Motor vehicles – Power – With means to guide and/or control combustion air for power...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-27
2001-05-01
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Power
With means to guide and/or control combustion air for power...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223845
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic excavator equipped with an air cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a hydraulic excavator is driven by an internal combustion engine installed in the interior of a rotatable superstructure. A fan is attached to the engine and a radiator is disposed in front of the fan. The radiator, into which cooling water is introduced for cooling the engine, is cooled with air. The air for cooling the radiator is introduced into the interior of the rotatable superstructure from the exterior by means of the above fan. The air thus introduced cools the radiator and thereafter passes the engine space where the engine is disposed. The engine space and the space where the radiator is disposed are usually partitioned from each other by both the radiator and a shielding means to prevent hot air from reverse flowing from the engine space into the radiator space.
The air to be used for combustion in the engine carried on the hydraulic excavator is sucked in from an intake port, then is filtered through an air cleaner and is thereafter fed to the engine. The air thus fed is used for the combustion of fuel in the engine and is subsequently discharged to the exterior through a muffler attached to the engine.
The aforesaid air cleaner used in the hydraulic excavator, in view of its purpose of use, has heretofore been disposed in the engine space or in the radiator space in many cases.
However, in the hydraulic excavator called a small-sized swing type, the rotatable superstructure itself is small in comparison with that in other conventional hydraulic excavators and there is no margin in the interior space. Therefore, when the air cleaner is to be disposed in the engine space as in the prior art, it is unavoidable for the air cleaner to be disposed near the muffler or the engine which become high in temperature. As a result, the air cleaner itself is heated and the temperature of intake air to the engine becomes high, thus giving rise to the problem that the engine efficiency is deteriorated.
On the other hand, if the air cleaner is disposed in the radiator space, it is possible to solve the above-mentioned problem of deteriorated engine efficiency which is caused in the case of disposing the air cleaner in the engine space. However, since the air cleaner blocks the passage of air, the air will not pervade the whole of the radiator, thus resulting in deterioration of the radiator cooling efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hydraulic excavator provided with an air cleaner which does not affect the efficiency of an engine and that of a radiator and which can attain an effective utilization of space.
The hydraulic excavator according to the present invention comprises a rotatable superstructure, a shielding plate which partitions the rotatable superstructure into a front portion and a rear portion, with an engine and a radiator being disposed in the rear portion, an attachment mounting portion disposed near the center of the front portion and to which one end of an attachment is mounted, and an air cleaner disposed between the attachment mounting portion and the shielding plate to filter the air to be fed to the engine.
According to this construction, since the air cleaner and the engine are partitioned for each other by the shielding plate, there is no fear that hot air present in the engine may be transferred to the air cleaner, nor is there any fear of the air cleaner itself being heated which would cause deterioration of the engine efficiency. Further, the space between the attachment mounting portion and the shielding plate is a very narrow space which has not been effectively utilized heretofore, but in the above construction according to the present invention, since the air cleaner is disposed in the said space, the space in question of the rotatable superstructure can be utilized effectively.
In the present invention, the rear portion of the rotatable superstructure may be partitioned into an engine space for accommodating the engine therein and a radiator space for accommodating the radiator therein, and a suction port of the air cleaner may be disposed in the radiator space.
According to this construction, since the suction port is smaller in size than the air cleaner, the disposition of the suction port is easier than disposing the air cleaner itself in the radiator space and it is not likely at all that the air passage will be blocked and hence there is no fear of deterioration in the radiator cooling efficiency.
In the present invention, the air cleaner may be disposed inside a guard of the rotatable superstructure.
According to this construction, there is no fear of any extra projection being formed on top of the rotatable superstructure, thus leading to an improvement in beauty of appearance, nor is there any fear that the rear view from the cabin may be obstructed, thus leading to an improvement of safety.
In the present invention, the air cleaner may be disposed above a rotating motor for rotating the rotatable superstructure.
According to this construction, since the space above the rotating motor is very narrow and has not been effectively utilized heretofore, the disposition of the air cleaner in such a space permits an effective utilization of space in the rotatable superstructure.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2595558 (1952-05-01), Altman
patent: 2708920 (1955-05-01), Pasturczak
patent: 2896594 (1959-07-01), Ashton
patent: 3788418 (1974-01-01), Clancy et al.
patent: 4071009 (1978-01-01), Kraina
patent: 4324208 (1982-04-01), Danckert et al.
patent: 4354458 (1982-10-01), Bury
patent: 4503931 (1985-03-01), Sugimoto et al.
patent: 0816575 (1997-06-01), None
patent: 0106973 (1989-04-01), None
Miyachi Isao
Watanabe Hirofumi
Johnson Brian L.
Kabushiki Kaisha Kobe Seiko Sho (Kobe Steel Ltd).
Klebe G B
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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