Excavator attachment device

Abstract

The invention relates to an excavator attachment (1) with a tool-side quick coupler (2) for coupling a tool or attachment, a grapple assembly (3) with two grapple arms (4, 5) movable relative to each other by a grapple drive (23, 24), and an adapter (6) for coupling the excavator attachment (1) to an excavator-side quick coupler. According to the invention, the grapple assembly (3) is mounted on a grapple carrier (19) fixedly arranged on the underside of the adapter (6), and the quick coupler (2) is mounted on the underside of the grapple carrier (19).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to an excavator attachment according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Such an excavator attachment is known from DE 10 2023 114 523 A1. In the tiltrotator disclosed therein, the tool-side quick coupler, which serves to couple a tool or attachment, is rotatably mounted within a drive housing about a pivot axis 5 and can be rotated 360° relative to the drive housing by means of a rotary drive. The drive housing is pivotably mounted on a connecting part designed as an adapter via laterally projecting bearing journals within two spaced-apart bearing eyes about a pivot axis orthogonal to the pivot axis and can be pivoted by approximately + / - 45° relative to the carrier by means of a hydraulic rotary drive. The tiltrotator can be coupled to an excavator-side quick coupler via the connecting part, which is designed as an adapter with two bolt-shaped coupling elements.With a tiltrotator like this, tools attached to the quick coupler can not only be rotated around the axis of rotation, but also tilted relative to the connecting piece around a pivot axis perpendicular to the axis of rotation, thus expanding the tools' range of motion. For example, excavator buckets, compactors, hydraulic hammers, or other tools can be attached to the quick coupler. The quick coupler also features a gripper assembly with two pivoting gripper arms for gripping pipes, rods, stones, or similar materials. This further expands the range of applications. However, such a tiltrotator also has a relatively high weight and a comparatively large design, which can negatively impact working speed, stability, and handling.Furthermore, controlling such a tiltrotator with an additional gripper arrangement always requires a relatively complex and costly control system.

[0003] The object of the invention is to create an excavator attachment of the type mentioned above, which is stable and compact and enables a wider range of applications.

[0004] This problem is solved by an excavator attachment with the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0005] The excavator attachment according to the invention comprises a tool-side quick coupler for attaching a tool or attachment, a grapple assembly with two grapple arms movable relative to each other by a grapple drive, and an adapter for connecting the excavator attachment to an excavator-side quick coupler. The grapple is mounted on a grapple carrier fixed to the underside of the adapter, and the quick coupler is mounted on the underside of the grapple carrier. The adapter, the grapple carrier with the grapple assembly, and the quick coupler create a compact excavator attachment with extended application possibilities, composed of three modules. The adapter, the grapple carrier, and the quick coupler are rigidly connected to one another, resulting in a stable unit. The grapple carrier with the grapple assembly and the quick coupler located on the underside of the grapple carrier can be connected to, for example, an excavator attachment via the adapter.The grapple carrier is attached to the excavator's boom and quick coupler. Using the grapple assembly, items such as manhole covers, curbs, pipes, or other construction components can be gripped and moved. Digging buckets, profiling buckets, or other tools can be attached to the quick coupler on the tool side. The grapple carrier with the grapple assembly can also be used without any tools attached to the quick coupler.

[0006] In a preferred embodiment, the two gripper arms of the gripper assembly can be pivotably arranged on a support structure rigidly connected to the gripper carrier about a pivot axis perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gripper carrier.

[0007] The gripper drive advantageously comprises a first gripper cylinder for actuating a first gripper arm and a second gripper cylinder for actuating a second gripper arm. However, the drive of the two gripper arms can also be achieved in another manner. To ensure that the two gripper arms, each pivoted by a gripper cylinder, can be moved into one another and folded completely, the first gripper arm advantageously has a slot-shaped recess to receive the second gripper arm.

[0008] The first gripper cylinder and the second gripper cylinder can be arranged in a stable and compact design on the outer sides of two side walls of the gripper carrier.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment, the tool-side quick coupler comprises a support housing which has, on one side, first receptacles for receiving and holding a first bolt-shaped coupling element on the tool side and, on the other side, second receptacles for receiving and holding a second bolt-shaped coupling element on the tool side. The tool-side quick coupler also includes a locking device with two locking bolts slidably guided within bores in the support housing and movable between an extended locking position and a retracted unlocking or changeover position.

[0010] In a simple design, the locking bolts can be manually moved between the retracted unlocking / changeover position and the extended locking position via a mechanical adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism can consist of a shaft and a joint arrangement with cylindrical actuating elements, joint pieces, and lever arms.

[0011] In a preferred design, the adapter contains two parallel side walls in which two parallel bolt-shaped coupling elements are held for coupling the excavator attachment to an excavator-side quick coupler.

[0012] Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings. The drawings show: Figure 1 a side view of an excavator attachment according to the invention; Figure 2 the in Figure 1Excavator attachment shown in a top view; Figure 3 the in Figure 1 Excavator attachment shown in a first perspective view from above; Figure 4 the in Figure 1 Excavator attachment shown in a second perspective view from above; Figure 5 the in Figure 1 The excavator attachment shown is shown in a first perspective view from below and Figure 6 the in Figure 1 The excavator attachment shown is shown in a second perspective view from below.

[0013] The in the Figures 1 to 6 The excavator attachment 1, shown in different views, has a tool-side quick coupler 2 for coupling a tool or attachment, a gripper assembly 3 with two gripper arms 4 or 5 that can be moved relative to each other, and an adapter 6 for coupling the excavator attachment 1 to an excavator-side quick coupler.

[0014] As seen from the side view of Figure 1 and the perspective views of Figures 5 and 6As can be seen, the quick coupler 2, designed for attaching a tool or implement and which can be manually locked and unlocked, comprises a support housing 7 constructed as a welded or cast part. This housing has first receptacles 8, open on one side, for receiving and holding a first bolt-shaped coupling element on the tool side, and second receptacles 9, open on the other side, for receiving and holding a second bolt-shaped coupling element on the tool side. The first receptacles 8, open on one side, are claw- or fork-shaped. The second receptacles 9, open on the other side and downwards, have a curved lower contact surface for the insertion of a bolt-shaped coupling element.

[0015] The quick coupler 2 has one in the Figures 5 and 6A recognizable locking device 10 is provided with two locking bolts 12, which are slidably guided within bores 11 of the support housing 7 and are movable between an extended locking position and a retracted unlocking or changeover position. The locking bolts 12, arranged on the second receptacles 9, can be manually moved between the retracted unlocking or changeover position and the extended locking position via a mechanical adjustment mechanism. The mechanical adjustment mechanism comprises a shaft 13 and a joint arrangement with cylindrical actuating elements 14, joint pieces 15, and joint levers 16. By rotating the shaft 13, which is rotatably mounted between two side plates of the support housing 7, the two locking bolts 12 can be moved between the retracted unlocking or changeover position and the extended locking position.In the extended locking position of the two locking bolts 12, the downward-facing secondary receptacles 9 on the quick coupler 2 are closed on the underside, so that a bolt-shaped coupling element can be held on a tool. An embodiment of a manually operated quick coupler is disclosed in DE 20 2017 001 992 U1. For the design and operation of a manually operated quick coupler, reference is made to this publication. The locking bolts 12 can also be moved between the retracted unlocking / changeover position and the extended locking position by a hydraulic actuator or other drive. Various attachments, such as digging buckets, profiling buckets, or the like, can thus be coupled to the quick coupler 2.

[0016] On the laterally open first mountings 8 on the support housing 7 of the quick coupler 2, hinged locking hooks 17 are arranged between a folded-down change and locking position and a folded-up safety position. The locking hooks 17, which can pivot about transverse axes 18, form a fall protection device that reliably prevents tools or attachments from falling, even if the locking mechanism of the quick coupler 5 has inadvertently not been properly closed despite any visual indicator, warning signal, and counter-check.

[0017] The quick coupler 2 is attached to the underside of a gripper carrier 19, which is rigidly connected to the adapter 6. The gripper jaw assembly 3, with its two gripper arms 4 and 5 movable relative to each other, is arranged on the gripper carrier 19. The two gripper arms 4 and 5 are pivotably arranged about pivot axes 20 and 21, respectively, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gripper carrier 19, on a support structure 22 rigidly connected to the gripper carrier 19. The two gripper arms 4 and 5 can be folded out or in by means of a hydraulic gripper jaw drive formed here by two double-acting gripper cylinders 23 and 24, respectively. In the embodiment shown, a first gripper arm 4 is movable by a first gripper cylinder 23, and a second gripper arm 5 is movable by a second gripper cylinder 24. As shown in the figure... Figure 5As can be seen, the first gripper arm 4 has a slot-shaped recess 25 for receiving the other gripper arm 4. This allows the two gripper arms 4 and 5, which can be pivoted by a gripper cylinder 23 and 24 respectively, to be moved into each other and folded completely. The two gripper cylinders 23 and 24 are attached to the outside of two side walls 26 of the gripper carrier 19 and are connected to the respective gripper arms 4 and 5 via their piston rods 27.

[0018] On the upper side of the grab carrier 19, the adapter 6 for coupling the excavator attachment 1 to an excavator-side quick coupler is arranged. The adapter 6 has a base plate 28 and two parallel side plates 29 and 30. Two spaced-apart and parallel bolt-shaped coupling elements 31 and 32 are held in the two side plates 29 and 30 of the adapter 6. A coupling element carrier 33, which serves to accommodate couplings for power supply lines, is attached to the coupling element 32 closer to the grab arms 4 and 5 via brackets 34. Reference symbol list

[0019] 1 Excavator attachment 2 Tool-side quick coupler 3 Grapple assembly 4 First grapple arm 5 Second grapple arm 6 Adapter 7 Support housing 8 First mount 9 Second mount 10 Locking device 11 Bore 12 Locking bolt 13 Shaft 14 Actuator 15 Joint piece 16 Joint lever 17 Catch hook 18 Cross axle 19 Grapple carrier 20 Swivel axle 21 Swivel axle 22 Support structure 23 First grapple cylinder 24 Second grapple cylinder 25 Recess 26 Side wall 27 Piston rod 28 Base plate 29 First side wall 30 Second side wall 31 First coupling element 32 Second coupling element 33 Coupling element carrier 34 Bracket

Claims

1. Excavator attachment (1) with a tool-side quick coupler (2) for coupling a tool or attachment, a grapple assembly (3) with two grapple arms (4, 5) movable relative to each other by a grapple drive (23, 24) and an adapter (6) for coupling the excavator attachment (1) to an excavator-side quick coupler, characterized by the fact that the gripper assembly (3) is mounted on a gripper carrier (19) fixedly arranged on the underside of the adapter (6) and the quick coupler (2) is mounted on the underside of the gripper carrier (19).

2. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 1, characterized by the fact that the two gripper arms (4, 5) of the gripper assembly (3) are arranged pivotably about a pivot axis (20, 21) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gripper carrier (19) on a support structure (22) which is fixedly connected to the gripper carrier 19.

3. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the fact thatthe gripper drive (23, 24) includes a first gripper cylinder (23) for actuating a first gripper arm (4) and a second gripper cylinder (24) for actuating a second gripper arm (5).

4. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that the first gripper arm (4) contains a slot-shaped recess (25) for receiving the second gripper arm (5).

5. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized by the fact that the first gripper cylinder (23) and the second gripper cylinder (24) are arranged on the outside sides of two side walls (26) of the gripper carrier (19).

6. Excavator attachment (1) according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterized by the fact that the first gripper cylinder (23) and the second gripper cylinder (24) are each connected to the gripper arms (3, 4) via a piston rod (27).

7. Excavator attachment (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized by the fact thatThe tool-side quick coupler (2) has a support housing (7) with first receptacles (8) open to one side for receiving and holding a tool-side first bolt-shaped coupling element on one side and second receptacles (9) open to the bottom for receiving and holding a tool-side second bolt-shaped coupling element on the other side.

8. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 7, characterized by the fact that The tool-side quick coupler (2) includes a locking device (10) with two locking bolts (12) which are slidably guided within bores (11) of the support housing (7) and which can be moved between an extended locking position and a retracted unlocking or changeover position.

9. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 8, characterized by the fact thatthe locking bolts (12) can be manually moved between the retracted unlocking or changeover position and the extended locking position via a mechanical adjustment mechanism (13, 14, 15, 16).

10. Excavator attachment (1) according to claim 9, characterized by the fact that the adjustment mechanism (13, 14, 15, 16) is formed by a shaft (13) and a joint arrangement with cylindrical adjusting elements (14), joint pieces (15) and joint levers (16).

11. Excavator attachment (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized by the fact that the adapter (6) contains two parallel side walls (29, 30) in which two parallel bolt-shaped coupling elements (31, 32) are held.

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