CA1137034A - Level excavation device - Google Patents
Level excavation deviceInfo
- Publication number
- CA1137034A CA1137034A CA000348802A CA348802A CA1137034A CA 1137034 A CA1137034 A CA 1137034A CA 000348802 A CA000348802 A CA 000348802A CA 348802 A CA348802 A CA 348802A CA 1137034 A CA1137034 A CA 1137034A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- bucket
- excavation device
- relative
- dipper stick
- tube
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
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- Operation Control Of Excavators (AREA)
Abstract
LEVEL EXCAVATION DEVICE
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A power shovel having a boom, a dipper stick, and a bucket is provided with a system for maintenance of a level-grade excavation. A level sensor and appropriate feed-back controls are provided on the bucket of the shovel in order to keep the bucket at a predetermined angle relative to the ground.
rotating laser beam is positioned remote from the device, and a laser receiver is attached to the hinged junction between the dipper stick and the bucket and at a fixed angle relative to the bucket for controlling the height of the bucket relative to the desired grade. Provision is made for positioning the laser receiver and associated pole for use fox an alternate position for rough excavation or transport.
ABSTRACT OF THE INVENTION
A power shovel having a boom, a dipper stick, and a bucket is provided with a system for maintenance of a level-grade excavation. A level sensor and appropriate feed-back controls are provided on the bucket of the shovel in order to keep the bucket at a predetermined angle relative to the ground.
rotating laser beam is positioned remote from the device, and a laser receiver is attached to the hinged junction between the dipper stick and the bucket and at a fixed angle relative to the bucket for controlling the height of the bucket relative to the desired grade. Provision is made for positioning the laser receiver and associated pole for use fox an alternate position for rough excavation or transport.
Description
L VEL EXCAVATION DEVI OE
BAC~GROUND OF THE IN~ENTION
. .
Excava~ion with ~ power shovel generally re~uires a highl~ skilled Qperator. Even with such a skilled operato~, the digging of the final cut, which hopefully will be a level yrade, requires a high de~r2e of attention and skill, and even :~ so is relatively time cons~ming ~o the extent that the machine cannot be utilized to dig as fast as it is able.
Various devices have been proposed for maintAining 10 a level cut during excavation. These include United ~tates Patents No. 3,462,345; 3,708,232; 3,778,168; 3,813,171 and ., 4,034t490. All of these devices show various excavating de-vL~es utilizing lasers to assure a level grade. The prior axt devices are a}l i~tended, however, to be utilized with : excavating devices;~having:only one :degree~of reedom, ~hat is or trench~rs, plow~and the~like.
~ one of:~ these prior art devices ~ are suitable for use with a device having multiple deyrees of freedom such as a power shovel. Installation of the priox art davices 20 on ~y one of the boom, dlpp~r stick, or bucket would not result in a level~cut during.operation.
It is, there~ore~ a~ object of ~his invention to provide an exca~ation system which is capable of making a :~
level cut durirlg Xinal ~xcavation wi~hout excessiv~ skill, time, or attention on ~the part o~ the operator.
Toward this end, a ~evel sensor is mounted on the bucket of the shoval such that when ~he bucket is positioned in a predetermined desired angl~, the level sensor will be 30 level. Due to the geometry o~ a power shovel, it is impor~ant ~3~Q3~ ~:
to maintain this fix~d angle during excavation in order that the grade produced will be lev014 The sensor itself is com~
prised generally of a glass tube having a steel ball or shot therein. A con~ina~ion light source-detector is ~ounted at each end of the glass tube, with the light source being on one side of the tube and the detector being located diametrisally opposite. The liyht sources in either end are continuously -energized such that when an off-level condition is xeached, the steel ball will roll t~ one end or the other of the tube, thereby obstructing the light beam and causing a change in the output Qf the photocell. Upon detection of this change~ feed~
back circuitry appropria~ely directs command to the bucket hydraulio cylinder which repositions the bucket until it has reassumed the predetermined angle.
The instant invention requires not only maintenance of the bucket angle~but also the constant elevation o the .
bucket relative to:a fixed plane. Toward that end a laser ;
transmitter and receiver of the types shown used in the prior . :::
: art described ~bove are utilized. The receiver is mounted to 20 a laser stick, which is in turn pivo~ally mounted ~o the hinge ~-:
pin between the dipper ~tick and the bucket. A gripping member which is attached to the bucket holds the laser sti~k and pre-vents rota~ion abou~the hinge poin~ during normal operation~
During rough excavation or transport, that gripping member is released and the laser stick is grappled by ano~her gripping member which is attached to the dipper stick itself. Suitable feedback controls are provided which direct boom hydraulic ~-- cylinder upwardly or downwardly to position the boom at a height such that the laser receiver and therefore the bucket 30 are at the specified predetarmined height.
-:~3~034 These and other objec~s 2nd advantages of the in-vention will become readily apparent as the following de-scription is re~.d in conjunc~ion with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference ~umerals are used to refer t~ the several viewsO
DESCRIPTI~ QF THE_DR~WING
Fi~. 1 is a plane view of ~he dev.ice in operation.
Fi~. 2 is a perspective view showing the mounting of the instant invention on the device.
Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the level sensor.
: Fi~. 4 shows the bucket gripper.
Fig. 5 shows the transport gripper.
' DESCRIP~XON OF THE P~EFERRED
EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to~ the~ drawings, and more particularly, .
to Fig. l,~a conven~ional power~shovel yenerally 10 has a main bod~ and frame 12. Extending ther.from:is boom member 14 which may be raised or lowered by means of boom hydraulia cylinder 15.
2Q ~ dipper stick 16 is hingedly attached to boom 14 and is posi-tionally controlled by dipper stick hydraulic cylinder 13.
Bucket 20 is then hingedly attached at the lower end of dipper stick 16 by hinge pin 22. The angular position in the bucket may then be controlled by means of bucke~ hydraulic cylinder 24 which is attached at its ~other end ~o dipper stick 16.
A rotating laser; beam transmitter 26 is posi~ioned remotely rom the dLgging site and serves to establish a refer- :
ence plane 28. A laser beam receiver 30 is mounted t~wards the upper end of laser receiver s~ick 32 which is pivotally 30 located at its lower end 32a upon hLnge~ pin 22 heretofore : --3--' ~37(~!3~
described. The laser beam transmitter and receiver are genex-ally convention~l and are mor~ ully described in the prior art disclosed above.
The lasar receiver stick 32 is shown in Fig. 2 in the operative position wherein it may be used to control the depth of cu~ being performed. As shown in Fig. 2, stick 32~: :
follows the angle of the bucket 20 relative to the dipper stick 16. During rough excavation~ ~here is no ne~d to control the angle of the bucket and thexefore it is desir~ble to place 10 receiver stick 32 in an inoperative or transport position. A
yripp~r support stanchion 34 is ri~idly attached by means of welding or the like to the top surface 20c of bucket 20. ~o-:
cated at the upper end of sta~chion 34 is operative support bracket 36 and m~unted thereon is operative gripper 38. Opera-ti~e gxipper 38 is shown in greater detail in Fig. 4 and com-prises generally:an air or hydraulic operated cylinder 38 having : an operative shaf~ 38c extending therefrom. Shaft 38c is con~
nec ed by means of link~ 38d to gripping members 38~ which are shown in solid in the gripping position in Fig. 4 and in phantom 20 in the transport position. It i5 readily apparent that axial movement of shaft 38c will cause gripping members 38b to assume ; either the gripping position or the transport posi~ion. Simi-- larly, a tr~nsport gripper 40 is mounted upon transport gripping.
bracket 39 which i5 in turn attached to dipper stick 16~ Txans-port gripper 40 is shown in more detail in Fig. 5 wherein grip-ping members 40b are shown in the operative position in solid and in the transport position in phantom. ~s in operative grip-per 38, transport gripper 40 is comprised of an air-operated or :~ hyaraulic cylindar 48 having shaft 40c extending therefrom which 30 is in turn connected to gripping members 40b by means o con-necting links ~Od.
_~_ iD3~
A buc~et level sensor 44 is attached to the upper surface 20c o bucket 20 by means o level sensor support bracket 42. Bracket 4~ supports level sensor 44 at an angle such that when the front face 20b of bucket 20 is at the de-sired angle relative to the ground, level sensor 44 will be horizontal with respect to the ground. Of course, bracket 42 may be made adjustable to vary that predet~rmined desired angle.
Level sensor 44 is comprised generalLy o a cyl-indrical tube 46 having located ~herein a piece of printed circuit board 48 which is f~stened in place by means of a silicone adhesive sealant such as R~V or any other conven-tional means of fasteni~g. A glass tube 52 is located hor-izontally and longitudinally atop board 48 and is confined and held at either end by means of screws 54 to which tube 52 may be cemented. A steel ball 58 having a di~ameter cor-responding to the inner diameter of glass tube 52 ls located inside glass tube 52~. At either end of glass tube 52 are located liyht source de~ector assemb:lies 60. ~he light ~;
source-detector assembly 60 is conventional and comprised o~
generally of a ligh~ source 60a which is generally an h.E.D.
located on one side of tube 52 and a photocell or o~her de-tecting unit 6:0b located opposite light source 60a. The light source 60a is normally on at all ~imesl at leas~ when : the control unit is actiYated, and thus continuously activ-ates photocell 60b. When an of-level condition is reached, ball 58 will roll to one end or the other of glass tube 52 and obscure the light beam from light source 60a thereby : deact1vating the corresponding photocell 60b. In the pre- -ferred embodiment, glass tube 52 is formed with a slight 30 Gurve such that the central portion o the tube 52 is slightly lower ~han the ends thereof. This, in ~onjuncti~n _~ .
, ~ . ,.
~ L37~3~
with the time delay discussed hereinaftex, serves ~o pre-vent the level sensing unit 44 fxom being overly sensitive -to minute changes in the hucket attitude.
Alternatively, the tube 52 may be filled with substantially opac~ue liquid to the ext~nt that there is enough room left in t~e 52 or a smal} bubble. The opera-tion of such an embodiment would be similar to that described above except that photocell 60b would generally not be acti-vated by ligh~ source 60a as the opaque fluid would block any light until an of-level condition is reached wherein ~he bubble would flow to the higher end o ~he tube thus activating photocells 60b.
The level sensor may also be a pendulum-type device of the type well known in the art or any other mechanism capable of sensing an off-level condition.
To prevent extreme sensitivity of the level sensor 44, it may be desi~able to incorporate into the control cir-cuit~y of the device a time delay segment which would not activate the feedback control unless the off-level condition existed for a predetermined amount of timeO This would prevent the control system from continually shifting the bucket back and forth through small angle increments.
: ' ~7~3~
OPERATION OF THE INVENTIO~
Initially durin~ excavation, the laser stick 3~ is held in ~.ransport gripper 40 by ~ripping a~ms 40b in ~he posi~
tion shown in phantom in Fig. 5. The operator perfonms his xough excavation in the same manner as he normally would with the instant inventi3n being deactivated. When the operator reaches the point where the device is neari~g the desired grade of excavation, the operator activates the instant in-vention~
In doing 50~: the bucket 20 is moved such that bucket gripper 38 is in line and parallel ~o laser ~tick 32 and trans port gripper 40~ At thi point, both gripper members 38 and 40 are in the position shown in phantom in Figs. 4 and 5.
Thence, cylinders 38a and 40a are reversed, such that the gripping members assume the:~positlon shown in solid in Figs.
4 and 5. ~he laser stick 32 will now follow the :angle of bucket 20 and the level sen~or control may be activated.
The controls or the lev~l sen~or may be any well-known feedback control system~which will be sensi~ive to signals 20 rom light source-detectors 60. Thus, if the end of level sensor 44 adjacent digging edge 20a is high, steel ball 58 will roll to the opposi~e end o glass tube 52, ~hereby :
partially ox completely blanking out light de~ec~or 60b. In response to that lack of:signal from detector 60b r the con-trol sy~tem will operate bucket control cylinder 24 to re-turn bucket 20 to the predete~mined angle.
; Similarly,~laser receiver 30 operates conventional feedback con~rol circuitry which controls the height of boom - 14 by adjusting the extens~on o~ boom control cylinder 15.
30 Thus, to make the final cut, ~he bucket 20 is po~i~ioned at the start of the cut to be made and ~he level sensor 44 and 3~ 7C~3~
laser 30 controls are activated. The operatox ~hen needs only to flip a switch which activa~es a solenoid v~lve which in turn initia~es and contrvls the rate of feed of the dipper stick 16 in making the final cu^~. Of courset should the opera-tor desire to empty ~he bucket of its conten~s or otherwise deviate from the level cut, the system may be disengaged and the unit opera~ed in its normal fashion.
This contemplates that various changes and modi-~ications ma~ be made to our excava~ion device without de-parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
' -8- ~
BAC~GROUND OF THE IN~ENTION
. .
Excava~ion with ~ power shovel generally re~uires a highl~ skilled Qperator. Even with such a skilled operato~, the digging of the final cut, which hopefully will be a level yrade, requires a high de~r2e of attention and skill, and even :~ so is relatively time cons~ming ~o the extent that the machine cannot be utilized to dig as fast as it is able.
Various devices have been proposed for maintAining 10 a level cut during excavation. These include United ~tates Patents No. 3,462,345; 3,708,232; 3,778,168; 3,813,171 and ., 4,034t490. All of these devices show various excavating de-vL~es utilizing lasers to assure a level grade. The prior axt devices are a}l i~tended, however, to be utilized with : excavating devices;~having:only one :degree~of reedom, ~hat is or trench~rs, plow~and the~like.
~ one of:~ these prior art devices ~ are suitable for use with a device having multiple deyrees of freedom such as a power shovel. Installation of the priox art davices 20 on ~y one of the boom, dlpp~r stick, or bucket would not result in a level~cut during.operation.
It is, there~ore~ a~ object of ~his invention to provide an exca~ation system which is capable of making a :~
level cut durirlg Xinal ~xcavation wi~hout excessiv~ skill, time, or attention on ~the part o~ the operator.
Toward this end, a ~evel sensor is mounted on the bucket of the shoval such that when ~he bucket is positioned in a predetermined desired angl~, the level sensor will be 30 level. Due to the geometry o~ a power shovel, it is impor~ant ~3~Q3~ ~:
to maintain this fix~d angle during excavation in order that the grade produced will be lev014 The sensor itself is com~
prised generally of a glass tube having a steel ball or shot therein. A con~ina~ion light source-detector is ~ounted at each end of the glass tube, with the light source being on one side of the tube and the detector being located diametrisally opposite. The liyht sources in either end are continuously -energized such that when an off-level condition is xeached, the steel ball will roll t~ one end or the other of the tube, thereby obstructing the light beam and causing a change in the output Qf the photocell. Upon detection of this change~ feed~
back circuitry appropria~ely directs command to the bucket hydraulio cylinder which repositions the bucket until it has reassumed the predetermined angle.
The instant invention requires not only maintenance of the bucket angle~but also the constant elevation o the .
bucket relative to:a fixed plane. Toward that end a laser ;
transmitter and receiver of the types shown used in the prior . :::
: art described ~bove are utilized. The receiver is mounted to 20 a laser stick, which is in turn pivo~ally mounted ~o the hinge ~-:
pin between the dipper ~tick and the bucket. A gripping member which is attached to the bucket holds the laser sti~k and pre-vents rota~ion abou~the hinge poin~ during normal operation~
During rough excavation or transport, that gripping member is released and the laser stick is grappled by ano~her gripping member which is attached to the dipper stick itself. Suitable feedback controls are provided which direct boom hydraulic ~-- cylinder upwardly or downwardly to position the boom at a height such that the laser receiver and therefore the bucket 30 are at the specified predetarmined height.
-:~3~034 These and other objec~s 2nd advantages of the in-vention will become readily apparent as the following de-scription is re~.d in conjunc~ion with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference ~umerals are used to refer t~ the several viewsO
DESCRIPTI~ QF THE_DR~WING
Fi~. 1 is a plane view of ~he dev.ice in operation.
Fi~. 2 is a perspective view showing the mounting of the instant invention on the device.
Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the level sensor.
: Fi~. 4 shows the bucket gripper.
Fig. 5 shows the transport gripper.
' DESCRIP~XON OF THE P~EFERRED
EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to~ the~ drawings, and more particularly, .
to Fig. l,~a conven~ional power~shovel yenerally 10 has a main bod~ and frame 12. Extending ther.from:is boom member 14 which may be raised or lowered by means of boom hydraulia cylinder 15.
2Q ~ dipper stick 16 is hingedly attached to boom 14 and is posi-tionally controlled by dipper stick hydraulic cylinder 13.
Bucket 20 is then hingedly attached at the lower end of dipper stick 16 by hinge pin 22. The angular position in the bucket may then be controlled by means of bucke~ hydraulic cylinder 24 which is attached at its ~other end ~o dipper stick 16.
A rotating laser; beam transmitter 26 is posi~ioned remotely rom the dLgging site and serves to establish a refer- :
ence plane 28. A laser beam receiver 30 is mounted t~wards the upper end of laser receiver s~ick 32 which is pivotally 30 located at its lower end 32a upon hLnge~ pin 22 heretofore : --3--' ~37(~!3~
described. The laser beam transmitter and receiver are genex-ally convention~l and are mor~ ully described in the prior art disclosed above.
The lasar receiver stick 32 is shown in Fig. 2 in the operative position wherein it may be used to control the depth of cu~ being performed. As shown in Fig. 2, stick 32~: :
follows the angle of the bucket 20 relative to the dipper stick 16. During rough excavation~ ~here is no ne~d to control the angle of the bucket and thexefore it is desir~ble to place 10 receiver stick 32 in an inoperative or transport position. A
yripp~r support stanchion 34 is ri~idly attached by means of welding or the like to the top surface 20c of bucket 20. ~o-:
cated at the upper end of sta~chion 34 is operative support bracket 36 and m~unted thereon is operative gripper 38. Opera-ti~e gxipper 38 is shown in greater detail in Fig. 4 and com-prises generally:an air or hydraulic operated cylinder 38 having : an operative shaf~ 38c extending therefrom. Shaft 38c is con~
nec ed by means of link~ 38d to gripping members 38~ which are shown in solid in the gripping position in Fig. 4 and in phantom 20 in the transport position. It i5 readily apparent that axial movement of shaft 38c will cause gripping members 38b to assume ; either the gripping position or the transport posi~ion. Simi-- larly, a tr~nsport gripper 40 is mounted upon transport gripping.
bracket 39 which i5 in turn attached to dipper stick 16~ Txans-port gripper 40 is shown in more detail in Fig. 5 wherein grip-ping members 40b are shown in the operative position in solid and in the transport position in phantom. ~s in operative grip-per 38, transport gripper 40 is comprised of an air-operated or :~ hyaraulic cylindar 48 having shaft 40c extending therefrom which 30 is in turn connected to gripping members 40b by means o con-necting links ~Od.
_~_ iD3~
A buc~et level sensor 44 is attached to the upper surface 20c o bucket 20 by means o level sensor support bracket 42. Bracket 4~ supports level sensor 44 at an angle such that when the front face 20b of bucket 20 is at the de-sired angle relative to the ground, level sensor 44 will be horizontal with respect to the ground. Of course, bracket 42 may be made adjustable to vary that predet~rmined desired angle.
Level sensor 44 is comprised generalLy o a cyl-indrical tube 46 having located ~herein a piece of printed circuit board 48 which is f~stened in place by means of a silicone adhesive sealant such as R~V or any other conven-tional means of fasteni~g. A glass tube 52 is located hor-izontally and longitudinally atop board 48 and is confined and held at either end by means of screws 54 to which tube 52 may be cemented. A steel ball 58 having a di~ameter cor-responding to the inner diameter of glass tube 52 ls located inside glass tube 52~. At either end of glass tube 52 are located liyht source de~ector assemb:lies 60. ~he light ~;
source-detector assembly 60 is conventional and comprised o~
generally of a ligh~ source 60a which is generally an h.E.D.
located on one side of tube 52 and a photocell or o~her de-tecting unit 6:0b located opposite light source 60a. The light source 60a is normally on at all ~imesl at leas~ when : the control unit is actiYated, and thus continuously activ-ates photocell 60b. When an of-level condition is reached, ball 58 will roll to one end or the other of glass tube 52 and obscure the light beam from light source 60a thereby : deact1vating the corresponding photocell 60b. In the pre- -ferred embodiment, glass tube 52 is formed with a slight 30 Gurve such that the central portion o the tube 52 is slightly lower ~han the ends thereof. This, in ~onjuncti~n _~ .
, ~ . ,.
~ L37~3~
with the time delay discussed hereinaftex, serves ~o pre-vent the level sensing unit 44 fxom being overly sensitive -to minute changes in the hucket attitude.
Alternatively, the tube 52 may be filled with substantially opac~ue liquid to the ext~nt that there is enough room left in t~e 52 or a smal} bubble. The opera-tion of such an embodiment would be similar to that described above except that photocell 60b would generally not be acti-vated by ligh~ source 60a as the opaque fluid would block any light until an of-level condition is reached wherein ~he bubble would flow to the higher end o ~he tube thus activating photocells 60b.
The level sensor may also be a pendulum-type device of the type well known in the art or any other mechanism capable of sensing an off-level condition.
To prevent extreme sensitivity of the level sensor 44, it may be desi~able to incorporate into the control cir-cuit~y of the device a time delay segment which would not activate the feedback control unless the off-level condition existed for a predetermined amount of timeO This would prevent the control system from continually shifting the bucket back and forth through small angle increments.
: ' ~7~3~
OPERATION OF THE INVENTIO~
Initially durin~ excavation, the laser stick 3~ is held in ~.ransport gripper 40 by ~ripping a~ms 40b in ~he posi~
tion shown in phantom in Fig. 5. The operator perfonms his xough excavation in the same manner as he normally would with the instant inventi3n being deactivated. When the operator reaches the point where the device is neari~g the desired grade of excavation, the operator activates the instant in-vention~
In doing 50~: the bucket 20 is moved such that bucket gripper 38 is in line and parallel ~o laser ~tick 32 and trans port gripper 40~ At thi point, both gripper members 38 and 40 are in the position shown in phantom in Figs. 4 and 5.
Thence, cylinders 38a and 40a are reversed, such that the gripping members assume the:~positlon shown in solid in Figs.
4 and 5. ~he laser stick 32 will now follow the :angle of bucket 20 and the level sen~or control may be activated.
The controls or the lev~l sen~or may be any well-known feedback control system~which will be sensi~ive to signals 20 rom light source-detectors 60. Thus, if the end of level sensor 44 adjacent digging edge 20a is high, steel ball 58 will roll to the opposi~e end o glass tube 52, ~hereby :
partially ox completely blanking out light de~ec~or 60b. In response to that lack of:signal from detector 60b r the con-trol sy~tem will operate bucket control cylinder 24 to re-turn bucket 20 to the predete~mined angle.
; Similarly,~laser receiver 30 operates conventional feedback con~rol circuitry which controls the height of boom - 14 by adjusting the extens~on o~ boom control cylinder 15.
30 Thus, to make the final cut, ~he bucket 20 is po~i~ioned at the start of the cut to be made and ~he level sensor 44 and 3~ 7C~3~
laser 30 controls are activated. The operatox ~hen needs only to flip a switch which activa~es a solenoid v~lve which in turn initia~es and contrvls the rate of feed of the dipper stick 16 in making the final cu^~. Of courset should the opera-tor desire to empty ~he bucket of its conten~s or otherwise deviate from the level cut, the system may be disengaged and the unit opera~ed in its normal fashion.
This contemplates that various changes and modi-~ications ma~ be made to our excava~ion device without de-parting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
' -8- ~
Claims (6)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A level grade excavation device for use with a power shovel having a boom, a dipper stick and a bucket, said bucket being hingedly attached to said dipper stick, said grade excavation device comprising means attached to said bucket for measuring the angle of said bucket relative to the earth; means responsive to said bucket angle measuring means for maintaining said bucket at a predetermined angle relative to the earth;
means for measuring the elevation of said dipper stick-bucket hinge relative to a fixed point; means responsive to said ele-vation measuring means for maintaining said hinge at a fixed elevation.
means for measuring the elevation of said dipper stick-bucket hinge relative to a fixed point; means responsive to said ele-vation measuring means for maintaining said hinge at a fixed elevation.
2. The level grade excavation device of claim 1 wherein said elevation measuring means comprises an elongated member having upper and lower ends, said member attached to said bucket and extending generally upwardly therefrom; means fixed relative to the earth for providing a reference plane;
means attached adjacent said upper end of said member for determining the elevation of said member relative to said reference plane.
means attached adjacent said upper end of said member for determining the elevation of said member relative to said reference plane.
3. The level grade excavation device of claim 2 wherein said reference plane means comprises a rotating laser.
4. The level grade excavation device of claim 2 wherein said member lower end is hingedly attached to said dipper stick-bucket hinge and first gripping means are provided for locating said member in an operating position at a fixed predetermined angle relative to said bucket.
5. The level grade excavation device of claim 4 further comprising second gripping means for locating said member in a transport position fixed relative to said dipper stick, said first and second gripping means being alternatively operative to locate said member in said operative or transport positions.
6. The level grade excavation device of claims 1 and 2 wherein said angle measuring means comprises a housing attached to said bucket; a transparent cylindrical tube having first and second ends, said tube being disposed horizontally when said bucket is at said predetermined angle, a ball rol-lingly disposed in said tube; first and second light sources located adjacent said first and second tube ends; and first and second light detectors located diametrically opposite said tube from said first and second light sources.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US2729879A | 1979-04-05 | 1979-04-05 | |
| US27,298 | 1979-04-05 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1137034A true CA1137034A (en) | 1982-12-07 |
Family
ID=21836874
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000348802A Expired CA1137034A (en) | 1979-04-05 | 1980-03-27 | Level excavation device |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1137034A (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN117449388A (en) * | 2023-12-11 | 2024-01-26 | 爱克斯维智能科技(苏州)有限公司 | Construction site leveling operation method and system based on laser guidance and excavator |
-
1980
- 1980-03-27 CA CA000348802A patent/CA1137034A/en not_active Expired
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN117449388A (en) * | 2023-12-11 | 2024-01-26 | 爱克斯维智能科技(苏州)有限公司 | Construction site leveling operation method and system based on laser guidance and excavator |
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