Patent Application
20150239714
1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to an operator cab for heavy equipment, such as a crane or aerial device. Particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to an operator cab with two openings on nonparallel sides for access to the operator cab. Further embodiments relate to an operator cab with a single opening that radially spans up to and including an approximate 170-degree angle about a vertical axis.
2. Related Art
Operator cabs for heavy equipment, such as aerial devices are sometimes mounted on a vehicle chassis behind a chassis cab. The heavy equipment frequently includes an implement, such as a crane or digger derrick, that is also mounted to the vehicle chassis. In some instances, both the implement and the operator cab may be mounted to a turntable, which is mounted on a deck, and the deck is mounted on the vehicle chassis.
The conventional access to the operator cab is through an opening provided by a side-facing door on the opposite side of the implement. Because of the narrow width of the chassis to allow for road travel, the heavy equipment does not provide a deck with sufficient width to allow the operator to exit the cab onto the deck at all points of rotation of the cab relative to the deck. Without a sufficient width of deck for the operator to stand upon, the operator must climb up the side of the heavy equipment while entering or exiting the operator cab.
The problem of a safe point of ingress and egress is not solved by only a front-facing door. The front-facing door provides direct access between the operator cab and the deck while the implement is in a stowed position. In the stowed position, the implement is in-line with a major axis of the chassis, and as such, the implement is positioned parallel with a length of a deck of the heavy equipment. During operation, however, the operator cab and the implement may be facing off the left or right sides of the heavy equipment. When the operator cab is facing the sides, the front-facing door now has similar problems as a side door in that to exit the cab, the operator must climb on the side of the heavy equipment or jump from the cab and to the ground below.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, an operator cab for heavy equipment having an associated implement to perform work and a deck for safe ingress and egress to the cab comprises a first opening and a second opening. The first and second openings are sized to provide points of ingress and egress for an operator of the cab. The first and second openings of the cab are not generally parallel to each other and thus, are not positioned on parallel sides of the cab. The cab is operable to rotate to a first position with respect to the deck such that the operator can exit directly onto the deck from the first opening. The cab is operable to rotate to a second position different from the first position such that the operator can exit directly onto the deck from the second opening. The second position is less than 180 degrees of rotation form the first position.
In accordance with a second embodiment of the invention, an operator cab for heavy equipment having an associated implement to perform work and a deck for safe ingress and egress to the cab comprises a first opening and a second opening. The first and second openings are sized to provide points of ingress and egress for an operator of the cab. The first and second openings of the cab are not generally parallel to each other and thus, are not positioned on parallel sides of the cab. The cab is operable to rotate to a first position with respect to the deck such that the operator can exit directly onto the deck from the first opening. The cab is operable to rotate to a second position different from the first position such that the operator can exit directly onto the deck from the second opening. The first opening of the cab maintains a fixed relative position with respect to the implement, such that a midline of the implement and a midline of the cab either form a fixed angle or are parallel.
In accordance with a third embodiment of the invention, an operator cab for heavy equipment having an associated implement to perform work and a deck for safe ingress and egress to the cab comprises a single opening. The single opening is sized to provide multiple points of ingress and egress for an operator of the cab. The single opening has an opening radius of 100-170 degrees. In some embodiments, the opening radius of the single opening may be obstructed by one or more support being less than or equal to 20 degrees.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspects and advantages of the current invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the current invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the current invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
The following detailed description references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the current invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the current invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In this description, references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the current technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
Turning to the figures, and particularly
As depicted in
Turning to
The top of the frame provides mounting for the other major components of the heavy equipment 10. In particular, the deck 14 and the turntable 16 are mounted to the top of the frame. Additionally, in embodiments where the heavy equipment 10 is part of a truck chassis, the top of the frame 10 provides a place to mount a truck cab 38. In this embodiment, the truck cab 38 is mounted proximal to the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10, and the turntable 16 is mounted proximal to the rear end 24.
The outriggers 32 are positioned along the chassis 12 to provide additional stability for the heavy equipment 10 when manipulating heavy loads. The outriggers 32 are permanently attached to the frame of the chassis 12. They are located on the left 26 and right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10 and may extend a small distance from the chassis 12. Each outrigger 32 has an extendable member 42 that may be positioned horizontally away from the sides 26,28 of the heavy equipment 10 and a vertical support 44 that is operable to contact the ground when the outrigger is deployed. In embodiments of the invention, there may be only a single outrigger 32 on each side 26,28 of the heavy equipment 10. In other embodiments, there are multiple outriggers 32 on each side 26,28. In embodiments with aforementioned crawler tracks, there may not be any outriggers 32 on the frame of the chassis 12.
As shown in
The opening of the deck 14 is large enough for the turntable 16 to protrude up from the chassis 12 and above the surface of the deck. The opening is centered along the minor horizontal dimension 52 leaving two small areas on the left 26 and right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10. The opening is located between the front end 22 and the rear end 24 of the heavy equipment 10 proximal to the rear end leaving a first platform 56 and a second platform 58. The first platform 56 is located between the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10 and the turntable 16. The second platform 58 is located between the turntable 16 of the heavy equipment 10 and the rear end 24.
Referring to
As shown in
The base 70 of the implement 18 is configured to vertically elongate to a fixed height above the deck 14 of the heavy equipment 10. In embodiments with a truck cab 38, the fixed height of the base 70 provides sufficient vertical distance for the turntable 16 to rotate the tool 72 above the truck cab while the tool is tilted to a stowed vertical angle. In embodiments of the invention, the base 70 is further comprised of a ballast 82 extending opposite of the tool 72. The ballast 82 extends outward horizontally, such that when the tool 72 is pointed by the turntable 16 towards the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10, the ballast points towards the rear end 24.
The tool 72 of the implement 18 is comprised of an arm 84 elongated away from the base 70, and a tip 86 of the arm distally located from the base. When the arm 84 is located at the stowed vertical angle by the base 70 and in the first position 66 by the turntable 16, the arm 84 is generally parallel to the major horizontal dimension 50 and over the first platform 56 of the deck 14. In an exemplary first position of the implement 18 and cab 20, the arm 84 and thus the tip 86 of the tool 72 are facing the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10. Also when in this exemplary first position 66, the tip 86 of the implement 18 is generally proximal to the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10. The arm 84 has a left side 88 and a right side 90. When in the exemplary first position, the left side 88 and the right side 90 of the arm 84 correspond to the left side 26 and the right side 28 of the heavy equipment 10.
The reference above to the “exemplary” first position is intended to highlight that the first position is an arbitrary point or position within the 360 degree rotation of the turntable. Thus, one exemplary first position is where the implement 18 and cab 20 face the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10. However, the first position 66 could be any other position within the 360-degree rotation of the cab. The second position is then defined relative to the first position, such that the second position is less than 180 degrees from the first position in either a clockwise or counterclockwise rotation.
In an exemplary second position of the implement 18 and cab 20, the length of the arm 84 faces directly outwards to the left 26 or right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10. In this exemplary second position, the cab 20 is rotated approximately 90 degrees from the exemplary first position where the cab 20 is facing the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10. In this exemplary second position, the arm 84 extends over the left 26 or right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10 and is parallel to the minor horizontal dimension 52 of the deck 14. The exemplary first position provides the position when a maximum area of deck surface is available for safe ingress/egress out of a first opening 118 (described in more detail below). In contrast, the exemplary second position provides the position when a maximum area of deck surface is available for safe ingress/egress out of a second opening 120 (described in more detail below). Again, the first and second positions, are arbitrary, except that the second position is less than 180 degrees from the first position.
In embodiments of the invention, the implement 18 is a crane as shown in
Turning now to
In embodiments of the invention, when the cab 20 is mounted to the left side 88 of the arm 72 of the implement 18, the working side 126 of the cab 20 faces the right side 28 of the heavy equipment 10 and the second access side 128 of the cab is on the left side 26 of the heavy equipment. It should be appreciated that in embodiments where the cab 20 is mounted to the right side 90 of the arm 72, then the working side 126 of the cab 20 faces the left side of the heavy equipment 10 and the second access side 128 of the cab is on the right side 28 of the heavy equipment 10.
The frame 114 of the cab includes a floor 132, a ceiling 134, one or more windows 136, and at least one generally vertical support extending between the floor 132 and the ceiling 134. The windows 136 allow the operator to see out of the cab, including seeing any obstacles, when operating the cab and associated implement. The frame 114 of the cab 20 is generally rectangular shaped with the first access side 124 being shorter in width than a width of the working side 126 and second access side 128. In other embodiments, the frame 114 may be other general shapes, such as circular, oval, square, or an irregular shape. For example, in embodiments the frame 114 may be generally arcuate with the first access side 124 continuously curving into the working side 126 and the second access side 128. In other embodiments, the frame 114 may be generally hexagonal, octagonal, or any other multifaceted shape. In any of the embodiments, each of the first access side 124, working side 126, and second access side 128 may be made of multiple sub-frames.
The floor 132 of the cab 20 is fixed to the turntable 16 to allow the cab to rotate with the implement 18. In other embodiments, the floor 132 of the cab 20 may be fixed to a turntable distinct from the turntable that rotates the implement 18. The distance from the deck 14 of the heavy equipment 10 to the floor 132 of the cab 20 is nominal to allow an operator to easily step from the deck 14 to the cab 20. In embodiments of the invention, the floor 132 of the cab 20 is pivotably mounted to the turntable 16 for tilting the first access side 124 of the cab 20 upwards away from the deck 14. This tilting allows for the operator to more easily see the implement 18 when it is tilted above the stowed vertical angle. The tilting does not alter the horizontal relationship of the cab 20 and the implement 18, as described below.
Inside the cab 20 comprises a seat 138 for the operator and controls 140 to instruct the implement 18. The seat 138 is mounted opposite the first access side 124 of the cab 20 and faces the first access side 124. The seat 138 is attached to the cab 20 sufficiently above the floor 132 to allow the operator to look through the windows 136 and to reach the controls 140 while seated. In other embodiments, there may not be a seat but only an area for the operator to stand. The controls 140 are located to the left and right of the seat 138, but in other embodiments, the controls 140 may be above or in front of the seat 138 or in some other combination of places in the interior of the cab 20.
The cab 20 has a first opening 118 and a second opening 120. The first opening 118 is on the first access side 124 of the cab 20 and allows ingress and egress to the interior of the cab from the deck 14 of the heavy equipment 10. Mounted in the first opening 118 of the cab 20 is a first door 142 operable to be selectively moved to open and closed positions (an open position 144 is shown in the drawings). Similarly, the second opening 120 is on the second access side 128 of the cab 20 and allows ingress and egress to the interior of the cab from the deck 14. Mounted in the second opening 120 of the cab 20 is a second door 146, which is also operable to be selectively moved to open and closed positions (an open position 148 is shown in the drawings). The second opening 120 of the cab 20 is not generally parallel to the first opening 118 and thus, not generally parallel to the implement 18. Reference to the first opening 118 herein is intended to encompass the first door 142 being in the open position 144 to allow ingress/egress from the cab 20, and reference to the second opening 120 is intended to encompass the second door 146 being in the open position 148 to allow ingress/egress from the cab 20. The first door 142 is mounted to the first access side 124 to allow the first door to open away from the second access side 128 and towards the working side 126 of the cab 20. Similarly, the second door 146 is mounted to the second access side 128 to allow the second door to open away from the first access side 124 of the cab 20. Various door configurations may be utilized for the first and second doors 142,146, including doors that fold, collapse, or slide open.
The turntable 16 is operable to place the cab 20 and thus the second opening 120 in various positions with respect to the deck 14. Various exemplary positions of the first and second positions are now described. When in the second position where the first opening 118 faces the left 26 or right sides 28, the second opening 120 faces the front end 22 or rear end 24 of the heavy equipment 10. In this embodiment of the second position, the second opening 120 is generally parallel to and above the first platform 56 or the second platform 58 of the deck 14. When in the second position where the first opening 118 faces less than a 180-degree angle towards the rear end 24 of the heavy equipment 10, the second opening 120 generally faces the right side 28 and not over the first 56 or second platforms 58 of the deck 14.
When in the second position where the first opening 118 generally faces the front end 22 or the rear end 24 of the heavy equipment 10, the second opening 120 is minimally over the first 56 or second platforms 58 of the deck 14. When in the second position where the first opening 118 generally faces the left 26 or right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10, the second opening 120 is substantially over the first 56 or second platforms 58. Thus, at any time either the first opening 118 or the second opening 120 of the cab 20 is over either the first platform 56 or the second platform 58 of the deck 14 of the heavy equipment 10.
In embodiments of the invention and when viewing the heavy equipment 10 from above (i.e., a plan view), the cab 20 maintains a fixed relative position to the implement 18 throughout rotation of the implement. Thus, when the implement 18 rotates, the cab 20 also rotates with the implement. Specifically, the arm 84 and the tip 86 would be facing the same direction as the first opening 118 and the first access side 124 regardless of which way the implement 18 and the cab 20 are rotated by the turntable 16.
To further explain, an exemplary first position is where the tip 56 of the implement 18 and the first access side 124 of the cab 20 are both facing the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10, and thus, the cab and implement are parallel to each other. If the implement 18 is rotated clockwise by the turntable 16 at a speed of a single revolution per minute and stops after 7.5 seconds of rotation, the implement will be facing 45 degrees from the exemplary first position. Because the cab 20 maintains a fixed relative position to the implement 18, the cab is also facing 45 degrees from the exemplary first position. Continuing the explanation, if the implement 18 were to resume rotation at 45 degrees from the exemplary first position for another 2.5 seconds at the same speed and direction, because the cab 20 maintains a fixed relative position with respect to the implement, both the implement and the cab would be facing 60 degrees from the exemplary first position.
Specifically in
As shown in
Mounted in the single opening 122 at the first access side 124 of the cab 20 is a first door 142 operable to allow access to the interior of the cab generally from the first access side. Mounted in the single opening 122 at the second access side 128 of the cab 20 is a second door 146 operable to allow access to the interior of the cab generally from the second access side. The first door 142 and the second door 146 are operable to vary the size of the single opening 122. The first door 142 and the second door 146 operate independently of each other. Many door configurations may be utilized, and the first door 142 and the second door 146 may operate by folding, collapsing, sliding, or some other combination. Further, the first door 142 and the second door 146 may be two different types of doors; for example, the first door may operate by folding, whereas the second door may operate by sliding.
As noted above, in some embodiments of the invention, the single opening 122 further comprises a support 160. The support 160 extends vertically from the floor 132 of the cab 20 upwards to the ceiling 134. The support 160 is positioned in the single opening 122 and obstructs up to 20 degrees of the single opening. The support 160 forms part of the frame 114 of the cab 20 and helps support the ceiling 134. The support structure 160 could be single or multiple pieces spaced throughout the single opening 122.
Use of the cab of embodiments of the invention will now be described. During operation of the heavy equipment 10, the operator may need to exit the cab 20. When the first access side 124 of the cab 20 is facing the left 26 or right sides 28 of the heavy equipment 10, the first opening 118 is not over the first 56 or second platforms 58 of the deck 14. In these situations if the operator needs to exit the cab 20, the operator can open the second door 146 to access the second opening 120 to exit onto the first 56 or second platforms 58 via the second access side 128 of the cab.
Sometimes the position of the turntable 16 with respect to the deck 14 faces the first access side 124 of the cab 20 between the front end 22 of the heavy equipment 10 and the left 26 and right sides 28. In this case the operator may choose whether to exit through the first 142 or second door 146 (or both) depending on the angle of the cab 20 with respect to the first platform 56 of the deck 14. Also, in some situations the turntable 16 faces the first access side 124 of the cab 20 between the rear end 24 of the heavy equipment 10 and the left 26 and rights sides 28. This presents the operator with a different choice: to exit the cab 20 through the first 142 or second door 146 (or both) depending on the angle of the cab with respect to the second platform 58 of the deck 14.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing 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.
