GB2615537A

GB2615537A - Wear pad for a telehandler

Info

Publication number: GB2615537A
Application number: GB2201657.0A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Massey Andrew
Original assignee: Caterpillar Inc
Current assignee: Caterpillar Inc
Priority date: 2022-02-09
Filing date: 2022-02-09
Publication date: 2023-08-16
Anticipated expiration: 2042-02-09
Also published as: GB2615537B

Abstract

A wear pad 20, for a telehandler 10, comprises a pad body 21 which extends across a thickness 22 between opposing sliding and mount surfaces 23. The sliding surface 23 is configured for a sliding boom section 14 to slide during which the sliding boom section 14 wears down a thickness 22 of the pad body 21. A wear sensor slot 40 is located at an edge of the pad body 21, extends through a thickness 22 of the pad body 21 and is configured for receiving a wear sensor 30, e.g., a potentiometer, such that the wear sensor 30 is at least partially enclosed by the pad body 21. The wear sensor 30 measures the wear of the pad body 21 when the sliding boom section 14 wears down the thickness 22 of the pad body 21. A plurality of the wear sensors 30 may be provided in different locations so as to provide a wear monitoring system which comprises a controller and an alert system. Reference is also made to a method of monitoring wear.

Description

WEAR PAD FOR A TELEHANDLER

Technical Field

This disclosure is directed towards a wear pad, particularly for a telehandler, a machine or telehandler comprising such a wear pad and a method of identifying the wear of a wear pad.

Background

Machines, such as telehandlers, commonly comprise one or more sacrificial and replaceable wear pads for location between two in-contact moving parts. Telehandlers, also known as telescopic handlers or roto telehandlers, typically comprise an extendable boom or telescopic cylinder to which a work tool, such as a fork or bucket, can be attached. The extendable boom comprises a main boom section attached to the main body of the telehandler via a hinge and a telescopic boom section mounted in the main boom section. The telescopic boom section is slidable along the main boom section between retracted and extended orientations. The telehandler may have further telescopic boom sections mounted within another telescopic boom section.

One or more wear pads are located between the boom sections where they would otherwise contact one another and are configured to sacrificially wear during use. The wear pads are replaced during servicing or earlier if they reach their maximum wear.

DE102018115872A1, published in the name of LIEBHERR WERK TELF GMBH, discloses wear detection devices to assist operators in the identification of the state of wear of a sliding element having a sliding surface for guiding a movable telescopic section.

Summary

The present disclosure therefore provides a wear pad for a telehandler, the wear pad comprising: a pad body extending across a thickness between opposing sliding and mount surfaces, the sliding surface being configured for a sliding boom section to slide therealong during which the sliding boom section wears down the thickness of the pad body; and a wear sensor slot extending through the thickness of the pad body and configured for receiving a wear sensor, for measuring the wear of the pad body when the sliding boom section wears down the thickness of the pad body, such that the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body.

The present disclosure further provides a wear pad arrangement comprising the aforementioned wear pad and a wear sensor mounted in the wear sensor slot for measuring the wear of the pad body, wherein the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body.

The present disclosure further provides a telehandler comprising the aforementioned wear pad arrangement.

The present disclosure further provides a method of monitoring the wear of a wear pad of a wear pad arrangement of a telehandler, the wear pad arrangement comprising: a pad body extending across a thickness between opposing sliding and mount surfaces; a wear sensor; and a wear sensor slot extending through the thickness of the pad body and receiving the wear sensor therein such that the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body, wherein the method comprises: sliding a sliding boom section of the telehandler along the sliding surface, thereby wearing down the thickness of the pad body; and determining the wear of the wear pad via the wear sensor.

Brief Description of the Drawinqs

By way of example only, embodiments of the present disclosure are now described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a schematic side elevation of a telehandler comprising a wear pad arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure; FIGURE 2 is a cross-section side elevation of a portion of a boom of the telehandler of Figure 1 showing wear pads of the wear pad arrangement; FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a wear pad mounted on a boom section of the telehandler of Figure 1; FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional side view through section A-A of Figure 3; and FIGURE 5 is a schematic of the wear pad arrangement for the telehandler of Figure 1.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure is generally directed towards a wear pad for a telehandler and a wear pad monitoring system for monitoring the wear of such a wear pad. The wear pad is located between boom sections sliding relative to one another and is shaped to receive a wear sensor for measuring the wear of the wear pad. The wear pad comprises a wear sensor slot in which the wear sensor is located. The data from the sensor is used to inform the operator of the amount of wear on the wear pad.

Figure 1 illustrates a telehandler 10 comprising the wear pad 20 of the present invention. The telehandler 10, also known as a telescopic handler, may be any type of telehandler, such as a roto or rotating telehandler. The telehandler 10 comprises a chassis or main body 11 and a boom 12 mounted thereto at a boom hinge 13. The boom 12 comprises a main boom section 14 and a telescopic boom section 15 mounted to the main boom section 14. A work tool 16, in this case a fork, is attached to the telescopic section 15 for performing work.

As illustrated further in Figure 2, the telescopic boom section 15 is retractably mounted inside the main boom section 14 such that the telescopic boom section 15 is slidable relative to the main boom section 14 along a sliding direction 80. The telehandler 10 comprises a wear pad arrangement 17 comprising a wear monitoring system 18 and at least one wear pad 20, as illustrated in Figure 5.

The at least one wear pad 20 is located between boom sections 14, 15 and the boom sections 14, 15 may slide relative to one another along the wear pad 20. Typically the telehandler 10 and wear pad arrangement 17 comprise a plurality of wear pads 20 between the boom sections 14, 15. Two upper and lower wear pads 20 are illustrated, although further wear pads 20 may be located on the left and right side and the top and bottom of the main boom section 14. The following description in relation to a single wear pad 20 may equally apply to some or all of the other wear pads 20.

The wear pad 20 is mounted to the main boom section 14 such that the telescopic boom section 15 slides along it or the wear pad 20 is mounted to the telescopic boom section 15 such that the main boom section 14 slides along it. The boom section 14, 15 to which the wear pad 20 is mounted may be referred to as the pad mounted boom section 14, 15 and the boom section 14, 15 that slides along the wear pad 20 may be referred to as the sliding boom section 14, 15. There may be no contact between the boom sections 14, 15 during extension and retraction other than via the wear pad(s) 20.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the wear pad 20 comprises a pad body 21 extending across a thickness 22 between a sliding surface 23, which is configured for the sliding boom section 14, 15 to slide therealong, and an opposing mount surface 24, which may face and be mounted to the pad mounted boom section 14, 15. Hence, the wear pad 20 is mounted to the pad mounted boom section 14, 15 and the sliding boom section 14, 15 is configured to 4 -slide relative to the pad mounted boom section 14, 15 along the sliding surface 23 of the wear pad 20, particularly in the sliding direction 80.

The wear pad 20 and pad body 21 may be a plate and the dimensions across the sliding and/or mount surfaces 23, 24 may be substantially greater than the thickness 22. The wear pad 20 may be elongate along the sliding direction 80 as illustrated. The sliding and/or mount surfaces 23, 24 may be substantially rectangular and the wear pad 20 and pad body 21 may be a substantially rectangular cuboid.

The wear pad 20 may be mounted into a pad mount (not illustrated), such as a recessed plate, the pad mount being attached to the pad mounted boom section 14, 15. The wear pad 20 may comprise at least one pad fixing 26, such as threaded inserts 26 as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, for releasably mounting the wear pad 20 to the pad mount or pad mounted boom section 14, such as via fasteners or bolts 25.

The pad body 21 comprises a suitable pad material for wearing away during use. The pad material may have a lower hardness than the boom sections 14, 15 such that it wears away rather than the sliding boom section 14, 15. The pad material may, for example, comprise nylon.

In use, the thickness 22 of the wear pad 20 reduces due to the sliding contact of the sliding boom section 14, 15 upon it. As illustrated in Figure 5, the wear monitoring system 18 is connected to the wear pad(s) 20 and is arranged for detecting the wear of the wear pad(s) 20. In the present disclosure the term "wear" refers to a reduction in thickness from an original, predetermined and pre-installation thickness 22 due to the removal of the pad material during the sliding contact of the sliding boom section 14, 15 upon the wear pad 20.

The wear pad arrangement 17 and wear monitoring system 18 comprise a wear sensor 30 for measuring or determining the wear of the wear pad 20. The wear sensor 30 may, for example, measure the thickness 22 of the wear pad 20 and may comprise a potentiometer, as is known in the art for wear sensors 30.

The wear sensor 30 may be mounted adjacent to the wear pad 20 and/or pad body 21 and may be mounted to the pad mounted boom section 14. The wear sensor 30 may be secured to the pad mounted boom section 14 by a sensor clamp 32, which may be removable for removing the wear sensor 30, and the sensor clamp 32 may be attached to

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the pad mounted boom section 14 by a clamp fastener 31. The wear sensor 30 may also be at least partially mounted to the wear pad 20.

The wear pad 20 comprises a wear sensor slot 40 extending through the thickness 22 of the pad body 21 and the wear sensor 30 is mounted in the wear sensor slot 40 so as to be at least partially enclosed or surrounded by the pad body 21. The wear sensor slot 40 is shaped or configured for receiving the wear sensor 30 such that the wear sensor 30 is at least partially enclosed by the pad body 21 and the shape of the wear sensor slot 40 may be substantially the same as the shape of the wear sensor 30.

The wear sensor slot 40 may extend across the entire thickness 22 of the pad body 21 between the sliding and mount surfaces 23, 24, as illustrated in Figure 4. The wear sensor slot 40 may alternatively extend across only part of the thickness 22 of the pad body 21.

In the wear sensor slot 40, the pad body 21 may at least partially extend along at least two sides of the wear sensor 30 as illustrated in Figure 3. By at least partially enclosing or surrounding the wear sensor 30, the pad body 21 may protect or shield the wear sensor 30. The pad body 21 may be configured to protect the wear sensor 30 from at least two directions. The at least two directions may be perpendicular to each other and may be in a plane parallel to the sliding and/or mount surfaces 23, 24. In particular, the at least two directions may comprise the sliding direction 80 and a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction 80, as in Figure 3.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the wear sensor slot 40 may be located at an edge 41 of the pad body 21 and may be a concave recess or cut-out located at the edge 41. The wear sensor slot 40 may therefore extend into the pad body 21. The wear sensor slot 40 may comprise a concave recess or cut-out in an otherwise straight portion of the edge 41. In particular, the wear sensor slot 40 may form a corner of the pad body 21. The pad body 21 may comprises three further right angle corners in addition to the corner formed by the wear sensor slot 40.

The footprint, or view of the sliding and/or mount surfaces 23, 24 in plan view as in Figure 3, of the pad body 21 and wear sensor slot 40 together may substantially form a polygon, quadrilateral, square and/or rectangle. The wear sensor 30 may extend into the footprint, having a portion extending from the wear sensor slot 40 as shown in Figures 2 to 5. 6 -

The wear sensor slot 40 may also comprise an aperture (not illustrated) extending at least partially through the thickness of the pad body 21 and separated from the edge 41 of the pad body 21. Therefore, the wear sensor 30 may be entirely surrounded by the pad body 21 other than at the sliding and/or mount surfaces 23, 24.

The telehandler 10 may comprise a plurality of wear pads 20 with the wear sensor slot 40 located differently in at least two of the wear pads 20. In particular, the wear sensor slot 40 of a first wear pad 20 may be located at an edge of the pad body 21 and the wear sensor slot 40 of a second wear pad 20 may comprise an aperture through the pad body 21. The wear sensor slot 40 may located differently in at least four, at least six or at least eight of the wear pads 20.

The wear sensor 30 is configured to provide data indicative of the wear or % wear of the wear pad 20, particularly to a controller 50. The wear sensor 30 may be configured to determine the wear of the wear pad 20 at any wear (i.e. continuously measure wear rather than discretely measure certain wear depths). The wear monitoring system 18 may comprise the controller 50, which may be an engine control unit or auxiliary engine control unit.

The wear monitoring system 18 may comprise a main harness 53 extending between the controller 50 and wear sensor 30. As shown in Figure 4, the wear pad arrangement 17 and wear monitoring system 18 may comprise a wear sensor cable 54 extending from the wear sensor 30 through the pad mounted boom section 14 and the wear sensor cable 54 may be connected to and/or extend through the main harness 53 for providing communication between the controller 50 and wear sensor 30.

The controller 50 may be connected, such as via the main harness 53, to a plurality of wear sensors 30 for measuring the wear of a plurality of wear pads 20 at different locations in the telehandler 10. Each wear sensor 30 may be connected to the controller 50 via different input/output pins of the controller 50.

The wear pad arrangement 17, particularly the wear monitoring system 18, may further comprises an alert system 60 for alerting an operator as to the wear of the wear pad(s) 20. The alert system 60 may be connected to the controller 50 and may receive signals therefrom indicative of the wear of the wear pad(s) 20. The alert system 60 may comprise 7 -an alert device 61, such as a display, gauge, light or the like, for informing the operator of the status of the wear pad 20.

The wear pad arrangement 17 may comprise a communication device 62 for wirelessly communicating information relating to the wear of the wear pad(s) 20 to a remote computing system 70. The communication device 62 may be a transceiver and may be connected to or form part of the controller 50 and/or alert system 60. The information or data relating to the wear of the wear pad(s) 20 may be stored on the controller 50 and/or communicated via the communication device 62 to the remote computing system 70. The wear data may store the amount of wear or wear depth and time at which the amount of wear or wear depth was reached. The remote computing system 70 may be that of the owner, manufacturer and/or supplier of the telehandler 10 and the wear data may be utilised to track the wear across multiple telehandlers 10. The wear data may be utilised in the controller 50 and/or remote computing system 70 to determine the rate of wear.

In the method of monitoring the wear of the wear pad 20, the sliding boom section 14, 15 is slid along the sliding surface 23, thereby wearing down the thickness 22 of the pad body 21. As the sliding boom section 14, 15 wears down the thickness 22 of the pad body 21, the wear sensor 30 monitors the wear of the pad body 21. The method may comprise alerting the operator as to the wear of the pad body 21 based upon the output from the wear sensor 30.

The controller 50 may receive data indicative of the wear of the wear pad 20 from the wear sensor 30 via the main harness 53. The alert system 60 may receive data indicative of the wear from the controller 50 and may alert the operator via the alert device 61 of the wear depth reached. For example, the alert device 61 may be a display that graphically shows the wear depth reached (e.g. shows 25%, 50%, 75% and/or 100% worn).

At a first wear depth (e.g. at 25% worn), no alert may be provided to the operator by the alert system 60. The reaching of the first wear depth may be stored in the controller 50 and the operator may be able to identify that the wear pad 20 is at the first wear depth in, for example, a settings or vehicle information menu of a display 61.

At a second wear depth 41 (e.g. at 50% worn), a second wear depth alert may be provided to the operator by the alert system 60. The second wear depth alert may only be shown on the alert device 61 at start up of the telehandler 10. 8 -

At a third wear depth 42 (e.g. at 75% worn), a third wear depth alert may be provided to the operator by the alert system 60. The third wear depth alert may be shown on the alert device 61 only at start up and/or continually during use of the telehandler 10 and may be visually different to that of the second wear depth alert (e.g. a different colour of light).

At a fourth wear depth 42 (e.g. at almost 100% or 100% worn), a fourth wear depth alert may be provided to the operator by the alert system 60. The fourth wear depth alert may be shown continually during use of the telehandler 10 and may be visually different to that of the second and/or third wear depth alert. The fourth wear depth alert may indicate to the operator that they must stop using the boom 12 and/or telehandler 10.

At each wear depth, wear data indicating that the wear pad 20 has reached the respective wear depth may be communicated to the remote computing system 70 where it may be stored with the time it was reached.

Industrial Applicability

By virtue of being able to intelligently track the wear of the wear pad 20, the need to manually check the wear is avoided. This reduces downtime, costs and also means that the need to replace the wear pad 20 can be identified early on without a manual check.

The incorporation of a wear sensor 30 to substantially continuously measure the wear of the wear pad 20 means that the wear can be continuously tracked and servicing scheduled appropriately. Furthermore, uses resulting in high rates of wear of the wear pad 20 can be identified. In addition, the wear data on the controller 50 or remote computing system 70 can be used to automatically identify when to order new wear pads 20 in advance of them needing replacing and the wear tracked remotely, such as by a telehandler owner renting the telehandler 10 to operators.

The location of the wear pad 20 in the wear sensor slot 40 improves protection of the wear sensor 30 from damage both during installation and during use of the telehandler 10. In addition, by locating the wear sensor slot 40 differently in different wear pads 20 in the telehandler 10, the wear pads 20 can be configured to receive the wear sensor 30 at the most suitable location for each wear pad 20.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A wear pad for a telehandler, the wear pad comprising: a pad body extending across a thickness between opposing sliding and mount surfaces, the sliding surface being configured for a sliding boom section to slide therealong during which the sliding boom section wears down the thickness of the pad body; and a wear sensor slot extending through the thickness of the pad body and configured for receiving a wear sensor, for measuring the wear of the pad body when the sliding boom section wears down the thickness of the pad body, such that the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body.
2. A wear pad as claimed in claim 1 wherein the wear sensor slot is located at an edge of the pad body.
3. A wear pad as claimed in claim 2 wherein the wear sensor slot is a concave recess or cut-out located at the edge of the pad body.
4. A wear pad as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the wear sensor slot forms a corner of the pad body and/or the pad body comprises three further perpendicular corners.
5. A wear pad as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the wear sensor slot extends across the entire thickness of the pad body between the sliding and mount surfaces.
6. A wear pad arrangement comprising the wear pad of any one of the preceding claims and a wear sensor mounted in the wear sensor slot for measuring the wear of the pad body, wherein the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body.
7. A wear pad arrangement as claimed in claim 6 wherein, in the wear sensor slot, the pad body at least partially extends along at least two sides of the wear sensor.
8. A wear pad arrangement as claimed in claim 6 or claim 7 further comprising a sensor clamp for securing the wear sensor to a pad mounted boom section.
9. A wear pad arrangement as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8 further comprising a wear monitoring system connected to the wear sensor, the wear monitoring system -10 -comprising a controller connected to the wear sensor and an alert system for alerting an operator of the wear of the wear pad.
10. A telehandler comprising the wear pad arrangement of any one of claims 6 to 9.
11. A telehandler as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a mount boom section and a sliding boom section, wherein the wear pad is mounted to the mounted boom section and the sliding boom section is configured to slide relative to the mounted boom section along the sliding surface of the wear pad.
12. A telehandler as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11 comprising a plurality of wear pad arrangements and a plurality of wear pads, the wear sensor slot being located differently in at least two of the wear pads.
13. A method of monitoring the wear of a wear pad of a wear pad arrangement of a telehandler, the wear pad arrangement comprising: a pad body extending across a thickness between opposing sliding and mount surfaces; a wear sensor; and a wear sensor slot extending through the thickness of the pad body and receiving the wear sensor therein such that the wear sensor is at least partially enclosed by the pad body, wherein the method comprises: sliding a sliding boom section of the telehandler along the sliding surface, thereby wearing down the thickness of the pad body; and determining the wear of the wear pad via the wear sensor.
14. A method as claimed in claim 13 further comprising receiving signals at a controller from the wear sensor indicative of the wear of the wear pad and alerting an operator as to the wear of the wear pad.