Patent Application
20170165823
The present disclosure generally relates to a hydraulic hammer. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a damping system for the hydraulic hammer.
Hydraulic hammers are used at various work sites for removing material from a work surface, for example, for breaking objects, such as rocks, concrete, asphalt, frozen ground, and other materials. The hydraulic hammers may be mounted on a machine, such as a backhoe, an excavator, a dozer, a loader, a motor grader, and the like. Typically, the hydraulic hammers include a housing, a power cell enclosed within the housing, and a mounting bracket disposed on the housing. The power cell is positioned within the housing and coupled with the tool that extends out of the housing. The power cell may be operated pneumatically or hydraulically for actuating the tool for performing various operations on the work surface. Vibrations are created as a result of continuous operation of the power cell and the tool and they may be transferred to a frame of the machine. Therefore, the hydraulic hammers may employ one or more dampers to dampen such vibrations.
For reference, U. S. Publication Number 2013/0306834 describes a vibration dampening device. The vibration dampening device includes a first section having a first section support assembly for supporting vibratory equipment. The vibration dampening device also includes a second section having a section support assembly for allowing vibration dampening device to be supported by a support apparatus. The vibration dampening further includes one or more fluid absorbers located between the first and second sections. The one or more fluid fillable absorbers are configured to absorb at least a portion of a vibratory force transferred from operation of the vibratory equipment.
In an aspect of the present disclosure, a damping system for a power cell of a hydraulic hammer is disclosed. The hydraulic hammer has a housing and a mounting bracket disposed on a top side of the housing. The damping system includes an expandable bladder that is positioned between the power cell and the mounting bracket. The expandable bladder is configured to receive a supply of pressurized fluid and store a volume of pressurized fluid therein. The damping system also includes a plurality of sensors for detecting one or more parameters related to operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer. The damping system further includes a controller disposed in communication with the plurality of sensors. The controller is configured to receive a one or more inputs indicative of the one or more parameters from the plurality of sensors to determine a threshold volume of pressurized fluid to be maintained in the expandable bladder. The controller is also configured to supply the threshold volume of pressurized fluid to the expandable bladder during operation of the hydraulic hammer.
In another aspect of the present disclosure, a hydraulic hammer system is disclosed. The hydraulic hammer system includes a hydraulic hammer. The hydraulic hammer includes a housing, a power cell disposed within the housing, and a mounting bracket disposed on a top side of the housing. The hydraulic hammer system further includes a damping system for damping vibrations during operation of the hydraulic hammer. The damping system includes an expandable bladder that is positioned between the power cell and an underside of the mounting bracket. The expandable bladder is configured to receive a supply of pressurized fluid and store the threshold volume of pressurized fluid therein. The damping system also includes a plurality of sensors for detecting one or more parameters related to operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer. The damping system further includes a controller disposed in communication with the plurality of sensors. The controller is configured to receive a one or more inputs indicative of the one or more parameters from the plurality of sensors to determine a threshold volume of pressurized fluid to be maintained in the expandable bladder. The controller is also configured to supply the threshold volume of pressurized fluid to the expandable bladder during operation of the hydraulic hammer.
In yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a machine for penetrating work surface is disclosed. The machine includes a hydraulic hammer system. The hydraulic hammer system includes a hydraulic hammer. The hydraulic hammer includes a housing, a mounting bracket disposed on a top side of the housing, and a power cell disposed within the housing. The hydraulic hammer system further includes a damping system for damping vibrations during operation of the power cell. The damping system includes an expandable bladder that is positioned between the power cell and the mounting bracket. The expandable bladder is configured to receive a supply of pressurized fluid and store a volume of pressurized fluid therein. The damping system also includes a plurality of sensors for detecting one or more parameters related to operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer. The damping system further includes a controller disposed in communication with the plurality of sensors and the pump. The controller is configured to receive one or more inputs indicative of the one or more parameters from the plurality of sensors to determine a threshold volume of pressurized fluid to be maintained in the expandable bladder. The controller is also configured to supply the threshold volume of pressurized fluid to the expandable bladder during operation of the hydraulic hammer by actuating the pump.
Other features and aspects of this disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to same or like parts. Moreover, references to various elements described herein are made collectively or individually when there may be more than one element of the same type. However, such references are merely exemplary in nature. It may be noted that any reference to elements in the singular is also to be construed to relate to the plural and vice-versa without limiting the scope of the disclosure to the exact number or type of such elements unless set forth explicitly in the appended claims.
In the illustrated embodiment of
As shown in
Referring to
The power cell 118 may include a cylinder (not shown) and a piston (not shown) slidably received within the cylinder. The power cell 118 may receive the hydraulic fluid at an inlet pressure “P” to move the piston during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102. In turn, the piston pushes the pecking tool 104 to engage with the ground surface 111 based on the inlet pressure “P”. Depending on the inlet pressure “P”, an impact of the piston on the pecking tool 104 may cause a shock wave that fractures any hard object causing it to break apart. Thus, the inlet pressure “P” may be varied based on various ground properties, for example soil resistance, during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102.
In an embodiment, the pecking tool 104 is configured to penetrate the ground surface 111 by impacting the ground surface 111 repeatedly at predefined time intervals. As such, an impact frequency “F” of the hydraulic hammer 102 may be defined based on a number of such impacts within a given duration of time. During operation of the hydraulic hammer 102, the impact frequency “F” of the hydraulic hammer 102 may be varied depending upon on various ground surface properties, such as soil resistance.
Since, the ground surface properties may vary with penetration of the pecking tool 104 within the ground surface 111, vibrations and/or stresses generated due to movement and impact of the pecking tool 104 may also vary i.e. increase and/or decrease. Also, the ground surface properties may change with different applications such as, a mine-site application, a construction site application and the like. Hence, an operating condition of the hydraulic hammer 102 may be defined with respect to ground surface properties.
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of sensors 124 include a first acceleration sensor 126, a frequency measuring sensor 128, a pressure sensor 130, a second acceleration sensor 132, and a position sensor 134. The first acceleration sensor 126 may be disposed on the power cell 118 and configured to detect the acceleration of the power cell 118 during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102. The second acceleration sensor 132 may be disposed on the mounting bracket 110 and configured to detect the acceleration of the mounting bracket 110 during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102. The position sensor 134 may be disposed on the housing 116 and configured to detect the angular orientation “Q” of the hydraulic hammer 102 during operation thereof. The frequency measuring sensor 128 may be mounted on the power cell 118 and configured to detect the impact frequency “F” of the hydraulic hammer 102. The pressure sensor 130 may be disposed within the power cell 118 to detect the inlet pressure “P” of the hydraulic fluid.
It may be envisioned to one skilled in the art that a position and structural configuration of the sensors 124 of the damping system 122 is merely exemplary in nature and hence non-limiting to this disclosure. Moreover, the damping system 122 may embody any types of sensors known in the art and configured to function according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.
As shown in
In various embodiments disclosed herein, it may be noted that the exact specifications of the pressurized fluid may vary from one type and/or configuration of the hydraulic hammer 102 to another, and/or from one application to another depending on specific requirements of the associated application. Therefore, any type of fluid may be used to form the pressurized fluid disclosed herein without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.
As shown in
As shown in
The controller 142 may be an electronic controller that operates in a logical fashion to perform operations, execute control algorithms, store and retrieve data and other desired operations. The controller 142 may include or access memory, secondary storage devices, processors, and any other components for running an application. The memory and secondary storage devices may be in the form of read-only memory (ROM) or random access memory (RAM) or integrated circuitry that is accessible by the controller 142. Various other circuits may be associated with the controller 142 such as power supply circuitry, signal conditioning circuitry, driver circuitry, and other types of circuitry.
The controller 142 may be a single controller or may include more than one controller disposed to control various functions and/or features of the damping system 122 and/or the machine 100. The term “controller 142” is meant to be used in its broadest sense to include one or more controllers and/or microprocessors that may be associated with the machine 100 and that may cooperate in controlling various functions and operations of the damping system 122 and/or the machine 100. The functionality of the controller 142 may be implemented in hardware and/or software without regard to the functionality employed.
During operation of the hydraulic hammer 102, the controller 142 is configured to receive the one or more inputs indicative of the parameters generated from the sensors 124. Specifically, the one or more inputs indicative of the parameters generated received by the controller 142 transmitted by the sensors 124 may include inputs pertaining to the acceleration of the power cell 118, the inlet pressure of the hydraulic fluid, the angular orientation “Q” of the hydraulic hammer 102 with respect to the ground surface 111, the acceleration of the mounting bracket 110, and the impact frequency of the hydraulic hammer 102. Further, based on the one or more inputs indicative of the parameters generated from the sensors 124, the controller 142 may determine a threshold volume of pressurized fluid to be maintained in the expandable bladder 136. The controller 142, upon determining the threshold volume of pressurized fluid accordingly, may actuate the pump 140 to supply the threshold volume of pressurized fuel to the expandable bladder 136. In an embodiment, the controller 142 may be configured to monitor a volume of pressurized fluid stored in the expandable bladder 136 and, accordingly, actuate the pump 140 to supply a desired amount of pressurized fluid to the expandable bladder 136 based on the threshold volume of pressurized fluid. The controller 142 may also discharge pressurized fluid from the expandable bladder 136 based on the threshold volume of pressurized fluid to be maintained in the expandable bladder 136.
In an embodiment of
It is hereby envisioned that the pressurized fluid maintained in the expandable bladder 136 will allow the expandable bladder 136 to damp vibrations from the power cell 118 of the hydraulic hammer 102. This way, the vibrations from the power cell 118 may be prevented from transmitting to the cab 114. Therefore, the damping system 122 may prevent transmission of vibrations from the hydraulic hammer 102 by maintaining, during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102, the threshold volume of pressurized fluid in the expandable bladder 136 based on the operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer 102.
Moreover, the expandable bladder 136 may be beneficially made from an elastomeric material such as Neoprene, Rubber, and other types of elastomers commonly known to one skilled in the art. The expandable nature of the expandable bladder 136 may allow the controller 142 to selectively switch, via the servo actuator 144, the pump 140 “ON” or “OFF” and vary the amount of pressurized fluid in the expandable bladder 136.
In an embodiment as shown in
The retainer 146 includes at least one port 148 that is disposed in fluid communication with the expandable bladder 136. In the illustrated embodiment, the retainer 146 includes one port 148. The port 148 may be configured to receive the pressurized fluid and discharge the pressurized fluid into the expandable bladder 136. The port 148 may be fluidly coupled to the pump 140, via the conduit 137, to receive the pressurized fluid. The port 148 may also be configured to allow a discharge of the pressurized fluid from the expandable bladder 136 for a softer response to the vibrations. In such a case, the port 148 may discharge the pressurized fluid from the expandable bladder 136 based on an actuation of the controller 142, via the servo actuator 144.
Further, as shown in the illustrated embodiment of
In another embodiment as shown in
Various embodiments disclosed herein are to be taken in the illustrative and explanatory sense, and should in no way be construed as unduly limiting of the present disclosure. All directional references (e.g., above, below, upper, lower, top, bottom, vertical, horizontal, inward, outward, radial, upward, downward, left, right, leftward, rightward, clockwise, and counter-clockwise) are only used for identification purposes to aid the reader's understanding of the present disclosure, and may not create limitations, particularly as to the position, orientation, or use of the systems and/or methods disclosed herein. Joinder references (e.g., attached, affixed, coupled, engaged, connected, and the like) are to be construed broadly. Moreover, such joinder references do not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected to each other.
Additionally, all numerical terms, such as, but not limited to, “first”, “second”, “third”, or any other ordinary and/or numerical terms, should also be taken only as identifiers, to assist the reader's understanding of the various embodiments, variations, components, and/or modifications of the present disclosure, and may not create any limitations, particularly as to the order, or preference, of any embodiment, variation, component and/or modification relative to, or over, another embodiment, variation, component and/or modification.
It is to be understood that individual features shown or described for one embodiment may be combined with individual features shown or described for another embodiment. The above described implementation does not in any way limit the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is to be understood although some features are shown or described to illustrate the use of the present disclosure in the context of functional segments, such features may be omitted from the scope of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.
The damping system 122 of the present disclosure has applicability in damping vibrations experienced during operation of the hydraulic hammer 102. In an aspect of the present disclosure, the damping system 122 of the present disclosure is configured to maintain varying amounts of pressurized fluid therein so as to accomplish a varying amount of damping i.e., underdamping, overdamping, and critically damping, to the vibrations from the hydraulic damper. This ability to adjust i.e., increase or decrease the amount of damping to the vibrations on real time basis prevents transmissions of vibration from the hydraulic hammer 102 to the cab 114 during operation thereof. Depending on the amount of pressurized fluid maintained in the expandable bladder 136, vibrations from the power cell 118 may be underdamped, critically damped, or overdamped.
The controller 142 may communicate with each of the sensors 124, the pump 140, and the servo actuator 144 through communication links 127, 129, 131, 133, 135, 141, and 145 to receive the one or more inputs indicative of the operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer 102. The controller 142 may pre-determine the threshold volume of pressurized fluid that is to be maintained in the expandable bladder 136 depending on the operating conditions of the hydraulic hammer 102. For example, if the controller 142 detects a change in the operating conditions which may cause a higher amount of vibrations, the controller 142 may actuate the servo actuator 144 to fill the expandable bladder 136 with more pressurized fluid so as to underdamp the vibrations. However, if the controller 142 detects a change in the operating conditions which may cause a moderate amount of vibrations, the controller 142 may actuate the port 148 to discharge the pressurized fluid for a softer response to the vibrations. This way, the vibrations from the hydraulic hammer 102 may be critically damped or over damped and therefore, little or no vibrations may be transmitted to the cab 114 when operating the hydraulic hammer 102.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
