Mobile crane comprising a ballast receiving device and method for ballasting a mobile crane

Abstract

The invention relates to a mobile crane having at least one ballast receiver that is vertically adjustable via one or more ballast cylinders and having a coupling for connecting the ballast cylinder or cylinders to the energy supply of the crane, wherein the energy supply can be releasably connected to the at least one ballast cylinder via at least one coupling part.

Claims

1. A mobile crane having at least one ballast receiver that is vertically adjustable via at least one ballast cylinder and said ballast receiver having a coupling for connecting the at least one ballast cylinder to an energy supply of the crane, wherein the energy supply is releasably connected to the at least one ballast cylinder via said coupling which comprises a first coupling part is vertically adjustable via at least one coupling drive to track a movement of at least one complementary second coupling part arranged at the ballast receiver.

2. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one ballast receiver comprises a base ballast plate releasably arranged at a crane slewing platform, with the base ballast plate having the at least one ballast cylinder for a vertical adjustment of the base ballast plate for installation at the crane slewing platform; and with said at least one second complementary coupling part being received by the base ballast plate or being inserted into the base ballast plate.

3. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein said at least one coupling drive for the first coupling part is a piston-in-cylinder unit and the first coupling part is received at a bottom cylinder side or at a free piston end.

4. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first coupling part and/or said at least one coupling drive is/are installed at a vehicle frame or an undercarriage, or is/are inserted into or supported in a cut-out of the vehicle frame/undercarriage.

5. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 4, wherein the first coupling part and/or said at least one coupling drive is/are installed, or inserted or supported in a region of a support cylinder installed at the vehicle frame/undercarriage.

6. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of the coupling part and the coupling drive is arranged at a superstructure.

7. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first coupling part is supported beside a vertical adjustment movable about a further axis, with travel movement taking place manually or by a suitable drive.

8. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first coupling part is arranged at an undercarriage and comprising an additional first coupling part arranged at a superstructure such that the at least one ballast cylinder is respectively connectable to one of the two first coupling parts or to both said first coupling parts.

9. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the coupling is a quick coupling system.

10. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 9, wherein the quick coupling system is a pneumatic or hydraulic quick coupling system.

11. A mobile crane in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one ballast receiver having a base ballast plate and/or a crane chassis has at least one cylinder for tightening ballast plates on latching, with the at least one cylinder being supplied with energy via the coupling.

12. A method of balancing a crane in accordance with claim 1, comprising the following steps: lifting the at least one ballast receiver or a base ballast plate onto a vehicle frame of the crane; establishing the energy supply of the at least one ballast cylinder via the coupling; wherein the at least one ballast cylinder is actuated and the first coupling part is simultaneously tracked by the at least one coupling drive on a relative movement of the second coupling part arranged at the at least one ballast receiver and/or at the at least one ballast cylinder; or said energy supply is first established on lifting of the at least one ballast receiver or the base ballast plate onto the vehicle frame; and said energy supply is then further established on connecting the at least one ballast receiver to a slewing platform, by actuating the at least one ballast cylinder.

13. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein at least one of a retraction of the at least one ballast cylinder, a release of the coupling, and a retraction of the first coupling part is provided in a subsequent method step.

14. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the ballast plate or the at least one ballast receiver is lifted by expanding the at least one ballast cylinder without a relative movement of the second coupling part and a tracking movement of the first coupling part only takes place on the retraction of the at least one ballast cylinder with an already performed installation of the at least one ballast receiver at the slewing platform.

15. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the at least one ballast cylinder is extended and installed at the slewing platform; and on subsequent retraction of the at least one ballast cylinder, the ballast plate or the at least one ballast receiver is raised with a simultaneous tracking of the first coupling part.

16. A control for a crane in accordance with claim 1 that provides an actuation of said at least one coupling drive synchronized with the movement of the at least one ballast cylinder and/or the at least one ballast receiver to have the first coupling part track a movement of the second coupling part.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further advantages and properties of the invention will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. There are shown:

(2) FIG. 1: a detailed view of the crane slewing platform of the mobile crane in accordance with the invention with an installed ballast receiver;

(3) FIG. 2: a detailed representation of the coupling drive;

(4) FIG. 3: a plan view of the slewing platform of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4: a detailed representation of the crane chassis of the mobile crane in accordance with the invention;

(6) FIG. 5: a chronological representation of the individual method steps of the method in accordance with the invention;

(7) FIG. 6: a chronological representation of the individual method steps of the method in accordance with the invention in accordance with an alternative embodiment variant;

(8) FIG. 7: a perspective view of a part of the superstructure with ballast receiver; and

(9) FIG. 8: a chronological representation of the individual method steps of the method in accordance with the invention in accordance with a further alternative embodiment variant;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) A side view of the crane slewing platform 20 with ballast of a mobile crane in accordance with the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The invention starts from a ballast receiver 10 releasably installable at the crane slewing platform 20 of a crane. This ballast receiver 10 comprises a base ballast plate 4 on which individual ballast plates 7 can be stacked in dependence on the required ballast weight. The base ballast plate 4 that is typically placed on the vehicle frame 5 autonomously or by means of an auxiliary crane 8 on the setup of the crane on the construction site should be raised so far via its own ballast cylinder 9 until it can ultimately be installed at the crane slewing platform 20 of the mobile crane. Two ballast cylinders 9 are typically provided.

(11) To provide the required hydraulic supply of the ballast cylinders 9, they must first be connected to the hydraulic supply 12 of the crane undercarriage 5. This should, where possible, take place by a quick coupling known per se that comprises, on the one hand, a crane-side coupling part 13 and a ballast-side coupling part 14. Reference is made by way of example to the detailed representation of FIG. 2. In this respect, a crane-side coupling part 13 is provided that has the corresponding connection parts 15, that engages into a complementary coupling part 14 let in the base ballast plate 4, and that thereby permits a fully automatic establishing of a hydraulic connection for the supply of the ballast cylinders. The ballast-side coupling part 14 is preferably arranged on the lower side of the base ballast plate 4.

(12) Since the base ballast plate 4 is raised from the vehicle frame 5 on the actuation of the ballast cylinders 9, it must be ensured that the crane-side coupling part 13 also tracks this travel movement. A coupling drive 6 is provided for this purpose that is configured as a piston-in-cylinder unit 6 in the embodiment shown. The cylinder is here installed at the vehicle frame 5; the crane-side coupling part 13 is received at the free rod end. The crane-side coupling part 13 can be moved upwardly in the vertical direction by an extension movement of the piston rod and can thereby track a movement of the base ballast plate 4 on an actuation of the ballast cylinders 9.

(13) A possible installation location of the coupling drive 6 can be seen from the representation in accordance with FIG. 4. The vehicle frame 5 typically has margin-side recesses for receiving lateral support pillars 21. The frame region of the rearmost or middle support pillar provides sufficient space for the reception of the coupling drive 6. The support of the cylinder 6 can permit a movement of the drive 6 in the direction of travel to have a certain play for the coupling hitching to implement different ballast radii.

(14) It can likewise be seen in FIG. 4 that one or more ballast centering pins 22, 22, 22 are provided on the surface of the vehicle frame 5 that are arranged offset from the axis of rotation of the slewing platform 20 in the direction of travel. These centering pins serve the exact positioning of the base ballast plate 4 on the vehicle frame, with at least one pin 22 projecting into the matching recess of the lower side of the base ballast plate with a correct location.

(15) Different pins 22, 22, 22 serve the positioning of the base ballast plate 4 in different installation positions of the slewing platform 20 with different ballast radii. For this purpose, the slewing platform 20 provides different suspension points for the base ballast plate 4, whereby it can be installed at a different distance from the slewing axis of the slewing platform (FIG. 3). Since the distance of the crane-side coupling part 13 from the axis of rotation of the slewing platform 20 is almost fixed, a plurality of complementary 14, 14 having different distances from the support point at the slewing platform 20 are therefore provided in or at the base ballast plate 4. Depending on the installation position, exactly one coupling part 14, 14 can be connected to the crane-side part 13.

(16) The individual method steps for the ballasting of the mobile crane will be explained in the following with reference to the different representations of FIG. 5. In a first step in accordance with FIG. 5a, the base ballast plate 4 is first placed on the vehicle frame 5 with the aid of a lifting means 8. The centering pin 22 that ensures a centered and exactly fitting placement of the base ballast plate 4 can be recognized here. The piston rod of the coupling drive 6 is completely retracted and consequently does not project beyond the upper edge of the vehicle frame.

(17) After the placement of the base ballast plate 4 (FIG. 5b), it can be provided with the required ballast plates that are stacked on one another (not shown) on the surface of the base ballast plate 4.

(18) In the next method step in accordance with FIG. 5c, the energy supply 12 of the ballast cylinders 9 is ensured in that the piston rod of the coupling drive 6 is extended so far until the crane-side coupling part 13 engages into the complementary counterpiece 14 of the coupling within the base ballast plate 4. After a successful establishing of the energy supply, the ballast cylinders 9 are actuated and the base ballast plate 4 is raised from the vehicle frame 5 (FIG. 5d).

(19) It is ensured by the crane control that the piston-in-cylinder unit of the coupling drive 6 is actuated synchronized with the ballasting movement of the ballast cylinders 9. In detail, the piston rod of the coupling drive 6 is extended and thus tracks the vertical adjustment of the base ballast plate 4. This takes place for so long until the ballast base plate 4 has been traveled so far upwardly until it can be installed on the slewing platform 20.

(20) After the positioning and installation of the base ballast plate 4 on the slewing platform 20, the ballast cylinders 9 can be retracted again. Subsequently, the energy supply can also be released in that the coupling drive 6 or the piston rod is retracted. The slewing movement of the slewing platform 20 is only hereby released. The control in particular provides a safety measure that only releases a slewing movement of the slewing platform 20 until the coupling drive 6 has been completely retracted.

(21) An alternative embodiment variant of the invention is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The energy supply here takes place from the superstructure, i.e. from the crane slewing platform 20. The vehicle frame 5 has the ballast centering pins 22. A load suspension means places the base ballast plate 4 on the ballast centering pins 22. This can take place via an auxiliary crane 8 or via the crane itself. The ballast receiver 10 can also comprise the base ballast plate 4, the ballast plates 7, and the ballast cylinders in this embodiment.

(22) FIG. 6c shows how the superstructure (crane slewing platform 20) is inwardly pivoted and how the overlap between the connection means 200 at the superstructure side and the connection means 201 at the ballast receiver 10 is established. The ballast receiver 10 does not yet have any connection to an energy supply and is thus still passive.

(23) The energetic and technical control connection takes place by the extension of the coupling element 22 at the superstructure side via the tracking 205 in the direction of the coupling element 204 at the ballast receiver 10. The connection means 210 lie at the connection means at the superstructure side by retracting the ballast cylinders 9 and on a further retraction, lifts the ballast receiver 10 from the vehicle frame 5 until the ballast receiver 10 is pressed onto the crane slewing platform 20. Where required, a mechanical connection can now be established.

(24) The previously described embodiment is shown in a simplified perspective view in FIG. 7.

(25) A further alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 8. The energy supply takes place alternately here and without a tracking from the vehicle frame of the undercarriage and from the crane slewing platform. The ballast receiver 10 is raised onto the vehicle frame here. A hydraulic connection is in this respect established from the vehicle frame 5 to the ballast receiver 10 via a quick coupling 220.

(26) As also in the previously described solution, the inward slewing of the crane slewing platform 20 subsequently takes place; there is still no connection (either mechanical or hydraulic) between the crane slewing platform 20 and the ballast receiver 10.

(27) The ballast cylinders subsequently retract and in so doing establish the mechanical connection between the crane slewing platform 20 and the ballast receiver 10. The hydraulic and electric connection between the crane slewing platform 20 and the ballast receiver 10 is here established via further quick couplings 202, 204. The ballast receiver 10 is supplied in this position both from the vehicle frame 5 and from the crane slewing platform (cf. FIG. 8d).

(28) On a further retraction of the ballast cylinders 9, the ballast receiver 10 releases from the vehicle frame 5 and the quick coupling 220 is released from the counter-connection element at the ballast receiver 10. The quick couplings are self-closing couplings if no counter-connection element is coupled.