Excavating – Combined or convertible – Combined with clamp – grapple – or shear
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-08
2003-12-02
Batson, Victor (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Combined or convertible
Combined with clamp, grapple, or shear
C414S912000, C414S724000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655054
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to devices used to cut and pulverise materials. Specifically the present invention may be used in the demolition trade to provide a jaw attachment for an excavator and may be configured to be easily and quickly removed from or attached to an excavator. The present invention may also be adapted to engage with a quickhitch located between elements of the excavator and the jaw, where the inclusion of a quickhitch improves the efficiency and the cutting or cutting strength of the attachment.
Reference throughout this specification will also be made to the present invention being configured to provide a cutting or pulverising jaw attachment for an excavator used in demolition work. However, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other applications are envisioned for the present invention and reference to the above only throughout this specification should in no way be seen as limiting.
BACKGROUND ART
A number of cutting, crushing or manipulating jaws have previously been developed which attach to an excavator or other similar heavy machinery. These attachment jaws can be used in the demolition industry to cut up metal structures or crush concrete structures.
Such attachments are connected to the free end of an excavator's actuator arm. The free end of such an arm includes a main head portion, a support strut adjacent to the head portion (and attached to the arm further back from the head) and lastly an actuator beam adjacent the head portion which may move towards and away on the head portion to actuate or operate attachments connected to the excavator.
One relatively effective form of attachment jaw developed for an excavator is produced by Pemberton Incorporated of Longwood, Orlando, Fla., United States of America. This attachment may be termed a ‘self-driven’ jaw as it relies only on the actuator beam of the excavator to open and close the jaw when the device is in use. This may be contrasted with other known types of attachment jaws that employ their own self-contained hydraulic or pneumatic rams to drive portions of the jaws. Therefore these devices also require connections to sources of hydraulic fluid or pressurised gas that increases maintenance costs and increases the time required to connect an attachment to an excavator.
Therefore Pemberton self-driven attachment is relatively simple to produce and easy to use when compared to other types of attachment jaw. However, one existing problem with this and similar devices is the amount of time it takes to either connect or disconnect the attachment from the excavator's actuator arm. A number of bolts or locking pins are used to connect points on the jaws to the head, strut and actuator beam of the excavator arm. The separate connection of each of these points to the attachment jaws and the weight of the attachment jaws themselves significantly complicate the connection or disconnection of the attachment to the excavator.
A device known as a quick hitch has also previously been developed in an attempt to speed up and simplify the connection of attachments to excavators. An example of a quick hitch is given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,389 to Balemi. This type of device is normally connected to the head and beam ends of an excavator's actuator arm and allows an attachment's connector pins or bolts to be quickly connected to the quick hitch and hence the associated beam and head of the actuator arm. The use of a quick hitch means that only the actuator arm's strut needs to be manhandled and attached separately to the excavator.
It is also preferably for the attachment jaws discussed above to apply the greatest force or pressure possible when the jaws are closed around an object to be cut or crushed. By having strong forces applied when the jaws are closed this substantially speeds up the operation of the excavator and also allows the jaws to cut or crush relatively dense or strong material.
A self-driven shearing pulverising device that solved any or all of the if above problems would be of great advantage relative to the prior art. Specifically a self-driven shearing or pulverising device which could apply high forces to any objects contained within its jaws, and which could be connected to an excavator's actuator arm using a quick hitch or other similar device would be advantageous.
It is an object of the present invention to address the foregoing problems or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the ensuing description that is given by way of example only.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an attachment for a prime mover, wherein the attachment includes:
(a) a first jaw being a fixed jaw, and a second jaw, said second jaw being a free jaw which is pivotably connected to the fixed jaw, and
(b) at least three connectors which allow the attachment to be connected to the actuator arm of a prime mover, wherein said connectors include:
(i) a head connector adapted to provide a connection to the head of the prime mover's actuator arm, and
(ii) a driven connector adapted to provide a connection to the driving beam of the prime mover's actuator arm, and
(iii) a strut connector adapted to provide a connection to the strut of the prime mover's actuator arm,
wherein the head and driven connectors are associated with the fixed jaw, and the strut connector is associated with the free jaw, the head and driver connectors being connected to the prime mover with a quickhitch,
the arrangement and construction being such that when in use the distance between the driven and head connectors remains constant and the distance between the driven and strut or head and strut connectors varies.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an attachment substantially as described above which includes a quickhitch attached to the head and driven connectors associated with the fixed jaw, said quickhitch being adapted for connection to the head and driving beam of the prime mover's actuator's arm.
An attachment formed in accordance with the present invention may be any type of apparatus or arrangement of elements which is adapted to connect to actuator arm, boom or any piece of machinery that can operate the attachment. Preferably such attachments may be configured to cut, crush, crack, shear, dig, collect, or break up a number of different types of materials. For example in some embodiments the present invention may be used in the demolition industry to provide an attachment which can perform some of the above functions on a demolition site.
Preferably the prime mover which the attachment is adapted to connect to may be an excavator or any other similar type of heavy machinery. These types of machine are well known in the demolition and construction trades and as such will not be described in detail throughout this specification. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that reference to a prime mover may encompass any type of machine which can be adapted to move or operate an attachment configured in accordance with the present invention.
Reference throughout this specification will also be made to the attachment being connected or attached to the actuator arm of an excavator. An excavator may be any type of apparatus known in the art which includes such an actuator arm and which can be used to drive or operate an attachment configured in accordance with the present invention. Further, an excavator used in conjunction with the present invention may include an actuator arm with a head, strut and driven beam-ends on the free end of the actuator arm or boom.
In a preferred embodiment the excavator arm driven beam may be configured as a hydraulic ram where the hydraulic fluid that operates the ram is supplied from the excavator. This configuration of the invention ensures that a hydraulic ram configured as a driven beam in the excavator can be used to operate the present in
Batson Victor
Greer Burns & Crain Ltd.
Ward Peter John
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