WO1993024357A1

WO1993024357A1 - Setup joint

Info

Publication number: WO1993024357A1
Application number: PCT/FI1993/000232
Authority: WO
Inventors: Aulis Koivisto
Original assignee: Aulis Koivisto
Priority date: 1992-05-29
Filing date: 1993-05-28
Publication date: 1993-12-09
Also published as: FI922465A0

Abstract

A setup joint between the chassis (1) of an apparatus, resting on the ground, and the operating part (2) of the apparatus, for adapting the angle of inclination and direction of said operating part to fit the job that has to be performed. The setup joint comprises a lower frame (3) carried on the chassis (1), an upper frame (4) in contact with the operating part (2), and between the lower frame and the upper frame, an intermediate frame (5) which is pivotally arranged to be turnable relative to the lower frame and to the upper frame so that the joint planes (6, 7) between them are at an angle to each other.

Description

SETUP JOINT

The present invention concerns a setup joint as defined in the preamble to Claim 1. A problem encountered in excavators and other working machines operating in rugged country is the swinging and inclination to and fro of the driver's cab or the working plane, following the configuration of the terrain as the working machine moves about. Like- wise, even when the machine is stationary, the cab or the working plane is often in an inclined or skew posi¬ tion so that working in it becomes awkward and some¬ times actually impossible.

A solution to this problem is presented in the application print GB 2150529. The design therein dis¬ closed is, however, exceedingly complicated, containing a multitude of different parts, bearing arrangements and interlockings, and therefore its use in heavy ap¬ plications, e.g. in connection with excavators, is not feasible, nor can it be contemplated in light-weight and simple ones because of its high price.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the drawbacks just mentioned. Specifically, the object of the invention is to bring forth a novel setup joint by the aid of which the cabs, working members and vari¬ ous working platforms and lifting cages can be held in desired position, advantageously horizontal, regardless of the positions in which the chassis of the implement may be placed owing to terrain variations. Regarding the features characterizing the in¬ vention, reference is made to the Claims section.

The setup joint of the invention comprises a lower frame resting on the chassis of the implement in question, an upper frame in contact with the operating part of the implement, and between the lower and upper frames, an intermediate frame which is pivoted to be turnable relative to the lower and upper frames so that the joint planes between said frames are positioned at an angle to each other. In other words, as taught by the invention, the joint plane connecting turnably to each other the lower frame and the intermediate frame is not parallel to the joint plane located between the intermediate frame and the upper frame and turnably connecting these; said joint planes rather enclose with each other a suitable angle. Thus, it is in all in¬ stances possible, by turning the intermediate frame relative to the lower frame and the upper frame rela¬ tive to the intermediate frame, to position the operat¬ ing part of the implement at the desired angle of in¬ clination relative to the chassis of the implement, in any desired direction of operation. It is thus under- stood that the chassis can also rest on a sloping part of the terrain while the operating part can be rendered horizontal all the same.

Advantageously, planar bearing surfaces are provided in the joint planes, on which the lower frame, intermediate frame and upper frame are turnable rela¬ tive to each other. On these bearing surfaces various slipping agents, coatings, separate bearings or equiva¬ lent structures known in themselves in the art may be provided. In an advantageous embodiment of the inven¬ tion, one of the two bearing surfaces is horizontal, i.e., parallel with the chassis of the implement, and the other bearing surface, or joint plane, is at an angle against the direction of the horizontal plane of the chassis. Hereby, the slanting joint plane can be used to adjust the inclination of the operating part to be appropriate and the joint plane parallelling the chassis, to adjust the direction of slope as required. Advantageously in practice, however, both joint planes will be turned simultaneously, whereby setting of the angle of inclination and its directing will take place at the same time. The setup joint of the invention affords sig¬ nificant advantages over the state of art. The joint is steplessly adjustable. The joint presents a sturdy and simple construction, and it can therefore be easily applied also in inexpensive and simple, manually oper¬ ated implements, while it is equally well mountable in big and complex working machines, in which its opera¬ tion may be fully automated. Moreover, the clearances and plays in the setup joint of the invention can be made minimal, whereby the setting is not significantly affected by external forces, and there occurs no yield or elasticity in the setup joint.

The other advantages of the invention, and different embodiments of the design, will be apparent from the description following below, in which the invention is described in detail with the aid of the drawing attached, in which a setup joint according to the invention is presented, partly sectioned.

A setup joint according to the invention, depicted in the drawing, comprises a lower frame 3 carried on the chassis 1 of a working machine, and attached thereto, and an intermediate frame 5 resting on said lower frame by means of a horizontal joint plane 7. On the topside of the intermediate frame 5 rests the upper frame 4, on a slanting joint plane, the operating part 2 of the working machine being attached to this upper frame. Depending on the application in which the setup joint is employed, there may be, be¬ tween the upper frame 4 and the operating part 2, a joint permitting rotation in the horizontal plane, on which the working machine of the operating part swivels in normal operation. It is equally possible to have this joint in the working machine of the operating part clearly separate from the setup joint and above it. Similarly, in certain applications, e.g. in the case of suitable round working planes, rotation is not needed and the operating part may be integral with the upper frame.

More closely described, the lower frame 3 com¬ prises a fixing flange 10 by which it is attached to the chassis 1, and the intermediate frame 5 comprises a sliding plate 11 and a fixing flange 12 therebelow, these two being secured to each other, e.g. bolted together. The outer rim of the sliding plate 11 is advantageously provided with toothing, in which case the pinion 13 of a power means 8 meshes with this tooth rim and the sliding plate 11 and fixing flange 12 are enabled to rotate by the aid of the power means 8, carried on the fixing flange 10. The intermediate frame 5 will thus rotate in the horizontal plane, carried on the horizontal joint plane 7. The intermediate frame 5 and upper frame 4 are similarly arranged to cooperate. This means that a sliding plate 14 rests on the upper frame 4, and this plate carries a tooth rim on its periphery, meshing with the pinion 15 of a power means 9 carried by the intermediate frame 5. On the slanting upper side of the intermediate frame 5 belong a sliding plate 16 and a fixing flange 17, these being secured to each other, e.g. by bolting. In this way a slanting joint plane 6 is defined between the intermediate frame 5 and the upper frame 4. Thereby, on rotation of the sliding plate 14 by its outer rim, accomplished with the power means 9, the upper frame 4 will rotate on the slanting joint plane 6 and, as a consequence, the oper¬ ating part 2 of the implement is turned into a position presenting the desired inclination. In the drawing, the power means 8 and 9 are only schematically indicated, and depending on the particular application the drive may be manual actua¬ tion, mechanical manual operation, electric drive, hydraulics or any available source of energy. Likewise, power transmission from the power means to various parts may be by means of gears, sprocket chains, belts, pressure fluid, or by equivalent techniques known in themselves in the art and appropriate to be applied in the particular operation.

The setup joint of the invention, depicted in the drawing, is operated as follows. When, for in- stance, the tracks of an excavator are joined to the chassis 1 and the cab with jib system and scoop are carried on the operating part 2, the cab and jib system will be held in desired position at all times by ob¬ serving the following procedure. When the chassis 1 rests, for instance, on a sloping portion of terrain, the operating part 2 together with the cab also assumes a skew attitude. It is then possible by turning, in the slanting joint plane 6, the intermediate frame 5 and the upper frame 4 relative to each other, to set the operating part at the desired angle with reference to the chassis 1. Thereafter, by turning the lower frame 3 relative to the intermediate frame 5, the operating part 2 can be turned to point in the desired direction, i.e., in the working direction, and the machine will thus be levelled to be horizontal. In this manner the working machine can always be brought into desired horizontal position in a suitable direction, whereafter the machine can be operated in usual manner and rotated around its normal swivelling joint. In practice, howev- er, it will be advantageous to rotate both parts of the setup joint, that is both joint planes, simultaneously and, moreover, at the same time to swivel the machine, carried on the setup joint, on its own swivelling joint, whereby angular setting and orienting, and swiv- elling of the machine, will all be accomplished in a compound operation, the different parts turning suit¬ ably relative to each other.

It is likewise possible, with the aid of the setup joint of the invention, to tilt an excavator, for instance, downward or upward while the chassis 1 is on level ground, whereby it becomes possible to increase the reach of the excavator's scoop significantly in these directions.

In the foregoing, the invention has been de¬ scribed in detail with the aid of the attached drawing, while different embodiments of the invention are feasi¬ ble within the scope of the inventive idea delimited by the claims.

Claims

1. A setup joint between the chassis (1) of an apparatus, resting on the ground, and the operating part (2) of the apparatus, for adapting the angle of inclination and direction of said operating part to fit the job that has to be performed, characterized in that the setup joint comprises a lower frame (3) carried on the chassis (1), an upper frame (4) in contact with the operating part (2), and between the lower frame and the upper frame, an intermediate frame (5) which is pivot¬ ally arranged to be turnable relative to the lower frame and to the upper frame so that the joint planes (6,7) between them are at an angle to each other.

2. Setup joint according to claim 1, charac- terized in that the angle between the joint planes

(6,7) is in the range from 10 to 50, advantageously 20 to 40°.

3. Setup joint according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that to the joint planes (6,7) belong planar bearing surfaces on which the lower frame (3), intermediate frame (5) and upper frame (4) turn rela¬ tive to each other.

4. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that to the bearing surfaces belong slide bearings.

5. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that to the bearing surfaces belong roller or ball bearings.

6. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that one of the two bearing sur¬ faces or joint planes (7) lies parallel to the chassis (1) and the other (6), at an angle against the plane defined by the chassis.

7. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-5, characterized in that both bearing surfaces lie at an angle against the plane defined by the chassis.

8. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that to the lower frame (3) or to the intermediate frame (5) belongs an actuating means

(8) for turning them relative to each other.

9. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-8, characterized in that to the upper frame (4) or to the intermediate frame (5) belongs an actuating means

(9) for turning them relative to each other.

10. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-9, characterized in that the lower frame (3) is an essential, integral part of the chassis (1) of the apparatus.

11. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-10, characterized in that the upper frame (4) is an essential, integral part of the operating part of the apparatus.

12. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-11, characterized in that the apparatus is an excavator, a person hoist provided with work platform or lifting cage, or an equivalent working machine or vehicle meant for terrain use.

13. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-12, characterized in that the apparatus in¬ cludes a position sensor, turning of the lower frame relative to the intermediate frame and turning of the intermediate frame relative to the upper frame being arranged to take place automatically and to maintain the operating part continuously in horizontal position.

14. Setup joint according to any one of claims 1-13, characterized in that above the upper frame (4) belongs a joint plane in support of which the operating part (2) and the apparatus carried by the operating part can be swivelled substantially in a horizontal plane, or substantially about a vertical axis.