AU2009100995A4 - Adaptor for a Vehicle - Google Patents

Description

mcinnes patents AUSTRALIAN PATENTS ACT 1990 PATENT SPECIFICATION PATENT INNOVATION TITLE: Adaptor For A Utility Vehicle APPLICANT: Jet Creations Pty Ltd Shed 1, 3B David Muir Street, Slade Point Mackay QLD 4740 INVENTORS: Tony Andrew Hutchinson 7 Wasley Court Glenella QLD 4740 Shayne David Ritchings 7 Lorena Court Andergrove QLD 4740 ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: HODGKINSON McINNES PATENTS Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys Level 21, 201 Elizabeth Street Sydney NSW 2000 HMcIP REFERENCE: P121270AU00 2 ADAPTOR FOR A UTILITY VEHICLE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an adaptor for a utility vehicle used in the mining and similar engineering environments. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION In mining and other engineering environments utility vehicles are used for a variety of applications. Such utility vehicles include loaders to which a variety of attachments, such as buckets, can be attached. Some loaders may be referred to as 'load, haul, dump' (LHD) vehicles which incorporate a bucket attachment which enables the loader to load, haul and dump material such as unwanted debris during, for example, mining and excavation. It is known to attach these attachments to LHD vehicles using automated attach and release attachment systems. One such system is the so-called 'quick detach system' ("QDS") which is a proprietary system developed by the Eimco Corporation for use with their vehicles. An example of a QDS system 501 attached to an LHD vehicle 500 is shown in Figures 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. Figures 1A and 1B provide a plan and side view of a known LHD vehicle 500 respectively. Figures 2A and 2B are more detailed side and plan view respectively of the attachment system 501. This known QDS attachment system 501 incorporates a system of horns 502 - having U- or V-shaped recesses 511 - incorporated into the LHD vehicle 501 and a securing and actuating mechanism 504 including a hydraulic cylinder 509, for actuating an extendible and retractable hydraulically-operated securing plate 503. Any attachment 506, such as a bucket, for the LHD vehicle 500 incorporates a horizontal bar 507 that is adapted to be retained in the U- or V-shaped horns 502 so as to suspend 3 the attachment 506 therefrom. To lock the attachment 506 in place, the securing and actuating mechanism 504 comprising the securing plate 503 is extended downwardly through an aperture in a plate 505 provided at the base of the attachment system 501 thereby securing the attachment 506 in position and preventing it from swinging or rotating around the pivot point provided by the location of the horizontal bar 507 in the recess 511 of the horns 502. In a coal mining environment, LHD vehicles are used to remove debris that collects along the floor of excavated mining tunnels. The LHD vehicles incorporate a bucket adaptor and it is driven along the tunnel by an operator so that the corners of the buckets scrape along the edges of the tunnel adjacent the floor and walls where the debris mainly collects. The debris is loaded into the bucket which is then hauled away and dumped at an appropriate location. One problem with this operation is that the LHD vehicle needs to drive close to the mining tunnel wall in order to ensure that it is able to load as much debris as possible. Because, in most instances, the bucket is as wide as the LHD vehicle itself, this means that the main body of the LHD vehicle can brush against the side walls of the tunnel and damage or dislodge the walls, or equipment attached to the walls - such as utility cabling and ducting and the like. It is possible to provide buckets that are wider than the LHD vehicle which offsets the side of the LHD vehicle from the wall itself, but this provides additional problems of manoeuvrability and access for the vehicle. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an adaptor for vehicle having attachment means provided thereon, the adaptor comprising adaptor mounting means for mounting the adaptor to the vehicle at the attachment means, wherein the adaptor includes a mounting arrangement 4 for mounting a further attachment on the adaptor such that the attachment is mounted offset from an axis of the vehicle. Preferably, the adaptor further comprising a main body having a first section and a second section, and the adaptor mounting means comprising a first mounting means provided in the first section and a second mounting means provided in the second portion, whereby the first and second mounting means are arranged for mounting the adaptor in a first position using the first mounting means and in a second position using the second mounting means, the first and second positions being positions offset from an axis the vehicle such that the adaptor is mounted offset from the axis of the vehicle. Preferably, the adaptor includes first and second apertures for receiving a securing means of the attachment means of the vehicle, the first and second apertures being arranged in respective first and second sections. Preferably, the adaptor further includes a securing means for securing a further attachment mounted thereon. In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a storage means for the adaptor. The present invention therefore has the advantage of providing an adaptor that can easily be attached to any loader to enable attachments to mounted thereon, and which enables the loader to be used while overcoming some of the disadvantages described above, while still providing the manoeuvrability and access. Because the adaptor is offset, it enables the vehicle to get the further adaptors close to walls and recesses without having the vehicle harm tunnel walls, ducting and the like. In this specification, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the term "comprising" has the non-exclusive meaning of the word, in the sense of "including at least" rather than the exclusive meaning in the sense of 5 "consisting only of". The same applies with corresponding grammatical changes to other forms of the word such as "comprise", "comprises" and so on. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1A and 1B illustrate a vehicle incorporating a known attachment securing system for attaching an attachment thereto, Figure 1A being a plan view and Figure 1B being a side view; Figure 2A and 2B are respective side and plan views of a QDS attachment system for the vehicle of Figures 1A and 1B; Figure 3 is a front perspective view of an adaptor for a vehicle; Figure 4 is a rear perspective view of the adaptor of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a rear view of the adaptor of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a side view in the direction of arrow V in Figure 5; Figure 7A shows side view of a vehicle with the adaptor of Figures 3 to 6 attached thereon; Figure 7B and 7C show plan views of a vehicle with the adaptor of Figures 3 to 6 attached thereon in respective first and second positions; Figure 8A shows a side view of a vehicle with the adaptor of Figures 3 to 6 attached thereon and a bucket mounted on the adaptor; 6 Figure 8B and 8C show plan views of a vehicle with the adaptor of Figures 3 to 6 attached thereon and a bucket mounted on the adaptor in respective first and second positions; and Figure 9 is a side view of a storage pod for the adaptor of Figures 3 to 6 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An adaptor 100 is designed to be attached to the front of a vehicle 500 such as an LHD vehicle - (not shown) by means of an EimcoT"' QDS ("Quick Detaching System") attachment system as described above with respect to Figures 1A and 1B and 2A and 2BAs is known in the art, the vehicle 500 includes the attachment system 501 including the attaching horns 502 of the QDS system as well as all the additional securing and actuating mechanism 504 for actuating the hydraulically operated securing plate, and associated hydraulic circuitry as referred to above. The securing and actuating mechanism 504 is coupled to an operating system and associated circuitry (not shown) within the cabin 508 of the vehicle 500, and which enables an operator to cause the securing and actuating mechanism 504 to move the securing plate 503 into and out of the recess (not shown) in any attachment 506 to be attached to the vehicle 500, and to secure and release the attachment 506 to the vehicle 500. As this system is well known to persons skilled in the art, this system is not described in any further detail herein, except as is relevant to the present invention. The adaptor 100 of the present invention, comprises a main body 1 having a first rectangular main body portion 2 which is oriented in a substantially vertical plane when attached to the vehicle. Extending at an angle of 390 to the main face 2 is a second angled body portion 3. The main body 1 has an outward face 4 which faces outwardly of the front of the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle's attachment system 501, and 7 an inward face 5 which faces inwardly towards the front of the vehicle when mounted on the vehicle's attachment system 501. The inward face 5 has two side plates 6, 8 and a bottom plate 7 running around the respective sides and bottom edges of, and oriented substantially right angles to, the main body portion 2 as illustrated in Figure 3. A central rib plate 9 runs substantially centrally of the main body 1 and substantially parallel to the two side plates 6, 8. The central rib plate 9 divides the main body into a first section 10 and a second section 11. The bottom plate 7 has two elongate apertures 12, 13 formed therein: the first elongate aperture provided in the first section 10, and the second elongate aperture 13 provided in the second section 11. The two elongate apertures 12, 13 are dimensioned and oriented to receive the securing plate of the attachment system 501 of the vehicle. Along an upper edge 14 of the main body 1 (which is open and does not have any plate running therealong) there is provided an adaptor mounting means in the form of a mounting bar 15 running substantially parallel with the upper edge 14. The mounting bar 15 is secured at each end to respective side plates 6, 8 by means of recesses or apertures 16 provided in the side plates 6, 8. The mounting bar 15 passes through an aperture 17 provided in the central rib plat 9: the central rib plate 9 providing additional strength to the main body 1 and support for the mounting bar 15. A number of additional support plates 18, 19, 20, 21 are also provided with respective apertures 22, 23, 24, 25 to receive the mounting bar 15 therethrough to provide further support for the mounting bar 15. The additional support plates 18, 19, 20, 21 also define horn engaging sections 41, 42, 43, 44. These horn engaging sections: two 43, 44 in the first section 10, and two 41, 42 in the second section 11 define respective first and second mounting means 45, 46: the first mounting means comprising sections of the mounting bar 15 in the first section 10 and the respective 8 horn engaging sections 43, 44 and the second mounting means comprising sections of the mounting bar 15 in the second section 11 and the respective horn engaging sections 41, 42. The outward face 4 of the main body 1 includes an attachment system 26 mounted thereon substantially centrally of the outward face 4. The attachment system 26 is mounted on the outward face 4 such that the central rib plate 9 is located substantially centrally of the attachment system 26 (but on the opposite inward face 5). In this way, the attachment system 26 straddles the first and second sections 10, 11 provided on the opposite inward face 5. The attachment system 26 comprises a mounting arrangement 27 in the form of two horn extension 28, 29 which are arranged substantially parallel to each other. The horn extensions 28, 29 include U- or V-shaped end portions 35, 36 that are arranged to receive a mounting bar of an attachment (not shown) such as a bucket of the prior art and configured to attach to a vehicle with a known QDS system of the prior art. In this way, the horns 28, 29 are the same as those of the known Eimco QDS system. The attachment system 26 includes a cross plate 30 between the two horn extensions 28, 29. The adaptor 100 includes a securing means in the form of a securing mechanism 47 which includes an actuating mechanism 31 in the form of a hydraulically-operated cylinder mechanism 32, which is suitably attached to a securing plate 33. The securing plate 33 is maintained in line by means of a further elongate aperture 34 provided in a block 37 secured between the two horn extensions 28, 29 and adjacent the bottom edge of the outward face 4 of the main body 1. In use, the actuating mechanism 31 can be operated to cause the cylinder mechanism 32 to move in a reciprocating action up and down (as defined with respect to the orientation of the adaptor 100 when attached to the vehicle), thus moving the securing plate 33 up and down also. Because the securing plate 33 is retained within the further elongate aperture 34 provided in the block 37, the securing plate 33 is restricted to an up and down movement and does not swing to and away 9 from the outward face 4. This makes the mounting of the attachment 506 referred to above easier. This securing mechanism 47 is the same as the securing and attachment mechanism 504 of the attachment system 501 of the vehicle 500 itself. The cylinder mechanism 32 is coupled to an operating system housed within the vehicle by means of suitable hosing (not shown). A ducting arrangement or aperture 38 is provided to feed the cabling to the operating system. Two strengthening cross beams 39, 40 are provided across the outward face 4 of the main body 1. The adaptor 100 is 2100mm wide, 1330mm high and 796mm from front-most extremity to hindmost extremity. The adaptor 100 would typically be made of AS350 grade plate steel, with the round bar components being made of 4140 grade steel. In use, the adaptor 100 can be attached to an attachment means, in the form of an attachment mechanism, provided on a vehicle, such as the attachment mechanism 501 described in relation to Figure 1. Thus, the vehicle 500 with the attachment mechanism 501 provided thereon, can have the adaptor 100 releasably attached thereon. The vehicle 500 moves forward towards the adaptor 100 and specifically the inward face 5. The horns 502 engage the mounting bar 15 so that the mounting bar 15 is located within the recesses 507 of the horns 502. Specifically, the horns 502 can be manoeuvred to engage one of the pairs of horn engaging sections 41, 42; 43, 44 of the mounting bar 15 in respective first and second sections 10, 11 which define the respective first and second mounting means 45, 46 referred to above. The adaptor 100 is picked up by the vehicle 500, and secured to the attachment mechanism 501 in the usual way: using the hydraulically operated securing and attachment mechanism 504. The operating system is controlled hydraulically using the hydraulic controls of the vehicle in the 10 usual way. To use the adaptor 100, the operator would pick up the adaptor 100 using the attachment mechanism 501, and lock the adaptor 100 in place using the securing and attachment mechanism 504, again in the usual way and operated hydraulically from the cabin 508 of the vehicle 500. In this way, the adaptor 100 can be mounted on the attachment mechanism 501 (and therefore onto the vehicle 500) such that the main body 1 of the adaptor 100 is offset from a central plane or axis 510 of the vehicle, that is to either the left or right from the centre of the vehicle 500 depending upon whether the adaptor 100 is mounted on the adaptor mechanism 501 via the first or second section 10, 11. Thus, the adaptor 100 can be mounted in a first, offset, position using the first mounting means 45 and a second, offset, position using the second mounting means 46. To secure the adaptor 100 in place, the securing means of the attachment mechanism 501 of the vehicle which - as described above - comprises the securing plate 503 actuated by a hydraulic cylinder, is moved into the respective elongate aperture 12, 13 in the manner of known attachment mechanisms. The adaptor 100 can be released in the reverse manner: again as is well known to persons skilled in the art. With the adaptor 100 securely attached to the vehicle 501 then this can be used to attach an attachment 506 such as a bucket. Such attachments 506 are attached in the same way as it is attached to the vehicle 501 as described above - in this instance using the horn extensions 28, 29 and the securing plate 33 operated by means of the actuating mechanism 31. To attach the attachment 506 to the adaptor 100, the operator must exit the cabin of the vehicle 500, disconnect two hydraulic hoses at the front of the vehicle 501, and that connect the securing and attachment mechanism 504 to the operating system (not shown) within the cabin 508 of the vehicle 500, and connect them to the securing mechanism 47 of the adaptor 100 so as to be able to operate the adaptor 100 as described further below. The operator can then return to the cabin 508 and operate the adaptor 100 to pick up the attachment 506 and then lock it in place using the locking 11 mechanism on the attachment 506 such as a bucket, by operating the adaptor 100 hydraulically from the cabin 508 of the vehicle 500 in the same way as the adaptor 100 is picked up and secured. To remove the bucket from the adaptor 100, and removing the adaptor 100 from the vehicle 500 will be a reversal of the steps described above. To change the vehicle 500 from being attached to the left hand side of the adaptor 100, to being attached to the right hand side of the adaptor, the operator will need to ensure that the hydraulic hoses are disconnected from the adaptor 100 and that they are reconnected to the vehicle 500. The operator would then unlock the securing and attachment mechanism 504 on the vehicle 500, using the hydraulic control in the cabin 508 of the vehicle 500, reverse the vehicle 500 away from the adaptor 100 (still connected to the attachment 506), and then re-engage the adaptor 100 on the opposite set of attachment points. Because the adaptor 100 is offset to the left or right as described above, then the attachment will also be offset. This means that the vehicle 501 can use the bucket (or whatever attachment is required) without the vehicle side potentially impacting on obstacles such as mine tunnel walls and utility ducting and cabling. The adaptor can be stored using a storage pod 600. This is advantageous because the adaptors can easily fall over and because they have significant weight, this means they can be difficult to pick up if they do fall over. A storage pod 600 comprises adaptor retention means 601 secured substantially at right angles to a base 602 with an angled strengthening and securing joint or bar 603 for extra strength and stability. The adaptor retention means 601 comprises first and second vertical posts 604 (of which only one is seen in Figure 9) connected to the base 602. A horizontal storage pod mounting bar 605 is connected between the first and second vertical posts 602.

12 The base 602 is provided with a securing plate retention means 606 in front of the first and second vertical posts 604 and arranged to receive the securing plate 33 of the adaptor 100. To store the adaptor 100, the vehicle 500 is manoeuvred so that the adaptor 100 is received by the storage pod 600 so that the storage pod mounting bar 605 is received in the end portions 35, 36 of the horn extensions 28, 29 in the same way as the adaptor is used to attach an attachment and the securing plate 33 is lowered into the securing plate retention means 606. In this way, the adaptor 100 can be securely retained and stored in the storage pod 606. This is illustrated schematically in Figure 9. It will be apparent that obvious variations or modifications may be made which are in accordance with the spirit of the invention and which are intended to be part of the invention, and any such obvious variations or modifications are therefore within the scope of the invention. For example, the adaptor may have other shapes and dimensions. The mounting of the adaptor to the vehicle can be achieved by other means, and other suitable locking and release mechanisms can be used. The adaptor can be made from other materials. The adaptor could be designed with a 'back-to-front' configuration, or, alternatively, attachments could be provided with offset horns.

Claims (5)

1. An adaptor for vehicle having attachment means provided thereon, the adaptor comprising adaptor mounting means for mounting the adaptor to the vehicle at the attachment means, wherein the adaptor includes a mounting arrangement for mounting a further attachment on the adaptor such that the attachment is mounted offset from an axis of the vehicle.

2. An adaptor according to claim 1, the adaptor further comprising a main body having a first section and a second section, and the adaptor mounting means comprising a first mounting means provided in the first section and a second mounting means provided in the second portion, whereby the first and second mounting means are arranged for mounting the adaptor in a first position using the first mounting means and in a second position using the second mounting means, the first and second positions being positions offset from an axis the vehicle such that the adaptor is mounted offset from the axis of the vehicle

3. An adaptor according to claim 1 wherein the adaptor includes first and second apertures for receiving a securing means of the attachment means of the vehicle, the first and second apertures being arranged in respective first and second sections.

4. An adaptor according to any one of claims 1 to 3 further including a securing means for securing a further attachment mounted thereon.

5. A storage means for the adaptor of any one of claims 1 to 4.