US2464003A

US2464003A - Grader

Info

Publication number: US2464003A
Application number: US644063A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert W Stadler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-01-29
Filing date: 1946-01-29
Publication date: 1949-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 1966-03-08

Description

March 8, 1949. w. STA'DLER GRADER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 29, 1946 Robe/5W. Stadler WIMYM/ R. W. STADLER GRADER March 8, 1949:,

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 29, 1946 Uhvenfor V I Roberi VV. Sadler March 8, 1949. R. w. STADLER 2,464,003

GRADER Filed Jan. 29 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Unveni'or -i W Si'adler a m 44$ w lil lllvlllll v QUQR Patented Mar. 8, 1949 HITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 8 Claims.

This invention relates to graders and more particularly to an instrument for use with graders.

More particularly this invention relates to an instrument for use with graders that will visibly indicate the position of the blade of the grader with respect to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader.

By the present invention I have provided a novel instrument for attachment to graders when final grading is to be performed that obviates all prexisting difiiculties experienced by operators in maintaining the desired grade and removes the necessity of depending upon visual estimate by the operator as to proper blade adjustment.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a novel instrument for use with graders which will eliminate the need for estimating grade and blade position by the operator.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a. novel instrument for use with graders that will automatically show the operator when the cutting edge of the blade is in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader.

Another and further object of the present invention is to provide a novel instrument for use with graders that will automatically show the operator when the cutting edge of the blade has left the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader, in what direction the error has occurred and will automatically indicate when the cutting edge of the blade has been brought back to this plane.

Other and further objects of the present invention will appear as the description thereof proceeds.

The several figures of the drawings show an i1- lustrative embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting or defining the present inventive concept. For this purpose reference should be made to the appended claims.

In the several figures in which like reference characters indicate similar parts,

Fig. 1 is a side view of a motor grader with one embodiment of the present invention attached thereto and recording the position of the cutting edge of the blade in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader;

Fig. 2 is a view of the embodiment of the present invention of Fig. 1 shown at right angles to the grader frame;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an expanded view of the base elements of the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7' is a View of a front end assembly suitabl for use with the present invention.

Referring now to the several figures, I0 is any suitable grader supported by rear wheels I I, front wheels 12, driven by motor l3 and provided with a frame [4. Mounted for universal movement on frame M is draw-bar carrying circle it from which is hung blade I! as by arms Hi. It is to be understood that the blade supporting structure can be of any usual or desired construction. Blade I1 is raised and lowered and adjusted angularly by any suitable and well known mechanisms here shown for illustration as driven arms it and circle drive IS.

The front end of frame [4 may be raised and lowered with respect to front wheels !2 by any suitable mechanism. As shown in Fig. '7 this mechanism may comprise a member telescopically mounted in frame it carrying front wheel axle 2i and moved into and out of frame 2% by threaded rod 22 driven by worm 23 actuated by the grader operator through drive shaft 24. Threaded rod 22 carries pin iii having an upstanding portion l'l cooperating with a scale 12 visible to the grader operator to indicate when the front end assembly is in its zero or normal position. Any suitable steering linkage is used here shown by arm 25 mounted upon shaft 26 which is rotated by the grader operator through shaft 21. The purposes of this telescoping front end assembly will appear more fully hereafter.

As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 a base plate 28 is suitably secured to the top of frame M as by arms 29 and boits 30. Base plate 28 is mounted more or less vertically above blade ll and is provided with flanges 3i forming grooves 32 and is provided with a plurality of linearly arranged holes 33. A plate 34 is mounted for sliding movement in grooves 32 and has formed therein linearly arranged holes 35 for cooperation with holes 33. A key 3% locks plates 28 and 34 in any suitable relative positions depending on the angularity of blade ll to permit members to be maintained in approximately vertical position to register Zero depth of cut.

Suitably secured to plate 84 is bar it! of square cross section with slightly rounded corners. Bar 31 is perpendicular to plate 3 and is perpendicular to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader when the grader front end essembly is in its zero or normal position. Mounted on bar 3! is ring 38 (Fig. 6) the rounded corners of bar 31 allowing free rotation of ring 38. A yoke 39 is pivoted to ring 38 as by pivots 40 and in turn supports tribes 41 by pivots 42. Tubes 4| are supported in parallel spaced relationship by plate 43 to which they are welded or otherwise suitably secured. Plate 43' is centrally recessed to .embrace bar 31. Slidably mounted in tubes ti are tubular members 4-3 arranged in parallel relationship and brought together at their ends 44 to engage and secure members 45 which extend downwardly and pivotally engage blade i'! as at 46.

A second ring 41 (Fig. 3) of square cross section is mounted for vertical movement on bar 3'! but cannot rotate about bar 31. Arms 48 are pivotally mounted on ring 41 at 49.

A third ring 50 of square cross section (Fig. ismounted for vertical movementronz-bar 31 but cannot rotate thereon. Secured to ring 50 is straight edge 5! the long sides of which are at right angles to bar 31 and therefore parallel to the plane of the supporting surfaces of grader II]. A second straight edge 52 is pivotally mounted on ring 50 at 53 and carries arms 54 pivotally engaging a brace 55 in turn pivotally engaging ringed-at 55. The upperedgesof straight edges 51 and '52 are arranged to appear in the same straight line to the :grader operator when such upper edges are parallel.

Mounted on plate 43 are ball members 51 engaged by socket members .58 .of cranks 59.

Cranks as engage cranks 59and: actuate arms :EI

which are pivoted at B2 in arms48 (Fig. 3). Arms 6! are threaded at 63 to receive turnbuckles 64. Threaded members 65 .also engage turnbuckles 5 and actuate straight edge 52 by pivotally engaging arms 54 at 66. =Cranks .59 are pivoted at 58 to plate 43and are pivoted to cranks 59 which are pivoted .in and actuate arms 65 to allow straight edges 5| and 52 to remain at right angles to the operators line of vision no matter what the angularity of blade ll may be.

Bar 31 is provided with suitable vertically-disposed indices 67 in line of vision of the grader operator to show when the cutting edge of blade I! lies in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader. Turnbuckles B4 allow adjustment of the instrument of the present invention-to take care of tire wear, blade wear and the like so that the present invention always accurately records this desired zero,position.

The instrument of the present invention .as just described while helpfuland-useful in rough grading and cutting and filling operations is designed more particularly for use in final grading after the surface to be finally graded has been tilled for uniform hardness, rough graded and compacted to support the weight of the grader so that the blade may cut with smooth uninterrupted shear at the desired grade. When this condition of surface has been reached a master cut of zero transverse grade is made down the middle of the area to be finally graded and the depth of this cut is adjusted to grade stakes. Suitable transverse and longitudinal levelling devices may be used on the grader to assure the accuracy of this master out. After the master cut is completed the grader with the instrument of the present invention mounted thereon is taken to one end of the master cut and blade I] is given the desired slopeand the grader moved "to continue with a cut of desired slope.

. line.

forward until the drive wheels reach and rest upon this newly sloped surface. Immediately thereafter blade i1 is moved into zero position, that is its cutting edge is placed in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader, at any desired angle. It is an erroneous belief among operators and designers that anything whatever is accomplished in maintaining the blade at a desired slope. The blade should be used as a tool or a means of keeping the machine supported on a desired slope, at which time the blade is returned to the zero position in order In this adjustment the grader operator need merely observe the position of straight edge 52 with respect to straight edge 5| and raise or lower .the ends of blade 1'! until the upper edges of these straight edges fall in the same straight When this coincidence is obtained the entire blade assembly is raised or lowered until the 'line of the straight edges meets the index 6'! on bar 3'! and the desired Zero position is reached. This zero position is maintained thereafter throughout thegrading operation since it is only in this-position that accurate'grading can be done and the graderzmaintained at the desired angle of slope.

With the grader blade I! in zero position the grader isrnoved. along one edgeof the master cut the operator maintaining the toe of blade IT in contact with this edge by raising or lowering the front of frame [4 by actuating shaft 24, worm 23 and rod 22. As many passes are-made with the grader as may be necessary to obtain the desired width of graded surface. On each pass themachine is given the desired slope trans-. versely and the operator maintains the toe .of blade I? in contact with'the edge of the previous out by raising and lowering the front endnof 'frameJ-d. Thus agrade ofdesired slopeis easily and accurately obtained without departing from zero position of the cuttingedge of the blade. after the grader is once placed at a transverse angle equal to the slope desired for each out.

.It will .now be'apparent thatby the present invention .1 have provided a novel instrument foruse with graders which eliminates operator estimates of grade slope andblade position, shows when the .cutting edge of the blade .is not in coincidence withthe plane of the supportingsurfacesof the grader and in which direction and shows when this zero position has been obtained.

To those skilled in the art changes to or modifications of the above described illustrative embodiment of the present invention may now be suggested without departing from the present inventive concept. To determine the scope of the present invention reference should be had to the appended claims.

What. is. claimed. is:

.1. Inan instrument of the type definedincluding a grader frame supporting a scraper blade, a base ,adjustably mounted on the top of a grader frame, an upright carried by said base,'. a straight edge mounted for vertical movement on said upright. and fixed at right angles thereto, a second straight edge mounted for vertical movement with saidfirst straight edge on saidupright and for rotational movement in a vertical plane and means connecting said second straight edge .to

the scraperblade.

2. In an instrument of the type defined'including a grader frame supportinga .scraperblade, an upright mounted on the top of a grader'frame,

.straight edges mounted together for vertical movement on said upright, one of said straight edges being fixed at right angles to said upright and the other of said straight edges being mounted for rotation in a vertical plane and adjustable means connecting the other of said straight edges to the scraper blade.

3. In a device for indicating the position of the edge of a scraper blade with respect to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader including a grader frame and scraper blade, an upright mounted on the grader frame perpendicular to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader, straight edges mounted for vertical movement together on said upright, one of said straight edges being fixed parallel to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader and the other of said straight edges being mounted for rotation in a vertical plane and linkage operatively connecting the other of said straight edges to the scraper blade.

4. In a grader including a grader frame, wheels supporting the grader frame and a scraper blade carried by the grader frame, an upright adjustable longitudinally of the grader frame and perpendicular to the plane of the supporting areas of the wheels, cooperating straight edges mounted for vertical movement together on said upright, one of said straight edges being fixed parallel to the plane of the supporting areas of the wheels and the other rotatable in a vertical plane to an angle with said fixed straight edge indicative of the vertical angle of the cutting edge of the scraper blade, with the plane of the supporting areas of the wheels, and actuating means connecting the other of said straight edges to the scraper blade.

5. A device as defined in claim 3 in which the linkage moves the straight edges vertically on the upright to show the vertical position of the cutting edge of the scraper blade with respect to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader and rotates the other of the straight edges to show the vertical angle of the cutting edge of the scraper blade with respect to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader.

6. A device as defined in claim 3 in which indices are carried by the upright for registration with the straight edges when the cutting edge of the scraper blade is in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader.

7. A device as defined in claim 3 in which indices are carried by the upright for registration with the straight edges when the cutting edge of the scraper blade is in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader and in which the linkage is adjustable to initially regulate the device to bring the strai ht edges into registration with the indices when the cutting edge of the scraper blade is in the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader.

8. In a device of the class described including a grader and a scraper blade, a pair of cooperating straight edges movable vertically to register the vertical position of the cutting edge of the scraper blade with respect to the plane of the supporting surfaces of the grader, one of said straight edges being fixed parallel to this plane and the other being rotatable vertically to show the vertical angle of the cutting edge of the scraper blade with respect to this plane and adjustable linkage operatively connecting the rotatable straight edge to the scraper blade.

ROBERT W. STADLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,277,623 Matthews Sept. 3, 1918 1,706,256 Ronning et a1 Mar. 19, 1929 2,292,241 Reeves Aug. 4, 19 2