Abstract:
A construction vehicle door assembly includes a frame member having an inside surface and an outside surface, a window pane is positioned proximate one of the inside surface and outside surface, and a first resilient member substantially vibrationally isolates the frame member and the window pane. A fastener extends through the frame member, window pane and first resilient member to couple the window pane to the frame member. A second resilient member substantially vibrationally isolates the window pane and the fastener. A pair of hinges are coupled to the frame member, a pair of hinge pins are selectively extended into the respective one of the pair of hinges, and a lever is coupled to the pair of hinge pins for moving the pair of hinge pins relative to the pair on hinges upon movement of the lever, to detach the door assembly from the vehicle.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION DATA 
     This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Applications 60/901,426 and 60/901,509, both filed Feb. 13, 2007, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a window assembly for a door of a construction vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a window assembly that inhibits breakage of the window due to impact or vibrations caused by operation of the vehicle, but allows an operator to escape the vehicle in case of emergency. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one embodiment, the invention provides a door assembly for a construction vehicle. The door assembly includes a frame member that has an inside surface and an outside surface and is releasably coupled to the vehicle. A window pane is positioned proximate one of the inside surface and outside surface. A first resilient member is positioned between the frame member and the window pane, to substantially vibrationally isolate the frame member and the window pane. A fastener extends through the frame member, window pane and first resilient member to couple the window pane to the frame member. A second resilient member is positioned between the window pane and the fastener to substantially vibrationally isolate the window pane and the fastener. A pair of hinges are coupled to the frame member and a pair of hinge pins selectively extend into the respective one of the pair of hinges. A lever is coupled to the pair of hinge pins for moving the pair of hinge pins relative to the pair of hinges upon movement of the lever, to selectively detach the door assembly from the vehicle. 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a door assembly having a frame member that defines a window aperture and a frame hole. A gasket is constructed of a resilient material and is adjacent the frame member and substantially surrounds the window aperture. The gasket defines a gasket hole substantially aligned with the frame hole. A windowpane is positioned adjacent the gasket and the windowpane substantially covers the window aperture and defines a window hole substantially aligned with the gasket hole. A washer constructed of a resilient material is adjacent the windowpane. The washer defines a washer hole substantially aligned with the window hole. At least one fastener assembly extends through the substantially aligned frame hole, gasket hole, window hole, and washer hole, and has a first end that defines a first enlarged portion that abuts against the frame member, and a second end opposite the first end. The second end defines a second enlarged portion, and abuts against the washer. A lever is coupled to the frame member, and at least one hinge pin is coupled to the lever for movement in response to movement of the lever. 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a method of opening a door of a construction vehicle. The door includes at least one resilient member positioned between a frame member and a window pane, and the door is rotatable with respect to the vehicle about at least one hinge. The method includes rotating a lever positioned on the inside of the vehicle, removing at least one hinge pin from the at least one hinge, pushing the door open, and detaching the door from the vehicle. 
     In some embodiments, a plurality of fastener assemblies support the windowpane in the absence of a rigid structural element, such as an external frame positioned between the windowpane and the plurality of fastener assemblies. 
     In other embodiments, the second enlarged portions of the fastener assemblies abut directly against the resilient washers. 
     In some embodiments, the window holes define counter bore portions extending from the outer surface and the resilient washers are positioned within the counter bores. The second enlarged portions of the fastener assemblies are at least partially disposed within the counter bores. 
     In some embodiments a stack height of the fastener assembly equals the sum of the thickness of the gasket, distance from the inner surface of the windowpane to the resilient washer, and thickness of the resilient washer. Each fastener assembly includes a shoulder having a diameter larger than the diameter of the frame holes, such that the shoulder abuts against the frame member around the frame hole. Abutment of the shoulder against the frame member fixes the distance between the second enlarged portion and the frame member to be slightly smaller than the stack height of the fastener assembly to slightly preload the gasket and resilient washer. 
     Other aspects of the invention will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a skid steer loader according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the skid steer loader of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a door assembly of the skid steer loader of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the door assembly of  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4A  is a close-up section view of a portion of the door assembly of  FIG. 1 , taken from  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the door assembly in a locked position from inside the skid steer loader of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 6  is a front view of the door assembly from outside the skid steer loader of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of the door assembly in an unlocked position from inside the skid steer loader of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is a partial side view of the door assembly of  FIG. 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Before any embodiments of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless specified or limited otherwise, the terms “mounted,” “connected,” “supported,” and “coupled” and variations thereof are used broadly and encompass both direct and indirect mountings, connections, supports, and couplings. Further, “connected” and “coupled” are not restricted to physical or mechanical connections or couplings. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  depict a skid steer loader  10  having a frame member  15  supported by two right side wheels  20  and two left side wheels  25 , an internal combustion engine  30 , an operator compartment  35  that contains an operator control  37 , right and left lift arms  40 , and a bucket  45  mounted for tilting between the distal ends of the lift arms  40 . Although the invention is illustrated embodied in a skid steer loader  10 , the invention may be embodied in other construction vehicles and machines, including for example, excavators, track loaders, skid steer loaders, front end loaders, utility vehicles and other similar vehicles and machines. Although the illustrated operator control  37  takes the form of a joystick, in other embodiments, the operator control  37  may include multiple joysticks, foot pedals, and/or steering wheels. 
     The right side wheels  20  are driven independently of the left side wheels  25 . When all four wheels  20 ,  25  rotate at the same speed, the loader  10  moves forward and backward, depending on the direction of rotation of the wheels  20 ,  25 . The loader  10  turns by rotating the right and left side wheels  20 ,  25  in the same direction but at different rates, or turns about a substantially zero turn radius by rotating the right and left side wheels  20 ,  25  in opposite directions. 
     The lift arms  40  raise (i.e., rotate counterclockwise in  FIG. 1 ) and lower (i.e., rotate clockwise in  FIG. 1 ) with respect to the frame member  15  under the influence of lift cylinders  50  mounted between the frame member  15  and the lift arms  40 . The bucket  45  tilts with respect to the arms  40  to curl (i.e., rotate counterclockwise in  FIG. 1 ) and dump (i.e., rotate clockwise in  FIG. 1 ) under the influence of tilt cylinders  55  mounted between the lift arms  40  and the bucket  45 . Various auxiliary implements or devices may be substituted for or used in conjunction with the bucket  45 . An exemplary, but by no means exhaustive, list of auxiliary implements includes augers, jack hammers, trenchers, grapples, rotary sweepers, stump grinders, saws, concrete mixers, pumps, chippers, snow throwers, rotary cutters, and backhoes. 
       FIG. 3  depicts an exploded view of a door assembly  200  for accessing the operator compartment  35 . The door assembly  200  includes a door frame  210 , a gasket  220 , a windowpane  230 , and a plurality of fasteners  240 , nuts  250 , and resilient washers  260 . The door frame  210  defines a window aperture  270  and includes both inside and outside surfaces  280 ,  290 . The door frame  210  is made of steel or any other suitably rigid material. The door frame  210  includes a plurality of frame apertures  300  around a perimeter of the window aperture  270 . The gasket  220  substantially follows the shape of the window aperture  270  and is abutted against the outside surface  290  of the door frame  210 . In this regard, the outside surface  290  of the door frame  210  may be termed a bearing surface. The gasket  220  is made of resilient, shock absorbing material and includes a plurality of gasket apertures  310 . The windowpane  230  substantially follows the shape of the window aperture  270  and is made from a sheet of LEXAN® or other suitable see-through material. In this regard, the windowpane  230  may be transparent, translucent, tinted, or otherwise customized for the desired application. The windowpane  230  has inside and outside surfaces  313 ,  317 . The windowpane  230  substantially covers at least a portion of the window aperture  270 , and at least a portion of the inside surface  313  of the windowpane  230  abuts against the gasket  220 . Located around a perimeter of the windowpane  230  are a plurality of window holes  320 . The fasteners  240  are shoulder bolts in the illustrated embodiment. The nuts  250  are threaded to mate with the fasteners  240 . The resilient washers  260  are made of resilient, shock absorbing material. 
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of a fastener assembly  400  used in the door assembly  200 . Each fastener assembly  400  includes: one fastener  240 , one resilient washer  260 , and one nut  250  to secure the windowpane  230  and gasket  220  to the door frame  210 . The frame holes  300 , gasket holes  310 , and window holes  320  are substantially aligned to allow for the passage of the fastener  240  therethrough. The window hole  320  has a through bore  410  extending from the inside surface  313  and a larger diameter counter bore  420  extending from the outside surface  317  and communicating with the through bore  410 . The fastener  240  has a threaded end  430 , a head  440 , and a shoulder  450  between the threaded end  430  and head  440 . The head  440  has a larger diameter than the shoulder  450 , and the shoulder  450  has a larger diameter than the threaded end  430 . The length of the shoulder  450  on the fastener  240  is slightly less than the combined uncompressed stack height of the resilient washer  260 , the length of the through bore portion  410  of the window hole  320 , and the gasket  220 , to allow for slight compression or preloading of the resilient gasket  220  and washer  260  upon assembly. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the threaded end  430  of the fastener  240  passes through the frame hole  300 . The nut  250  is threaded onto the threaded end  430  of the fastener  240  and tightened so the nut  250  rests on the inside surface  280  of the door frame  210  and the end of the shoulder  450  rests against the outside surface  290  of the door frame  210 . The head  440  and nut  250  may be termed enlarged portions of the fastener assembly  400 . The fastener assembly  400  can be inverted such that the head  440  is against the door frame  210  and the nut  250  is against the resilient washer  260 . If the fastener assembly  400  is inverted, a combination of a standard bolt and a sleeve having outer dimensions similar to that of the shoulder  450  of the fastener  240  may be used in place of the fastener  240 . 
       FIG. 4A  shows the resilient washer  260  having an inner and outer diameter  460 ,  470 . The resilient washer  260  separates the head  440  from the bottom of the counter bore portion  420  of the window hole  320 . The outer diameter  460  of the resilient washer  260  is slightly smaller than the diameter of the window hole counter bore  420 . The inner diameter  460  of the resilient washer  260  is slightly larger than the diameter of the shoulder  450 , and smaller than the diameter of the head  440 . In this regard, the inner diameter  460  of the resilient washer  260  may be termed a washer hole. When seated, the head  440  of the fastener  240  rests upon the resilient washer  260  and is partially recessed with respect to the outer surface  317  of the windowpane  230  in the window hole counter bore  420 . The shoulder  450  of the fastener  240  passes through the inner diameter  460  of the resilient washer  260 , through the through bore  410 , and through the gasket hole  310 . 
     The windowpane  230  can move along the axis of the fastener  240  upon impact. The gasket  220  and the resilient washer  260  absorb forces causing deflection of the windowpane  230  upon impact. The gasket  220  and the resilient washer  260  also substantially vibrationally isolate the windowpane  230  from the frame member  210 . Further, the fastener  240  resists movement of the windowpane  230  in directions parallel to the fastener axis. 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  show the door assembly  200  including the door frame  210  and the windowpane  230  with the door assembly  200  in a locked position.  FIG. 5  is the view from inside the operator compartment  35 , whereas  FIG. 6  is the view from outside of the operator compartment  35 . The door assembly  200  further includes first and second hinges  500 ,  510 , respectively, coupled to the door frame  210 . First and second hinge pins  520 ,  530 , respectively are coupled to the loader  10  and are inserted into the respective first and second hinges  500 ,  510  in the illustrated configuration. The hinge pins  520 ,  530  are rotatable within the hinges  500 ,  510  to allow the door assembly  200  to rotate with respect to the loader  10 . 
     The door assembly  200  further includes a latching mechanism  550  on the opposite side of the door assembly  200  as the hinges  500 ,  510  and hinge pins  520 ,  530 . When an operator desires to enter or exit the loader  10 , the latching mechanism  550  can be actuated to allow the door assembly  200  to pivot at the hinges  500 ,  510  about hinge pins  520 ,  530 . 
     In some circumstances, the door assembly  200  cannot pivot about the hinges  500 ,  510  and hinge pins  520 ,  530  due to lack of space, an object in the way of the door path or various other reasons. Also, in some emergency cases, it may be desirable to detach the door assembly  200  from the loader  10  to allow for quick egress from the operator compartment  35 . 
     A lever  560  is provided on the interior of the operator compartment  35  for rotation relative to the door frame  210 . The lever  560  is coupled to a cam member  570  for rotation with the cam member  570 . The hinge pins  520 ,  530  are coupled to the cam member  570  for substantially linear movement into and out of the hinges  500 ,  510 , in response to rotation of the lever  560  and cam member  570 . The illustrated hinge pins  520 ,  530  and the cam member  570  are positioned on the exterior of the loader  10 . Rotation of the lever  560  causes the door assembly  200  to detach from the loader  10 , and thereby allow for egress from the loader  10  when the door assembly  200  cannot pivot about the hinges  500 ,  510 . 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  show the door assembly  200  with the lever  560  and cam member  570  pivoted along arrow A to an open position so that the hinge pins  520 ,  530  are withdrawn from hinges  500 ,  510 . Therefore, the door assembly  200  can be detached from the loader  10  allowing quick egress of an operator, even if the door assembly  200  is blocked from pivoting about the hinges  500 ,  510 . With the hinge pins  520 ,  530  withdrawn from the hinges  500 ,  510 , the door assembly  210  is no longer coupled to the loader  10 . Both of the hinges pins  520 ,  530  are simultaneously withdrawn from the respective hinges  500 ,  510  when the lever  560  is rotated about arrow A. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the hinge pins  520 ,  530  are inserted into sleeves  580 ,  590  on the door assembly  200  prior to insertion into the hinges  500 ,  510  on the loader  10 . Therefore, the hinge pins  520 ,  530  only need to be withdrawn from the hinges  500 ,  510  on the loader  10  and need not be withdrawn from the sleeves  580 ,  590  on the door assembly  200  as well. In other non-illustrated embodiments, no sleeves are utilized, so that the hinge pins  520 ,  530  are received into the respective hinges  500 ,  510  directly. In another embodiment, the hinges  500 ,  510  are positioned on the door assembly  200  and the hinge pins  520 ,  530  and sleeves  580 ,  590  are coupled to the loader  10 . 
     The door assembly  200  is easily re-mounted to the loader  10  after being detached. In order to re-attach the door assembly  200  to the loader  10 , the door assembly  200  is held in abutment with the loader  10  such that the hinge pins  520 ,  530  are adjacent the hinges  500 ,  510 . The lever  560  is pivoted to insert the hinge pins  520 ,  530  into the respective hinges  500 ,  510 . 
     The substantially linear movement of the hinge pins  520 ,  530  is shown more clearly in  FIGS. 7 and 8  as being substantially vertical, but in another embodiment, depending on the orientation of the hinges, the movement is substantially horizontal, whereas in yet another embodiment, the movement is substantially diagonal, and in yet another embodiment, the hinge pin  520 ,  530  movement is substantially skew. Further, the cam member  570  is illustrated as being diamond-shaped, but other shapes, such as ovals, circles, rectangles, squares and so on are possible and are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. 
     Thus, the invention provides, among other things, a more secure method of mounting an impact resistant window to the door frame of a utility work vehicle than has been previously employed. The plurality of fastener assemblies  400  resist movement of the windowpane  230  in directions perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the fastener assemblies  400 . The resilient gasket  220  and resilient washers  260  substantially absorb forces causing deflection of the windowpane  230  in directions parallel to the longitudinal axes of the fastener assemblies  400 . The fastener assemblies  400  support the windowpane in the absence of a rigid structural element, such as an external frame, extending along the outer surface  317  of the windowpane  230  between the plurality of fastener assemblies  400 . The invention further provides a door assembly  200  with a lever  560  for detaching the door assembly  200  from the loader  10  to allow for egress from the loader  10  in case of emergency. Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims.