Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Structural detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-12
2001-11-27
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Structural detail
C296S102000, C280S256000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322133
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally concerned with apparatus for protecting an operator of an industrial vehicle, and more particularly with falling object protective structures for vehicles such as compacting vehicles.
It is known in the art of industrial vehicles to provide a structure or apparatus for protecting the operators of such vehicles from injuries caused by falling objects and/or from the vehicle “rolling over”. Examples of industrial vehicles including protection apparatus may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,911,232 of Hastings, Jr. et al., concerning an overhead guard for an industrial lift truck; U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,262 of Bauer et al., concerning a loader main frame for a skid steer loader; U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,167 of Wright, concerning a safety enclosure for a mining machine; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,839 of Lawrence et al., concerning a protective structure for a hydraulic excavator.
Certain industrial equipment include a “Roll Over Protective Structure” (“ROPS”) device. Such devices generally consist of a structural framework capable of protecting a vehicle operator in the event that the vehicle “roll-overs”, preferably in accordance with criteria established by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) (i.e., ROPS protection). Further, some industrial vehicles include a ROPS device in combination with structural framework covered by a protective member to provide protection from falling objects. These devices are commonly referred to as Falling Object Protective Structures (“FOPS”) and have to meet other stringent SAE criteria in order for the vehicle to be FOPS certified. Such FOPS or ROPS devices are generally provided on compacting vehicles or “compactors”, as depicted for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,719,338 of Magalski et al.
One problem that occurs when operating many types of industrial vehicles is that noise is generated within the operator station of the vehicle, which may arise from such sources as the engines and/or motors that power movement of the vehicle or from other movable components (e.g., pumps) that function on the vehicle. For many types of vehicles, panels or layers of acoustic foam, generally of a thickness of several inches, have been used for deaden such sound to acceptable levels. However, certain industrial vehicles, such as compactors having roller drums which include vibrating mechanisms, generate low frequency noise. To attempt to deaden low frequency noise with acoustic foam would require a foam thickness measured in feet rather than inches. Thus, acoustic foam is not useful for reducing low frequency noise radiation and reflection arising within these types of industrial vehicles.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an improved falling object protective apparatus for use in an industrial vehicle.
Another object is to provide falling object protective apparatus including structure for reducing noise radiation therefrom in an industrial vehicle.
Yet another object is to provide falling object protection apparatus including structure for reducing noise reflection therefrom in an industrial vehicle.
An even further object of the present invention is to reduce reflected and radiated noise from a protective device containing an overhead member which, while not being capable of obtaining FOPS certification, is ROPS certified or even incapable of achieving either ROPS certification.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art in the light of the following descriptions thereof.
The present invention modifies an industrial vehicle protective device by providing a protective member having a plurality of apertures to reduce the amount of reflected and radiated noise that reaches the machine operator. While the present invention is preferably directed to the improvement to a FOPS device in order to reduce reflected and radiated noise without losing FOPS certification, it is also within the scope of the present invention to provide a protective member that reduces reflected and radiated noise in an operator station that does not meet FOPS certification, such as with a device that is only a certified ROPS device or with any other type of industrial vehicle protective device.
According to the present invention, there is provided a protective apparatus for use in an industrial vehicle having an operator station. The apparatus comprises a protective member connectable with the vehicle so as to be generally disposed above the operator station. The protective member has a plurality of apertures configured to allow sound waves from vibrations of the vehicle to propagate through the protective member while generally preventing solid objects from falling through the protective member. The protective member is configured with at least enough apertures for reducing noise reflection and radiation therefrom so as to render the protective member substantially acoustically transparent.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the protective member is configured such that a vehicle having the protective member meets and/or exceeds the SAE criteria for FOPS certification as discussed above. Preferably, each of the apertures is substantially cylindrically-shaped. Further, each of the apertures preferably has substantially the same inner diameter as any other aperture and the inner diameter of each of the apertures is within the range of from about 1.8 millimeters to about 25.4 millimeters.
Also, in accordance with the present invention, the Transparency Index (TI) of the protective member is high enough to render the protective member substantially acoustically transparent while maintaining FOPS certification. When using cylindrical apertures, the transparency index (TI) of the protective member may be calculated by the following formula:
TI
=
0.04
*
(
%
OPEN
AREA
)
π
ta
2
where
open area=the total sum of the areas of the apertures through the protective member;
t=thickness of the protective member; and
a=center-to-center between the apertures minus hole diameter.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the apertures is arranged in a row of apertures and each of the apertures within the row is spaced a first predetermined distance from an adjacent aperture in the row. The first predetermined distance is preferably within the range of from substantially 6.0 to 38.2 millimeters. Further, the apertures are also preferably arranged in an array including a plurality of rows of apertures, with each of the rows of apertures being spaced a second predetermined distance from an adjacent row thereof. The second predetermined distance is preferably within the range of about 3.0 millimeters to about 19.1 millimeters.
Preferably, a vehicle having the protective device connected thereto is capable of obtaining both ROPS and FOPS certification in accordance with the SAE criteria.
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Meyers Kent D.
Toohig Terrence M.
Yantek David S.
Gordon Stephen T.
Gutman Hilary
Ingersoll-Rand Company
Michael & Best & Friedrich LLP
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