Patent Application
20210062461
The present disclosure relates generally to grading machines, and more particularly, to a support assembly for a grading machine.
The present disclosure relates to mobile machines that are used in grading. Grading machines, such as motor graders, are typically used to cut, spread, or level material that forms a ground surface. To perform such earth sculpting tasks, grading machines include a blade, also referred to as a moldboard or implement. The blade moves relatively small quantities of earth from side to side, in comparison to a bulldozer or other machine that moves larger quantities of earth. Grading machines are frequently used to form a variety of final earth arrangements, which often require the blade to be positioned in different positions and/or orientations depending on the sculpting task and/or the material being sculpted. The blade is supported and positioned by various components, including a drawbar and a circle. The circle may be rotated relative to the drawbar in order to adjust a blade angle, for example, via a circle drive pinion engaging with teeth on the circle to rotate the circle. Debris, such as dirt, rocks, or grease, may accumulate and/or damage the circle teeth and/or the circle drive pinion. Covering the circle teeth and/or the circle drive pinion may reduce the likelihood of damage, but may increase the weight of the grading machine and/or may impede the ability to inspect, repair, and/or replace the circle teeth, the circle drive pinion, or other components of the machine.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0135866, published on May 21, 2015 (“the '866 publication”), describes a sealed guard for a motor grader. The '866 publication includes a circle having a circle gear connected to a frame for rotation relative to the draft frame. A circle drive mounted to the draft frame may include a pinion engaging the circle gear to rotate the circle relative to the draft frame. The guard of the '866 publication may provide a radial cover of the circle gear and the pinion. The guard may be, for example, sheet metal. A seal may provide a sealed connection between the guard and the circle. However, the guard of the '866 publication may not effectively seal the circle teeth from debris, may become dented or damaged due to debris (e.g., rocks) striking or colliding with the guard, and/or may impede an operator's ability to inspect, repair, and/or replace the circle teeth, the circle drive pinion, or other components of the machine.
The support assembly for a grading machine of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art. The scope of the current disclosure, however, is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability to solve any specific problem.
In one aspect, a grading machine may include a machine body, a blade assembly, a circle supporting the blade assembly and including a plurality of teeth, a drawbar assembly connecting the circle to the machine body, and a cover plate coupled to a bottom portion of the drawbar assembly. The drawbar assembly may include a plurality of blocks, and the cover plate may be configured to be coupled to the drawbar assembly via the plurality of blocks.
In another aspect, a grading assembly may include a drawbar assembly, a circle having a plurality of circle teeth on an inward face, a blade assembly coupled to the circle, and a cover plate. The drawbar assembly may include a plurality of blocks on a inward face of the drawbar assembly. The cover plate may be coupled to the drawbar assembly via the plurality of blocks, and the cover plate may cover a circumferential gap between the circle and the drawbar assembly.
In yet another aspect, a drawbar assembly may include a drawbar, a yoke plate, a circular extension portion extending downward from the drawbar, and a plurality of blocks on an inward face of the extension portion.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosed embodiments.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the features, as claimed. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” “including,” or other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. For the purpose of this disclosure, the term “ground surface” is broadly used to refer to all types of surfaces or materials that may be worked in material moving procedures (e.g., gravel, clay, sand, dirt, etc.) and/or can be cut, spread, sculpted, smoothed, leveled, graded, or otherwise treated. In this disclosure, unless stated otherwise, relative terms, such as, for example, “about,” “substantially,” and “approximately” are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% in the stated value.
Starting at the front of the grading machine 10 and working rearward toward the blade assembly 16, linkage assembly 24 includes drawbar 26. Drawbar 26 is pivotably mounted to the front frame 12 with a ball joint 36 (
As shown in
Beneath yoke plate 42 is a large gear, commonly referred to as a circle 48. Circle 48 includes a plurality of teeth 50 that extend along an inner face of circle 48. For example, teeth 50 may extend along the entirety of the inner face of circle 48. Furthermore, yoke plate 42 may extend over an entirety of circle 48, for example, positioned above circle 48. Nevertheless, as shown in
Circle 48 and blade assembly 16 may be coupled via support arms 38 and a support plate (not shown). Circle 48, and thus blade assembly 16, may be rotated by circle drive system 40. Although not shown, circle drive system 40 may include a circle drive motor and a gear box to engage with and rotate circle 48, for example, via the circle drive pinion engaging with teeth 50. As shown in
Additionally, grading machine 10 may include cover plate 60, and cover plate 60 may be coupled to a bottom portion of the drawbar assembly such that cover plate 60 is positioned adjacent to a bottom portion of circle 48. Cover plate 60 may cover at least a portion of circle 48, for example, teeth 50. In this aspect, cover plate 60 may be coupled to drawbar 26, yoke plate 42, and/or extension 44. Cover plate 60 may help form a seal between circle 48 and drawbar 26, yoke plate 42, and/or extension 44. For example, cover plate 60 may help enclose circle 48, including teeth 50, to protect the other components debris, such as dirt, rocks, or grease, that may otherwise accumulate and/or damage the circle 48, teeth, 50, and/or a portion of circle drive system 40 (i.e., the circle drive pinion).
As shown in
As mentioned, cover plate 60 may include a plurality of plate portions 62, and plate portions 62 may be evenly sized, or may be unevenly sized. For example, cover plate 60 may include two plate portions 62, three plate portions 62, four plate portions 62, six plate portions 62, eight plate portions 62, etc. In another aspect, as shown in
Cover plate 60 may be formed of a metallic material, non-metallic material, or another appropriate material. For example, cover plate 60 may be formed of steel (e.g., 1720 steel). In another example, cover plate 60 may be formed of a plastic or rubber material, which may deform as cover plate 60 is secured to blocks 70 to aid in forming a seal between circle 48 and extension 44. In either aspect, cover plate 60 may be approximately five to twenty-five millimeters thick (from top to bottom).
A plurality of blocks 70 may be coupled to extension 44. For example, the number and/or position of blocks 70 may correspond to the number and/or position of plate portions 62 and the corresponding plate extensions 64. In one aspect, blocks 70 may be positioned at any angular spacing. For example, each plate portion 62 may include one inward extension 64 on each end of each plate portion to reach receive one fastener 72, and blocks 70 may be positioned in in order to correspond to size and/or arc length of plate portions 62. Blocks 70 may extend from a bottom portion of extension, for example, blocks 70 may be only a portion of a height of extension 44. Although not shown, blocks 70 may include a corresponding number of through-holes, which may also be threaded to aid in coupling cover portions 62 to blocks 70. Additionally, one or more of blocks 70 may receive fasteners 72 to couple more than one inward extension 64 to one of blocks 70. For example, one block 70 may be coupled to an inward extension 64 of a plate portion 62 and also to circle drive inward extension 64A of circle drive plate portion 62A.
Blocks 70 may be formed of a metallic material, for example, a steel and/or the same material of drawbar 26, yoke plate 42, and/or extension 44. In one aspect, blocks 70 may be welded (e.g., tack welded) to extension 44. Alternatively, blocks 70 may be integrally formed with extension 44 (e.g., via casting, embossing, etc.). Furthermore, blocks 70 may be bolted to extension 44, or blocks 70 may be snap-fit to extension 44.
The disclosed aspects of grading machine 10 may be used in any grading or sculpting machine to support and/or protect various components of grading or sculpting machine. The aspects disclosed herein may help to provide a strong and durable connection between cover plate 60 and the drawbar assembly, which may help to protect teeth 50 of circle 48 and circle drive system 40. Additionally, the aspects disclosed here may allow for easy access to one or more portions of teeth 50 of circle 48 or circle drive system 40, which may allow for efficient, safe, and/or cost-effective inspection, repair, or replacement of various components. Therefore, the aspects disclosed herein may be reliable and low cost, without sacrificing performance.
Blocks 70 may be welded to a portion of the drawbar assembly, for example, to yoke plate 42 or extension 44. In this aspect, blocks 70 may allow for cover plate 60 to be coupled to the drawbar assembly, and one or more portions of the drawbar assembly (e.g., yoke plate 42 or extension 44) may be thinner than if cover plate 60 was directly attached to a portion of the drawbar assembly. As such, one or more portions of the drawbar assembly may be smaller and/or lighter, which may reduce the total size, weight, and/or cost of the drawbar assembly and/or grading machine 10. Furthermore, blocks 70 may be coupled to yoke plate 42 or extension 44 after production and/or assembly of the drawbar assembly, for example, to retro-fit an existing machine and/or not requiring a separate formation process.
Cover plate 60 may help to protect circle 48, teeth 50, and/or circle drive system 40 from debris, such as dirt, rocks, or grease, that may otherwise accumulate and/or damage the circle 48, teeth, 50, and/or a portion of circle drive system 40 (i.e., the circle drive pinion). When cover plate 60 is coupled to blocks 70, circle 48 and blade assembly 16 may rotate based on action of circle drive system 40, and cover plate 60 and the drawbar assembly (including drawbar 26, yoke plate 42, bottom plate 54, etc.) may remain stationary relative the front frame 12. Cover plate 60 may be thin (e.g., approximately five to twenty-five millimeters thick), and may be formed of steel or another durable material. As such, cover plate 60 may not significantly increase a size, weight, and/or cost of grading machine 10. Moreover, an operator may attach cover plate 60 to blocks 70 for operation, and may then remove cover plate 60 to inspect, repair, or replace a portion of circle 48, teeth, 50, and/or a portion of circle drive system 40 (i.e., the circle drive pinion). As mentioned, cover plate 60 may be thin and/or flat, and may thus allow for freedom of movement of blade assembly 16 or circle 48 during a grading procedure.
Plate portions 62, 62A may be separately coupled to one or more blocks 70. Accordingly, individual plate portions 62, 62A or subsets of plate portions 62, 62A may be removed in order to inspect, repair, or replace a portion of circle 48, teeth, 50, and/or a portion of circle drive system 40 (i.e., the circle drive pinion). Once the inspection, repair, or replacement is complete, the operator may then reattach the plate portion(s) 62, 62A to respective blocks 70, for example, via fasteners 72, and initiate or continue a grading procedure. The removable connection of cover plate 60 to blocks 70 via fasteners 72 may also help to minimize downtime and/or reduce the likelihood for damage to additional components or injury to the operator during the inspection, repair, or replacement procedure. Moreover, with cover plate 60 being circular (and plate portions 62, 62A being partially circular) and coupled to blocks 70, the central portion of circle 48, drawbar 28, yoke plate 42, extension 44, crossbeam 46, etc., is open and/or unobstructed, which may help to reduce the overall weight and/or cost of the drawbar assembly and of grading machine 10, while also increasing the visibility of the components without the need to remove or disconnect components.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed machine without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other embodiments of the machine will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the support assembly for a grading machine disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
