CA2230674A1 - Heavy vehicle interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system - Google Patents

Abstract

A heavy off-road vehicle interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system is disclosed, particularly for mine roads maintenance such as for road dust level control in the summer and fall time and for abrasive spreading on icy roads in the winter and spring time. This invention allows a mining company to maintain its mine roads for full productivity and safety use with a single truck assigned to either operations of water spreading or sand spreading in a production and cost effective interchangeable manner. The interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system comprises four major components which consist of a dedicates mining truck, an interchangeable liquid tank, an interchangeable abrasive container and a specialized lifting device for the installation/removal of the services.
Typically, the mining truck with its usual payload container and associated hydraulic actuating system removed is equipped with specially adapted front and rear female parts of an interchangeable service retaining system. The counterpart of this interchangeable service retaining system, say, the front and rear male parts, are mounted on each of interchangeable services, i.e. the water tank and the sand container. The specialized lifting device is then used to handle one of the interchangeable service and install it onto the truck. In a final step, the interchangeable service retaining system is hydraulically locked in and the truck is ready for use.

Description

HEAVY VEHICLE INTERCHANGEABLE
WATER TANKER/SAND SPREADER SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention The present invention relates to liquid and solid spreading devices and, more particularly, to an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which is adapted to a dedicated conventional mining truck for the maintenance of mine roads, that is for the control of road dust levels and for the distribution of abrasives for icy road conditions.

2. Description of the prior Art Mine road conditions vary with the weather.
A dry summer period will allow large dust clouds to be formed after the passage of heavy mining trucks thus diminishing the operator visibility and increasing the risk of accidents. For this, a water spreader truck is used to maintain a certain amount of humidity on the road thus avoiding dust clouds and related accidents. On the other hand, in the winter period, snow on the mine roads is rapidly transformed into ice by each tire of a mining truck due to the heavy weight of these trucks thus causing icy roads that are dangerous and prone to accidents. To control this situation, a sand spreader truck is used to maintain a certain amount of abrasive onto the roads increasing the traction potential for the mining trucks and diminishing the amount of related accidents. In that manner, the overall maintenance of mine roads requires at least one combination of two trucks, one being assigned to water spreading and the other to sand spreading. Usually, more than one combination of trucks is required due to the large amount of roads to be maintained.

With this method, the mine has to purchase many expensive trucks for road maintenance and half of them will not be used at all during a half-year period approximately because they are not equipped with the appropriate spreading containers (liquid or abrasive). Furthermore, these trucks and related equipments themselves need maintenance and increase production costs because those trucks are not directly transporting an effective payload.
Typically, the existing sand spreaders use a mechanism affecting the container itself and its canopy. This mechanism is employed to tilt the abrasive container and canopy in a manner to increase the angle formed by an horizontal plane and their bottom for allowing the remaining amount of abrasive inside the back part of the container and/or the canopy surface to be dislodged and spread out over the road. The tilting of the container and related mechanism components need space to operate and the container travel must clear local interferences thus limitating the container's effective volume and diminishing its production efficiency. Furthermore, the necessity for a tilting movement imply some design constraints on the container's shape resulting in a higher overall centroid for the truck which requires a reduction of the container's effective volume in order to fold up the truck manufacturer's centroid limit specifications. Less effective volume means that the sand spreader will be empty sooner.
This way, more handling is needed to fill the container everytime it's empty and more time is lost for the truck to travel from the working zone to the filling pit, and vice versa.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system for mine road maintenance which will require only one dedicated mining truck for both tasks of spreading water or any liquid on the roads at summer time and spreading sand or any abrasive on the roads at winter time.
It is also an aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which will be efficient when interchanged from a water spreading use to a sand spreading use and vice versa.
It is a further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which is designed to offer ease of assembly and disassembly with minimal time and handling equipment.
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which could be applied to different models of brands of trucks.
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which is designed to increase the effective volumes and capacities (loads) of water and sand containers to the maximum allowable load values given by the truck manufacturer's specifications.
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system which will allow dedicated mining trucks to operate in a more effective manner to increase the productivity ratio of those trucks, that is the number of hours spent spreading versus the number of hours being empty (reloading process).
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system with a heavy duty water or sand container retaining system and hydraulic locking system.
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system with a dedicated lifting method which is designed to be compatible for both containers taking into account their respective longitudinal centroids and with a unique pattern of four lifting points.
It is a still further aim of the present invention to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system with a dedicated service lifting device designed to have both features of a moveable sliding guided rack-mounted main lifting point and a self engaging container hooking system to reduce and facilitate handling of the services.
Therefore, in accordance in with the present invention, there is provided a multi-task vehicle with interchangeable services, comprising a vehicle body, at least two different service means each adapted to be removed installed on said vehicle body, disengageable locking means adapted to be actuated between locked and unlocked positions thereof for respectively securing any of said service means to said vehicle body and to allow said service means to be removed from said vehicle body such to allow said service means to be interchanged onto said vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration a preferred embodiment thereof and in which .
Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a fully assembled interchangeable water tanker on a dedicated mining truck which is shown in broken lines in accordance with the present invention comprised of a service lifting system in a hooked up position, the tanker container, its partially embedded structural frame, its lifting mounts, the two parts of the front and rear service retaining system which is shown fully assembled and the associated hydraulic locking system; also shown are related conventional hardware, e.g. footbridges, ladders and plumbing;
Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the multi-task truck. with interchangeable services of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a fully assembled interchangeable sand spreader on the dedicated mining truck which is shown in broken lines in accordance with the present invention comprised of the service lifting system in hooked up position, the sand spreader container, its partially embedded structural frame, its lifting mounts, the sand spreader parts of the front and rear service retaining system, the associated hydraulic locking system, the sand spreader adjustable hydraulic sliding gates and the sand spreading boxes;
Fig. 4 is a vertical view partly in cross-section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing particularly the sand spreader lifting mounts, the sand spreader adjustable hydraulic sliding gates and the sand spreading boxes:
Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the interchangeable water tanker and the service lifting device shown in transit with respect to the dedicated mining truck shown in broken lines;
Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the interchangeable sand spreader and a service lifting device shown in transit with respect to the dedicated mining truck shown in broken lines;
Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of the water tanker comprised of the tanker container, its partially embedded structural frame, its lifting mounts, the tanker parts of the front and rear service retaining system; also shown are related conventional hardware, e.g. footbridges, ladders, overall plumbing and the tanker internal structure;
Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of the interchangeable sand spreader comprised of the sand spreader container, its partially embedded structural frame, its lifting mounts, the sand spreader parts of the front and rear service retaining system and the sand spreader adjustable hydraulic sliding gates;
Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of the service lifting device comprised of its main structural frame and hooks and its moveable sliding guided rack-mounted main overhead lifting point;
Fig. 10 is a right-hand side view of the service lifting device of Fig. 9; and Fig. 11 is a front elevational view of the dedicated mining truck, shown in broken lines, provided with the truck parts of the front and rear service retaining system and related hydraulic locking system of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with the present invention, Fig. 1 illustrates an interchangeable water tanker 1 fully assembled on a dedicated mining truck T which is shown in broken lines.
Also in accordance with the present invention, Fig. 3 illustrates an interchangeable sand spreader 2 fully assembled on the dedicated mining truck T which is again shown in broken lines. A sand container 4 is firmly secured on the truck T by a front hydraulic service holding system 5 and a rear hydraulic service holding system 7. The sand container 4 is hooked up by means of four hooks 8 mounted on a service lifting device 5 shown engaged to four tiltable lifting mounts 9 either for the installation or removal process. The service lifting device 5 is handled by either a crane C, shown in broken lines or any high capacity lifting apparatus such as a overhead crane and the like. Also shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are the sand spreading boxes 10 fed by the container hydraulic adjustable sand delivery sliding gates 11. The mining truck T operator cabin is protected by a sand spreader canopy 12 (Fig. 8) which will dump accumulated abrasive into the container 4 by means of two hydraulic cylinders 13 actuated by open center valves (not shown). This way, the canopy 12 will not remain at all times in its inclined raised position such as not to run into any overhead electrical lines or bump onto the rock of truck repair shop entrance doors.
The structure of the container 4 itself is best seen from Fig. 8. The main rib 26 is a sculpted profile whose base lies below the level of the bed frame of the mining truck T (not shown in the Fig.
8). This accounts for a lowered container 4 centroid which is essential to follow up with the truck manufacturer specifications without reducing the maximum allowable container effective volume and payload weight per truck axle. At both sides of the main rib 26 are secondary ribs 25, 27 and 28.
Completing the main structure are the front end and rear end ribs 24 and 29, respectively. Ribs 24, 28 and 29 are supported by legs 33 to ensure proper longitudinal stability of the container 4. Lateral stability is ensured by the ribs themselves and braces 34 on the ribs 24 and 28. The main frame is split into four parts 19, 20, 21 and 22, this to provide the container with better structural resistance allowing the ribs to be embedded in the main frame.

Mounted on the main frame are the sand spreader front part 15 and rear part 16 of the service retaining system. A bronze bushing 23 lies inside the front part casing for wear protection. A
greasing point 35 allows for proper lubrication when the entire front system is assembled. The configuration of the front retaining system is designed to fulfill multiple tasks. First, it guides and helps the installation of the sand spreader 2 when it is lowered onto the truck frame. Second, it retains the main frame onto the truck frame both longitudinally and laterally against acceleration forces while the sand spreader 2 is moving. Finally, it will prevent the container 4 from tilting around the longitudinal axis of the sand spreader 2, thus ensuring that the container 4 will not fall off on either side of the truck T.
Similarly, the rear part 16 of the service retaining system will secure the main frame 19 to 22 and container 4 onto the truck frame and ensure a strong hold against longitudinal acceleration forces and it will also retain the container 4 from lateral sliding movements over the truck frame. It will equally help the installation process by guiding the rear of the main frame onto the truck frame during lowering.
Sand delivery to the sand spreading boxes 10 is directed through and controlled by the hydraulic sliding gates 11, as best shown in Fig. 4.
A pair of C-shaped slides 36 are made each of a steel angle 37 welded onto a structural part of the container bottom. A C-shaped piece of UHMW plastic 38 is inserted inside the space between this angle and its supporting structural part and bolted through the steel angle. The gate 11 is then trapped in those slides 36 and actuated by an hydraulic cylinder 14 fixed on the container bottom structure . The rod end 39 of the cylinder is tightly fixed to the gate actuation mounting 40 by the shaft of an hydraulic motor 17. This shaft is eccentric so while it is rotating, the sliding gate 11 is vibrating. Under the strong push of the cylinder 14 on the gate actuation mounting 40 to close the gate 11, rocks that would otherwise block the gate from closing will be crushed away and the gate 11 will finally close the opening without any problem.
WATER TANKER PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
The water tanker is a heavy-duty liquid container designed to transport the maximum load permitted by the truck manufacturer. It will be used to distribute water or any liquid over the roads to control their moisture level and to prevent the formation of dust clouds.
More particularly, the water tanker is made of two main structures, that is, the container itself and the embedded frame. The container is a trapezoidal prism made of steel plates. The bottom of the container is slightly angled toward the front to help empty the container when it is almost empty.
The sides are vertical, the top is horizontal and the edges joining the bottom, the sides and the top are rounded to provide a stronger structure. The front side of the container is specially made to optimize its volume by anguling the wall to the front.
The internal baffling structure is conventional. Three baffles are disposed inside the container. A baffle is a reinforced structure made of a large steel plate welded on the bottom, on the top and on the side walls of the container. The three baffles inside the container define four compartments. Each compartment will contain approximately a quarter of the total container volume. These baffles are required to prevent large displacement of water inside the container and the associated dangers to unbalance the truck while those large masses hit the walls. Each baffle is connected with the nearest baffle or wall by two large steel plates that had been semi-circular rolled. This way, the baffles are joined together with the front and rear walls thus providing the entire container with a much stronger longitudinal resistance. Other reinforcing parts such as angles and gussets are welded on the walls to increase overall rigidity.
The embedded frame is a new feature for a water tanker. The actual embedded frame is almost the same as that of the sand spreader. It is made of the same two mirrored parts running over the truck frame. Overall dimensions are the same. The water tanker structure is also strengthened by ribs. In the case of the water tanker, the ribs are made of four steel plates welded together in a rectangular cross-section. The ribs are seated directly onto the truck frame. Each side of the truck frame, the rib cross-section height slowly diminishes until it reaches the side walls. Since each baffle is welded down on a rib, there are as many ribs as there are baffles. Also, the frame and ribs outline had been Gutted and discarded from the container bottom. This allows the frame to be half-inserted into and welded to the frame and ribs on the entire outline perimeter. This way, the frame is made completely part of the container and vice versa. And with the baffles welded on the ribs, it is hardly possible to further increase the structure of the water tanker.
Furthermore, the container centroid is lowered which accounts for a better truck stability and the overall water tanker height is reduced which ensures that the latter will not hit any electrical lines or truck service building entries.
Pumping is based on conventional knowledge.
Water is picked up at the front of the container by the pump which is also located at the front. The pump then redirects the water through the water tanker by a pipe which delivers the water to the sprinklers at the rear. Walkways and ladders are installed at the front and rear of the container.
This way, one would have access to the four openings at the top of the container and the to sprinklers on the rear walkway. Each opening is closed by a lid.
Access to the inside of each compartment is provided by ladders surrounding each side of the longitudinal baffle reinforcements.
SAND SPREADER PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
The sand spreader, in accordance with this invention, has been specially designed to adopt a stand-still position on the mining truck, that is, tilting of the container is no more required for the abrasive to exit the container. But this principle required that some design problems be solved.
First, a non-tilting container requires that the angle from an horizontal plane of the slopes of the front and rear bottom of this container be greater than the rest-state angle of the abrasive being used. This way, the abrasive will not build up on the slopes and on the edges joining these slopes.
Abrasive building refers to the abrasive not being dislodged from the inner surfaces of the container only by the gravitational forces applied on the abrasive itself. It also refers to the known rest-state angle of the abrasive being used and some other variables affecting that rest-state angle such as abrasive moisture level and the like. Obviously, the greater the angle for the slopes and the better it resists the abrasive building phenomenon. On the other hand, increasing the rear bottom slope angle over the abrasive rest-state angle seriously decreases the container volume. To overcome this, the container must be taller. This way, all the volume is gained back. Also helping, the front bottom slope angle can be reduced near the abrasive rest-state angle limit thus gaining more container volume. This is impossible with a tilting container which requires an almost vertical container front side.
Second, a non-tilting container being taller will have a centroid that is higher thus exceeding the maximum allowed truck centroid height.
To overcome this, the container structure must be lowered on the truck until the centroid comes back to the truck manufacturer allowed centroid limits. To accomplish this task, a structure made of six ribs is created. A rib is a box made of four steel plates welded together. It has an horizontal part and both ends of this part are rolled to the vertical thereby producing a "U" shape that is very strong. The box itself is made of a bottom plate which is horizontal while the side plates are vertical. The top plate of the box is angled the same as the determined rear or front bottom slope angle whether this rib will support the front or rear part of the container.
Then, a section taken through a rib would demonstrate a trapezoidal box. The main rib is the biggest of them all since it is in the center of the container.
It has to support the major part of the load and it is also the one that must surround the truck frame since it needs to lie under the level of the truck in order to lower the container centroid. Then, the main rib horizontal part of its "U" shape is surrelevated at its center to lie on the top of the truck frame, the remaining part lying under the top of this truck frame level and extending laterally.
At each side of the main rib are the secondary ribs.
There is one secondary rib on the front part of the container and two on the rear part of the container .
These ribs are generally U-shaped since they do not have the surrelevated part at the center. The two ribs lying on each side of the main rib are directly sitting on the truck frame with a trapezoidal box.
This trapezoidal box has the same width as the rib and its height is equivalent to the space between the top of the truck frame and the bottom plate of the rib itself. These trapezoidal boxes are made of four plates that are welded together in order to have a rectangular cross-section. The remaining secondary rib is too high above the truck frame level to be seated directly on it. Then, two legs are provided to support this rib onto the container frame. The last two ribs are the front end and rear end ribs.
They are also seated on the container frame each by means of two legs. The container frame is very similar to the truck frame since the container frame is running onto the truck frame but it is slightly larger. It is made of two parts which mirror each other the same way as the truck frame is made of two symmetrical parts. Each part is a box made of four steel plates welded together to have a rectangular cross-section. This frame embed and is welded onto the main rib and its two adjacent secondary ribs.
This accounts for a stronger structure and is essential to lower the container centroid.
Third, the container when fully filled with the maximum overall load permitted by the truck manufacturer must have its centroid placed longitudinally in a way that this load will be distributed to equal the maximum load advertised for each axle. There is only one place for the centroid to encounter all these requirements at maximum load.
Finally, to optimize both the volume and the centroid is a task that involves numerous interdependent variables. For example, if the rear bottom slope angle is increased a little to overcome the abrasive rest-state angle, the container volume is reduced and its centroid is moved to the front.
To gain back the volume, the container must be taller thus increasing the container centroid height. The container then has to be moved to the rear to redistribute the load on each axle and the container has to be lowered to optimize the centroid height (the lower the centroid, the better it is). Since the container has to clear the tires, sometimes it cannot be moved any further to the rear. Then, other modifications have to be made. Those will affect other variables and other modifications will be required until one finally find the optimized container shape and location.
SERVICE LIFTING DEVICE PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
Both services, i.e. the water tanker and the sand spreader, are designed with four lifting points, that is, two at each side of the respective container. Those lifting points are placed symmetrically from the centroid of the service when empty. This way, when viewed from the top, if we imagine four lines joining the lifting points, we will have a rectangle and in its very center will lie the centroid. Then, the service is balanced.
Furthermore, the pattern between the four lifting points of the water tanker and the four lifting points of the sand spreader is designed to be the same. This way, it is possible to use a unique service lifting device for both of these services.
Then, the service lifting device four lifting points are also designed to use this same very pattern.
When the services are empty, the centroid is placed where it is intended to be but it is possible to install/remove the services without having them fully empty. Then, there is a chance that the centroid would be moved either to the front or to the rear of the service. Difficulties will arise while handling the service since either the front or the rear will remain lower than the other and the service will not be balanced (level). To account for this, the service lifting device has been designed to have its overhead main lifting point moveable longitudinally. This way, an operator will slide the main lifting point of the service lifting device by turning a handle that will adjust the position of the main lifting point to counterbalance the displacement of the service centroid. Also, the main lifting point can be designed to that it can be slid laterally. As an example, if the service centroid lies more to the rear, the operator will slide the main lifting point of the service lifting device to the rear also. This way, more weight will be transferred to the front and with the appropriate setting, the service will be rebalanced to account for its specific centroid. The hooks 8 which are engaged to the lifting mounts 9 of either service could also be designed to be horizontally movable to vary, as required, one or both of their longitudinal and lateral spans.

Claims (4)

1. A multi-task vehicle with interchangeable services, comprising a vehicle body, at least two different service means each adapted to be removed installed on said vehicle body, disengageable locking means adapted to be actuated between locked and unlocked positions thereof for respectively securing any of said service means to said vehicle body and to allow said service means to be removed from said vehicle body such to allow said service means to be interchanged onto said vehicle.

2. A multi-task vehicle as defined in claim 1, further providing lift means adapted to be detachably secured to said service means for positioning said service means on said vehicle body or for removing said service means therefrom.

3. A multi-task vehicle as defined in claim 1, wherein said service means comprise at least a water tanker and an abrasive spreader.

4. A multi-task vehicle as defined in claim 1, wherein said locking means comprise tubular members on said vehicle body and on each of said service means, said tubular members being aligned at at least one site when said service means is positioned on said vehicle body, hydraulic cylinder means being provided for extending in said locked position through said tubular members to secure said service means to said vehicle body.