US 6,648,582 B2Granted

Boom lock

AssigneeDeere & Company

InventorsPeter John Mayer, Douglas S. States, David E. Lemm

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Abstract

A boom lock having an actuator and a hook assembly locks a boom of a work vehicle to a swing frame. The hook assembly is pivotally coupled to the swing frame and comprises two hooks and an actuator plate. The hook assembly has a locked position wherein the hooks contact a catch assembly located on the boom and an unlocked position wherein the hooks do not engage the catch assembly. The hook assembly is moved between these two positions by the actuator. The actuator is provided with a fork having an upper tine that contacts the top surface of the actuator plate and a lower tine that contacts the bottom surface of the actuator plate. The actuator is pivotally mounted to the vehicle by a bracket and is provided with a latch for latching the actuator in a first or second position.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A vehicle having a boom, the vehicle having a swing frame for pivotally mounting the boom on the vehicle on a vertical pivot about a vertical swing frame pivot axis, the vehicle being provided with an operator's station from which the operation of the boom is controlled, the boom being swingably mounted on the swing frame on a horizontal boom pivot for movement between a transport position and selected working positions, and a boom hydraulic cylinder operative between the boom and the swing frame for positioning the boom, and a locking device for selectively locking the boom to the swing frame so the boom is prevented from rotating about the boom pivot when in its transport position, the locking device comprising:

a hook assembly pivotally coupled to the swing frame about a hook assembly pivot, the hook assembly having a hook and an actuator plate, the actuator plate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the hook assembly having a locked position and an unlocked position;
a catch assembly mounted to the boom which is engaged by the hook when the hook assembly is in its locked position;
an actuator is mounted to the frame of a vehicle, the actuator comprising a fork having a top tine and a bottom tine, the top tine selectively engaging the top surface of the actuator plate and the bottom tine selectively engaging the bottom surface of the actuator plate for moving the hook assembly from its locked position to its unlocked position and from its unlocked position to its locked position.

A work vehicle for performing a work operation, the work vehicle comprising:

a frame;
an operator's station mounted to the frame from which the operation of the boom is controlled;
ground engaging assembly coupled to the frame for supporting the propelling the frame;
a swing frame pivotally coupled to the frame by a vertical swing frame pivot, defining a vertical swing frame axis;
a boom is pivotally coupled to the swing frame by a boom pivot for movement between a transport position and selected working positions;
a boom hydraulic cylinder operative between the boom and the swing frame for positioning the boom;
and
a locking device for selectively locking the boom to the swing frame so the boom is prevented from rotating about the boom pivot when in its transport position, the locking device is provided with two hooks that are pivotally coupled to the swing frame, an actuator plate extends between the two hooks, the actuator plate having a top surface and a bottom surface, the hooks having a locked position and an unlocked position, a catch assembly is mounted to the boom which is engaged by the hooks when the hooks are in their locked position, an actuator is mounted to the frame of a vehicle, the actuator comprising a fork having a top tine and a bottom tine, the top tine selectively engaging the top surface of the actuator plate and the bottom tine selectively engaging the bottom surface of the actuator plate for moving the hooks from their locked position to their unlocked position and from their unlocked position to their locked position.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.