Tool Holding Coupler With Self-Cleaning Hydraulic Connection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile work machines require manual and time-consuming hydraulic connection/disconnection for 'active' tools, leading to safety risks and inefficiencies, especially in harsh construction site conditions where dirt and deformation impair coupling systems.
Innovation Solution
A tool holding device with a self-cleaning system, including a dirt channel and hydraulic unit with a piston and pressure relief valve, allows for fully automated tool changes without manual handling, ensuring secure locking and energy transfer while preventing fluid leakage and contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual hydraulic connection and disconnection is used for active tools, then the operator can control the process, but the operation becomes time-consuming and safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs hydraulic connection and disconnection automatically without operator intervention. The quick-coupler system with automated hydraulic coupling allows the tool change process to service itself, eliminating the need for manual handling of hydraulic lines and reducing both time loss and safety risks associated with operator exposure to moving parts and hydraulic fluids.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual mechanical operations with an automated hydraulic system. The hydraulic unit automatically establishes and disconnects hydraulic connections between the vehicle and active tools, substituting the manual mechanical process of connecting and disconnecting hydraulic lines with an automated fluid-powered system that reduces operator involvement and time requirements.
2Reliability
If sealing plugs are installed to prevent dirt contamination, then hydraulic coupling functionality is protected, but the operator must manually install and remove them requiring exit from the cab
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates self-cleaning functionality where the hydraulic coupling mechanism automatically removes dirt and contaminants from its own surfaces during the tool change process. The automated quick-coupler system performs cleaning actions without operator intervention, eliminating the need for manual installation and removal of sealing plugs while maintaining hydraulic coupling reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs cleaning actions in advance or during the tool change sequence before hydraulic connections are made. By preliminarily removing dirt and contaminants from coupling surfaces through automated mechanisms, the system ensures clean connections are established before hydraulic fluid flow begins, preventing contamination without requiring manual plug installation.
3Productivity
If automated quick-coupler system is used, then tool change speed increases, but dirt and deformation can impair coupling functionality under harsh construction conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The automated quick-coupler system incorporates self-cleaning mechanisms that automatically remove dirt and debris from coupling surfaces during the tool change process. This self-maintaining capability allows the system to sustain high productivity under harsh construction conditions by continuously cleaning its own components, preventing dirt accumulation that would otherwise impair coupling functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system converts the harmful effect of construction site dirt into a beneficial cleaning process. By designing the automated coupling mechanism to utilize the tool change motion itself for cleaning purposes—where the movement and separation of components facilitate dirt removal—the system transforms the potentially harmful dirty environment into an opportunity for self-cleaning, maintaining reliability while preserving high tool change speed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables trouble-free and automated tool changes, reducing the risk of injury and saving time, while maintaining operational safety and extending the service life of hydraulic systems even in dirty and demanding conditions.
Implementation Method 1
at least one hydraulic unit comprising at least one hydraulic fluid and/or hydraulic oil is provided, wherein the hydraulic unit particularly includes at least one first piston adjustable in a hydraulic cylinder
Implementation Method 2
the first receiving device of the working tool and/or the first transmission device of the working tool has at least a first dirt opening and/or a first dirt channel for diverting and/or conveying dirt
Implementation Method 3
a first actuating element is provided for actuating the first locking element of the locking unit and/or the piston
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4a~4e
AI summary
A mobile working machine, in particular a wheel loader, telescopic loader, excavator, tractor or the like, is provided with a vehicle frame and with a drive unit for driving at least one drive element, e.g. a drive wheel and/or tracked undercarriage, wherein at least one tool holding device is provided for holding a detachably connectable working tool, wherein the tool holding device comprises at least one locking unit (21) for detachably locking the working tool and at least one energy transmission unit (18, 19) for transmitting energy to the working tool, wherein the locking unit (21) has at least one first locking element (13) adjustable along a first adjustment path between an unlocking position and a locking position, wherein the energy transmission unit (18, 19) has at least one first,The invention proposes a transmission element (19) adjustable along a second adjustment path between a release position and a transmission position, which at least partially improves the disadvantages of the prior art and, in particular, can reliably ensure the most trouble-free and/or fully automated operation or tool change, even over extended periods, under construction site conditions. This is achieved according to the invention, inter alia, by the fact that the first receiving device (12, 14) of the working tool and/or the first transmission device (18) of the working tool has at least one first dirt opening (15, 23) and/or one first dirt channel (15, 23) for diverting and/or conveying dirt (22).