Front tower structure for a mining vehicle

Abstract

A front tower on a truck body for use with a mining vehicle. The truck body includes a truck bed including a canopy and a front exterior wall. The front exterior wall includes at least one front tower. The front tower includes two longitudinal plates spanning the front exterior wall, at least one gusset plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates, and a landing plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates. The landing plates are configured to transfer load stress from the bed to a frame of a mining vehicle.

Claims

1. A truck body for use with a mining vehicle comprising: a canopy and a front exterior wall, wherein the front exterior wall comprises a front tower, wherein the front tower comprises: two or more longitudinal plates spanning the front exterior wall; a gusset plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates; and a landing plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates, wherein the landing plate is configured to transfer load stress from the truck body to a frame of a mining vehicle.

2. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front tower comprises two or more gusset plates.

3. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front tower is welded to the front exterior wall.

4. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front tower is bolted to the front exterior wall.

5. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front tower is connected to the canopy of the truck body.

6. The truck body of claim 5, wherein the front tower is connected to the canopy of the truck body with canopy connecting plates.

7. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front tower spans the front exterior wall from a base of the front exterior wall.

8. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the front towers are offset from a vertical axis by about 14 degrees to about 16 degrees.

9. The truck body of claim 1, wherein the landing plate is connected to the longitudinal plates with a landing connecting plate.

10. The truck body of claim 9, wherein the landing connecting plate includes support plates.

11. A front tower for use on a mining vehicle comprising two or more longitudinal plates configured to span a front exterior wall of a mining vehicle body; a gusset plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates; and an landing plate transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates, wherein the landing plate is configured to transfer load stress from a truck body to a chassis of the mining vehicle.

12. The front tower of claim 11, wherein the front tower comprises two or more gusset plates.

13. The front tower of claim 11, wherein the front tower is configured to be connected to a canopy of the truck body.

14. The front tower of claim 13, wherein the front tower is configured to be connected to the canopy of the truck body with canopy connecting plates.

15. The front tower of claim 11, wherein the longitudinal plates are substantially parallel.

16. The front tower of claim 11, wherein the landing plate is connected to the longitudinal plates with a landing connecting plate.

17. The front tower of claim 16, wherein the landing connecting plate includes support plates.

18. A mining truck comprising: a truck frame; a truck body comprising a front exterior wall and a canopy; the front exterior wall comprising a front tower configured to transfer load stress from the truck body to the truck frame; wherein the front tower comprises: parallel longitudinal plates spanning the front exterior wall from a base of the truck body to the canopy; at least one gusset plate transverse to the longitudinal plates; and a landing plate transverse to the longitudinal plates.

19. The mining truck of claim 18, wherein the front tower comprises two or more gusset plates.

20. The mining truck of claim 18, wherein the front tower is configured to be connected to the canopy of the truck body with canopy connecting plates.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a side view of a mining vehicle with a truck body including the disclosed front towers;

(2) FIG. 2 is an offset front view of the truck body of FIG. 1; and

(3) FIG. 3 is a front view of the truck body of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(4) The present disclosure is directed to improved front towers for truck bodies on mining vehicles, for example, mining dump trucks. The improved front towers increase the fatigue life of the truck body. The front towers of the present disclosure have reduced weight. In addition, they front towers are strong enough to transfer the load stress from the truck body to the truck frame.

(5) Referring to FIG. 1, a mining vehicle 100 has a truck body 102 and a frame 104. The truck body 102 on the mining vehicle 100 is capable of receiving and dumping a load. The truck body 102 has a canopy 106 and a front exterior wall 108. As the truck body 102 receives a load, the truck body 102 is subjected to load stress. Also, when the mining vehicle 100 carries material to its destination, the truck body 102 pivots on the frame 104 to discharge the material from a rearward opening of the truck body 102. The truck body 102 then lowers back into position, causing high forces and stress concentrations on the truck body 102. In addition, non-optimal roads cause oscillations in the truck body 102, thereby also causing stress concentrations on the truck body 102. These stresses can reduce the fatigue life of the truck body 102.

(6) To increase the fatigue life of the truck body 102, a truck body 102 can have front towers 116 on the front exterior wall 108 of the truck body 102. The disclosed light-weight front towers 116 are provided on the truck body 102 to transfer load stress from the truck body to the frame 104. The disclosed front towers 116 are light-weight and are strong enough to withstand the repeated receiving of loads and raising and lowering of the truck body 102.

(7) Referring to FIG. 2, a front tower 116 can include two or more longitudinal plates 110. The longitudinal plates 110 span the front exterior wall 108. Gusset plates 112 are transverse and connected between the longitudinal plates 110. The front tower 116 can include one or more gusset plates 112. In one embodiment, the gusset plates 112 can be curved.

(8) The longitudinal plates 110 can be a variety of shapes, for example, the longitudinal plates 110 can be roughly triangular, sword-shaped or curved in certain areas. For example, the upper section of the longitudinal plates 110 can be curved in, as exemplified in FIG. 2. This curvature can reduce the weight of the front towers 116. In addition, this curvature can move the stress concentrations from the weld joints to the outer sections of the longitudinal plates 110 away from the front exterior wall 108.

(9) The front tower 116 also can include landing plates 114. The landing plates 114 transfer the stress from the truck body 102 to the frame 104. For example, as the truck body 102 dumps a load and comes back into the lowered position, the landing plates 114 contact the frame 104 of the mining vehicle 100. In addition, for example, as the truck body 102 receives a load, the landing plates 114 contact the frame 104. This contact between the landing plates 114 and the frame 104 can allow the transfer of the stress from the truck body 102. The landing plates 114 can be connected to the longitudinal plates 110 with landing connecting plates 120. The landing connecting plates 120 can also include support plates 122.

(10) In one embodiment, the front tower 116 can span the front exterior wall 108 from a base of the front exterior wall 108. In another embodiment, the front tower 116 can be connected to the canopy 106. The front tower 116 can be connected to the canopy 106 with canopy connecting plates 118. A canopy 106 can be connected to the front exterior wall 108 in many ways. In one example, the canopy 106 can include an angled plate that connects the canopy 106 to the front exterior wall 108. In another example, the canopy 106 can be flatly connected to the front exterior wall 108.

(11) In one embodiment, the longitudinal plates 110 can include cutouts 124 to reduce the weight of the front tower 116. The cutouts 124 do not reduce the structural integrity of the front towers 116.

(12) Referring to FIG. 3, the front exterior wall 108 of the truck body 102 is depicted straight on with a vertical axis “X.” In one embodiment, the front towers 116 are offset from the vertical axis “X.” The offset can be in a range of about 14 degrees to about 16 degrees from the vertical axis “X.” In one embodiment the offset can be about 15 degrees from the vertical axis “X.”

(13) In another embodiment, front towers 116 are disclosed that can be attached to the front exterior wall 108 of the truck body 102. The front towers 116 can include two or more longitudinal plates 110 configured to span a front exterior wall 108 of a mining vehicle body, at least one gusset plate 112 transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates 110, and a landing plate 114 transverse and connected to the longitudinal plates 110. The landing plates 114 are configured to transfer load stress from a truck body 102 to a frame 104 of the mining vehicle 100.

(14) The front towers 116 can be made from metal, such as structural steel, or any other structurally sufficient material.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

(15) The disclosed front towers 116 may be used in any dump truck application where component longevity and reliability are desired. The disclosed front towers 116 may have improved longevity due to the distribution of the load stress from the truck body 102 and canopy 106 to the frame 104. In addition, the front towers 116 weigh less than traditional front towers 116, thereby the disclosed front towers 116 may increase the longevity of the truck body 102.

(16) It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that carious modification and variations can be made to the disclosed mining truck and front towers. Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosed mining truck and front towers. It is intended that the specification and example be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.