Patent Application
20090242078
Wood is a renewable resource that is ideally suited for heating homes and businesses. The use of wood as a home heating source is likely to increase as the cost of fossil fuels increases. Typically, trees are cut down and the tree trunks and branches are split to a smaller size for burning. Since wood (especially newly sawn wood) can be heavy, it is desirable to split the wood near the location where the tree was felled. For most wood burning applications, it is desirable to split the wood to a length of less than about 2 feet for easy placement in stoves, fireplaces, camp fires, furnaces, or other wood burning devices.
Cutting trees and hauling branches out of a forest to a central wood splitting location is hard work and can be expensive. In addition, the manual labor of splitting logs takes time and can be physically taxing. For these reasons, consumers desire log splitters that are easy to transport and to use.
One aspect provides a log splitter including a trailer supporting a hydraulic pump, and a splitting beam coupled to the trailer. The splitting beam includes a housing maintaining a reservoir communicating with the hydraulic pump, and a hydraulic ram coupled to the housing; the hydraulic ram in communication with the reservoir and the hydraulic pump. The splitting beam is movable relative to the trailer between a transport/first splitting position adjacent to the trailer and a second elevated splitting position in which the splitting beam is displaced away from the trailer.
Another aspect provides a log splitter including a hydraulic pump and a splitting beam. The splitting beam includes a housing maintaining a reservoir communicating with the hydraulic pump, a baffle inserted into the housing separating the reservoir into an inlet volume and an outlet volume, and a hydraulic ram coupled to the housing. The hydraulic ram communicates with the reservoir and the hydraulic pump.
Another aspect provides a method of fabricating a transportable log splitter. The method includes attaching a hydraulic pump to a trailer, and attaching a splitting beam to the trailer, the splitting beam communicating with the hydraulic pump. The method additionally includes configuring the splitting beam to be movable between a first position adjacent to the trailer and a second position elevated away from the trailer.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of embodiments and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments and together with the description serve to explain principles of embodiments. Other embodiments and many of the intended advantages of embodiments will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. Like reference numerals designate corresponding similar parts.
In the following Detailed Description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” “leading,” “trailing,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. Because components of embodiments can be positioned in a number of different orientations, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The following detailed description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.
It is to be understood that the features of the various exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined with each other, unless specifically noted otherwise.
In this specification, the phrases “comprising a . . . ” and “comprising an . . . ” are each to mean a set including one or more.
Embodiments provide a transportable log splitter that includes a splitting beam attached to a trailer, where the splitting beam is moveable between a first low center of gravity position adjacent to the trailer to a second splitting position displaced away from the trailer. Embodiments of the transportable log splitter provide a trailer configured for easy towing behind a vehicle, such as an all terrain vehicle, where the trailer also includes a hitch for pulling a separate trailer to haul the split logs. The second splitting position provides an elevated splitting surface that is easy to reach and minimizes bending and stretching by the user.
Embodiments of the splitting beam include a housing defining a reservoir and a baffle inserted into the reservoir that is configured to maximize mixing of hydraulic fluid entering the reservoir to dissipate heat in the hydraulic fluid. The baffle provides highly effective mixing of the hydraulic fluid in the reservoir and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.
In one embodiment, hydraulic pump 32 includes an outlet 60, a hydraulic hose 62 coupled between outlet 60 and a valve assembly 64, a low pressure hydraulic hose 66 coupled between valve assembly 64 and reservoir 42 inside housing 40, and a suction line 68 that returns fluid from reservoir 42 back to hydraulic pump 32. In one embodiment, hydraulic pump 32 includes a single stage 4 gallon-per-minute hydraulic pump operating a 12 ton ram 48, although other pump sizes and ram tonnages are acceptable.
In one embodiment, housing 40 includes a bracket 90 attached adjacent to second end 82 and opposite of wedge 44. Bracket 90 provides opposing ears that are sized to receive/support hydraulic cylinder 46 (
In an optional embodiment, housing 40 includes a first trunnion 92 coupled adjacent to first end 80 and a second trunnion 94 attached to housing 40 adjacent to second end 82. Trunnions 92, 94 are provided to optionally and movably couple splitting beam 24 to a trailer as provided in embodiments described below.
Housing 40 is fabricated to provide an internal sealed reservoir 42. Housing 40, wedge 44, and bracket 90 are fabricated from a suitable material such as metal. For example, in one embodiment housing 40 is fabricated from ASTM A513 rectangular steel tubing and wedge 44, end plate 86, and bracket 90 are steel components welded to housing 40. Other suitable materials for fabricating housing 40 are also acceptable.
Blade 88 is insertable into housing 40 to separate reservoir 42 into an inlet volume and an outlet volume as described below. In one embodiment, blade 88 is a rectangular piece of solid metal. Other embodiments of blade 88 include one or more holes formed in blade 88 to assist in mixing of hydraulic fluid inside reservoir 42. For example, one embodiment of blade 88 includes an array of holes, where the holes are sized to assist in the efficient mixing and cooling of the hydraulic fluid inside of reservoir 42. Blade 88 is fabricated of materials that are impervious to hydraulic fluid, and some suitable materials include metals such as steel or plastics.
Reservoir 42 is sized such that when baffle 84 is inserted into housing 40, a clearance 100 is provided between blade 88 and an interior wall 102 of housing 40. In this manner, baffle 84 is less expensive to manufacture since close tolerance fitting and attachment of blade 88 to interior wall 102 is mitigated. In one embodiment, clearance 100 is sized to a dimension of between about 0.050-0.10 inches such that most of the hydraulic fluid 96 within reservoir 42 is directed around the leading end 89 of blade 88 instead of through clearance 100. Baffle 84 separates hot incoming hydraulic fluid 96 entering reservoir 42 from cooler hydraulic fluid 96 exiting reservoir 42. Some amount of hydraulic fluid 96 possibly flows through clearance 100, but most of the hydraulic fluid 96 is directed around blade 88 to ensure thorough mixing of the hydraulic fluid 96 within reservoir 42.
With additional reference to
Blade 88 of baffle 84 extends diagonally within reservoir 42 formed by housing 40. Other orientations for blade 88 are also acceptable, such as horizontal blades disposed within reservoir 42, vertical blades disposed within reservoir 42, or other combinations of curved or linear mixing blades separating reservoir 42 into an inlet volume and an outlet volume. In all embodiments, baffle 84 effectively separates the hot hydraulic fluid entering inlet port 120 of reservoir 42 from outlet port 122, which provides generally cooler hydraulic fluid to hydraulic pump 32 to minimize the wear on the seals and valve assemblies of pump 32.
In one embodiment, a cross-beam axel 170 supports opposing wheels 172, a first frame section 174 extends from axel 170, a tongue 176 is coupled to first frame section 174, and spaced trunnions 182, 184 are coupled to first frame section 174. In one embodiment, engine support 50 is attached to cross-beam axel 170 to support hydraulic pump assembly 22 including engine 30 (
Trunnions 182, 184 provide opposing projections that are configured to couple about opposing sides of respective risers 162, 164. A bottom portion of the risers 162, 164 are pinned between the projections on the respective trunnions 182, 184 such that the risers 162, 164 pivot in the plane of frame 152. A top portion of the risers 162, 164 connect to splitting beam 24 (
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments of log splitters as discussed herein. Therefore, it is intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.
