive-actin g controlling mechanism has been devised consisting of certain parts hereinafter described.

The controlling-crank M consists of the arms m m, keyed or securely attached in any other suitable manner to the shaft b Said arms m m extend in the same direction and have rigidly fixed thereto near their outer extremities the pin m; The controlling-link N has a box a and cap it, inclosing said pin m, and is thus pivotally connected with said crank M. By means of the pin n the said lever N is pivotally connected with the segment F at a point on the forward portion thereof, preferably near the said pin (Z. By this construction the pivots f and n are on opposite sides of the segment F, approximately equidistant from the bearing f thereof. Rigidly attached to the said shaft b by means of a key or in any other suitable manner are the spur-gearso o. Said gears o 0 are preferably located one at each side of the boom B, between the plates e e of the oscillating lever E and the beams B B of said boom. The gears o o intermesh with said gears o 0 and are keyed to the counter-shafts 0 0*. Said shafts o 0 have a bearing in the beams B and O and project beyond said beams sufliciently to support the said gears o 0 at the interior of said boom and to support the gears o 0 at the exterior thereof. Said gears o 0 are also keyed to said counter-shafts o 0 and intermesh with the gears o 0. In relative sizes the gears o 0 are smaller than the gears o 0 and the gears o' 0 smaller than the gears 0 0. The purpose in employing double reduction gears, as described, is to reduce the size of the engines necessary to furnish sufficient power to operate the controlling crank M. Securely mounted upon each i one of the beams B B of the boom B, longitudinally thereof, are the controlling-engines 'P P, whose crank-shafts p p are in line and carry the said gears o 0, rigidly attached thereto. Said engines are of the ordinary double-actin g slide-valve type and for convenience are placed with the cylinders 19 thereof toward the rear of the boom 13.. To avoid the possibility of dead-center, said engines are placed with their cranks at an angle of about ninety degrees apart.

Steam is supplied to the cylinders 1) by means of the pipes Q Q, which connect with the throttle-valve q, located at a convenient point on the boom B, far enough to the rear thereon to clear the thrust'segment E and cable D when the bucket-arm is in any position. A series of rods and bell-crank levers marked 1- r connects the said throttle-valve q with the throttle-lever It, located at a forward portion of the boom B, within reach of a cranesman standing upon the platform S. Said platform is suspended from the supports O by means of the hangers s and is preferably located ata forward portion of the boom, in order that the crancsmau standing thereon may more easily watch and control the bucket I-I. said platform S, are provided for safety and convenience. The steam-pipe T, leading from the source of steam-supply on the body of the excavator, is flexibly connected with the said throttle-valve q on the boom B by means of the steam-hose t.

In the operation of the machine when the driving mechanism induces tension in the cable D the force thereof is transmitted to the thrust-segment F; but said segment is capable of two separate motions, which may occur simultaneously-namely, a rotary or oscillatory motion about the pivot e and a swinging motion, together with the oscillating lever E, about the shaft b Therefore the force of said cable is resolved into two components, whereof one is effective in producing the retation of said segment about the pivot 6, resulting in a downward thrust of the buckethandle G and bucket 11 directly toward the bank. The other component of the force of said cable is effective in producing the swinging of the segment F and lever E, together with the other members of the bucket-arm, about the shaft b thus resulting in a forward motion of the bucket. As the grooved A hand-rail s and steps 3 s", leading to periphery of the segment F is approximately thrust of the bucket due to the force of the cable is insufficient, or when it is desired to feed the bucket directly into the bank independently of the hoisting-cable, the cranesman upon the platform S opens the throttle g by means of the lever B and causes the engines P to drive the controlling-gear in such a direction as to raise the forward extremity of the crank M, and thereby raise the link N relatively to the oscillating lever E. As the segment F is revolubly supported on the lever E, the pin 6 acts as a fulcrum, and the raising of the link N and forward portion of the said segment causes a corresponding lowering of the rear portion of said segment, and consequently a downward thrust on the bucket-handle Gand bucket H. In its ability to feed the bucket normally into the bank with a force independent of and additional to the force derived from the thrusting component of the force of the hoisting-cable lies one of the important advantages of my machine, for the length of the cut necessary to fill the bucket, especially in soft material, is thereby materially shortened. When the downward thrust of the bucket due to the force of the cable is too great, said thrust is diminished by running said engines P P in the opposite direction, and thereby lowering the link N relatively to the oscillating lever E. When it is desired to raise the bucket vertically and directly out of the bank to avoid an obstruction or for any other purpose, the cable D is held fast and the engines P P run in a direction to lower the link N relatively to the lever E. It is also a great advantage to be able to thus lift the bucket directly from the bank, and in the large machines and in dredges this feature amounts almost to a necessity. When the bucket-arm is rotated by the cable D and the bucket moves in a forward direction, the path of said bucket may become a circular one about the shaft 1)? as a center by running the engines P P in such a direction and at such a speed that the crank M and oscillating lever E maintain a constant angular relation. It is thus evident that although the mechanism for controlling the bucket-arm is not a looking device, it may be operated so as to hold the parts of the bucket-arm constantly in the same position relatively to each other. By means of the cable D the bucket-arm may be rotated until the pin d on the segment F closely approaches the idler 0 thus raising the bucket to a height somewhat above that of the boom B. When the bucket is to be discharged, it is hoisted to the necessary height by the cable D, and the boom B is swung laterally by means of the cableb and sluing-circle 12*. In orderto gain the exact position desired for discharging, the bucket is then thrust forward or retracted by means of the controlling mechanism in the same manner as the thrusting and raising is accomplished when the bucket is in a lower position. When the bucket has been discharged, the cable D is paid out, and the weight of the bucket and adjacent portions of its supporting-arm tend to bring said bucket downward and rearward to a position for taking another cut. The return of the bucket is facilitated by running the engines P P in such a direction as to lower the crank M, for this not only tends toimpel the bucketarm in the desired direction, but also tends to raise the bucket clear of the bank. If when the cable D is in tension the controlling mechanism be run in such a direction as to draw the bucket directly away from the bank, a portion of the force of said cable and said controlling mechanism will be exerted in opposing directions, entailing a loss of power; but in practice this condition seldom occurs. When the cable is in tension and the bucket is being hoisted, if any extraneous force is needed in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the out such force is usually required for the purpose of increasing rather than decreasing the thrust into the bank, and when the controlling mechanism is increasing the thrust the force of said mechanism is an addition to the force of the cable. The major portion of the time when the force of the controlling mechanism is exerted to raise the bucket away from the bank is during the return stroke, when the cable D is lax.

It is evident that the principal members of the bucket-arm pivotally linked together virtually constitute a polylateral whose sides are determined by the pivotal points a e h f also that the sides of said polylateral are of constant length, but may assume various positions relatively to each other. The crank M and link N, taken in connection with the forward portion of the segment F and the upper portion of the oscillating lever E, are pivotally connected and form a linkwork constituting a second polylateral whose sides are determined by the pivots d, n, b and e. The

ICC

IIO

sides of said second pol ylateral are also of constant length,and a change in the configuration of said second polylateral produces a corresponding change in said first polylateral, and

consequently in the position of the bucket. I

be'located on or controlled from the main body of the excavator. Any mechanism whereby the power of the controlling-engines is made use of to control the configuration of the linked bucket-arm would lie within the spirit of my invention.

IVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In an excavator, the combination of a bucket-arm composed of an articulating linkwork, at least three of the links whereof are of fixed length, and all of the links whereof are movable about a common horizontal axis; and means for controllably varying the position of the links of said arm relatively to each other.

2. In an excavator, the combination of a bucket-arm comprising links articulatel y connected together, one of said links being pivotally supported and forming the support for said arm, two links of said arm being of fixed lengths and articulately connected to said supporting-link, means for connecting said last-mentioned links, and means for controllably varying the configuration of said bucketarm.

3. In an excavator, a linked bucket-arm pivoted to a suitable support, and provided with a joint between its supporting-pivot and a point of power application, whereby a single power-applying device may eitect both a downward and a forward movement of the bucket; in combination with a power-applying device for operating said arm, a support for said arm, a bucket, a controlling member attached to one of the links of said arm, and mechanism for operating said controlling member, one of the parts of said operating mechanism having a pivot=bearin g, fixed relatively to another of the links of said arm.

4. In an excavator, the combination with an articulating linkwork forming a bucketarm, a bucket attached to said arm, a support for said arm, and a power device for operating said arm, of a controlling-link attached to one of the links of said bucket-arm, a crank connected with said controlling link, and means for operating said crank.

5. In an excavator, a linked bucketarm pivoted to a suitable support upon a swinging boom and having two longitudinal links, an upper transverse link, and linked connections to a bucket; a power device applied to said upper transverse link for operating said bucket-arm; a laterally-swinging boom supporting said bucket-arm; and a controlling mechanism, one of the pivots whereof is supported on said boom concentrically with the pivot supporting said bucket-arm, said controlling mechanism being connected to said transverse link through a crank and auxiliary link whereby said transverse link may be oscillated by means of said controlling mechanism.

6. In an excavator, the combination of a linked bucket arm pivotally supported, a power device for operating said arm, a controlling-link attached to one of the links of said arm, a crank attached to and operating said controlling-link, a shaft supporting and operating said crank, and a controlling-engine and gear operating said shaft and located upon a part of said excavator other than said bucket-arm.

7. In an excavator, the combination of a shaft, a laterally-swinging boom supporting said shaft, a linked bucket arm pivotally supported on said shaft, a crank secured to said shaft, gear-wheels secured to said shaft, a link connecting said controlling-lever and said bucket-arm, a controlling-engine for operating said gears, and a power device for operatingsaid bucket-arm.

8. In an excavator, the combination of an oscillating lever pivotally supported, a thrustlink pivotally supported on said lever, two pivots located in said thrust-link on opposite sides of the pivot whereby said thrust-link is supported, a bucket-handle attached to one of the two oppositely-placed pivots on said thrust link, a controlling mechanism attached to the other of the two oppositely-placed pivots on said thrust-link, a bucket, connections between said bucket and said oscillating lever, connections between said bucket and said bucket-handle, and means for applying power to said thrust-link.

9. In an excavator, the combination of a boom, an oscillatinglever pivotally supported upon said boom, a thrust-segment pivotally supported upon said lever, a cable for trans mitting power from the excavator-driving engines to said segment, a bucket, connections between said bucket and the rear portion of said thrust-segment, connections between said bucket and said oscillating lever, a link pivotally connected with the forward portion of said thrust segment, a crank for operating said link, a shaft for operating said controlling lever, gears for operating said shaft, engines located on said boom for driving said gears and means for operating said engines.

10. In an excavator, linked members suitably supported and constituting two polylaterals, wherein two of the sides of the first polylateral are formed by members forming two of the sides of the second polylateral, a bucket attached to members forming parts of said second polylateral, a power device for operating the members of said second polylateral, and means for controlling the relative positions of the members forming said first polylateral.

11. In an excavator, linked members constituting two quadrilaterals, wherein two of the sides of the first quadrilateral are formed by members forming two of the sides of the second quadrilateral, and wherein but a single point is common to the extremities of four of the sides of said quadrilaterals; a boom pivotally supporting one of said members common to both of said quadrilaterals; a bucket attached to members forming parts of said second quadrilateral, a power device for op erating the members of said second quadrilocated 011 said crane for controlling the conlateral, and means for controlling the relative figuration of said bucket-arm.

positions of the members forming said first 1 1 quadrilateral I OLAF HETLESAETER. 5 12. In an excavator, the combination of a Witnesses:

crane, a linkwork bucket-arm pivotally sup- W. H. WATKINS,

ported upon said crane, and a power device HOWARD M. COX.

Images