Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6574891
-
Patent Number
6,574,891
-
Date Filed
Friday, September 8, 200024 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, June 10, 200321 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Will; Thomas B.
- Florio; Kristine
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 037 446
- 037 403
- 037 447
- 037 444
- 037 466
- 037 906
- 037 904
-
International Classifications
-
-
Disclaimer
Terminal disclaimer
Abstract
An excavation bucket incorporating an impact actuator assembly is described herein. The excavation bucket includes a bucket body, a movable head, a movable floor portion mounted to the movable head and an impact actuator provided between and mounted to the bucket body and the movable head. The movable head is longitudinally movable in the bucket body. The movable head is provided with tools, such as teeth, to penetrate hard soils. These tools are slidably mounted in the movable head to reach a retracted position when they are pushed against hard soil. When the impact actuator is activated, the longitudinal impacts generated by the impact actuator drive the tools into the hard soil if the tools are in their retracted positions. However, if the impact actuator is activated while the tools are not in their retracted position, the longitudinal impacts will cause the repetitive longitudinal movements of the movable head and thus of the movable floor with respect to the bucket body.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to excavation buckets. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with excavation buckets incorporating an impact actuator assembly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The prior art is replete with configurations of excavating buckets designed to better dig into hard soils.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,438 entitled: “Excavating bucket having power driven, individually controlled digging teeth” issued on Dec. 2, 1986 to Daniel S. Mozer describes an excavating bucket having a leading edge provided with a row of individually pneumatically driven digging teeth. Each digging tooth is connected to a pneumatic impact hammer that reciprocates the tooth at high speed and with great force.
The excavating bucket described by Mozer has several drawbacks. For example, since pneumatic impact hammers are used, the earth working machine to which the excavating bucket is mounted must be provided with an air compressor and adequate supplemental conduits between the air compressor and the bucket. Also, since each tooth is connected to an individual pneumatic impact hammer, the total weight of the excavating bucket is much higher than the weight of a conventional bucket, which is a disadvantage when the arm of the earthmoving machine is fully extended, since conventional earth moving machines are generally designed to move weights similar to the weight of conventional buckets. Yet another drawback of the excavating bucket of Mozer is that since impact hammers generally require an external force compressing the internal piston, the teeth will be displaced by the hammers only when they supply this compression force by contacting a hard soil.
Patent Cooperation Treaty application published under number WO 93/23210 on Nov. 25, 1993, entitled “IMPACT DEVICE” and naming Jack Benton Ottestad as inventor describes a custom impact device mounted to an excavating bucket. While the device described by Ottestad is an improvement over the device of Mozer, it still has the above mentioned drawback that the blade is only actuated by the impact device when the blade is in a position to compress the internal piston of the impact device.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an improved excavating bucket incorporating an impact actuator.
Another object of the invention is to provide an excavating bucket incorporating an impact actuator free of the above mentioned drawbacks of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
More specifically, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an excavation bucket comprising:
a bucket body including a base portion and lateral side portions; the base portion having a longitudinal axis;
a movable floor so mounted to the bucket body as to (a) be longitudinally slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, and (b) provide a free space between the base portion and the movable floor; and
means for selectively slide the movable floor between the retracted and extended positions; the sliding means being mounted in the free space.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an excavation bucket comprising:
a bucket body including a base portion and lateral side portions; the base portion having a longitudinal axis;
a movable head so mounted to the bucket body as to be longitudinally slidable between a retracted position and an extended position; the movable head including a movable head body provided with a proximate end and a distal end and at least one tool receiving aperture extending from the proximate end to the distal end;
a movable floor so mounted to the movable head body as to provide a free space between the base portion and the movable floor;
an impact actuator including an impact actuator body mounted to the bucket body and impact head so mounted to the actuator body as to be selectively movable between a retracted position and an extended position; the impact actuator being mounted in the free space; and
at least one tool configured and sized to be slidably inserted in the tool receiving aperture of the movable head body; when inserted in the tool receiving aperture, the tool being slidable between an extended position and a retracted position where the tool contacts the impact head; wherein the impact head, when in its extended position, (a) contacts the proximate end of the movable head body when the tool is in its extended position and (b) contacts the tool when the tool is in its retracted position.
Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following non restrictive description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the appended drawings:
FIG. 1
is a side elevational view illustrating an excavating bucket according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is an enlarged top plan view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is an enlarged front elevational view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 4
is a sectional side elevational view taken along line
4
—
4
of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 5
is a sectional side elevational view taken along line
5
—
5
of
FIG. 2
;
FIG. 6
is a side sectional view illustrating the front portion of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
before a contact with a rock;
FIG. 7
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
after a contact with a rock and before an impact of the impact actuator;
FIG. 8
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
, where the internal hammer is preparing an impact;
FIG. 9
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
during an impact of the impact actuator;
FIG. 10
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
after an impact;
FIG. 11
is a side sectional view illustrating the front portion of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
before an impact of the impact actuator, where the digging teeth are not in contact with soil;
FIG. 12
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
, where the internal hammer is preparing an impact;
FIG. 13
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
during an impact of the internal hammer of the impact actuator;
FIG. 14
is a side sectional view illustrating the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
after an impact of the internal hammer of the impact actuator;
FIG. 15
is a side elevational view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
provided with a clay cutting attachment;
FIG. 16
is a side elevational view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
provided with a root shredding attachment;
FIG. 17
is a side elevational view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
provided with a picket ramming attachment; and
FIG. 18
is a side elevational view of the excavating bucket of
FIG. 1
provided with a compaction attachment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to
FIGS. 1
to
3
of the appended drawings, an excavation bucket
20
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. The excavation bucket
20
generally includes a bucket body
22
, a longitudinally movable floor
24
and an impact actuator assembly
26
.
The bucket body
22
has a longitudinal axis
23
(
FIG. 2
) and includes a base
28
, a pair of lateral side walls
30
,
32
, a rear wall
34
, and a pair of mounting elements
36
,
38
each provided with apertures
40
to which the end of the arm of a conventional earth moving machine (not shown) may be secured.
The lateral walls
30
and
32
are respectively provided with forward extension elements
31
,
33
made of a material, for example HARDOX 400™, that may be sharpened to a cutting edge. Two guiding elements
35
,
37
(see
FIG. 2
) provided with respective projections (see numeral
39
in
FIG. 4
) are respectively and fixedly mounted to the internal surfaces of the walls
30
,
32
. The purpose of the guiding elements
35
,
37
will be described hereinafter.
The movable floor
24
includes a proximate end
42
and a distal end
44
. The distal end
44
is mounted to a movable head
46
of the impact actuator assembly
26
. The movable floor
24
generally consists of a first flat portion
48
, a first angled portion
50
, a second flat portion
52
, a second angled portion
54
, third flat portion
56
, first and second vertical portions
58
and
60
(FIG.
3
), first and second lateral flat portions
62
,
64
(
FIG. 3
) and a rear curved portion
66
. As will be described hereinbelow, the movable floor
24
is so mounted to the movable assembly
46
as to be reciprocately longitudinally slidable between a retracted position (illustrated in
FIG. 1
) and an extended position (shown in FIG.
14
).
The configuration and position of the movable floor
24
with respect to the bucket body
22
create a free space
68
(
FIG. 1
) between the generally inverted U-shaped portion of the movable floor
24
and the base
28
of the bucket body
22
.
It is to be noted that the configuration of the movable floor
24
is at least partially dictated by the required shape of the free space
68
as will be described hereinbelow.
The impact actuator assembly
26
includes an impact actuator
70
, an impact head
72
and a movable head
46
.
The impact actuator
70
is fixedly mounted to the bucket
22
in the free space
68
between the movable floor
24
and the base
28
. To hydraulically connect the impact actuator
70
to the earth moving machine (not shown) the impact actuator
70
also includes a manifold
74
to which the hydraulic fluid conduits (not shown) of the earth moving machine may removably be connected. Hydraulic fluid conduits
76
are fixedly connected between the manifold
74
and the impact actuator
70
. Grease conduits (not shown) are also provided between the manifold
74
and the impact actuator
70
to allow maintenance of the impact actuator
70
without requiring the removal of the movable floor
24
.
It is to be noted that since the impact actuator
70
is similar to conventional impact actuators that are conventionally mounted to the booms of earth moving machines, conventional fluid conduits of the earth moving machine may advantageously be connected to the manifold
74
for the selective operation of the impact actuator. Accordingly, the impact actuator assembly
70
is advantageously an hydraulic impact actuator. However, a pneumatic impact actuator (not shown) could also be used, provided that adequate air supply is present on the earth moving machine. Of course, other modifications would possibly be required to allow a pneumatic impact actuator to be used.
The different elements and the general operation of a hydraulic impact actuator, such as impact actuator
70
, are believed well known in the art. Accordingly, for concision purposes, only elements relevant to the description or to the operation of the excavation bucket incorporating an impact actuator assembly of the present invention will be described hereinbelow. It will therefore be understood that omissions or generalizations in the description or in the operation of the impact actuator
70
should not be construed in any way as limiting the present invention.
Referring briefly to
FIG. 6
of the appended drawings showing a sectional view of the impact actuator
70
, the impact actuator
70
includes a generally tubular body
78
and a reciprocating hammer
80
slidably mounted in an axial aperture
82
of the body
78
for longitudinal movements between first and second positions.
The impact head
72
has a generally T-shape crosssection and includes an impact surface
73
, as can be better seen in FIG.
6
. The configuration and size of the impact head
72
allow the impact head
72
to be slidably mounted in the axial aperture
82
of the body
78
.
Returning to
FIGS. 1
to
3
, the movable head
46
is mounted to the lateral walls
30
,
32
of the bucket body
22
for reciprocal sliding movements between retracted and extended positions via a pair of cylindrical mounting pins
84
,
86
. More specifically, the cylindrical pin
84
extends through a circular aperture
88
of the wall
30
, a transversal oblong aperture
90
(see
FIG. 4
) of the movable head
46
and a circular aperture
92
of the wall
32
. Similarly, the cylindrical pin
86
extends through a circular aperture
94
of the wall
30
, a transversal oblong aperture
96
(see
FIG. 4
) of the movable head
46
and a circular aperture
98
of the wall
32
.
It is to be noted that the movable head
46
and the attached movable floor
24
may easily be removed from the bucket body
22
by removing the mounting pins
84
,
86
and by longitudinally sliding the movable head
46
from the bucket
22
.
The movable head
46
includes a solid body
100
having a proximate portion
102
, a distal portion
104
and opposite lateral walls
106
,
108
.
Turning now more specifically to
FIGS. 3
,
4
and
5
of the appended drawings the various elements of the movable head
46
will be described.
The lateral walls
106
,
108
are provided with respective channels
110
,
112
configured and sized to slidably receive the projections
39
of the guiding elements
35
,
37
to thereby slidably mount the movable head
46
to the bucket
22
. It is to be noted that the oblong shape of the apertures
90
,
96
of the body
100
allow longitudinal sliding movements of the movable head
46
with respect to the bucket
22
while adequately securing the head
46
to the bucket
22
. It is also to be noted that the cooperation of the projections
39
with the channels
110
,
112
allow longitudinal movements of the movable head
46
while preventing other movements of the movable head.
The lateral walls
106
,
108
are also provided with respective friction reducing elements
113
,
115
, partially embedded in cavities (not shown) of the lateral walls
106
,
108
, and in contact with the guiding elements
35
,
37
to reduce the wear of the surface of both the guiding elements and the body
100
. Similarly, the base
28
of the bucket
22
is provided with a shoulder
117
receiving a friction reducing pad
119
onto which the bottom of the body
100
rests. Again, the purpose of the friction reducing pad
119
is to extend the useful life of both the base
28
and the body
100
. While the material forming the friction reducing elements
113
,
115
and
119
may be modified, it has been found that Nyloil™ type material has been found an adequate friction reducing material for the intended purpose.
The body
100
includes three longitudinal tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
and a tool locking mechanism
120
. In
FIGS. 1-14
, generally cylindrical teeth
122
,
124
and
126
are inserted in respective apertures
114
,
116
and
118
. Each tooth
122
-
126
is provided with a semi-oblong tangential channel
128
in which a rotatable rod
130
of the locking mechanism
120
is inserted. The rod
130
includes tangential cutouts
132
(
FIG. 5
) registered with the tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
. The rod
130
may be rotated between a locking position (illustrated in the figures) where the rod
130
enters the channels
128
and a non locking position (not shown) where the cutouts
132
face the channels
128
of the teeth
122
,
124
and
126
to thereby allow the teeth to be removed from the respective longitudinal tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
. As an anti-theft feature, the tool locking mechanism
120
may also includes means (not shown) for preventing unauthorized rotation of the rod
130
.
The body
100
also includes four longitudinal spring receiving apertures
132
,
134
,
136
and
138
. The apertures
132
and
134
are open to the oblong aperture
90
while the apertures
136
,
138
are open to the oblong aperture
96
. The apertures
132
-
138
are configured and sized to receive respective compression springs
140
,
142
,
144
and
146
used to bias the movable head
46
towards its retracted position shown in
FIGS. 1-5
. The compression springs
140
-
146
are therefore provided between the bottom of their respective aperture
132
-
138
and one of the cylindrical mounting pin
84
,
86
. As will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the generally cylindrical mounting pins
84
,
86
are advantageously provided with flat portions (not shown) onto which the springs
140
-
146
may rest.
The longitudinal apertures
114
and
118
of the body
100
are provided with respective spring receiving shoulders
148
,
150
. A first compression spring
152
(see
FIG. 3
) is mounted coaxially with the cylindrical tooth
122
between the shoulder
148
and the impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
. Similarly, a second compression spring
154
(see
FIGS. 4 and 5
) is mounted coaxially with the cylindrical tooth
126
between the shoulder
150
and the impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
.
As will be easily understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the purpose of the compression springs
152
,
154
is to maintain an adequate longitudinal pressure onto the impact head
72
to ensure that the impact head
72
is not freely movable. The compression springs
152
,
154
therefore have a sufficient capacity to apply an adequate pressure onto the impact head
72
.
Operation of the excavating bucket
20
will now be described with reference to
FIGS. 6-14
. As will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading of the following description, two modes of operation exist. In a first mode of operation, illustrated in
FIGS. 6-10
and referred to as the rock-breaking mode, the excavating bucket
20
is used to break rocks or other hard soil and then to scoop it up in a conventional manner. In a second mode of operation, illustrated in
FIGS. 11-14
and referred to as the soil dumping mode, the movable floor
24
is used to disengage soil packed in the bucket body
22
.
It is to be noted that
FIGS. 6-14
are sectional views taken along the longitudinal axis
23
of the bucket
22
(see FIG.
2
).
Turning now to
FIGS. 6-10
of the appended drawings, the first mode of operation of the excavating bucket
20
of the present invention will be described. Each of these figures illustrates a general step in the breakage of a rock
200
.
FIG. 6
of the appended drawings illustrates the excavating bucket
20
in its initial position before the tooth,
124
contacts the rock
200
. Gravity maintains the tooth
124
in a fully extended position where the rod
130
contacts the upper end of the semi-oblong channel
128
. The springs
152
,
154
(only one shown) are partially compressed by the weight of the impact head
72
and by the downward pressure exerted by the hammer
80
of the impact actuator
70
when it is in its rest state. The impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
therefore rests against the proximate portion
102
of the body
100
. The springs
140
,
142
,
144
and
146
(only two shown) are partially compressed to maintain the movable head
46
in its retracted position by maintaining an adequate pressure between the cylindrical mounting pins
84
,
86
and the body
100
.
Turning now to
FIG. 7
, the contact between the distal end of the tooth
124
and the rock
200
is illustrated. The tooth
124
is pushed in the direction of arrow
202
to reach its fully retracted position illustrated in this figure. In this position, the proximate end of the tooth
124
abuts the impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
. This upward movement of the tooth
124
is caused by the movement of the arm (not shown) of the earth moving machine that pushes the excavation bucket
20
downwardly while the rock
200
prevent further forward movements of the tooth
124
. This upward movement of the tooth
124
causes the impact head
72
to be pushed upward (see arrow
204
) towards its fully retracted position while still contacting the hammer
80
.
FIG. 8
of the appended drawings illustrates the impact actuator
70
preparing for an impact. The hammer
80
is moved away from the impact head
72
(see arrow
206
) by the energization of the impact actuator
70
by the operator. It is to be noted that since the impact head
72
is in its fully retracted position, it does not follow the hammer
80
.
FIG. 9
illustrates an impact of the impact actuator
70
. During this impact, the hammer
80
is forcefully moved downwardly (see arrow
208
) in the longitudinal actuator body
78
. The hammer
80
therefore forcefully strikes the impact head
72
that, in turn, forcefully pushes (see arrow
210
) against the proximate end of the tooth
124
. Since the impact actuator
70
is fixedly mounted to the bucket body
22
, the impact of the hammer
80
onto the impact head
72
will cause the tooth
124
to forcefully move downward (see arrow
212
) in an attempt to break the rock
200
.
Finally,
FIG. 10
of the appended drawings illustrates the downward movement (see arrow
214
) of the bucket body
22
caused by the downward motion of the arm (not shown) of the earth moving machine. Since the body
78
of the impact actuator
70
is fixedly mounted to the bucket
22
, this downward movement of the bucket
22
will cause the body
78
to move downward (see arrow
216
). The tooth
124
, the impact head
72
and the hammer
80
will therefore be repositioned in a position similar to the position illustrated in
FIG. 7
, ready for another impact.
Of course, depending on the hardness of the rock
200
, it may take many impacts of the hammer
80
onto the impact head
72
before the rock
200
is fractured as shown in FIG.
10
. However, conventional impact actuator assemblies usually have a frequency of impacts of about 15 impacts every second.
It is to be noted that since the distal end of the tooth
124
is in constant contact with the rock
200
the proximate end of the tooth
124
is in constant contact with the impact head
72
. The impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
thus always impacts onto the proximate end of the tooth
124
(and possibly teeth
122
and
126
if they contact the rock
200
) without impacting onto the body
100
, which increases the useful life of the body
100
.
It is also to be noted that, as will be easily understood by one skilled in the art, the movements of the hammer
80
into the actuator body
78
are not independently controlled by the operator of the earth moving machine. Indeed, the impact actuator
70
, when energized, takes control of the movements of the hammer
80
. Therefore, the operator simply has to decide when the impact actuator
70
should be used to more easily scoop or break the intended material.
Turning now to
FIG. 11-14
of the appended drawings, the second mode of operation of the excavation bucket
20
, i.e. in view of disengaging soil (not shown) that has been packed in the bucket body
22
, will be described.
The main difference between the second mode of operation of the excavation bucket
20
and its first mode of operation described hereinabove is that, in the second mode, the teeth
122
-
126
are not in contact with a hard surface and thus not in contact with the impact head
72
. The downward movement of the impact head
72
will therefore cause it to contact forcefully the body
100
of the impact head
46
. This impact will move the movable floor
24
forward and therefore assist in the disengagement of packed soil in the bucket
22
.
More specifically,
FIG. 11
illustrates the excavation bucket
20
in a non operating state. The tooth
124
is maintained in its fully extended position by gravity. The springs
152
,
154
(only one shown) are partially compressed by the weight of the impact head
72
and by the downward pressure exerted by the hammer
80
of the impact actuator
70
when it is in its rest state. The impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
therefore rests against the proximate portion
102
of the body
100
. The springs
140
,
142
,
144
and
146
(only two shown) are partially compressed to maintain the movable head
46
in its retracted position by maintaining an adequate pressure between the cylindrical mounting pins
84
,
86
and the body
100
.
FIG. 12
illustrates the impact actuator
70
preparing an impact. The hammer
80
is moved upwardly (see arrow
218
) by the energization of the impact actuator
70
by the operator. It is to be noted that the impact head
72
is moved (see arrow
219
) from its extended position of
FIG. 11
to its fully retracted position of
FIG. 12
by the springs
152
,
154
. Indeed, the energization of the impact actuator
70
removes the pressure from the hammer
80
onto the impact head
72
and therefore allows the springs
152
,
154
to move the impact head
72
upwardly.
FIG. 13
illustrates the impact between the hammer
80
and the impact head
72
. The hammer
80
is forcefully moved downwardly (see arrow
220
) and impacts the impact head
72
.
The downward movement (see arrow
222
) of the impact head
72
is illustrated in FIG.
14
. The impact surface
73
of the impact head
72
compresses the springs
152
,
154
to contact the proximate portion
102
of the body
100
to forcefully slide it downwardly (see arrow
224
). Of course, since the movable floor
24
is fixedly mounted to the body
100
, it will also be downwardly slid. The movement of the body
100
also compresses the springs
140
,
142
,
144
and
146
.
Turning briefly to
FIG. 1
of the appended drawings, it is to be noted that the rear curved portion
66
of the movable floor
24
pushes the soil (not shown) packed in the bucket
22
when the movable floor
24
is slid as described hereinabove. This curved portion
66
also prevents large pieces of soil to enter the free space
68
between the movable floor
24
and the base
28
.
Returning to
FIG. 14
, once the energy of the impact head
72
is transferred to the body
100
, the compressed springs
140
-
146
will move the body
100
, and thus the movable floor
24
, from its extended position illustrated in
FIG. 14
to its retracted position illustrated in
FIG. 11
while the compressed springs
152
,
154
will move the impact head
72
from its extended position illustrated in
FIG. 14
to its retracted position illustrated in
FIG. 11
in preparation for further impacts.
As described hereinabove, since conventional impact actuators have a frequency of operation of about
15
cycles per second, the movable floor
24
will be slid back and forth about
15
times per second, thus facilitating the disengagement of soil packed in the bucket body
22
.
As will be easily understood by one skilled in the art, the excavation bucket
20
of the present invention has many advantages over the prior art, for example:
the constant pressure applied by the springs
152
,
154
onto the impact head
72
allow the impact actuator
70
to be used to disengage soil packed in the bucket body
22
;
the fact that the impact head
72
does not contact the body
100
during hard soil breaking operations increases the useful life of the movable head
46
;
the use of cylindrical mounting pins
84
,
86
to mount the movable head
46
to the bucket
22
allows the moveable head
46
to be easily removed;
the mechanical elements are mainly provided in the body
100
of the movable head
46
; and
the body
100
is advantageously made of a single piece of an adequate metallic material.
FIG. 15
of the appended drawings illustrates the excavation bucket
20
to which a clay cutting attachment
300
has been fitted. The clay cutting attachment
300
includes a central mounting rods
302
and two lateral mounting rods
304
(only one shown) configured, sized and positioned to enter the three tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
of the body
100
. Each mounting rod is provided with a tangential channel
306
enabling the rods to be locked in position by the tool locking mechanism
120
as described hereinabove with respect to the teeth
122
,
124
and
126
. The edge
308
of the clay cutting attachment
300
is sufficiently sharp to easily cut through clay.
Turning now to
FIG. 16
, a root shredding attachment
400
will be described. The root shredding attachment
400
includes a central mounting rods
402
and two lateral mounting rods
404
(only one shown) configured, sized and positioned to enter the three tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
of the body
100
. Again, each mounting rod is provided with a tangential channel
406
enabling the rods to be locked in position by the tool locking mechanism
120
. The root shredding attachment
400
includes a serrated central blade
408
and a pair of lateral serrated blades
410
(only one shown).
FIG. 17
illustrates a picket ramming attachment
500
including a central mounting rods
502
and two lateral mounting rods
504
(only one shown) configured, sized and positioned to enter the three tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
of the body
100
. Again, each mounting rod is provided with a tangential channel
506
enabling the rods to be locked in position by the tool locking mechanism
120
. The picket ramming attachment
500
includes a cylindrical picket holder
508
that may be pivoted about a pivot attachment
510
. A picket to be rammed (not shown) is inserted in the picket holder
508
and the impact actuator
70
is energized to help ramming the picket in the ground.
Finally,
FIG. 18
illustrates a compaction attachment
600
including a central mounting rods
602
and two lateral mounting rods
604
(only one shown) configured, sized and positioned to enter the three tool receiving apertures
114
,
116
and
118
of the body
100
. Again, each mounting rod is provided with a tangential channel
606
enabling the rods to be locked in position by the tool locking mechanism
120
. The compaction attachment
600
includes a flat compaction head
608
that may be pivoted about a pivot attachment
610
.
It is to be noted that the energization of the impact actuator
70
could be done automatically when the tooth
124
contacts a hard surface. For example, a pressure sensor (not shown) could be associated with the tooth
124
to detect the contact between the tooth
124
and the impact head
72
. The output of this sensor would be used to selectively energize the impact actuator
70
when the pressure detected is above a predetermined level. Another way of achieving the same result would be to provide a displacement sensor (not shown) detecting the displacement of the tooth
124
with respect to the bucket body
22
. Again, the output of this sensor would be used to selectively energize the impact actuator
70
when the displacement detected is above a predetermined level.
Although the present invention has been described hereinabove by way of preferred embodiments thereof, it can be modified, without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. An excavation bucket comprising:a bucket body including a floor portion and lateral side portions; said floor portion having a longitudinal axis; a movable floor so mounted to said bucket body as to (a) be longitudinally slidable between a retracted position and an extended position, and (b) provide a free space between said floor portion and said movable floor; and sliding means for selectively sliding said movable floor between said retracted and extended positions; said sliding means being mounted in said free space, said sliding means including an impact actuator.
- 2. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 1, wherein said sliding means are fixedly mounted to said bucket body and associated with said movable floor.
- 3. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 1 wherein said impact actuator includes an actuator body mounted to said bucket body and an impact head so mounted to said actuator body as to be selectively movable between a retracted position and an extended position.
- 4. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 3, further comprising a movable head so mounted to said bucket body as to be longitudinally slidable between a retracted position and an extended position; said movable floor being fixedly mounted to said movable head; said movable head including a movable head body and first biasing means biasing said movable head body towards said retracted position.
- 5. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 4, wherein said first biasing means include at least one compression spring.
- 6. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 4, further comprising second biasing means mounted between said movable head body and said impact head to bias said impact head towards its retracted position.
- 7. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 6, wherein said second biasing means include at least one compression spring.
- 8. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 6, wherein said movable head body includes at least one longitudinal tool receiving aperture.
- 9. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 8, further comprising a clay cutting attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 10. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 8, further comprising a root shredding attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 11. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 8, further comprising a picket ramming attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 12. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 8, further comprising a compaction attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 13. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 8, wherein said movable head body has a proximate end and a distal end; said at least one longitudinal tool receiving aperture extending from said proximate end to said distal end; said movable head further including at least one tool configured and sized to be slidably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture; said at least one tool being slidable between an extended position and a retracted position where said at least one tool contacts said impact head; wherein (a) reciprocate movements of said impact head of said impact actuator slide said movable floor when said at least one tool is in its extended position and (b) reciprocate movements of said impact head of said impact actuator slide said at least one tool when said at least one tool is in its retracted position.
- 14. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 13, wherein said movable head body also includes a tool locking mechanism to selectively lock said at least one tool in said at least one tool receiving aperture while allowing the sliding movements of said at least one tool between said extended and retracted positions.
- 15. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 14, wherein said tool locking mechanism includes a cylindrical rod so mounted to a transversal aperture of said movable head body as to be rotatable between a locking position and an unlocking position; said cylindrical rod including at least one longitudinal channel facing a tangential channel of said at least one tool when said pivot bar in said non locking position.
- 16. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 13, wherein said tool holding assembly includes three tool receiving longitudinal apertures.
- 17. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 16, further comprising three teeth releasably mounted to a respective tool receiving aperture.
- 18. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 4, wherein said movable head includes means for preventing its extended position to be exceeded.
- 19. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 18, wherein said preventing means including means for mounting said movable head body to said bucket body while allowing said movable head body to slide between said retracted and extended positions.
- 20. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 19, wherein said mounting means include a mounting rod, transversal oblong apertures of the movable head body and circular apertures of the lateral side portions; said mounting rod being configured and sized to be inserted in the oblong and circular apertures to therefore mount the movable head body to the side portions of the bucket body while allowing longitudinal movements of the movable head body.
- 21. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 1, wherein said lateral side portions of said bucket body include internal lateral guides allowing longitudinal movements of said movable floor and preventing other movements of said movable floor.
- 22. An excavation bucket comprising:a bucket body including a floor portion and lateral side portions; said floor portion having a longitudinal axis; a movable head so mounted to said bucket body as to be longitudinally slidable between a retracted position and an extended position; said movable head including a movable head body provided with a proximate end and a distal end and at least one tool receiving aperture extending from said proximate end to said distal end; a movable floor so mounted to said movable head body as to provide a free space between said floor portion and said movable floor; an impact actuator including an impact actuator body mounted to said bucket body and impact head so mounted to said actuator body as to be selectively movable between a retracted position and an extended position; said impact actuator being mounted in said free space; and at least one tool configured and sized to be slidably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture of said movable head body; when inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture, said at least one tool being slidable between an extended position and a retracted position where said at least one tool contacts said impact head; wherein said impact head, when in its extended position, (a) contacts said proximate end of said movable head body when said at least one tool is in its extended position and (b) contacts said at least one tool when said at least one tool is in its retracted position.
- 23. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, further comprising biasing means biasing said movable head body towards said retracted position.
- 24. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 23, wherein said biasing means include at least one compression spring.
- 25. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, further comprising biasing means mounted between said movable head body and said impact head to bias said impact head towards its retracted position.
- 26. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 25, wherein said biasing means include at least one compression spring.
- 27. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said movable head body also includes a tool locking mechanism to selectively lock said at least one tool in said at least one tool receiving aperture while allowing the sliding movements of said at least one tool between its extended and retracted positions.
- 28. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 27, wherein said tool locking mechanism includes a cylindrical rod so mounted to a transversal aperture of said movable head body as to be rotatable between a locking position and an unlocking position; said cylindrical rod including at least one longitudinal channel facing a tangential channel of said at least one tool when said pivot bar in said non locking position.
- 29. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said movable head includes means for preventing its extended position to be exceeded.
- 30. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 29, wherein said preventing means including means for mounting said movable head body to said bucket body while allowing said movable head body to slide between said retracted and extended positions.
- 31. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 30, wherein said mounting means include a mounting rod, transversal oblong apertures of the movable head body and circular apertures of the lateral side portions; said mounting rod being configured and sized to be inserted in the oblong and circular apertures to therefore mount the movable head body to the side portions of the bucket body while allowing longitudinal movements of the movable head body.
- 32. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said tool holding assembly includes three tool receiving longitudinal apertures.
- 33. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 32, wherein said at least one tool include three teeth releasably mounted to a respective tool receiving aperture.
- 34. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said at least one tool includes a clay cutting attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 35. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said at least one tool includes a root shredding attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 36. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said at least one tool includes a picket ramming attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 37. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said at least one tool includes a compaction attachment releasably inserted in said at least one tool receiving aperture.
- 38. An excavation bucket as recited in claim 22, wherein said lateral side portions of said bucket body includes internal lateral guides allowing longitudinal movements of said movable floor and preventing other movements of said movable floor.
PCT Information
Filing Document |
Filing Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/CA98/00205 |
|
WO |
00 |
Publishing Document |
Publishing Date |
Country |
Kind |
WO99/46451 |
9/16/1999 |
WO |
A |
US Referenced Citations (19)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2 277 943 |
Feb 1976 |
FR |
2 220 962 |
Jan 1990 |
GB |
WO 9010756 |
Sep 1990 |
WO |
WO 9323210 |
Nov 1993 |
WO |