The present invention relates to a mixer bucket. In particular, the present invention relates to a mixer bucket that can be actuated by means of an articulated arm of an earthwork machine. In more detail, the present invention relates to a mixer bucket that is so designed as to be actuated by means of an articulated arm of an earthwork machine and is usable to produce cement and supply it safely through an opening provided centrally in the same mixer bucket.
Mixer buckets are usually tools that, coupled to the ends of the arms of an excavator, allow to produce concrete after having taken sand from a deposit, having positioned the bucket with the mouth thereof facing upwards, so that it can be assimilated to a hopper, having inserted inside it cement and water, and any other ingredients necessary to obtain a concrete of given composition, and having mixed all the ingredients by means of an Archimedes' screw contained inside the bucket.
Usually, the bottom of the bucket has an opening for concrete discharge, arranged centrally, and is suitable to couple with a funnel-shaped member that, in turn, carries a discharging channel. Obviously, to perform this operation the bucket shall be raised and maintained in a position of maximal height so as to allow an operator to position the funnel-shaped member below it, i.e. to connect the funnel-shaped member to the bucket, in correspondence of the opening. This operation is particularly dangerous due to the instability of the bucket in this position, often resulting in discharging the concrete onto the operator, with sometimes fatal consequences. To avoid these terrible consequences, it has been thought to provide the opening in lateral position, in correspondence of a flank of the bucket, so as to allow an operator to stay outside the bucket's projection onto the ground, and therefore to be not subjected to any consequences in case of overturning of the bucket filled with concrete. However, providing the discharge opening of the bucket laterally, within the projection and near one of the flanks causes a not negligible inconvenience; in fact, the concrete supplied by means of the Archimedes' screw towards the lateral portion of the bucket becomes compact and loses fluidity, and it is therefore more difficult to discharge it. To avoid this inconvenience, it is necessary to activate the Archimedes' screw in opposite rotational directions, thus slowing down the times necessary for discharging.
In view of the situation described above, it would be desirable to have available a mixer bucket that, in addition to limiting and possibly overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art, defines a new standard for this kind of tools, both as regards the product and the mode of use, i.e. the method performed to mix safely the ingredients, without risks for the operator and without the need for performing operations in order to make the concrete contained inside the bucket less compact.
The present invention relates to a mixer bucket. In particular, the present invention relates to a mixer bucket that can be actuated by means of an articulated arm of an earthwork machine. In more detail, the present invention relates to a mixer bucket that is so designed as to be actuated by means of an articulated arm of an earthwork machine and is usable to produce cement and supply it safely through an opening provided centrally in the same mixer bucket.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mixer bucket which is safe and practical to be used, which overcomes the limits of the known mixer buckets and can be produced at limited costs.
According to the present invention a mixer bucket is provided, whose main features will be described in at least one of the appended claims.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method to produce concrete safely by using a bucket with a central opening.
According to the present invention, a method is provided to produce concrete by safely using a mixer bucket provided with a central discharge opening.
Further characteristics and advantages of the mixer bucket and the corresponding method of use according to the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the attached drawings, that illustrate some examples of embodiment, where identical or corresponding parts of the equipment mentioned above are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:
In
With reference to
According to
In particular, the actuating device 40 comprises a linear actuator 42 directed according to the given direction D, has a casing 43 coupled to the hopper 12 and is provided with a stem 44 that is connected to the slide 127 (and therefore to the funnel-shaped element 30 and to the guillotine-shaped element 52) by means of a bracket 46 arranged between the funnel-shaped member 30 and the guillotine-shaped element 52 in a rigid manner, in order to move them together longitudinally. In view of the description above, it is easily understood that an operator can actuate the linear actuator 42 so that the slide 127 faces the opening 122, in order to enable the bucket 1 to discharge the concrete contained inside the hopper 12 through the funnel-member 30, only after he/she has moved to a remote position from the bucket 1, i.e. he/she is in safety position, if necessary working from the excavator cab.
With particular reference to
With reference to
The use of the bucket 1 is clearly apparent from the description above and does not require further explanations. However, it should be specified that the funnel-shaped member 30 may be coupled to the hopper 12, with the opening 122 shielded, through the actuating member 52, by working laterally with respect to the bucket 1 and therefore in a completely safe position for the operator, even if within the projection of the bucket 1 in its entirety, in order to facilitate the effectiveness of the bucket 1 even when, in use, the slide 127 is in the second position P2. In fact, the operator can control the concrete discharge only after having moved the closing member 52 from the position where it faces the opening 122 to a position where it faces the continuous portion 124 by means of the linear actuator 42, therefore by means of a fluid-dynamic device that can be controlled remotely, always remaining far from the bucket 1, in safety conditions.
In view of the above description it is clearly apparent that variants and modifications can be done to the bucket according to the present invention without however departing from the protective scope of the invention.
For instance, with reference to
Positioning the slide 127 in this way forces the user to move outside of the projection of the bucket 1 on the ground, while the user prepares the slide 127 with the funnel-shaped member 30. In
With reference to what described above, it should be specified that to provide a mixer bucket as described above with reference to the bucket 1 has unquestionable advantages, both for the fact that the safety of use is absolutely improved, as the closing element 52 prevents the concrete discharge from the opening 122, and because this opening is positioned laterally, allowing each user to perform the operations of preparation of the bucket for the discharge when the bucket has been already filled by means of devices that can be controlled remotely, remaining outside of the projection of the bucket on the ground, and therefore in a safety position. Moreover, the fact of keeping the opening 122 centrally and of having replaced the Archimedes' screw with a shaft 20 provided with blades 22 directed opposite to each other allows to supply the concrete to the opening 122 avoiding to make it too much compact on the side of the bucket 1 and therefore avoiding the breakage of the mixing shaft 20 due to an excessive stress acting on the thrust elements.
In view of the above description, the mixer bucket 1 overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art illustrated above and defines a new economical solution as regards both the product and the mode of use, i.e. the method that can be performed to mix the ingredients and to discharge the concrete completely safely, with absolutely no risks for the operator and without the need for making the concrete less compact before discharging it.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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UB2015A006021 | Nov 2015 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB2016/056851 | 11/15/2016 | WO | 00 |