Seal guard for compactor
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorsHari Prasad Kafle, Steven Todd Haroldson, James William Schaffer, Robert Leo Gosda, Daniel Patrick Vertenten
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A guard for a seal of a wheeled industrial machine, the guard comprising an cylindrical, annular body having a first plate, a second plate with an upper portion and a lower portion, and a connecting portion extending between the first plate and the second plate; wherein the first plate extends in a radially inward direction from the connecting portion and includes a plurality of holes; wherein the upper portion is configured to extend into a corresponding slot of a rotating element of a wheel of the wheeled industrial machine; and wherein the lower portion is configured to extend toward an axle of the wheeled industrial machine.
Claims16
A work machine, comprising:
- an axle;
- a plurality of wheels, each of the plurality of wheels mounted on an outboard end of the axle, and having a cylindrical shell extending axially and concentrically about the axle;
- and
- a plurality of guard assemblies, each of the plurality of guard assemblies mounted on an outboard end of the axle, and each of the plurality of wheels mounted to the axle such that each of the plurality of wheels covers a respective one of the plurality of guard assemblies, each of the plurality of guard assemblies having:
- a final drive rotatably supported on an outboard end of the axle and including an annular seal extending between rotating and non-rotating components of the final drive;
- a rotating element connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of wheels;
- a rotating guard connected to the final drive;
- and
- a fixed internal guard fixed to the axle, wherein the rotating guard comprises a connecting portion and a plate extending from the connecting portion in a radially inward direction toward a portion of the fixed internal guard, and wherein the fixed internal guard extends from the axle in a radially outward direction toward the connecting portion.
A method of operating a work machine comprising:
- providing a work machine having a final drive rotatably supported on an outboard end of an axle, and a wheel mounted to an outboard end of the final drive, the wheel having a cylindrical shell extending axially and concentrically about the axle;
- allowing a foreign material to enter an interior of a wheel drum;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a first gap between the axle and a rotating element connected to the wheel drum;
- bounding the foreign material within a first space defined by the axle, the rotating element, and an internal guard fixed to the axle, wherein the rotating guard comprises a connecting portion and a plate extending from the connecting portion in a radially inward direction toward a portion of the internal guard, and wherein the internal guard extends from the axle in a radially outward direction toward the connecting portion;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a second gap between the rotating element and the internal guard, the second gap being accessible by the foreign material when a first volume of other foreign material has built up within the first space;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a third gap between the internal guard and a rotating guard;
- bounding the foreign material within a second space defined by the internal guard and the rotating guard;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a fourth gap between the internal guard and the rotating guard, the third gap being accessible by the foreign material when a second volume of other foreign material has built up within the second space;
- bounding the foreign material within a third space defined by the rotating guard, the internal guard, the axle, and the final drive;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a passage formed between the rotating element and the rotating guard, the passage being accessible by the foreign material as an alternate routing to the third gap;
- restricting the foreign material to pass through a fifth gap between the rotating element and a rotating guard;
- and
- permitting the foreign material to access a seal area contacting an annular seal extending over the final drive, or an excess area separate from the seal area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.