Patent Application
20090302141
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile crusher.
2. Description of Related Art
In a typical mobile crusher including a crusher for crushing raw materials, the raw materials conveyed by a feeder are crushed to a predetermined particle size and the crushed materials are discharged by a conveyor as products (For example, Document 1: JP-A-11-10023). When a jaw crusher is used, the particle size of the crushed materials is determined by adjusting an outlet gap (from which the crushed materials are discharged out of the crusher) between a lower end of a swing jaw and a lower end of a fixed jaw. At this time, the particle size of the crushed materials is increased when the outlet gap is enlarged. Thus, an operating quantity (a crushing throughput per hour) of the crusher for crushing raw materials is usually increased. Conversely, when the outlet gap is shrunk, the particle size of the crushed materials is decreased and thus the operating quantity of the crusher is usually decreased.
However, in the typical mobile crusher, the delivery speed of the feeder and conveyor for delivering raw materials and crushed materials kept constant at the speed for delivering the crushed materials having a large particle size even though the operating quantity of the crusher is varied depending on the particle size of the crushed materials (that is to say, an opening degree of the outlet gap). Thus, the delivery speed is too fast when the crushed materials having a small particle size is delivered, so that conveying efficiency is lowered and energy loss is increased.
An object of the invention is to provide a mobile crusher capable of reducing energy loss and fuel consumption when a crushing throughput is small.
In order to achieve the object of the invention, a mobile crusher according to an aspect of the invention includes: a crusher comprising a fixed jaw, a swing jaw, and a gap between lower ends of the fixed jaw and the swing jaw being adjustable, the crusher crushing raw materials by swing movement of the swing jaw toward the fixed jaw and discharging the raw materials crushed by the crusher from the gap to produce crushed materials; a work implement disposed on an upper stream or a lower stream of the crusher to produce the crushed materials; and a controller that controls a work implement speed of the work implement depending on the gap.
Since the controller that controls the work implement speed is provided, the speed of the work implement can be controlled by the controller depending on the opening degree of the gap (outlet gap) between the lower ends of the fixed jaw and swing jaw of the crusher. The particle size of the crushed materials depends on the opening degree of the outlet gap and the operating quantity depends on the particle size of the crushed materials. Accordingly, the work implement can be decelerated when the operating quantity of the crusher that crushes the raw materials is small. Thus, energy loss from the work implement can be reduced and therefore fuel consumption can be reduced.
A first exemplary embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to the attached drawings.
The mobile crusher 1 includes: a main unit 10 having a pair of undercarriage members 11 (one of which is shown); a feed unit 20 provided to the rear side on top of the main unit 10 (on the left side in
The main unit 10 includes the undercarriage members 11 on the lower portion. The undercarriage members 11 each include the crawler 15 that is wound around a front sprocket wheel 13 driven by a hydraulic motor 12 and a rear idler tumbler 14.
In the feed unit 20, a grizzly feeder 22 (work implement) is mounted via a plurality of springs (not shown) on the upper side of right and left side frames 21 protruding rearward. The grizzly feeder 22 is driven by a vibrator 23. A hopper 24 is provided on the upper side of the grizzly feeder 22, covering the grizzly feeder 22 from its three sides. Raw materials are thrown into the hopper 24 of which an opening widens upward. A muck shooter 25 is provided on the lower side of the grizzly feeder 22. The muck shooter 25 delivers to a muck conveyor 26 (work implement) uncrushed materials dropped into the muck shooter 25 after being selected by the grizzly feeder 22.
The crusher 30 is a jaw crusher including a fixed jaw 31 and a swing jaw 32. When a pulley 34 provided on an end of a main shaft 33 is driven by a hydraulic motor 35 via a V-belt, the swing jaw 32 functions as a swinging link by the rotation of the main shaft 33 to crush raw materials between the fixed jaw 31 and the swing jaw 32.
As shown in
The reaction force-receiving link mechanism 36 includes: a toggle plate 38 having a first end engaged on a rear portion of the swing jaw 32; a toggle link 41 that supports a second end of the toggle plate 38 and rotates about a fixed link pin 39; and a mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 having a lower end pivoted on the toggle link 41. The mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 is rotatably pivoted on the side closer to the cross member 43 (trunnion structure). The mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder is a hydraulic cylinder for locking a piston or a rod at any position by a shrink fitter. An outlet gap W between the lower ends of the jaws 31 and 32 can be adjusted by advancing and retracting a rod 44 of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 via an advancement and retraction driver (not shown). In other words, the reaction force-receiving link mechanism 36 functions as an outlet gap adjusting link mechanism 45 in which the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 is driven to move the swing jaw 32 toward and away from the fixed jaw 31 via the toggle link 41 and the toggle plate 38.
The tension link mechanism 37 is disposed substantially in the center of the reaction force-receiving link mechanism 36. The tension link mechanism 37 includes: a tension link 46 having an end pivoted on the side closer to the swing jaw 32; a tension lever 47 rotatably pivoted on the fixed pin 39; a tension rod 48 having an end pivoted on the tension lever 47; and a tension spring 49 biasing the tension rod 48 in a predetermined direction. The tension rod 48 and tension spring 49 are attached to the toggle link 41.
A potentiometer 80 is attached to the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42. The potentiometer 80 detects a rotation angle θ of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 that turns in accordance with an advancement and retraction amount of the rod 44, and outputs a detection signal to the controller 70.
Referring to a hydraulic circuit of the mobile crusher 1 as shown in
On the other hand, hydraulic pressure from the hydraulic pump 53 is supplied to the hydraulic motor 12 of the undercarriage members 11, a hydraulic motor 55 of the discharge conveyor 50, a hydraulic motor 27 of the vibrator 23 provided on the grizzly feeder 22, a hydraulic motor 28 of a magnetic separator 60, and a hydraulic motor 29 of the muck conveyor 26 through the control valves 101 to 105 while being supplied to the control valve 101 as pilot pressure through the direction switching device 18 provided on a left travel lever 17. Electrical signals from ON-OFF switches of the grizzly feeder 22, muck conveyor 26, crusher 30, discharge conveyor 50 and magnetic separator 60 and a detection signal from the potentiometer 80 are inputted to the controller 70.
The discharge conveyor 50 includes the hydraulic motor 55 on the front side. The discharge conveyor 50 discharges forward and drops from a height crushed materials, which are dropped from the outlet of the crusher 30, to accumulate the dropped crushed materials. When raw materials contain foreign substances such as reinforcing steel bars and metal chips, the magnetic separator 60 (work implement) may be mounted on the front side of the discharge conveyor 50 to remove the foreign substances.
In other words, the grizzly feeder 22 and muck conveyor 26 are disposed on an upper stream of the crusher 30, and the discharge conveyor 50 and magnetic separator 60 are disposed on a lower stream of the crusher 30.
Referring to a block diagram of the controller 70 in
The memory 75 stores: a map M1 that is a data table of the outlet gap W in accordance with the rotation angle θ of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 detected by the potentiometer 80; a map M2 that is a data table of an operating quantity D (crushing throughput per hour) of the crusher 30 in accordance with the outlet gap W; a map M3 that is a data table of a speed V1 of the discharge conveyor 50 in accordance with the operating quantity D; a map M4 that is a data table of a speed V2 of the grizzly feeder 22 in accordance with the operating quantity D; a map M5 that is a data table of a speed V3 of the muck conveyor 26 in accordance with the operating quantity D; a map M6 that is a data table of a speed V4 of the magnetic separator 60 in accordance with the operating quantity D; and a map M7 that is a data table of a discharge flow rate Q of the hydraulic pump 53 in accordance with the speeds V1 to V4 of the work implements. The work implement speeds V1 to V4 stored in the maps are the minimum speed for conveying and crushing raw materials and conveying the crushed materials. At a slower speed than the minimum speed, the raw materials and crushed materials are accumulated in any one of the work implements 22, 26, 50 and 60, which may impair the operation.
Next, functions of the calculators 71 to 74 will be described below with reference to a flow chart shown in
Before crushing, an operator initially gets the crusher 30 running and manipulates the advancement and retraction driver (not shown) of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 to properly change the outlet gap W, so that raw materials are crushed to a desired particle size. When a jaw crusher is used, a particle size of crushed materials is in proportion to an opening degree of the outlet gap W. After confirming that raw materials are crushed to the desired size, the operator starts crushing operation in a continuously-operated mode or the like. When a signal indicating operation start is inputted to the controller 70, the outlet gap calculator 71 of the controller 70 detects a rotation angle θ of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 using the potentiometer 80 and references the map M1 stored in the memory 75 to read the predetermined outlet gap W (S1).
Then, the operating quantity calculator 72 references the map M2 stored in the memory 75 to read an operating quantity D of the crusher 30 in accordance with the outlet gap W calculated by the outlet gap calculator 71 (S2). The work implement speed calculator 73 references the maps M3 to M6 (S3), and reads the work implement speeds V1 to V4 of the work implements 22, 26, 50 and 60 in accordance with the operating quantity D (S4). Then, the discharge flow rate calculator 74 references the map M7 to read a discharge flow rate Q of the hydraulic pump 53 in accordance with the work implement speeds V1 to V4, and outputs to the hydraulic pump 53 a drive command in accordance with the discharge flow rate Q to change an angle of swash plates (S5). Thus, the work implements 22, 26, 50 and 60 are driven at the work implement speeds V1 to V4, respectively.
Since the controller 70 includes the work implement speed calculator 73 in this exemplary embodiment, the work implement speeds V1 to V4 of the work implements 22, 26, 50 and 60 can be calculated in accordance with the outlet gap W calculated from the angle θ of the potentiometer 80. Accordingly, the work implement speeds V1 to V4 can be controlled in accordance with the operating quantity D even when the operating quantity D is varied depending on a particle size of crushed materials. When the particle size is small and the outlet gap W is also small, the work implement speeds V1 to V4 can be slowed down. Thus energy loss can be reduced and therefore fuel consumption can be reliably reduced.
In the second exemplary embodiment, an operator initially inputs a desired outlet gap W to the outlet gap input unit 76 (S1). Then, the outlet gap calculator 71 of the controller 70 references the map M1, reads a rotation angle θ in accordance with the inputted outlet gap W to provide a target angle θ0, and outputs a drive command to the advancement and retraction driver of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 so that the rotation angle θ of the mechanical lock hydraulic cylinder 42 becomes the target angle θ0 (S12). The operating quantity calculator 72 references the map M2 and reads an operating quantity D of the crusher 30 in accordance with the outlet gap W inputted to the outlet gap input unit 76 (S13). S14 to S16 are the same as S3 to S5 shown in
In the second exemplary embodiment, the outlet gap W can be automatically adjusted by feedback control of the rotation angle θ while the work implement speeds V1 to V4 can be calculated simply by inputting a desired outlet gap W to the outlet gap input unit 76. Similarly to the first exemplary embodiment, the work implement speeds V1 to V4 can be slowed down when the outlet gap W is small. Thus, energy loss can be reduced.
The best arrangements, methods and the like for carrying out the invention are disclosed above, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other words, while the invention is particularly explained and illustrated mainly in relation to specific embodiments, a person skilled in the art could make various modifications in terms of shape, amount or other particulars to the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Therefore, because the above-disclosed description limiting the shape, amount and the like is merely an exemplified statement for facilitating understanding of the invention and is not a limitation on the invention, a statement using names of the members on which a part of or all of the limitations regarding the shape, amount and the like is eliminated is included in the invention.
For example, in the exemplary embodiments, the operating quantity D is calculated in accordance with the outlet gap W, the work implement speeds V1 to V4 are calculated in accordance with the operating quantity D, and then the discharge low rate Q is calculated in accordance with the work implement speeds V1 to V4 using the maps M2 to M7. However, a map for calculating the discharge flow rate Q directly from the outlet gap W (or directly from the particle size) may be used to simplify the control process.
Though the jaw crusher is used as the crusher 30 in the exemplary embodiments, other crusher such as an impact crusher may be used.
Though the grizzly feeder 22, muck conveyor 26, discharge conveyor 50 and magnetic separator 60 are provided as the work implements in the exemplary embodiments, it is only required that at least one of the work implements is provided. It is not required that all of the above-described work implements are provided.
A driving source of the work implements may be an electromotor. At this time, a rotational speed of the electromotor is regarded as the work implement speed.
Though the outlet gap input unit 76 to which a desired outlet gap W is inputted is used in the second exemplary embodiment, an input unit to which a particle size of crushed materials is inputted may be used.
Though the operating quantity of the crusher is calculated from the outlet gap of the crusher in accordance with the particle size of crushed materials in the first and second exemplary embodiments, the operating quantity may be calculated from hydraulic oil pressure of the hydraulic motor that drives the grizzly feeder that feeds the crushed materials to the crusher.
The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-127048, filed May 14, 2008, and No. 2009-078911, filed Mar. 27, 2009, are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-127048 | May 2008 | JP | national |
| 2009-078911 | Mar 2009 | JP | national |
