Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02230674 1998-02-27
HEAVY VEHICLE INTERCHANGEABLE
WATER TANKER/SAND SPREADER SYSTEM
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to liquid and
solid spreading devices and, more particularly, to an
interchangeable water tanker/sand spreader system
which is adapted to a dedicated conventional mining
truck for the maintenance of mine roads, that is for
the control of road dust levels and for the
distribution of abrasives for icy road conditions.
2. Description of the prior Art
Mine road conditions vary with the weather.
A dry summer period will allow large dust clouds to
be formed after the passage of heavy mining trucks
thus diminishing the operator visibility and
increasing the risk of accidents. For this, a water
spreader truck is used to maintain a certain amount
of humidity on the road thus avoiding dust clouds and
related accidents. On the other hand, in the winter
period, snow on the mine roads is rapidly transformed
into ice by each tire of a mining truck due to the
heavy weight of these trucks thus causing icy roads
that are dangerous and prone to accidents. To control
this situation, a sand spreader truck is used to
maintain a certain amount of abrasive onto the roads
increasing the traction potential for the mining
trucks and diminishing the amount of related
accidents. In that manner, the overall maintenance of
mine roads requires at least one combination of two
trucks, one being assigned to water spreading and the
other to sand spreading. Usually, more than one
combination of trucks is required due to the large
amount of roads to be maintained.
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With this method, the mine has to purchase
many expensive trucks for road maintenance and half
of them will not be used at all during a half-year
period approximately because they are not equipped
with the appropriate spreading containers (liquid or
abrasive). Furthermore, these trucks and related
equipments themselves need maintenance and increase
production costs because those trucks are not
directly transporting an effective payload.
Typically, the existing sand spreaders use a
mechanism affecting the container itself and its
canopy. This mechanism is employed to tilt the
abrasive container and canopy in a manner to increase
the angle formed by an horizontal plane and their
bottom for allowing the remaining amount of abrasive
inside the back part of the container and/or the
canopy surface to be dislodged and spread out over
the road. The tilting of the container and related
mechanism components need space to operate and the
container travel must clear local interferences thus
limitating the container's effective volume and
diminishing its production efficiency. Furthermore,
the necessity for a tilting movement imply some
design constraints on the container's shape resulting
in a higher overall centroid for the truck which
requires a reduction of the container's effective
volume in order to fold up the truck manufacturer's
centroid limit specifications. Less effective volume
means that the sand spreader will be empty sooner.
This way, more handling is needed to fill the
container everytime it's empty and more time is lost
for the truck to travel from the working zone to the
filling pit, and vice versa.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
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tanker/sand spreader system for mine road maintenance
which will require only one dedicated mining truck
for both tasks of spreading water or any liquid on
the roads at summer time and spreading sand or any
abrasive on the roads at winter time.
It is also an aim of the present invention
to provide an interchangeable water tanker/sand
spreader system which will be efficient when
interchanged from a water spreading use to a sand
spreading use and vice versa.
It is a further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system which is designed to
offer ease of assembly and disassembly with minimal
time and handling equipment.
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system which could be applied to
different models of brands of trucks.
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system which is designed to
increase the effective volumes and capacities (loads)
of water and sand containers to the maximum allowable
load values given by the truck manufacturer's
specifications.
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system which will allow
dedicated mining trucks to operate in a more
effective manner to increase the productivity ratio
of those trucks, that is the number of hours spent
spreading versus the number of hours being empty
(reloading process).
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system with a heavy duty water
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or sand container retaining system and hydraulic
locking system.
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system with a dedicated lifting
method which is designed to be compatible for both
containers taking into account their respective
longitudinal centroids and with a unique pattern of
four lifting points.
It is a still further aim of the present
invention to provide an interchangeable water
tanker/sand spreader system with a dedicated service
lifting device designed to have both features of a
moveable sliding guided rack-mounted main lifting
point and a self engaging container hooking system to
reduce and facilitate handling of the services.
Therefore, in accordance in with the
present invention, there is provided a multi-task
vehicle with interchangeable services, comprising a
vehicle body, at least two different service means
each adapted to be removed installed on said vehicle
body, disengageable locking means adapted to be
actuated between locked and unlocked positions
thereof for respectively securing any of said service
means to said vehicle body and to allow said service
means to be removed from said vehicle body such to
allow said service means to be interchanged onto said
vehicle.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Having thus generally described the nature
of the invention, reference will now be made to the
accompanying drawings, showing by way of illustration
a preferred embodiment thereof and in which .
Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a
fully assembled interchangeable water tanker on a
dedicated mining truck which is shown in broken lines
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in accordance with the present invention comprised of
a service lifting system in a hooked up position, the
tanker container, its partially embedded structural
frame, its lifting mounts, the two parts of the front
and rear service retaining system which is shown
fully assembled and the associated hydraulic locking
system; also shown are related conventional hardware,
e.g. footbridges, ladders and plumbing;
Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the
multi-task truck. with interchangeable services of
Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a
fully assembled interchangeable sand spreader on the
dedicated mining truck which is shown in broken lines
in accordance with the present invention comprised of
the service lifting system in hooked up position, the
sand spreader container, its partially embedded
structural frame, its lifting mounts, the sand
spreader parts of the front and rear service
retaining system, the associated hydraulic locking
system, the sand spreader adjustable hydraulic
sliding gates and the sand spreading boxes;
Fig. 4 is a vertical view partly in cross-
section taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and showing
particularly the sand spreader lifting mounts, the
sand spreader adjustable hydraulic sliding gates and
the sand spreading boxes:
Fig. 5 is a front elevational view of the
interchangeable water tanker and the service lifting
device shown in transit with respect to the dedicated
mining truck shown in broken lines;
Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the
interchangeable sand spreader and a service lifting
device shown in transit with respect to the dedicated
mining truck shown in broken lines;
Fig. 7 is a front elevational view of the
water tanker comprised of the tanker container, its
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partially embedded structural frame, its lifting
mounts, the tanker parts of the front and rear
service retaining system; also shown are related
conventional hardware, e.g. footbridges, ladders,
overall plumbing and the tanker internal structure;
Fig. 8 is a front elevational view of the
interchangeable sand spreader comprised of the sand
spreader container, its partially embedded structural
frame, its lifting mounts, the sand spreader parts of
the front and rear service retaining system and the
sand spreader adjustable hydraulic sliding gates;
Fig. 9 is a front elevational view of the
service lifting device comprised of its main
structural frame and hooks and its moveable sliding
guided rack-mounted main overhead lifting point;
Fig. 10 is a right-hand side view of the
service lifting device of Fig. 9; and
Fig. 11 is a front elevational view of the
dedicated mining truck, shown in broken lines,
provided with the truck parts of the front and rear
service retaining system and related hydraulic
locking system of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In accordance with the present invention,
Fig. 1 illustrates an interchangeable water tanker 1
fully assembled on a dedicated mining truck T which
is shown in broken lines.
Also in accordance with the present
invention, Fig. 3 illustrates an interchangeable sand
spreader 2 fully assembled on the dedicated mining
truck T which is again shown in broken lines. A sand
container 4 is firmly secured on the truck T by a
front hydraulic service holding system 5 and a rear
hydraulic service holding system 7. The sand
container 4 is hooked up by means of four hooks 8
mounted on a service lifting device 5 shown engaged
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to four tiltable lifting mounts 9 either for the
installation or removal process. The service lifting
device 5 is handled by either a crane C, shown in
broken lines or any high capacity lifting apparatus
such as a overhead crane and the like. Also shown in
Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are the sand spreading boxes 10 fed
by the container hydraulic adjustable sand delivery
sliding gates 11. The mining truck T operator cabin
is protected by a sand spreader canopy 12 (Fig. 8)
which will dump accumulated abrasive into the
container 4 by means of two hydraulic cylinders 13
actuated by open center valves (not shown). This
way, the canopy 12 will not remain at all times in
its inclined raised position such as not to run into
any overhead electrical lines or bump onto the rock
of truck repair shop entrance doors.
The structure of the container 4 itself is
best seen from Fig. 8. The main rib 26 is a sculpted
profile whose base lies below the level of the bed
frame of the mining truck T (not shown in the Fig.
8). This accounts for a lowered container 4 centroid
which is essential to follow up with the truck
manufacturer specifications without reducing the
maximum allowable container effective volume and
payload weight per truck axle. At both sides of the
main rib 26 are secondary ribs 25, 27 and 28.
Completing the main structure are the front end and
rear end ribs 24 and 29, respectively. Ribs 24, 28
and 29 are supported by legs 33 to ensure proper
longitudinal stability of the container 4. Lateral
stability is ensured by the ribs themselves and
braces 34 on the ribs 24 and 28. The main frame is
split into four parts 19, 20, 21 and 22, this to
provide the container with better structural
resistance allowing the ribs to be embedded in the
main frame.
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Mounted on the main frame are the sand
spreader front part 15 and rear part 16 of the
service retaining system. A bronze bushing 23 lies
inside the front part casing for wear protection. A
greasing point 35 allows for proper lubrication when
the entire front system is assembled. The
configuration of the front retaining system is
designed to fulfill multiple tasks. First, it guides
and helps the installation of the sand spreader 2
when it is lowered onto the truck frame. Second, it
retains the main frame onto the truck frame both
longitudinally and laterally against acceleration
forces while the sand spreader 2 is moving. Finally,
it will prevent the container 4 from tilting around
the longitudinal axis of the sand spreader 2, thus
ensuring that the container 4 will not fall off on
either side of the truck T.
Similarly, the rear part 16 of the service
retaining system will secure the main frame 19 to 22
and container 4 onto the truck frame and ensure a
strong hold against longitudinal acceleration forces
and it will also retain the container 4 from lateral
sliding movements over the truck frame. It will
equally help the installation process by guiding the
rear of the main frame onto the truck frame during
lowering.
Sand delivery to the sand spreading boxes
10 is directed through and controlled by the
hydraulic sliding gates 11, as best shown in Fig. 4.
A pair of C-shaped slides 36 are made each of a steel
angle 37 welded onto a structural part of the
container bottom. A C-shaped piece of UHMW plastic
38 is inserted inside the space between this angle
and its supporting structural part and bolted through
the steel angle. The gate 11 is then trapped in
those slides 36 and actuated by an hydraulic cylinder
14 fixed on the container bottom structure . The rod
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end 39 of the cylinder is tightly fixed to the gate
actuation mounting 40 by the shaft of an hydraulic
motor 17. This shaft is eccentric so while it is
rotating, the sliding gate 11 is vibrating. Under
the strong push of the cylinder 14 on the gate
actuation mounting 40 to close the gate 11, rocks
that would otherwise block the gate from closing will
be crushed away and the gate 11 will finally close
the opening without any problem.
WATER TANKER PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
The water tanker is a heavy-duty liquid
container designed to transport the maximum load
permitted by the truck manufacturer. It will be used
to distribute water or any liquid over the roads to
control their moisture level and to prevent the
formation of dust clouds.
More particularly, the water tanker is made
of two main structures, that is, the container itself
and the embedded frame. The container is a
trapezoidal prism made of steel plates. The bottom
of the container is slightly angled toward the front
to help empty the container when it is almost empty.
The sides are vertical, the top is horizontal and the
edges joining the bottom, the sides and the top are
rounded to provide a stronger structure. The front
side of the container is specially made to optimize
its volume by anguling the wall to the front.
The internal baffling structure is
conventional. Three baffles are disposed inside the
container. A baffle is a reinforced structure made
of a large steel plate welded on the bottom, on the
top and on the side walls of the container. The
three baffles inside the container define four
compartments. Each compartment will contain
approximately a quarter of the total container
volume. These baffles are required to prevent large
displacement of water inside the container and the
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associated dangers to unbalance the truck while those
large masses hit the walls. Each baffle is connected
with the nearest baffle or wall by two large steel
plates that had been semi-circular rolled. This way,
the baffles are joined together with the front and
rear walls thus providing the entire container with a
much stronger longitudinal resistance. Other
reinforcing parts such as angles and gussets are
welded on the walls to increase overall rigidity.
The embedded frame is a new feature for a
water tanker. The actual embedded frame is almost
the same as that of the sand spreader. It is made of
the same two mirrored parts running over the truck
frame. Overall dimensions are the same. The water
tanker structure is also strengthened by ribs. In
the case of the water tanker, the ribs are made of
four steel plates welded together in a rectangular
cross-section. The ribs are seated directly onto the
truck frame. Each side of the truck frame, the rib
cross-section height slowly diminishes until it
reaches the side walls. Since each baffle is welded
down on a rib, there are as many ribs as there are
baffles. Also, the frame and ribs outline had been
Gutted and discarded from the container bottom. This
allows the frame to be half-inserted into and welded
to the frame and ribs on the entire outline
perimeter. This way, the frame is made completely
part of the container and vice versa. And with the
baffles welded on the ribs, it is hardly possible to
further increase the structure of the water tanker.
Furthermore, the container centroid is lowered which
accounts for a better truck stability and the overall
water tanker height is reduced which ensures that the
latter will not hit any electrical lines or truck
service building entries.
Pumping is based on conventional knowledge.
Water is picked up at the front of the container by
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the pump which is also located at the front. The
pump then redirects the water through the water
tanker by a pipe which delivers the water to the
sprinklers at the rear. Walkways and ladders are
installed at the front and rear of the container.
This way, one would have access to the four openings
at the top of the container and the to sprinklers on
the rear walkway. Each opening is closed by a lid.
Access to the inside of each compartment is provided
by ladders surrounding each side of the longitudinal
baffle reinforcements.
SAND SPREADER PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
The sand spreader, in accordance with this
invention, has been specially designed to adopt a
stand-still position on the mining truck, that is,
tilting of the container is no more required for the
abrasive to exit the container. But this principle
required that some design problems be solved.
First, a non-tilting container requires
that the angle from an horizontal plane of the slopes
of the front and rear bottom of this container be
greater than the rest-state angle of the abrasive
being used. This way, the abrasive will not build up
on the slopes and on the edges joining these slopes.
Abrasive building refers to the abrasive not being
dislodged from the inner surfaces of the container
only by the gravitational forces applied on the
abrasive itself. It also refers to the known rest-
state angle of the abrasive being used and some other
variables affecting that rest-state angle such as
abrasive moisture level and the like. Obviously, the
greater the angle for the slopes and the better it
resists the abrasive building phenomenon. On the
other hand, increasing the rear bottom slope angle
over the abrasive rest-state angle seriously
decreases the container volume. To overcome this,
the container must be taller. This way, all the
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volume is gained back. Also helping, the front
bottom slope angle can be reduced near the abrasive
rest-state angle limit thus gaining more container
volume. This is impossible with a tilting container
which requires an almost vertical container front
side.
Second, a non-tilting container being
taller will have a centroid that is higher thus
exceeding the maximum allowed truck centroid height.
To overcome this, the container structure must be
lowered on the truck until the centroid comes back to
the truck manufacturer allowed centroid limits. To
accomplish this task, a structure made of six ribs is
created. A rib is a box made of four steel plates
welded together. It has an horizontal part and both
ends of this part are rolled to the vertical thereby
producing a "U" shape that is very strong. The box
itself is made of a bottom plate which is horizontal
while the side plates are vertical. The top plate of
the box is angled the same as the determined rear or
front bottom slope angle whether this rib will
support the front or rear part of the container.
Then, a section taken through a rib would demonstrate
a trapezoidal box. The main rib is the biggest of
them all since it is in the center of the container.
It has to support the major part of the load and it
is also the one that must surround the truck frame
since it needs to lie under the level of the truck in
order to lower the container centroid. Then, the
main rib horizontal part of its "U" shape is
surrelevated at its center to lie on the top of the
truck frame, the remaining part lying under the top
of this truck frame level and extending laterally.
At each side of the main rib are the secondary ribs.
There is one secondary rib on the front part of the
container and two on the rear part of the container .
These ribs are generally U-shaped since they do not
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have the surrelevated part at the center. The two
ribs lying on each side of the main rib are directly
sitting on the truck frame with a trapezoidal box.
This trapezoidal box has the same width as the rib
and its height is equivalent to the space between the
top of the truck frame and the bottom plate of the
rib itself. These trapezoidal boxes are made of four
plates that are welded together in order to have a
rectangular cross-section. The remaining secondary
rib is too high above the truck frame level to be
seated directly on it. Then, two legs are provided
to support this rib onto the container frame. The
last two ribs are the front end and rear end ribs.
They are also seated on the container frame each by
means of two legs. The container frame is very
similar to the truck frame since the container frame
is running onto the truck frame but it is slightly
larger. It is made of two parts which mirror each
other the same way as the truck frame is made of two
symmetrical parts. Each part is a box made of four
steel plates welded together to have a rectangular
cross-section. This frame embed and is welded onto
the main rib and its two adjacent secondary ribs.
This accounts for a stronger structure and is
essential to lower the container centroid.
Third, the container when fully filled with
the maximum overall load permitted by the truck
manufacturer must have its centroid placed
longitudinally in a way that this load will be
distributed to equal the maximum load advertised for
each axle. There is only one place for the centroid
to encounter all these requirements at maximum load.
Finally, to optimize both the volume and
the centroid is a task that involves numerous
interdependent variables. For example, if the rear
bottom slope angle is increased a little to overcome
the abrasive rest-state angle, the container volume
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is reduced and its centroid is moved to the front.
To gain back the volume, the container must be taller
thus increasing the container centroid height. The
container then has to be moved to the rear to
redistribute the load on each axle and the container
has to be lowered to optimize the centroid height
(the lower the centroid, the better it is). Since
the container has to clear the tires, sometimes it
cannot be moved any further to the rear. Then, other
modifications have to be made. Those will affect
other variables and other modifications will be
required until one finally find the optimized
container shape and location.
SERVICE LIFTING DEVICE PRINCIPLE AND DESIGN FEATURES
Both services, i.e. the water tanker and
the sand spreader, are designed with four lifting
points, that is, two at each side of the respective
container. Those lifting points are placed
symmetrically from the centroid of the service when
empty. This way, when viewed from the top, if we
imagine four lines joining the lifting points, we
will have a rectangle and in its very center will lie
the centroid. Then, the service is balanced.
Furthermore, the pattern between the four lifting
points of the water tanker and the four lifting
points of the sand spreader is designed to be the
same. This way, it is possible to use a unique
service lifting device for both of these services.
Then, the service lifting device four lifting points
are also designed to use this same very pattern.
When the services are empty, the centroid
is placed where it is intended to be but it is
possible to install/remove the services without
having them fully empty. Then, there is a chance
that the centroid would be moved either to the front
or to the rear of the service. Difficulties will
arise while handling the service since either the
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front or the rear will remain lower than the other
and the service will not be balanced (level). To
account for this, the service lifting device has been
designed to have its overhead main lifting point
moveable longitudinally. This way, an operator will
slide the main lifting point of the service lifting
device by turning a handle that will adjust the
position of the main lifting point to counterbalance
the displacement of the service centroid. Also, the
main lifting point can be designed to that it can be
slid laterally. As an example, if the service
centroid lies more to the rear, the operator will
slide the main lifting point of the service lifting
device to the rear also. This way, more weight will
be transferred to the front and with the appropriate
setting, the service will be rebalanced to account
for its specific centroid. The hooks 8 which are
engaged to the lifting mounts 9 of either service
could also be designed to be horizontally movable to
vary, as required, one or both of their longitudinal
and lateral spans.
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