BLADE LEVELLING APPARATUS AND MOUNTING SYSTEM

Abstract

The present invention is directed to levelling apparatus, typically as used on tractors, excavators and skid-steer vehicles, and references the levelling assembly and mounting options including directly to the existing blade of vehicles as well as other mounting arrangements. Preferred embodiments of a levelling apparatus include a blade body portion and body mounting portion connected by an arrangement of fixed and adjustable linkages, preferably hydraulic, to allow movement of the blade body portion (relative to the body mounting portion) in substantially an up and down direction, as well as rotational movement about an axis perpendicular to the general plane of an attached blade.

Claims

1-24. (canceled)

25. A blade levelling assembly comprising a body mounting portion and a blade body portion; said two body portions being connected by body connecting linkages which allow a substantially up and down vertical movement of the blade body portion, relative to the body mounting portion, and in which the inclination of a blade associated with the blade body portion remains substantially the same regardless of its vertical position; the body connecting linkages also allowing a rotational movement of the blade body portion, relative to the body attachment portion, about a rotational axis substantially perpendicular to the general plane of said blade; said body connecting linkages including linear actuators, there being at least one being present either side of the middle of the blade levelling assembly when viewed in plan; said body connecting linkages also including at least one pivot-ended stabilising linkage either side of the middle of the levelling assembly when viewed in plan; and wherein the body connecting linkages assist in maintaining relative movement of the body portions to within the rotational and vertical movements as defined above.

26. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which the up and down vertical movement of the blade body portion, relative to the body mounting portion, is substantially a translational movement within a vertical translational plane.

27. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which there are provided a set of two body connecting linkages, comprising linear actuators, either side of the middle of the blade levelling assembly when viewed in plan.

28. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 27 in which the connection point of the linear actuators of each set to the body mounting portion are vertically displaced relative to each other when the blade levelling assembly is viewed from the side.

29. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 27 in which the connection point of the linear actuators of each set to the blade mounting portion are vertically displaced relative to each other when the blade levelling assembly is viewed from the side.

30. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which a pivot-ended stabilising linkage extends diagonally between the two body portions when the blade levelling assembly is viewed in plan.

31. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 30 in which pivot-ended stabilising linkages extending either side of the middle of the blade levelling assembly when viewed in plan, connect to the blade body portion at a point near its middle when viewed in plan.

32. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 wherein a pivot-ended stabilising linkage includes a ball joint at least one end.

33. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which the ball joint includes a spherical resilient bush.

34. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which, when viewed in plan, there is at least one pivot-ended stabilising linkage extending substantially perpendicular to the aforesaid permitted plane of relative movement of the blade portion, and located at a position outwardly of the middle of the blade levelling assembly when viewed in plan.

35. A blade levelling assembly as claimed claim 25 in which there is a substantially symmetrical distribution of pivot-ended stabilising linkages either side of the middle of the levelling assembly, when viewed in plan.

36. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which a said linear actuator is hydraulically operated.

37. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which the blade body portion includes at least one stabilising wheel.

38. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 37 in which a said stabilising wheel is alternately between operational and non-operational configurations.

39. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 in which the body mounting portion is attachable to a vehicle.

40. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 39 in which the body mounting portion attaches to an existing blade mounted on said vehicle.

41. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 40 which includes at least one top hook assembly and one bottom hook assembly, for hooking over the top and bottom respectively of an existing blade on a vehicle.

42. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 41 in which either or both of the top and bottom hook assemblies contain more than one hook element for hooking over the top or bottom respectively of an existing blade on a vehicle and in which either or both the top and bottom hook assemblies can be tightened for drawing the blade levelling assembly tightly against a said existing blade on a vehicle for mounting thereto, and can be released or relaxed for dismounting therefrom.

43. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 41 in which at least one of said hook assemblies affixes to a point of the blade body portion of the blade levelling assembly.

44. A blade levelling assembly as claimed in claim 25 when affixed to a vehicle.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0063] FIG. 1 is a partial plan view of one preferred embodiment of the present invention,

[0064] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 in an alternative configuration,

[0065] FIG. 3 are front views of the embodiment of FIG. 1 with the blade in lowered, raised, and inclined (about a forward axis) respectively,

[0066] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention in a folded configuration,

[0067] FIG. 5 is a side diagrammatic view of the embodiment of FIG. 3,

[0068] FIG. 6 is a side diagrammatic view of FIG. 4 in an extended configuration,

[0069] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the embodiment in FIG. 6,

[0070] FIG. 8 is a side diagrammatic view of a further embodiment of the present invention attached to the existing blade of a vehicle, and

[0071] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0072] With reference to the drawings, and by way of example only, there is provided a levelling assembly (generally indicated by arrow 1) comprising a body attachment portion (generally indicated by arrow 2) and a blade body portion (generally indicated by arrow 3);

[0073] the two body portions (2, 3) being connected by body connecting linkages (5-7) which allow a substantially translational movement of the blade body portion (3), substantially parallel and relative to the blade body portion (2)see for instance FIGS. 3a and 3b; the body connecting linkages (5-7) also allowing a rotational movement of the blade body portion (3), relative to the body attachment portion (2), about a rotational axis substantially in the direction of forward travel (9) of the assembly (1)see for instance FIG. 3c;

said body connecting linkages including linear actuators (5a, b), there being at least one linear actuator (5) being present either side of the middle (10) of the levelling assembly (1) when viewed in plan;
said body connecting linkages (5-7) also including at least one pivot-ended stabilising linkage (6-7) either side of the middle (10) of the levelling assembly (1) when viewed in plan;
and wherein the body connecting linkages (5-7) assist in maintaining relative movement of the body portions to as described above.

[0074] The body attachment portion (2) includes a quick-hitch arrangement (4) such as commonly used on skid-steer tractors.

[0075] In the illustrated embodiment (1) there are two hydraulically controlled upper linear actuators (5a, b) which can be independently controlled to alter the relationship of each end of the blade portion (3) relative to the body attachment portion (2). This is best illustrated in FIG. 2, where right hand actuator (5b) is contracted relative to left hand actuator (5a) to adopt a configuration such as shown in FIG. 3c. While lower linkages (7) may comprise connecting arms, these may also comprise hydraulically controlled lower linear actuators which work in cooperation with actuators (5) to allow the blade body portion to adopt the configurations shown in FIG. 3, and combinations thereof. This arrangement can also allow for alteration of the inclination of the blade (11) about a transverse axis, under the control of the operator.

[0076] The stabilising linkages, pivot-ended linkages (6a, b) (7a, b) have ball joint ends where they attach to at least one of the body portions (2, 3) which is necessary to allow for the permitted relative movements of the body portions (2, 3). In the present invention a spherical bush is used in the jointsthis joint (14) can be clearly seen in the stabilising arms (6) where they (in this embodiment) attach to a central mounting point (15) on the body mounting portion (2).

[0077] The geometry of the remaining connecting linkages (stabilising arms (6-7)) assist in maintaining the relationship between the two body portions (2, 3) as movement occurs (such as shown in FIG. 3). In this arrangement the distance of separation between the body portions (2, 3) remains substantially the same, as does their relative forward/rearward inclinations (i.e. inclination being rotation about a transverse axis) relative to each other (though some flexibility is allowed here in the design of the geometry in various embodiments).

[0078] The primary permitted relative movements between the body portions (2, 3) are, when viewed from the front and wherein the body attachment portion (2) is considered fixed in position, relative upward and downward movement of the blade body portion (3) relative to the body attachment portion (2), as well as allowing relative upward and downward movement of each end of the blade body portion (3) relative to the body attachment portion (2)allowing also for inclination of the blade portion (3) (relative to the body attachment portion (2)), such as shown in FIG. 2.

[0079] Accordingly there is provided a precise alteration of the elevation and rotational inclination of the blade relative to the quick hitch (4) (which follows the roll inclination of the vehicle in response to ground contours) without the need for heavy and expensive quick hitch rotational attachments. The arrangement of the illustrated embodiment theoretically provides for faster (quick response movements are important for a moving vehicle) changes to the elevation and rotational inclination of the blade, as well as being much more precise.

[0080] The actuators can also be coupled to a laser levelling control system (sensors or emitters can be mounted on arms (not shown) which fix at positions (12) on the blade portion (3)) so that the blade (11) is maintained at true ground elevation and the horizontal, regardless of any pitching and rolling movements of the vehicle to which it (1) is attached. As mentioned above, the quicker responsiveness of the present embodiment also allows the vehicle to travel faster.

[0081] Preliminary trials by the inventor, have indicated that the present invention when used with a laser levelling system can level ground to a much higher degree of precision (3 mm compared to 10 mm) approximately 12 times faster than when using a similar arrangement with a prior art device. This represents a very significant advance in the art in terms of productivity and precision. Accordingly this also opens the present invention up to other applications where a tool on a moving vehicle needs to be maintained at a precise inclination and elevation.

[0082] In FIGS. 4 and 5 we see a folding embodiment of the present invention, where a provided stabilising arm assembly (30) has a folding end portion (31) on which a ground contacting stabilising wheel arrangement (32) is mounted.

[0083] In FIG. 5 the reduced front to rear length of the apparatus is evident, as are the potential transport benefits. Similarly, the closer proximity of the blade (11) to the front of the apparatus, for close work, can be gauged.

[0084] In FIGS. 6 and 7 we see a further embodiment suitable for attachment to an excavator. Rather than a quick hitch (4) we have an arm arrangement (50) to which is pivotably attached (53) a T-pin (51) comprising a quick hitch adaptor (which may be of different quick connect configurations) to which the quick hitch adaptor (54) of an excavator's (not shown) dipper arm (52) may be attached. This arrangement makes the levelling assembly available for use with excavators, a new and novel arrangement which significantly improves the versatility of both excavators and levelling devices.

[0085] In FIGS. 8 and 9 we see an alternative mounting system to the ubiquitous quick hitch (4), the body mounting portion (70) attaching to the existing blade (71) of a vehicle (not shown for simplicity).

[0086] Here at least one upper hook portion (72) affixed to the body mounting portion (70) hooks over the top of the existing blade (71). A contacting bar (78) may be provided on the body mounting portion (70) to help accommodate the different curves of blades and reduce possible damage to the blade (71).

[0087] A lower hook portion (73) connected by a flexible linkage (74) to an adjustable linking element (75), in turn connected to an element (79) associated with the body mounting portion (70), helps secure the levelling assembly (1) to the existing blade (71) as the adjustable element(s) (75) are tightened. The adjustable element (75) may simply be a turnbuckle in a preferred element, and may be provided with an arm (76) to help tighten the turnbuckle, and provide additional stabilisation when the distal end of the arm (76) is connected to a point (77) on the blade body portion (3) after tightening.

[0088] Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it should be appreciated that modifications and additions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as described herein.

[0089] It should also be understood that the term comprise where used herein is not to be considered to be used in a limiting sense. Accordingly, comprise does not represent nor define an exclusive set of items, but includes the possibility of other components and items being added to the list.

[0090] This specification is also based on the understanding of the inventor regarding the prior art. The prior art description should not be regarded as being authoritative disclosure on the true state of the prior art but rather as referencing considerations brought to the mind and attention of the inventor when developing this invention.