# US 9,518,491 B2 · Construction machine

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- Number: US 9,518,491 B2
- Document ID: US9518491B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/404,323
- Filed: 2013-06-19
- Published: 2015-06-18
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2012-07-05
- Assignees: Komatsu Ltd.
- Applicants: Komatsu Ltd.
- Inventors: Katsuhiro Tsutsumi; Hirofumi Miyamoto
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9518491B2

## CPC

- F01N 3/206: {Adding periodically or continuously substances to exhaust gases for promoting purification, e.g. catalytic material in liquid form, NOx reducing agents}
- B60K 13/04: concerning exhaust
- E02F 9/0866: {Engine compartment, e.g. heat exchangers, exhaust filters, cooling devices, silencers, mufflers, position of hydraulic pumps in the engine compartment}
- F01N 3/021: by means of filters
- F01N 3/10: by thermal or catalytic conversion of noxious components of exhaust
- F01N 3/2066: {Selective catalytic reduction [SCR]}
- F01N 13/009: {having two or more separate purifying devices arranged in series}
- F01N 13/011: {having two or more purifying devices arranged in parallel}
- F01N 13/08: Other arrangements or adaptations of exhaust conduits {(pipes, joints or supports therefor in general F16L; collecting or removing exhaust gases of vehicle engines in workshops B08B15/00, on highways E01C1/005)}
- F01N 13/1805: {Fixing exhaust manifolds, exhaust pipes or pipe sections to each other, to engine or to vehicle body (pipe joints in general F16L; fixing auxiliaries in motor vehicles in general B60K)}
- F01N 13/1816: {the pipe sections being joined together by flexible tubular elements only, e.g. using bellows or strip-wound pipes}
- F01N 13/1822: {for fixing exhaust pipes or devices to vehicle body}
- B60Y 2200/412: Excavators
- F01N 3/035: with catalytic reactors
- F01N 3/2882: {Catalytic reactors combined or associated with other devices, e.g. exhaust silencers or other exhaust purification devices (combined with absorbents or adsorbents only F01N3/0814; combined with particulate filters F01N3/035)}
- F01N 2250/02: filtering and catalytic conversion
- F01N 2340/02: Distance of the exhaust apparatus to the engine or between two exhaust apparatuses
- F01N 2340/04: Arrangement of the exhaust system relative to a vehicle or parts thereof
- F01N 2470/16: Plurality of inlet tubes, e.g. discharging into different chambers
- F01N 2470/18: the axis of inlet or outlet tubes being other than the longitudinal axis of apparatus
- F01N 2470/20: Dimensional characteristics of tubes, e.g. length, diameter
- F01N 2590/06: for hand-held tools or portables devices
- F01N 2590/08: for heavy duty applications, e.g. trucks, buses, tractors, locomotives
- F01N 2610/02: the substance being ammonia or urea
- F01N 2610/1406: Storage means for substances, e.g. tanks or reservoirs
- F01N 2610/1453: Sprayers or atomisers; Arrangement thereof in the exhaust apparatus
- Y02A 50/20: Air quality improvement or preservation, e.g. vehicle emission control or emission reduction by using catalytic converters
- Y02T 10/12: Improving ICE efficiencies
- F01N: GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; GAS-FLOW SILENCERS OR EXHAUST APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES (arrangements in connection with gas exhaust of propulsion units in vehicles B60K13/00; combustion-air intake silencers specially adapted for, or arranged on, internal-combustion engines F02M35/00; protecting against, or damping, noise in general G10K11/16)
- B60K: ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PROPULSION UNITS OR OF TRANSMISSIONS IN VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENT OR MOUNTING OF PLURAL DIVERSE PRIME-MOVERS IN VEHICLES; AUXILIARY DRIVES FOR VEHICLES; INSTRUMENTATION OR DASHBOARDS FOR VEHICLES; ARRANGEMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH COOLING, AIR INTAKE, GAS EXHAUST OR FUEL SUPPLY OF PROPULSION UNITS IN VEHICLES
- E02F: DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING (winning peat E21C49/00)
- B60Y: INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO ASPECTS CROSS-CUTTING VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY
- Y02A: TECHNOLOGIES FOR ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02T: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO TRANSPORTATION

## Abstract

An exhaust gas aftertreatment device provided to an upper portion of an engine includes a right and left pair of first and second aftertreatment units, into which exhaust gas from the engine dividedly flows, each including a first exhaust gas emission control system on an upstream side, a second exhaust gas emission control system on a downstream side and a communication pipe through which the first and second systems are in communication with each other, the first and second systems, while being arranged side by side in a right-and-left direction, being oriented so that a flow direction of the exhaust gas flowing therein is parallel with a front-and-rear direction. When the device is seen in the front-and-rear direction, an outer linear envelope tangent to the first system and the communication pipe of each of the units extends upward while tilting toward a right-and-left center of the engine.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A construction machine comprising:
an engine that is oriented so that an axial direction of a crankshaft is parallel with a front-and-rear direction of a vehicle body; and
an exhaust gas aftertreatment device that is provided to an upper portion of the engine in an engine compartment covered by a hood, the exhaust gas aftertreatment device comprising at least one pair of a first aftertreatment unit and a second aftertreatment unit into which exhaust gas from the engine dividedly flows, the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit each comprising:
a first exhaust gas emission control system that is provided upstream in a flow direction of the exhaust gas;
a second exhaust gas emission control system that is provided downstream of the first exhaust gas emission control system; and
a communication pipe through which the first exhaust gas emission control system and the second exhaust gas emission control system are in communication with each other, the first and second exhaust gas emission control systems, while being arranged side by side in a right-and-left direction of the vehicle body, being oriented so that the flow direction of the exhaust gas flowing in the first and second exhaust gas emission control systems is parallel with the front-and-rear direction of the vehicle body, and the communication pipe being provided between the first exhaust gas emission control system and the second exhaust gas emission control system,
wherein the first exhaust gas emission control system of the first aftertreatment unit and the first exhaust gas emission control system of the second aftertreatment unit are spaced from each other in the right-and-left direction of the vehicle body,
wherein the second exhaust gas emission control system of the first aftertreatment unit and the second exhaust gas emission control system of the second aftertreatment unit are provided between the first exhaust gas emission control system of the first aftertreatment unit and the first exhaust gas emission control system of the second aftertreatment unit,
wherein when the exhaust gas aftertreatment device is seen in the front-and-rear direction of the vehicle body, an outer linear envelope that is tangent to the first exhaust gas emission control system and the communication pipe of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit extends upward while tilting toward a right-and-left center of the engine, and
wherein a slant surface along the envelope is provided to the hood at a position corresponding to: a portion facing an external portion of an outer circumferential surface of the communication pipe of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit, and a portion facing an external portion of an outer circumferential surface of the first exhaust gas emission control system of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second after treatment unit.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein:
the construction machine is a wheel loader,
an air cleaner for intake air to be supplied to the engine is provided to the upper portion of the engine, and
the exhaust gas aftertreatment device is closer to an operator's seat than the air cleaner.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein
the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit each further comprises a urea supply device that is provided between the first exhaust gas emission control system and the communication pipe to supply a urea solution into the exhaust gas,
the first exhaust gas emission control system of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit comprises a soot filter that is configured to collect particular matter in the exhaust gas,
the second exhaust gas emission control system of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit comprises a urea reduction catalyst that is configured to reduce a nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas using the urea solution, and
the communication pipe comprises a mixing pipe in which the exhaust gas is mixed with the urea solution supplied by the urea supply device.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The construction machine according to claim 2, wherein:
the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit each further comprises a urea supply device that is provided between the first exhaust gas emission control system and the communication pipe to supply a urea solution into the exhaust gas,
the first exhaust gas emission control system of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit comprises a soot filter that is configured to collect particular matter in the exhaust gas,
the second exhaust gas emission control system of each of the first aftertreatment unit and the second aftertreatment unit comprises a urea reduction catalyst that is configured to reduce a nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas using the urea solution, and
the communication pipe comprises a mixing pipe in which the exhaust gas is mixed with the urea solution supplied by the urea supply device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The construction machine according to claim 1, wherein:
the construction machine is a wheel loader comprising a cab, and
the engine compartment is provided behind the cab.