1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an articulated fueling crane for fueling transfer operations and particularly for fueling rail supported diesel locomotives and the like. The novel fueling crane has an improved counterbalance which is sealed from the environment and also has a novel drip collector rotatably aligned with an environmental drain for containing fuel dripping from the end of a fueling nozzle fitted at the end of the fueling crane. The articulated fueling crane of this invention is useful for high volume fuel transfer operations where maintenance is irregular and is especially useful in remote locations where maintenance is sparse. The low maintenance, sealed, balanced fueling crane further has an environmental collector to minimize impact of the fueling crane upon the environment. Furthermore, the service life of the fueling cranes of this invention is defined and the fueling cranes are removed at the end of the defined service life and rebuilt for reuse.
2. Prior Art Statement
Fueling cranes are well known in the art. Specifically, fueling cranes are shown in a variety of patents. For instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,359 issued on Nov. 20, 1984 to Harry Robertson and the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,727,608 and 5,944,069 issued on Mar. 17, 1998 and Aug. 31, 1999 respectively to Nusbaumer, et al. These patents are drawn to elements of the fueling system and illustrate the specific element with reference to the fueling crane. The known cranes shown in the above-mentioned patents have a counterbalance unit, however, the counterbalance unit is unsealed from the environment and is subject to failure at the chain links immediately above the counterbalance unit. The counterbalance units of the prior art patents also do not return the fuel boom to a position adjacent the nozzle guard and require considerable effort on the part of the fuel boom operator to pull the fueling nozzle toward the fuel tank and hold the fuel nozzle at the fuel tank adapter while securing the fueling nozzle to the fuel tank adapter. Thus, it is possible to spill fuel on the ground between the location of the fuel crane and the fuel tank while drawing the fueling nozzle toward the tank or while the counterbalance attempts to return the fueling nozzle to the position against the nozzle guard. Frequent maintenance is required to keep the cranes of these inventions fully operational.
Further illustrative of the prior art is U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,832, issued on Mar. 28, 1972 to William Meyer. Meyer provides a counterbalanced piping apparatus comprising a base, and inboard conduit swingably connected to the base, an outboard conduit swingably connected to the inboard conduit and an articulated linkage connecting the inboard conduit and the outboard conduit to the base wherein the articulated linkage includes a counterbalancing spring placed in torsion. The counterbalancing spring of Meyer is unprotected from the environment and has no dampening means associated therewith. Therefore, the counterbalanced piping apparatus of Meyer depends upon the skill of the operator to carefully return the outboard nozzle to a storage position. Meyer does not provide for pressure relief, breakaway of the nozzle, collection of dripping from the valve nor containment fuel. The exposed joints of this system require regular maintenance. Krone, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,778 issued on Mar. 27, 1956 provide a dampening spring housed within the counterbalancing spring, however, this dampening spring is also exposed to the environment and therefore is subject to fretting corrosion requiring frequent replacement.
Carl Wilms, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,585 and 4,142,551 issued on Sep. 27, 1977 and Mar. 6, 1979 respectively, provides an articulated loading arm comprising a column rotatably supported on a base, a boom rotatable about a first horizontal axis, an outer arm rotatable about a second horizontal axis parallel to the first horizontal axis, a hydraulic cylinder for exerting a couple tending to rotate the boom and a second hydraulic cylinder for exerting a couple tending to rotate the arm about the second axis. The hydraulic cylinders of Wilms operate the loading arm requiring considerable skill by the operator thereof to control the loading arm thus making the loading arm expensive to construct and operate. The linkages of Wilms are also unprotected from the environment and like Meyer above, no means is provided for dampening, pressure relief, breakaway of the nozzle, collection of dripping from the valve nor containment of fuel. Also, pressurized hydraulic fluid systems are typically high maintenance systems and cannot be used in remote locations.
A fluid transport apparatus comprising an inner fluid conducting conduit pivotally mounted on a mounting structure and an outer fluid conducting conduit section pivotally connected to the outer end of the inner conduit has first and second linear control members parallel to the first conduit for hydraulically controlling the attitude of the outer arm with respect to the horizontal axis. For instance, see the U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,688 issued on Aug. 29, 1978 to Neal Jameson. The entire mechanism of this device is unprotected from the environment, provides no dampening and has no means for pressure relief, breakaway of the nozzle, collection of dripping from the valve nor containment of fuel. Furthermore, with the multitude of joints in an unsealed environment, maintenance must be frequent.
Finally, it is known to provide a fueling arm comprising a filler-neck coupling and at least eight pipe sections serially connected to each other by respective swivel joints each having only one degree of freedom wherein the first three of the swivel joints have axes of rotation parallel to one another, the fueling arm having a headpiece including the filler-neck rotatably connected by a fourth swivel joint to a third pipe section extending from the third swivel joint, the head piece movable to a position in which three of the swivel joints in the headpiece have axes of rotation parallel to one another and perpendicular to the axes of rotation of the other two swivel joints. For instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,874 issued on Apr. 21, 1987 to Meyerinck, et al. A spring package is affixed to two of the pipes of the headpiece wherein the initial tension of the spring is adjusted to support the weight of the filler-neck coupling to always maintain the filler-neck in its position in space. No dampening of the spring package is provided nor does Meyerinck, et al., provide for pressure relief, breakaway of the nozzle, collection of dripping from the valve nor containment of fuel for an environmentally sound fueling station. Furthermore, though the device of Meyerinck, et al., is described as practically wear free and maintenance free, the presence of eight swivel joints and an open spring package obviously requires frequent maintenance. Additionally, a counterbalance is employed to raise the device to an elevated position and thus operator assistance is also required to place the device of Meyerinck, et al., in a storage position.
Since railroad maintenance crews are being reduced in an effort to lower operating costs and thus maintenance of fueling cranes is also reduced, it would be advantageous to have a fueling crane for a railroad fueling operation that can be requires little if any maintenance. Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a fueling crane having a defined service life wherein the fueling crane comprises an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle. The extensible boom has at least one sealed elbow joint between the first end and the second end wherein the sealed elbow joint permits the fueling crane to provide fuel to a vehicle spaced from the pedestal. The extensible boom is generally disposed in an upright manner such that the sealed elbow joint is spaced above the pedestal but spaced from a vertical center line of the pedestal with the fueling nozzle located substantially adjacent a nozzle guard when the extensible boom is in a storage position. The extensible boom has an improved means for returning the fueling nozzle to the storage position with the fueling nozzle is disposed directly over a fuel drip collector thus providing for an environmentally secure fueling station.
A significant feature of this invention is to provide a fueling crane having an extended warranty period of approximately five years wherein the fueling crane is replaced with a rebuilt fueling crane of substantially identical design thus starting a new warranty period and the fueling crane removed from service is returned to the factory for re-building subsequent to being returned to service at another fueling station.
Another object of this invention to provide a fueling crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle. The extensible boom has at least one sealed elbow joint between the first end and the second end wherein the sealed elbow joint permits the fueling crane to provide fuel to a vehicle spaced from the pedestal. The extensible boom is generally disposed in an upright manner such that the sealed elbow joint is spaced above the pedestal but spaced from a vertical center line of the pedestal with the fueling nozzle located substantially adjacent a nozzle guard when the extensible boom is in a storage position. The extensible boom has an improved means for dampening the return of the fueling nozzle to the storage position.
An aim of this invention is to provide a fueling crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle, the fueling crane having means for dampening the return of the fueling nozzle to the storage position wherein the means for dampening is protected from the environment and thus fully functional in all climes.
A feature of this invention to provide a fueling crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle. The extensible boom has at least one sealed elbow joint between the first end and the second end wherein the sealed elbow joint permits the fueling crane to provide fuel to a vehicle spaced from the pedestal. The extensible boom is generally disposed in an upright manner such that the sealed elbow joint is spaced above the pedestal but spaced from a vertical center line of the pedestal with the fueling nozzle located substantially adjacent a nozzle guard when the extensible boom is in a storage position. The fuel inlet pipe feeding the extensible boom has a pressure relief for returning expanding fuel from the extensible boom through the fuel inlet pipe to a storage tank.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a fueling crane requiring considerably less effort to extend the fueling boom to a fueling position wherein the fueling boom automatically returns to a storage position upon release by the operator of the fueling crane.
Still another feature of this invention to provide a fueling crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle. The extensible boom has at least one sealed elbow joint between the first end and the second end wherein the sealed elbow joint permits the fueling crane to provide fuel to a vehicle spaced from the pedestal. The extensible boom is generally disposed in an upright manner such that the sealed elbow joint is spaced above the pedestal but spaced from a vertical center line of the pedestal with the fueling nozzle located substantially adjacent a nozzle guard when the extensible boom is in a storage position. The extensible boom is generally disposed in an upright manner such that the sealed elbow joint is spaced above the pedestal but spaced from a vertical center line of the pedestal with the fueling nozzle located substantially adjacent a nozzle guard when the extensible boom is in a storage position. The fuel inlet pipe feeding the extensible boom has means for monitoring the pumping pressure in the fueling system and for monitoring the static pressure of the column of fluid within the fueling crane.
A goal of this invention is to provide a fueling crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle. A fuel inlet pipe associated with the pedestal and the fueling crane has a lockable drain fitting associated therewith for returning fuel from the fueling crane to an environmentally safe environment when maintenance on the fueling crane is desired.
Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide an articulated fueling crane for fueling transfer operations and particularly for fueling rail supported diesel locomotives and the like. The articulated fueling crane of this invention is useful for high volume fuel transfer operations where regular maintenance is sparse. The low maintenance, sealed, balanced fueling crane thus has an improved counterbalance which is sealed from the environment and also has a novel drip collector rotatably aligned with an environmental drain for containing fuel dripping from the end of a fueling nozzle fitted at the end of the fueling crane.
While the various features of this invention are hereinafter described and illustrated as a fueling crane having an expected service life of at least five years, the fuel crane comprising an extensible boom rotatably mounted on a pedestal wherein the extensible boom has a first end rotatably affixed to the pedestal and a second end terminating in a fueling nozzle, the fueling crane having means for dampening the return of the fueling nozzle to the storage position wherein the means for dampening is protected from the environment and is thus fully functional in all climes, it is to be understood that the various features of this invention can be used singly or in various combinations thereof to provide for a fueling crane warranted for use in all climes of up to five years without regular maintenance as can hereinafter be appreciated from a reading of the description.
Referring now to
As best observed in
Extensible boom 20 has a first end 41 of a first section 42 affixed to a mount end 21 of J-shaped joint 19 wherein first section 42 is generally vertically disposed upwardly from mount end 21 when extensible bloom 20 is in the retracted or storage position 90 shown in
Sealed unions 29 and 30 are shown in partial cross section in
As can be readily appreciated by a viewing of
In the prior art fueling cranes cited above, the extensible boom is disposed upon a flange aligned with the center of boom mount and thus generally lies directly above the center of the boom mount. The center of gravity of the prior art extensible boom therefore is close to a vertical axis of fuel inlet pipe and heretofore also generally through the vertical axis of the boom mount. In the prior art fueling cranes, the fueling nozzle returns toward the nozzle guard with considerable force as the center of gravity of the previous fueling cranes is so close to the axis of the fuel inlet pipe. This force has often been sufficient to destroy the nozzle guard and thereafter do damage to the inlet pipe, and the rotatable joint supporting the fueling crane. Additionally, when a counterbalance assembly of the prior art fueling crane fails, the extensible boom of the prior art device does not return the fueling nozzle toward a nozzle guard and may thus allow the fueling nozzle to contact the ground surface 158 around the fueling station thus introducing contaminants into the terminal end of the nozzle. These contaminants may then be introduced into the fuel tank of the vehicle or the fuel tank of a subsequent vehicle.
In the instant invention, J-shaped joint 19 is displaced from and disposed at angle 48 from vertical axis 57, vertical axis 57 set back from vertical axis 56 a short distance 58 to assist with returning fueling nozzle 24 against nozzle guard 17 thus putting terminal end 39 directly over dripping pan 40. Offset 47 of J-shaped joint 19 from center 49 of boom mount 16 is between 1 and 20 inches and most preferably about 6 inches while short distance 58 may be up to 15 inches but is most preferably about 2 inches. Angle 48 is between 5 and 45 degrees however fueling crane 11 best performs when angle 48 is about 5 degrees. Thus the center of gravity of extensible boom 20 is displaced from horizontal axis 33 substantially thus assisting the operator in rotating fueling crane 11 about fuel inlet pipe 13, extending boom 20 from the storage position 90 to the fueling position 92 and placing fueling nozzle 24 of extensible boom 20 into fuel tank adapter 102 of vehicle 100 to be fueled. Coupled with angled offset 48, horizontal offset 47, the length of sections 42, 45, placement of the center of gravity of extensible boom 20 outward from axis 57 and only a little force by the operator is required to retain fueling nozzle 24 at tank adapter 102 thus allowing the operator to easily attach fueling nozzle 24 thereto. It has been found by the inventors of the instant invention that the force required by the operator of fueling crane 10 of this invention has been reduced by at least half from a minimum of at least 20 pounds force to not more than 10 pounds force to rotate fueling boom 20 about pedestal 12 and extend fueling boom 20 to its full reach from pedestal 12.
Fueling crane 11 preferably has a means 88 for returning extensible boom 20 to a storage position 90, means 88 for returning comprising at least one sealed hydraulic cylinder 61 containing a return spring 59 therein, hydraulic cylinder 61 swingably mounted upon frame work 69, hydraulic cylinder 61 having a piston rod 60 extending from the top end 63 thereof. Improved means 88 for returning further comprises means 130 for adjusting and means 133 for dampening, means 130 for adjusting associated with terminal end 81 of cylinder rod 61 and means 133 for dampening contained within cylinder 61. As can be observed by reference to
Means 134 for dampening comprises a foot valve 109 disposed against the bottom surface 143 of piston 66, foot valve 109 allowing rapid flow of fluid from the volume of hydraulic cylinder 60 above top 142 of piston 66 through piston 66 to a portion 64 of cylinder 60 below piston 66 as piston 66 moves from a position proximate internal surface 148 of second closure end 136 of hydraulic cylinder 60 but restricts flow through piston 66 as piston 66 moves toward internal surface 148 of second closure end 136 of cylinder 60. Enlarged bleed holes 65 are disposed through piston 66 above foot valve 109 thus allowing for rapid flow of fluid through piston 66 as foot valve 109 easily deflects with flow of fluid through bleed holes 65 from top 142 of piston but only small bleed holes are provided through foot valve 109 to restrict flow of fluid from bottom 143 of piston 66 thus providing a dampening effect upon return of fueling boom 20 to storage position 90.
Improved means 88 for returning comprises a counterbalance assembly 18 affixed to and carried by rotatable assembly 68 with a frame work 69, frame work 69 also carrying nozzle guard 17 and dripping pan 40. Frame work 69 is preferably bolted around Tee 15 having counterbalance assembly 18 bolted to one end 71 thereof and nozzle guard 17 bolted to the opposed end 72. Frame work 69 may be affixed at the lower flange 73 of Tee 15 or as preferably shown in
Piston rod 60 of cylinder 61 is slidably affixed to a bracket 78 disposed on centerline 38 of C-shaped yoke 35 generally directly opposite J-shaped joint 19, bracket 78 welded to C-shaped yoke 35 and thus directly acting thereupon. Bracket 78 spans around terminal end 81 of piston rod 60 and has a pin 80 passing through a slot 82 in terminal end 81 such that the balance of fueling crane 11 may be adjusted by a means 130 for adjusting to be described hereinafter. Another stop 86 is provided on rotatable assembly 68 to prevent extensible fueling boom 20 from being disposed at an angle wherein it is difficult for extensible fueling boom 20 to automatically return to the storage position 90 as shown in
Means 130 for adjusting comprises an adjusting screw 83 disposed into terminal end 81 of piston rod 61 extending through a first closure end 135 of hydraulic cylinder 60, adjusting screw 83 bearing against a link pin 80 disposed through a slot 82 in terminal end 81 of piston rod 61, link pin 80 associated with bracket 78 eccentrically affixed to extensible fueling boom 20. Bracket 78 may have an eccentric 79 affixed thereto wherein eccentric 79 is welded directly to boom mount 16 opposite J-shaped joint 19 or bracket 78 may be affixed to flanges 36, 37 having link pin 80 disposed therethrough and extending between piston rods 61 extending from two separate hydraulic cylinders 60 spaced apart on and carried by frame work 69 as shown in
Nozzle guard 17 comprises a rack of horizontal bars 93 each covered with a replaceable rubber element 94 wherein horizontal bars 93 are spaced apart vertically on nozzle guard 17 such that terminal end 39 of fueling nozzle 24 is adapted to come to rest against at least one of horizontal bars 93 when extensible fueling boom 20 is returned to its storage position 90. As terminal end 39 of fueling nozzle 24 bears against one of horizontal bars 93, terminal end 39 also lies directly over dripping pan 40 and hence any fuel dripping from terminal end 39 is captured in dripping pan 40 and thus flows along path 52 to an environmentally safe receiving tank (not shown) for subsequent disposal. Dripping pan 40 is affixed at lower end 50 of nozzle guard 17 and extends beyond a vertical plane passing through horizontal bars 93 such that dripping pan 40 may begin catching any fuel dripping from terminal end 39 before fueling nozzle 24 is fully returned to its storage position 90, however, it should be appreciated here that dripping pan 40 does not extend outwardly so far as to interfere with return of extensible fueling boom 20 to its storage position 90. Dripping pan 40 is also fitted with a horizontal bar 93 at its outer extent 95, horizontal bar 93 at outer extent 95 also covered with replaceable rubber element 94 to prevent damage to fueling nozzle 24. Referring to
Fueling station 10 has additional safety and environmental features associated therewith. Fuel inlet pipe 13 mounted to pedestal 12 has a lockable drain fitting 104 fitted therein adapted for returning fuel from fueling crane 11 through fuel inlet pipe 13 to an environmentally safe environment such as the aforementioned environmentally safe receiving tank wherein the returned fuel is contained within the environmentally safe receiving tank. Lockable drain fitting 104 is connected to drain piping 55 along path 105 with drain piping similar to drain piping 55, drain piping 55 preferably located within pedestal 12. Lockable drain fitting 104 may also be used to relieve built up pressure in fueling station 10 comprising fueling crane 11 and fuel inlet pipe 13, especially where fueling station 10 may be located in extremely warm conditions and fuel expansion within fueling station 10 causes pressure therewithin to exceed a predetermined value. Lockable drain fitting 104 preferably is a pressure relief valve set at the predetermined pressure or may be a manual valve operated by an operator of fueling station 10. Pressure within fueling station 10 is monitored by reference to pressure gauge 103 fitted into fuel inlet pipe 13, preferably adjacent to lockable drain fitting 104 and a fueling station shutoff valve 107 associated with fuel inlet pipe 13. Accumulated pressure within fueling station 10 is generally relieved through a pressure bleed orifice 106 disposed within shutoff valve 107 wherein the accumulated pressure usually flows through pressure bleed orifice 106, however, when temperatures are extremely high, pressure in the entire system up to and including fueling nozzle 24 may be elevated and thus it is especially valuable to have pressure gauge 103 and lockable drain valve 104 automatically relieve the accumulated pressure by releasing fuel into drain piping 55 along path 105 and thence along path 52 into the storage tank. Pressure bleed orifice 106 preferably comprises only one way communication across shutoff valve 107 and thus is a check valve on the side 129 of fueling station shutoff valve 107 within fuel inlet pipe 13 of fueling station 10 as it is desired to isolate one fueling station 10 from other fueling stations 10 fed by a common line from a fueling pump feeding multiple fueling stations 10.
Referring again to
Fueling crane 10 preferably has a defined service life even though fueling crane 10 is still serviceable at fueling station 10, however since rotatable unions 14, 29 and 30, counterbalance assembly 18, flexible hose section 23 and fueling nozzle 24 have moving components and thus are subject to failure, and means 131 for collecting, means 54 for transferring, means 132 for monitoring and means 133 for relieving are subject to damage, it is advantageous to remove these parts from service at the end of effective service and thus it has been found by the inventors hereof that it is most advantageous to remove the entirety of fueling crane 10 at the end of the defined service life, replace same with a new or rebuilt fueling crane 10 and rebuild the removed fueling crane 10 for additional service. Accordingly, each fueling crane is numbered and a complete record of the date of manufacture, date of installation, dates of rebuilding and subsequent dates of reinstallation is maintained by the manufacturer such that the defined service life of each fueling crane 10 may monitored. Preferably, the warranty period of fueling crane 11 is at least five years without maintenance and thus fueling crane 11 of this invention overcomes the major shortcoming of the prior art fueling cranes, that is, of failure of the return mechanism to properly return the fueling nozzle to the nozzle guard. Other shortcomings of the prior art fueling cranes overcome by this invention comprise providing for an environmentally friendly fueling station by having dripping pan 40, drain spout 51 and means 54 for transferring fluid, maintenance free rotating union 14, maintenance free unions 29, 30 and elbow coupling 44, pressure relief of fueling crane 11 and containment of fuel from station 10. Since fueling crane 11 of this invention is maintenance free throughout the period, fueling cranes 11 may be place in low maintenance areas and scheduled for exchange at the end of the specified warranty period. When exchanged, fueling crane 11 removed from a low maintenance area is replaced with a new or rebuilt fueling crane 11 of this invention thereby starting a new warranty period. Fueling crane 11 removed from the low maintenance area is then returned to the factory for rebuilding all parts, though of course, it should be understood that fueling cranes 11 of this invention is still fully functional at the time of removal from field service.
While the present invention has been described with reference to the above described preferred embodiments and alternate embodiments, it should be noted that various other embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments described herein and the drawings appended hereto are merely illustrative of the features of the invention and should not be construed to be the only variants thereof nor limited thereto.
This application is a division of Applicants' parent patent application Ser. No. 10/419,587 filed on 21 Apr. 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,770 issued on May 11, 2004 which claims the priority date established by Applicants' provisional application Ser. No. 60/375,793, filed on Apr. 26, 2002.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2739778 | Krone et al. | Mar 1956 | A |
3651832 | Meyer | Mar 1972 | A |
4050585 | Wilms | Sep 1977 | A |
4109688 | Jameson | Aug 1978 | A |
4122678 | Wilson | Oct 1978 | A |
4142551 | Wilms | Mar 1979 | A |
4483359 | Robertson | Nov 1984 | A |
4658874 | von Meyerinck et al. | Apr 1987 | A |
5727608 | Nusbaumer et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
5944069 | Nusbaumer et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60375793 | Apr 2002 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10419587 | Apr 2003 | US |
Child | 10839502 | US |