Pivotable Lower Chassis for Sloped Terrain Stability

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Solution Overview

Problem

Construction vehicles, such as excavators, face challenges in maintaining stability on sloping terrain, leading to increased risk of tipping and reduced service life of chain drives due to high loads on lower running gear.

Innovation Solution

A construction vehicle design featuring a divided chassis with a rigid upper chassis connected to the slewing ring and a pivotable lower chassis, equipped with a pivoting device and telescoping mechanism, allowing for angular adjustment and increased footprint to enhance stability and reduce load on chain drives.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Stability of the object's composition

If a single rigid chassis is used, then the structure is simple, but the vehicle cannot maintain stability on sloping terrain and has high risk of tipping

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestability on sloping terrainVSAvoidchassis structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The chassis is divided into two separate pivotable components: an upper chassis carrying the slewing ring and a lower chassis carrying the lower running gear. This segmentation allows each chassis to independently adapt to terrain conditions, with the lower chassis pivoting to maintain stability while the upper chassis remains relatively stable for operational precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Duration of action of stationary object

If the lower running gear is fixed in position, then the structure is simple, but the chain drives experience high loads and reduced service life on slopes

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveservice life of chain drivesVSAvoidchassis mechanism complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Duration of action of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The lower chassis is made dynamically pivotable relative to the upper chassis, allowing the lower running gear to automatically adjust its position in response to terrain slopes. This dynamic adaptation distributes loads more evenly across the chain drives, preventing excessive stress concentration and extending component service life.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Stability of the object's composition

If the chassis is tilted to match terrain, then stability improves, but the footprint decreases and tipping risk increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestability on slopeVSAvoidfootprint
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSArea of stationary object

Solution Approach 1:

By separating the upper and lower chassis, the system allows the lower chassis to pivot and conform to the slope while the upper chassis maintains a more level orientation. This segmentation enables the vehicle to preserve a larger effective footprint on sloped terrain, reducing the center of gravity shift and minimizing tipping risk.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3103928B1Construction vehicle with tipping chassis
Publication Date: 2021.12.15 WACKER NEUSON LINZ
  • EP3103928B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3103928B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3103928B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A construction vehicle has a slewing ring (2) on which a superstructure (1) is rotatably mounted and a chassis supporting the slewing ring (2). The chassis consists of an upper chassis (4) rigidly connected to the slewing ring (2) with an upper running gear (5) and a lower chassis (6) with a lower running gear (7) pivotally mounted relative to the upper chassis (4). A pivoting device (8, 9) is also provided for pivoting the lower chassis (6) relative to the upper chassis (4).