Abstract:
A system for mounting a blade assembly to a machine includes a mounting assembly having a first retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly and a second retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly. The first retainer assembly includes an adjusting assembly configured to reposition the first retainer assembly with respect to the blade assembly in at least two directions.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     This disclosure relates generally to an adjusting system, and more particularly to an adjusting system for a component of a work machine.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Motor graders are typically used to perform displacement, distribution and leveling of material, such as soil. Generally, a motor grader includes a tractor unit coupled to a grader group via a tow bar assembly. The grader group includes a blade assembly having a grader blade, as well as a mounting assembly with retainers. The blade assembly is positioned in the retainers such that the grader blade is supported by the mounting assembly. Wear strips are provided between the retainers and the blade assembly to facilitate the retention of the grader blade in the assembly, while allowing sliding movement of the blade assembly with respect to the retainers. The tractor unit moves the blade assembly over the ground, so that the grader blade engages with the material, such as soil, so as to displace, distribute or level the soil.  
         [0003]     During use of the motor grader, the grader blade is tipped and sideshifted to manipulate the material as discussed above. With such use, the wear strips tend to erode, thus loosening the retention of the grader blade and allowing unintended motion between the grader blade and mounting assembly. A loose grader blade inhibits the accurate displacement, distribution and leveling of the material.  
         [0004]     To overcome this problem, shims are installed to fill gaps caused by the erosion of the wear strips. However, using shims is work intensive, and thus increases the maintenance cost of the motor grader.  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,370 (the &#39;370 patent) discloses a mounting assembly for a motor grader including V-shaped retainers fitted with wear strips. Engagement portions of a blade assembly engage the wear strips to secure the blade assembly to the mounting assembly. The &#39;370 patent requires the use of shims to fill gaps caused by erosion of the wear strips. Operators must continually add or remove shims to the mounting assembly as the wear strips erode or when replacing the wear strips. Adding to the complexity of the device, each wear strip must be secured to the retainer with a retainer clip.  
         [0006]     The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for securing a blade assembly to a mounting assembly that avoids some or all of the shortcomings in the prior art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In accordance with one disclosed exemplary embodiment, a mounting assembly for mounting a blade assembly to a machine may include a first retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly and a second retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly. The first retainer assembly may include an adjusting assembly configured to reposition the first retainer assembly with respect to the blade assembly in at least two directions.  
         [0008]     According to another exemplary disclosed embodiment, a method is provided for adjustably securing a blade assembly to a machine. The method includes retaining a first portion of the blade assembly in a first retaining cavity, retaining a second portion of the blade assembly in a second retaining cavity, and adjusting the retention of the first portion of the blade assembly in the first retaining cavity in at least two directions.  
         [0009]     A method for adjustably securing a blade assembly to a machine may include retaining a first portion of the blade assembly in a first retaining cavity. Retaining a second portion of the blade assembly in a second retaining cavity and adjusting the retention of the first portion of the blade assembly in the first retaining cavity with at least one adjusting member. Also identifying an amount of adjustment of the retention of the first portion based on movement of a visual indicator associated with the adjusting member.  
         [0010]     According to yet another disclosed embodiment, a mounting assembly for mounting a blade assembly to a motor grader may include a first retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly. A plurality of wear strips adjustably engage one another. A second retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly may also be included.  
         [0011]     According to another disclosed embodiment, a mounting assembly for mounting a blade assembly to a machine may include a first retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly. Also included may be a second retainer assembly configured to assist in securing the blade assembly. The first retainer assembly includes an adjusting means for repositioning the first retainer assembly with respect to the blade assembly in at least two directions. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a pictorial side view of a motor grader incorporating an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a partial side view of a moldboard mounting assembly and blade assembly according to the present disclosure;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3   a  is a partial cross sectional side view of an upper retainer assembly of the mounting assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ;  
         [0015]      FIG. 3   b  is a partial cross sectional side view of a lower retainer assembly of the mounting assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ;  
         [0016]      FIG. 4   a  is a perspective view of the first and second wear strips of the upper retainer assembly of  FIG. 3   a;    
         [0017]      FIG. 4   b  is a perspective view of a wear strip of the lower retainer assembly of  FIG. 3   b ; and  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a pictorial partial back or rear view of the mounting assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]     Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the invention, illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.  
         [0020]     Referring to the figures, a motor grader is shown generally at  10  in  FIG. 1 . The motor grader  10  may include a rear frame  14 , a front frame  16 , and a blade assembly  20 . The rear and front frames  14  and  16  may be supported by tires  18 . A controllable rotatable assembly  22  supports a mounting assembly  24  to the motor grader  10  in a manner well known in the art. The mounting assembly  24  supports the blade assembly  20  in a manner to be detailed below. An operator cab  26  containing the many controls necessary to operate the motor grader  10  may be mounted on the front frame  16 . An engine  28  may be mounted on the rear frame  14 .  
         [0021]     The blade assembly  20  and mounting assembly  24  are shown in  FIG. 2 . The blade assembly  20  may include a mounting frame  60  and upper and lower protrusions  65 ,  67  located on a back side  63  of the mounting frame  60 . Blade assembly  20  may also include upper and lower blade rails  62 ,  64  attached to associated protrusions  65 ,  67 . In addition, blade assembly  20  may include a blade or moldboard  59  attached to a front side  61  of the mounting frame  60  in any conventional manner.  
         [0022]     In the illustrated embodiment, the protrusion  65  is shaped such that two sides  90 ,  92  extend away from the mounting frame  60  to support a third side  94  which is nearly vertical in orientation. A fourth side  96  is directly connected to the back side  63  of mounting frame  60 . Protrusion  67  is similarly constructed and situated as protrusion  65 . The protrusions  65 ,  67  may include any other shape allowing for attachment of blade rails  62 ,  64  to the blade assembly  20 .  
         [0023]     The blade rails  62 ,  64  in this exemplary embodiment are rectangular in shape with a substantially vertical orientation. In this configuration, the blade rails  62 ,  64  are attached to the nearly vertical side  94  of its corresponding protrusion in any conventional manner such as welds or mechanical fasteners. The blade rails  62 ,  64  can take another shape, such as oval or diamond provided they can be securely attached to the protrusions  65 ,  67 . In addition, blade rails  62 ,  64  may be formed integral with protrusions  65 ,  67 .  
         [0024]     The mounting assembly  24  in  FIG. 2  may include an upper retainer assembly  34  and a lower retainer assembly  36 . Referring to  FIG. 3A , the upper retainer assembly  34  may include a generally U-shaped cavity  38  housing an outer wear strip  40  and an inner wear strip  42  together forming an upper retaining cavity  43 . The shape of the outer and inner wear strips  40 ,  42  are described below in connection with  FIG. 4A . The exemplary embodiment of the upper retainer assembly  34  in  FIG. 3A  may also include a spacer member  41 . In this embodiment, the spacer member  41  is L-shaped to correspond to the shape of the inner wear strip  42 . The length of the spacer member  41  may generally correspond to the length of the inner wear strip  42 .  
         [0025]     Referring to  FIG. 3B , the lower retainer assembly  36  may include a generally U-shaped cavity  52 . The U-shaped cavity  52  may house a wear strip  54  forming a lower retaining cavity  45 .  
         [0026]     It should be understood that the U-shaped cavities  38 ,  52  of the upper and lower retainer assemblies  34 ,  36  can take any other shape, such as curved, square or the like. In addition, the spacer member  41  can take on any shape to correspond to the shape of the wear strip housed in the cavity. The spacer member  41  may be formed as a plurality of separate members, or may be omitted in its entirety.  
         [0027]     Referring to  FIG. 4A , the outer wear strip  40  may include a long portion  69  and a short portion  71 . The long portion  69  may be connected to the short portion  71  at approximately a 90 degree angle (θ). The inner wear strip  42  may include a long portion  68  and a short portion  70 . As with the outer wear strip  40 , the long portion  68  of the inner wear strip  42  may be connected to the short portion  70  of the inner wear strip  42  at approximately a 90 degree angle. The outer and inner wear strips  40 ,  42  are housed in the U-shaped cavity  38  so as to engage one another. According to this exemplary embodiment, the engagement is such that the short portions  71 ,  70  lie substantially in the same plane across the width of the U-shaped cavity  38  and the long members  69 ,  68  of the wear strips  40 ,  42  are situated across from each other in the U-shaped cavity  38  such that they lie substantially parallel to each other and substantially parallel the sides  37 ,  39  of the U-shaped cavity  38  of the upper retainer assembly  34 . The engagement of the wear strips  40 ,  42  forms the generally U-shaped upper retaining cavity  43  in the upper retainer assembly  34 .  
         [0028]     As embodied in  FIG. 4B , wear strip  54  may be U-shaped forming lower retaining cavity  45 . The length of the wear strips  40 ,  42 , and  54  generally correspond to the length of their respective retainer assembly  34 ,  36 .  
         [0029]     It should be understood that outer and inner wear strips  40 ,  42  could be used in the lower retainer assembly  36  and that the wear strip  54  of the a lower retainer assembly  36  could be used in the upper retainer assembly  34 . Alternatively, this disclosure could be practiced with both the upper and lower retainer assemblies  34 ,  36  including wear strips  40 ,  42 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 5  illustrates a rear view of mounting assembly  24  including the upper retainer assembly  34  and the lower retainer assembly  36 . The upper retainer assembly  34  includes two horizontal adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46  and two vertical adjusting setscrews  48 ,  50 . The setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  are in contact with the spacer member  41 , which abuts wear strips  40 ,  42 . (See  FIG. 3A .)  
         [0031]     It should be understood that if the spacer member  41  is omitted, setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  may be in direct contact with the wear strips  40 ,  42 . The upper retainer assembly  34  of  FIG. 5  also includes two end caps  74 ,  76  with corresponding cap bolts  78 ,  80 . Similarly, lower retainer assembly  36  includes end caps  82 ,  84  and corresponding cap bolts  86 ,  88 . Mounting assembly  24  may also include an additional set of retainer assemblies  72 ,  73  with the same configuration as the upper and lower retainer assemblies  34 ,  36 .  
         [0032]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , each setscrew  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  may be marked with a line  51  or lines, or other visual indicator, to assist in determining the amount wear that has occurred on associated wear strips  40  and  42 . Line  51  may be used to identify an initial clamped position of the setscrew with respect to the other components of the upper retainer assembly  34 , or some other fixed component of the mounting assembly  24 . If multiple lines  51  are used, one line may indicate the initial clamping position of the setscrew and the other line(s) may correspond to the amount of wear that has occurred on the wear strip. For example, a line may be included in the setscrew to indicate that replacement of a wear strip is necessary.  
         [0033]     While horizontal adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46  are illustrated on the rear side of the mounting assembly  24  in  FIG. 5 , these setscrews could be alternatively located on the front side of the mounting assembly  24 . Furthermore, this disclosure can be practiced with one horizontal adjusting setscrew and one vertical adjusting setscrew or with more than two horizontal and vertical adjusting setscrews in any combination and configuration. In addition, setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  may be replaced with any other type of adjusting mechanism, such as adjustable bolts, that would allow for controlled adjustment of the spacer member  41  and/or wear strips  40 ,  42 .  
         [0034]     Each of the components described above may be fabricated from any rigid material, such as steel or cast iron. The wear strips  40 ,  42 , and  54  may be made from a material less rigid than the material used to fabricate the retaining assemblies  34 ,  36  and the blade rails  62 ,  64 .  
         [0035]     As described above, blade rails  62 ,  64  interact with wear strips  40 ,  42 , spacer member  41 , and upper and lower retaining cavities  43 ,  45 . These components may be shaped differently as long as they mate together in the manner described above.  
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
       [0036]     The motor grader  10  is used primarily as a finishing tool to sculpt a surface of earth  12  to a final arrangement. The engine  28  is used to drive or power the motor grader  10  and is controlled by the operator using controls in operator cab  26 .  
         [0037]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the controllable rotatable assembly  22  rotates around axis A. The mounting assembly  24  is pivotable around axis  30  ( FIG. 2 ) with respect to the controllable rotatable assembly  22 . The blade assembly  20  is also adjustably slidable side-to-side with respect to the mounting assembly  24 . Rather than moving large quantities of earth in the direction of travel like other machines, such as a bulldozer, the combination of these motions allow the blade assembly  20  to displace, distribute and level a material as desired by the operator of the motor grader, typically from side-to-side.  
         [0038]     During operation of motor grader  10 , the upper and lower retainer assemblies  34  and  36  secure the blade assembly  20  to the controllable rotatable assembly  22  of the motor grader  10 . As described above, the upper blade rail  62  of the blade assembly  20  may be retained in the retaining cavity  43  formed by the wear strips  40 ,  42  in the upper retainer assembly  34  ( FIG. 2 ). The lower blade rail  64  of the blade assembly  20  may be retained in the cavity  45  formed by wear strip  54  of the lower retainer assembly  36 .  
         [0039]     Turning the vertical and/or horizontal adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  allows for adjustment of the spacer member  41  in two directions, which repositions one or both of the wear strips  40 ,  42  with respect to the blade rails  62 ,  64 . The engaging relationship between the inner and outer wear strips  40 ,  42  allows for the wear strips to move closer together in two directions without abutting against one another or the sides  37 ,  39  of U-shaped cavity  38  as the horizontal adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46  are turned. This compensates for any erosion in wear strips  40 ,  42  and ensures blade assembly  20  is rigidly secured by mounting assembly  24 . The spacer member  41  assists in distributing the force of the adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  along the length of the spacer member  41 . By use of the adjusting setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50 , no shims are required to adjust the coupling of the blade assembly  20  to the mounting assembly  24 . Thus, mounting assembly  24  rigidly and adjustably secures the blade assembly  20  to the controllable rotatable assembly  22  of the motor grader  10 . End caps  74 ,  76 ,  82 ,  84  and corresponding end bolts  76 ,  78 ,  86 ,  88  prevent the wear strips from moving horizontally with the blade rails.  
         [0040]     In addition to function setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 ,  50  in adjusting the position of the wear strips, setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 , and  50 , may also function to identify the amount of wear occurring on the wear strips  40 ,  42 . As noted above, setscrews may include visual indicators such as lines  51  to indicate an initial clamping position of the wear strip. Measuring the distance setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 , and  50  have traveled during use from this initial clamped position may indicate the amount of wear on the wear strips  40 ,  42  and may be determined from the movement of line  51 . Each wear strip  40 ,  42  has an associated predetermined amount of wear available and this wear is directly related to the travel of the setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 , and  50 . In one embodiment, once the distance the setscrews  44 ,  46 ,  48 , and  50  have traveled an appropriate predetermined distance (i.e. 7.5-8 mm (0.29-0.31 inches)) as measured by the movement of lines  51 , wear strips  40 ,  42  should be replaced.  
         [0041]     It is understood that those portions of the first retainer assembly  34  described above as allowing for a repositioning of the first and second wear strips  40 ,  42  of the retainer assembly with respect to the blade assembly may be referred to as an adjusting assembly or adjusting means of the retainer assembly.  
         [0042]     Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.