Patent Publication Number: US-2006012239-A1

Title: Head for excavator mounted to power shovel

Description:
This application is a continuation of pending International Patent Application No. PCT/KR2003/000560 filed on Mar. 22, 2003 which designates the United States.  
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to an excavator, and more particularly, to a breaking head mounted to an excavator for removing rocks on or in the ground at construction work.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Generally, rocks positioned on or in the ground should be removed at the initial stage of foundation for the construction work. The rock removing process is implemented by one method of breaking the rock using a vibrator or another method of drilling a hole in the rock using a rotary cutter. The method using the vibrator causes serious vibration and noise to happen, thereby incurring the enmity of the people. Accordingly, the latter method using the rotary cutter having a little vibration and noise has the preference.  
      According to the method using the rotary cutter, a breaking head has a drilling means and a vertical moving means, and is mounted to an arm of the excavator to form a hole in the rock and remove the rock.  
      The construction of the breaking head carrying out the above function is disclosed in Korean Utility Model Publication No. 0260604 entitled “Excavator Head for Mounted to Power Shovel” and issued to the applicant. are attached to both sides of the rotary plate. The respective brackets are connected to a link and arm of the excavator. The rotary plate is provided with an auxiliary cylinder coupled to the frame. Two cylinders are mounted in parallel to a rear portion of a rotary pipe and are moved along a guide rod in the frame to continuously carry the rotary pipe.  
      Specifically, the breaking head constructed as described above will obtain the following effects. First, the rotary pipe is vertically moved by the cylinder operated vertically to implement the excavation work. In addition, the breaking head according to the present invention is rotated back and forth by the link operation of the excavator, thereby easily working an inclined surface such as a protruded region. Furthermore, since the auxiliary cylinders (rotary cylinder) are mounted to one side of the rotary plate, the breaking head may be rotated from side to side, if necessary, thereby easily working a side of the ground.  
      The conventional breaking head constructed and having the working effects as described above has following problems.  
      In the case of rotating the breaking head from side to side using the rotary cylinder to work the side of the ground, since only one rotary cylinder is attached to one side of the rotary plate, overload is applied to the rotary cylinder itself when it operates, thereby not smoothly rotating the breaking head.  
      In addition, when excavating the inclined surface such as the protruded region of the ground, after the breaking head is rotated at a desired angle back and forth by the link operation of the excavator, the breaking head implements the excavation for the inclined surface, while bearing members installed to a bearing plate (lower plate) of the breaking head are fixed to the ground. At that time, the bearing members are not fixed to the inclined surface of the ground and thus are released from the ground. Therefore, the breaking head is not fixed, and an operator is suffered from the working delay.  
      Also, the breaking head is generally laid on the ground when keeping it. At that time, various operating levers and components mounted to the breaking head may be damaged due to collision against recesses of the ground.  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION  
      Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems involved in the prior art, and to provide a breaking head for an excavator, in which a plurality of pivot cylinders for pivoting the breaking head from side to side are installed to rear portions of the breaking head, thereby more smoothly working a side of the ground.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a breaking head for an excavator, in which, inclined bearing members having a desired slant angle are attached between bearing members provided along four lower corners of a lower plate, thereby easily securing the breaking head to the ground when excavating an inclined surface or curved surface of the ground.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a breaking head for an excavator, in which a pipe is provided to a rear portion of a stationary plate engaged to the pivot cylinder, thereby preventing various components from being damaged.  
      Another object of the present invention is to provide a breaking head for an excavator, in which footboards are provided to a lateral plate of the breaking head, thereby conveniently and safely manipulating various operating levers mounted to the lateral plate.  
      In order to accomplish the above and other objects, there is provided a breaking head for an excavator including lateral plates positioned between an upper plate and a lower plate, and a rotary plate connected to a rotary shaft installed to an upper end of the upper plate, the rotary plate having brackets to be engaged to a link and an arm of the excavator; the breaking head comprising: a plurality of pivot cylinders at a rear portion of the breaking head for pivoting the breaking head left and right around the rotary shaft; and inclined bearing members attached between a plurality of bearing members installed along four corners of the lower plate. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
      The above objects, other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating a construction of a breaking head for an excavator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the breaking head shown in  FIG. 1 .  
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken along a line A-A of  FIG. 2 .  
       FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the breaking head according to the present invention.  
       FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  are left and right side views illustrating an operating state of a breaking head according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 6  is a side view illustrating one using state of a breaking head according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 7  is a side view illustrating another using state of a breaking head according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Reference will now be made in detail to preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the embodiments, like parts are shown by corresponding reference numerals throughout the drawings, and additive explanation thereof will be omitted. Components required for understanding operation of the present invention will now be described herein.  
      FIGS.  1  to  4  are views depicting construction of a breaking head mounted to an excavator according to the present invention.  
      Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , a breaking head  100  for an excavator according to the present invention includes a lateral plate  14  at each side of the head. An upper plate  10  and a lower plate  12  are fixed to upper and lower end portions of the lateral plates  14 , respectively. The lateral plates  14  are provided therein with a carrier  16  moved up and down along a guide rod  18  by first and second lifting cylinders  17  and  19 . A hydraulic motor  20  is installed to an upper end of the carrier  16 . A rotary pipe  22  rotated by the hydraulic motor  20  is installed to a lower end of the carrier  16 . A stationary plate  26  is fixed to an upper end of the upper plate  10 , and a rotary shaft  30  is inserted into a hole of the stationary plate. A rotary plate  28  having brackets is installed to an upper end of the rotary shaft. The brackets  32  are coupled to a link  70  of the excavator (not shown) and an arm  72  of the excavator, respectively, so that the breaking head  100  of the present invention may be rotated forth and back to implement the work. Specifically, the breaking head  100  constructed as described above is mounted to the excavator, and excavates the ground by use of the rotary pipe  22 , when implementing the construction work. Operation of this breaking head  100  for excavator is widely known in the art, and the detailed description thereof is omitted therein.  
      The breaking head  100  for excavator further includes a plurality of pivot cylinders  38  at a rear portion of the breaking head for pivoting the breaking head  100  left and right when working a side of the ground. The assembled construction of the pivot cylinder  38  and the breaking head  100  will now be described in detail with reference to FIGS.  1  to  3 .  
      A protruded piece  37  is welded to one end of the pivot cylinder  38 , and is hinged to the plate  36  attached to the rear portion of the lateral plate  14  by a hinge  39 . A bent bracket  42  is welded to a rod  40  of the pivot cylinder  38 . The bracket  42  is hinged to a fixing piece  44  attached to a lower end of the rotary plate  28  by means of a hinge  46 . The head  100  is provided at a rear portion thereof with a plurality of the pivot cylinders  38  assembled as described above, so that the head may be smoothly pivoted from side to side.  
      Specifically, in the case of excavating the side of the ground as shown in  FIG. 5   a,  the rod  40  is drawn out by operating the pivot cylinder  38  provided at a left side of the breaking head, so that the plate  36  hinged to the protruded piece  37  of the pivot cylinder  38  is pushed. The breaking head  100  is pivoted in a right direction around the rotary shaft  30 . At that time, the rod  40  is retracted by the pivot cylinder  38  positioned at an opposed side of the pivot cylinder  38 , i.e., a right side of the breaking head, so that the plate  36  is pulled to smoothly pivot the head  100 . The breaking head  100  is rotated in the left direction, by retracting the rod  40  of the pivot cylinder  38  attached to the left side of the head, as shown in  FIG. 5   b.    
      The lower plate  12  is provided at a lower end thereof with conical bearing members  50  along four corners of the lower plate. Inclined bearing members  52  having a desired slant angle are attached between the bearing members  50 , as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . The reason why the inclined bearing members  52  are attached to the lower plate  12  is to easily secure the breaking head  100  to the ground when excavating an inclined surface or a curved surface of the ground. Specifically, the inclined bearing members  52  are contacted with the inclined surface of the ground to support the breaking head  100 , thereby smoothly implementing the excavating work.  
      The bracket  32  attached to the rotary plate  28  includes a protrusion  33  formed at a rear portion of the bracket  32 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . A cylindrical pipe  34  is welded between the protrusions  33 . Specifically, the pipe  34  is protruded from the end of the rotary plate  28  by a desired length. The reason why the pipe is protruded from the rotary plate  28  is to prevent various manipulating levers or components attached to the head  100  from being damaged when keeping the head. Specifically, in the case of keeping the breaking head  100  to lay down on the ground, the breaking head  100  is not contacted with the ground but is lifted over the ground by the pipe  34 , thereby preventing the components from being damaged.  
      The lateral plate  14  includes footboards  54  attached to both lower end of the lateral plate for supporting feet of an operator, as shown in  FIG. 1 . The operator can safely manipulate various operating levers (not shown), with the operator standing on the footboards. Specifically, when excavating the ground having a suddenly inclined surface or bent surface, the operator stands on the footboards and safely manipulates the operating levers mounted to the breaking head, thereby preventing the accident caused from carelessness. Preferably, the footboard  54  is provided on its upper portion with a rubber packing for preventing a slip.  
      The lateral plate further includes bent knobs  60  attached to both upper ends of the plate. The operator can grip the knobs to easily stand on the footboards  54 .  
      While the present invention has been described and illustrated herein with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.  
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
      As apparent from the above description, the present invention provides the following working effects.  
      First, a plurality of pivot cylinders for pivoting the breaking head from side to side is installed to the rear portions of the breaking head, thereby more smoothly working the side of the ground.  
      Second, the inclined bearing members having a desired slant angle are attached between the bearing members provided along four lower corners of the lower plate, thereby easily securing the breaking head to the ground when excavating the inclined surface or curved surface of the ground.  
      Third, a pipe is provided to the rear portion of the stationary plate engaged to the pivot cylinder, thereby preventing various components from being damaged.  
      And, finally, the footboards are provided to the lateral plate of the breaking head, thereby conveniently and safely manipulating various operating levers mounted to the lateral plate.