Patent Publication Number: US-2005116076-A1

Title: Jaw crusher bucket

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates to a jaw crusher bucket for use in splitting and crushing large pieces of rubble, such as large boulders and chunks of concrete at a quarry or demolition site.  
     BACKGROUND ART  
      Conventional rock quarrying methods result in the accumulation of stockpiles of large boulders split from the quarry rock face that require crushing. At present, the crushing of excavated large boulders is achieved with the use of dedicated rock breaking machinery and is both time consuming and noisy due to the hammering process involved. Similarly, the demolition of concrete slab structures often produces large pieces or chunks of concrete requiring crushing for efficient disposal at tips and land fill sites.  
      There is a high cost associated with using dedicated rock and concrete breaking machinery which, when coupled to the high fees for disposing of large boulders and pieces of concrete at tips and land fill sites, encourages their illegal dumping at remote road sides and the like.  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a jaw crusher bucket which eliminates the need to use the dedicated rock and concrete breaking machinery of the prior art. It is another object of the invention to provide a jaw crusher bucket which serves both as a rock and concrete splitter and as a crusher of large pieces of rubble that may result from the splitting.  
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION  
      According to the present invention, there is provided a jaw crusher bucket for attaching to a front-end loader or excavator, comprising a plurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth, and jaw means for crushing any large pieces of rubble split from the rock or concrete into smaller pieces.  
      The jaw means of the jaw crusher bucket preferably comprises a stationary jaw and a movable jaw.  
      It is preferred that the stationary jaw includes the rock and concrete splitting teeth, which extend from a mouth of the jaw crusher bucket.  
      In a preferred form, the jaw crusher bucket includes hydraulic ram means to enable movement of the movable jaw when under the control of a driver of a front-end loader or excavator.  
      Preferably, the jaw crusher bucket includes a gap between the stationary jaw and the movable jaw remote of the mouth for allowing the crushed smaller pieces of rubble to fall therethrough. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a front-end loader, to which a jaw crusher bucket according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is attached, being operated to load a large piece of rubble into the bucket,  
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the front-end loader of  FIG. 1  in which the jaw crusher bucket has been manoeuvred to an upright position for crushing the large piece of rubble into smaller pieces,  
       FIG. 3  is a simplified side view of a jaw crusher bucket according to one form of the invention for crushing large pieces of split concrete,  
       FIG. 4  is a simplified rear perspective view of the jaw crusher bucket shown in  FIG. 3 ,  
       FIG. 5  is a detailed rear perspective view of a preferred jaw crusher bucket of the invention for crushing large boulders,  
       FIG. 6  is a part sectional side view of the jaw crusher bucket shown in  FIG. 5 ,  
       FIG. 7  is a front perspective view of a toggle lever used in the jaw crusher bucket shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ,  
       FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the crushing surface side of the movable jaw of the jaw crusher bucket shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ,  
       FIG. 9  is a side elevational view of an excavator, to which a preferred jaw rusher bucket of the present invention is attached, being operated to crush a large piece of rubble into smaller pieces,  
       FIG. 10  is a side elevational view of an underground mining vehicle, to which a preferred jaw crusher bucket of the present invention is attached, being operated to load a large piece of rubble into the bucket,  
       FIG. 11  is a simplified side view of a jaw crusher bucket according to another embodiment of the invention, in which the mounting location of the movable jaw is adjustable,  
       FIG. 12  is a more detailed front perspective view of a main housing assembly of the jaw crusher bucket of  FIG. 11 ,  
       FIG. 13  is a more detailed front perspective view of a movable jaw mounting assembly of the jaw crusher bucket of  FIG. 11 ,  
       FIG. 14  is a more detailed front perspective view of a toggle lever of the jaw crusher bucket of  FIG. 11 , and  
       FIG. 15  is a more detailed front perspective view of a movable jaw of the jaw crusher bucket of  FIG. 11 . 
    
    
     MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      The front-end loader  10  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  has operably attached thereto a jaw crusher bucket  12  which can be operated by the driver of the loader  10  to pivot about axle mounts (not shown) between the tilted loading position of  FIG. 1 , where a large piece of rubble  14  is being loaded into the bucket  12 , and the upright crushing position of  FIG. 2 . The pivotal motion of the bucket  12  is guided by a hydraulic ram  16 . Smaller, crushed pieces of rubble  15  are shown in  FIG. 2 .  
      The jaw crusher bucket  20  shown in simplified view in  FIGS. 3 and 4  has a stationary jaw  22  and a movable jaw  24 . Extending from the top of the stationary jaw  22  are a plurality of rock and concrete splitting teeth  25  that define a front side of a mouth  26  of the bucket  20 . The movable jaw  24  is rotatably mounted at the rear side of the mouth  26  by a shaft assembly  28 . The sides of the mouth  26  joining the stationary jaw  22  and the movable jaw  24  are strengthened by reinforcing plates  29 . Connected to the rear of the movable jaw  24  via a mounting flange  30  is the cylinder end of a hydraulic ram  32 , the extendable and retractable rod  34  of which is engaged to a first end  36  of a toggle lever  38 . The toggle lever  38  is pivotally mounted via a pivot shaft  40  to opposed sides  41  of the bucket  20 , and a recess in the kinked second end  42  of the lever  38  receives one end of a dog bone shaped link arm  43 . The other end of the link arm  43  is received in a recess formed in a push plate  44  which is secured to the rear of the movable jaw  24 . There are upper and lower pairs of loader mounting hitch flanges  46  secured to the rear cross members  47  of the bucket  20  for receiving the bucket tilt operating arm assembly (not shown) of the loader or excavator to which the bucket  20  is attached.  
      Crushed smaller pieces of rock and concrete fall through a bottom gap  48  between the stationary jaw  22  and the movable jaw  24  remote of the mouth  26 . The driver operates the ram  32  to extend its rod  34  and cause the toggle lever  38  to pivot in a clockwise direction (relative to  FIGS. 3 and 4 ) and so cause the movable jaw  24  to pivot in the same direction, bringing it closer to the stationary jaw  22  and thus crushing large pieces of rubble loaded in the bucket  20 .  
      The jaw crusher bucket  50  shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  is similar in function to that shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , and has a stationary jaw  52 , a movable jaw  54  and a row of teeth  56 . The movable jaw  54  is rotatably mounted at the rear of the mouth  58  opposite the teeth  56  by a shaft  59  housed in a bush  60  and secured to strengthened opposed upper sides  61   a ,  61   b  of the bucket  50 . There is a load bearing cradle  63  for the jaw bush  60 , and stabilising web plates  64   a ,  64   b,    64   c  extend radially from the cradle  63  and have opposed side key portions  65   a,    65   b,    65   c  that fit securely into slots formed through the sides  61   a,    61   b  of the bucket  50 . There are a pair of mounting flanges  66  on the rear of the movable jaw  54  to which are connected a hydraulic ram  67  partly located therebetween. The reciprocating rod  68  of the ram  67  is pivotally attached to upper mounting flanges  70  of a toggle lever  72  (shown in detail in  FIG. 7 ). The toggle lever  72  has a downwardly flared bifurcated body  74  that joins to a bush  76  that houses a shaft  77  for allowing the toggle lever  72  to rotate under control of the ram  67 . The shaft  77  is mounted to opposed lower sides  61   c,    61   d  of the bucket  50 . There is a load bearing cradle  80  for the toggle bush  76 , and stabilising web plates  82   a,    82   b,    82   c  extend radially from the cradle  80  and have opposed side key portions  84   a,    84   b,    84   c  that fit securely into slots formed through the bucket sides  61   c,    61   d.  Extending from the toggle bush  76  are a pair of seats  86 , each of which receive a first end of a strengthened push block  88  of a desired length against replaceable wear plate  89  of the seat  86 . The other end of each push block  88  is received in a socket  90  at the rear of the movable jaw  54 , each socket  90  having a replaceable wear plate  92  against which the push block  88  urges by pivotal operation of the toggle lever  72 . Heavy duty coil springs  94  are connected at respective first ends thereof to a respective lower flanged portion  98  of the toggle lever  72  and are connected at respective second ends thereof to a respective plate  102  at the rear of the movable jaw  54 .  
      The springs  94  cause the movable jaw  54  to retract from the stationary jaw  52  when the ram  67  is operated to retract its rod  68  and cause the toggle lever  72  to pivot in an anticlockwise direction (relative to  FIG. 6 ), and so allow crushed, small pieces of rock and concrete to fall through a bottom gap  104  between the stationary jaw  52  and movable jaw  54 .  
      Slottedly secured to web plates  64   b  and  105 , which rigidly span the opposed sides  61  of the bucket  50  behind the movable jaw  54 , is a hitch mounting assembly  106  comprising a pair of brackets  108  interconnected by a cylinder mount  110  for rotatably receiving a first part of a bucket tilt operating arm assembly (not shown) of, say, a front-end loader. Each bracket  108  has a series of radially spaced apart pin adjustment holes  112  and a plurality of pin insertion holes (obscured by nuts  114  shown in  FIG. 5 ) adapted for engaging a respective, positionally adjustable, hitch elbow  116 . Each hitch elbow  116  has a forearm portion  118 , and the two forearm portions  118  are interconnected by a cylinder mount  120  for rotatably receiving a second part of the bucket tilt operating arm assembly. There is a radial slot  122  formed through the upper arm portion  124  and there is a series of radially spaced apart adjustment slots  126  formed through the reinforced joint portion  128  of each hitch elbow  116 . The location of the radial slot  122  in a hitch elbow  116  can overlap with the location of the pin adjustment holes  112  in an adjacent bracket  108 , and the location of the adjustment slots  126  in a hitch elbow  116  can overlap with the location of the pin insertion holes in an adjacent bracket  108 , so that a hitch elbow  116  can be secured to its adjacent bracket  108  at a selected one of a predetermined number of positions by lock pins or bolts  130 , thus enabling the bucket  50  to be operably attached to a variety of operating arm assembly configurations.  
      Fixed to the inner surface of a side wall  61  of the bucket  50  is a pressure release valve system  132  (protected by a casing  133 ) for controlling the flow of hydraulic fluid through the hoses  134  to and from the ram  67 . The valve system  132  provides automatic termination of the operation of the hydraulic ram  67  if the movable jaw  54  experiences excessive crushing resistance.  
      The stationary jaw  52  of jaw crusher bucket  50  has a convexly curved outer face  136  to facilitate the splitting from a quarry rock face or from a concrete slab of rubble. A point on the face  136  may act as a pivotal fulcrum for manoeuvring the bucket  50  during manipulation against the rock face or concrete slab. The stationary jaw  52  has reinforcing cross-ribs  138  at its outer face  136 . There are convexly tapered piercing splines  142  on its inner face  140 , the height of the piercing splines  142  from the inner face  140  being greater about half way down the jaw  52  than near the mouth  58  or near the bottom gap  104 . Also, the more centrally located splines  142  extend forwardly from the inner face  140  to a greater extent than the splines  142  located towards the edges thereof, thus presenting a convex profile of the splines  142  in two perpendicular directions. The splines  142  of the stationary jaw  52  facilitate the bending and resultant splitting and crushing of large concrete pieces loaded in the bucket  50  when the movable jaw  54  is urged towards the stationary jaw  52 .  
      The movable jaw  54  of jaw crusher bucket  50  has, at its rear face, reinforcing cross-ribs  144  interconnected by reinforcing upright ribs. There are generally inwardly tapered grinding and crushing ribs  148  extending downwardly the full length of its inner face  150  (as shown in  FIG. 8 ). Also, the more centrally located ribs  148  extend forwardly from the inner face  150  to a lesser extent than the ribs  148  located towards the edges thereof, thus presenting a concave profile in the horizontal direction and an inwardly tapered profile in the vertical direction. The ribs  148  facilitate the grinding of rubble loaded in the bucket  50  during its jaw crushing operation.  
      The excavator  152  shown in  FIG. 9  has operably attached thereto a jaw crusher bucket  154 , that is being operated by the driver of the excavator  152  to firstly crush large pieces of rubble  156 , which it has split from a rock face and loaded in the bucket  154 , and secondly deposit the resulting small pieces of rubble  158  upon the ground as may be necessary for stockpiling of useful rubble pieces. The resulting small pieces of rubble  158  may alternatively be loaded onto a truck for transportation to a required landfill or other site, or may be loaded into a cone crusher or the like for further processing of the small pieces of rubble into gravel and smaller particles.  
      The underground mining vehicle  160  shown in  FIG. 10  has operably attached thereto a jaw crusher bucket  162  and has been operated by the vehicle&#39;s driver to split a large rock  164  from a mine face  166  and to scoop it into the bucket  162 , the large rock  164  then to be subject to the jaw crushing operation of the bucket  162 .  
      The jaw crusher bucket  170  shown in  FIG. 11 , whilst particularly suited for use on underground mining vehicles, is similar in basic function to the bucket shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , and has a stationary jaw  172 , a movable jaw  174  and a row of teeth  176 . The mounting location of the movable jaw  174  is, however, adjustable to any of a predetermined number of locations opposite the stationary jaw  172 .  
      As shown more clearly in  FIG. 12 , the opposed sides  180   a,    180   b  of a main housing assembly  178  of the bucket  170  include respective top teeth defining portions  182   a,    182   b  along an upper edge, and respective, upwardly facing, bottom teeth defining portions  184   a,    184   b  on the inside surfaces of the opposed sides  180   a,    180   b.    
      There is a movable jaw mounting assembly  186 , shown more clearly in  FIG. 13 , which has opposed, downwardly facing, top teeth defining portions  188   a,    188   b  on the outside surfaces of the assembly  186 , and opposed, downwardly facing, bottom teeth defining portions  190   a,    190   b  along a lower edge of the assembly  186 .  
      The top teeth defining portions are adapted to intermesh ( 182   a  with  188   a,  and  182   b  with  188   b ), as are the bottom teeth defining portions ( 184   a  with  190   a,  and  184   b  with  190   b ), when the movable jaw mounting assembly  186  is located at its desired adjustment position with the main housing assembly  178 , thereby defining new fixed positions for pivoting of the movable jaw crusher  174 , and for pivoting the toggle lever  192 , and for mounting of hitches and flanges of the bucket  170  to the vehicle. The adjustable relocation of the movable jaw  174  with respect to the stationary jaw  172  will be of benefit to crushing rubble of a wide variety of sizes and mass, see massive rock  193  in  FIG. 11 .  
      The main housing assembly  178  includes a pair of opposed main pivot axles  194 , and lift ram mounting shafts  196  and push ram brackets  198  for mounting lift rams  200  and push rams  202  respectively. When desired, the lift rams  200  lift the movable jaw mounting assembly  186  from its intermeshed engagement with the main housing assembly  178 , and the push rams  202  push (or pull) the disengaged movable jaw mounting assembly  186  forwards or backwards to a desired location before the lift rams  200  lower the movable jaw mounting assembly  186  back into intermeshed engagement with the main housing assembly  178  but at a thus adjusted mounting location of the movable jaw  174 .  
      There are a pair of hydraulic rams  204  for operating the toggle lever  192 . The rams  204  are connected at their cylinder ends to brackets  206  mounted on the movable jaw mounting assembly  186  and at their rod ends to the mounting apertures  207  (see  FIG. 14 ) of the toggle lever  192 .  
      The movable jaw  174  includes a bushing  208  for receiving therethrough a pivot shaft, and crushing ribs  210  projecting from the rock crushing face of the jaw  174 . The bushing  208  is housed lengthwise in a cradle  212  and between the opposed forward extensions  213  of the top teeth defining portions  188   a,    188   b  through which holes  214  are formed to receive the ends of the pivot shaft. Lock bolts secure the pivot shaft for the toggle lever  192  to the movable jaw mounting assembly  186 .  
      The toggle lever  192  has a bushing  220  for receiving therethrough a pivot shaft  216 , and a pair of seats  222  for receiving one end of respective dog bone shaped link arms  224 . The other end of each link arm  224  is received in a respective recess formed in a push plate  226 , a pair of which are secured to the rear of the movable jaw  174 .  
      Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope or ambit of the invention.  
      For instance, a guillotine and magnets may be fitted at the bottom gap of the jaw crusher bucket, particularly one that is designed to crush steel reinforced concrete slab pieces. Unwanted steel waste from the slab may thus be isolated from the small crushed concrete pieces deposited from the bucket.  
      Also, a hydraulic ram may be connected to the stationary jaw for operating the movement of the teeth thereon so as to further facilitate manoeuvring and the splitting of boulders from rock faces and concrete chunks from slabs.  
      Still further, the crushing surfaces of the stationary and movable jaws may be replaceable by bolt-on prefabricated plates having piercing splines or ribs of a desired configuration formed thereon.