AU746198B2

AU746198B2 - Post driving apparatus

Info

Publication number: AU746198B2
Application number: AU91378/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Richard Lyons; Darrin MacGill; Mark Thomas
Original assignee: LYCO IND Pty Ltd
Current assignee: LYCO INDUSTRIES PTY Ltd
Priority date: 1997-11-10
Filing date: 1998-11-09
Publication date: 2002-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 2018-11-09
Also published as: AU9137898A

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

0 0 0 0.0 a 0% 0 0 00000 S05 0 0 00 0 0 0 S. Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title: LYCO INDUSTRIES PTY.LTD.

DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000.

"Post driving apparatus" Details of Associated Provisional Application(s) No(s): PP0290/97 filed 10 November, 1997 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: Q:\OPER\RSH\PP029-9.313 9/11/98 17Z-- P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 1512/02 -2- POST DRIVING APPARATUS The present invention relates to apparatus for driving a post into the ground and more particularly to post-driving apparatus which also includes a powered auger for forming a hole into which the post is driven.

Apparatus of the type discussed above would typically be used by fencing contractors and farmers and the like and, typically, is mounted on the rear of a truck or tractor.

Conventionally the post driver consists of a heavy weight guided for upwards and downwards movement along a suitable guide structure, the weight being linked to a hydraulic or other fluid cylinder which is actuated to cause the weight to be repeatedly raised and then dropped onto the top of a post positioned beneath the weight so that the post is driven into the ground. A post driver of this type may be supplied with a powered auger attachment for drilling the hole into which the post is to be driven. The auger attachment may be releasably 15 coupled to the underside of the weight so that during drilling the weight is applied to the auger to facilitate the drilling operation particularly into hard ground.

In one previously proposed form of post driver with a powered auger attachment, the auger attachment is separate from the post driver although it is releasably supported by the 20 framework of the post driver in a stowed, inoperative, position in which the weight is, then, able to perform its primary post-driving function. However, a series of relatively cumbersome physical manoeuvres are required to displace the auger attachment between its stowed, inoperative, position and its operative condition attached to the underside of the weight.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for driving a post into the ground, said apparatus having a weight mounted for upwards and downwards movement along a substantially vertical track of a support means, power operated means for lifting the weight along the track whereby subsequent fall of the weight along the track provides a Yi 6 m er-blow to a post positioned beneath the weight, and an auger attachment mounted to

I

P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 15/2/02 -3the support, said auger attachment having a driving motor for coupling to an auger for drilling a hole to receive the post, said auger attachment being mounted for movement between an operative position in which the attachment is coupled to the weight whereby the weight assists in driving the auger into the ground, and a stowed inoperative position in which the attachment is out of the zone of operation of the weight and the weight is able to drive a post into the hole, said auger attachment being mounted to a substantially vertical guide carried by the support means for swinging movement about the axis of the guide between its operative and stowed positions and the auger attachment is movable vertically along the guide.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, when the auger attachment is in its operative position it is latched to the weight and movement of the auger attachment along the .:guide occurs in response to upwards and downwards movement of the weight.

Advantageously, swinging movement of the auger attachment takes place along a generally helical path about the axis of the vertical guide such that swinging movement from one to the other of said positions can take place under the self-weight of the attachment.

o* o Preferably, the auger attachment is guided for swinging movement between the 20 stowed and operative positions by co-operation with a first helical guide track carried by the support means and is guided for swinging movement between its operative and stowed °positions by a second helical guide track carried by the support means, said helical guide tracks being oppositely inclined whereby movement from each of said positions into the other position occurs as a result of the self-weight of the auger attachment while being guided by a respective one of the two guide tracks, said guide tracks being axially spaced with respect to the vertical guide and said auger attachment having means co-operable with the respective guide track at an appropriate axial position of the auger attachment along the vertical guide.

Advantageously, co-operation between the auger attachment and respective guide tracks is effected by a guide roller which supports the auger attachment from the respective r~ ~i= I P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290. CAP -4/11/98 -4track when the roller is engaged therewith. Preferably the roller is carried at the end of a spring-biased swing arm carried by the auger attachment.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the auger attachment is held latched in its stowed position with the guide roller positioned to co-operate with one of the two helical tracks whereby when the latching engagement is released the auger attachment will automatically swing inwardly and downwardly into its operative position beneath the raised weight, the auger attachment preferably having spring-operated latch means which, when the weight is subsequently lowered, will latch onto the weight to thereby couple the attachment to the weight for vertical movement therewith. Preferably, means are provided for o. automatically releasing said latch means when the weight is raised to a position in which the roller can co-operate with the other one of the helical guide tracks whereby when the latching engagement is released the auger attachment can swing outwardly and downwardly from its operative position into its stowed position.

99..

S An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of post-driving apparatus in accordance with S: ~a preferred embodiment of the invention, the auger attachment of the apparatus being shown in a stowed, inoperative, position; Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the auger attachment during its movement towards its operative position beneath the weight of the post-driving apparatus; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the auger attachment when in its operative position beneath the weight; and Figure 4 is a schematic front view in greater detail showing the auger attachment when in its operative position.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, a post driver including a powered auger attachment comprises a main frame 2 having substantially vertical guides 4 for a driving weight 6. The weight 6 is linked to a fluid cylinder (not shown), preferably a hydraulic P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 4/11/98 cylinder, mounted within the base part of the frame and which is periodically actuable to raise the weight 6 along the guides 4 to an upper position and then to allow the weight 6 to fall.

Controls (not shown) for the hydraulic cylinder allow manual control of the raising movement and also of the falling movement of the weight.

A powered auger attachment 8 comprises a framework 10 carrying a motor 12 for driving the auger, for example a hydraulic motor, and a drive shaft 14 depending from the motor 12. The auger (not shown) is releasably coupled to the drive shaft 14. The auger attachment 8 is mounted on a vertical guide shaft 16 of the main frame 2 to one side of the weight guides 4 for swinging movement about the axis of the guide shaft 16 and also for *:oSo: vertical movement along the guide shaft 16. The swinging movement of the attachment 8 about the guide shaft 16 enables the attachment 8 to be swung between an operative position (see Figures 3 and 4) in which the attachment 8 is beneath the weight 6, in which position it can be coupled to the weight 6, and a stowed, inoperative, position (see Figure 1) in which 15 it is positioned to one side of the main frame 2 and outside of the zone of action of the weight 6 whereby the weight 6 can be operated to drive a post into the ground. When the auger attachment 8 is in its operative position it can be coupled to the lower end of the weight 6 by spring latches 18 (see Figure 4) extending from the upper end of the frame 10 and engageable 0005 over a flange 6a at the lower end of the weight 6. When coupled to the weight 6, the auger attachment 8 will move upwardly and downwardly with the weight 6. It is to be noted that although the latches 18 are shown in Figures 3 and 4, they have been omitted from the other Figures for clarity of illustration.

Movement of the auger attachment 8 between its stowed and operative positions is a semi-automatic operation which is effected in the manner which will now be described. The frame 10 of the auger attachment 8 carries a spring arm 20 which has at its lower, outer, end a guide roller 22. The spring arm 20 is subject to a spring bias, for example provided by a strong tension spring 24 (Figure which biases the lower end of the arm 20 outwardly to an outer stop position, the strength of the spring 24 being such that the spring arm 20 is able to support the weight of the auger attachment (including the auger) from guide tracks 30, 32 P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 4/11/98 -6which will now be described. The roller 22 at the lower end of the arm 20 is designed for co-operation with upper and lower oppositely inclined helical tracks 30, 32 carried by the main frame 2 of the post driver and centred about the vertical guide shaft 16 of the auger attachment 8. When the auger attachment 8 is in its stowed, inoperative, position the roller 22 of the spring arm 20 is at the outer, upper, end of the lower track 32, the attachment 8 being releasably retained in this position by a spring-loaded latch arm (not shown) carried by the main frame 2 of the post driver and engaging a latching projection extending from the frame 10 of the auger attachment. The latch arm is releasable by manual operation of a handle (not shown) mounted on the main frame 2 in a convenient position, for example adjacent the hydraulic controls. When it is required to swing the auger attachment 8 from its stowed position into its operative position, the latch is released whereby the weight of the auger attachment 8 supported from the lower helical track 32 by the roller 22 of spring arm drives the roller 22 downwardly along the lower track 32 whereby the co-operation between the roller 22 and track 32 causes the auger attachment 8 to be swung about the guide 15 shaft 16 from its stowed position into its operative position beneath the weight 6 while also displacing vertically downwardly along the guide shaft 16 as determined by the pitch of the helical track 32.

0oo.

The operative position of the auger attachment 8 is determined by engagement of a stop carried by the frame 10 with the main frame 2 of the post driver to thereby preclude further inwards movement. It is to be noted that in this operative position, the roller 22 of the spring arm 20 is in engagement with the lower end edge portion of the lower track 32 (as shown in Figure 4) sufficiently to continue to support the weight of the auger attachment 8 from the lower track 32. This movement of the auger attachment 8 from its stowed to its operative position occurs while the weight is in a raised position. In order to couple the weight 6 to the auger attachment 8, the hydraulic controls of the machine are then operated to lower the weight 6 onto the frame 10 of the auger attachment in a controlled manner whereby the spring latches 18 extending upwardly from the upper end of the frame 10 will latch onto the flange 6a at the lower end of the weight 6. Under the combined weight of the auger attachment 8 and weight 6 the roller 22 at the end of the spring arm 20 will be pushed P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 4/11/98 -7past the lower end edge of the lower track 32, this occurring as a result of inwards swinging movement of the spring arm 20 against the force of the biasing spring 24 such movement being facilitated by a chamfer formed at the lower end edge of the lower track 32. In this mode the force of the weight 6 will be applied to the auger attachment 8 and its motor 12 can be actuated to drill a hole into the ground.

When drilling is completed, the hydraulic controls are actuated to raise the weight 6 and to thereby withdraw the auger from the hole. The weight 6 is raised to a point at which the roller 22 of the spring arm 20 moves upwardly beyond the lower end of the lower guide track 32 to a position in which it lies on the upper, inner, end of the upper guide track 00: As the auger attachment 8 approaches that level, a fixed cam track 34 (see Figure 4) on the main frame 2 is engaged by a latch release arm 36 on the frame 10 whereby to cause automatic release of the spring latches 18 which held the auger attachment 8 to the weight 6.

Go 00 As the auger attachment 8 is now released from latching engagement with the weight 6, the 000011 0° 15 attachment 8 is now able to swing under its own weight from its operative to its stowed position as a result of the movement of the guide roller 22 downwardly along the upper track 00 30 from its upper inner end to its lower outer end. When the roller 22 reaches the lower 0 outer end of the upper guide track 30 the auger attachment has swung outwardly and also 0000 0 0 downwardly along its guide shaft 16 into its stowed position in which it is automatically held by latching engagement with the latch arm until that arm is manually released as previously described. During the latching of the auger attachment in its stowed position the roller 22 of the spring arm 20 has moved from the lower end of the upper guide track 30 either into contact with, or in preparation for contact with, the upper end of the lower track 32 to provide the inwards return swinging movement of the auger attachment 8 back into its operative position when the latch arm is next released.

In a modification (not shown), the spring arm 20 is of articulated construction with a light spring interposed between the two parts of the arm and a heavy spring providing the main bias for the arm. The articulation of the arm and the light spring allows the arm to be designed so that the roller can more easily pass from the upper end of the upper track while -I I P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 4/11/98 -8providing greater interference between the roller and the lower track.

In both forms, an adjustable stop associated with the arm can be set to adjust the engagement pressure between the roller and the tracks.

It will be understood from the foregoing that with the post driver and auger attachment particularly described the movement of the auger attachment between its stowed and operative position occurs automatically upon release of the latching engagement with the weight or with the manually-operable latching arm without the need for physical manoeuvring of the auger attachment as was previously necessary.

*:ego: Due to the co-operation between the roller of the spring arm and helical guide tracks, the movement of the auger attachment between its stowed and operative positions occurs under the self-weight of the auger attachment thereby obviating the need to incorporate an additional powered drive for this purpose. It will thereby be appreciated that the operations of swinging the auger attachment from its stowed position into its operative position and coupling to the weight and the subsequent operation of uncoupling the auger attachment from the weight and swinging it to its stowed position can be accomplished far more quickly and conveniently than previously; also when the auger attachment has been uncoupled from the weight it remains fully supported from the main frame of the post driver and does not suffer from a risk which is present in the previous arrangement, of the auger attachment falling loose which may cause injury to the operator and damage to the auger attachment. Further, the means by which the swinging movement of the auger attachment between its stowed and operative positions takes place will add only marginally to the cost of fabricating a machine of this type.

The embodiment has been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires 'i- a~ j P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290. CAP 4/11/98 -9otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" or "Comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

*0* 0* 0 0 9 0 0 0 00

Claims

1. Apparatus for driving a post into the ground, said apparatus having a weight mounted for upwards and downwards movement along a substantially vertical track of a support means, power operated means for lifting the weight along the track whereby subsequent fall of the weight along the track provides a hammer-blow to a post positioned beneath the weight, and an auger attachment mounted to the support, said auger attachment having a driving motor for coupling to an auger for drilling a hole to receive the post, said auger attachment being mounted for movement between an operative position in which the attachment is coupled to the weight whereby the weight assists in driving the auger into the ground, and a stowed inoperative position in which the attachment is out of the zone of operation of the weight and the weight is able to drive a post into the hole, said auger i attachment being mounted to a substantially vertical guide carried by the support means for swinging movement about the axis of the guide between its operative and stowed positions 15 and the auger attachment is movable vertically along the guide.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in the operative position of the auger attachment it is coupled to the weight and movement of the auger attachment along the "i vertical guide occurs in response to upwards and downwards movement of the weight.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein swinging movement of the auger •attachment takes place along a generally helical path about the axis of the vertical guide such that swinging movement from one to the other of said operative and stowed positions occurs under the self-weight of the attachment.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the auger attachment is guided for swinging movement from the stowed position to the operative position by a first helical guide track carried by the support means and is guided for swinging movement from the operative position to the stowed position by a second helical guide track carried by the 7i~i q support means, said helical guide tracks being oppositely inclined whereby movement from P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP 15/2/02 -11- each of said positions into the other position occurs as a result of the self-weight of the auger attachment while being guided by a respective one of the two guide tracks, said guide tracks being axially spaced with respect to the vertical guide.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, wherein guiding movement between the auger attachment and respective guide tracks is effected by a guide roller which supports the auger attachment from the respective track when the roller is engaged therewith.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the roller is carried at the end of a spring- biased swing arm carried by the auger attachment. S"7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the auger attachment is releasably held in its stowed position with the guide roller positioned to engage with one of the two helical tracks whereby when the releasable engagement is released the auger attachment will 15 automatically swing inwardly and downwardly into its operative position beneath the raised weight. o• S8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the auger attachment includes spring-operated latch means which, when the weight is subsequently lowered onto the auger attachment in 20 its operative position, will latch onto the weight to thereby couple the attachment to the weight for vertical movement therewith.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8, comprising means for automatically releasing said latch means when the weight is raised to a position in which the roller can engage the other one of the two helical guide tracks whereby when the latching engagement is released the auger attachment can swing outwardly and downwardly from its operative position into its stowed position. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, comprising means for guiding the swinging movement of the attachment whereby movement from its stowed to its operative position and P:\OPER\RSH\PP0290.CAP- 15/2/02 -12- return movement to its stowed position occurs along a predetermined path.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the guided movement of the attachment between its stowed and operative positions is induced by the self-weight of the attachment.

12. Apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 15th day of February, 2002 LYCO INDUSTRIES PTY.LTD. By its Patent Attorneys: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE 0 0 .0 A O