Patent Application
20140157635
This disclosure relates generally to pin and bearing assemblies for coupling two rotatable components. More particularly, it relates to conical pin and bearing assemblies that may be used to couple a dipper door to a bucket.
Pinned joints are used in machines to couple two pieces that move relative to each other. In some mining equipment a dipper includes a bucket and a door, the door being movable relative to the bucket. Dippers are under near-constant use in a mine. In addition, dipper and dipper components handle heavy loads. It is anticipated that a certain amount of wear will occur on joints that couple two moving pieces together. A pinned joint is used to couple the bucket to the door. In some prior art embodiments these pinned joints may have short life spans this requiring maintenance and/or replacement on a regular basis. It is desirable to extend the life span of pinned joints to reduce maintenance requirements and to extend the life span of the joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,433,502 discloses an articulated vehicle having an improved hinge means for pivotally interconnecting the articulated sections of the vehicle. Specifically, the '502 Patent discloses a means for compensating for wear between bearing surfaces of articulated sections of a vehicle without continuous replacement of bearings after short periods of use.
In one embodiment the disclosure provides a pin and bearing assembly including a pair of pins configured to cooperate with a hub, each pin including a frustoconical end and a cylindrical aperture through each pin centered on a major axis. The disclosure further includes a rod positioned through the apertures along the major axis connecting the pins and the hub.
In an alternative embodiment the disclosure provides a method of coupling a hub to a component including placing a first pin into a first opening disposed on the hub and placing a second pin into a second opening disposed on the hub. The method further involves placing a threaded rod through a first aperture disposed on the first pin, a second aperture disposed on the second pin and a throughway disposed on the hub. The method also involves placing a bolt on a first end of the threaded rod and tightening the bolt on the first end of the threaded rod to apply a compressive force on the first pin, second pin and the hub.
In yet another alternative embodiment the disclosure provides a dipper having a bucket having four sides, an opening, and a door pivotally coupled to the bucket, the door configured to selectively cover the opening. The dipper further has a linkage coupled to the door and the bucket, the linkage including a hub and a pair of pins configured to cooperate with the hub, each pin including a frustoconical end and a cylindrical aperture through each pin centered on a major axis. The dipper also has a threaded rod positioned through the apertures along the major axis connecting the pins and the hub.
A machine may have two components that need to be coupled together while still allowing the components to move relative to each other. An example of the machine is a rope shovel, hydraulic shovel, excavator, backhoe, material handler and the like. The machine includes a dipper 10 which is used to hold dirt or ore.
The dipper 10 illustrated in
The third joint 46 includes a pin and bearing assembly 62. The pin and bearing assembly 62 will be described herein as used in the third joint 46, but the pin and bearing assembly 62 may be used with the first joint 38, the second joint 42 or other joints not described herein such as a hinge.
The pin and bearing assembly 62 includes two sleeve bearings 66, two rings 70, two pins 74, a thru rod 78, two nuts 82, two washers 86, two lock nuts 90 and a hub 94.
The hub 94, as best seen in
The pin and bearing assembly 62 includes two sleeve bearings 66 as seen in
The pin and bearing assembly 62 includes two rings 70 as seen in
The pin and bearing assembly 62 includes two pins 74 as seen in
In one embodiment the pin 74 has a flat surface 170 disposed on an outer part of the cylindrical portion 162, the flat surface 170 interfacing with a surface of at least one of the mounting blocks 54, 58 or coupling blocks 56, 60 to inhibit rotation of the pin 74 with respect to the first and second mounting blocks 54, 58. In another embodiment the pin 74 has a raised surface disposed on an outer part of the cylindrical portion 162, the raised surface interfacing with an indentation on at least one of at least one of the mounting blocks 54, 58 or coupling blocks 56, 60 to inhibit rotation of the pin 74 with respect to the first and second mounting blocks 54, 58. In yet another embodiment the pin 74 includes an indentation disposed on an outer part of the cylindrical portion 162. A corresponding indentation is disposed on at least one of at least one of the mounting blocks 54, 58 or coupling blocks 56, 60, the indentations on the pin 74 and the mounting blocks 54, 58 being sized and configured to receive a key, the key serving to inhibit rotation of the pin 74 with respect to the first and second mounting blocks 54, 58.
The pin and bearing assembly 62 also includes the thru rod 78, two nuts 82, two washers 86 and two lock nuts 90. Some embodiments may include additional washers 86. The thru rod 78 is cylindrical and includes first and second ends 174, 178. In the illustrated embodiments the first and second ends 174, 178 have threads disposed thereon. In an alternative embodiment, the thru rod 78 may be a bolt having a head on the first end 174 and threads disposed on the second end 178. The nuts 82 are sized and configured to interface with the threads disposed on the thru rod 78. The washers 86 are disposed on the first and second ends 174, 178 of the thru rod 78 between the nut 82 and the first and second mounting blocks 54, 58. Locks nuts 90 are sized and configured to interface with the threads disposed on the thru rod 78.
The pin and bearing assembly 62 is illustrated in section view in
A method of coupling the hub 94 to a component, such as the bucket 14, using the pin and bearing assembly 62 will now be described. First, one sleeve bearing 66 is placed into the first opening 110 of the first arm 98. Next another sleeve bearing 66 is placed into the first opening 110 of the second arm 102. After that two rings 70 are placed proximate to the sleeve bearings 66 and coupled to the hub 94 using screws, bolts or the like. Next two pins 74 are placed proximate to the sleeve bearings 66, one pin 74 being placed proximate to each sleeve bearing 66. At that point the pins 74 may be coupled to the bucket 14 by coupling the mounting blocks 54, 58 to the coupling blocks 56, 60. In the next step the thru rod 78 is placed through the hub 94, sleeve bearings 66 and pins 74, the thru rod 78 being centered along the major axis 122. Washers 86 are then placed on the first and second end 174, 178 of the thru rod 78. In the next step nuts 82 are tightened onto the threads disposed on the first and second end 174, 178. As the nuts 82 are tightened, a compressive force is applied to the pin and bearing assembly 62.
The present disclosure is applicable to pin and bearing assemblies 62 for any oscillatory joint arrangement between relatively moveable components. Exemplary applications include the dipper door 34 and bucket 14 of a mining shovel, a lift arm and end frame connection or a bucket and support arm connection of an end loader. The pin and bearing assembly 62 would also be suitable for other connections such as lift or tilt linkages.
The pin and bearing assembly 62 of the present disclosure is useful because it allows the dipper door 34 and bucket 14 to rotate relative to each other with little or no wear on the dipper door 34 and bucket 14. Rather, the pin and bearing assembly 62 wears when the dipper door 34 and bucket 14 move relative to each other. The design of the pin and bearing assembly 62 allows for the pin and bearing assembly 62 to be tightened when at least one of the pin 74 and the sleeve bearing 66 is worn causing the joint between the dipper door 34 and bucket 14 to be loose. The pin and bearing assembly 62 may be adjusted simply by tightening one or both of the nuts 82 coupled to the thru rod 78. The adjustability of the pin and bearing assembly 62 also results in longer life for the pin and bearing assembly 62 because it may be adjusted as it wears, thus resulting in reduced maintenance and parts costs. The ultimate result of the disclosure described herein will be less downtime for the dipper 10, increased service life, and more profitability over the course of its operation.
It should be understood that the above description is intended for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other aspects of the disclosure can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims.
