Work vehicle

Abstract

To provide a work vehicle capable of performing work efficiently.SOLUTION: A work vehicle 1 has a flat counterweight 10 on a left or right side of a main frame 13. A through hole 14 is formed in a counterweight 10 at a position corresponding to a battery access port 24 formed in the main frame 13.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a work vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Known examples of work vehicles such as construction machines include crawler-type skid steer loaders (hereinafter referred to as "crawler loaders") and hydraulic shovels (also referred to as power shovels, excavators, backhoes, etc.) that are used for excavating the ground and moving excavated soil and sand (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Some work vehicles are equipped with a counterweight so that when a load is applied to a position away from the vehicle's center of gravity, the movement of the vehicle's center of gravity falls within an allowable range, stabilizing the vehicle (for example, making it less likely for the vehicle to tip over).

[0003] 8 is a diagram for explaining a counterweight 110 of a work vehicle 100 according to the prior art. The work vehicle 100 has an engine EG and a battery (not shown). The engine EG is covered by left and right main body frames 113, and the upper and rear ends are covered by an engine cover 118 and a rear door 119, respectively. The counterweight 110 is attached to edge surfaces (rear side surfaces) of the left and right main body frames 113 located near both widthwise ends of the rear door 119 of the work vehicle 100.

[0004] The counterweight 110 is configured with a base plate 110a and two weight plates 110b and 110c. The base plate 110a has a through hole (not shown) for mounting to the main frame 113 and screw holes (not shown) at positions corresponding to the through holes (not shown) formed in the weight plates 110b and 110c. The base plate 110a is fastened and fixed by screwing a bolt (not shown) into a base plate screw hole (not shown) formed on the edge surface of the main frame 113. Next, the first weight plate 110b is fastened and fixed by screwing a bolt into the screw hole of the base plate 110a through the through hole formed in the weight plate 110b. Finally, the second weight plate 110c is fastened and fixed by screwing a bolt into the screw hole of the base plate 110a through the through hole formed in the weight plates 110b and 110c. In this manner, the counterweight 110 is made up of a base plate 110a and two weight plates 110b, 110c which are stacked and fixed together, and the total weight can be adjusted by changing the number of layers. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2017-39363 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] As described above, the counterweight 110 attached to the conventional work vehicle 100 has a large number of parts and requires many steps in replacement work, such as attaching and removing the counterweight, which makes it difficult to efficiently replace the counterweight.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and has an object to provide a work vehicle that can efficiently perform counterweight replacement work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] [1] The work vehicle of the present invention is a work vehicle having a flat counterweight on the left or right side of a main frame, and a first through hole is formed in the counterweight at a position corresponding to a battery access port formed in the main frame.

[0009] [2] In the work vehicle of the present invention, it is preferable that at least the thickness of the counterweight is set so that the turning range having a radius equal to the length connecting the rear edge of the counterweight from the center set based on the axle line of the rearmost wheel and the axle line of the frontmost wheel of the work vehicle does not exceed the turning range having a radius equal to the length connecting the end of the rear bumper from the center of the work vehicle.

[0010] [3] In the work vehicle of the present invention, at least three or more screw holes are formed around the first through hole for fixing a cover to the counterweight for covering the first through hole when the battery is not being accessed, and when the battery is not being accessed, the cover is preferably tightened and fixed by screwing a bolt into the screw hole through a second through hole formed in the cover.

[0011] [4] In the work vehicle of the present invention, when the work vehicle is operated without attaching the counterweight to the main body frame, the cover is attached directly to the main body frame, and when the work vehicle is operated with the counterweight attached to the main body frame, it is preferable that the cover is attached to the counterweight. Effect of the Invention

[0012] The work vehicle of the present invention is a work vehicle having a flat counterweight on the left or right side of the main body frame, and the counterweight has a first through hole formed in it at a position corresponding to the battery access opening formed in the main body frame. The counterweight with the first through hole formed in the position corresponding to the battery access opening is a flat plate. Therefore, unlike the case of a stacked type counterweight attached to the position corresponding to the battery access opening, there is no need to perform work such as attaching (fixing) the counterweight every time it is stacked, and the counterweight can be replaced efficiently. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a work vehicle 1 according to an embodiment, as viewed from the rear side. [Diagram 2] 2A and 2B are diagrams showing the structure of the counterweight 10, in which FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is a right side view of FIG. 2A. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a view of a work vehicle 1 according to an embodiment, seen from the rear side. [Figure 4] These are diagrams for explaining the attachment of the counterweight 10, where Fig. 4(a) is a diagram showing the cover 15 attached to the counterweight 10, Fig. 4(b) is a diagram showing the state before the counterweight 10 is attached, and Fig. 4(c) is a diagram for explaining the attachment of the cover 15 to the counterweight 10. [Diagram 5] 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining the structure of the counterweight 10. FIG. 5A shows the counterweight 10 without the cover 15 attached, FIG. 5B shows the counterweight 10 with the eyebolt 20 fixed thereto, and FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 5B. [Figure 6] 2 is a diagram for explaining a turning trajectory when the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment turns. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a turning trajectory when a work vehicle according to a conventional technique turns. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a work vehicle according to a conventional technique, as viewed from the rear side. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment will be described by taking as an example a crawler loader with a bucket attached to the end of an arm. First, the external configuration of the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment as seen from the rear side. Also, the external configuration of the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment is not the gist of the present invention, so will only be described briefly.

[0015] In addition, in the following description, when discussing up, down, left, and right, the bottom side of the work vehicle 1 will be referred to as bottom and the side opposite the bottom as top, and the left side of the work vehicle 1 when viewed from the rear will be referred to as left, and the right side will be referred to as right.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 1, the work vehicle 1 has a pair of left and right traveling devices 12 each having an endless track (crawler) 11, a main body frame 13 to which the traveling devices 12 are attached on the left and right, and a cabin 25 provided in the upper center of the main body frame 13.

[0017] The cabin 25 is formed in a box shape, and is provided with a front door (not shown) that can be opened and closed freely on the front side of the work vehicle 1. An operator's seat (not shown) on which an operator sits facing the front of the vehicle is provided inside the cabin 25.

[0018] The work vehicle 1 has an operator seat and, in response to the operation of an operating lever, drives the traveling device 12 to move the work vehicle 1, swing the arm up and down, and swing the bucket (not shown) up and down.

[0019] The work vehicle 1 is also provided with an engine EG at a position rearward of the cabin 25. The left and right sides of the engine EG are covered by the main body frame 13, and the top and rear are covered by an engine cover 28 and a rear door 19, respectively. A rear bumper 26 is provided below the rear door 19. A battery 17 is provided inside the side surface of the main body frame 13 to supply electricity to the work vehicle 1.

[0020] Since the battery 17 requires periodic maintenance, a battery access port 24 (see FIG. 4(b)) is formed in an area corresponding to the position where the battery 17 is placed on the side of the main body frame 13.

[0021] [Counterweight configuration] The counterweight that is attached and fixed to the main body frame 13 will be described below with reference to Figs. 2 to 7. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the counterweight 10. Fig. 2(a) is a plan view, and Fig. 2(b) is a right side view of Fig. 2(a). Fig. 3 is a view of the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment, seen from the rear side. Fig. 4 is a diagram for explaining the attachment of the counterweight 10. Fig. 4(a) is a diagram showing the cover attached to the counterweight. Fig. 4(b) is a diagram showing the state before the counterweight 10 is attached. Fig. 4(c) is a diagram for explaining the attachment of the cover 15 to the counterweight 10. Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining the structure of the counterweight 10. Fig. 5(a) is a diagram showing the state when the cover is not attached to the counterweight. Fig. 5(b) is a diagram showing the state when an eyebolt is fixed to the counterweight. Fig. 5(c) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in Fig. 5(b). Fig. 6 is a diagram for explaining a case where the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment is within the turning locus range when the vehicle turns. Fig. 7 is a diagram for explaining a case where a part of the work vehicle according to the conventional technology goes outside the turning locus range when the vehicle turns. Note that in Figs. 2 to 6, the same components as those shown in Fig. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

[0022] The counterweight 10 is attached to the left side surface (the side surface of the main frame 13 on the left side when the rear door 19 is seen as the front) and the right side surface (the side surface of the main frame 13 on the right side when the rear door 19 is seen as the front) of the main frame 13 in order to stabilize the body of the working vehicle 1. As shown in Figs. 2(a) and (b), the counterweight 10 is a flat plate having a predetermined thickness D (see Fig. 2(b)) and having four corners with rounded edges (side surfaces). The counterweight 10 is used to stabilize the vehicle by keeping the movement of the center of gravity G of the vehicle within an allowable range when a load is applied to a position away from the center of rotation C. The counterweight 10 is shaped so as not to come into contact with the rear of the crawler 11, but is not limited to this shape as long as it does not come into contact with the crawler 11 according to the shape of the crawler 11. A substantially elliptical through hole 14 is formed near the center of the counterweight 10.

[0023] The through hole 14 is formed at a position corresponding to a battery access opening 24 (see FIG. 4(b)) formed in the main frame 13 when the counterweight 10 is attached to the main frame 13. The shape of the through hole 14 is not limited to a substantially elliptical shape, and may be, for example, a rectangular shape, as long as the battery 17 can be accessed. Through holes 18 for mounting the counterweight 10 to the main frame 13 are formed near the four corners of the counterweight 10, and three screw holes 16 for mounting the cover 15 (see FIG. 4(a)) are formed around the through holes 14. A bolt 45 (see FIG. 3) is screwed into a screw hole (not shown) in the main frame 13 through the through hole 18 of the counterweight 10 and tightened to fix it. Note that when the battery 17 is attached to the inside of the right side surface of the main frame 13, the counterweight 10 attached to the left side surface of the main frame 13 does not need to access the battery 17. Therefore, the counterweight 10 attached to the right side surface of the main frame 13 may be a flat plate without the through hole 14 formed therein.

[0024] As shown in Figure 3, the length from the top of the bolt 45 that is screwed and fastened through the through hole 18 of one counterweight 10 to the top of the bolt 45 of the other counterweight 10 is taken as L2. The thickness D of the counterweight 10 (see Figure 2(b)) is set so that L2 falls within the range of the length L1 from the outer surface 41 of one crawler 11 to the outer surface 41 of the other crawler 11. By setting the thickness D of the counterweight 10 in this way, the work vehicle 1 does not come into contact with surrounding structures within the swing range during work.

[0025] Next, another setting example of the thickness D of the counterweight 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. A line Lc2 is drawn that bisects the distance (distance A + distance B) between the frontmost wheel 51 and the rearmost wheel 53, and then the center line Lc1 of the work vehicle 1 is drawn, and the intersection is determined as the turning center C. In other words, the point where the center line Lc2 and the center line Lc1 of the work vehicle 1 intersect so that distance A and distance B are equal is the position of the turning center C. The range T1 of the turning trajectory when the work vehicle 1 turns is the range of the trajectory that both longitudinal end portions 31 (see Figs. 1 and 3) of the rear bumper 26 turn about the turning center C.

[0026] The thickness D of the counterweight 10 may be set so that the rotation range does not exceed the range T1, with the length connecting the rotation center C to the rear edge 32 of the counterweight 10 as the radius. By setting the thickness D of the counterweight 10 in this way, the work vehicle 1 will not come into contact with surrounding structures within the rotation range during work.

[0027] On the other hand, in the conventional technology, when the turning range of the working vehicle 100 is set within the turning locus of both ends of the rear bumper 126 drawn around the turning center C as shown in FIG. 7, the counterweight 110 is outside the turning range. That is, when the working vehicle 100 turns, there is a risk that the counterweight 110 may come into contact with a structure that exists outside the turning range. For this reason, the worker may turn the working vehicle 100 while moving it, for example, forward, backward, left and right, so that the working vehicle 100 does not come into contact with a structure (not shown) that exists outside the turning range. In this way, there is a risk that work other than turning is required to turn, and therefore efficient work may not be performed. Therefore, by setting the thickness D of the counterweight 10 as described above, the working vehicle 1 does not come into contact with surrounding structures within the turning range during work, and therefore work can be performed safely and efficiently without coming into contact with structures that exist outside the turning range of the working vehicle 1.

[0028] [Installation of counterweight 10] For ease of explanation, the following describes an example in which the battery 17 is provided on the inside of the right side surface of the main body frame 13, and the counterweight 10 is attached to the side surface of the right main body frame 13. Note that Figures 5(a) and 5(b) are diagrams showing the left rear side of the vehicle, but the battery 17 is not attached to the inside of the left main body frame 13. Note that when the battery 17 is provided on the inside of the left side surface of the main body frame 13, the counterweight 10 with the through hole 14 formed therein is attached to the side surface of the left main body frame 13.

[0029] Before the counterweight 10 is attached to the side of the main frame 13, a cover 15 is attached to the main frame 13 so as to cover the battery access port 24.

[0030] The counterweight 10 is attached to the main frame 13 by screwing bolts 45 through the through holes 18 into four screw holes 33 (see FIG. 4(b)) for the counterweight 10 formed on the side of the main frame 13 and tightening them. At this stage, the through holes 14 of the counterweight 10 are not blocked, so the battery 17 can be accessed through the battery access opening 24, making it easy to work on the battery 17 and to remove and install (remove) the battery 17. Note that reference numeral 27 in FIG. 4(b) denotes three screw holes 27 for fixing the cover 15 formed on the side of the main frame 13 before the counterweight 10 is attached to the main frame 13.

[0031] After work on the battery 17, removal, installation, and other access to the battery 17 are completed, the cover 15 is attached to the counterweight 10. The cover 15 is attached to the counterweight 10 by screwing bolts (not shown) into three screw holes 16 for attaching the cover 15 formed on the top surface of the counterweight 10 through through holes 29, as shown in FIG. 4(c), and the appearance is as shown in FIG. 4(a). At this stage, the battery 17 cannot be accessed. Note that the number of screw holes 16 may be four or more, and the number of through holes 29 formed in the cover 15 corresponding to the screw holes 16 may also be four or more.

[0032] Since the counterweight 10 is quite heavy, an eyebolt 20 as shown in Fig. 5(c) is used when attaching or detaching the counterweight 10 to or from the main frame 13. The eyebolt 20 is attached and fixed to the upper edge surface of the counterweight 10, and when attaching or detaching the counterweight 10, a lifting tool (not shown) is attached and fixed to the ring of the eyebolt 20, and then the counterweight is lifted or lowered by a crane or the like to move it and adjust its position appropriately.

[0033] Thus, the work vehicle 1 according to the embodiment has a flat counterweight 10 on the left or right side, and the counterweight 10 has a through hole 14 formed at a position corresponding to the battery access port formed on the main frame. Since the counterweight 10 is a flat plate, there is no need to perform fixing work or the like every time it is stacked, as in the case of the stacked type of the conventional technology described above. Therefore, the fixing work of the counterweight 10 to the main frame 13 can be completed in one operation, and the fixing (mounting) work can be performed efficiently. In addition, the removal work of the counterweight 10 from the main frame 13 can be completed in one operation, similar to the fixing work, and the removal work of the counterweight 10 can be performed efficiently. During battery maintenance, the battery can be easily removed and attached through the through hole 14 formed at a position corresponding to the battery access port 24.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the work vehicle 1 of the embodiment, at least the thickness of the counterweight 10 is set so that the turning range having a radius equal to the length connecting the center C, which is set based on the axis line Lr of the rear wheel 53 and the axis line Lf of the front wheel 51 of the work vehicle 1, to the rear edge 32 of the counterweight 10 does not exceed the turning range T1 having a radius equal to the length connecting the center C of the work vehicle 1 to the end 31 of the rear bumper 26. Therefore, even when the work vehicle 1 is turned during work, the work vehicle 1 will not come into contact with structures around the work vehicle 1 within the turning range, and work can be performed safely and efficiently.

[0035] Furthermore, according to the work vehicle 1 of this embodiment, at least three or more screw holes for fastening cover 15 to counterweight 10 for closing through hole 14 when battery 17 is not being accessed are formed around the through hole, and when battery 17 is not being accessed, cover 15 is fastened and fixed by screwing bolts into screw holes 16 via through holes 29 formed in cover 15. Therefore, battery access opening 24 is covered by cover 15 except when battery maintenance is being performed, so that the battery can be appropriately protected from the external environment (for example, rain, snow, etc.).

[0036] Furthermore, according to the work vehicle 1 according to this embodiment, when the work vehicle 1 is operated without attaching the counterweight 10 to the main body frame 13, the cover 15 is attached directly to the main body frame 13, and when the work vehicle 1 is operated with the counterweight 10 attached to the main body frame 13, the cover 15 is attached to the counterweight 10. Therefore, one cover 15 can be used both for attaching directly to the main body frame 13 and for attaching to the counterweight 10, without having to be separated, so there is no need to prepare a new cover 15 separately for each use. This reduces costs and makes maintenance, storage, etc. easier.

[0037] It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to a crawler loader, but the present invention can also be applied to work vehicles other than crawler loaders.

[0038] Also, one flat surface of the counterweight fits the shape of the counterweight attachment part on the left side surface of the main frame, and the other flat surface of the counterweight fits the shape of the counterweight attachment part on the right side surface of the main frame. In other words, the same counterweight can be attached to both the right and left sides. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1 work vehicle (crawler loader), 10 counterweight, 11 endless track, 12 running gear, 13 main frame, 14 through hole (first through hole), 15 cover, 16 screw hole, 17 battery, 18 through hole, 19 rear door, 20 eyebolt, 24 battery access port, 25 cabin, 26 rear bumper, 28 engine cover, 29 through hole (second through hole), 31 end, 32 edge, 51 front wheel, 53 rear wheel, Lr axle center line, Lf axle center line, C turning center

Claims

1. A work vehicle having a flat counterweight on the left or right side of a main body frame, A first through hole is formed in the counterweight at a position corresponding to a battery access port formed in the main body frame. A work vehicle characterized by:

2. 2. The work vehicle according to claim 1, At least the thickness of the counterweight is set so that a turning range having a radius of a length connecting a rear edge of the counterweight from a center set based on an axle line of the rearmost wheel and an axle line of the frontmost wheel of the work vehicle does not exceed a turning range having a radius of a length connecting an end of a rear bumper from the center of the work vehicle. A work vehicle characterized by:

3. 3. The work vehicle according to claim 1, At least three screw holes are formed around the first through hole for fixing a cover for closing the first through hole to the counterweight when the battery is not accessed, When the battery is not accessed, the cover is fastened to the counterweight by screwing a bolt into the screw hole through a second through hole formed in the cover. A work vehicle characterized by:

4. 4. The work vehicle according to claim 3, When the work vehicle is operated without attaching the counterweight to the main body frame, the cover is attached directly to the main body frame, When the counterweight is attached to the main body frame and the work vehicle is operated, the cover is attached to the counterweight. A work vehicle characterized by:

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