US1159173A

US1159173A - Excavating-machine.

Info

Publication number: US1159173A
Application number: US45129708A
Authority: US
Inventors: Morton G Bunnell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1908-09-02
Filing date: 1908-09-02
Publication date: 1915-11-02
Anticipated expiration: 1932-11-02

Description

M. G. BUNNELL.

EXCAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2. 1908.

1 1 59, 173. Patented Nov. 2, 1915.

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M. G. BUNNELL.

EXCAVATING MACHINE. APPUCATION FILED SEPT. 2. 1908.

1,1 59,1'73. I Patentd Nov. 2, 1915.

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MORTON BUNNELL 0F GHICAGQ J SIGNQR T0 FREDERICK o. AUSTIN, on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I s I v EXGAVATING-MACHINE.

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Application filed September 2, 190's. Seria1No. 451,297.

To'all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, MORTON Gr. BUNNELL, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, have invented-a certain new and useful Improvement in Excavating-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to excavating machinery in general, but more particularly to machines for making ditches or trenches.

Generally stated, therefore, the object of my invention is the provision of an improved excavating and ditching machine.

A special object is the provision of a machine adapted more particularly for making ditches or trenches on a hill-side, which obviously involves some problems and difiiculties not true of ordinary work on a level stretch of ground. I

Another object is the provision of a machine which will not only work on a hillside, but which will also deposit all of the dirt at the lower side thereof, whereby the lower side of the ditch will be given an embankment sufficient to insure a ditch or trench of the desired depth and capacity.

A further object is to provide a machine of this kind that may be reversed to throw the dirt either tothe right or the left, thus making it possible to work from a hill sloping in one direction to ahill sloping in the opposite direction,"without turning the machine around.

To the foregoing and other useful ends, my invention conslsts in matters hereinafter 'set forth and claimed In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a rear elevation of an excavating machlne em'bodylng the princlples ofmy invention,

showing the method ofusing the same for hill-side work.

Fig. 2'is aside elevation of saidmachine, partly 1n section, the section I being taken on line 22 in Fig. 1, looking in 'the'direction indicated by the arrows, showing the method'by which the machine cuts or works down into the hill-side to the desired depth, advancing step by step and throwing all the dirt down hill, thus forming an em bankment on the downhill side of the ditch, as shown in Fig. 1. I r

As thus illustrated, my invention comprises a suitable body A mounted on trucks B of any suitable, known or approved character. its forward end the said body is provided with an upright fr'ame .0 provided at its upper end with sheaves c, A

vertically sliding frame'Dis supported and guided in its up and down movements'by the frame C, and provided with sheaves d,

whiclr latter are preferably se'tlwith their common'aXis of rotation. extending hori- 'zontally atright angles to the separate and The frame clined positions by stay rods 6 and 6';

Sprocket wheels F and F are mounted respectively on the upper ends of the run-ways E and E, which latter project upwardly and outwardly from the opposite sides of the .movable frame D, tlbeing observed that the run-way E is preferably longer than the other. An endless link. belt Gr is trained 7 over the sprockets F and F and under the sprockets cZ-d, and is provided on its face or outer side with cutters g which act on the face of the cut to giveclearance for thelbelt,

as shown in Fig. 2.1 Said belt isalso provided with blades 9' that are so disposed thereon as to enable them collectively to 0perate on the groundfor the'full width of the belt, although each blade is narrower than the belt. Sufficient slack is provided in the belt to enable thes'arne 'to rest'on thee rolls d d the lower outer portions of the chain beinghelddown to its work bythe run-ways E and E, and at itsniidolle by I the lower cross run-way H that connects the two sides of the frame D., It will also be seen that the frame C has side members that 1.

serve asiguides for the frameD, and that have lower end portions c'- that reach down below the body A sufiiciently toenable the excavating belt to fall tovthe level of the bottom of the ditch, as shown in Fig. 2. A pair of frames Lone at each side of the machine, connects the end "frame (3 withthe rear of the body A, thus insuring a strong and rigid structure for holding the excavating belt and its supporting frame in an up rightjposition w i Shea-yes J are prov ded on the floor of the body A, and a hoisting and lowering cable K is arranged to run on all of said sheaves, said cable being connected with the drum is operated at the rear of the body of the en gine is. At one side of the machine the sprocket wheel d has its journal or shaft provided with a gear wheel L that meshes with a pinion Z on a shaft Z journaled in bearings on the frame I). This gearing constitutes a means for operating the belt while it is moving bodily downward. A tumbling rod M connects the shaft Z with suitable gearing m operated by said engine, said rod having the usual telescoping connection m permitting the frame D to move up and down, whereby the requisite power is transmitted from the engine to run the excavatdirt in the opposite direction.

ing belt while thelatter is slowly settling or moving down, Of course, though, any suitable or well known operating connection may be employed for driving the belt.v A boiler N disposed on the rear end of the body A furnishes the stream for the said engine.

In operation, the excavating belt is hoisted by the cable K and then allowed to rest on the ground with the run-way E extending down hill and the run-way E extending up hill. The belt is then driven in the direction of the arrows, with the result that the dirt is torn up and conveyed across the path of travel of the machine to the downhill side and there discharged to make an embankment for the lower side of the ditch. As shown in Fig. l, the belt is working downward, and will continue to do so until it reaches the line X, which latter represents the. outline of the ditch in cross section, while the line Y represents the slope or incline of'the hill side upon which the machine is working. As soon as the excavator belt has cut its way down to the level of the floor or bottomof the. ditch, then the belt is'hoisted above the ground, the machine is moved forward a distance equal to the width of the belt, and then the latter is again started on its downward course. Thus the ditch ismade by a stepby-step movement .of the machine in the direction desired'therefor, the two banks being flaring in cross section, and the greater length of the belt on the up-hill side insuring a bank that is smooth and sloping from top to bottom. The run-ways E and E and the supports 6 and e are made adjustable, as by adding or taking outsections thereof, so that the longer run-way-can be made shorter and the shorter run-way made longer, thus reversing the conditions shown in the drawings. The belt G can then be taken off and reversed, so as to carry the With this provision, therefore, the machine can be reversed to throw the dirt to the opposite side,

depending on the requirements of th work. F or example, when the machine passes from one hill side to another having the opposite slope, then the dirt must be thrown to the other side of the machine, and this can be accomplished in the manner explained. Thus the machine can work ahead from hillside to hill-side without the necessity of turning around whenever it passes from one extending upward at the right to one extending upward at the left. And in this way side-hill ditchin is accomplished with a considerable saving of time and money.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. An excavating machine for making ditches on hill sides, comprising an endless series of-digging buckets extending transversely of the ditch, runways on which said buckets travel, disposed in position to form a ditch with flat bottom and sloping sides, means for bodily raising and lowering said runways and series of buckets, to form the ditch by a succession of downward cuts, a body having said means supported on its forward end, means for continuously operating said buckets from the upper to the lower side of the ditch, to form a spoil bank at the lower side of the ditch, and means whereby said body travels on the bottom of the ditch in rear of said buckets, each bucket discharging at the lower side of the ditch the dirt carried from the upper side-thereof.

2. An excavating machine for making ditches on hill sides, comprising an endless series of digging buckets extending transversely of the ditch, runways on which said buckets travel, disposed in position to form a ditch with flat bottom and sloping sides, means for bodily raising and lowering said runways and series of buckets, to form the ditch by a succession of downward cuts, a body having said means supported on its forward end, means for continuously operating said buckets from the upper to the lower side of the ditch, to form a spoil bank at the lower side of the ditch, and means whereby said body travels on the bottom of the ditch in rear of said buckets, each bucket discharging at the lower side of the ditch the dirt carried from the upper side thereof, the runway at the upper being longer than the one at the lower side.

3. An excavating machine for making ditches on hill sides, comprising an endless series of digging buckets extending transversely of the ditch, runways on which said bucketstravel, disposed in position to form a ditch with fiat bottom and sloping sides, means .for bodily raising and lowering said runways and series of buckets, to form the ditch by a succession of downward cuts, a body having said means supported on its forward end, means forcontinuously operating said buckets from the upper to the lower side of the ditch, to form a spoil bank atthe. ing provision for permitting said up and 10 lower side of the ditch, and means whereby down movement of the runways and buckets. said body travels on the bottom of the ditch Signed by me at Chicago, Illinois, this in rear of said buckets, each bucket dis- 22nd day of August 1908. g I charging at the lower side of the ditch the dirt carried from the upper side thereof, MORTON BUNNELL said runways having sprocket wheels for Witnesses: said series of buckets, means for driving one C. E. TAYLOR, of said wheels to operate said buckets hav- ELLEN CLEGG.

Co ies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. v