FR2495660A1 - ADJUSTABLE EXCAVATOR ELVIN SLICER - Google Patents

Abstract

THIS SLICER INCLUDES AN EXCAVATOR ELINDE EQUIPPED WITH A CHASSIS 12 IN THE SHAPE OF A DEFORMABLE PARALLELOGRAM WHOSE ANGLE IS PIVOTED ON THE CHASSIS 16 OF A TRACTOR 10 AND AROUND WHICH AN EXCAVATOR CHAIN 18 DRIVED. A 32 HYDRAULIC CYLINDER FITTED BETWEEN TWO OF THE CHASSIS ELEMENTS CAN BE EXTENDED OR RETRACTED TO ENLARGE OR FLAW THE PARALLELOGRAM, THE SMALL INTERNAL ANGLES OF THE PARALLELOGRAM BEING EQUAL TO THE PREFERRED DEGREE ANGLE OF 60 WHEN THE CYLINDER IS COMPLETED. THE DEPTH OF DIGGING IS INCREASED BY RETRACTING THE CYLINDER WHICH FLAWS THE PARALLELOGRAM AND LOWER THE EXCAVATOR END OF THE CHASSIS.

Description

The present invention relates to a slicer

  adjustable excavator and it relates more particularly-

  ment to an excavator assembly of the endless conveyor type which comprises an adjustable polygonal frame in order to be able to dig at variable depths. It is conventional to make a trencher having an excavating protrusion which projects rearwards and which is mounted on the tractor so as to be able to carry out a pivoting movement. The excavator is mounted on the tractor in a cantilever arrangement above a worm which disperses the earth which is extracted

  during the digging operation on the sides of the tran-

  chée. A cleaning shoe is attached to the excavator to clean the bottom of the trench during the operation of

digging.

  A problem with known slicers relates to the ability of the operator to maintain the excavator at a constant digging angle. Experience has shown that a digging angle of about 600 relative to

  horizontal is preferred for excavation operations.

  With known trenchers which have relatively straight excavating elinders, it is very difficult for the operator to judge whether or not the excavating elind is inclined at the preferred digging angle of 600 because the elind is located inside the trench so the operator

  can not estimate the attitude of the elinde. So there are

  was a need to have a means to help the operator

  maintain the excavator at the digging angle

  sire. Another problem associated with the use of known slicers is that the pivoting excavator has a fixed length.

  which limits the possibility of digging deeply

  variable deur. When digging a trench for a pipe

  drainage or the like, for example, it is normally desired

  rable that the bottom of the trench remains located on an approximately straight line which can be slightly inclined on a horizontal reference plane. If the trencher crosses rough terrain while digging a trench in the

  type of drainage trench, the bottom of the trench may become

  nir wavy, either because the operator cannot judge

  precisely the digging depth required to maintain

  hold a straight trench bottom, either because the

  the fixed length excavator is not capable of

  dye the depths necessary to maintain the bottom of

  the straight trench. So there was a need for dis-

  install an adjustable excavator frame to allow

  put to dig at variable depths and cooperative means to control the digging depth during

  crossing uneven terrain.

  The disadvantages of trencher excavators

  classics led to the realization of the pre-

  feels adjustable excavator and its means of com

  which allow the operator to maintain an angle of

  constant digging at variable digging depths.

  The adjustable excavator of the present invention comprises a polygonal frame provided with a hydraulic cylinder

  to allow the operator to raise or lower the pro-

  digger from the operator's seat. The châs-

  located in the form of a parallelogram

  around the periphery of which an excavator chain is

  drag and one of the angles of which is pivotally mounted on the

  tractor. The chassis, in a first embodiment, comprises

  takes two opposite end elements, excavator and not ex-

  cavator, of the same length, and two opposite lateral elements, excavator and non-excavator, of the same length, the end elements and the lateral elements being articulated between

  them at their ends to form a deformed parallelogram

  mable. According to another embodiment, the side elements

  opposites can be linked together

  linked by links located inside with respect to

  ends of opposite side members.

  In the preferred embodiment, the hydraulic cylinder

  lique is connected between one of the side elements and an ele

  end in such a way that when the cylinder

  is fully extended, the small internal angles of the

  rallelogram are equal to 60 ', which is the hollow angle-

  preferred. If the trencher is moving on level ground

  and if the hydraulic cylinder is fully extended, the operation

  can position the excavator side of the chassis at the desired digging angle of 600 by lowering the excavator chassis

  in the ground until it finds that the non-ex-

  chassis frame is parallel to the ground surface. Under these conditions, the internal angle between the excavator side of the

  chassis and its excavator end is equal to 1200 and the ex-

  the excavator end of the chassis is parallel to the ground surface, at the bottom of the trench. So the present construction

  allows the operator to keep the digging angle

  You can do this by visually observing the non-excavating end of the chassis and keeping it parallel to the ground surface while the machine is moving on relatively level ground. An advantage of the present construction is that once the excavator is positioned in the ground at the desired digging angle, it tends to remain at this angle of

  digging even when the machine then encounters a ter-

  uneven rain. This advantageous characteristic is obtained from the fact that the excavator side and the excavator end of the

  parallelogram-shaped chassis generate components

  antagonistic vertical and horizontal strength health tan-

  say that conventional excavating elinders only generate vertical or rotational force components. The

  rotational forces generated by the excavator side of the chassis

  if they are counterbalanced by the rotational forces generated

  dredged by the excavating end of the chassis, which holds the chassis in place after it has been initially set to the desired digging angle. Thus, the excavator tends to stay at the desired digging angle after it

  was placed there, whatever the regularity or the irregularity

  evenness of the ground on which the machine moves.

  When you want to increase the digging depth on even or uneven ground, you retract the cylinder which

  causes the flattened chassis to flatten out

  gram so the internal angle between the excavator side

  of the chassis and the excavator end of the chassis exceeds 1200.

  This procedure is particularly useful when the ter-

  rain is uneven and we want the bottom of the trench

  remains approximately straight. Thus, this cons-

  truction allows the operator to raise or lower the pro-

  digging digger by deploying or retracting selectively-

  the hydraulic cylinder. In addition, there is no need

  lengthen or shorten the excavator chain to obtain

  define variable digging depths.

  The present construction also eliminates the need to use a cleaning shoe which is normally attached to the excavator to clean the bottom of the trench during the digging operation. The excavating end of the parallelogram-shaped chassis performs the function of

  cleaning which is normally carried out by the cleaning shoe

toyage.

  The present invention also relates to a device

  control device, such as a laser, which can be used to control the digging of a trench of the drainage trench type in uneven ground if it is desired

  that the bottom of the trench remains on an approximate line-

  right. We used lasers and

  similar in combination with devices, such as leveling and paving machines, to maintain an approximately level surface. Such devices can be adapted to control the hydraulic cylinder which

  is coupled to the excavator chassis in the form of a parallel

  gram of the present invention for deploying and retracting the

  cylinder as required to maintain a tran bottom

relatively straight.

  An arrangement for controlling the hydraulic cylinder comprising

  takes a laser beam emitter mounted on a tripod

  glable or the like at the end of a trench line. An adjustable receiving device is mounted on the chassis which

  pivoting door the excavator in the form of a parallel

  logram to receive an emitted laser beam. When the trencher moves along the trench path the beam

  laser strikes the receiving device at vertically located

  different cals which depend on the profile of the ground on which the machine moves. The cylinder is deployed or retracted to

  widen or flatten the excavator chassis in response to a

  corresponding general of the receiving device so

  line the bottom of the trench approximately in a straight line. Other advantages and advantageous characteristics of the adjustable excavator of the present invention will be

  better understood on reading the description which follows

  of its preferred embodiments and examining the res-

  annexed drawings and annexed drawings in which:

  Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a ma-

  earthmoving china using the adjustable excavator elind of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the adjustable excavator and its control means, this view showing the maintenance of a preferred digging angle at variable digging depths; and

  Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a ma-

  earthmoving china using another embodiment

of the excavator.

  There is shown in Figs. 1 to 3 a slicer with

  of the adjustable excavator according to the present invention.

  The tractor 10 is provided with a polygonal excavator chassis

  glable 12 which projects rearwards and which is pivotally mounted at one of its angles by means of a pivot axis 14

  on a chassis 16 carried by the tractor.

  The chassis 12 of the excavator is in the form of a pa-

  reelogram with an excavator chain 18 of the trans-

  endless carrier driven around its periphery. The excavator chassis 12, in a preferred embodiment which has been shown in FIG. 1, has two opposite end elements, excavator and non-excavator, of the same length, 20, 22 and two opposite lateral elements, excavator and non-excavator,

  of the same length, 24, 26. The end elements and the elements

  side elements 20 to 26, are hinged together at their gender

  hoppers by means of axis 14 and an axis 28 to form a deformable parallelogram. Pulleys 30 are mounted on the

  angles of the chassis 12 to allow the chain 18 to be

  rotational drag around the periphery of the chassis. A conventional chain drive and lifting mechanism (not shown) is mounted in the chassis 16 for lifting

  and lower the chassis 12 and to drive the excavated chain

endless trice 18.

  In Figs. 1 and 2, we can see that a hydraulic cylinder

  lique 32 is connected between one of the side elements, the element

  ment 24, and an end element, element 22, for per-

  put the operator to raise and lower the digging depth from the operator's seat. When the jack 32 is fully extended, as shown in FIG. 1,

  the small internal angles of the chassis 12 in the form of a parallel

  logram are equal to 60, the preferred digging angle. If the trencher is moving on level ground and the cylinder 32 is fully extended, the operator can position the excavator side 24 of the chassis 12 at the desired digging angle of 600 by lowering the chassis 12 into the ground until what he visually observes that the non-excavating end 22 of the

  chassis is parallel to the surface 34 of the ground. Under these conditions

  tions, the excavating end 20 of the chassis 12 is also parallel to the surface 34 of the ground at the bottom 36 of the trench and

  the internal angle between the excavator side 24 and the end ex-

  frame 20 is equal to 1200.

  So the present construction provides a means thanks

  to which the operator can easily adjust the excava-

  tor 12 at the desired digging angle of 60 'when digging-

  ment of a trench in relatively even ground. The opera-

  teur maintains the desired digging angle visually by observing the non-excavating end 22 of the chassis 12 and

  keeping it parallel to the ground surface 34, which means

  the excavator side 24 of the chassis is positioned at

the desired digging angle.

  An advantage of the present construction is that once the excavator is positioned in the ground at

  the desired angle, it tends to stay at this angle of digging

  even if uneven ground is then encountered. This characteristic results from the fact that the excavator side 24 and the excavator end 20 generate force components

  vertical and horizontal antagonistic during the digging.

  The rotational forces generated by the excavator side 24 of the chassis are counterbalanced by the forces generated by the excavator end 20 of the chassis, thus holding the chassis in place after it has been initially positioned at the desired digging angle . Thus, the excavator 12 tends to remain at the desired digging angle, after

  that it was positioned there regardless of equality or

  negality of the terrain on which the machine moves.

  When it is desired to increase the digging depth in plain or uneven ground, the hydraulic cylinder 32 is retracted, which flattens the chassis 12 in the form of a parallelogram so that the internal angle between the excavator side 24 and the excavator end 20 exceeds 1200,

  as shown in Fig. 2. This operating mode is parti-

  especially useful when the terrain is uneven and you want the bottom of the trench to remain on an approximately straight line. Thus, the present construction allows the operator to raise and lower the digging depth by selectively deploying or retracting the

  hydraulic cylinder 32. In addition, it is not necessary to

  lengthen or shorten the excavator chain to obtain

  varying digging depths.

  The present invention also eliminates the need to use the cleaning shoe which is normally attached to the excavator to clean the bottom 36 of the

  cut during the digging operation. The exca-

  vatrice 20 of the chassis 12 in the form of a parallelogram fulfills the cleaning function normally performed by the shoe

of cleaning.

  The present invention also relates to a device

  control, such as a laser, which can be used to

  order the digging of a trench, such as a drainage trench, in uneven ground in the case where it is desired

  that the bottom of the trench remains on an approximate line-

  right. Lasers and other semi-

  have already been used in combination with devices, such as leveling and paving machines, to maintain an approximately level surface. Such devices can be adapted to control the hydraulic cylinder 32 which is connected to the excavator chassis in

  parallelogram form of the present invention for

  bend and retract cylinder 32 as necessary

  to maintain an approximately straight trench bottom

  line. An arrangement for controlling the hydraulic cylinder 32 has been shown in FIG. 2 and it comprises a laser beam emitter 38 mounted on an adjustable tripod or the like at the end of a trench line. A receiving device

  adjustable 40 is mounted on the chassis 16 to receive a beam

  laser beam emitted 42. The automatic laser device "AccuSweep", model 721, manufactured by the company CLS Industries, Inc. is

  an example of one of the devices which can be adapted to

  apply the hydraulic cylinder 32 as described here.

  When the trencher moves along the trench path,

  the laser beam 42 strikes the receiving device 40 at different times

  different vertical locations according to the profile of the terrain on

  which the machine is moving. The hydraulic cylinder 32 is

  bent or retracted to widen or flatten the excava-

  counter 12 in response to a corresponding signal from the retrieval device

  receiver 40 so as to maintain the bottom 36 of the trench ap-

  approximately in a straight line.

  There is shown in FIG. 3 another embodiment

  tion of the excavator frame 12 in the form of a parallelogram.

  In this other embodiment, the lateral elements op-

  excavator and non-excavator, 24, 26 are connected between

  them pivotally by connecting rods 46 which are articulated

  abutments to the lateral elements at locations located

  the interior with respect to the ends of the side elements.

  The hydraulic cylinder 32 is connected between the lateral elements

  to allow the operator to raise or lower the digging depth from the operator's seat, as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1. The operation and the advantages of the parallelogram-shaped excavator in FIG. 3 are the same as those of the excavation line shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. It will be clear to those skilled in the art

  that the foregoing description has been given only by way of

  non-limiting lustration and that the invention is not limited

  than to the extent defined by the appended claims.

Claims (1)

CLAIM   1 - A slicer comprising a frame (12) of elinda   rear protruding pivotally mounted on   a tractor (10), means for driving an excess chain   vatrice (18) mounted on the elind frame, the ele frame   the excavator can be moved to an ac-   tive to dig a trench, this trencher being charac-   characterized in that: the frame of the excavator is made up of   killed by a parallelogram of means of rotation (30) being   designed to mount the excavator chain around the periphery   of said excavator frame and a corner of the excavator frame being pivotally mounted on a frame of   mounting (16) mounted on the tractor; that the chassis of   the excavator has two opposite end elements, excavator and non-excavator (20, 22), of the same length, and two opposite side elements, excavator and non-excavator, (24, 26), of the same length, the end elements and the   side elements being hinged together at their ends   tees to form a deformable parallelogram, the ex-   excavator end working along the bottom (36) of the trench and the excavator side member working along the side of the trench; in that a hydraulic cylinder (32) is connected to the excavator frame in such a way that, when the cylinder is fully extended, the small internal angles of the parallelogram are equal to 60 and   the internal angle between the excavator side element and the element   the excavator end of the chassis is 1200 so that the excavator structure can be adjusted to a preferred digging angle of 60 relative to a horizontal reference plane by lowering the excavator chassis into the trench up to '' that the non-excavating end element of the chassis is parallel to the horizontal reference plane and that the cylinder is selectively retracted   to flatten the frame of the excavator in the form of a   extrapolate so that the internal angle between the element   excavator end piece and side excavator element   of the chassis exceeds 1200 to dig at depths   rables at this preferred digging angle; and in that 1 1 control means (38, 40) are provided to deploy and retract the hydraulic cylinder as necessary to   maintain a relatively straight trench bottom.