Patent Application
20060272183
This invention relates to ground-clearing and ground-breaking equipment, and more particularly to equipment useful in clearing wooded terrain.
Clearing wooded terrain, such as lease sites or proposed farmland, typically requires three or four pieces of specialized equipment. Any smaller trees on the terrain are usually pushed over by the equipment, and the trees are then windrowed or left in piles. This material is often left where it has been piled, for years in some cases, and it can become a significant fire hazard during dry periods. During wet periods, when there is substantial rainfall, the removal of these smaller trees leaves the ground with no residual organic stabilizing material, resulting in extensive ground erosion damage.
It is known to employ ground-breaking equipment when preparing or altering roadways in areas such as those described above, including equipment such as rotary mills having a massive toothed drum. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,692 to Beller et al. teaches a ground-breaking apparatus for mounting on the type of wheeled vehicle commonly found in road construction, such as a loader. The Beller apparatus comprises a toothed cylinder partially contained within a shield or housing, the shield including fracture boards and wear plates arranged on its inner surface for breaking up detritus drawn in by rotation of the cylinder.
The Beller apparatus, however, is mounted on wheeled equipment (a specific limitation addressed to cost savings, as the apparatus could be mounted on vehicles already present at the job site), and is accordingly limited to terrain of moderate grade and minimal snow cover. The Beller apparatus is not designed to work in off-road, forest-like conditions, but rather for working or altering a relatively clear ground surface or existing road surface. While the Beller apparatus could theoretically be used to clear land, it could not mulch, mill and slash in only one or two passes, and, undesirably, two engines are specifically required (an auxiliary engine being necessary to drive the toothed cylinder). In addition, the fracture board arrangement does not lend itself to changing the direction of cylinder rotation where such might be desirable.
What is needed is a ground-clearing apparatus that can be used with vehicles capable of use in off-road, wooded conditions.
The present invention provides a ground-clearing apparatus that can be used with existing track equipment, having a structure specifically addressed to wooded terrain.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a ground-clearing apparatus for mounting on a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: mounting means for mounting the apparatus on the vehicle; a frame connected to the mounting means; a housing connected to the frame; a cylindrical drum rotatably mounted within the housing, the cylindrical drum being provided with a plurality of teeth, the housing partially surrounding the drum; and a door in the housing, pivotably connected to the housing and openable in a direction away from the mounting means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a vehicle for moving across a ground surface, the vehicle being provided with a ground-clearing apparatus, the ground-clearing apparatus comprising: a frame mounted on the vehicle; a housing connected to the frame; a cylindrical drum rotatably mounted within the housing, the cylindrical drum being provided with a plurality of teeth, the housing partially surrounding the drum; and a door in the housing, pivotably connected to the housing and openable in a direction away from the vehicle.
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the vehicle is a track vehicle, with tracks for moving across a ground surface. The housing is preferably pivotable with respect to the frame to selectively enable engagement of the plurality of teeth with the ground surface, and most preferably this pivoting is accomplished by hydraulic means. A push bar is preferably mounted on the housing, and most preferably pivotably mounted to pivot from a forward orientation in a direction away from the vehicle to an upward orientation. While the push bar can employ a straight leading edge, it is preferable to provide the push bar with a V-shaped leading edge.
The apparatus preferably further comprises skid shoes on the housing for slidable engagement with the ground surface, and most preferably comprises adjustment means for adjusting the vertical distance between the drum and the skid shoes; in this way, ground penetration can be controlled, and the adjustment means preferably also comprise means for selectively controlling the vertical distance. The adjustment means may comprise end plates at opposed ends of the housing perpendicular to the direction of travel, the skid shoes mounted on skid shoe plates, and the skid shoe plates slidably connected to the end plates, such that the skid shoe plates can be vertically adjusted relative to the end plates.
The housing is preferably provided with at least one fracture board on an inner surface, to assist in pulverizing detritus drawn into the housing by the toothed drum. A housing according to the present invention is preferably bi-directional, capable of operation in either direction of rotation, and accordingly the fracture boards are preferably vertically-disposed. Horizontally-disposed fracture boards, such as those taught by Beller et al., are often designed for use in a single direction of rotation.
An apparatus or vehicle according to the present invention, then, can be employed with steep terrain, areas of substantial snow cover or frozen ground, and forest-like conditions. As described in detail below, an apparatus or vehicle according to the present invention can be used to mulch, mill and/or slash in one or two passes, leaving mulch fibre in the ground to aid in stabilization during wet periods. The pivotable door can be opened to allow small trees to contact the toothed drum, and the optional push bar bends small trees to enable the apparatus to chew the trees closer to the ground. The preferred V-shaped push bar provides the advantage of directing the trees toward the middle of the apparatus to assist in processing, while the adjustable skid shoes and housing tilting provide advantageous control over ground penetration. In addition, where stripping frozen ground for oilfield and pipeline construction settings, an apparatus according to the present invention helps to reduce admixing of soil types (e.g. top soil and underlying clay), taking the place of a ripper CAT™ and addressing deficiencies of same. Other advantages will become obvious in the following.
A detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is given in the following. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be construed as limited to this embodiment.
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the present invention:
a is a top perspective view of the housing, showing the opening the door would cover when desired;
b is a bottom perspective view of the housing;
a is a schematic side view of a bi-directional housing;
Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated an exemplary embodiment of a ground-clearing apparatus according to the present invention generally referred to by the numeral 10. As can best be seen in
As shown in
As stated above, the housing 22 is provided with a door 26. Referring to
The housing 22 is designed to be bi-directional, meaning that the drum 24, complete with teeth and gear boxes (not shown), can be turned end-for-end allowing the drum 24 to rotate in the opposite direction. Such a bi-directional housing 22 allows the operator the choice of driving ahead while grinding the subject material, rather than having to reverse back over the material, and the fracture boards 54 are mounted in the housing 22 to impact and shred the material when running the drum 24 in either direction.
The drum 24 is provided with teeth (not shown), in a manner similar to Beller et al.; however, the teeth arrangement and configuration could be adjusted to suit the particular situation (Beller et al. being primarily directed to hard materials and rock), as would be clear to someone skilled in the art. The drum 24 is also mounted within the housing 22 in a manner similar to that taught by Beller et al. Drums 24 according to the present invention can have between 138 and 198 teeth, the lower end being for muddy conditions (to avoid plugging of the cutter head), but it is most preferable for standard wooded terrain to provide the drum 24 with 158 one-inch carbide teeth. The teeth would be machined as necessary for particular situations, including various widths and arrangements on the drum 24.
Tilting of the cutter head, comprising the housing 22 and drum 24, is also hydraulically-controlled, as can be seen in
As mentioned above, the housing 22 is preferably provided with a push bar to contact encountered trees and brush. As can be seen in
In
In preferred embodiments, the engine power pack (not shown) comprises a 525 horsepower engine, with two hydraulic pumps mounted on a gear box. Oil is preferably pumped at high pressure on demand, the oil travelling to the cutter head through flexible hoses (not shown), 6,000 psi rated, connecting to 1½ inch steel hard lines (not shown) mounted on the cab of the vehicle 12, the hard lines assisting in cooling the oil in high-temperature applications. Oil travels to the drive motors (which can be single or two-speed) (not shown) that power the drum 24, mounted each to a gear box (not shown), as is taught by Beller et al. The gear box is bolted in a flange (not shown) in each end of the drum 24. As the oil travels to the cutter head through flexible hoses, this allows the cutter head to move up and down and tilt during operation without disrupting oil supply.
The housing 22 is also provided with adjustable skid shoes 46, which allow for varying the vertical displacement between the skid shoes 46 (and accordingly the ground surface 60) and the lower surface of the drum 24. This, along with the ability to tilt the cutter head as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, enables the operator to control the depth of penetration into the ground 60. As can best be seen in
In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the hydraulic system has a nitrogen pre-charge bottle (not shown) mounted in the hydraulic system, containing gallons of hydraulic oil under pressure ready to fill any void if the hydraulic pumps ever surge or cavitate. In addition, an apparatus 10 according to the present invention preferably locates the fuel tank (not shown) between the frame 18 arms for protection from the wooded environment; similarly, a removable plate protector (not shown) is preferably provided to protect the engine from the trees. An accumulator (not shown) may also be employed for shock loading, to keep the pumps from cavitating and burning out.
A control panel (not shown) is preferably located in the cab of the vehicle 12, with all necessary gauges and engine speed controls, as would be obvious to one skilled in the art. The hydraulics for the pivotable door 26 and push bar 28 would then be fully controllable from within the cab.
A vehicle and apparatus according to the present invention have been used in wooded terrain, with positive results. The vehicle was driven straight into standing trees, the trees up to 10 inches thick. The vehicle was able to grind the trees down, including stumps, and mulch the residue into the soil resulting in a generally flat ground surface, in only two passes over the ground surface. The apparatus was provided with 1 inch carbide teeth on a 40 inch diameter two-speed drum. It has been found that the apparatus can process small trees, frozen soil, stumps, roots, and rocky soil, mixing all residue back into the soil. One machine has been used to turn wooded terrain into a generally flat road surface, without the need for specialized equipment for picking stumps or stacking felled trees, and no burning of trees and brush was required.
While a particular embodiment of the present invention has been described in the foregoing, it is to be understood that other embodiments are possible within the scope of the invention and are intended to be included herein. It will be clear to any person skilled in the art that modifications of and adjustments to this invention, not shown, are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention as demonstrated through the exemplary embodiment. The invention is therefore to be considered limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.
