Motor vehicles – Bodies – Tractor and similar vehicle cabs
Patent
1996-05-17
1998-09-01
English, Peter C.
Motor vehicles
Bodies
Tractor and similar vehicle cabs
280756, 296190, B60R 2113, B62D 3306
Patent
active
057997462
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a safety cab arrangement for underground mobile machines, such as LHD machines (Load, Haul, Dump) and dumpers intended for mining. The safety cab comprises a frame consisting of side panels, a roof panel and a floor, and an outside construction of bars and fixing elements which receive forces acting on the cab.
Conventionally in machines and dumpers intended for mining the cab has been built to withstand forces and loadings imposed on it only if especially required. A particularly strong cab, designed according to the loadings imposed on it, has been used to provide such a construction. A more advanced form of this heavy cab is a cab with a lightweight construction, around which a framework is built to directly receive the loading the cab is required to withstand. An essential part of both arrangements is that the safety cab is protected by a separate safety construction. The safety construction can be made of either cantilevers or safety ribs and it is fixed inflexibly to the frame of the machine. This construction protects the safety cab which is situated beneath it and is usually mounted flexibly on the frame of the machine. Even this construction is massive and requires a great deal of space.
The cab itself cannot withstand the forces specified in the safety norms. In case of an underground machine where the operator sits at the side of the machine, the construction described above increases the height and the width of the machine. The use of larger machines requires larger tunnels in a mine, for example, which, on the other hand, is financially impossible. Therefore it is necessary to use a smaller machine, which decreases the loading capacity and increases the total cost of the hauling of the blasted rock.
It is also characteristic of this kind of construction in an underground machine that the normal maintenance and repairs of the equipment become more difficult since the safety constructions are situated in the area of maintenance and repair operations. The fixed structures of safety ribs and safety frameworks also complicate the maintenance operations because they are usually difficult to dismount.
In LHD machines and dumpers intended for mining the cab is usually installed aside from the longitudinal axis of the machine and, moreover, in LHD machines the operator normally sits sideways. It is required of cabs accepted into use that they fulfil the requirements of the existing norms. Furthermore, within the European Community (EU), safety cabs are required to comply with the so-called ROPS and FOPS norms (Roll over protective structure and Falling object protective structure). In different countries there are also national requirements for the safety cabs of LHD machines. In general these norms and requirements prescribe that in the event the machine overturns there must remain a sufficiently large safety space for the operator. Moreover, the standards require a laboratory test, conducted by an officially approved testing institute, where the cab is loaded in both the lateral and longitudinal direction and from above. When subjected to lateral loading the cab is required to withstand a given force and its construction is required to absorb a specified amount of energy. Besides this the cab is also required to withstand a given vertical and longitudinal force. The magnitude of the forces and the amount of energy are determined by the weight of the machine. As a result, the heavier the machine is, the greater the forces the structures are required to withstand. During the aforesaid tests the changes in the shape of the cab have to remain so small that the safety space of the operator remains intact.
The greatest drawback of the present safety cabs or canopies has often been that they do not pass the new tests. When a cab is designed according to the latest requirements. It easily becomes very heavy and cumbersome. The use of separate safety ribs and safety frameworks tends to make the machine clumsy and unsuitable for use in confined spaces. Moreover, the structu
REFERENCES:
patent: 3791668 (1974-02-01), Adams
patent: 3976323 (1976-08-01), Godfrey
patent: 4050735 (1977-09-01), Molnar
patent: 4515234 (1985-05-01), Loy et al.
patent: 4531776 (1985-07-01), Laws et al.
Kortelainen Antti
Koskinen Esko
Laine Jarkko
English Peter C.
Tamrock Loaders Oy
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