EP4357537A1

EP4357537A1 - A compact articulated backhoe loader with 270 degree excavation advantage

Info

Publication number: EP4357537A1
Application number: EP23205225.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Vikas Sachdeva; Shaminder Singh; Sunil Kumar; Shrianshul Pandey; Vaibhav Singh
Original assignee: Escorts Kubota Ltd
Current assignee: Escorts Kubota Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-21
Filing date: 2023-10-23
Publication date: 2024-04-24
Also published as: GB202316121D0; US20240133153A1; US20240229415A9

Abstract

A backhoe loader comprises a front chassis, a rear chassis, a rotatable operator workstation, and a chassis lock mechanism. The front chassis comprises the loading assembly and the rear chassis is connected to the front chassis along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly. The rotatable operator workstation is positioned in the rear chassis, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. The operator workstation enables manoeuvring of the front chassis with respect to the rear chassis using the pin lock assembly. The chassis lock mechanism is achieved using two single acting hydraulic cylinders that are mounted horizontally on rear chassis. These hydraulic cylinders are actuated during the excavation operation which in turns locks the oscillation of vehicle and front and rear chassis acts rigidly like a single body. This rigidity of the vehicle provides the required stability during excavation.

Description

FIELD OF INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application illustrates construction equipment and more specifically to Backhoe Loaders.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently disclosed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
In the current art, backhoe loaders are known to have a single chassis rigid body or an articulated chassis which provides 180-degree excavation. The prior inventions contain a top mounted cabin which is stationary and equipped with separate operator console for backhoe operation. The prior art backhoe loaders, in this respect, fail to provide the needed manoeuvrability, effortless steer, wider excavation range and needs the operator to turn the vehicle to achieve the same. Also, the prior art relating to backhoe loaders doesn't provide oscillation mechanism which is quite helpful for enhanced stability during excavation operations.
Therefore, there is a need for a backhoe loader that includes an oscillation mechanism which is helpful for enhanced stability during excavation operations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary of the subject matter in order to provide a basic understanding of some of the aspects of subject matter embodiments. This summary is not an extensive overview of the subject matter. It is not intended to identify key/critical elements of the embodiments or to delineate the scope of the subject matter. Its sole purpose to present some concepts of the subject matter in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a backhoe loader that both articulates and oscillates. Further, objective of this invention is to provide 270-degree excavation which overcome the disadvantage(s) of the prior art. Furthermore, current invention offers the advantages of a mini excavator and a mini wheel-loader on a single platform. Moreover, another objective of the invention is to propose an improved backhoe loader which is efficient and have low maintenance cost.
Disclosed here is an improved compact backhoe loader that both articulates and oscillates, thereby eliminating the pitfalls of the prior art. The backhoe loader comprises mainly a front chassis, a rear chassis, and a rotatable operator workstation. The front chassis comprising a loading assembly and the rear chassis is pivotally connected to the front chassis along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly, which is steerable in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The rotatable operator workstation is positioned in the rear chassis, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions up to a predefined angle. The operator workstation enables a user to control relative manoeuvring of the front chassis with respect to the rear chassis using the pin lock assembly, and control of the loading assembly.
In an embodiment, the rear chassis pivotally is steerable up to 40 degrees in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions. In an embodiment, the bearing mounted cabin is slewable in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions up to the predefined angle of 270 degrees. In an embodiment, the loading assembly positioned in the front chassis comprises a loader arm, a lift cylinder, a shovel, one or more shovel links, and a tilt cylinder. The lift cylinder is attached hydraulically with the loader arm to lift the loader arm and the shovel is attached to a distal end of the loader arm to manage shovelling operations. The shovel links control movement of the shovel and the tilt cylinder is attached to the shovel links and one or more inter-lever links that are connected to the loader arm. The tilt cylinder and the inter-lever links facilitate tilting of the loader arm and the shovel.
In an embodiment, the rear chassis comprises a cabin and an excavation arm. The cabin provides seating for the user and a side console to provide controls of the rear chassis and the loading assembly positioned on the front chassis. The excavation arm comprises a boom arm, a bucket arm, a boom cylinder, and an excavation bucket. The boom arm is hinigedly connected to a rear end of the operator workstation and the bucket arm is hinigedly connected to the boom arm. The boom cylinder, dipper cylinder, dipper, and bucket cylinder are hydraulically linked to each other along the boom arm and the bucket arm to control motion of the excavation arm. The excavator bucket is attached distally to the bucket arm, wherein the excavation arm works along with the excavator to generate a swing of up to 60 degrees in left and right directions. In an embodiment, the pin lock assembly comprises a steering cylinder and an oscillation cylinder. The steering cylinder manoeuvres the vehicle in longitudinal axis up to 40 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction. The oscillation cylinder manoeuvres the vehicle in transverse axis up to 8 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction and also integrates the front and rear chassis as a single body during excavation.
In an embodiment, the backhoe loader further comprises 4 wheels mounted below the front and rear chassis, wherein each wheel comprising sizes of one of 15- and 16-inch wheels. In an embodiment, the backhoe loader has 80 degrees of the total articulation, which is a total of 40 degrees of the articulation on either side of a longitudinal axis of the aligned front and rear chassis by using a pair of double acting hydraulic rams that are actuated by the action of a steering unit which is connected to a steering wheel. In an embodiment, the backhoe loader further comprises two single acting hydraulic rams that are mounted on left and right side on the front of rear chassis at an equal distance from central vertical axis. Oscillation of the backhoe loader is controlled using the two single acting hydraulic rams, and the actuation of the two single acting hydraulic rams provide stability on unevenness of terrain up to 8 degrees. In an embodiment, the backhoe loader is powered by an internal combustion engine that drives a hydraulic pump that delivers a high-pressure hydraulic fluid to a hydrostatic drive system and to the rest of hydraulic circuit for the operation of Backhoe Loader and the excavator bucket.
In an embodiment, the rear chassis comprises a slew bearing that is mounted above the rear chassis, wherein the slew bearing is bolted to a welded frame which houses a counterweight, a rotary coupling, and a slew motor. The cabin is mounted on the welded frame and consists of the rotatable workstation that is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the Backhoe Loader in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the user's need. In an embodiment, the cabin is configured to be slewed 270 degrees and 135 degrees in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction. In an embodiment, the excavator bucket is attached to the cabin through a kingpost that rotates with the cabin, wherein the kingpost is configured to further swing 60 degrees horizontally clockwise and counterclockwise using a double acting hydraulic cylinder to provide additional accuracy for excavation process. In an embodiment, the backhoe loader further comprises stabilizers that are mounted on either side of the rear chassis to provide stability and counter effort to the Backhoe Loader during the excavation process using the excavator bucket.
In other words, the backhoe loader provides a vehicle having front and rear chassis that are pivoted on a vertical articulation axis for enhanced manoeuvrability of steering. The rear chassis contains an oscillation mechanism that enables the vehicle to be tilted in accordance with terrain to achieve improved stability during excavation operation. A rotatable operator workstation is provided inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewed up to 135 degrees in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The cabin is attached to a frame that contains an excavation mechanism that swings up to 60 degrees in left and right directions. The disclosed backhoe loader is based on a hydrostatic all-wheel drive driveline, which is having two operational modes, namely loader operation mode and backhoe operation mode.
According to the invention, a backhoe loader is provided that contains: (a) a chassis carrying driving mechanism, an operator's cabin and controls for movement of vehicle and operations of attachments; (b) four same size wheels carrying the chassis; (c) hydraulic controls for steering, oscillation and attachment operations; (d) the chassis formed in two parts including a front and a rear chassis connected by an articulation joint which is controlled by steering rams; (e) front chassis which contains the loader attachment; (e) rear chassis which is attached to an upper frame that carries excavation mechanism and have provisions for mounting of operator's cabin; (f) stabilizer mechanism operated by hydraulic rams.
According to present disclosure, the compact backhoe loader has its chassis mounted on 15- or 16-inch wheels. The chassis contains a power source for powering the vehicle and its respective attachments. The vehicle is an articulated backhoe loader in which front and rear chassis is pivoted about a vertical axis joint by pin lock mechanism. The backhoe loader steers 80 degrees of the total articulation, 40 degrees of the either side of the longitudinal axis of the aligned chassis by using a pair of double acting hydraulic rams which gets actuated by the action of steering unit which is connected to the conventional steering wheel. The oscillation of the vehicle is controlled using two single acting hydraulic rams, which are mounted on left and right side on the front of rear chassis at an equal distance from central vertical axis. The actuation of these rams provide stability on unevenness of terrain up to 8 degrees.
The power source of the backhoe loader is an internal combustion engine. It drives the power means which consist of a hydraulic pump which delivers the high-pressure hydraulic fluid to the hydrostatic drive system and to the rest of hydraulic circuit for the operation of loader and excavator. The rear chassis of the backhoe loader carries a slew bearing that is mounted on top of it. The slew bearing is bolted to a welded frame which houses the counterweight, rotary coupling, and a slew motor. The operator's cabin is mounted on the welded frame and consists of a rotatable workstation that is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the vehicle in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the operators need.
The operator cabin can be slewed 270 degrees, 135 degrees in both clockwise and counter-clockwise direction. The excavation mechanism is attached to the operator cabin through a kingpost which rotates with the cabin. In addition to the cabin slew, the kingpost can be further swinged 60 degrees horizontally clockwise and counter-clockwise using a double acting hydraulic cylinder which provides an additional advantage and accuracy for excavation. During excavation, the vehicle's stability and counter effort is achieved using stabilizers that are mounted on either side of the rear chassis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The following drawings are illustrative of particular examples for enabling systems and methods of the present disclosure, are descriptive of some of the methods and mechanism, and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The drawings are not to scale (unless so stated) and are intended for use in conjunction with the explanations in the following detailed description.

FIGURE 1 exemplarily illustrates a concept introduction of an improved compact backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 2 exemplarily illustrates a front view of an improved compact backhoe loader representing oscillation of vehicle, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 3A exemplarily illustrates a is top and front view of an improved compact backhoe loader representing articulation of vehicle, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 3B exemplarily illustrates a schematic side elevation of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 3C exemplarily illustrates a schematic top plane view of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 4 exemplarily illustrates a flow-chart depicting the driveline of the backhoe loader, as described in the present disclosure.
FIGURE 5 exemplarily illustrates a top view of components embodied in the driveline of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 6A exemplarily illustrates a top plane view of operator's workstation depicting its parts and operation range, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 6B exemplarily illustrates another top plane view of operator's workstation depicting its parts and operation range, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 7 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the backhoe loader, showing the steer angles of 40 degrees to both sides, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 8A illustrates a top view of an oscillation lock mechanism of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 8B illustrates a front view of an oscillation lock mechanism of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURES 8C and 8D illustrate the locked condition of the backhoe loader, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIGURE 8E illustrates the mechanism of bearing as example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may represent both hardware and software components of the system. Further, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments now will be described. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey its scope to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the particular exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.
It is to be noted, however, that the reference numerals used herein illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter, and are therefore, not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the subject matter may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
The specification may refer to "an", "one" or "some" embodiment(s) in several locations. This does not necessarily imply that each such reference is to the same embodiment(s), or that the feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.
As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and/or "comprising" when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. Furthermore, "connected" or "coupled" as used herein may include operatively connected or coupled. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations and arrangements of one or more of the associated listed items.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
FIGURE 1 exemplarily illustrates a concept introduction of an improved compact backhoe loader 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGURE 1 shows the articulation axis 102 that separates the front chassis 104 and the rear chassis 106. The backhoe loader 100 comprises mainly a front chassis 104, a rear chassis 106, and a rotatable operator workstation 112. The front chassis 104 comprises a loading assembly 114 and the rear chassis 106 is pivotally connected to the front chassis 104 along a vertical axis 102 (or the articulation axis) joint by a pin lock assembly 116, which is steerable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
The rotatable operator workstation 112 is positioned in the rear chassis 106, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin 110 which is slewable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions up to a predefined angle. The operator workstation 112 enables a user to control relative manoeuvring of the front chassis 104 with respect to the rear chassis 106 using the pin lock assembly 116, and control of the loading assembly 114. The cabin 108 is configured to be slewed 270 degrees and 135 degrees in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction. In other words, as shown in the FIGURES 2, 3A, and 6A, the frontal and rear articulation portion is 80 degrees in orientation and the rotating part above the rear articulation portion is 270 degrees in orientation and the operator's seat 108 is configured to rotate 180 degrees. The bearing mounted cabin 110 is slewable in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions up to the predefined angle of 270 degrees.
FIGURE 2 exemplarily illustrates a front view of an improved compact backhoe loader 100 representing oscillation of vehicle, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The backhoe loader 100 further comprises two single acting hydraulic rams 118a and 118b that are mounted on left and right side on the front of rear chassis 106 at an equal distance from central vertical axis 102. Oscillation of the backhoe loader 100 is controlled using the two single acting hydraulic rams 118a and 118b, and the actuation of the two single acting hydraulic rams 118a and 118b provide stability on unevenness of terrain up to 8 degrees. The vehicle oscillates at 8 degrees in clockwise and anticlockwise direction about longitudinal axis 702 (FIGURE 7), which is helpful during unevenness of terrain. However, the front and rear chassis 104 and 106 needs to be rigid and integrated during excavation for improved stability. This restriction is achieved using a pair of horizontally mounted single acting hydraulic cylinders 128 on rear chassis 106. These hydraulic cylinders 128 are actuated during excavation by the operator. Upon actuation the rod ends extend and closes the gap with the resting plate of link mechanism. This limits the relative movement between front and rear chassis 104 and 106. Consequently, the chassis act as a single rigid body.
Referring to FIGURES 3A-3C, FIGURE 3A exemplarily illustrates a top and front view of an improved compact backhoe loader 100 representing articulation of vehicle, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGURE 3B exemplarily illustrates a schematic side elevation of the backhoe loader 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. FIGURE 3C exemplarily illustrates a schematic top plane view of the backhoe loader 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIGURES 3B and 3C, the backhoe loader 100 comprises a front chassis 104, a rear chassis 106, a rotatable operator workstation 112, and a chassis lock mechanism 800, which is shown in FIGURES 8A and 8B. As shown in FIGURE 3B, the front chassis 104 comprises the loading assembly 114 and the rear chassis 106 is pivotally connected to the front chassis 104 along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly 116. The rotatable operator workstation 112 is positioned in the rear chassis 106, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin 110 which is slewable in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The operator workstation 112 enables a user to control relative manoeuvring of the front chassis 104 with respect to the rear chassis 106 using the pin lock assembly 116, and control of the loading assembly 114.
The loading assembly 114 is positioned in the front chassis 104 which comprises a loader arm 126, a lift cylinder 128, a shovel 130, one or more shovel links 132, and a tilt cylinder 134. The lift cylinder 134 is attached hydraulically with the loader arm 126 to lift the loader arm 126 and the shovel 130 is attached to a distal end of the loader arm 126 to manage shovelling operations. The shovel links 132 control movement of the shovel 130 and the tilt cylinder 134 is attached to the shovel links 132 and one or more inter-lever links 136 that are connected to the loader arm 126. The tilt cylinder 134 and the inter-lever links 136 facilitate tilting of the loader arm 126 and the shovel 130. In other words, the loading assembly 114 is positioned in the front chassis 104 that comprises the loader arm 126, wherein the lift cylinder 128 is connected to the loader arm 126 to lift the loader arm. The shovel 130 is attached to an extreme end of the loader arm 126 to configure the shovel 130 for shovelling operation.
In an embodiment, the rear chassis 106 comprises the cabin 110 and the excavation arm 138. The cabin 110 provides seating 140 for the user and a side console 142 to provide controls of the rear chassis 106 and the loading assembly 114 positioned on the front chassis 104. The excavation arm 138 comprises a boom arm 144, a bucket arm 146, a boom cylinder 148, and an excavation bucket 124. The boom arm 144 is hingedly connected to a rear end of the operator workstation 112 and the bucket arm 146 is hingedly connected to the boom arm 144. The boom cylinder 148, dipper cylinder 150, dipper 152, and bucket cylinder 154 are hydraulically linked to each other along the boom arm 144 and the bucket arm 146 to control motion of the excavation arm 138. The excavator bucket 124 is attached distally to the bucket arm 146, wherein the excavation arm 138 works along with the excavator bucket 124 to generate a swing of up to 60 degrees in left and right directions.
In an embodiment, the pin lock assembly 116 comprises a steering cylinder 156 and an oscillation cylinder 158 that are connected via a centre pivot joint 164 as shown in FIGURE 3. The steering cylinder 156 manoeuvres the vehicle in longitudinal axis 702 up to 40 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction, as shown in FIGURE 3A. The oscillation cylinder 158 manoeuvres the vehicle in transverse axis up to 8 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction and also integrates the front and rear chassis 104 and 106 as a single body during excavation. The rear chassis 104 comprises the cabin 110 and the excavation arm 138, where the cabin 110 provides seating option for a driver. The driver is provided with side console 142 for controlling system operations and to provide control working of the rear chassis 104 and the loading assembly 114 that is positioned on the front chassis 104.
The boom arm 144 is hingedly connected to a rear end of the operator workstation 112 and the bucket arm 146 is hingedly connected to the boom arm 144. As an example, the excavator boom arm 144 is the front part that's attached to the vehicle itself and holds the arm. The motion of the excavation arm 138 is established by the hydraulic linking of the boom cylinder 148, dipper cylinder 150, dipper 152, and bucket cylinder 154 with the boom arm 144 and the bucket arm 146. Furthermore, the backhoe loader 100 further comprises 4 wheels mounted below the front and rear chassis, wherein each wheel comprising sizes of one of 15- and 16-inch wheels. The storage tank 166 is positioned below the cabin 110, the hydraulic tank 168 and the fuel tank 170 are positioned on the opposing sides of the front chassis 104.
The excavator bucket 124 is attached to the cabin 110 through a kingpost 162 that rotates with the cabin 110, wherein the kingpost 162 is configured to further swing 60 degrees horizontally clockwise and counterclockwise using a double acting hydraulic cylinder 128 to provide additional accuracy for excavation process. The backhoe loader 100 further comprises stabilizers 160 that are mounted on either side of the rear chassis 106 to provide stability and counter effort to the backhoe loader 100 during the excavation process using the excavator bucket 124. The stabilizers 160 are positioned according to the load and orientation of the excavator bucket 124 so that the stabilizer 160 overcomes the possibility of toppling of the backhoe loader 100.
Referring to FIGURES 4 and 5, FIGURE 4 exemplarily illustrates a flow-chart depicting the driveline of the backhoe loader 100, as described in the present disclosure and FIGURE 5 exemplarily illustrates a top view of components embodies in the driveline of the backhoe loader 100, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The backhoe loader 100 is powered by an internal combustion engine 402 that drives a hydraulic pump 404 that delivers a high-pressure hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic tank 168 to a hydrostatic drive system and to the rest of hydraulic circuit, for the operation of Backhoe loader 100 and the excavator bucket 124. The drop-box 408 linked hydraulic motor 410 drives the implement pump 412 to drive the hydraulic pump 404, and later the control valves 414 are opened to allow the high-pressure hydraulic fluid to be transferred to the slew motor 406. The rear chassis comprises a slew bearing 801 that is mounted above the rear chassis 106, wherein the slew bearing 801 is bolted to a welded frame 803 which houses a counterweight, a rotary coupling and a slew motor 406. The cabin 110 is mounted on the welded frame 803 and consists of the rotatable workstation 112 that is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the backhoe loader 100 in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the user's need, as shown in FIGURES 6A and 6B. As shown in FIGURE 5, the hydrostatic drive system is installed between the front axle and the rear axle 506 and 510 that manage the front and rear tyres 502 and 504 along a propeller shaft 508 that connects both front axle and the rear axle 506 and 510 respectively, where the engine 402 drives the implement pump 412 and the hydraulic pump 404 to drive the slew motor 406.
Referring to FIGURES 6A and 6B, FIGURE 6A exemplarily illustrates is a top plane view of operator's workstation 112 depicting its parts and operation range and FIGURE 6B exemplarily illustrates another top plane view of operator's workstation 112 depicting its parts and operation range, as example embodiments of the present disclosure. The operator's workstation 112 comprises the steering wheel 602 that is mounted on a workstation weld frame 604, the side console 142 that comprises the joystick 606 and the joystick controls 608, a cabin base plate 610 that houses the entire assembly including the seat 140.
The rotatable workstation is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the backhoe loader 100 in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the user's need.
FIGURE 7 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the backhoe loader 100, showing the steer angles of 40 degrees to both sides, as an example embodiment of the present disclosure. The rear chassis 104 is pivotally steerable up to 40 degrees in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions, as also shown in FIGURE 3A. The pin lock assembly 116 comprises the steering cylinder 156 that manoeuvres the vehicle yaw up to 40 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction, and an oscillation cylinder 158 which restricts the vehicle roll by integrating the front and rear chassis 104 and 106 as a single body during excavation. The backhoe loader 100 has 80 degrees of the total articulation, which is a total of 40 degrees of the articulation on either side of a longitudinal axis 702 of the aligned front and rear chassis 104 and 106 by using the pair of double acting hydraulic rams 118a and 118b that are actuated by the action of a steering unit which is connected to a steering wheel 602.
Referring to FIGURES 8A, 8B, 8C, 8D and 8E, FIGURE 8A illustrates a top view of an oscillation lock mechanism 800 of the backhoe loader 100 and FIGURE 8B illustrates a front view of an oscillation lock mechanism 800 of the backhoe loader 100, FIGURES 8C and 8D illustrate the locked condition 800, FIGURE 8E illustrates the mechanism of bearing as example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIGURE 8A, the mechanism comprises a link plate 802, an articulation / oscillation joint 804 that contains a spherical bearing, and a resting plate 806. The chassis lock mechanism 800 is achieved using two single acting hydraulic cylinders 128 that are mounted horizontally on rear chassis 106. These hydraulic cylinders 128 are actuated during the excavation operation, which in turn, locks the oscillation of backhoe loader 100 and front and rear chassis acts rigidly like a single body. This rigidity of the vehicle provides the required stability during excavation.
Current invention has been discussed specifically with full disclosure. However, numerous changes can be made in the detail of structures, combinations, and part arrangement along with technical advancements that will be implemented in near future without changing the spirit and scope of the invention.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is therefore, contemplated that such modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined.

Claims

A backhoe loader comprising:
a front chassis comprising a loading assembly;

a rear chassis pivotally connected to the front chassis along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly, which is steerable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions; and

a rotatable operator workstation positioned in the rear chassis, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions up to a predefined angle, wherein the operator workstation enables a user to control relative manoeuvring of the front chassis with respect to the rear chassis using the pin lock assembly, and control of the loading assembly.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear chassis pivotally is steerable up to 40 degrees in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions up to the predefined angle of 270 degrees.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the loading assembly positioned in the front chassis comprises:
a loader arm;

a lift cylinder attached hydraulically with the loader arm to lift the loader arm;

a shovel attached to a distal end of the loader arm to manage shovelling operations;

one or more shovel links to control movement of the shovel;

a tilt cylinder attached to the shovel links and one or more inter-lever links that are connected to the loader arm, wherein the tilt cylinder and the inter-lever links facilitate tilting of the loader arm and the shovel.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear chassis comprises:
a cabin to provide seating for the user and a side console to provide controls of the rear chassis and the loading assembly positioned on the front chassis;

an excavation arm comprising:
a boom arm that is hinigedly connected to a rear end of the operator workstation;

a bucket arm that is hinigedly connected to the boom arm;

a boom cylinder, a dipper cylinder, a dipper, and a bucket cylinder that are hydraulically linked to each other along the boom arm and the bucket arm to control motion of the excavation arm; and

an excavator bucket attached distally to the bucket arm, wherein the excavation arm works along with the excavator to generate a swing of up to 60 degrees in left and right directions.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pin lock assembly comprising:
a steering cylinder which manoeuvres the vehicle in longitudinal axis up to 40 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction; and

an oscillation cylinder which manoeuvres the vehicle in transverse axis up to 8 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction and also integrates the front and rear chassis as a single body during excavation.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, further comprising 4 wheels mounted below the front and rear chassis, wherein each wheel comprising sizes of one of 15- and 16-inch wheels.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1 has 80 degrees of the total articulation, which is a total of 40 degrees of the articulation on either side of a longitudinal axis of the aligned front and rear chassis by using a pair of double acting hydraulic rams that are actuated by the action of a steering unit which is connected to a steering wheel.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two single acting hydraulic rams that are mounted on left and right side on the front of rear chassis at an equal distance from central vertical axis, wherein oscillation of the backhoe loader is controlled using the two single acting hydraulic rams, and wherein the actuation of the two single acting hydraulic rams provide stability on unevenness of terrain up to 8 degrees.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1 is powered by an internal combustion engine that drives a hydraulic pump that delivers a high-pressure hydraulic fluid to a hydrostatic drive system and to the rest of hydraulic circuit for the operation of Backhoe Loader and the excavator bucket.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rear chassis comprises a slew bearing that is mounted above the rear chassis, wherein the slew bearing is bolted to a welded frame which houses a counterweight, a rotary coupling and a slew motor, wherein the cabin is mounted on the welded frame and consists of the rotatable workstation that is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the Backhoe Loader in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the user's need.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 11, wherein the cabin is configured to be slewed 270 degrees and 135 degrees in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 1, wherein the excavator bucket is attached to the cabin through a kingpost that rotates with the cabin, wherein the kingpost is configured to further swing 60 degrees horizontally clockwise and counterclockwise using a double acting hydraulic cylinder to provide additional accuracy for excavation process.
The backhoe loader as claimed in claim 13, further comprising stabilizers that are mounted on either side of the rear chassis to provide stability and counter effort to the Backhoe Loader during the excavation process using the excavator bucket.