Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Control of power distribution between vehicle axis or wheels
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-18
2002-01-01
Cuchlinski, Jr., William A. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Control of power distribution between vehicle axis or wheels
C180S197000, C180S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06336069
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a front and rear wheel load distribution control unit for a coupled vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
A coupled vehicle, for example, an articulated dump truck as shown in
FIG. 5
includes a vertical shaft for articulation at a coupling element between a front vehicle body
1
having a driver's cab and a rear vehicle body
3
having a dump body
5
capable of dumping earth, and it also has a horizontal shaft in a longitudinal direction (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-254831). The dump truck is allowed to turn around the horizontal shaft, specifically, it is capable of oscillating so as to have improved adhesion of front and rear wheels during traveling and excellent stability of a vehicle body.
The front vehicle body
1
having front wheels
2
and a rear vehicle body
3
having rear wheels
4
are coupled by means of a coupling device
10
being an oscillation device. The front vehicle body
1
is provided with the driver's cab, and the rear vehicle body
3
is mounted with the dump body
5
loaded with earth and sand or the like. During earth dumping, the dump body
5
is dumped rearward by a dump cylinder not illustrated to discharge earth as shown by the two-dot chain line.
FIG. 6
is an explanatory view of the coupling device
10
in FIG.
5
. One end of a coupling member
11
is attached to the front vehicle body
1
so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis X—X in the longitudinal direction as shown by the arrow, that is, so as to be able to oscillate. A rear vehicle body frame
7
is attached to the other end of the coupling member
11
so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis Y—Y.
FIG. 7
is a plan view of the articulated dump truck. When the dump truck turns during traveling, the front vehicle body
1
is turned around the vertical axis Y—Y (See
FIG. 6
) to the right (or left) as shown by the two-dot chain line as shown in
FIG. 7
to make a turn.
The above articulated dump truck has an all-wheel-drive unit which drives all wheels as shown in FIG.
8
. The drive unit is provided with an inter-axle differential
53
for absorbing rotation differentials between the front wheels
2
and the rear wheels
4
, and an inter-axle differential lock
71
for locking the inter-axle differential
53
so as to allow the front wheels
2
and the rear wheels
4
to drive without a rotation differential in order to prevent the front wheels
2
or the rear wheels
4
from skidding on a soft ground. The drive unit is also provided with a front differential
54
and rear differentials
56
and
58
for absorbing the rotation differentials between left and right wheels, and differential locks
72
,
73
, and
74
for locking the front differential
54
, and the rear differentials
56
and
58
so as to allow the left and right wheels to drive without rotation differentials in order to prevent either left wheel or right wheel from skidding on a soft ground.
Next, the details of the drive unit will be explained. An output shaft of an engine
50
connects to an input shaft of a torque converter
51
a
, and an output shaft of the torque converter
51
a
connects to an input shaft of a transmission
51
. An output shaft of the transmission
51
connects to a transfer device
52
for distributively transferring output power to a front axle
91
, and a front rear axle
92
and a back rear axle
93
which are rear axles. The transfer device
52
connects to the front axle
91
via a front propeller shaft
95
in front and connects to the front rear axle
92
via a first rear propeller shaft
96
and a second rear propeller shaft
94
in the rear. By this connection, the output power of the engine
50
is distributively transferred to the front wheels
2
and the rear wheels
4
finally by gears inside the transfer device
52
. A gear box
55
and a gear box
57
respectively connect to the front rear axle
92
and the back rear axle
93
via a back rear propeller shaft
97
.
The transfer device
52
is provided with the inter-axle differential
53
as a differential in order to transfer input power, dividing it into output powers to the front wheels
2
and the rear wheels
4
and to absorb the rotation differential between the front wheel
2
and the rear wheel
4
. The transfer device
52
is provided with the inter-axle differential lock
71
for fixing the inter-axle differential
53
to bring the differential to a non-operation state.
The front side of the inter-axle differential
53
connects to the front differential
54
being a differential. The front differential
54
is provided with the front differential lock
72
for fixing the front differential
54
to bring the differential to a non-operation state. An output shaft of the front differential
54
connects to left and right final reduction gears
84
, to which the front wheels
2
are mounted. The front axle
91
is provided with front brakes
81
for braking the front wheels
2
.
The rear side of the inter-axle differential
53
connects to the front rear differential
56
being a differential via the gear box
55
of the front rear axle
92
being one of the rear axles. The front rear differential
56
is provided with the front rear differential lock
73
for fixing the front rear differential
56
to bring the differential to a non-operation state. An output shaft of the front rear differential
56
connects to left and right final reduction gears
85
, to which the rear wheels
4
are mounted. The front rear axle
92
is provided with front rear brakes
82
for braking the rear wheels
4
.
The front rear axle
92
connects to the back rear differential
58
being a differential of the back rear axle
93
being the other one of the rear axles via the gear boxes
55
and
57
. The back rear differential
58
is provided with the back rear differential lock
74
for fixing the back rear differential
58
to bring the differential to a non-operation state. An output shaft of the back rear differential
58
connects to left and right final reduction gears
86
, to which the rear wheels
4
are mounted. The back rear axle
93
is provided with back rear brakes
83
for braking the rear wheels
4
.
The inter-axle differential lock
71
, the front differential lock
72
, the front rear differential lock
73
, and the back rear differential lock
74
, which bring the respective differentials to a non-operational state, fix gears
53
a
,
54
a
,
56
a
and
58
a
of the respective differentials, and pinion gears
53
b
,
54
b
,
56
b
and
58
b
on one side with such means as an oil hydraulic clutch. For example, an inter-axle differential lock clutch
71
c
of the inter-axle differential lock
71
is engaged by oil pressure to thereby fix the gear
53
a
and the pinion
53
b
. Consequently, when the inter-axle differential lock
71
, the front differential lock
72
, the front rear differential lock
73
, and the back rear differential lock
74
are operated, the gears
53
a
,
54
a
,
56
a
and
58
a
of the respective differentials, the pinion gears
53
b
,
54
b
,
56
b
and
58
b
on one side, and pinion gears
53
c
,
54
c
,
56
c
and
58
c
on the other side are fixed, and thus no rotational differentials occur among them.
When the above articulated dump truck turns during traveling, as shown in
FIG. 9
, the front vehicle body
1
and the rear vehicle body
3
cross at the coupling element
10
to form a crossing angle of Sa. Generally, in an articulated dump truck as above, the rear vehicle body
3
is longer than the front vehicle body
1
, and as a result, a distance L
2
between the axis of the rear wheels
4
and the coupling element
10
is longer than a distance L
1
between the axis of the front wheels
2
and the coupling element
10
. Consequently, as for an outer turning radius from a center of turning Co, an outer turning radius R
1
of the front wheel
2
is longer than an outer turning radius R
3
of the rear wheel
4
. On the other hand, as for an inner turning radius from a center of turning Co, an inner turning radiu
Hasegawa Nobuki
Nakanishi Hitoshi
Armstrong, Westerman, Hattori, McLeland & Naughton, LLP.
Cuchlinski Jr. William A.
Komatsu Ltd.
Marc-Coleman Marthe
LandOfFree
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