Frame assembly and a method of manufacturing thereof

Abstract

 An outrigger assembly arrangement (25,26) for connecting to a base frame (14) of a machine is disclosed. The arrangement includes an outrigger assembly (24) having a work portion (27) and a connecting portion (28), the connecting portion (28) including a first section (40) of a flange (32,34). The arrangement further includes a rip (29a,30a) adapted to be connected to the outrigger assembly (24) wherein once the outrigger assembly (24) and the rip (29a,30a) are connected, the rip (29a,30a) forms a second portion of the flange such that the flange corresponds to a portion of the base frame.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to a frame assembly for a machine.

Background

[0002] Construction machines like mobile excavators may benefit from outriggers to for example stabilize the machine during digging operations. One such arrangement is for example known from United States Patent 4167278 to Holmes. Although Holmes provides for a stabilization arrangement it may not necessarily be suited to other base frames. The current disclosure is aimed at providing an alternative frame assembly including one or more outrigger assemblies.

Summary

[0003] In a first aspect there is disclosed an outrigger assembly arrangement for connecting to a base frame of a machine, the arrangement comprising an outrigger assembly having a work portion and a connecting portion, the connecting portion including a first section of a flange. The arrangement further includes a rip adapted to be connected to the outrigger assembly wherein once the outrigger assembly and the rip are connected, the rip forms a second portion of the flange such that the flange corresponds to a portion of the base frame.

[0004] In a second aspect there is disclosed a method of manufacturing a frame assembly comprising providing a base frame having first and second ends wherein said first end and said second end have unequal cross-sectional diameters. The method further includes providing an outrigger assembly compatible with each of said first and second ends, selecting a set of rips from a group of rips wherein the selected set of rips correspond to either said first end or said second end and connecting the base frame, the outrigger assembly and the set of rips so as to form the frame assembly.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] 

Fig. 1 is a frame assembly in according to the present disclosure;

Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of a base frame suitable for the frame assembly of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary embodiment of an outrigger assembly suitable for the frame assembly of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4a is a schematic illustrations of an embodiment of a first outrigger assembly arrangement using the outrigger assembly of Fig. 3;

Fig. 4b is a schematic illustration of a set of rips suitable for the first outrigger assembly arrangement of Fig. 4a;

Fig 4c. is a schematic illustration of the first outrigger assembly of Fig. 4a connected to the base frame of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5a is a schematic illustrations of an embodiment of a second outrigger assembly arrangement using the outrigger assembly of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5b is a schematic illustration of a set of rips suitable for the second outrigger assembly arrangement of Fig. 5a;

Fig. 5c. is a schematic illustration of the first outrigger assembly of Fig. 5a connected to the base frame of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a schematic illustration showing hidden detail regarding an outrigger assembly arrangement being connected to one end of the base frame of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a schematic illustration showing hidden detail regarding an outrigger assembly arrangement being connected to another end of he base frame of Fig. 2.

Detailed Description

[0006] Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration of a frame assembly 10 for a machine such as for example a wheeled excavator. The frame assembly 10 as depicted in Fig. 1 is for exemplary purposes only and may be adapted as desired. The frame assembly 10 is in for example shown as being provided with a upper carriage mounting structure 12 that enables the fitment of an upper carriage (not shown) which may be rotatable relative to the frame assembly 10. The frame assembly 10 may have a base frame 14 having a structure that includes non-parallel upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18 respectively. The base frame 14 may further be provided with external side plates 15 and 17 respectively. The external side plates 15, 17 may each be continuous or may each consist of multiple sections such as best shown in Fig. 2. If preferred, one of the external side plates 15, 17 may be continuous and the other one 15,17 may consist of multiple sections. The upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18 together with the external side plates 15 and 17 may form a generally box shaped structure 19. If the frame assembly 10 is provided with for example an upper carriage mounting structure 12, the generally box shaped structure 19 may accommodate the upper carriage mounting structure 12 and extend at either side of that upper carriage mounting structure 12. The base frame 14 further has a first end 20 and a second end 22 and due the upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18 not being parallel, the first and second ends 20 and 22 may have unequal cross-sectional diameters D1 and D2. For example, in Fig. 2 it can be seen that the upper and lower surfaces 16 and 18 diverge from the first end 20 to the second end 22, resulting in the first end 20 having a cross-sectional diameter D1 that is smaller than the cross-sectional diameter D2 of the second end 22.

[0007] The frame assembly 10 may be provided with first and/or second outrigger assemblies 24 at the first end 20 and/or the second end 22 respectively. The first and second outrigger assemblies 24 may be substantially similar, in that they may both be connectable to, i.e. compatible with, both the first end 20 and the second end 22 of the base frame 14.

[0008] The outrigger assembly 24 may be provided with a work portion 27 and a connecting portion 28. The connecting portion 28 may include one or more flange sections 40.

[0009] Any outrigger assembly 24 will be mounted to the base frame 14 using a set of rips 29 including one or more rips 29a or a set of rips 30 including one or more rips 30a which together with the flange section 40 can form a flange 32 or a flange 34. A first outrigger assembly arrangement 25 may include an outrigger assembly 24 and a set of rips 29 adapted to connect the outrigger assembly 24 to the first end 20 of the base frame 14. A second outrigger arrangement 26 may include an outrigger assembly 24 and a set of rips 30 adapted to connect the outrigger assembly 24 to the second end 22 of the base frame 14. An outrigger assembly 24 and a set of rips 29 together may form multiple first end flanges 32, whereas an outrigger assembly 24 and a set of rips 30 together may form multiple second end flanges 34. In the exemplary embodiments as shown in Figs. 1 to 10, two first flanges 32 and/or two second flanges 34 are shown, but an outrigger assembly 24 and a corresponding set of rips 29, 30 may be adapted to form any suitable number of first or second flanges 32, 34. The first and second flanges 32, 34 may be generally channel shaped such as for example generally U, V, W, or rectangular shapes so as to correspond to a shape of the base frame 14. As the set of rips 29 and 30 have different characteristics, the first end flanges 32 have a smaller cross-sectional diameter than the second end flanges 34. This enables an outrigger assembly 24 with first end flanges 32 to be adapted and securely mounted to the first end 20, whilst an outrigger assembly 24 with second end flanges 34 is adapted to be securely mountable to the second end 22. In other words, selecting the correct set of rips 29, 30 to be fitted to an outrigger assembly 24 allows for the first end flanges 32 and second end flanges 34 formed by the outrigger assembly 24 and the selected set of rips 29, 30 to correspond to the first end 20 and the second end 22 respectively.

[0010] The first end 20 and the second end 22 may have different widths. For example the embodiment as shown in Fig. 2 shows a width W1 of the first end 20 being less than a width W2 of the second end 22. As both the first end 20 and the second end 22 may receive a substantially similar outrigger assembly 24 (albeit with different sets of rips 29, 30), any forces imposed on the base frame 14 by an outrigger assembly 24 may have a different impact on the base frame 14 because of the differences between the first end 20 and the second end 22. The base frame 14 may include one or more design features to accept the various forces imposed on the base frame 14 by one or more outrigger assemblies 24.

[0011] In one embodiment, as shown for example in Fig. 6, an outrigger assembly 24 is provided with a set of rips 29 for the outrigger assembly 24 to be mounted onto the first end 20. The first end 20 is in this embodiment relatively narrow, and the base frame 14 may be designed such that at least one of the external side plates 15 and 17 terminates near or at the portions of the base frame 14 that engage a first end flange 32. For example, by aligning an end of the external side plate 15 with a first end flange 32, the first end flange 32 and the external side plate 15 are close coupled, albeit separated by a portion of the base frame 14, and forces exerted onto the base frame 14 by the first end flange 32 may be transferred towards other sections of the frame assembly 10 via the external side plate 15 to aid structural integrity. Any suitable combination of first end flanges 32 and/or second end flanges 34 with external side plate 15 and/or external side plate 17 may be provided with such aligning relationship.

[0012] In an embodiment as shown in Fig. 7, an outrigger assembly 24 is provided with a set of rips 30 for the outrigger assembly 24 to be mounted onto the second end 22. The second end 22 is in this embodiment relatively wide, and the base frame 14 may be designed such that the external side plates 15 and 17 do not terminate near or at the portions of the base frame 14 that engage the second end flanges 34. In this embodiment one or more internal braces 36 may be part of the base frame 14. Such one or more internal braces 36 may for example start at or near the upper carriage mounting structure 12, extend obliquely towards the second end 22 and terminate near or at the portions of the base frame 14 that engage the second end flanges 34. For example, by aligning an end of an internal brace 36 with a second end flange 34, the second end flange 34 and the internal brace 36 are close coupled, albeit separated by a portion of the base frame 14, and forces exerted onto the base frame 14 by the second end flange 34 can be transferred towards other sections of the frame assembly 10 via the internal brace 36 to aid structural integrity. Any suitable combination of first end flanges 32 and/or second end flanges 34 with one or more internal braces 36 may be provided with such aligning relationship.

[0013] It is to be understood that the design may rely on a mixture of one or more external side plates 15, 17 and one or more internal braces 36 to provide the desired structural integrity.

Industrial Applicability

[0014] During manufacturing of machines it may be desirable to allow flexibility in the manufacturing process to provide multiple machine configurations from a limited number of components and/or sub-assemblies. For example, a base frame 14 may have a first end 20 and a second end 22 with unequal cross-sectional diameters. It may however be desirable to for example provide one machine configuration with an outrigger assembly at the first end 20, another machine configuration with an outrigger assembly at the second end 22, and yet another machine configuration with outriggers at both the first and second ends 20, 22. An outrigger assembly such as outrigger assembly 24 may be used for each of those machine configurations as the outrigger assembly 24 may be compatible with both the first end 20 and the second end 22. Selecting a set of rips 29 corresponding to the first end 20 enables an outrigger assembly 24 to be adapted to be mounted onto the first end 20 of the base frame 14 via flanges 32. Selecting a set of rips 30 corresponding to the second end 22 enables an outrigger assembly 24 to be adapted to be mounted onto the second end of the base frame 14 via flanges 34.

[0015] In one embodiment the rips from one of the set of rips 29, 30 may be connected to the outrigger assembly 24 to form a first or second outrigger assembly arrangement 25, 26 before the outrigger assembly 24 is connected to the base frame 14.

[0016] In one embodiment the outrigger assembly 24 may be connected to the base frame 14 before the rips from one of the set of rips 29, 30 is connected to the outrigger assembly.

[0017] In one embodiment the outrigger assembly 24, the rips of one of the set of rips 29, 30 and the base frame may all be connected together via welding.

[0018] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the disclosed linkage arrangement. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosed embodiments 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.

Claims

1. An outrigger assembly arrangement (25, 26) for connecting to a base frame (14) of a machine, the arrangement (25, 26) comprising:

an outrigger assembly (24) having a work portion (27) and a connecting portion (28), the connecting portion (28) including a first section (40) of a flange (32, 34);

a rip (29a, 30a) adapted to be connected to the outrigger assembly (24) wherein once the outrigger assembly (24) and the rip (29a, 30a) are connected, the rip (29a, 30a) forms a second portion of the flange such that the flange corresponds to a portion of the base frame.

2. An outrigger assembly arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement comprises a plurality of flanges (32, 34).

3. A frame assembly (10) comprising:

a base frame (14) with a first end (20) and a second end (22), said first end (20) and said second end (22) having unequal cross-sectional diameters (D1, D2)

at least one outrigger assembly (24) connectable to each of said first end (20) and said second end (22),

a set of rips (29, 30) for connecting to the at least one outrigger assembly (24),

wherein the set of rips (29, 30) and the outrigger assembly (24) together form multiple flanges (32, 34) that correspond to the cross-sectional diameter (D1, D2) of either said first end (20) or said second end (22).

4. A frame assembly according to claim 3, wherein the at least one outrigger assembly (24) includes first and second substantially similar outrigger assemblies (24), the first outrigger assembly (24) being provided with a first set of rips (29) to form multiple flanges (32) corresponding to the first end (20) of the base frame (14), the second outrigger assembly (24) being provided with a second set of rips (30) different from the first set of rips (29), to form multiple flanges (34) corresponding to the second end (22) of the base frame (14).

5. A frame assembly according to any of claims 1 to 3,
wherein at least one set of rips (29, 30) is adapted to be connected to its corresponding outrigger assembly (24) via welding.

6. A frame assembly according to claim 5, wherein the base frame (14), at least one outrigger 24 and at least one set of rips (29, 30) are all adapted to be connected to each other via welding.

7. A frame assembly (10) according to any of claims 3 to 6, wherein the base frame (14) comprises an external side plate (17, 18) extending towards at least one of the first and second ends (20, 22) of the base frame (14), such that an end of the external side plate (17, 18) substantially aligns with one of the multiple flanges (32, 34).

8. A frame assembly (10) according to any of claims 3 to 7 wherein the base frame (14) includes two spaced external side plates (17, 18), wherein the spacing of the external side plates (17, 18) at, or adjacent to, at least one of the first and second ends (20, 22) of the base frame (14) generally corresponds to a spacing between the multiple flanges (32, 34), such that an end of one of the side plates (17,18) substantially aligns with one of the multiple flanges (32, 34) and that an end of the other of the side plates (17, 18) generally aligns with another of the flanges (32, 34).

9. A frame assembly (10) according to any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the base frame (14) comprises an internal brace (36) extending obliquely towards one of the first and second ends (20, 22) of the base frame (14), such that an end of the brace (36) substantially aligns with one of the multiple flanges (32, 34).

10. A frame assembly (10) according to any of claims 3 to 8, wherein the base frame (14) comprises two internal braces (36) each extending obliquely towards one of the first and second ends (20,22), wherein the spacing of the two internal braces (36) at, or adjacent to, at least one of the first and second ends (20, 22) of the base frame (14) generally corresponds two a spacing between the multiple flanges (32, 34), such that an end of one of the internal braces (36) substantially aligns with one of the multiple flanges (32, 34) and that an end of the other of internal the braces (36) generally aligns with another of the flanges (32, 34).

11. A frame assembly (10) according to any of claims 9 to 10, wherein the base frame includes an upper carriage mounting structure (12) and the internal brace(s) (36) extend to from the upper carriage mounting structure (12)to the first or the second end (20, 22).

12. A frame assembly according to any of the claims 3 to 10, wherein the frame assembly is a wheeled excavator frame assembly.

13. A method of manufacturing a frame assembly (10) comprising:

providing a base frame (14) having first and second ends (20, 22), said first end (20) and said second (22) end having unequal cross-sectional diameters (D1, D2);

providing an outrigger assembly (24) compatible with each of said first and second ends (20, 22);

selecting a set of rips from a group of rips (29, 30), the selected set of rips (29, 30) corresponding to either said first end (20) or said second end (22);

connecting the base frame (14), the outrigger assembly (24) and the set of rips (29, 30) so as to form the frame assembly.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein connecting the base frame (14), the outrigger assembly (24) and the set of rips (29, 30) includes welding the set of rips (29, 30) to the outrigger assembly (24) before the outrigger assembly (24) is welded onto the base frame (14).

15. A method according to claim 13, wherein assembling the base frame (14), the outrigger assembly (24) and the set of rips (29, 30) includes welding the outrigger assembly (24) to the base frame (14) before the set of rips (29, 30) is welded to the outrigger assembly (24).

Drawing