Work machine for dragline bucket operation

Abstract

A work machine, in particular a cable-operated excavator, for dragline bucket operation, a dragline bucket taken up by a hoist rope, wherein the attachment can be retracted by at least one dragline for carrying out the dragging movement and a dragline guide for guiding the dragline is arranged at the work machine, wherein the dragline guide is designed as movable, in particular as linearly movable.

Claims

1. A work machine for dragline bucket operation, comprising a dragline bucket taken up by a hoist rope, wherein the bucket is retractable by at least one dragline for carrying out a dragging movement and a dragline guide comprising a plurality of pulleys and roller bodies for guiding the dragline is arranged at the work machine, wherein the dragline guide is linearly movable in a horizontal direction, transverse to a dragline pulling direction, wherein an electronic controller is provided for controlling one or more drive elements, with the electronic controller taking account of a deflection angle of the dragline on a dragline winch; and wherein a roller head of the dragline guide comprising the plurality of pulleys and roller bodies is pivotable about a pivot angle of 360 relative to a tubular receiver.

2. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the work machine is a cable-operated excavator, and wherein the dragline guide is only linearly movable in the horizontal direction.

3. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dragline is retracted by at least one dragline winch having Lebus grooving.

4. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more drive elements are provided for generating the linear movement of the dragline guide in the horizontal direction.

5. The work machine in accordance with claim 4, wherein the one or more drive elements comprise a hydraulic cylinder.

6. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dragline guide is automatically moved via the electronic controller.

7. The work machine in accordance with claim 5, wherein the electronic controller is configured such that an oblique pull of the dragline on the dragline winch is minimized by the control of the one or more drive elements.

8. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dragline guide comprises at least one upper rope pulley and at least one lower rope pulley each having a horizontal axis of rotation.

9. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least two oppositely disposed rollers are supported rotatably at a front rope inlet region of the dragline guide with a vertical axis of rotation, the vertical axis of rotation perpendicular to the horizontal direction.

10. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dragline guide is releasably connectable to the work machine.

11. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the linear movement of the dragline guide in the horizontal direction is perpendicular to the dragline pulling direction.

12. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the dragline guide is fastened to a pivotal connection piece of a superstructure of the work machine, wherein the linear movement of the dragline guide in the horizontal direction is relative to a central axis of the pivotal connection piece, and wherein a base plate of the dragline guide is displaceable in the horizontal direction with respect to the pivotal connection piece by means of guide rails.

13. The work machine in accordance with claim 1, wherein the linear movement of the dragline guide in the horizontal direction is transverse to a guide direction of the dragline guide.

14. A method for a work machine carrying out dragline bucket operation, the work machine including a dragline bucket taken up by a hoist rope, comprising: retracting the bucket by a dragline for carrying out a dragging movement; guiding the dragline via a dragline guide, wherein the dragline guide comprises a roller head comprising pulleys, rollers, and side plates; and moving the dragline guide linearly in a horizontal direction that is transverse to a dragline pulling direction, where movement of the dragline guide is controlled by an electronic controller that takes into account an angle of the dragline with respect to a dragline winch; wherein the electronic controller controls hydraulically releasable adjustment cylinders for adjustment of the dragline guide; and wherein the hydraulically releasable adjustment cylinders are connected to a pivotal connection plate and a base plate for horizontal displacement of the dragline guide relative to the pivotal connection plate.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the work machine is a cable-operated excavator, wherein the dragline guide is only linearly movable in the horizontal direction, and wherein the dragline is retracted by at least one dragline winch having Lebus grooving.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the linear movement of the dragline guide is automated, and where the linear movement of the dragline guide is generated via a drive element controlled by the electronic controller.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising controlling the drive element in response to the angle of the dragline with respect to the dragline winch.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising reducing, via the electronic controller, an oblique pull of the dragline on the dragline winch by adjusting the drive element.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the linear movement of the dragline guide in the horizontal direction is perpendicular to the dragline pulling direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 shows a side view of the cable-operated excavator in accordance with the present disclosure during dragline bucket operation.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a sectional representation through the dragline guide in accordance with the present disclosure.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a perspective detailed view of the dragline guide in accordance with the present disclosure.

(4) FIG. 4 shows two detailed views of the drive mechanism of the dragline guide in accordance with the present disclosure.

(5) FIG. 5 shows a schematic representation of a dragline guide. FIGS. 1-4 are drawn to scale, although other relative dimensions may be used, if desired.

(6) FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating a method for operation of a work machine carrying out dragline bucket operation in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) FIG. 1 shows a side view of the cable-operated excavator in accordance with the present disclosure for dragline bucket operation. The present disclosure will be explained in the following with reference to a cable-operated excavator. The dragline guide used can, however, be used generally as a piece of working equipment for any work machine as long as the required conditions of the work machine, for example a hoist rope, are present.

(8) The cable-operated excavator 10 shown is configured as a crawler excavator. The hoist rope 20 is guided, starting from the superstructure of the crawler excavator 10, via the lattice mast boom and the roller head arranged at the tip, up to the dragline bucket 30. The dragline bucket 30 can be raised via the hoist rope 20 and can be cast with a distance from the superstructure which is as large as possible. The actuation of the hoist rope 20 takes place by means of the hoist rope winch 21.

(9) The dragline bucket 30 is moreover connected to the dragline 40 of the cable-operated excavator 10, said dragline being able to be wound up and unwound by a dragline winch 41 arranged at the superstructure. The retraction movement of the dragline 40 produces a dragging movement of the dragline bucket 30. The dragline bucket 30 shown is shaped in the form of a trough and drags along its contact surface with the bucket opening to the front, over the earth's surface, when the dragline 40 is retracted so that the inner space of the bucket 30 is filled with the earth material to be taken up.

(10) A dragline guide 50 by which the dragline 40 is guided, starting from the bucket 30, up to the dragline winch 41, is arranged at the pivotal connection piece 60 of the excavator superstructure.

(11) A sectional view of the dragline guide 50 in accordance with the present disclosure along a vertical sectional plane can be seen from FIG. 2. The two rope guide pulleys 52 can be recognized which are arranged above one another and which form a gap in the adjacent region through which the dragline 40 is guided. The axes of rotation of the two rope pulleys 52 are arranged in parallel with one another and both lie in the horizontal plane. The direction of rotation of the rope pulleys is in the opposite direction.

(12) Two oppositely disposed rollers 53 are provided at the inlet of the dragline guide and bound the lateral deflection angle of the dragline 40 in the horizontal plane. The rollers 53 have vertical axes of rotation which are arranged in parallel with one another, with only one of the two rollers 53 being able to be recognized in FIG. 2 due to the sectional representation.

(13) The total dragline guide is fastened to the pivotal connection piece 60 of the superstructure. The dragline winch 41 onto which the dragline 40 is wound up can be recognized at the right Figure margin. The dragline winch 41 has a so-called Lebus grooving which allows a multiple winding of the dragline 40 in dragline operation.

(14) The arrangement of the dragline guide 50, which is movable or adjustable with respect to the cable-operated excavator or to the pivotal connection piece 60, can be explained with reference to the perspective representation of FIG. 3. The rope pulleys 52 of the dragline guide 50 are received between the two side plates 54 at whose frontmost point a respective one of the above-described rollers 53 is rotatably clamped.

(15) Both side plates 54 are designed as tapered on the side facing the pivotal connection piece 60 to be taken up by the tubular receiver 56 of the base plate 55. The base plate 55 of the dragline guide 50 is moreover supported relatively displaceable to the pivotal connection plate 57 via two guide rails 58 of the pivotal connection plate. The base plate 55 can be displaced in the horizontal direction with respect to the pivotal connection piece 60 by means of the guide rails 58. The pivotal connection plate 57 is releasably bolted to the pivotal connection piece via the bolt points 61 so that, on regular cable-operated excavator operation, the dragline guide 50 could be removed or an existing cable-operated excavator could be simply retrofitted with a suitable pivotal connection piece.

(16) The displacement is effected by two hydraulically releasable adjustment cylinders 80 which are connected to the pivotal connection plate 57 at the cylinder side and to the base plate at the piston side. Both cylinders 80 are in parallel with one respective guide rail 58. In the center position of the piston, the guide axis of the dragline guide 50 is flush with the central axis of the pivotal connection piece 60. The dragline guide 50 can be shifted to the right or to the left in the horizontal direction with respect to the central axis of the pivotal connection piece 60 by a moving out or moving in movement.

(17) In addition, the dragline guide 50 can be pivoted with respect to the cable-operated excavator 10 or the tubular receiver 56. The roller head of the dragline guide 50 comprising side plates 54, pulleys 52 and rollers 53 can be pivoted about a pivot angle of 360, for example.

(18) A further detailed view of the base plate 55 and of the pivotal connection plate 57 can be seen from the two representations of FIG. 4. Both representations show the combination of base plate and pivotal connection plate 55, 57 without the received side plates 54, including the pulley arrangement 52, 53 of the dragline guide 50. The two hydraulic adjustment cylinders 80 can be recognized which are inwardly fastened next to the guide rails 58 and are bolted to the base plate 55 at the piston side and to the pivotal connection plate 57 at the cylinder side.

(19) The actuation of the hydraulic adjustment cylinders 80 takes place by the central control unit of the cable-operated excavator. The shift movement of the dragline guide 50 is in this respect controlled or regulated such that a minimal deflection angle of the wound up dragline is maintained with respect to the dragline winch 41. The wear of the dragline 40 and of the dragline winch 41 can thereby be reduced. In addition, the movable design of the dragline guide 50 allows the use of a dragline winch 41 having Lebus grooving, whereby a multilayer winding is also possible for the dragline winch 41.

(20) A control behavior for controlling the dragline guide 50 can be described with reference to the schematic representation in FIG. 5. The maximum rope angle of the dragline 40 on the dragline winch 41 can be ensured by the correct positioning of the adjustment device 100 of the dragline guide 50. For this purpose, a direction-dependent movement of the dragline winch 41 can be recognized via a measuring device 110 on the dragline winch 41. A control computer 120 can now calculate the current rope departure position from the dragline winch 41 with the aid of the known geometrical data of the dragline winch 41. The adjustment device 100 of the dragline guide 50 can thus be set to the correct position. The adjustment device 100 is positioned such that the deflection angle of the dragline 40 on the dragline winch 41 amounts to zero degrees where possible or such that the maximum permitted deflection angle is not exceeded in any case. The current position of the adjustment device 100 can be measured back via a further measuring device 130 and can optionally be corrected.

(21) The winch movement has to be detected so that the control computer 120 can calculate the current rope departure position. The speed of the dragline winch 41 and the direction of rotation of the dragline winch 41 are detected by the measuring device. An incremental encoder, not shown in any more detail here, or a speed of rotation measurement via proximity switches can be used as the measuring device, for example.

(22) A path measurement on the adjustment device 100 is used for a back measurement of the current position of the adjustment device 100. Said adjustment device delivers the current position to the control computer. An integrated cylinder path measurement can, for example, be used on an adjustment via a cylinder 80.

(23) The electronic controller in combination with the above described sensors and actuator elements carries the method 600 for a work machine carrying out dragline bucket operation illustrated in FIG. 6. The work machine may be a cable operated excavator including a linearly moveable dragline guide and where the dragline guide is moveable transversely to a dragline pulling direction. The work machine may also include at least one dragline winch having Lebus grooving as described above.

(24) At 602, method 600 may include retracting the bucket by a dragline for carrying out dragging movement. At 604, method 600 may include guiding the dragline via a dragline guide. At 606, method 600 may include moving the dragline linearly such that the deflection angle of the dragline 40 on the dragline winch 41 amounts to zero degrees where possible or such that the maximum permitted deflection angle is not exceeded in any case.

(25) The dragline guide in accordance with the present disclosure can be configured substantially shorter. Dragline winches 41 having a special grooving can also advantageously be used. The use of dragline winches 41 having a special grooving also allows the use of the dragline winch 41 with the dragline guide 50 at higher rope positions.

(26) Note that the example figures may illustrate relative sizing and position of components with respect to each other. Further, the figures may illustrate components directly coupled to each other without intervening components; however, alternative couplings may be used, if desired. Further, the figures may illustrate components adjacent, above, below, behind, etc. with respect to one another, although alternative configurations may be used, if desired.