US 7,581,341 B1 · Wheel loader

Abstract

A design for a wheel loader. The wheel loader has two units connected back to back via a pivot. Each unit has a base unit that is easily disassembled into parts no more than 8 feet wide for transport by using steel plates connected by sleeves, shafts and nuts. A dipper arm arrangement connects the base to a high capacity bucket arrangement of 300 cubic yards. Hydraulic cylinders raise and lower the bucket arrangement and tip the bucket arrangement for dumping. The hydraulic cylinders are operated by hydraulic pumps which are operated by diesel engines. A rotatable cab sits on top of the base to provide a view for an operator.

Drawings

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Drawings

Claims19

Dependent claims

A wheel loader, comprising a first unit and a second unit being detachably attached to each other by a coupler pivot, each of the first unit and the second unit includes:

a base unit;
a cab arranged on the base unit;
a plurality of wheels arranged underneath the base unit;
a bucket arrangement;
and
a dipper arm arrangement including a plurality of dipper arms, each of the dipper arms having a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end of each of the dipper arms being attached to the base unit and the distal end of the dipper arms being attached to the bucket arrangement, wherein each bucket arrangement comprises a plurality of bucket units, each bucket unit capable of individually functioning as a bucket, each bucket arrangement capable of being dissembled into the corresponding plurality of bucket units, the bucket units of each bucket arrangement being bolted together side by side with shafts and bolts.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description5,734 words

Summary1,163 words

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to a design for a large capacity wheel loader, the wheel loader also having a rotatable cab, a hydraulically pivotable bucket arrangement, as well as a design allowing for the disassembly of the wheel loader into small pieces for transport.

#2. Description of the Related Art

Brief description of the drawings7 figures

#A more complete appreciation of the invention, and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a side view of a wheel loader according to an embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a view of an underside of the wheel loader of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Detailed description4,346 words

#Turning now to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a side view of a wheel loader 1 according to an embodiment the present invention. Wheel loader 1 is made up of two identical units 10 and 20, whose rear portions 110 and 210 are coupled together by coupler pivot 30. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each unit 10 and 20 has a base 100 and 200 respectively. A bucket arrangement 120 and 220 is attached to each base 100 and 200 respectively by dipper arm arrangements 130 and 230 respectively.

#Wheel loader 1 can be disassembled into sections not more than 8 feet wide so that they can be moved on trailers, trains, or ships and then reassembled at the new location. When assembled, the wheel loader 1 is approximately 50 feet wide, 150 feet long and 50 feet high. The dimensions listed above are to help understand the design of this machine and can vary considerably.

#The bases 100 and 200 of the wheel loader 1 are made from 2″ thick, high carbon steel plates 12 feet in height and 40 feet in length and held in place with 6-8″ diameter shafts 160a, 160b, 160c, 160d, 160e, 160f, 260a, 260b, 260c, 260d, 260e and 260f (referred collectively as 160, 260), 50 feet long with nuts 161a, 161b, 161c, 161d, 161e, 161f, 261a. 261b, 261c, 261d, 261e and 261f(referred collectively as 161, 261) on each end and steel spacers with 2″ wall thickness between the 2″ plates on the shafts 160, 260. By forming the bases 100 and 200 out of steel plates held in place with shafts, nuts and spacers, the wheel loader of the present invention can be easily disassembled into smaller parts not more than 8 feet wide. This allows for easy transport of the constituent parts. A typical tractor trailer on the highway has an 8 foot width cargo section, allowing the disassembled wheel loader to be transported using ordinary tractor trailers. This eliminates the need for especially wide trucks where special permission needs to be granted before transport. In contrast, the LeToureau L-2350 is of a welded construction and can not be disassembled into smaller parts for transport. As a result, transport of the L-2350 is very cumbersome.

Facts

Application

12/153,766Filed 23 May 2008

Granted

1 Sep 2009

Term ends

23 May 2028

Estimated · how

20 years from earliest known nonprovisional domestic filing plus recorded patent term adjustment. Maintenance-fee lapses, terminal disclaimers and statutory extensions have not been checked. The continuity chain may be incomplete; this is not an enforceability determination.

Classification6 codes

E02F 9/0841
Superstructures; Supports for superstructures: articulated frame, i.e. having at least one pivot point between two travelling gear units
B62D 33/0633
Movable from one position into at least one other position, e.g. tiltable, pivotable about a vertical axis, displaceable from one side of the…:…
B62D 53/005
Tractor-trailer combinations; Road trains: combinations with at least three axles and comprising two or more articulated parts
E02F 3/961
With arrangements for alternate or simultaneous use of different digging elements: with several digging elements or tools mounted on one machine

Wheel loader

Life of this patent

Wheel loader

Life of this patent

Life of this patent

Abstract

Drawings

Drawings

Claims19

Description5,734 words

Drawings

Classification6 codes

Life of this patent

Description5,734 words