Scraper elevator with lower drive sprockets
AssigneeClark Equipment Company
InventorsHoward E. Stuller, Glenn E. Walser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An elevator mechanism for an elevating scraper in which the sprockets which drive the elevator chains are located immediately adjacent the ground in the loading position.
Claims13
A mobile earth-moving scraper having an earth material receiving space defined on at least three sides by wall and floor members leaving an open front, a forwardly and downwardly inclined scraper blade extending transversely of the space and carried by said members at said open front and discharging into said space, an inclined endless scraper-type elevator mounted between said wall members, elevator mounting means yieldably supporting the elevator permitting it to rise and fall as a unit of mass substantially isolated from the remaining scraper mass, said elevator unit of mass comprising a pair of endless chains, flights connected between said chains for contacting the dirt and pulling it into the space behind the blade, a pair of idlers located remotely from the blade over which the respective endless chains operate, a pair of driving sprockets for driving the respective chains located adjacent the blade and elevator drive means connected to the drive sprockets contributing substantial mass to the elevator unit of mass below the transverse centerline of the elevator such that the center of gravity of the elevator unit of mass is below the centerline.
In an elevating scraper having a bowl, ground-engaging wheels supporting the bowl, a tractor for pulling the scraper, the bowl having spaced side walls closed at the bottom by a floor and at the rear by an end wall and being opened at the front, a scraper blade inclined downwardly and forwardly at the front adapted to be lowered into engagement with the ground during loading operations, an elevator including an elevator frame pivotally mounted near its upper end at the front of the bowl so as to rise or fall in relation to the blade according to loading conditions, the improvement comprising an elevator drive mounted at the lower end of said frame and spaced from said pivotal mounting substantially the full length of the elevator frame whereby the elevator loading action is increased.
A scraper elevator for use on a mobile earth-moving scraper having a bowl defined by side walls, a floor and an end wall being opened at the front to receive said elevator, a scraper blade extending across the front mounted between the side walls beneath the elevator and discharging into the bowl, said elevator comprising a frame, a pair of drive sprockets rotatably mounted at the lower end of said frame, a pair of planetary hubs rotatably mounted at the lower end of said frame around which said sprockets are mounted, a pair of guide wheels rotatably mounted at the upper end of said frame, a pair of endless chains engaging said sprockets at the bottom and guided over said guide wheels at the top, a plurality of spaced, scraper-type flights connected between said chains, an elevator drive mounted adjacent the lower end of said frame and drivingly connected to said sprockets for driving said chains in unison such that during loading operations the flights will travel downwardly on the upper chain length, around the sprockets and in contact with the earth material approximately below the elevator drive and then move upwardly with the lower chain length to assist in moving the earth material off of the scraper blade and into the bowl, mounting means for said elevator permitting the elevator to rise and fall in relation to the blade, the elevator drive comprising a supported mass on said mounting means contributing a substantial portion of the elevator supported mass below the transverse centerline of the elevator such that the elevator has an increased downward moment enhancing the penetration of the flights into the earth material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.