TRENCH CUTTER DRIVE WITH DECOUPLED INNER WHEEL/INTEGRATED BEARING

Abstract

The invention relates to a drive device for a construction machine, in particular for a trench cutter, comprising a connection support and a wheel support, which is rotatably supported on the connection support via at least one rolling bearing and which can be rotationally driven relative to the connection support by a drive motor via at least one gear stage, wherein the gear wheel of the gear stage, said wheel being arranged within the connection support and meshing or being in rolling engagement with at least one other gear wheel, is movably and/or tiltably supported in the radial direction relative to the connection support by a flexible and/or movable bearing element so as to be rotationally fixed to the connection support and/or to a bearing shield rigidly connected thereto.

Claims

1. A drive device for a construction machine comprising a trench cutter, wherein the device comprises: a connection support; a wheel support rotatably supported on the connection support via at least one rolling bearing, and wherein the wheel support is configured to be rotationally driven relative to the connection support by a drive motor via at least one gear stage comprising a first gear wheel; wherein the first gear wheel is arranged within the connection support and is meshed or in rolling engagement with at least a second gear wheel, wherein the first gear wheel is movably and/or tiltably supported in the radial direction relative to the connection support by a flexible and/or movable bearing element so as to be rotationally fixed to the connection support and/or to a bearing shield rigidly connected thereto.

2. The drive device of claim 1, wherein a gap is between an outer periphery of the first gear wheel and an inner periphery of the connection support.

3. The drive device of claim 2, wherein the gap extends over more than 75% of the axial length of the first gear wheel.

4. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the first gear wheel is held at one end face section by the bearing element and is configured to project freely towards the opposite end face section.

5. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the bearing element is rigidly fixed to the connection support and/or the bearing shield, wherein the bearing element and/or a connecting portion between the bearing element and the first gear wheel is configured to be flexible and/or elastic.

6. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the bearing element is integrally formed in a single piece, material-homogeneously on the first gear wheel.

7. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the bearing element forms a bearing flange projecting radially from the body of the first gear wheel, which bearing flange abuts with an end face and/or circumferential side against an opposing surface on the connection support and/or on the bearing shield and is attached thereto.

8. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the first gear wheel is supported only at its inner end portion facing the bearing shield and/or is fixed by the bearing element.

9. The drive device of claim 1, wherein said first gear wheel is formed as a ring gear and is in mesh with planetary gears of a planetary gear stage.

10. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the ring gear is in mesh with the planet gears of a plurality of planetary gear stages connected in series.

11. The drive device of claim 9, wherein the wheel support is fixedly connected to a planet carrier of the planetary gear stage, wherein the planet carrier is formed by a bottom of the pot-shaped wheel support.

12. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the wheel support is formed in two or more parts and comprises a wheel support part connected to the gear stage and a wheel support part rotatably supported on the connection support by the at least one rolling bearing, wherein the two wheel support parts are connected to one another in a rotationally fixed manner.

13. The drive device of claim 1, wherein the at least one rolling bearing comprises at least one raceway integrated in the wheel support or in the connection support.

14. The drive device of claim 13, wherein the inner and outer raceways of the at least one rolling bearing are integrated in said wheel and connection supports, and are formed by the surfaces of said wheel and connection supports.

15. The drive device of claim 14, wherein the wheel support has a surface hardening in the region of the raceway integrated therein and/or the connection support has a raceway coating in the region of the two integrated raceways.

16. The drive device of claim 15, wherein the wheel support is rotatably mounted on the connection support by two rolling bearings, where the rolling bearings have obliquely set raceways with main wear directions inclined at an acute angle to the radial direction in an X or O arrangement.

17. The drive device of claim 16, wherein the obliquely set rolling bearings are obliquely set such that a center width on the wheel support is smaller than a center width on the connection support.

18. The drive device according to foregoing claim 17, wherein the at least one rolling bearing comprises multiple roller bearings, and wherein all the rolling bearings are arranged displaced with respect to an axial center of the connection support towards a front end portion of the connection support.

19. The drive device of claim 18, wherein the multiple rolling bearings are arranged displaced towards an outer end portion of the connection support facing away from the bearing shield.

20. The drive device of claim 19, wherein the rolling elements of the at least one rolling bearing are configured as rollers and/or as cones and/or as balls.

21. A trench cutter having a drive device configured according to claim 1 for driving at least one cutter wheel.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The invention will be explained in more detail in the following with respect to preferred embodiments and to associated drawings. The drawings show:

[0046] FIG. 1: illustrates a schematic, perspective view of a trench cutter according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

[0047] FIG. 2: illustrates a perspective, partially sectional view of a cutting wheel, the wheel support supporting the cutting wheel and the connection support supporting the wheel support, the partial sectional view showing said components in the assembled state,

[0048] FIG. 3: illustrates a perspective, partially cutaway view of the cutting wheel, the wheel support and the connection support, the cutting wheel and the wheel support being shown in the disassembled state,

[0049] FIG. 4: illustrates a perspective view of the drive unit of the trench cutter from FIG. 1, showing the two wheel supports each mounted on connection supports, the bearing shield supporting them and the drive motor at an upper end section of the bearing shield,

[0050] FIG. 5: illustrates a sectional view through the drive unit of FIG. 4, showing the gear stages accommodated in the connection supports and the internal or hollow toothed gears of the gear stages fixed flexibly to the respective connection support,

[0051] FIG. 6: illustrates a sectional enlarged view of the arrangement and resilient mounting of said hollow toothed gear of a gear stage inside the connection support,

[0052] FIG. 7: illustrates a sectional view through the drive unit of FIG. 4 in a representation similar to FIG. 5, with the gear stages inside the connection supports omitted and the roller bearings for rotatably supporting the wheel supports on the connection supports shown,

[0053] FIG. 8: illustrates an enlarged sectional view through the rows of rolling bearings for the rotatable mounting of a wheel support according to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, according to which the raceways of the rolling elements designed as rollers are integrated in the wheel support and in the connection support, and

[0054] FIG. 9. a sectional cross-sectional view of the rolling bearing rows similar to FIG. 8, wherein the rolling elements in this embodiment are designed as a ball.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] As shown in FIG. 1, as an example of a foundation mining machine, a trench cutter 1 may have an elongated, upright cutter frame 2, which may be in the form of a beam and/or may comprise two laterally arranged longitudinal guide profiles. At a lower end portion, the cutter frame 2 may have at least two cutting wheels 3 which are arranged side by side and may be rotationally drivable about respective lying axes of rotation, wherein the axes of rotation of the cutting wheels 3 may extend parallel to each other, in particular perpendicular to the flat side of the cutter frame 2.

[0056] In this respect, the two cutting wheels 3 can be driven in opposite directions to each other. A cutter drive 4 may be arranged at a lower end portion of the cutter frame 2 above the cutting wheels 3 and may comprise, for example, one or more hydraulic motors capable of driving said cutting wheels 3 via one or more gear stages.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 1, the cutter frame 2 with the cutting wheels 3 can be raised and lowered by, or suspended from, a basic machine 5. Said basic machine 5 rests on the ground in which the respective trench is to be cut, and may advantageously be configured to be movable. In particular, the basic machine 5 may be a cable excavator having a chassis, for example a tracked chassis 6, wherein the cutter frame 2 may be raised and lowered by an boom 7 of the basic machine 5.

[0058] As FIGS. 2 to 5 show, each cutting wheel 3 is attached to a cutter hub 8, which is rotatably mounted on the cutter frame 2 and can be driven by the cutter drive 4. The cutter hub 8 can be formed by the output element of the cutter drive 4 or an interposed gear stage. In particular, said gear stage can be configured as a planetary gear, whereby the cutter hub 8 can, for example, be formed by a planet carrier of the planetary gear.

[0059] Said cutter hub 8 comprises a wheel support 9, for example of pot-shaped design, which is rotatably mounted on a connection support 20 and has an end face 10 against which the respective cutting wheel 3 can be clamped.

[0060] The cutting wheel 3 can be constructed in the manner of a rim and, independently of this, have a peripheral wall 11, on the outside of which one or more rows of cutting tools 12 can be arranged, for example in the form of cutter chisels. Said peripheral wall 11 is rigidly connected to a mounting flange 13, which may be in the form of a disk or ring and independently has a face 14 that can be placed against the face 10 of the cutter hub 8. Said mounting flange 13 may extend approximately in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation and have a flat face 14 facing the cutter hub 8.

[0061] Advantageously, said mounting flange 13 is detachably attached to the rest of the body of the cutter wheel 3 so that it can be replaced when worn. For example, the mounting flange 13 may be attached to the body of the cutting wheel 3 by means of a plurality of screws 15.

[0062] As FIG. 3 shows, the face sides 10 and 14 of the cutter hub 8 and the cutter wheel 3, which can be placed against each other, are each provided with a face toothing 16, 17, which are configured and arranged to fit each other positively, so that the two face toothings 16 and 17 come into mesh with each other when the face sides 10 and 14 of the cutter hub 8 and the cutter wheel 3 are placed against each other. In this respect the face toothings 16 and 17 are configured in such a way that they engage with each other by simply sliding the cutting wheel 3 and cutter hub 8 axially onto each other parallel to the axis of rotation. If the two face toothings 16 and 17 are positioned on top of each other so that they mesh, as shown in FIG. 5, the cutting wheel 3 is positively and rotationally fixed to the cutting wheel 8.

[0063] The cutting wheel 3 can thereby be clamped axially against the cutter hub 8 by axial clamping means, which can advantageously comprise several screw bolts, in order to secure the cutting wheel 3 on the cutter hub 8 and to hold the face toothings 16 and 17 in positive engagement. As FIG. 3 shows, a plurality of screw bolts can be arranged distributed in the circumferential direction, in particular in the area of the face toothings 16 and 17, in order to fix the face toothings 16 and 17 uniformly in the engaged position.

[0064] As FIG. 3 shows, the face toothings 16 and 17 can each have a plurality—in the version shown, 6-groups of teeth, which can be spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction and evenly distributed, or, if necessary, unevenly distributed. In particular, the tooth groups can be arranged on a common pitch circle and separated from each other by toothless surfaces.

[0065] As FIG. 3 shows, each tooth group can have a plurality of teeth, each of which can have straight tooth faces, wherein all tooth faces of a tooth group can be arranged parallel to each other, while the tooth groups can be twisted relative to each other or aligned in different directions. In particular, a respective central tooth of a respective tooth group can extend in the radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation and be flanked on the right and left in each case by teeth arranged parallel thereto.

[0066] As FIG. 4 shows, two wheel supports 9 may be arranged at oppositely disposed sides of a bearing shield 19, which bearing shield 19 may comprise a substantially plate-shaped upright shield section, at the lower end portion of which the wheel supports 9 are rotatably mounted. A drive motor 18, for example in the form of a hydraulic motor, may be arranged at the upper end of the bearing shield 19 to drive the wheel supports 9 in rotation, as will be explained.

[0067] As FIG. 5 shows, connection supports 20 are rigidly attached to opposite sides of the bearing shields 19 and may be substantially sleeve-shaped or cylindrical. Said wheel supports 9, which may be pot-shaped, can be slipped over the said connection supports 20, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0068] Said wheel support 9 is thereby rotatably and axially fixedly supported on the connection support 20 by two rolling bearings 21, 22, as will be explained in more detail.

[0069] In the interior space bounded by the connection support 20 and the wheel support 9, which is bounded at the end face on the one hand by the bearing shield 19 and on the other hand by the base of the pot-shaped wheel support, a gear mechanism 24 is arranged via which the wheel support 9 is driven in rotation by the drive motor 18. In this case, the transmission 24 is driven on the input side by a drive shaft which can extend through the bearing shield 19 and connects the drive motor 18 to the gear mechanism 24.

[0070] Said gear mechanism 24 may be configured in particular as a planetary gear, which, as the figure shows, may have multiple stages. In this case, the drive motor 18 can drive a sun gear of the first planetary stage via said drive shaft. The planetary gears meshing with said sun gear, which are rotatably mounted on a planet carrier, may mesh with an internal gear 25, which is fixed to the connection support 20 and/or the bearing plate 19 for rotation, but is radially and tiltably flexibly mounted, as will be explained.

[0071] Said ring gear 25 may also simultaneously form the ring gear of the second planetary stage and mesh with its planetary gears. The planetary gear carrier of the second planetary stage may be connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the wheel support 9, for example rigidly connected to the bottom of the pot-shaped wheel support 9, cf. FIG. 5.

[0072] In order to decouple the gear 24, in particular its ring gear 25, from impact loads and deformations of the connection support 20, although said ring gear 25 is rotationally fixed to the connection support 20, a flexible and/or elastic bearing element 26 is provided which holds said ring gear 25 rotationally fixed to the connection support 20 or, if necessary, can also hold it to the bearing shield 19, but allows radial compensating movements and/or tilting movements and/or deformations of the connection support 20 without transmitting them to the ring gear 25.

[0073] As FIG. 6 shows, the bearing element 26 can be firmly connected to the ring gear 25 at a front end section of the ring gear 25, for example integrally formed thereon in one piece, homogeneous in terms of material.

[0074] Independently thereof, the bearing element 26 can form a radially projecting bearing flange which can abut against and/or be attached to opposing surfaces on the end face and/or circumferentially on the connection support 20 and/or can be attached to matching opposing surfaces on the bearing shield 19.

[0075] As FIG. 6 shows, the flange-like bearing element 26 can be seated on a shoulder of the connection support 20 and can be fastened thereto in a rotationally fixed manner or rigidly fastened thereto, for example, using clamping means which can be in the form of screws. The connection between the bearing element 26 and the connection support 20 may itself be rigid if the bearing element 26 is inherently flexible and/or elastic and/or the connection of the bearing element 26 to the ring gear 25 is flexible and/or elastic. Such sufficient flexibility and/or elasticity can be achieved, for example, by the bearing element 26 and/or the connecting portion to the ring gear 25 being sufficiently thin and/or the material of the bearing element 26 being set sufficiently soft.

[0076] As FIG. 6 shows, a gap 27 may be provided between the outer periphery of the ring gear 25 and the inner periphery of the connection support 20 to allow relative radial movements and/or tilting movements between the ring gear 25 and the connection support 20. The connection support 20 can also deform, for example ovalize under external loads, without this being transmitted to the ring gear 25, since such deformations can be compensated for by the gap 27.

[0077] Advantageously, the gap 27 may extend substantially along the entire axial length of the ring gear 25 and/or along the entire radial overlap—that is, in the region in which the ring gear 25 and the connection support 20 overlap in the radial viewing direction—for example, over more than 75% or more than 90% of said axial length.

[0078] The gap dimension of the gap 27 can be dimensioned differently, for example in the range of a few millimeters or tenths of a millimeter.

[0079] Advantageously, the ring gear 25 can be supported at only one axial end section and/or attached to the connection support 20 or the bearing shield 19 and project freely toward the opposite end face, similar to what is known from cantilever suspensions. A bearing provided on one end portion only allows the ring gear 25 to make radial and/or tilting compensating movements relative to the connection support.

[0080] Advantageously, an inner end portion of the ring gear 25 may be supported by the bearing member 26, the inner end portion facing the bearing shield 19. This shortens relevant lever arms and reduces the impact of loads acting from the outside. In particular, in this way shock loads introduced by the pot-shaped wheel supports 9 via the planet carrier connected to them can also be well cushioned by the ring gear 25 or compensated for by the compensating movements described.

[0081] According to a further aspect, in order to gain installation space when the outer dimensions of the wheel support 9 are limited and to enlarge said inner space 23 within the connection support 20 as much as possible, it may be provided that the rolling bearings 21 and 22 by means of which the wheel supports 9 are rotatably mounted on the connection supports 20 are integrated into the respective wheel support 9 and/or the respective connection support 20. In particular, the bearing rings of conventional rolling bearings can be dispensed with and the rolling elements 28 can run on raceways 29 and 30 that are integrated into the wheel support 9 and the connection support 20. If necessary, it can also be helpful if only one of the raceways is integrated in the wheel support 9 or in the connection support 20. However, in order to create as much installation space as possible, both raceways 29 and 30, i.e. the inner and outer raceway of a rolling bearing row, can advantageously be integrated into the wheel support 9 and the connection support 20, cf. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.

[0082] Said raceways 29 and 30 are thereby at least partially formed by the surface of the wheel support 9 or the connection support 20, where a specially hardened raceway coating may be applied and/or a special raceway element such as a raceway wire may be incorporated. Alternatively or additionally, the surface of the wheel support 9 and/or the connection support 20 forming said raceway 29 or 30 may be surface-hardened, for example nitride-hardened or otherwise subjected to a hardening process.

[0083] As FIG. 8 shows, the rolling elements 28 can be rollers, for example cylindrical rollers. Alternatively, ball bearings can also be provided, the groove-shaped raceways of which can be integrated in the wheel and connection supports 9 and 20, respectively, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0084] Advantageously, the raceways 29 and 30 can be set at an angle in order to be able to transmit not only radial bearing forces but also axial bearing forces.

[0085] In particular, two X-shaped or O-shaped inclined bearing rows can be provided, whose main direction of wear is inclined at an acute angle to the radial direction. For example, an opposing inclination of the main removal direction can be provided, which reduces the support width on the outside of wheel support 9 and widens it on the inside of connection support 20, cf. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.

[0086] As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the rolling elements 28 may be guided by rolling element cages 31 in the circumferential direction and/or transversely thereto.

[0087] The wheel support 9 can be of two-part or multi-part design, wherein a parting plane 32 can be arranged adjacent to the rolling bearings 21 and 22, cf. FIGS. 7 to 9. Advantageously, the parting plane 32 can be arranged on an outer side of the two rolling bearings 21 and 22, so that both rolling bearings 21 and 22 or their raceways 29 are arranged on an integrally formed section of the wheel support 9, cf. FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. If necessary, the parting plane 32 could also be provided on an inner side of the two rolling bearings 21 and 22. Advantageously, however, the parting plane 32 is on the outside, i.e. on the side of the two rolling bearings 21 and 22 facing away from the bearing shield 19, so that the outer part of the wheel support 9 can be formed by the planetary gear carrier of the gear 24, or said planetary gear carrier and the wheel support part formed by it can be removed to the outside. This greatly facilitates the assembly of the gear mechanism.

[0088] As FIG. 7 shows, the two rolling bearings 21 and 22 may be eccentrically displaced out of an axial center of the connection support 20 and/or arranged closer to one end portion of the connection support 20 than to the opposite other axial end portion. In particular, the rolling bearings 21 and 22 can be arranged displaced towards an outer end section of the connection support 20 facing away from the bearing shield 19, as shown in FIG. 7.