WORKING MACHINE

Abstract

On the premise that a partition wall for defining an engine room is provided on the left side of a rear portion of an upper frame the partition wall constituting an upper rotating body and that an engine and a cooler are disposed in the engine room, a front support frame which supports a front portion of the cooler is connected to a rear surface of the partition wall in a state of surface abutment against the rear surface, whereby the support frame also serves as a support pillar for the partition wall, the partition wall also serves as a stay for the prevention of transverse vibration of the support frame, and the use of a sealing member for filling up a gap between the partition wall and the support frame can be omitted.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an upper frame in an excavator according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of a hydraulic excavator;

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of the hydraulic excavator;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a conventional upper frame; and

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged diagram of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Basically, in the following embodiments, the same portions as in THE RELATED ART shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 are identified by the same reference numerals and tautological explanations thereof will be omitted.

Reference will be made to a small-sized excavator called a small swing type wherein an upper rotating body rotated within the width of the excavator.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a crawler type lower traveling body and reference numeral 2 denotes an upper rotating body mounted rotatably on the lower traveling body 1. A working attachment 6 having a boom 3, an arm 4 and a bucket 5 is attached to a front portion of the upper rotating body 2, and a cabin 7 is installed in a left front portion of the upper rotating body.

FIG. 1 shows an upper frame 8 which constitutes the upper rotating body 2, as well as various portions mounted thereon. In the same figure, for simplification thereof, there are illustrated only structures and portions related to the present invention.

An engine room 9 is formed in a rear portion of the upper frame 8 and an engine 10 as a power source is installed in the engine room 9.

On the right side of the engine room 9 is disposed a hydraulic pump 11 which is driven by the engine 10, while on the left side of the engine room 9 are disposed a cooling fan 12 and a cooler 13.

First Embodiment (see FIGS. 1 and 2)

In a first embodiment of the present invention the following configuration points are the same as in THE RELATED ART shown in FIGS. 7 and 8:

(i) The engine room 9 is formed in the rear portion of the upper frame 8 and the engine 10 is installed in the engine room 9.(ii) The hydraulic pump 11 is disposed on the right side of the engine 10 and the cooling fan 12 and the cooler 13 are disposed on the left side of the engine 10. The cooler 13 is configured as a cooler assembly wherein three cooler elements, i.e., oil cooler 13b, radiator 13a and inter-cooler 13c, are arranged in this order from the front side and supported by a cooler frame 23.(iii) A partition wall 24 for defining the engine room 9 is provided in the transverse direction behind the cabin.

The cooler frame 23 is composed of front and rear support frames 25, 26 fixed to the upper frame 8, the support frames 25 and 26 being -shaped in plan (generally U-shaped in plan), and plural connecting frames 27 for connecting the support frames 25 and 26 with each other.

In this embodiment, the front support frame 25 is positioned ahead of the front support frame 15 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and is connected to a rear surface of a partition wall 24 in a state of surface abutment against the rear surface directly (without leaving any gap) with plural sets of bolts 28 and nuts 29.

That is, the front support frame 25 and the partition wall 24 are connected together in a state in which the front support frame 25 which supports a front portion of the cooler 13 also functions as a support pillar which supports the partition wall 24, while the partition wall 24 also functions as a stay for preventing the transverse vibration of the front support frame 25.

As means for positioning the front support frame 25 ahead of the conventional position, both right and left bent portions 25a of the support frame 25 may be formed long in the longitudinal direction as shown in the drawings. Alternatively, the cooler frame 23, cooler 13 and engine 10 may be disposed in front positions as a whole. The support structure itself of the cooler 13 for the front support frame 25 may be the same as in the prior art.

According to this configuration, the partition wall 24 is reinforced by the front support frame 25. In proportion to this reinforcement it is possible to decrease the strength of the panel itself which constitutes the partition wall 24 and thereby reduce the panel thickness (weight).

Moreover, since the partition wall 24 and the front support frame 25 are directly connected with each other and the gap C shown in FIG. 7 is not formed between the two, the sealing member 20 which has heretofore been required for filling up the gap C is no longer required.

Further, as noted above, the partition wall 24 functions as a stay for stopping the transverse vibration of the front support frame 25. Consequently, the stay 18 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 also becomes unnecessary.

As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the cost of materials and parts and reduce the number of parts and the weight of the partition wall 24, whereby the assembling work efficiency can be improved to a greater extent than in the prior art.

Additionally, all that is required is merely connecting the partition wall 24 and the front support frame 25 which are disposed front and rear in proximity to each other, in other words, the basic positional relation such that the front support frame 25 is positioned behind the partition wall 24 is the same as in the prior art. Therefore, even if the front support frame 25 is positioned ahead of the present position, the amount of the movement may be small. Thus, even if there is made a change such as increasing the longitudinal size of the bent portions 25a of the front support frame 25 as noted earlier, the change may be small.

Second & Third Embodiments (see FIGS. 3 and 4)

A description will be given below only about the difference from the first embodiment.

In second and third embodiments of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, respectively, a front support frame 25 and a partition wall 24 are connected together in a transversely continuous state, that is, the front support frame 25 functions not only as a support pillar for the partition wall 24 but also as a part of the entire partition wall.

In the second embodiment, the partition wall 24 is divided to left and right panels 30, 31 and the front support frame 25 and the divided panels 30, 31 are connected together in a state in which the front support frame 25 is sandwiched in between both divided panels 30 and 31. In this configuration, the partition wall 24 is constituted by both divided panels 30, 31 and the front support frame 25.

On the other hand, according to the third embodiment, in the case where a partition wall 24 is made up of, say, two divided panels, the transverse size of a front support frame 25 is set large to approximately the same degree as the width of one divided panel and the support frame 25 and the other divided panel are connected together at respective one ends in a transversely continuous state and in a state wherein the support frame 25 also serves as one divided panel. In this configuration, the partition wall 24 is constituted by a divided panel 32 and the front support frame 25.

In FIGS. 3 and 4 there is illustrated a configuration wherein bent portions 30a, 31a and 32a are formed at end portions of the divided panels 30, 31 and 32, respectively, and are bolted to bent portions 25a of the front support frame 25. However, there may be adopted a configuration wherein end faces of the divided panels 30, 31 and 32 are abutted against the front support frame 25 and in this state are welded to the front support frame or a configuration wherein panel ends are superimposed on the front surface of the support frame 25 and are bolted or welded thereto.

In the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the other end portion (the opposite-side end portion 25a in the illustrated example) of the front support frame 25 is secured to an upper frame fixing portion such as a left main frame 21 as shown in the same figure.

According to both second and third embodiments, since the front support frame 25 serves also as a part (panel) of the partition wall 24, the area of the partition wall can be made smaller. Therefore, in case of forming the partition wall 24 with use of plural divided panels as described above, it is possible to attain a further reduction of cost and improvement of the assembling work efficiency because the number of panels and the panel area are decreased.

The present invention is applicable also to the case where the radiator 13a, oil cooler 13b and inter-cooler 13c as cooler elements, i.e, cooling devices are arranged side by side in the transverse direction. In this case, when the cooler elements are supported by a single cooler frame as a common cooler frame, a front support frame of the cooler frame and the partition wall may be connected together as in the embodiment just described above. In the case where the cooler elements are supported by separate cooler frames, a front support frame in one of them (e.g., a cooler frame for radiator) and the partition wall may be connected together.

The present invention is also applicable in the same manner as above to a working machine wherein a cooler is disposed on the right side of the engine room and a partition wall is provided on the right side of the rear portion of the upper frame.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments in the attached figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.

Claims

1. A working machine comprising: a lower traveling body;an upper rotating body mounted on said lower traveling body;a partition wall provided in the transverse direction of a body of the machine in a rear portion of an upper frame, said partition wall constituting said upper rotating body to define an engine room behind said partition wall;an engine and a cooler both disposed in said engine room; anda support frame for supporting a front portion of said cooler, said support frame being connected to said partition wall in a state in which the support frame also serves as a support pillar for supporting the partition wall.

2. The working machine according to claim 1, wherein said support frame and said partition wall are connected together in a mutually contacted state in the longitudinal direction of the machine body.

3. The working machine according to claim 1, wherein said support frame and said partition wall are connected together in a continuous state in the transverse direction of the machine body.

4. The working machine according to claim 1, wherein said cooler comprises plural kinds of cooling devices, said plural kinds of cooling devices being arranged longitudinally within a common cooler frame and said support frame disposed in a front portion of said cooler frame and said partition wall being connected with each other.