US3731973A

US3731973A - Valve assembly for exhaust system

Info

Publication number: US3731973A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Kermode
Original assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Current assignee: Motors Liquidation Co
Priority date: 1971-09-30
Filing date: 1971-09-30
Publication date: 1973-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-08

Abstract

A valve assembly for an exhaust system of a dump vehicle having a chassis supporting an operator''s cab and a pivoted materialhandling body. The valve assembly is carried by the chassis and adapted to direct exhaust gases upwardly into the hollow interior of the body when the latter is in a lowered load-retaining position and is adapted to direct exhaust gases toward the ground when the body is in a raised dumping position.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 [111 3,731,973 Kermode 1 ay 8, 1973 [54] VALVE ASSEMBLY FOR EXHAUST FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS SYSTEM 735,205 8/1955 Great Britain ..298/l H [75] Inventor: Harold L. Kermode, Richfield, Ohio 778,255 7/1957 Great Britain ..298/l H [73] Assignee: General Motors Corporation, Primary Examiner Richard J Johnson Detrolt, Mlch- Assistant Examiner-Reinhard Eisenzopf 22 Filed; Sept. 30 1971 AttrneyJ. L. Carpenter et al.

[21] Appl. No.: 185,128 57 ABSTRACT A valve assembly for an exhaust system of a dump [52] US. Cl ..298/l H, 48/58, l37/625.25 vehicle having a chassis supporting an operator's cab [51] Int. Cl. ..B60p 1/00 and a pivoted material-handling body. The valve as- [58] Field of Search ..298/] H; l37/625.27, sembly i8 Carried y the Chassis and adapted to direct gm 2515; 43 exhaust gases upwardly into the hollow interior of the body when the latter is in a lowered load-retaining [56] References Cited position and is adapted to direct exhaust gases toward the ground when the body is in a raised dumping posi- UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,664,706 /1972 Chant ..298/l H 2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures H 5 is Mg i 5 I l n l m l: 45 45 O 59 r e I H 4 I I o *5 f W w 6 s I o L 44L U I L 48 Q 4g 442 N W a at Pmmmm'mw SHEET 1 [IF 2 INVENTUR. zizam/d n ATTORN EY PATENTEI] MY 8 H973 SHEET 2 BF 2 INVENTOR. g vam Z.

ATTORNEY VALVE ASSEMBLY FOR EXHAUST SYSTEM The present invention concerns a valve assembly which is to be incorporated with the exhaust system of a dump truck for purposes of directing the exhaust gases into the dump body when the latter is in the lowered position so as to heat the body and prevent the material therein from sticking to the side walls during cold weather operation. When the body is raised for dumping the load, the valve assembly serves to close the outlet opening leading to the body structure and divert the gases toward the ground.

In the preferred form, the valve assembly made according to the invention comprises a housing having an inlet opening that is connected with the engine for receiving exhaust gases therefrom. The housing also has a pair of axially aligned outlet openings, one of which serves to connect the exhaust gases with the hollow interior of the dump body, while the other directs the gases toward the ground. A closure member is supported in the housing between the outlet openings for movement along a vertical axis so as to alternately open and close the outlet openings depending upon the position of the dump body. A spring located within the housing serves to bias the closure member upwardly to close the outlet opening to the dump body when the latter is in the raised dumping position, while at the same time opening the other outlet opening. A conduit is provided on the bottom of the dump body and is adapted to extend through the outlet opening to the body when the latter is in the lowered position. As a result, the free end of the conduit contacts and moves the closure member downwardly and thereby connects the interior of the housing with the hollow interior of the dump body while closing the other outlet opening.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a valve assembly which directs the exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine into the hollow body structure of a dump body when the latter is in a lowered position and directs the gases toward the ground when the body is in a raised position; to provide a valve assembly which causes exhaust gases to flow through one of two openings which are adapted to be opened and closed by a closure member supported for reciprocal movement along a vertical axis; and to provide an exhaust diverter system for a dump truck that has a conduit projecting from the bottom of the dump body which is adapted to physically contact and open a closure member of a valve assembly when the dump body is in a lowered position and thereby permit the exhaust gases to be directed into the hollow interior of the dump body.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken with the drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a dump truck incorporating a valve assemble made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of the valve assembly incorporated with the dump truck of FIG. 1 and shows the relative positions of the various parts of the valve assembly when the dump body is in a lowered load-retaining position;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but shows the relative positions of the parts of the valve assembly when the dump body is in a raised position; and

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are views taken on lines 4--4, 5- 5, 66, and 77 respectively of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly FIG. 1 thereof, an off-highway rear dump truck 10 is shown having a chassis 12 comprising a frame 13 that is mounted on longitudinally spaced front and rear axles 14 and 16 which respectively support

wheels

18 and 20. The front end of the chassis 12 is provided with an internal combustion engine 22 which provides drive to the rear wheels through a suitable gear train (not shown). An operators cab 23 is supported by the front end of the chassis 12 adjacent the engine 22 and, as is conventional, includes a steering wheel and controls (not shown) for operating the vehicle. In addition, the chassis 12 supports a load-retaining container or dump body 24, the rear lower portion of which is connected by a pivotal connection 26 to the rear end of the frame 13. As shown in full lines, the dump body 24 is in the lowered load-retaining position and is movable to the raised dumping position shown in phantom lines through a multistage hydraulic cylinder 28, the lower end of which is connected to the frame 13 by a pivotal connection 30.

During cold weather operation of rear dump trucks of the type described above, it has been found that the moisture in the material will cause the latter to freeze to the bottom and side walls of the dump body. As a result, the dump body will frequently retain part of the load at all times resulting in inefficient use of the loadcarrying capacity of the body. In order to alleviate this problem, it has been customary to have the trucks equipped with a body heating system in which the hot exhaust gases from the engine flow into the body structure of the dump body to heat the latter and thereby prevent the material from adhering thereto. In this regard, it will be noted that the rear dump truck 10 shown in FIG. 1 incorporates a body heating system of the type referred to above. The body heating system includes an exhaust pipe 32, the front end 34 of which is connected to the engine 22, while the rear end 36 is connected to a valve assembly 38 which is made according to the invention and serves to direct the exhaust gases into the hollow interior of the dump body 24 when the latter is in the lowered position of FIG. 1 and divert the exhaust gases toward the ground when the dump body 24 is in the raised dumping position.

As seen in FIG. 2, the valve assembly 38 comprises a housing 40 which is connected by

support brackets

42 and 43 to the upper portion of frame 13 at spaced points located intermediate the front and rear axles l4 and 16. The housing 40 has a completely enclosed chamber M which receives exhaust gases from the engine 22 via the exhaust pipe 32 which is connected to the housing at an inlet opening or port 45. The housing 40 includes a pair of vertically spaced walls 46 and 48 located in horizontal planes and provided with axially aligned circular outlet openings 50 and 52, respectively. The opening 52 serves to communicate the chamber 44 with a downwardly extending cylindrical pipe 54 which is rigidly connected at its upper end to the wall 48 and serves to direct exhaust gases toward the ground.

A closure member 56 is supported within housing 40 for movement along a vertical axis between the lowered position shown in FIG. 2, wherein the closure member 56 blocks the flow of gases from the chamber 44 into the pipe 54 but permits flow into the body 24 and the raised position shown in FIG. 3, wherein the closure member 56 closes the opening 50 but allows gas flow through the pipe 54. In this regard, it will be noted that the closure member 56 comprises a rectangular plate 58 with the lower surface thereof rigidly secured at the center thereof to the upper end of a vertically orientated guide rod 60. The lower end of the guide rod 60 is slidably received within a sleeve 62 which is centrally positioned within the pipe 54 by four

identical web sections

64, 66, 68, and 70 which as seen in FIG. 7 are equally circumferentially spaced about the sleeve 62 with the opposite ends of each web section being rigidly secured to the sleeve 62 and the inner surface of the pipe 54. A coil spring 72 is wound about the guide rod 60 and has one end engaging the lower surface of the plate 58 and the other end engaging the top of the sleeve 62. Thus, when the body 24 is in the phantom line position of FIG. 1, the closure member 56 is positioned by the spring 72 into the raised position of FIG. 3 to cause plate 58 to close the outlet opening 50 in the wall 46 and at the same time cause gas to flow into pipe 54. To realize the latter, the closure member 56 includes a skirt section 74 which is cylindrical in cross section and has an outer diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the outlet opening 52 in the wall 48 so as to permit the skirt section 74 to extend into the opening 52 and reciprocate relative thereto. The free lower end of the skirt section 74 is formed with four radially extending openings 76 circumferentially equally spaced about the free end. Thus, the openings 76 serve to communicate the chamber 43 with the pipe 54 when the closure member 56 is in the aforesaid raised position of FIG. 3.

Although not shown, the body structure of the dump body 24 is essentially hollow in that it is provided with passages which are located in the side walls and also in the floor portion of the body. In addition, suitable baffles are provided in the body passages for directing exhaust gases in a manner so that heating of substantially the entire body structure occurs after which the gases are exhausted through ports 78 located at the rear of the dump body 24. In this case, the passages within the dump body 24 are connected to a port 80 formed in the floor portion as seen in FIG. 2. The port 80 rigidly supports a cylindrical conduit 82 having an outer diameter that is less than the diameter of the opening 50. The lower end of the conduit 82 is provided with a plurality of radially extending openings 84 equal in number and similar to those formed in the skirt section 74 of the closure member 56. An upper ring 86 is secured to the outer diameter of the conduit 82 and is adapted to slidably support three equally circumferentially spaced bolts 88, the head end of each of which is rigidly secured to a lower ring 90. A coil spring 92 is wound around the shank of each bolt 88 and normally biases the ring 90 downwardly as seen in FIG. 3.

It will be noted that the port 80 and accordingly the conduit 82 is located in a position on the dump body 24 so that when the latter is in the lowered load-retaining position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the center longitudinal axis of the conduit 82 is coaxial with the center of the openings 50 and 52. As a result, when the body 24 is lowered from the phantom line position to the full line position, the conduit 82 registers with and extends through the opening 50 to contact the upper surface of plate 58 and causes the closure member 56 to move downwardly against the bias of spring 72 to the position of FIG. 2. It can be seen that after the conduit 82 moves into the housing 40 a predetermined distance, the ring contacts the upper surface of the wall 46 and serves to diminish the size of the opening 50 and thereby helps prevent exhaust gases from escaping into the atmosphere through any opening that may exit between the outer diameter of the conduit 82 and the opening 50. At the same time, the chamber 44 in the housing 40 is fluidly connected with the conduit 82 through the openings 84 formed therein, while the opening 52 in the wall 48 is closed by the upper portion of the skirt section 74 so that the exhaust gases can only flow through the conduit 82 into the body structure of the dump body 24. It should be apparent that when the dump body 24 is moved to the raised dumping position of FIG. 1, the conduit 82 is retracted from the opening 50 permitting the closure member 56 to rise upwardly into the position of FIG. 3 to close the opening 50 and connect the chamber 44 with the pipe 54 through openings 76 as explained above.

Various changes and modifications can be made in this construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. Such changes and modifications are contemplated by the inventor and he does not wish to be limited except by the scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A valve assembly for a vehicle having a chassis supporting an operators cab and a pivoted materialhandling container having a hollow body structure, the valve assembly adapted to direct exhaust gases upwardly into said hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in a lowered load-retaining position and adapted to direct the exhaust gases downwardly toward the ground when the material-ham dling container is in a raised dumping position, said valve assembly comprising a housing having a first outlet opening and a second outlet opening formed therein, a closure member, means supporting said closure member in said housing for translational movement between a first position wherein said closure member closes the first outlet opening and opens the second outlet opening and a second position wherein said closure member closes the second outlet opening and opens the first outlet opening, a spring biasing said closure member into said first position when the material-handling container is in the raised dumping position, a conduit secured to and projecting downwardly from said material-handling container and communicating with said hollow body structure, said conduit extending into said first outlet opening when the material-handling container is in the lowered loadretaining position so as to directly contact the closure member and cause the latter to be moved into the second position against the bias of said spring.

2. A valve assembly for a vehicle having a chassis supporting an operators cab and a pivoted materialhandling container having a hollow body structure, the valve assembly adapted to direct exhaust gases upwardly into said hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in a lowered load-retaining position and adapted to direct the exhaust gases toward the ground when the material-handling container is in a raised dumping position, said valve assembly comprising a housing adapted to receive exhaust gases and having a first outlet opening and a second outlet opening formed therein, a pipe attached to said housing at said second outlet opening for directing exhaust gases downwardly toward the ground, a closure member in said housing between said first and second outlet openings, said closure member comprising a horizontal plate rigidly attached to a depending skirt portion having apertures formed therein, a rod attached to said plate for supporting the latter in the housing for translatory movement along a vertical axis between a first position wherein said plate closes the first opening and the skirt portion opens the second outlet opening and a second position wherein said skirt portion closes the second opening and the plate opens the first outlet opening, a spring biasing said plate into said first position when the material-handling container is in the raised dumping position, a conduit projecting from said material-handling container and communicating with said hollow body structure, said conduit having a free end adapted to be located in said first outlet opening when the material-handling container is in the lowered position so as to contact the plate and cause the latter to be moved into the second position against the bias of said spring, and the free end of said conduit having at least one radially extending opening formed therein for communicating the interior of said housing with the hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in the lowered position.

Claims

1. A valve assembly for a vehicle having a chassis supporting an operator''s cab and a pivoted material-handling container having a hollow body structure, the valve assembly adapted to direct exhaust gases upwardly into said hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in a lowered load-retaining position and adapted to direct the exhaust gases downwardly toward the ground when the material-handling container is in a raised dumping position, said valve assembly comprising a housing having a first outlet opening and a second outlet opening formed therein, a closure member, means supporting said closure member in said housing for translational movement between a first position wherein said closure member closes the first outlet opening and opens the second outlet opening and a second position wherein said closure member closes the second outlet opening and opens the first outlet opening, a spring biasing said closure member into said first position when the material-handling container is in the raised dumping position, a conduit secured to and projecting downwardly from said material-handling container and communicating with said hollow body structure, said conduit extending into said first outlet opening when the materialhandling container is in the lowered load-retaining position so as to directly contact the closure member and cause the latter to be moved into the second position against the bias of said spring.

2. A valve assembly for a vehicle having a chassis supporting an operator''s cab and a pivoted material-handling container having a hollow body structure, the valve assembly adapted to direct exhaust gases upwardly into said hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in a lowered load-retaining position and adapted to direct the exhaust gases toward the ground when the material-handling container is in a raised dumping position, said valve assembly comprising a housing adapted to receive exhaust gases and having a first outlet opening and a second outlet opening formed therein, a pipe attached to said housing at said second outlet opening for directing exhaust gases downwardly toward the ground, a closure member in said housing between said first and second outlet openings, said closure member comprising a horizontal plate rigidly attached to a depending skirt portion having apertures formed therein, a rod attached to said plate for supporting the latter in the housing for translatory movement along a vertical axis between a first position wherein said plate closes the first opening and the skirt portion opens the second outlet opening and a second position wherein said skirt portion closes the second opening and the plate opens the first outlet opening, a spring biasing said plate into said first position when the material-handling container is in the raised dumping position, a conduit projecting from said material-handling container and communicating with said hollow body structure, said conduit having a free end adapted to be located in said first outlet opening when the material-handling container is in the lowered position so as to contact the plate and cause the latter to be moved into the second position against the bias of said spring, and the free end of said conduit having at least one radially extending opening formed therein for communicating the interior of said housing with the hollow body structure when the material-handling container is in the lowered position.