Abstract:
Provided is a bucket assembly having a grappling member for excavator. The bucket assembly includes: a forward and backward tilting unit for forwardly and backwardly tiling a supporting plate mounted at a boom of the excavator through a first hinge bracket; a rotating unit rotatably disposed under the supporting plate of the forward and backward tilting unit; a driving unit including a supporting frame disposed under the rotating unit, a bucket member and a grappling member mounted to face the bucket member for driving the bucket member and the grappling member using an oil pressure, wherein the supporting frame and the grappling member have a bucket tooth with a hard metal tip and a grappling tooth with a hard metal tip; and a left and right tilting unit mounted at both of the forward and backward tilting unit and the rotating unit to tilt the rotating unit using oil pressure.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a bucket assembly having a grappling member for an excavator; and more particularly, to a bucket assembly having a grappling member for conveniently and efficiently laying stones and armored stones, loading and unloading woods, burying concrete pipes, and saving people from disasters by allowing an excavator to rotate a bucket member and a grappling member within 360° as well as tilting them in a left direction and a right direction in order to change a posture of a holding object and to move the holding object without damaging.  
       DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART  
       [0002]     In order to expand functions and applicable fields of an excavator, a grapple was additionally equipped with a bucket or independently assembled without the bucket at the excavator.  
         [0003]     Such a conventional grapple for the excavator was introduced in Korea Patent Publication No. 2001-003054, entitled “EXCAVATOR HAVING GRAPPLE,” and  FIG. 1  shows the excavator having a grapple arm according to the related art.  
         [0004]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a grappling arm  6  is mounted at a boom  4  that generates a force of grappling with a bucket  2 . Such an excavator having the grappling arm is generally used to move woods and stones for landscaping. However, the conventional excavator must move or rotate by itself to change a posture of the stone or the wood due to the lack of capability to turn and to rotate the bucket  2  and the grappling arm  6  to a right and a left direction. Therefore, the productivity thereof is reduced and the operational range is limited due to the lack of capability to turn and to rotate.  
         [0005]      FIG. 2  shows another conventional grapple for an excavator introduced in Korea Utility Model Publication No. 0277112.  
         [0006]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a grapple  8  is rotatably mounted at a boom of the excavator without a bucket to prevent operating parts from being wobbled or polluted by the foreign elements while the grapple  8  is rotating. Such a grapple  8  may minimize the vibration and the noise. The conventional grapple  8  for the excavator was generally used to move or to lay stones for the landscape construction and the rubble masonry construction. Although the grapple  8  is convenience to rotate a holding object, the foreign elements may be flowed into a gear assembly  10  because the gear assembly  10  is externally exposed. Therefore, the holding operation may be malfunctioned due to the externally-exposed gear assembly  10 .  
         [0007]     Furthermore, the grapple  8  is not allowed to be tilted to the left and the right although the grapple  8  tilts in the forward and the backward direction while holding the object. Such a limitation makes the excavator unable to perform accurate operations.  
         [0008]     As shown, the grapple  8  is used only for holding the object. It cannot be used for excavating because the bucket is not assembled with the grapple  8 . Therefore, various operations cannot be alternatively performed.  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  shows an apparatus of rotating a bucket for an excavator. The apparatus of rotating a bucket was introduced in Korean Utility Model Publication No. 0261902.  
         [0010]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , a plurality of driving gears  12  is formed on an inside surface of a rotation ring  14 , and a ball housing groove  18  is formed between the outer circumference of the rotation ring  14  and an inner circumference of a housing  16 . The ball housing groove  18  houses a plurality of balls  20  to slidably rotate a bucket. The plurality of driving gears  20  formed on the inside surface of the rotation ring  14  is geared a motor  22  and the bucket is fixed at a fixing plate  28  through an hole  26  of a connection fixing plate  24 . The housing  16  is fixed at the connection fixing plate  24  and the rotation ring  14  is fixed with a connection rotating plate  30  to rotatably assemble the bucket  32 . Such an apparatus of rotating a bucket is convenient to excavate. However, it cannot be used to lift up the stone, the woods or the pipes. Also, it cannot be used to tilt in the left direction and the right direction.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     Technical Problem  
       [0011]     It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a bucket assembly having a grappling member for conveniently and efficiently laying stones and armored stones, loading and unloading woods, burying concrete pipes, and saving people from disasters by allowing an excavator to rotate a bucket member and a grappling member within 360° as well as tilting them in a left direction and a right direction in order to change a posture of a holding object and to move the holding object without damaging.  
       Technical Solution  
       [0012]     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is a bucket assembly having a bucket member and a grappling member for an excavator including; a forward and backward tilting unit for tiling a supporting plate mounted at a boom of the excavator through a first hinge bracket in a forward direction and a backward direction; a rotating unit rotatably disposed within 360° in a clockwise and a counter clockwise under the supporting plate of the forward and backward tilting unit; a driving unit including a supporting frame disposed under the rotating unit, a bucket member mounted at one side of the supporting frame and a grappling member mounted at other side of the supporting frame to face the bucket member for driving the bucket member and the grappling member using an oil pressure, wherein the supporting frame and the grappling member have a bucket tooth with a hard metal tip and a grappling tooth with a hard metal tip; and a left and right tilting unit mounted at both of the forward and backward tilting unit and the rotating unit to tilt the rotating unit in right and left directions using oil pressure.  
         [0013]     The forward and backward tilting unit may include: a supporting plate having a first hinge bracket formed on a front and a rear thereof and a second hinge bracket formed at one side thereof to be separated at a predetermined space from the first hinge bracket; and a third hinge bracket formed to orthogonally cross the first hinge bracket within a predetermined space under the supporting plate.  
         [0014]     The rotating unit may include: a top plate having a fourth hinge bracket assembled to the third hinge bracket mounted at the supporting plate through a hinge shaft pin to cross the third hinge bracket; a bottom plate housing a fifth hinge bracket disposed at one side of the top plate, a pinion gear mounted at other side of the top plate to be driven by an oil pressure motor, and a ring gear geared with the pinion gear; and an oil turning joint disposed between the top plate and the bottom plate to supply the oil pressure and to return.  
         [0015]     The driving unit may include: a bucket member rotatably assembled at one side of a supporting frame formed under the bottom plate of the rotating unit; a grappling member rotatably assemble at other side of the supporting frame to face the bucket member; and a protector mounted at the oil pressure turning joint and an oil pressure cylinder between check valves as an oil pressure hose while connecting a hinge shaft hole formed on a bucket rotating plate and a driving bar of the grappling member at the supporting frame to protect the oil cylinder and the check valves from being impact with a target holding object.  
         [0016]     The grappling member may include an additional grappling tooth having a holder surface portion formed in a shape of an arc smaller than the arc of the grappling member to lift up a pipe having a small diameter.  
         [0017]     The left and right tilting unit may include: a second hinge bracket formed on a curving portion of an edge of the supporting plate of the forward and backward tilting unit; a fifth hinge bracket formed one side edge of the top plate of the rotating unit; and a tilt oil pressure cylinder for connecting the second hinge bracket and the fifth hinge bracket to be tilted in the left and the right using the oil pressure.  
       ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS  
       [0018]     A bucket assembly having a grappling member for an excavator, which includes a forward and backward tilting unit, a rotating unit, a driving unit and a left and right tilting unit, according to the present invention provides following advantageous effects.  
         [0019]     At first, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention requires less man power to lay stones for landscape or armor stones for building a breakwater, to load or unload woods, to bury a concrete pipe and to save people from disasters. Therefore, cost thereof can be reduced.  
         [0020]     Secondly, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention requires less number of workers for manual processors at a construction field. Therefore, the number of processes for the target construction is reduced and the period of construction is shortened, accordingly.  
         [0021]     Furthermore, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention enables the excavator to tile a holding object using a tilting oil pressure cylinder.  
         [0022]     Moreover, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention enables the excavator to rapidly hold a target object by including both of the bucket member and the grappling member and to rotate the holding object within 360° in the clockwise and the counter clockwise. Therefore, the excavator is allowed to change the posture of the holding object and to stack the holding object without moving itself, conveniently.  
         [0023]     Additionally, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention enables the excavator to rapidly change the posture of the holding object. Therefore, the excavator having the bucket assembly according to the present invention can perform accurate operations such as laying stones for landscape and armor stones for a breakwater and burying the concrete pipes.  
         [0024]     Finally, the bucket assembly having the grappling member according to the present invention enables the excavator to prevent the holding object from being slide and to enhance the durability though attaching the hard metal tips on the bucket tooth and the grappling tooth, and the additional grappling tooth.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0025]     The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0026]      FIG. 1  shows the excavator having a grapple arm according to the related art;  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  shows another conventional grapple for an excavator introduced in Korea Utility Model Publication No. 0277112;  
         [0028]      FIG. 3  shows an apparatus of rotating a bucket for an excavator;  
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a view showing an excavator having a bucket assembling having a grappling member according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]      FIG. 5  is a side cross-sectional view of a bucket assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0031]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  taken along a line A-A;  
         [0032]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an additional grappling tooth for a bucket assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0033]      FIG. 8  shows a bucket assembly having a grappling member for describing tilting operations according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0034]     Other objects and aspects of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, which is set forth hereinafter.  
         [0035]      FIG. 4  is a view showing an excavator having a bucket assembling having a grappling member according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5  is a side cross-sectional view of a bucket assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention, and  FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 5  taken along a line A-A.  
         [0036]     Referring to  FIGS. 4 through 6 , a bucket assembly  50  for an excavator  56  includes a bucket member  52  and a grappling member  54 . The bucket assembly  50  includes a forward and backward tilting unit  58 , a rotating unit  60 , a driving unit  62  and a left and right titling unit  4 .  
         [0037]     The forward and backward titling unit  58  tilts a supporting plate  70  connected to a first hinge bracket  68  using a pin of a boom  66 .  
         [0038]     The forward and backward titling unit  58  includes the first hinge bracket  68  connected to the boom  66 , a second hinge bracket  72  formed on one side of the supporting plate  70  and a third hinge bracket  74  under the supporting plate  70  to orthogonally cross the first hinge bracket  68 .  
         [0039]     The rotating unit  60  is assembled under the supporting plate  70  of the forward and backward tilting unit  58  to be tilted in a left and a right and to be rotated in a clockwise and a counter clockwise at 360° by an oil pressure.  
         [0040]     The rotating unit  60  includes a top plate  80 , a bottom plate  92  and an oil pressure turning joint  94  assembled between the top plate  80  and the bottom plate  92  to supply the oil pressure and to return. The top plate  80  also includes a fourth hinge bracket  78  connected to the third hinge bracket  74  formed on the supporting plate  70  of the forward and backward tilting unit  58  through a hinge shaft pin  76  to cross the third hinge bracket  74 . The bottom plate  92  includes a fifth hinge bracket connected to one side of the top plate  80 , a pinion gear  86  connected at other side of the top plate  80  that is driven by a swing motor  84  and a ring gear  88  to be geared with the pinion gear  86  disposed in a housing  90 .  
         [0041]     The driving unit  62  is assembled under the rotating unit  60  to be operated by an oil pressure. The operating unit  62  includes a supporting frame  96  connected to the rotating unit  60 , the bucket member  52  mounted at one side of the supporting frame  96  and the grappling member  54  mounted at other side of the supporting frame  96  to face the bucket member  52 . The bucket member  52  and the grappling member  62  include a bucket tooth  100  and a grappling tooth  102  at bottom ends thereof respectively. The bucket tooth  100  and the grappling tooth  102  include hard metal tips  98 .  
         [0042]     As described above, the supporting frame  96  of the operating unit  62  is connected to the bottom plate  92  of the rotating unit  60 . The bucket member  52  is rotatably assembled at one side of the supporting frame  96 . And, the grappling member  54  is also rotatably assembled at other side of the supporting frame  96  to face the bucket  54 . The operating unit  62  also includes an oil pressure cylinder  112  connecting a rotating plate  104  of the bucket member  52  and a driving bar  106  of the grappling member  54 . The oil pressure cylinder  112  is connected to the oil pressure turning joint  94  by an oil pressure hose  110  through a check valve  108 .  
         [0043]     The supporting frame  96  includes a protector  118  having a predetermined size to protect the oil cylinder  112  from a target object to hold.  
         [0044]     The left and right tilting unit  64  is connected to the forward and backward tilting unit  58  and the rotating unit  60  to tilt the rotating unit  60  in the right and the left direction from the forward and backward tilting unit  58  using the oil pressure.  
         [0045]     The left and right tilting unit  64  includes a second hinge bracket  72  formed on a curving portion of an edge of the supporting plate  70 , a fifth hinge bracket  82  formed at one side edge of the top plate  80  of the rotating unit  60  and a tilt oil pressure cylinder  120  connecting the second hinge bracket  72  and the fifth hinge bracket  82  to control the direction of tilting such as a left and a right using the oil pressure.  
         [0046]     The tilt oil cylinder  120  is assembled to the second hinge bracket  72  and the fifth hinge bracket  82  to be tilted at a predetermined angle in order to form a left titling angle and a right titling angle from a hinge shaft pin  76  that connects the third and the fourth hinge brackets  74  and  78 .  
         [0047]     The tilt oil pressure cylinder  120  may be disposed at a predetermined angle to provide a predetermined level of oil pressure.  
         [0048]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of an additional grappling tooth for a bucket assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0049]     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the bucket tooth  100  and the grappling tooth  102  are disposed at one ends of the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54 , respectively.  
         [0050]     The additional grappling tooth  122  includes a holding surface portion  124  shaped in an arc to lift up a small pipe.  
         [0051]     The bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  also include hard metal tips that are inwardly projected to prevent the holding objects from being slide, to securely hold the target object and to prevent the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  from being worn and torn. Such a hard metal tip may be attached on the holder surface portion  124  to securely hold the target object.  
         [0052]     A numeral reference  114  denotes a hinge shaft hole.  
         [0053]      FIG. 8  shows a bucket assembly having a grappling member for describing tilting operations according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0054]     The oil cylinder  112 , the oil turning joint  94  and the check valve  108  included in the excavator and operations thereof are widely known to those skilled in the art. Therefore, detail thereof is omitted.  
         [0055]     An operator of the excavator drives the bucket assembly  50  assembled at one end of the boom  66  to lay stones for landscaping or armor stones for building a breakwater and to bury concrete pipes.  
         [0056]     That is, the operator drives the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54 . The bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  are accurately controlled through the forward and backward tilting, the left and right tilting and the 360° rotating.  
         [0057]     The bucket assembly  50  of the excavator may be driven in various ways according to characteristics of the operator to control a posture of the bucket assembly and the order of driving. Therefore, the bucket assembly  50  according to the present embodiment is not limited by a following example of driving the bucket assembly  50 .  
         [0058]     The bucket assembly having a grappling member according to the present embodiment will be described with a construction example that the excavator having the bucket assembly according to the present embodiment lays stones on an inclined side of a waterway.  
         [0059]     At first, the forward and backward tilting unit  58  of the bucket assembly  50  is tilted to properly tilt the supporting plate  70  in order to lift a long stone up among various shapes of stones.  
         [0060]     Then, the operator controls the oil pressure cylinder  112  to generate a predetermined level of an oil pressure to spread out the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  as wider as a size of a target object. Then, the operator controls the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  to grape one side of the long stone.  
         [0061]     After deciding a position of the long stone to be laid, the operator controls the swing motor  84  to rotate the ring gear  88  of the rotating unit  60 . Then, the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  are rotated together with the bottom plate  92  to rotate the lifted long stone to a target angle.  
         [0062]     After the rotating the lifted long stone using the bucket assembly  50  at the target angle, the operator control the tilt oil pressure cylinder  120  of the left and right tilting unit  64  to rotate the rotating unit  60  to one of left and right at a predetermined angle to insert the lifted long stone into the target position without touching stones near the target position.  
         [0063]     As described above, the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  inserts the lifted long stone into the target position while maintaining the lifted long stone to be tilted at the target angle. Therefore, the bucket assembly according to the present embodiment accurately moves the heavy stones according to a target operation.  
         [0064]     Also, the bucket member  52  includes the bucket tooth  100  with the hard metal tip  98  and the grappling member  54  includes the grappling tooth  102  with the hard metal tip  98  to prevent the target holding object from being slide and to enhance the durability of the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54 .  
         [0065]     Furthermore, the bucket assembly  50  according to the present embodiment drives the swing motor  84  of the rotating unit  60  to rotate the ring gear  88  when the excavator having the bucket assembly  50  is used to bury a huge pipe instead of the stone. Then, the holding pipe can be rotated within 360° by the bucket member  52  and the grappling member  54  mounted at the supporting frame  96  of the bottom plate  92  of the rotating unit  60 . Therefore, the pipes are conveniently assembled at connecting portion thereof.  
         [0066]     If there is dirt inside the huge pipe, the dirt can be removed by tilting the pipe at a predetermined angle through driving the tilting oil pressure cylinder  120  of the left and right tilting unit  64 . Therefore, accuracy and reliability are improved.  
         [0067]     When the excavator having the bucket assembly  50  is used to bury a small pipe, the additional grappling tooth  122  may be assembled to the grappling member  54  instead of using the grappling tooth  102 . The holder surface portion  124  of the additional grappling tooth  122  allows the grappling member  54  to stably hold the small pipes having various diameters.  
         [0068]     The bucket assembly  50  according to the present invention can be used to hold various objects such as woods as well as the stone, the huge or the small pipes.  
         [0069]     The bucket assembly according to the present embodiment includes the protector  118  at the supporting frame  96  to prevent the oil pressure cylinder  112  and the check valve  108 . Therefore, the bucket assembly according to the present invention performs more accurate operations while preventing the holding object from being impacted or broken.  
         [0070]     While the present invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.