US3122248A - Loader bucket with ejector - Google Patents

Description

1964 T. G. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LQADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1961 INVENTORS. TREVOR G. CAMPBELL Y RICHARD H. Hu/vqER ATTORNEYS 1964 T. e. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Filed Aug. 10, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f- INVENTOR.

E TREVOR Q. CAMPBELL BY RICHARD H. HuA/qER A TTORNE Y5 Feb. 25, 1964 T. G. CAMPBELL ETAL 3,122,248

LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Filed Aug. 10, 1961 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INV EN TORS.

TREVOR G. CAMPBELL BY RICHARD H. HUNGER ATTORNE Y5 United States Patent 3,122,248 LOADER BUCKET WITH EJECTOR Trevor G. Campbell, Peoria, and Richard H. Hunger, Washington, 111., assignors to Caterpillar Tractor (10., Peoria, 111., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 10, 1961, Ser. No. 130,545 2 Claims. (Ci. 214-446) This invention relates to tractor mounted loaders and particularly to improvements in loader buckets having means for ejecting a load without dumping or tilting the bucket for gravity ejection and to actuation of such ejecting means.

In most bucket type loader machines the bucket is tilted forwardly and downwardly from its raised carry position to permit discharge or dumping of its load by gravity. This reduces the vertical clearance of the bucket over a vehicle or bin in which the load is being discharged. In many cases, a portion of the bucket swings downwardly into the body of the truck or into the bin so that it must be raised upwardly to its carry position before the loader can be driven away from the point of discharge. This is an undesirable time consuming operation and furthermore often results in interference between the bucket and the bin or truck body with resulting damage to both.

Ejectors for loader buckets have been devised which are power actuated by means other than those employed for raising the bucket and tilting the bucket and the cost of such means, which usually includes a hydraulic jack, together with operating circuits and valves therefor, is such that the overall cost of the loader becomes excessive and noncompetitive.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a loader bucket with an ejector with means for actuating the ejector automatically upon movement of the bucket from its carry toward its dump position and before the vertical clearance of the bucket is reduced.

A further object is to effect such automatic ejection without the addition to the loader of any auxiliary power means.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bucket with an ejector of the kind described above in which resilient means are employed for returning the ejector to its normal or loading position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an ejector with actuating means including an extensible link for holding the ejector in its ejecting position and in a position in which it will serve in the manner of a bulldozer mold board when it is desired to employ the bucket for bulldozing operations.

Still further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention and the manner in which it is carried into practice are made apparent in the following specification wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a tractor mounted loader embodying the present invention and with the bucket illustrated in its load position;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of the bucket only shown in FIG. 1 in its carry position;

FIG. 3 is a view like FIG. 2 with the bucket and ejector thereof in dump position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation of one side of the bucket illustrating details of the bucket and ejector supporting means;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line VV of FIG. 6 showing a modified form of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation of the bucket illustrating the form of the invention shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view showing the bucket in 3,122,243 i a tnted Feb. 25, 1964 the position of FIG. 1 illustrating a further modification of the invention.

A tractor, generally illustrated at 10 in FIG. 1, is shown as typical of any vehicle upon which a loader bucket may be mounted and the bucket of the present invention, generally indicated at 11, is shown as mounted at the forward end of a pair of lift arms, one of which is shown at 12 pivotally connected to the tractor at 13 and to the bucket at 14. Hydraulic jacks 15 are employed for raising and lowering the lift arms 12 and bucket 11. Tilt linkage of conventional construction is employed for tilting the bucket between load, carry and dump positions about the pivots 14. This linkage comprises jacks 16 for imparting swinging movement to levers 17 pivoted to the lift links which in turn impart swinging movement to levers 18 through connecting links 19. Another pair of links 20 forms a connection between the links 18 and the bucket for imparting tilting movement thereto.

The bucket 11 comprises a bottom 22 with a cutting blades 23 at its forward edge and side walls 24 extending upwardly in parallelism from its opposite ends. A cross beam 25 extends between the side walls adjacent their upper edges lending rigidity to the structure. The curved ejector plate 26 provides a back wall which extends the full distance between the side plates 24 and is pivoted as by pins 27 for forward swinging movement through the bucket to eject the contents thereof. The pivotal support for the ejector as well as the pivotal connections of the lift arm and tilt mechanism is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 wherein the bucket is shown as having pairs of spaced brackets 29, one pair being shown in FIG. 4, which extend from the bottom of the bucket at its rear edge to the cross beam 25 and continue upwardly and forwardly from the cross beam to provide supports for the ejector pivot pins 27. These pins support the ejector plate 26 by extending through cam plates 30 welded or otherwise suitably secured to the back of the ejector plate, the further function of which will presently be described in detail. The spaced brackets 29 also serve as a means for performing the necessary pivotal connections between the lift arms 12 and the bucket as shown at 14 in FIG. 4 and the tilt links 20 and the bucket as shown at 32.

The means for automatically ejecting the contents of the bucket when it is tilted from a carry position toward a dump position is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, inclusive, as a pair of levers, one of which is shown at 34 in FIG. 1, carrying rollers 35 engageable with the straight cam edges 36 of the cam plates 30. These levers, as shown in FIG. 4, are preferably made of spaced arms pivoted on coaxial pins, one shown at 37 with one of the plates 29, and the other shown at 38 with a bracket 39 secured to the cross beam 25. The opposite ends of the levers 34 are connected by a link 40 with the upper end of the lever 18 of the tilt mechanism.

The arrangement of the parts just described is such that when the bucket is raised and assumes its carry position illustrated in FIG. 2, the straight edge of the cam plate 30 engages the roller 35 on the ejector linkage. In order to discharge the contents of the bucket, the tilt linkage is actuated to move it toward the conventional dump position but only to the position illustrated in FIG. 3 where the entire bucket is maintained at a higher elevation than in the conventional dump operation. During the movement from the position shown in FIG. 2 to that shown in FIG. 3, lever 18 moves forwardly advancing the roller against the straight edge 36 of the cam plate 30 pushing the ejector plate 26 forwardly until it assumes the position of FIG. 3 and has ejected the contents of the bucket. Further forward tiling of the bucket is possible if desired because the upper edge of the cam plate 36 is formed as a concave are per- 1 mitting the rollers 35 to move upwardly and forwardly beyond the position illustrated in FIG. 3.

With the constructions so far described the ejector plate may remain its forward position when the bucket is returnedto the digging position illustrated in FIG. 1 and as the bucket is advanced into material to be loaded the entering material engages the lower portion of the ejector plate and forces it rearwardly to the position of FIG. 1.

A modified form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 provides means for automatically returning the ejector plate to its load position. This means comprises a spring 42 of the torsion type carried on a cylinder 43 and supported between a pair of trunnions 44 which are formed as extensions of the pivot assemblies 32 previously described. One end of the spring is anchored to the cross beam 25 by a link 46 and the other end is anchored to one of a pair of levers 47 which are fused to the opposite ends of the cylinder 43, the anchorage of this end of the spring being shown at 43. The levers 47 are connected by rods 59 to pivot brackets 51 on the back of the ejector plate so that forward movement of the ejector plate by the means above described imposes a tension on the spring 42 creating a force which returns the ejector plate to its normal or loading position when the roller 35 is moved away from the cam 36 to assume the position shown in FIG. 1.

It is sometimes desirable to use a loader bucket in the manner of a bulldozer for cleanup purposes or to level the ground at the site where it is working. The loader and ejector of the present invention are readily converted to provide an eificient bulldozer by means shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings wherein the link 4%) which connects the ejector linkage with the tilt linkage is replaced by an extensible link 54. In the present instance, the extensible link is shown as a small hydraulic jack but it may be in the form of a hand actuated jack screw or any mechanism capable of swinging the rollers 35 and their supporting brackets 34 to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 7 where they have acted upon the cam edge 36 to swing the ejector plate 26 to the forward or ejecting position where it assumes the function of a bulldozer mold board acting in cooperation with the cutting blade 23 of the bucket. Stops 56 are desirable in the form of small lugs projecting inwardly from the side walls of the bucket to limit the forward movement of the ejector blade and it is also desirable where the bucket present invention is that the ejector plate forms the back of the bucket which is otherwise open and any earth or other material lodging behind the ejector plate does not interfere with its free retraction.

We claim:

1. In combination with a tractor mounted loader bucket having lift means for raising the bucket from the ground and tilt means for tilting the bucket relative to the lift means, an ejector plate pivoted adjacent the upper portion of the bucket for forward swinging movement therein to eject the contents of the bucket, cam means projecting from the rear portion of the bucket, and means actuated upon operation of the tilt means to move the bucket through a predetermined range of its forward tilting movement to engage said cam means and actuate the ejector plate.

2. In combination with a tractor mounted loader bucket having lift means for raising the bucket from the ground and tilt means for tilting the bucket relative to the lift means, an ejector plate pivoted adjacent the upper portion of the bucket for forward swinging movement therein to eject the contents of the bucket, cam means projecting from the rear portion of the bucket, means actuated upon operation of the tilt means to move the bucket through a predetermined range of its forward tilting movement to engage said cam means and actuate the ejector plate, and resilient means for returning the ejector plate to a position rearwardly of the bucket.

References (Iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,720,990 Beyerstedt Oct. 18, 1955 2,852,869 Beyerstedt Sept. 23, 1958 2,858,035 Mettetal Oct. 28, 1958 2,832,621 Richardson Apr. 21, 1959 3,035,724 Clark et a1 May 22, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,121,159 France July 24, 1956

Claims (1)

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A TRACTOR MOUNTED LOADER BUCKET HAVING LIFT MEANS FOR RAISING THE BUCKET FROM THE GROUND AND TILT MEANS FOR TILTING THE BUCKET RELATIVE TO THE LIFT MEANS, AN EJECTOR PLATE PIVOTED ADJACENT THE UPPER PORTION OF THE BUCKET FOR FORWARD SWINGING MOVEMENT THEREIN TO EJECT THE CONTENTS OF THE BUCKET, CAM MEANS PROJECTING FROM THE REAR PORTION OF THE BUCKET, AND MEANS ACTUATED UPON OPERATION OF THE TILT MEANS TO MOVE THE BUCKET THROUGH A PREDETERMINED RANGE OF ITS FORWARD TILTING MOVEMENT TO ENGAGE SAID CAM MEANS AND ACTUATE THE EJECTOR PLATE.

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