Patent Grant
9297143
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a construction machine such as a hydraulic shovel.
2. Description of the Background Art
Heretofore, there has been known a construction machine comprising: a lower traveling body, an upper slewing body slewably provided on the lower traveling body, and a working attachment displaceably provided with respect to the upper slewing body.
This construction machine includes a known type equipped with a manually-operated unit configured to be manually operated by a worker (for example, a manipulation pattern switching valve described in Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. H02-22482).
The manually-operated unit described in Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. H02-22482 is interposed in a hydraulic circuit for driving a working attachment, to change a correspondence relationship between an operation direction of a working attachment manipulation lever and a movement of the working attachment.
Specifically, the manually-operated unit comprises a unit body (a casing and a rotary spool), and a rotary lever (switching lever) attached with respect to the unit body in such a manner as to be rotatable about a given rotational axis, in a posture where it extends beyond an outer peripheral surface of the unit body in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis.
Recent years, there has been an increasing need to dispose the manually-operated unit at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located around the upper slewing body.
For this purpose, it is conceivable to shift a device provided on the upper slewing body, in a horizontal direction, to thereby provide a space for installing the manually-operated unit, on the side of an outer surface side of the upper slewing body.
In this case, however, there is a problem that the upper slewing body is undesirably increased in size in the horizontal direction due to a need to ensure an installation space for the device shifted in the horizontal direction.
In particular, the rotary lever extends beyond the outer peripheral surface of the unit body. Thus, when the manually-operated unit is disposed in such a manner that a rotational trajectory plane of the rotary lever is oriented outwardly along the horizontal direction, the manually-operated unit requires an installation space greater than that for the unit body, in the horizontal direction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a construction machine capable of disposing a manually-operated unit at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located around an upper slewing body, while suppressing an increase in size of the upper slewing body in a horizontal direction.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a construction machine which comprises a lower traveling body, an upper slewing body slewably provided on the lower traveling body, and a working attachment displaceably attached with respect to the upper slewing body, wherein the upper slewing body comprises a bottom plate slewably attached onto the lower traveling body, a device provided on the bottom plate, and a manually-operated unit capable of being manually operated, and wherein: the manually-operated unit comprises a unit body, and a rotary lever attached with respect to the unit body in such a manner as to be rotatable about a preset rotational axis, in a posture where the rotary lever extends beyond an outer peripheral surface of the unit body in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis; and the device has an undersurface opposed to the bottom plate, and an outer lateral surface extending upwardly from the undersurface in such a manner as to face an outer edge portion side of the bottom plate, and wherein: the unit body is disposed above the bottom plate and beneath the undersurface of the device, in a posture where the rotational axis extends approximately horizontally; and the rotary lever is disposed outward of a lower edge portion of the outer lateral surface of the device, so as to permit rotation of the rotary lever.
The present invention makes it possible to dispose the manually-operated unit at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located around the upper slewing body, while suppressing an increase in size of the upper slewing body in a horizontal direction.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention will now be described based on embodiments thereof. It is to be understood that the following description is made to exemplify some embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The hydraulic shovel 1 comprises: a self-propelled lower traveling body 2 having a crawler 2a; an upper slewing body 3 provided on the lower traveling body 2 slewably about a slewing axis C1; and a work attachment 4 displaceably attached with respect to the upper slewing body 3. The following description will be made using directions as viewed from an operator located inside an aftermentioned operator's cab 15. The slewing axis C1 is an axis along an up-down direction.
The working attachment 4 includes a boom 5 raisably and lowerably attached with respect to the upper slewing body 3, an arm 6 swingably attached with respect to a distal end portion of the boom 5, and a bucket 7 swingably attached with respect to a distal end portion of the arm 6.
The work attachment 4 also includes a boom cylinder 8 for raising and lowering the boom 5 with respect to the upper slewing body 3, an arm cylinder 9 for swingingly driving the arm 6 with respect to the boom 5, and a bucket cylinder 10 for swingingly driving the bucket 7 with respect to the arm 6.
Referring to
Referring to
Here, a layout of the components provided on the upper frame 14 will be described.
The operator's cab 15 is provided on a front region of the bottom plate 26 at a position leftward of the left vertical plate 27.
The fuel tank 16 is provided leftward of the left vertical plate 27 and rearward of the operator's cab 15
The cooling device 17 is provided leftward of the left vertical plate 27 and rearward of the fuel tank 16.
The engine 18 is disposed to extend from the cooling device 17 to a position rightward of the right vertical plate 27, in such a manner that a longitudinal direction of the engine 18 is aligned with the right-left direction, and supported on the right and left vertical plates 27.
The hydraulic pump 19 is disposed to extend rightwardly from a right end portion of the engine 18.
The hydraulic oil tank 20 is provided rightward of the right vertical plate 27 and forward of the hydraulic pump 19. The storage housing 21 is provided rightward of the right vertical plate 27 and forward of the hydraulic oil tank 20
The counterweight 22 is provided rearward of the cooling device 17, the engine 18 and the hydraulic pump 19, over the entire width of the upper frame 14 in the right-left direction.
The control valve 23 is provided forward of the engine 18 and between the right and left vertical plates 27.
Each of the manually-operated valve 24 and the valve attaching mechanism 25 is provided beneath the fuel tank 16 and above the bottom plate 26, as described in detail later.
The operator's cab 15 is equipped with a pair of remote control valves (instruction output means) 31 each configured to output a pilot pressure (actuation instruction for the working attachment) to the control valve 23, and a pair of manipulation levers 32 for operating the respective remote control valves 31.
Referring to
The valve body 24a has a plurality of pipe connector portions 24c for allowing a plurality of pipe lines H to be connected, respectively, thereto. In
The manually-operated valve 24 is configured to change an output destination of the pilot pressure output from each of the remote control valves 31 to the control valve 23 (a correspondence relationship between the actuation instruction and a movement content of the working attachment 4), according to rotation of the rotary lever 24b. The valve body 24a is connected to the control valve 23 via the pipe lines H.
With reference to
The valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 has a plurality of (in
Specifically, in a first position illustrated in
On the other hand, when the rotary valve 24b is rotated to set the valve body 24a to a second position illustrated on a right side of
In this way, the correspondence relationship between the pilot pressure from each of the remote control valves 31 and the movement content of the working attachment 4 is changed according to a rotational operation of the rotary lever 24b.
As illustrated in
The fuel tank 16 is attached on the front pedestal 29 and the rear pedestal 30 each provided on the bottom plate 26 of the upper frame 14.
The front and rear pedestals 29, 30 are provided as a means to partially raise a height position of the bottom plate 26. Specifically, the front and rear pedestals 29, 30 are configured such that upper surfaces thereof are located at approximately the same height positions, and arranged in spaced-apart relation to each other in the front-rear direction.
The manually-operated valve 24 is disposed between the front and rear pedestals 29, 30 and beneath the fuel tank 16.
The pipe lines H between the pair of remote control valves 31 and the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 are led from above the front pedestal 29 into a space beneath the fuel tank 16 through a communication hole 29a (see
Further, the pipe lines H between the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 and the control valve 23 are led rightwardly from a position leftward of the left vertical plate 27 through a non-illustrated through-hole formed in the left vertical plate 27.
With reference to
The valve attaching mechanism 25 is fixed to an inner surface (right surface) of the reinforcement member 28 of the upper frame 14. In the first embodiment, the reinforcement member 28 is a tubular-shaped member fixed to a left outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26, in such a manner as to overlap the rotary lever 24b from a left side thereof (thereoutside).
The valve attaching mechanism 25 secures the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 to the upper frame 14 while supporting the valve body 24a from therebelow.
Specifically, the valve attaching mechanism 25 comprises a fixed member 25a fixed to the inner surface of the reinforcement member 28, and a bracket 25b attached to the fixed member 25a.
The bracket 25b has an attached portion attached to the fixed member 25a, and a support portion extending rightwardly from a lower end portion of the attached portion. The valve body 24a is attached onto the support portion by a bolt.
With reference to
The manually-operated valve 24 is disposed in a posture where the rotational axis C2 thereof extends approximately parallel to the right-left direction. Further, as regards the rotary lever 24b of the manually-operated valve 24, a rotatable range thereof about the rotational axis C2 includes a sub-range in which a distal end portion of the rotary lever 24b passes through a region above the rotational axis C2. Specifically, in the first embodiment, on the basis of a rotational position where the rotary lever 24b is in an upright state, the rotary lever 24b is rotatable in a range between about 70 degrees toward a front side and about 70 degrees toward a rear side.
Correspondingly, the fuel tank 16 has a lower portion defining a cutout region 16d for ensuring a permissible space 16g which permits the rotation of the rotary lever 24b. This permissible space 16g includes not only a space for allowing a rotational movement of the rotary lever 24b to be performed, while avoiding interference between the rotary lever 24b and the fuel tank 16, but also a space for allowing a worker to grip the rotary lever 24a by his/her hand, while avoiding interference with the fuel tank 16.
Specifically, the fuel tank 16 has: an upper-outer lateral surface 16c facing the left outer edge portion 26a side of the bottom plate 26; a lower-outer lateral surface 16b extending obliquely downwardly and inwardly from a lower edge portion of the upper-outer lateral surface 16c; and an undersurface 16a extending approximately horizontally and inwardly from a lower edge portion 16f of the lower-outer lateral surface 16b. The cutout region 16d is defined by the lower-outer lateral surface 16b. The undersurface 16a is fixed onto the front pedestal 29 and the rear pedestal 30.
That is, the fuel tank 16 has the undersurface 16a opposed to the bottom plate 26, and the lower-outer lateral surface 16b (“outer lateral surface” set forth in the appended claims) extending upwardly from the undersurface 16a in such a manner as to face the left outer edge portion 26a side of the bottom plate 26.
Then, the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 is disposed above the bottom plate 26 and beneath the undersurface 16a of the fuel tank 16. Further, the rotary lever 24b is disposed leftward (outward) of the lower edge portion 16f of the lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16.
Thus, it becomes possible to ensure the permissible space 16g for permitting the rotation of the rotary lever 24b, on a left side of the lower-outer lateral surface 16b (in the cutout region 16d). In
A portion of the fuel tank 16 located upward of the cutout region 16d (a portion of the fuel tank 16 having the upper-outer lateral surface 16c) protrudes leftwardly (outwardly) with respect to the lower-outer lateral surface 16b. Therefore, this portion can be utilized to increase a capacity of the fuel tank 16.
The distal end portion of the rotary lever 24b extends leftwardly (outwardly) toward a distal edge side thereof. This makes it easy for a worker located leftward of the bottom plate 26 to manually operate the rotary lever 24b.
The lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16 is disposed rightward (inward) of the reinforcement member 28. This makes it possible to provide a space for accessing the rotary lever 24b, between the lower-outer lateral surface 16b and the reinforcement member 28.
In the first embodiment, a height position P1 of an upper end of the reinforcement member 28 is set to be located below a height position P2 of the undersurface 16a of the fuel tank 16, so that it becomes possible to facilitate access to the rotary lever 24b while effectively utilizing the permissible space 16g in the cutout region 16d defined by the lower-outer lateral surface 16b.
As described above, the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 is provided beneath the fuel tank 16, so that it becomes possible to dispose the valve body 24a on the bottom plate 26, while suppressing the need to shift the fuel tank 16 in a horizontal direction.
In a state in which the valve body 24a is disposed in a posture where the rotational axis C2 extends approximately horizontally, the rotary lever 24b is provided outward of the lower edge portion 16f of the lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16, so that a space located above the rotary lever 24b opened from the undersurface 16a of the fuel tank 16 can be utilized as a rotatable range of the rotary lever 24b. Thus, the rotary lever 24b can be disposed at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located adjacent to the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26.
This makes it possible to dispose the manually-operated valve 24 at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located around the upper slewing body 3, while suppressing an increase in size of the upper slewing body 3 in the horizontal direction.
The hydraulic shovel 1 according to the first embodiment can also bring out the following advantageous effects.
A portion of the fuel tank 16 other than the lower-outer lateral surface 16b (a portion of the fuel tank 16 having the upper-outer lateral surface 16c) protrudes outwardly with respect to the lower-outer lateral surface 16b, so that it becomes possible to increase a storage volume of the fuel tank 16, in a region other than the permissible space 16g for the rotation of the rotary lever 24b.
The distal end portion of the rotary lever 24b extends leftwardly (outwardly) toward a distal edge thereof, so that a position of the distal end portion of the rotary lever 24b comes closer to the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26. This makes it easier for a worker located adjacent to the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26 to manually operate the rotary lever 24b.
Further, in conformity to the shape of the distal end portion of the rotary lever 24b, the lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16 extends obliquely upwardly and leftwardly (outwardly) from the lower edge portion 16f thereof, so that the storage volume of the fuel tank 16 can also be increased in the portion of the of the fuel tank 16 formed with the lower-outer lateral surface 16b.
The reinforcement member 28 is provided along the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26, so that it becomes possible to satisfy both weight reduction and ensuring of strength of the bottom plate 26.
On the other hand, the reinforcement member 28 is fixed to the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26, in such a manner as to overlap the rotary lever 24a from the left side thereof (thereoutside). This imposes restriction on access to the rotary lever 24b from the left side thereof.
Therefore, in the first embodiment, the lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16 is disposed rightward (inward) of the reinforcement member 28, so that access to the rotary lever 24b from thereabove through a gap between the lower-outer lateral surface 16b of the fuel tank 16 and the reinforcement member 28 is permitted.
This makes it possible to facilitate reinforcement and weight reduction of the bottom plate 26 while permitting a worker located around the bottom plate 26 to manually operate the manually-operated valve 24.
In the first embodiment, the manually-operated valve 24 configured to change the correspondence relationship between the pilot pressure from each of the remote control valves 31 and a movement content of the working attachment 4 is disposed rearward of the operator's cab 15.
Thus, when an operator in the operator's cab 15 intends to change the corresponding relationship, the operator can manually operate the manually-operated valve 24 immediately after getting out of the operator's cab 15.
The first embodiment has been described based on an example in which the fuel tank is formed to define the cutout region 16d. Alternatively, the cutout region 16d may be omitted.
As illustrated in
A right-left directional position of a lower edge portion 16f of the lateral surface 16e is identical to a right-left directional position of the lower edge portion 16f in the first embodiment.
Thus, a permissible space 16g for permitting rotation of a rotary lever 24b can be provided leftward (outward) of the lateral surface 16e.
In the first and second embodiments, the valve body 24a of the manually-operated valve 24 is disposed adjacent to the outer edge portion 26a of the bottom plate 26. Alternatively, the valve body 24a may be disposed more inwardly (more rightwardly).
As illustrated in
The coupling portion 24d allows the valve body 24a to be disposed more rightwardly, so that a distance between the valve body 24a and the control valve 23 can be reduced to shorten a length of each of the pipe lines H connecting therebetween. This makes it possible to reduce pressure loss occurring in hydraulic oil to thereby facilitate energy saving.
In the above embodiments, the fuel tank 16 is exemplified as a device disposed above the manually-operated valve 24. Alternatively, the hydraulic oil tank 20, an aqueous urea solution tank (not illustrated) or the storage housing 21 may be employed as the device.
Further, in the above embodiments, the manually-operated valve 24 is exemplified as a manually-operated unit. Alternatively, a selector valve for switching between flow passages to an attachment may be employed as the manually-operated unit.
The aforementioned specific embodiments include an invention having the following features.
Specifically, the present invention provides a construction machine which comprises a lower traveling body, an upper slewing body slewably provided on the lower traveling body, and a working attachment displaceably attached with respect to the upper slewing body, wherein the upper slewing body comprises a bottom plate slewably attached onto the lower traveling body, a device provided on the bottom plate, and a manually-operated unit capable of being manually operated, and wherein: the manually-operated unit comprises a unit body, and a rotary lever attached with respect to the unit body in such a manner as to be rotatable about a preset rotational axis, in a posture where the rotary lever extends beyond an outer peripheral surface of the unit body in a direction perpendicular to the rotational axis; and the device has an undersurface opposed to the bottom plate, and an outer lateral surface extending upwardly from the undersurface in such a manner as to face an outer edge portion side of the bottom plate, and wherein: the unit body is disposed above the bottom plate and beneath the undersurface of the device, in a posture where the rotational axis extends approximately horizontally; and the rotary lever is disposed outward of a lower edge portion of the outer lateral surface of the device, so as to permit rotation of the rotary lever.
In the construction machine of the present invention, the unit body of the manually-operated unit is provided beneath the device, so that it becomes possible to dispose the unit body on the bottom plate, while suppressing the need to shift the device in a horizontal direction.
Further, in a state where the rotational axis extends approximately horizontally, the rotary lever is provided outward of the lower edge portion of the outer lateral surface of the device, so that a space located above the rotary lever opened from the undersurface of the device can be utilized as a rotatable range of the rotary lever. Thus, the rotary lever can be disposed at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located adjacent to the outer edge portion of the bottom plate.
Thus, the present invention makes it possible to dispose the manually-operated unit at a position where it can be manually operated by a worker located around the upper slewing body, while suppressing an increase in size of the upper slewing body in the horizontal direction.
As used in this specification, the term “the rotary lever is disposed outward of a lower edge portion of the outer lateral surface of the device, so as to permit rotation of the rotary lever” means that not only a space for allowing a rotational movement of the rotary lever to be performed, while avoiding interference between the rotary lever and the device, but also a space for allowing a worker to grip the rotary lever by his/her hand, while avoiding interference with the device, are defined outward of the outer lateral surface of the device
In this regard, the above outer lateral surface may be formed on the entire lateral portion of the device facing the outer edge portion side of the bottom plate. In this case, however, the device has restriction on size, even in a portion free of interference with the rotary lever during the rotational movement. Thus, when a storage container is employed as the device, it will have restriction on storage volume.
Therefore, in the case where a storage container internally having a storage chamber is employed as the device, it is preferable that the outer lateral surface of the device is located inward of a permissible space which permits the rotation of the rotary lever, and a lateral portion of the device facing the outer edge portion side of the bottom plate is formed with a protruding portion protruding outwardly with respect to the outer lateral surface in a region other than the permissible space.
According to this aspect, a storage volume of the device can be increased in a region other than the permissible space for the rotation of the rotary lever.
It should be noted that the term “permissible space” means only a space for allowing a rotational movement of the rotary lever to be performed, while avoiding interference between the rotary lever and the device, but also a space for allowing a worker to grip the rotary lever by his/her hand, while avoiding interference with the device.
Preferably, in the above construction machine, the rotary lever has a distal end portion extending outwardly toward a distal edge of the rotary lever, and the outer lateral surface extends obliquely upwardly and outwardly from the lower edge portion of the outer lateral surface.
According to this aspect, a position of the distal end portion of the rotary lever comes closer to the outer edge portion of the bottom plate, so that it becomes easier for a worker located adjacent to the outer edge portion of the bottom plate to manually operate the rotary lever.
Further, in conformity to the shape of the distal end portion of the rotary lever, the outer lateral surface can be formed to extend obliquely upwardly and outwardly so as to define the permissible space, so that the storage volume of the device can also be increased in the portion of the of the device formed with the outer lateral surface.
In order to satisfy both weight reduction and ensuring of strength of the bottom plate, a reinforcement member may be provided along the outer edge portion of the bottom plate. However, when the reinforcement member is provided in such a manner as to overlap the rotary lever from thereoutside, access to the rotary lever from thereoutside will be restricted.
Therefore, in the case where the upper slewing body is provided with a reinforcement member fixed to the outer edge portion of the bottom plate, in such a manner as to overlap the rotary lever from outside of the rotary lever, and configured to reinforce the bottom plate, the outer lateral surface of the device is preferably disposed inward of the reinforcement member.
According to this aspect, access to the rotary lever from thereabove is permitted through a gap between the outer lateral surface of the device and the reinforcement member.
This makes it possible to facilitate reinforcement and weight reduction of the bottom plate while permitting a worker located around the bottom plate to manually operate the manually-operated unit.
Preferably, in the above construction machine, the upper slewing body further comprises an operator's cab provided on the bottom plate, an instruction output means provided inside the operator's cab and configured to output an actuation instruction for the working attachment, and wherein: the manually-operated unit is configured to change a correspondence relationship between the actuation instruction from the instruction output means and a movement content of the working attachment, according to a rotational operation of the rotary lever; and the device and the manually-operated unit are disposed rearward of the operator's cab.
According to this aspect, the manually-operated unit configured to change the correspondence relationship between the actuation instruction from the instruction output means and a movement content of the working attachment is disposed rearward of the operator's cab.
Thus, when an operator in the operator's cab intends to change the corresponding relationship, the operator can manually operate the manually-operated unit immediately after getting out of the operator's cab.
Preferably, in the above construction machine, the upper slewing body further comprises a control device configured to control a movement of the working attachment, in response to an input of the actuation instruction from the manually-operated unit after the change of the correspondence relationship, wherein the control device is disposed inward of the unit body, and connected to the unit body via a connection line so as to allow the actuation instruction from the manually-operated unit to be transmitted to the control device, and the manually-operated unit further comprises a coupling portion extending inwardly from the rotary lever to couple the rotary lever and the unit body together, so as to allow a rotational movement of the rotary lever to be transmitted to the unit body.
According to this aspect, the unit body can be disposed more inwardly using the coupling portion, while fixing a position of the rotary lever, so that it becomes possible to shorten a length of the connection line connecting between the unit body and the control device.
This application is based on Japanese Patent application No. 2013-253436 filed in Japan Patent Office on Dec. 6, 2013, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Although the present invention has been fully described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore, unless otherwise such changes and modifications depart from the scope of the present invention hereinafter defined, they should be construed as being included therein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-253436 | Dec 2013 | JP | national |
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| Entry |
|---|
| Office Action issued Oct. 27, 2015 in Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-253436 (with English Translation). |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20150159345 A1 | Jun 2015 | US |
