Patent Application
20200392695
The present invention generally relates to earth moving equipment, and more particularly to a dozer blade assembly for use on a vehicle.
Earth moving equipment is available in different forms and for different purposes. Once excavation and concrete contractors have completed major work, which may include excavating and/or pouring a foundation for a structure, such as a commercial building or house, a dirt contractor works to build up or cut down the dirt pad or ground on the site, which may include the area around and inside of a structure. The dirt contractor is tasked with bringing the site to within 1/10 of a foot of the specifications on a grading site plan. Following the work by a dirt contractor, a fine grading contractor is brought in to move dirt and/or gravel with a goal in fine grading to achieve the highest quality slab and to keep the waste factor as little as possible. With known dozer blade assemblies and grading systems, this effort often results in finishing within ⅜″ or ½″ of the grading site plan. Such known systems are not capable of significant angular displacement, which limits what can be accomplished in grading with a bulldozer or a skid steer.
It also would be particularly advantageous to be able to use an automated grade control system on a fine grader, but typical skid steer vehicles and grading blade assemblies used for fine grading lack sufficient control to permit accurate automated control while operating in a manner similar to a dozer. There are some specialized grading systems that are capable of employing automation, but the structures unfortunately have undesirable bounce or instability of the grading system and little downward pressure, which results in very limited ground cutting ability and ultimately limits the ability to achieve the intended goal in fine grading. The limitations can be due to the extent to which a grading system extends forward from the vehicle, the use of forward support wheels and/or the mounting and controls, which typically include vertically movable arms on the vehicle and hydraulic actuators to control the pitch of a quick attach mounting plate.
The present disclosure provides a dozer blade assembly that when mounted on a vehicle having a vertically movable mount, essentially provides an eight-way dozer blade, with significantly enhanced performance, in part, due to the ability to make compound yaw, pitch and roll adjustments without binding or interference between the various movements. The yaw movement provided also is more extreme than prior art dozer blades, with turning left or right to an angle of around 40 degrees from a longitudinal axis through a universal pivot for the blade.
In a first aspect, the disclosure provides a dozer blade assembly for connection to a vehicle having a vertically movable mount is provided and includes a blade and a blade support frame. The blade extends laterally and has a front surface, a rear surface, a bottom edge, a first end and an opposed second end. The blade support frame has a rear mounting member and a front bulk head located longitudinally forward of the rear mounting member. A universal joint having a front end connected to the rear surface of the blade and a rear end connected to the front bulk head is included and defines through a center of a pivotal member of the universal joint a vertical yaw axis, a lateral pitch axis and a longitudinal roll axis. The blade is pivotally movable relative to the blade support frame about the vertical yaw axis so as to turn left or right, about the lateral pitch axis so as to rotate forward or rearward, and about the longitudinal roll axis so as to tilt left or right. The dozer blade assembly includes at least one yaw actuator pivotally connected at a first end to the blade support frame between the rear mounting member and the front bulk head and generally within an imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis, extending forward and laterally outward from the blade support frame and being connected at a second end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis. Also included is at least one pitch actuator pivotally connected at a first end to the blade support frame between the rear mounting member and the front bulk head and generally within an imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis, extending forward from the blade support frame and being connected at a second end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within the imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis. The dozer blade assembly further includes at least one roll actuator pivotally connected at a first end to the blade support frame at a location above the roll axis and generally along the yaw axis, extending downward, forward and laterally outward from the blade support frame and being connected at a second end to the rear surface of the blade and generally within the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis. With the dozer blade assembly configured as such, the at least one yaw actuator, at least one pitch actuator and at least one roll actuator provide compound movements of the blade relative to the blade support frame.
While the disclosed dozer blade assembly is shown with a quick disconnect mounting bracket to be connected to the front mounting assembly of a skid steer, it will be appreciated that the dozer blade assembly may be mounted on any vehicle that has a vertically movable mount. Indeed, as discussed further herein, alternative versions of the dozer blade assembly may be mounted to vehicles that will either not utilize a pitch function or wherein the vehicle will use its pitch function and the dozer blade assembly may be constructed without a pitch actuator.
While the unique geometric mounting relationship of the actuators permits highly advantageous compound movements of the blade, the disclosure herein provides additional beneficial features. For instance, the rear cutting edge on the blade helps to stabilize the regular cutting edge of the blade, which is provided by the bottom edge of the blade, during normal grading. However, given the reverse angle of the rear cutting edge, it also may effectively be used to back-drag the ground surface as the vehicle is moving forward and the forward bottom edge of the blade is cutting the ground surface.
Among other advantageous enhancements discussed further herein, the disclosure also includes a unique pitch position gage that is connected to the pitch actuator and may be helpful to a user in monitoring the pitch of the blade. Its use may be most advantageous when paired with an optional mast receiver that is mounted on the blade support frame, instead of on the top of the blade. As described herein, this can be particularly beneficial when using two dimensional machine control for automated grading. Indeed, the dozer blade assembly is ideally suited for use with both two and three dimensional machine controls and may take advantage of the significantly greater turning angle of the blade and the ability to utilize compound yaw, pitch and roll movements and positioning of the blade.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and provided for purposes of explanation only, and are not restrictive of the subject matter claimed. Further features and objects of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent in the following description of the preferred embodiments and from the appended claims.
In describing the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawing figures wherein like parts have like reference numerals, and wherein:
It should be understood that the drawings are not to scale. While some mechanical details of the example dozer blade assembly, including details of fastening means and other plan and section views of the particular components, have not been shown, such details are considered to be within the comprehension of those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the present disclosure. It also should be understood that the present disclosure and claims are not limited to the preferred embodiment illustrated.
Referring generally to
As will be appreciated in viewing
The dozer blade assembly 10 further includes a blade 22 and a blade support frame 24. The blade 22 extends laterally and has a front surface 26, a rear surface 28, a bottom edge 30, a first end 32 and an opposed second end 34. The blade support frame 24 has a rear mounting member 36 and a front bulk head 38 located longitudinally forward of the rear mounting member 36. It will be appreciated that the quick disconnect mounting bracket 20 is removably connected to the rear mounting member 36, and may have a pattern of apertures and use of fasteners that permit height adjustment of the rear mounting member 36 to the quick disconnect mounting bracket 20. Accordingly, the blade support frame 24 may be height adjustable relative to the front mounting assembly 18 of the vehicle 12. The quick disconnect mounting bracket 20 also is constructed to have a configuration with a built-in pitch angle to provide for a neutral blade position when the blade 22 has been lowered to a ground surface and is not turned left or right, pitched forward or rearward, or tilted left or right. Also, the rear mounting member 36 and front bulk head 38 of the blade support frame 24 may be constructed of metal plate material for strength, durability and ease of fabrication, although other materials and non-plate configurations may be used for these components.
A universal joint 40 has a front end 42 and rear end 44. The front end 42 of the universal joint 40 is connected to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22, and the rear end 44 is connected to the front bulk head 38. The front end 42 and rear end 44 connections may be made such as by welding to the rear surface 28 of blade 22 and to the front face of the front bulk head 38, although other suitable means of connection may be used, and the orientation of the universal joint may be reversed. The universal joint 40 of this example includes a ball and socket assembly. Thus, ball constitutes a pivotal member 46, which in this example includes a stem 48 that is connected to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22. The socket 50 pivotally receives the pivot member 46 and it will be appreciated that through a center of the pivotal member 46 of the universal joint 40 there is defined a vertical yaw axis Y, a lateral pitch axis P and a longitudinal roll axis R. The universal joint 40 enables the blade 22 to be pivotally movable relative to the blade support frame 24 about the vertical yaw axis Y so as to turn left or right, about the lateral pitch axis P so as to rotate forward or rearward, and about the longitudinal roll axis R so as to tilt left or right.
The present example is shown with a modified retention ring 52 that captures the pivotal member 46 in the socket 50. As seen for example in
At least one yaw actuator 60 is pivotally connected at a first end 62 to the blade support frame 24 between the rear mounting member 36 and the front bulk head 38 and generally within an imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis R, extending forward and laterally outward from the blade support frame 36 and being connected at a second end 64 to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 and generally within the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis R. Thus, the second end 64 is spaced forward and laterally from the first end 62.
The at least one yaw actuator 60 provides yaw movements or left and right turning of the blade 22. In the present example, two hydraulic actuators are used for the at least one yaw actuator 60, which is preferred for earth moving capacity and stability, although it is contemplated that a single yaw actuator may be used. The mounting of the yaw actuators 60 in the same imaginary horizontal plane as the roll axis R through the pivotal member 46 of the universal joint 40 is contrary to the prior art wherein yaw actuators on a dozer typically are mounted much higher than the blade pivot, which would not enable the same compound yaw, pitch and roll movements of the blade.
The first and second ends 62, 64 of the yaw actuator 60 are pivotally connected, such as via an eye pivotally mounted by a pin between mounting flanges, although it will be appreciated that suitable alternative pivotal connections may be used. Indeed, throughout this disclosure it will be appreciated that it is contemplated that the pivotal connections described may be made in any suitable manner, such as by use of different types of pivot pins, axles, journaled couplings, bushings, bearings, or the like.
At least one pitch actuator 66 is pivotally connected at a first end 68 to the blade support frame 24 between the rear mounting member 36 and the front bulk head 38 and generally within an imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis R, extending forward from the blade support frame 24 and being connected at a second end 70 to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 and generally within the imaginary vertical plane through the roll axis R. This configuration allows minimal reaction of the pitch function when introducing yaw and roll movements.
The at least one pitch actuator 66 provides pitch movements or forward and rearward rotation of the blade 22. In the present example, a single hydraulic actuator is used for the at least one pitch actuator 66, which is preferred for avoidance of binding due to potential mounting positions that may not be complementary. The first end 68 is spaced longitudinally from the second end 70. As may be best seen in
At least one roll actuator 72 is pivotally connected at a first end 74 to the blade support frame 24 at a location above the roll axis R and generally along the yaw axis Y, extending downward, forward and laterally outward from the blade support frame 24 and being connected at a second end 76 to the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 and generally within the imaginary horizontal plane through the roll axis R. Thus, the first end 74 is spaced downward, forward and laterally outward from the second end 76.
The at least one roll actuator 66 provides roll movements or left and right tilting of the blade 22. In the present example, a single hydraulic actuator is used for the at least one roll actuator 72, which is preferred for avoidance of binding due to potential mounting positions that may not be complementary. The first and second ends 74, 76 of the roll actuator 72 are pivotally connected, such as via an eye pivotally mounted by a pin between mounting flanges, although it will be appreciated that suitable alternative pivotal connections may be used.
This unique relationship for mounting configuration of the at least one yaw actuator 60, at least one pitch actuator 66 and at least one roll actuator 72 provide compound movements of the blade 22 relative to the blade support frame 24. This is highly advantageous as, unlike the prior art, the interaction of the various pivot axes and travel of the actuators 60, 66 and 72 do not tend to bind, and instead permit any combination of simultaneous movements about the a vertical yaw axis Y, lateral pitch axis P and a longitudinal roll axis R, providing much more fluid movement and use of the blade 22. All of the actuators may be hydraulic cylinders, which is particularly convenient, given that most vehicles 12 that are designed for use in construction already are equipped with a hydraulic system, which also may be used to raise or lower front arms 14 of the vertically movable mount 13 on the vehicle 12. Nevertheless, alternative actuators, such as electric linear or rotary hydraulic or electric actuators, or other suitable actuators may be configured to impart direct or coupled movement to the blade 22 relative to the blade support frame 24. It also will be appreciated that at least one hydraulic valve body 78 may be used and connected to suitable operator controls to permit convenient operation of the actuators 60, 66 and 72. The valve body 78 may be set up using a line that taps into the buck tilt function of the vehicle, which will not otherwise be in use while the dozer blade assembly 10 is installed.
To help stabilize the dozer blade assembly 10, a plurality of adjustable length connectors 80 may be provided and they are connected at first ends 82 to the vertically movable mount 13, which in this example is shown as being connected to the arms 14 of the vehicle 12, and connected at second ends 84 to the blade support frame 24. It will be appreciated that in the present example, the adjustable length connectors 78 are in the form of a pair of ratchet chain binders. Because the dozer blade assembly 10 includes a pitch actuator 66, no pitch function is required of the vehicle. As such, use of the adjustable length connectors 80 is optional, but advantageously provides increased rigidity of the connection of the blade frame support 24 to the arms 14 of the vehicle 12, because the potential pitch movement of the front mounting assembly 18 of the vehicle 12 effectively has been eliminated. Therefore, the vehicle 12 can have its pitch adjustment rotated back to the factory stops and the dozer blade assembly 10 may be mounted and the adjustable length connectors 80 may be installed and in this example, ratcheted until in tension.
As best seen in
A further advantageous feature of the dozer blade assembly 10 is its ability to be useful when the vehicle 12 is moving in either a forward or rearward direction. This is due to a unique feature in which the blade 22 includes a rearward extending cutting edge 100, which is best seen in
The rearward extending cutting edge 100 is adjustable with respect to the distance it extends from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22. This is possible because a mounting flange 102 extends rearward from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 and a cutting element 104 having a rear cutting edge is connected to the rearward extending mounting flange 102. The mounting flange 102 that extends rearward from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 has a pattern of apertures 106 through the mounting flange 102 varying in distance from the rear surface 28 of the blade 22 as the pattern of apertures extends at an angle. In turn, the cutting element 104 has a series of complementary apertures 108 in a straight, laterally spaced pattern through the cutting element 104 at a fixed distance from the rear cutting edge. The apertures 106, 108 may be aligned and secured by fasteners 110, such as bolts and nuts, in adjustment increments of, for example, ¼ inch. This permits adjustment to account for wear or a desired degree of aggressiveness with respect to use of the rear cutting edge 100 for cutting of the ground surface. It also will be appreciated that alternative structures may be used to affect adjustment of the rear cutting edge 100.
The dozer blade assembly 10 permits selective use of the rearward extending cutting edge 100. The pitch actuator 66 includes a removable stop 112, best seen in
The blade 22, universal joint 40 and pitch actuator 66 are configured so that the bottom edge 30 acts as a cutting edge at an angle of 55 degrees to the ground surface when it the pitch actuator 66 draws the top of the blade 22 fully rearward, and at an angle of 90 degrees to the ground when the pitch actuator 66 is extended fully forward. The blade 22 is designed to grade in the drawn rearward pitch position or close thereto for most applications. This will ensure that the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22 that acts as the cutting edge stays pointed and sharp. The blade 22 can be pitched further forward to allow the sharpened cutting edge to cut hard ground material. With the removable stop 112 removed, as seen in
When the removable stop 112 is removed, the pitch actuator 66 rotates the top of the blade 22 rearward and the blade 22 is lowered to a position contacting a ground surface, the rear cutting edge 100 is configured to be approximately ¼ inch below the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22. This setting allows an operator to produce very smooth grading results by effectively dragging the rear cutting edge 100 along the ground surface with relatively high ground pressure, as the vehicle 12 is moving forward. Thus, this is somewhat similar to back-dragging with a standard blade, but is achievable while still grading in a forward direction. Back dragging is a very common practice used with a cutting edge on a bucket to attempt to provide a smooth ground surface.
Once again, with the blade 22 pitched forward, the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22 functions as a front cutting edge and peals away the ground surface. The rear cutting edge 100 is still in contact with the ground surface and provides much greater control with respect to how deep the front cutting edge is cutting into the ground surface, and also effectively is back-dragging while moving forward, so as to produce a better finished grading product. This function of the dozer blade assembly 10 allows a user to manually grade and produce high quality results with a dozer blade assembly, which previously was nearly impossible to do. The shorter the machine, the harder it is to produce smooth results. This is why the long chassis earth movers often are used. A skid steer traditionally is very hard to use to manually grade and the rear cutting edge 100 is a substantial inventive contribution that allows this to be done very easily.
The dozer blade assembly 10 preferably includes a mast that is connected to and extends upward from the blade 22 and/or blade support frame 24. The dozer blade assembly 10 may be used with a laser guided or three dimensional machine control system. Thus, an electronic component of an automated grade control system, such as a laser receiver or a prism, may be connected to a mast. Accordingly, to utilize a laser-based or other guided control system, the dozer blade assembly 10 includes on the top of the blade 22 a centrally located upstanding mast receiver 114. The mast receiver 114 is constructed as a tube having clamping bolts to permit a removable mast 116 to be removably held in the mast receiver 114. There may be times where it is advantageous to use more than one mast or to use a pair of masts proximate ends of the blasé 22. As such, the dozer blade assembly 10 may further include an additional upstanding mast receiver 118 proximate the first end 32 of the blade 22 and an additional upstanding mast receiver 120 proximate the second end 34 of the blade 22.
The dozer blade assembly 10 of this example also advantageously provides for use of a centrally located upstanding mast receiver 122 on the blade support frame 24. In this example, the mast receiver 122 will always stay vertically oriented. The blade support frame 24 may be raised or lowered with the vertically movable mount 13 by use of the lift cylinders 16 on the vertically movable arms 14 of the vehicle 12, but if for example two dimensional machine control is being used to work a site plan, then the height of a laser on a removable mast 116 in the mast receiver 122 relative to the ground surface advantageously will not be impacted by yaw, pitch or roll movements of the blade 22. This is particularly useful when working with the blade 22 at various pitch angles, as the height of the bottom edge 30 of the blade 22 may be lowered by approximately two inches when the pitch actuator 66 rotates the blade 22 to a fully forward position. This is evident to the user by means of monitoring the pitch actuator position gage 86. If using three dimensional machine control, the removable mast 116 may be mounted in the mast receiver 114 atop the center of the blade 22, because the surveyor's instrument will follow the prism mounted at the top of the mast 116 and the controls will know at all times the location of the cutting edge, bottom edge 30 of the blade 22.
The dozer blade assembly 10 advantageously may have a considerably wider lateral width by use of auxiliary blade sections 124 and 126 being connected to the respective first and second ends 32, 34 of the blade 22. For instance, in this example, the blade 22 has a width of 78 inches, but with each auxiliary blade section 124, 126 having a width of 18 inches, when installed at the ends 32, 34 of the blade 22, the blade width is extended to 114 inches. It will be appreciated that each auxiliary blade section 124, 126 further includes a respective inner end 128, 130 having a respective mounting flange 132, 134, and a respective outer end 136, 138 having a respective forward extending end wall 140, 142. As may be seen in
Additional advantageous sensors are provided with the example dozer blade assembly 10. For instance, as may be seen in
It will be appreciated that the blade support frame 24 may be constructed in various structural configurations to accommodate the mounting requirements for the various components that are connected thereto. In this example, as may be seen in
Relative to prior art dozer blade assemblies, the more rigid connection and relatively short extension from the front of the vehicle 12, while providing the ability to maintain the blade 22 in a generally level, neutral position throughout its use at varied heights, permits one to more easily achieve a goal in fine grading, for example, of finishing within ⅜″ or ½″ of the site plan, with as little waste as possible. In fact, by eliminating the shortcomings of the prior art dozer blade assemblies and providing a greater range of motion of the blade, such the significantly increased range of left to right turning, as well as a more fluid and complete range of compound movements of the blade 22, the present dozer blade assembly 10 is able to achieve substantially better performance may finish within ⅛″ to ⅜″ of a site plan.
From the above disclosure, it will be apparent that a dozer blade assembly constructed in accordance with this disclosure may include a number of structural aspects that provide advantages over prior art dozer blade assemblies for use on vehicles, depending upon the specific design chosen.
It will be appreciated that a dozer blade assembly may have a blade including a bottom edge and a rear cutting edge consistent with this disclosure, and may be embodied in various configurations. Any variety of suitable materials of construction, configurations, shapes and sizes for the components and methods of connecting the components may be utilized to meet the particular needs and requirements of an end user. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made in the design and construction of such a dozer blade assembly without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter, and that the claims are not limited to the preferred embodiment illustrated herein.
