CA1222222A

CA1222222A - Light truck, intended for rapid intervention, having a scoop excavator

Info

Publication number: CA1222222A
Application number: CA000441832A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Paul Legueu
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-12-17
Filing date: 1983-11-24
Publication date: 1987-05-26
Also published as: EP0113266A1; DE3372114D1; EP0113266B1; FR2538016B1; BR8306911A; ES8502750A1; KR840007127A; FR2538016A1; ATE27840T1; ES528132A0; JPS59141637A

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:

A light truck, intended for rapid intervention comprises a chassis bearing a rear mounted horizontal open platform, an excavator mounted rotatingly at the rear of the platform on the vehicle chassis and comprising a jib carrying and manipulating a scoop, the excavator being movable between an extended working position in which it overhangs the rear or side of the truck and a stowed position in which it is folded above the platform in the mid-line of the truck. The excavator is mounted on a turntable mounted low on the chassis for rotation through 360°. The jib comprises three arms which are connected pivotingly together so that they may be folded and the turntable rotated whereby the jib extends forwardly of the turntable in the stowed position.

Description

222~2 AN AUTOM~BILE E~CA~ATOR VEHICLE
-Background of the invention The invention relates to an automobile vehicle of mixed usage, and in particular to a rapid deployment light truck of the kind comprising a chassis bearing an open horizontal rear platform, and an excavator mounted rotatably at the rear of the platform in the vehicle chassis and comprising a jib bearing and manipulating a scoop, the excavator being movable between extended working positions in which it overhangs the rear or sides of the vehicle and a folded position in which it is stowed on the vehicle.

Description of the Prior Art In the field of construction machines of various kinds, for loading, cutting trenches, and other digging work, various efficient machines are known such as excavators and hydraulic scoops also known under the name of rear exca-vators.
These self-drawn machines usually comprise a chassis borne on four wheels driven by an engine also used to manipulate the jib of the excavator provided with a scoop and bearing a cab disposed over the main part of the chassis and forming the driver's cab for the machine.
In this type of machine, the jib usually comprises two arms connected together and to the scoop by pivots, jacks actuating them between working positions in which the jib arms are extended to overhang the edge of the vehi-cle and a generally vertical folded position in which the two arms are brought vertically one against the other and against the vehicle.

-~, ~;~22222 However, although the machine is convenient and effective, it is relatively big, laterally but espe-cially its height, besides which such a machine can only be used specifically for terrassing word. Moreover, in these known machines, the excavator can only rotate through a limited angle of about 180.
These characteristics mean that these machines have a usage limited to terrassing of large size and espe-cially for this reason they cannot be transported by aero-plane, for example.

Objects of the invention An object of the invention is to provide amixed usage automobile vehicle, in particular a rapid deployment light truck with an excavator which is trans-portable by aeroplane, and therefore has its overall size reduced as much as possible (when the excavator is retracted in its stowed position?, while having a maximum reach or maximum working radius when the excavator is extended, such a vehicle being especially usable for military applications such as terrassing work making trenches for contact units, its rapidity being intended to enable it also to perform many engineering works: servicing, digging, mining, clearing, terrassing~ removing brushwood and so on.
Brief description of the invention Accordingly, the present invention provides a light truck, intended for rapid intervention, truck of the -type comprising: a main chassis carrying a horizontal rear platform of predetermined length; a surbased turntable mounted on the chassis for complete rotation through 360 relative to the chassis, an excavator comprising a jib mounted at one end to the turntable for rotation therewith and having a scoop at the other end; the excavator being movable between a working position in which it extends away from the platform ,~r_ 3 _ ~ ~22~22 and overhangs therefrom and a rest position in which it is stowed over the platform, characterized in tha-t the truck has a cab with a top of predetermined height; in that the jib comprises three arms ar-ticulated to one another; in that the turntable is surbased mounted in an intermediate chassis secured to the main chassis; in that two of the three articulated arms are of predetermined short lengths~
are located at the ends of the jib and are connected respectively to the scoop and to the turntable whereas the arm intermediate the end arms has a length greater than the predetermined shortlengths of the end arms, the said greater length corresponding approximately to the predetermined length of the platform; characterized in that the arms and the scoop are pivotable one with respect to the other; in that four double-action jacks are provided to pivot said arms and scoop; wherein the arms take on, when the excavation is in the rest position over the platform, reciprocal posi-tions defining an inverted isoceles triangle in which the intermediate arm is slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal and stands at a height corresponding essentially to the predetermined height of the truck cab.
In this way, a minimum overall size of the vehicle may be obtained by the combination of an excavator mounted on a rotatable support low in the chassis of the vehicle (reduction of height), of an open platform round the support for stowing the excavator, of free rotatability of the excavator, and the use of jib arms which can be retracted over the platform.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said axms comprise flat parallel bars of generally shallow triangular configuration and transverse spacer members connecting said bars, at least one of said jack means which actuates said scoop and at least another of said means which actuates said intermediate arm being connected to said transverse spacer members.

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~.. ~. -~ 3a - ~ 2 Z Z 2 2 2 Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following desc:ription given by way of _4~ 222 example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Fig 1 is a prespective view of a vehicle in accordance with the invention, - Fig 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the vehicle of Fig l, - Fig 3, comprising Figs 3A and 3B presents two views from the rear of the vehicle, Fig 3A representing the working position in which side stabilisers are deployed and engage the ground, and Fig 3B representing the stowed position in which the side stabilisers are raised and the vehicle is installed in an aeroplane for aerial transport, and - Fig 4 is a diagrammatic view of the rear of the vehicle and of the excavator in action, showing the working reach of the excavator.
In Fig 1, the vehicle shown in diagrammatic perspective comprises a light truck 1 and an excavator shovel or back excavator 2.
The truck 1 comprises a chassis 3 mounted on four wheels 4 and bearing a cab 5, an engine 6 disposed at the front, a hydraulic reservoir 7, a spare wheel 8 and a rear platform 9.
The excavator 2, shown in deployed working posi-tion in this drawing, comprises essentially a turntable 10 which can rotate through 360 on a support (not shown) mounted in the chassis 3 of the vehicle, a jib formed from three arms 11, 12, 13 hinged together, and a scoop 14. The arm 11 can be raised or lowered by jacks 15 fixed on lateral uprights 16 of the turntable, while jacks 17, 18, 19 enable the corresponding arms 12, 13 and the scoop 14 to be manipulated.
Additionally, a control station 20 is disposed on the side of the platform 9 of the vehicle beside the 3L~Z2~22 turntable 10 of the excavator 2 and groups the controls of the different jacks and of a hydraulic motor (not shown in this drawing~ controlling the rotation of the turntable.
Also, it can be seen in Fig 1 that the vehicle is equipped with four side stabilisers 21, each formed of a crutch 22 hinged on the chassis 3 and whose base is provid-ed with a shoe 23 also hinged on the crutch.
Fig 2 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the vehicle 1 and excavator 2 in the folded or retracted position, stowed on the platform 9 of the vehicle.
As described below in more detail, the three jib arms 11, 12, 13 of the excavator 2 can be retracted over the platform to occupy a space corresponding approxima-tely to the overall height of the vehicle and to the overall length of the vehicle platform.
In more detail, the three jib arms 11, 12, 13 of the excavator are hinged together by shafts 22', 23'~
the two arms 13 and 11, at the two ends of the jib being of short reach, the arm 13 being connected to the scoop 14 of the excavator and the arm 11 being connected to the uprights 16 of the turntable 10, while the intermediate arm 12 has a greater length corresponding approximately to the length of the platform 9 o~ the vehicle.
The arms 11, 12, 13 and the scoop 14 can be pivoted relative to each other under the actuation of the double action jacks 15, 17, 18 and 19, and when the jib is folded and brought into a stowed position over the plat-form in the mid-line of the vehicle by rotation of the turn-table, the arms are in relative positions defining approxima-tely an isoceles triangle, pointing downwards with its base(arm 12) uppermost and slightly inclined to the horizontal at a level corresponding to the height of the roof of the cab 5 of the vehicle 1.
As also shown in Figs 1 and 2, the different arms 11, 12, 13 are formed, like the arm 12 for example, by two parallel flat bars 23 whose shape is a shallow isoceles triangle and which are connected -together by tubular members welded thereto and forming transverse spacers 24, one of which also serving as a fixing member for the actuation jack 18 of the arm 13 manipulating the scoop, and the other serves as fixing for the jack 17 actuating the intermediate arm.
~ s shown in Fig 2, the turntable 10 is secured to a lower ring 25 of the kind having alternating rollers, meshing with a pinion wheel 26 solid with the shaft of a hydraulic drive motor Z7 disposed inset downwards in the chassis 3 of the vehicle within an intermediate chassis 28 supporting the ring 25 and the turntable 10 bolted to the chassis 3.
As seen in the side elevational view of Fig

2, the control station 20 is partly hidden by the turntable 10 .
The drawing also shows very schematically a pump 29 connected to the hydraulic reservoir 7, the pump being connected with a power take off (not shown) driven by the vehicle engine.
In addition, the hydraulic motor 27 and the different jacks 15, 17, 18, 19 are connected to an ordinary hydraulic system (not shown) including the pump 28 and the reservoir 7 as well as a distributor controlling the supplies of the hydraulic motor and the jacks.
As shown in Figs 2 and 3, the stabilisers 21 comprising the triangular crutches 22 and shoes 23 are mounted pivotingly on a traverse 30 of the vehicle chassis by a shaft 31 such that when stowed in the raised position (Figs 2 and 3B) the crutches 22 are disposed vertically within the space corresponding to the outline of the vehicle 1.
The crutches 22 are actuated by jacks 32 whose cylinder body is secured to the traverse 30 and whose piston ~2~2~;~2 rod is hinged at a point 33 spaced from the pivot axis of the crutch.
It will be noted that the action of the stabili-sers is to increase the terrassing capacity which otherwise might be reduced by -the light weight of the vehicle, and the crutches 22 can also be locked in semi-deployed or re-tracted position, if the nature of the terrain requires.
In Figs 2 and 3B, it will be seen that when the crutch 22 is raised the shoe 23 adopts a vertical posi-tion flat against the arm of the crutch.
Fig 3B shows this position, with the vehicle 1 and excavator 2 installed for transport inside an aeroplane, whose fuselage interior is indicated at 34 by the broken line.
The jacks 31 are connected in the ordinary way to the hydraulic system of the vehicle.
The position of the control station 20 beside the turntable 10 on the platform 9 of the vehicle, grouping the controls toge-ther, gives an excellen-t view of the wor-king area.
In Fig 4 is shown the rear of the vehicle 1 standing on the ground 35, and the working range of the excavator 2 which can dig and scrape out to the reach shown at 36.
Since the excavator can rotate through 360, it can work all round the vehicle and thus has a very large working radius, which reduces or eliminates wasted time due to movement of the vehicle when large cavities are to be excavated.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:
When the vehicle 1 arrives on the site, the driver deploys the lateral stabilisers 21 to the required position, and then manipulat(3s the excavator 2 in the usual fashion by means of the jacks 15, 17, 18, 19.

~LZ2~22;;~2 Once the excavation is finished, he retracts (by folding it) the jib comprising the three arms and the scoop into the position shown in Fig 2 (the arms pivoting relative to each other at 22 and 23 as seen in Fig 2 so that they then occupy an inverted triangular space), but with the jib still in a position overhanging the rear or the side of the vehicle, and then rotates the turntable until the jib is disposed ~orward of the turntable in the vertical mid-plane of the vehicle above the platform.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A light truck, intended for rapid intervention, truck of the type comprising: a main chassis carrying a horizontal rear platform of predetermined length;
a surbased turntable mounted on the chassis for complete rotation through 360° relative to the chassis; an excavator comprising a jib mounted at one end to the turntable for rotation therewith and having a scoop at the other end; the excavator being movable between a working position in which it extends away from the platform and overhangs therefrom and a rest position in which it is stowed over the platform, characterized in that the truck has a cab with a top of predetermined height; in that the jib comprises three arms articulated to one another; in that the turntable is surbased mounted in an intermediate chassis secured to the main chassis; in that two of the three articulated arms are of predetermined short lengths, are located at the ends of the jib and are connected respectively to the scoop and to the turntable whereas the arm intermediate the end arms has a length greater than the predetermined short lengths of the end arms, the said greater length corresponding approximately to the predetermined length of the platform; characterized in that the arms and the scoop are pivotable one with respect to the other; in that four double-action jacks are provided to pivot said arms and scoop; wherein the arms take on, when the excavator is in the rest position over the plat-form, reciprocal positions defining an inverted isoceles triangle in which the intermediate arm is slightly inclined with respect to the horizontal and stands at a height corresponding essentially to the predetermined height of the truck cab.

2. A truck as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rotatable turntable comprises a ring gear, and the vehicle includes drive means for rotating the turntable and including a pinion wheel meshing with the ring gear and a hydraulic motor disposed beneath the pinion wheel in a recess in the intermediate chassis and in the main chassis.

3. A truck as claimed in claim 1 or 2, charac-terized in that the arms comprise flat parallel bars of generally shallow triangular configuration and transverse spacer members connecting the bars; at least the jack which actuates the scoop and the jack which actuates the interme-diate arm being connected to said transverse space members.

4. A truck as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a control station disposed on the platform beside the rotatable turntable and manually operable control members for controlling supply of hydraulic fluid to the jacks.

5. A truck as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises lateral stabilisers including respective crutches, and shoes pivoted on the ends of the crutches; the crutches being mounted on the main chassis for pivoting movement between an upright stowed position within the outline of the truck, and a deployed position in which the crutches engage the ground, the stabilisers including jack means for actuating the crutches and connected between the main chassis and the crutches.

6. A truck as claimed in claim 1 further in that it comprises a hydraulic system for supplying hydraulic fluid to the jacks, this system including a fluid reservoir, a hydraulic motor driven by a power take-off from an ingine of the truck and a distributor for controlling the supply of fluid from the motor to the jacks.