GB2258854A

GB2258854A - Attachment for face shovel and back hoe excavators.

Info

Publication number: GB2258854A
Application number: GB9215919A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David William Wilson; Barrie Walker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1991-07-26
Filing date: 1992-07-27
Publication date: 1993-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2012-07-27
Also published as: GB2258854B; GB9215919D0

Abstract

An attachment for use with an articulated arm system such as a mechanical/hydraulic face shovel or back hoe excavator and for use in digging, clamping and lifting. The attachment comprises two members 11, 13, the first member is fixed to the end of the articulated arm, 5, and the second member is mounted for movement towards and away from the first by an actuator (21, Fig 2 not shown). The first and second members are fabricated from a plurality of fingers 27, 28, 29, 30; 37, 38, 39, 40, spaced apart by transverse connecting members 31. The fingers are spaced to permit the members to overlap at their free ends (see Fig 3, not shown). The first member is closed across its free end for use in digging, whilst the second has two pick-type formations. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Attachment for face shovel and back hoe excavators DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to an attachment for use with an articulated arm system such as a mechanical or hydraulic face shovel or a back hoe excavator. More particularly the invention relates to a digging, clamping, and lifting attachment.

There is an requirement to be able to extract and manipulate articles, such as rocks and trees, which is not met by the existing excavator buckets, claw buckets and finger grabs. More particularly there is a requirement for a piece of equipment which can be fitted to the end of an articulated arm in place of such an excavator bucket.

The present invention aims to meet the requirement.

Accordingly the present invention provides an attachment for an articulated arm comprising a first member, means for mounting said member from said articulated arm, and a second member mounted for movement towards and away from the first member by an actuator so that respective end portions of the first and second members can be moved towards and away from one another in the manner of a claw or pincers.

It is preferred for the first and second members to have an arcuate configuration curving between free ends and a mutual pivot point and preferably configured such that when the ends are adjacent or overlapping a holding space is defined between the members.

More particularly, at least one of the members and preferably both are constructed from a plurality of longitudinal members or fingers preferably of sheet or plate metal, and spaced apart by transverse connecting members. The thickness of the sheet or plate material in conjunction with the depth is sufficient to provide the required strength. This arrangement has the advantage of defining an open structure which as well as providing good strength to weight also has the advantage of facilitating digging through soil or gravel like material to recover larger solid items such as large rocks or trees without taking with it the smaller aggregate material. The longitudinal members preferably have concave surfaces and it is preferred for the inner members to be set back from the outer members when viewed side on.It is preferred for one member to have the free ends of the spaced finger members closed transversely to act as a useful digging member, whilst the other member preferably comprises two pick-axe like members spaced apart transversely with each being defined by the closed free ends of two adjacent finger members. More preferably the spacing of the free ends of the respective members permits overlapping cooperation. More particularly the pick-axe like ends are configured to enter between spacing of the opposing finger members to provide said overlapping at the ends.

It will be appreciated that where the attachment it to operate in relatively soft material the larger arm with closed end can be used for removing excess material whilst the spaced pick-like arms of the other member can be useful in a more arduous rocky environments for picking the way through small boulders to retrieve the laraer items. The articulation of the first and second members in conjunction with the articulation provided by the articulated arm of the apparatus enables either one of the members to be positioned for use.

The present invention will now be described further by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front and one side of the attachment according to the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view from the rear and one side of the attachment according to the invention, Figure 3 is a side view of the attachment showing the first and second members in open and closed positions, Figure 4 is a further perspective view of the attachment showing more clearly the construction of the first and second members, and Figure 5 is a side view showing a connection with a typical articulated arm machine.

A typical articulated arm machine is shown in Figure 5 and comprises a boom 1 which is raised and lowered by a pair of rams 3. At the end of the boom is a dipper arm 5 which is pivotable with respect to the boom 1 by way of ram 7. The lower end of the dipper arm is provided with means for mounting an attachment by way of a pin 6 connection and movement of that attachment with respect to the dipper arm is controlled by way of a ram 9 which may be connected to the attachment directly by way of a suitable pin connection 4 as illustrated, for example by way of a parallelogram link system. The arrangement is such that the attachment is mounted for movement on the end of the dipper arm about a hinge axis defined by pins with movement taking place in the plane of the dipper arm.The apparatus described above is fairly common for all articulated arm machines and the attachment of the present invention will now be described in further detail. This comprises a first member 11 which is provided with mounting means for attaching it to the end of the dipper arm as described.

In practice this will be a separate mounting plate either of universal type or specifically configured to suit the type of articulated arm machine with which the attachment will be used. For that purpose the first member will have a mounting flange 12 to receive the appropriate mounting plate. Pivotally connected to the first member is a second member 13 hinged about pivot axis 15 and controlled by a double acting actuating ram acting between pivot pins 17, 19 one of which is carried by the first member and the other is carried by the second member. An hydraulic supply is provided for the actuating ram 21 and associated control valve block mounted is for use by the operator on the machine. The required circuitry will be obvious to one skilled in the art and is not described in further detail.

The second member is mounted for movement towards and away from the first member under the action of the hydraulic actuator as indicated by arrow A and is shown in solid outline in its open position in which the pin of pivot axis 17 is received against a stop member 23 carried by the first member. The dotted outline shows how the first and second members can be brought into overlapping engagement at the free end whilst leaving a space 25 between the members.

The first member is made up of four longitudinal fingers 27, 28, 29 and 30 preferably cut from a sheet or plate material, eg. steel, and spaced apart by transverse members 31. These spacers may comprise a plurality of plate-like members and/or solid round or tubular members. It is preferred for the spacing between the fingers 28 and 29 to be formed by high tensile solid round bar welded through whilst the spacing between those fingers and the respective outer fingers are by way of plate-like members. These platelike members have the advantage of stabilising the adjacent fingers whilst also increasing the material retention where the member is to function in the manner of a digging arm. It will be seen that the free ends of the members 27', 28, 29, 30, ie. the ends remote from the pivot point, are closed by a transverse bar forming a spade-like end to the member and tapered in from the outside towards the centre which is advantageous for digging. It will be noted that there is effectively an open configuration to the first member by virtue of its construction from longitudinal members and transverse spacing members. The fingers each \ have a concave working surface of a width equal to the thickness of the plate material and preferably the two inner fingers have their concave surfaces set back from the outer one which are aligned in the transverse direction.The curvature of the fingers is such as to be useful for levering items and it will be seen that the fingers diverge from their free ends, with an outer surface being defined which is curved convexly and having a heel portion 20 to assist in the levering action.

Referring now to the construction of the second member it will seem that this is again formed by four longitudinal members 37, 38, 39 and 40 with members 37 and 38 closely spaced and closed off at their free ends so that the end part can fit between members 27 and 28, similarly for members 39 and 40. Spacing of members 38 and 39 is by way of transverse spacers, tubular in the example. It will be seen that the fingers define two pick-like members of arcuate configuration. The inner edges of the fingers are curved concavely whilst the outer edge is convexly curved with a small heel 22 set a short way from the free end for use in levering.

The longitudinal fingers of both the first and second members mutually have adjacent faces which are concavely curved to define a holding space therebetween.

The provision of the first and second members with pivotal movement of the second in respect of the first is particularly useful in digging out items such as tree roots or rocks since the device can be manipulated through the ground without entraining large quantities of aggregate material whilst the overall shape assists with levering out items. On the other hand the ability to be able to grab items and hold them at the free ends or more generally between the jaws allows the items to be positioned accurately compared with the prior art attachments.

Claims

1 An attachment for an articulated arm comprising a first member, means for mounting said member from said articulated arm, and a second member mounted for movement towards and away from the first member by an actuator so that respective end portions of the first and second members can be moved towards and away from one another in the manner of a claw or pincers.

2. An attachment as claimed in claim 1 in which the first and second members have an arcuate configuration curving between free ends and a mutual pivot point.

3. An attachment as claimed in claim 2 in which the first and second members are configured such that when the ends are adjacent or overlapping a holding space is defined between the members

4. An attachment as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 in which at least one of the members and preferably both are constructed from a plurality of longitudinal members or fingers and spaced apart by transverse connecting members which defines an open structure.

5. An attachment as claimed in claim 4 in which the longitudinal members have concave surfaces and the inner members are set back from the outer members when viewed side on

6. An attachment as claimed in claim 4 or 5 in which the first or second members have the free ends of the spaced finger members closed transversely to act as a useful digging member.

7. An attachment as claimed in any one of claims 4, 5 or 6 in which one of the members comprises two pickaxe like members spaced apart transversely with each being defined by closed free ends of two adjacent finger members

8. An attachment as claimed in claim 7 in which the pick-axe like ends are configured to enter between spacing of the opposing finger members to provide overlapping at the ends.

9. An attachment constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.