US3156488A

US3156488A - Excavators

Info

Publication number: US3156488A
Application number: US197821A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alec J Kelly
Original assignee: JC Bamford Excavators Ltd
Current assignee: JC Bamford Excavators Ltd
Priority date: 1960-12-20
Filing date: 1962-05-23
Publication date: 1964-11-10
Anticipated expiration: 1981-11-10

Description

A. J. KELLY Nov. 10, 1964 EXCAVATORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 23, 1962 Nov. 10, 1964 A. J. KELLY 3,156,488

' EXCAVATORS Filed May 23, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Avveu me United States Patent 3,156,488 EXCAVATORS Alec J. Kelly, Uttoxeter, England, assignor to J. C. Bamford (Excavators) Limited, Uttoxeter, England, a British company Filed May 23, 1962, Ser. No. 197,821 3 Claims. (Cl. 280-456) This invention relates to excavators of the type, hereinafter referred to as the type specified, which are adapted for mounting at the front or rear, more usually at the rear, of a vehicle such as a tractor, the excavator being mounted upon a slewing frame which is connected to the tractor or other vehicle and there being a king post mounted upon such slewing frame for controlled movement about a vertical axis, the main boom and operating ram for the main boom being pivotally connected to the king post so that the excavator can be slewed about a vertical axis through a horizontal arc of approximately 90 to each side of the longitudinal axis of the tractor.

Hitherto in the majority of cases, the king post has occupied a fixed position on the longitudinal axis or centre line of the tractor, being fixedly mounted upon the slewing frame, but it is advantageous under certain conditions to be able to offset the king post to one side or the other of the longitudinal axis as, for example, when excavating a trench alongside a wall or other obstacle.

There have been prior proposals in connection with excavators of this type for mounting the king post upon the slewing frame in such manner that it can be removed and placed in one of a number of alternative positions some of which positions are offset to one side or the other of the longitudinal centre line.

The object of the present invention is to provide improvements in excavators of this type which will permit of adjustment of the king post to any desired position within the transverse limits of the slewing frame and will also permit of utilization of the power means of the excavator to facilitate adjusting the position of the king post when desired.

According to the invention I provide an excavator of the type specified, wherein the slewing frame comprises a plurality of elongated guide members arranged horizontally in vertically spaced relationship to extend at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the tractor or other vehicle and the king post is mounted in a bracket member which is carried by said guide members and is capable of sliding movement upon the guide members in directions at right angles to said axis, releasable clamping means being provided for fixedly clamping the bracket member in any desired position along the length of the guide members.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the slewing frame and bracket member detached from the tractor and looking from a position at the rear of the tractor.

FIGURE 2 is a section through the slewing frame on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and showing the slewing frame mounted on the rear of the tractor.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the clamping means.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view from the rear showing the slewing frame.

As shown in the drawings the slewing frame is made up of a number of horizontal guide members extending between two upright posts 11 which are conveniently formed to box section and the guide members themselves may also be formed as box section girders suitably welded at their ends to connect them between the upright posts.

The guide members are arranged horizontally in vertically spaced relationship, there being two guide mem- "ice bers 12 and 13 connected near the tops of the upright posts 11 and referred to as the top guide members and two more (14 and 15) near the bottom of the upright posts and referred to as the bottom guide members.

The upper and

lower guide members

12 and 13 respectively, at the top and similarly the upper and

lower guide members

14 and 15 respectively at the bottom, are spaced apart by an equal amount so as to form top and

bottom guide channels

16 and 17 which accommodate slidably, the clamping means, referred to hereinafter.

The slewing frame 10, so formed, is mounted on the rear of a tractor, one rear wheel 18 of the tractor being shown in FIGURE 2, by providing a mounting frame upon the tractor chassis, said mounting frame having at each side, upper and lower longitudinally extending

frame members

19 and 20 respectively, connected near their rear ends by vertically extending frame members 21 and the slewing frame 10 being mounted upon the rear projecting ends of these

frame members

19 and 20, such as by welding the guide members of the slewing frame to the rear ends of the frame members of the mounting frame.

The bracket member 22 which carries the king post 35 of the excavator, has a vertical rear portion 23 which is of flat plate-like form and substantial projecting

lugs

24 and 25 at the top and at the bottom respectively, the king post itself being pivotally mounted about a vertical axis between these projecting

lugs

24 and 25.

On each side edge of the flat vertical part 23 of the bracket member there are provided two transversely projecting ears 26 one near the top and one near the bottom, each ear being provided with a central aperture and the clamping means comprises a clamping assembly for cooperation with the top set of guide members and a similar clamping assembly for co-operating with the bottom set of guide members.

Each clamping assembly (see FIGURES 2 and 3) comprises a fiat plate 27 having projecting from one side face thereof, a pair of spaced apart stud members 28 the major part of the length of each stud member being of plain cylindrical form and the end part 29 being of reduced diameter and being externally threaded. For the upper clamping assembly the two stud members 28 are spaced apart so that their axes correspond to the openings in the two upper projecting ears 26 on the bracket member 22 and the two stud members are passed between the upper and

lower guide members

12 and 13 at the top so as to extend through the channel 16 between these two guide members and have their threaded ends projecting through the openings in the two ears at the top of the bracket members. Suitable nuts 30 are then applied to the threaded ends of the stud members and tightened down to clamp the bracket member 22 securely against the guide members at the top. The same arrangement is applied at the bottom of the bracket member, nuts being applied to the projecting ends of the stud members here to clamp the bracket member at the bottom.

The rear face of the vertical flat part 23 of the bracket member is provided with transversely extending horizontal ribs to engage with the horizontal faces of the guide members to stabilise the bracket member and assist in guiding it when it is moved longitudinally of the guide members. As shown, there are four such ribs, one rib 31 at the bottom of the bracket member to engage under the lowermost guide member 15 at the bottom and another rib 32 at the top of the bracket to engage above the uppermost guide member 12 at the top. Another rib 33 engages under the lowermost guide member 13 at the top and a further rib 34 engages above the uppermost guide member 14 at the bottom.

Also the cars 26 on the fiat part of the bracket member may have rearwardly projecting bosses 35 to engage slidably in the

channels

16 and 17 between the upper and lower guide members at the top and bottom of the slewing frame.

With this arrangement when the four clamping nuts are slackened off, the bracket member 22 carrying the king post can be slidden along the guide members at the top and bottom of the slewing frame.

With this arrangement when the four clamping nuts are slackened oil, the bracket member 22 carrying the king post can be slid along the guide members to any desired position and in practice this sliding movement can be achieved by one or the other of two ways. The excavator bucket can be lowered to the position where it engages the ground and then the slewing mechanism can be operated to cause movement of the bracket member 22 or the excavator can be slewed until it is at 90 to the axis of the tractor and the bucket then lowered to engage the ground and the bracket member 22 caused to move by operating the digging arm of the excavator. In this way the desired position can be achieved without manual effort Whereafter the clamping nuts are tightened up and the excavator is ready for use in its new position.

What I then claim is:

l. A slewing frame for an excavator of the type specified comprising, a pair of spaced apart upright side members, a plurality of horizontally arranged elongated guide members extending between said upri ht side members, said guide members comprising, two upper guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide an upper guide channel therebetween and two lower guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide a lower guide channel therebetween, a bracket member for carrying the king post of the excavator slidably mounted upon said guide members, and releasable clamping means disposed near the top and near the bottom of said bracket member, said clamping means being engaged with said upper and lower guide channels for fixedly clamping the bracket member in any desired position along the length of the guide members.

2. A slewing frame for an excavator of the type specitied comprising, a pair of spaced apart upright side members, a plurality of horizontally arranged elongated guide members extending between said upright side members, said guide members comprising, two upper guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide an upper guide channel therebetween and two lower guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide a lower guide channel therebetween, a bracket member for carrying the king post of the excavator slidably mounted upon said guide members, said bracket member having a pair of projecting ears near the top and a pair near the bottom thereof, and releasable clamping means disposed near the top and near the bottom of said bracket member, each clamping means comprising a plate and a pair of spaced apart stud members projecting from one face of the plate, said stud members being connected to the projecting ears on the bracket member and being engaged slidably in the upper and lower guide channels.

3. A slewing frame for an excavator of the type specilied comprising, a pair of spaced apart upright side members, a plurality of horizontally arranged elongated guide members extending between said upright side members, said guide members comprising, two upper guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide an upper guide channel therebetween and two lower guide members which are spaced apart vertically to provide a lower guide channel therebetween, a bracket member for carrying the king post of the excavator slidably mounted upon said guide members, said bracket member comprising a flat plate located in a vertical plane, lugs projecting horizontally at the top and at the bottom of said plate for the mounting therebetween of the king post, ribs projecting horizontally from said plate in the opposite direction to said lugs and engaged slidably with said guide members, and releasable clamping means dispose near the top and near the bottom of said bracket member, said clamping means being engaged with said upper and lower guide channels for fixedly clamping the bracket member in any desired position along the length of the guide members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,937,705 5/60 Kirchner et a1. l72655 A. HARRY LEVY, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A SLEWING FRAME FOR AN EXCAVATOR OF THE TYPE SPECIFIED COMPRISING, A PAIR OF SPACED APART UPRIGHT SIDE MEMBERS, A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTALLY ARRANGED ELONGATED GUIDE MEMBERS EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID UPRIGHT SIDE MEMBERS, SAID GUIDE MEMBERS COMPRISING, TWO UPPER GUIDE MEMBERS WHICH ARE SPACED APART VERTICALLY TO PROVIDE AN UPPER GUIDE CHANNEL THEREBETWEEN AND TWO LOWER GUIDE MEMBERS WHICH ARE SPACED APART VERTICALLY TO PROVIDE AN LOWER GUIDE CHANNEL THEREBETWEEN, A BRACKET MEMBER FOR CARRYING THE KING POST OF THE EXCAVATOR SLIDABLY MOUNTED UPON SAID GUIDE MEMBERS, AND RELEASABLE CLAMPING MEANS DISPOSED NEAR THE TOP AND NEAR THE BOTTOM OF SAID BRACKET MEMBER, SAID CLAMPING MEANS BEING ENGAGED WITH SAID UPPER AND LOWER GUIDE CHANNELS FOR FIXEDLY CLAMPING THE BRACKET MEMBER IN ANY DESIRED POSITION ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE GUIDE MEMBERS.