A BOOM UPLOCK DEVICE FOR A LOADER

Abstract

 The invention relates to a boom uplock device (3) for a loader where and where the boom (1) of the loader is pivotally fastened to the front body (2), and the said boom uplock device comprises at least one elongated, cylindrical locking pin (4) and a support (7) for supporting the locking pin. The support is fastened to the front body, and the support has an essentially horizontal through going aperture (5), in which aperture the locking pin is movably fitted. There is formed a helical guiding groove (9) into the surface of the locking pin, which helical guiding groove is in touch with a steering piece (22) to control the movement of the locking pin, so that when the locking pin is rotating around its longitudinal axis the locking pin at the same time moves in its horizontal direction to enable contact between the locking pin and the underside of the boom to prevent the downward movement of the boom and keeping the boom in an elevated position, or to disable contact between the locking pin and the boom to allow the downward movement of the boom.The invention also relates to a loader.

Description

Background of the invention

[0001] The invention relates to a boom uplock device for a loader, especially a mining loader, which is used in mines to transport rock material.

[0002] The invention also relates to loader.

[0003] The field of the invention is defined more specifically in the independent claims.

[0004] During the lifetime of the loader (for example a loader which moves rock material in a mine) there is a need at certain stages or intervals to keep the boom of the loader in an elevated position, for example when maintenance or service works are being done beneath the boom. In this situations the boom, which normally has a bucket fastened to the other end, must be secured so that it will not lower unintentionally from the elevated position. The boom (and in combination with the possible bucket) is very heavy even in small loaders, and thus creating a severe danger if it is not secured properly from lowering during the maintenance or service works in the vicinity or especially under the boom.

[0005] There are some solutions presented to uplock the boom, so that the boom will stay at a certain level, when there is need to work underneath the boom or in the vicinity of the boom.

[0006] US 9062435 B for example does present a solution wherein a boom arm is provided with a horizontal, transversal through going hole, and a locking pin movably arranged in the hole. The locking pin is elongated, and having a first and a second end. The locking pin is movable in its longitudinal direction between a passive and an active position, wherein the passive position of the locking pin enables movement of the boom arm past the support means, and the active position of the locking pin prevents movement of the boom arm past the support means. The solution is characterized in that the locking pin is provided with a protruding manoeuvring stick arranged in the vicinity of the first end of the locking pin, enabling manoeuvring of the locking pin between the passive and active positions. There is a tubular housing arranged to one side of the boom arm. There is also a tubular housing presented in the solution, which housing is provided with a slot, the manoeuvring stick is movable within said slot, and the slot has parts being parallel and transversal respectively with the longitudinal direction of the locking pin.

[0007] However, it has been noted that present solutions for uplocking the boom in a loader have some disadvantages which make them difficult to use.

[0008] In the present solutions there is some significant force needed to operate them.

[0009] Also, because of the harsh conditions where the loaders are mainly being used, there is a risk that the present solutions do not work in a proper manner, because of the dirt which can easily cause problems by blocking the locking devices from moving. Also the present solutions are not secure enough, and therefore do leave a risk that the boom can cause severe damage if it will not stay in the uplocked position during service or maintenance.

Brief description of the invention

[0010] An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved boom uplock device for a mining loader.

[0011] The boom uplock device according to the invention is characterized by the features disclosed in a first independent apparatus claim.

[0012] An idea of the disclosed solution is that the boom uplock comprises at least one elongated, cylindrical locking pin and a support for supporting the locking pin, which support is fastened to the front body. The support has an essentially horizontal through going aperture, in which aperture the locking pin is movably fitted. There is formed a helical guiding groove to the surface of the locking pin, which helical guiding groove is in touch with a steering piece, for example a pin-like steering piece, to control the movement of the locking pin, so that when the locking pin is rotating around its longitudinal axis the locking pin at the same time moves in its horizontal direction to enable contact between the locking pin and the underside of the boom to prevent the downward movement of the boom and keeping the boom in an elevated position, or to disable contact between the locking pin and the boom to allow the downward movement of the boom.

[0013] An advantage of the disclosed solution is that compared to known solutions it is very easy and safe to use, and also very simple with only a few moving parts and thus very durable. There are no excessive forces needed to operate the presented solution, in contrary, it can be operated with a small amount of force and it is therefore user-friendly. Also, the disclosed solution is not sensitive against dirt and will thus stay operative also in dirty and harsh conditions, which is often the case in underground mines as well in open pit mines.

[0014] According to an embodiment, the groove is formed into the cylinder surface of locking pin in a helical angle between 30 - 70 degrees, preferably 60 degrees.

[0015] According to an embodiment, the boom uplock device is attached to the both sides of the body part of the loader.

[0016] According to an embodiment, there is a bushing inside the support.

[0017] According to an embodiment, there is a grip formed to the vicinity of the other end of the locking pin.

[0018] According to an embodiment, the grip is formed into the cylindrical-like grip-supporting part.

[0019] According to an embodiment, the grip-supporting part stretches at least partly over the support.

[0020] According to an embodiment, the movement of the locking pin is prevented by a safety pin, which is formed between the grip-supporting part and the front body.

[0021] According to an embodiment, the support is welded to the front body.

[0022] According to an embodiment, the steering piece is fastened detachably into the support or into the front body.

[0023] According to an embodiment, a sealing is fitted between the support and the grip-supporting part.

[0024] The embodiments and features disclosed above may be implemented in the disclosed apparatus. Thereby, the embodiments above, and dependent apparatus claims, comprise suitable additional features.

[0025] The above disclosed embodiments can be combined in order to form suitable solutions provided with necessary features.

Brief description of the figures

[0026] Some embodiments are described in more detail in the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 a shows a schematic view of the front body and the boom of the loader, where the boom is in a lowered position.

Figure 1b is showing a schematic view of the front body and boom of the loader, wherein the boom is in elevated position and secured with the boom uplock.

Figure 2 does show the boom uplock as an exploded view.

Figure 3a shows the boom uplock as seen from above (a position where the locking pin is inside the support, i.e locking pin is not activated.

Figure 3b shows the boom uplock as seen from above, in a position where the locking pin is outraging from the support, i.e locking pin is activated.

Figure 4a shows the boom uplock as seen from the backside.

Figure 5a shows the uplock device as seen from ahead, the locking pin being not activated.

Figure 5b shows a cross section of the uplock device of figure 5a, the locking pin being not activated.

Figure 6a shows the uplock device as seen from ahead, the locking pin being activated.

Figure 6b shows a cross section of the uplock device of figure 6a, the locking pin being activated.

[0027] For the sake of clarity, the figures show some embodiments of the disclosed solution in a simplified manner.

Detailed description of some embodiments

[0028] Figure 1 a shows a perspective view of the boom attached pivotally by a joint to the front body 2 of the loader. In general there are two arms 26 in a loader boom 1, and the arms are both pivotally (pivoted essentially horizontally, pivot marked with reference number 25) attached to the front body 2, which can be seen in figure 1 a. At the other end of the arms of the boom there are formed fastening holes 13, where the bucket is to be fastened, but for the sake of clarity the bucket (or instead of bucket a fork or some other loading equipment) is not shown in the figure. The figure 1 a shows a situation where the boom 1 is in a lowered position. There is attached on both sides of the front body 2 a boom uplock device 3, but it is possible that there is only on the other side of the body a boom uplock device 3. The attached boom uplock device 3 is being operated by the handle 6. The mudguard of the loader is numbered with reference 24.

[0029] Figure 1b presents a situation where the boom 1 is in an elevated and secured position (for example during maintenance or service work). There is a locking pin 4, which is part of the boom uplocking device 3 and which locking pin 4 outrages from the front body 2 and is in contact with the underside of boom and thus prevents the movement of the boom past the locking pin. Since the locking pin 4 touches the boom 1 or more specifically the arm 26 (or if there are two uplocking devices attached to the front body, then the locking pins on both sides of the front body do touch the arms of the boom) and prevents that the boom moves past the locking pin as can be seen in figure 1b.
It might be that the arm/arms of the booms have a protuberance 14 or they are otherwise shaped at the place where the locking pin touches the boom.

[0030] Like figure 2 does show the boom uplock device 3 comprises at least one elongated and cylindrical locking pin 4 and a support 7 for supporting the locking pin 4. The support is fastened, for example by weld to the front body 2 of the loader and the support has an essentially horizontal through going aperture 5, in which aperture the locking pin is movably fitted, so that the locking pin can move in horizontal direction and as well rotate around its longitudinal axle. To make the movement of the locking pin lighter, there is also a bushing 12 fitted inside the support 7, and the locking pin has such a diameter that it will fit inside the bushing.
There is formed a helical guiding groove 9 into the surface of the locking pin, and as can be seen in the figure 2, the groove is formed into the cylinder surface of the locking pin in a helical angle between 25 - 75 degrees, preferably around 60 degrees. The shape of the groove is not restricted to any particular shape, it can be for example be a V-shaped or U-shaped groove or some other common shape groove.
To the support there is attached a steering piece 22, for example a pin-like steering piece (screw or bolt) and the steering piece is detachable and secured for example with a nut 11 to the protuberance 8 which is formed to the circle-like face-plate 12, which face-plate is fastened to the support, for example by screws 10. It might be that there is no face-plate at all, and if this is the case, then the protuberance is directly formed to the support.
To the other end of the locking pin 4 there is attached a cylindrical-like grip-supporting part (housing) 15, which grip-supporting part might be fastened detachably to the locking pin with screws 16. The grip is shown with reference number 6.
The grip-supporting part 15 stretches at least partly over the support 7, this can be seen for example in figure 3.

[0031] Figure 3a shows the boom uplock device 3 as seen from ahead (in a position where the locking pin is inside the support, i.e locking pin is not activated). As in the figure, the locking pin is inside the support 7, so that it does not outrage from left end of the support and thus it is not touching boom 1. The grip-supporting part 15 is at this position at maximum distance from the front body 2. It is possible that there is sealing between the support part and the grip-supporting part, but this is not shown in the figure.

[0032] Figure 3b shows the boom uplock device 3 as seen from ahead (in a position where the locking pin 4 is partly outside of the support 7, i.e locking pin is activated.

[0033] As can be seen in the figure, the locking pin 4 is partly outside of the support 7, so that it does outrage from the left end of the support and thus it is touching the front boom 1. The grip-supporting part 15 is at this position in minimum distance from the front body 2.

[0034] Figure 4 shows the locking device 3 seen from the backside, and as the figure shows, the handle 6 can be rotated 90 degrees, but it is possible that the handle can be rotated more or less than 90 degrees (this depends of the length of groove 9). The figure 4 actually shows a position where the locking function (locking pin not activated) is not activated like in fig 3a.

[0035] Figure 5a shows the uplock device 3 as seen from ahead, the locking pin 4 being not activated. There is a securing pin 19 attached to the grip-supporting part 15 to prevent that the grip-supporting part will move unintentionally. The securing pin 19 is set through holes (holes not shown in the picture) of the locking plates 20, 23 and which locking plates are fastened to the mudguard 21 of the loader (or the locking plate might be also directly fastened to the front body) and the grip-supporting part 15.

[0036] In figure 5b, there is to be seen that the locking pin 4 is fitted partly inside the support 7, so that the locking pin is not reaching outside from the left side of the support. The grip-supporting part 15 reaches partly over the support 7, as can be taken from the figure. The steering piece 22 does reach into the helical groove 9, so that it steers the movement of the locking pin 4, when operating the locking pin via the handle 6, which handle is formed to the grip-supporting part which grip-supporting part is further fastened to the locking pin. When the handle is being operated, the handle practically rotates or turns around the horizontal axle (center-axle) of the support.
There is also shown a lubricating channel 18, where some lubricant can be filled, so that the lubricant will lubricate the bushing 12.

[0037] Figure 6a shows the boom uplock device 3 as seen from ahead, the locking pin 4 being activated. Now, there is a contact between the boom 1 and the locking pin 4, so that the boom cannot move downwards, because the locking pin prevents the boom from moving downwards.
The handle 6 is in the up-position, and the securing pin 19 is attached to the grip-supporting part to prevent that the grip-supporting part will move unintentionally, also at this position when the locking pin is activated.

[0038] As presented in figure 6b, the contact area between the boom and the locking pin is marked with reference number 17. The locking pin 4 has moved to the left, since the steering piece 22 touches the right end of the helical groove 9, and thereby causes the horizontal movement of the locking pin, when the handle is turned to the shown position.

[0039] Let it be mentioned that the solution and features disclosed in this patent application may also be applied for other type of work machines than loaders.

[0040] Thus, the boom uplock device may alternatively be applied to a tractor or dumper for example.

[0041] It is also possible that there is a sealing or other protecting part between the support part and the grip-supporting part, but this is not shown in the figure. The aim of this part would be to protect uplocking device from dirt.

[0042] The drawings and the related description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. In its details, the invention may vary within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A boom uplock device for loader, where the boom of the loader is pivotally fastened to the front body, and the said boom uplock device comprises at least one elongated, cylindrical locking pin and a support for supporting the locking pin, which support is fastened to the front body, and that the support has an essentially horizontal through going aperture, in which aperture the locking pin is movably fitted, characterized in that there is formed a helical guiding groove into the surface of the locking pin, which helical guiding groove is in touch with a steering piece to control the movement of the locking pin, so that when the locking pin is rotating around its longitudinal axis the locking pin at the same time moves in its horizontal direction to;
enable contact between the locking pin and the underside of the boom to prevent the downward movement of the boom and keeping the boom in an elevated position, or
to disable contact between the locking pin and the boom to allow the downward movement of the boom.

2. A boom uplock device for a loader according to claim 1, characterized in that the groove is formed to the cylinder surface of locking pin in a helical angle between 30 - 70 degrees.

3. A boom uplock device for a loader according to claim 2, characterized in that the helical angle is about 60 degrees.

4. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the steering piece is a pin-like steering piece, for example a bolt.

5. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that a boom uplock device is attached to the both sides of the body part of the loader.

6. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that there is a bushing inside the support.

7. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that there is a grip formed to the vicinity of the other end of the locking pin.

8. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the grip is formed to the cylindrical-like grip-supporting part.

9. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the grip-supporting part stretches at least partly over the support.

10. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the movement of the locking pin is prevented by a safety pin, which is formed between the grip-supporting part and the front body.

11. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the support is welded to the front body.

12. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that the steering piece is fastened detachably to the support or to the front body.

13. A boom uplock device for a loader according to any preceding claim, characterized in that a sealing is fitted between the support and the grip-supporting part.

14. A loader, comprising at least one boom uplock device according to claim 1.

15. A loader according to claim 14, characterized in that the loader is a mining loader.

Drawing