WO2016014034A1

WO2016014034A1 - Compactor having rain water collecting apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2016014034A1
Application number: PCT/US2014/047595
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bradley FEIGHT
Original assignee: Volvo Construction Equipment Ab
Priority date: 2014-07-22
Filing date: 2014-07-22
Publication date: 2016-01-28

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a compactor including a water ballast tank that is installed at a body frame and is refilled with rain water. An operator's seat is installed at an upper portion of the body frame, and a roll over protective system (ROPS) pillar is respectively installed at the rear left and right sides of the operator's seat so as to extend vertically with respect to the body frame. A roof is installed at the top end of the pillar and has a tray structure in which an edge part of a top surface thereof is protruded upwardly. A hose is provided to allow the top surface of the roof and the inside of the water ballast tank to communicate fluidically with each other so that rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water ballast tank through the hose. The top surface of the roof is formed in such a manner as to be gradually inclined downwardly as it goes toward a rear side of the body frame, and a water collection hole formed at each of the rear left and right sides of the top surface of the roof. According to the present disclosure, since the water ballast tank can be automatically refilled with rain water collected on the roof, the refilling operation is performed in a nature-friendly manner and the loss of work time is reduced.

Description

COMPACTOR HAVING RAIN WATER COLLECTING APPARATUS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to construction machines, and more particularly, to road machinery such as a compactor or a road roller having a ballast tank to supplement the lacking weight for compaction or a water tank to supply water for cooling and cleaning the drum surface. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Compactors or road rollers are construction vehicles used to compact soil or asphalt in the construction of roads. As they use the weight of the vehicle to compress the surface being rolled, the working parts for compacting are mostly steel drums. However, these steel drums can be replaced by pneumatic tires in certain designs. In road construction, pneumatic tire compactors are used to follow normal steel drum compactors to even the surface more smoothly and densely.

In case of a pneumatic tire compactor, the surface of the ground that tires made of rubber touch is very large, and the weight of pneumatic tires are much smaller than the steel drum. Therefore, installation of a ballast tank is generally needed in order to supplement the lacking weight. The ballast tank is generally installed under the operator platform of the body frame.

The ballast tank can be filled with various kinds of heavy materials, such as water, sand, and steel scraps. Among them, water ballast is becoming more common as it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Also, users can occasionally empty the ballast since a lighter machine is easier to transport between work sites. Water ballast is also much easier to be emptied and refilled compared with wet sand or steel scraps. However, as a liquid in a road machine, water is very susceptible to spillage, evaporation, and other environmental concerns that result in a loss of ballast. In order to maintain a constant and smooth finish, the ballast weight should also remain constant. Therefore, the ballast must be periodically refilled over the course of a day / week / month / season or whenever necessary In the case where the water ballast is manually refilled, a loss of work time is caused and an additional refilling device is needed.

Also, in asphalt compactors a large quantity of water is used for cooling the drum and for preventing asphalt particles from sticking on the drum. For a continuous operation of the machine, water tank has to be refilled at a certain period of time. This will be very crucial in hard climate conditions and where there is a lack of water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems.

A compactor in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a body frame; a water ballast tank installed at the body frame and configured to be filled with water; an operator's seat installed on an upper portion of the body frame; a roll over protective system (ROPS) pillar respectively installed at the rear left and right sides of the operator's seat so as to extend vertically with respect to the body frame; a roof installed at the top end of the pillar so as to be coupled at one side to the pillar and to horizontally extend at the other side to the front of the operator's seat to cover an upper portion of the operator's seat, the roof having a tray structure in which an edge part of a top surface thereof is protruded upwardly; and a hose configured to allow the top surface of the roof and the inside of the water ballast tank to be communicate fluidically with each other, whereby rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water ballast tank through the hose. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the top surface of the roof may be formed in such a manner as to be gradually inclined downwardly as it goes toward a rear side of the body frame, and a water collection hole may be formed at each of the rear left and right sides of the top surface of the roof so that rain water collected on the roof flows into the hose through the water collection hole and is introduced into the water ballast tank through the hose.

In accordance with a preferred feature of the present disclosure, the top surface of the roof may be formed in such a manner as to be bulged upwardly at the center of the roof so that rain water falling on the roof flows toward both sides of the top surface of the roof and then easily flows to the rear side of the roof.

In accordance with a preferred feature of the present disclosure, the hose may be securely fixed at least one point to the pillar.

In accordance with a preferred feature of the present disclosure, a sieve may be provided in the water collection hole formed on the top surface of the roof so that impurities are prevented from flowing into the water collection hole and blocking the flow of water in the hose.

A compactor in accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure includes: a body frame; a water tank installed at the body frame adjacent to a drum, said water tank being configured to supply water to a plurality of water spray nozzles for the drum; an operator's seat installed on an upper portion of the body frame; a roll over protective system (ROPS) pillar respectively installed at the rear left and right sides of the operator's seat so as to extend vertically with respect to the body frame; a roof installed at the top end of the pillar so as to be coupled at one side to the pillar and to horizontally extend at the other side to the front of the operator's seat to cover an upper portion of the operator's seat, the roof having a tray structure in which an edge part of a top surface thereof is protruded upwardly; and a hose configured to allow the top surface of the roof and the inside of the water tank to be communicate fluidically with each other, whereby rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water tank through the hose. According to the present disclosure, rain water collected on the roof can be supplied to the water ballast tank to supplement the lacking weight for compaction.

Rain water collected on the roof can also be supplied to the water tank for the drum, which enables refilling period to be longer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view showing an entire configuration of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing of one example of a roof of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing of another example of a roof of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view showing of a roof, a pillar, and a water ballast tank of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a compactor in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the following embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the present disclosure to these embodiments alone. On the contrary, the present disclosure is intended to cover alternatives, modifications, and equivalents which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present disclosure, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. FIG. 1 is a view showing an entire configuration of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The compactor in the present disclosure includes a body frame 101. A water ballast tank 102 is installed on the body frame 101 and is filled with water so that an additional load is applied to the body frame 101. An operator's seat 103 is installed at an upper portion of the body frame 101. Roll over protective system (ROPS) pillars 104a and 104b are installed at the rear left and right sides of the operator's seat 103 so as to extend vertically with respect to the body frame 101. A roof 105 is installed at the top ends of the pillars 104a and 104b so as to be coupled at one side to the pillars 104a and 104b and to horizontally extend at the other side to the front of the operator's seat to cover an upper portion of the operator's seat 103. Although it has been illustrated in the drawings that the operator's seat 103 is formed in an opened shape to allow the roof 105 to have a canopy shape, it may be formed in a closed box shape in which a front part, a rear part, a right part, a left part, and a top part are closed to allow the roof 105 to cover the upper portion of the closed box.

The roof 105 has a tray structure in which an edge part of a top surface thereof is vertically protruded upwardly, so that rain water falling on the roof 105 is collected along an inside edge of the top surface of the roof 105 without falling to the outside of the roof 105 due to the protruded edge section.

The top surface of the roof 105 fluidically communicates with the inside of the water ballast tank 102 through the hoses 106a and 106b. Thus, rain water collected on the roof 105 is introduced into the water ballast tank 102 through the hoses 106a and 106b.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing of one example of a roof 105 of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The top surface of the roof 105 is formed in such a manner as to be gradually inclined downwardly as it goes toward a rear side of the body frame. Thus, the rain water falling on the top surface of the roof 105 flows to and is collected at the rear side of the roof.

A pair of water collection holes 201a and 201b are formed at the rear left and right sides of the top surface of the roof 105. The water collection holes 201a and 201b are connected to the hoses 106a and 106b, respectively. Thus, the rain water collected on the top surface of the roof 105 is introduced into the hoses 106a and 106b through the water collection holes 201a and 201b. FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing of another example of roof 305 of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the top surface of the roof 305 is formed in such a manner that is gradually inclined downwardly as it goes toward the rear side of the body frame and is at the center bulged upwardly in a width direction of the roof. By virtue of this configuration, the rain water falling on the roof 305 flows toward both sides of the top surface of the roof 305 so that the rain water easily flows to the rear side of the roof. Similarly to FIG. 2, the collected rain water is introduced into the hoses 106a and 106b through the water collection holes 201a and 201b.

FIG. 4 is a top front enlarged perspective view showing roof 105, pillars 104a and 104b, and a water ballast tank 102 of a compactor in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The hoses 106a and 106b are connected at upper ends to the water collection holes 201a and 201b, and are connected at lower ends to the inside of the water ballast tank 102. In an embodiment, the water ballast tank 102 may include refill ports 401a and

401b, and the lower ends of the hose 106a and 106b may be connected to the refill ports 401a and 401b installed at the top of the water ballast tank 102. By virtue of this connection, the rain water collected on the top surface of the roof 105 is introduced into and filled in the water ballast tank 102 through the hoses 106a and 106b via the water collection holes 201a and 201b.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hoses 106a and 106b can be securely fixed at one or more points to the pillar 104a and 104b. By virtue of this, the hoses 106a, 106b can be more stably installed and rain water collected on the top surface of the roof 105 can flow downwardly smoothly without being influenced by various work environments.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, sieves 402a and 402b may be provided in the water collection holes 201a and 201b formed on the top surface of the roof 105. The fineness of a sieve mesh of the sieves 402a and 402b can be selected variously depending on the diameter of the hoses 106a, 106b so as to filter impurities that may affect the flow of the rain water. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a compactor in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure. In this embodiment, hoses 506a and 506b are connected at upper ends to the water collection holes 201a and 201b, and are connected at lower ends to the inside of the water tank 502. Thus, the rain water collected on the top surface of the roof 105 is introduced into and filled in the water tank 502 through the hoses 506a and 506b via the water collection holes 201a and 201b. The water tank 502 supplies water to a plurality of water spray nozzles 503 for the drum 501. The water tank 502 can be refilled in the event that it would rain over night between use.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments in the attached figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A compactor comprising:

a body frame;

a water ballast tank installed at the body frame and configured to be filled with water;

an operator's seat installed at an upper portion of the body frame;

a pair of roll over protective system (ROPS) pillars respectively installed at the rear left and right sides of the operator's seat so as to extend vertically with respect to the body frame;

a roof installed at the top end of the pillars so as to be coupled at one side to the pillars and to horizontally extend at the other side to the front of the operator's seat to cover an upper portion of the operator's seat, the roof having a tray structure in which an edge part of a top surface thereof is protruded upwardly; and

a pair of hoses configured to allow the top surface of the roof and the inside of the water ballast tank to be fluidically communicate with each other,

whereby rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water ballast tank through the hoses.

2. The compactor according to claim 1, wherein the top surface of the roof is formed in such a manner as to be gradually inclined downwardly as it goes toward a rear side of the body frame, and a pair of water collection holes are formed at each of the rear left and right sides of the top surface of the roof.

3. The compactor according to claim 1, wherein the top surface of the roof is formed in such a manner as to be bulged upwardly at the center in a width direction of the roof.

4. The compactor according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the hoses are connected at an upper end to the water collection holes, and is connected at a lower end to the inside of the water ballast tank so that rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water ballast tank through the hoses.

5. The compactor according to claim 4, wherein the hoses are securely fixed at least one point to the pillars.

6. The compactor according to claim 4, wherein a sieve is provided in the water collection holes formed on the top surface of the roof so that impurities are prevented from flowing into the water collection holes and blocking the flow of water in the hoses.

7. A compactor comprising:

a body frame;

a water tank installed at the body frame adjacent to a drum, said water tank being configured to supply water to a plurality of water spray nozzles for the drum;

an operator's seat installed on an upper portion of the body frame;

a pair of hoses configured to allow the top surface of the roof and the inside of the water tank to be fluidically communicate with each other,

whereby rain water collected on the roof is introduced into the water tank through the hoses.