Material or article handling – Vertically swinging load support – Shovel or fork type
Patent
1984-07-05
1987-06-23
Valenza, Joseph E.
Material or article handling
Vertically swinging load support
Shovel or fork type
371175, E02F 381
Patent
active
046749454
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a coupling means for detachably coupling a working implement to the operating arm of an excavating machine, said implement having an upper surface facing the operating arm, with a front edge facing the excavating machine.
Couplings of the type described above are known in a variety of embodiments, see for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,269,570 and 3,556,323, swedish publications Nos. 216 635 and 8003255-0, and German publications No. 2 500 217. Although these can be called quick couplings and have the desired features in this respect, they have a number of other features rendering them not entirely satisfactory. A common feature of many such quick couplings is thus that, due to their solid construction, they increase the weight of the operating arm to such an extent that the weight of the implement itself must be correspondingly reduced in order to fulfill the inspection standards. This results in an undesired reduction in bucket volume. Further, the known couplings have attachment members of such a construction that they entail a considerable overall height or distance between operating arm and bucket, i.e. between the attachment members. Particularly the attachment member on the operating arm forms a substantial, solid, rigid intermediate piece between the operating arm and the attachment point of the bucket, this greatly contributing to said weight increase. Since the construction therefore requires more than two pivot centres it does not offer optimal conditions for the force transmission between operating arm and implement via the coupling. Poor breaking force is thus obtained in the bucket or other implement and the coupling is subjected to considerable stress. The bucket has a fixed geometry initially, i.e. without the quick coupling. However, due to the size of the known couplings, this geometry is altered in an undesired manner. To compensate for the deteriorated breaking force, it has been necessary to place the breaking shaft, i.e. the operating cylinder shaft, further from the stick shaft, but this instead results in decreased torque, thus reducing the pivotable distance of the bucket and deteriorating inwardly and outwardly pivoting movements of the bucket. Redesigning of the bucket usually results in the omission of the dome at the top which is used for force transmission between stick and bucket and to make the bucket as light and strong as possible. Known couplings cannot withstand diagonal breaking movements in vertical direction and breaking forces of the bucket unless the intermediate piece of the coupling which is thus rigid, is made relatively strong and bulky, resulting in increased weight. The couplings are therefore butt with respect to such diagonal breaking movements of the bucket and all forces must pass through the coupling. This becomes fatigued and will rupture if the forces become too great. At such diagonal breaking movements the load is reduced on two diagonal contact points in horizontal direction and correspondingly increased on two other of the four diagonal contact points at which the coupling is joined to the bucket, whereupon a gap occurs at the two first contact points.
The object of the present invention is to substantially reduce the problems mentioned above, and to provide in many respects a considerably improved coupling for excavating machine implements such as buckets, enabling the bucket to be simply and quickly mounted and dismounted from the operating arm of the excavating machine and which is entirely free from any bulky intermediate piece providing overall height between the lower shaft of the operating arm and the attachment point on the bucket. The coupling thus becomes correspondingly lighter and the volume or capacity of the bucket can be maintained as desired. The elimination of such an intermediate piece which increases the overall height of the coupling results in simplified construction as well as a considerable saving in material, with resultant financial advantages. The coupling according to the invention also offers i
REFERENCES:
patent: 3556323 (1971-01-01), Heimmermann
patent: 3874533 (1975-04-01), Montgomery et al.
patent: 3934738 (1976-01-01), Arnold
patent: 4452560 (1984-06-01), Coyle et al.
Underwood Donald W.
Valenza Joseph E.
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