U.S. patent application number 11/821114 was filed with the patent office on 2008-11-20 for rain hat for heavy construction equipment.
This patent application is currently assigned to VOLVO CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT HOLDING SWEDEN AB.. Invention is credited to Toshimichi Ikeda, Hak Yong Yang.
Application Number | 20080282690 11/821114 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38566107 |
Filed Date | 2008-11-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080282690 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ikeda; Toshimichi ; et
al. |
November 20, 2008 |
Rain hat for heavy construction equipment
Abstract
A rain hat for heavy construction equipment is disclosed, which
comprises a plate which corresponds to a shape of an outlet of the
exhaust tube; a connection part which is formed at one end of the
plate and is extended in a downward direction; and an elastic plate
of which one end is connected with the connection part, and the
other end is engaged with the exhaust tube, said elastic plate
having a certain length, whereby the outlet of the exhaust tube,
which is closed by means of the plate, opens as a discharge
pressure overcomes an elastic force of the elastic plate when
exhaust gas is discharged from the exhaust tube.
Inventors: |
Ikeda; Toshimichi;
(Changwon, KR) ; Yang; Hak Yong; (Changwon,
KR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LADAS & PARRY LLP
26 WEST 61ST STREET
NEW YORK
NY
10023
US
|
Assignee: |
VOLVO CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT
HOLDING SWEDEN AB.
|
Family ID: |
38566107 |
Appl. No.: |
11/821114 |
Filed: |
June 21, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
60/324 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02T 10/12 20130101;
Y02T 10/20 20130101; F01N 3/0335 20130101; F01N 13/08 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
60/324 |
International
Class: |
F01N 7/00 20060101
F01N007/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 13, 2006 |
KR |
10-2006-0065745 |
Claims
1. In a rain hat which is mounted on an exhaust tube of heavy
construction equipment, a rain hat for heavy construction
equipment, comprising: a plate which corresponds to a shape of an
outlet of the exhaust tube; a connection part which is formed at
one end of the plate and is extended in a downward direction; and
an elastic plate of which one end is connected with the connection
part, and the other end is engaged with the exhaust tube, said
elastic plate having a certain length, whereby the outlet of the
exhaust tube, which is closed by means of the plate, opens as a
discharge pressure overcomes an elastic force of the elastic plate
when exhaust gas is discharged from the exhaust tube.
2. The rain hat of claim 1, wherein said elastic plate is a plate
spring.
3. In a rain hat which is mounted on an exhaust tube of heavy
construction equipment, a rain hat for heavy construction
equipment, comprising: a plate which corresponds to a shape of an
outlet of the exhaust tube; a connection part which is formed at
one end of the plate and is extended in a downward direction; a
pair of coil springs of which ends are connected with both lower
sides of the connection part; and a bracket which is mounted on the
exhaust tube in which the other end of each coil spring is
horizontally connected, whereby the outlet of the exhaust tube,
which is closed by means of the plate, opens as a discharge
pressure overcomes an elastic force of the coil spring when exhaust
gas is discharged from the exhaust tube.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is based on and claims priority from Korean
Patent Application No. 10-2006-65745, filed on Jul. 13, 2006 in the
Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is
incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a rain hat attached to an
exhaust tube of an engine.
[0004] 2. Description of the Background Art
[0005] Heavy construction equipment is equipped with an exhaust
tube which exhausts gas. Exhaust gas is exhausted via an exhaust
tube. Here, the exhaust tube is engaged at an upper swing structure
of the equipment. Since an upper swing structure of heavy
construction equipment swings in the course of work, the exhaust
tube is generally engaged at an upper swing structure so that any
interference does not occur with wheels, etc.
[0006] Since the exhaust tube is engaged at the upper swing
structure and is vertically installed, the exhaust tube needs a
cover on an upper end of the vertically installed exhaust tube.
Otherwise, rain may fall into the exhaust tube. Some heavy
construction equipment are equipped with an improved exhaust tube
of which upper end is horizontally bent so that rain does not fall
into the exhaust tube. In case of large size heavy construction
equipment, a rain hat is generally provided for preventing rain
from falling into the exhaust tube.
[0007] In case of conventional heavy construction equipment which
is provided with a rain hat, rattling noises may occur from the
rain hat. When the revolution of an engine is low, the discharge
force of exhaust gas is weak, so that the rain hat should be
installed at a relatively lower side. In case that an engine works,
since exhaust gas is discharged whenever one cycle of the engine
finishes, the gas discharge pressure of the exhaust tube is not
constant.
[0008] In case of a rain hat which is installed at a conventional
heavy construction equipment, since the rain hat, which receives a
discharge pressure of exhaust gas, is designed to operate with the
help of a hinge operation of a pin, the rain hat should freely move
with a certain gap from a pin hole. In the conventional art, since
a discharge pressure of exhaust gas is not constant, rattling
noises occur owing to a gap between the pin and the pin hole when
the rain hat works.
[0009] So, an operator or other persons may feel uneasy when the
above rattling noises occur for thereby causing a lot of problems
in the course of work.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to
provide a rain hat attached to an exhaust tube of an engine which
is able to prevent rattling noises occurring owing to a
conventional rain hat, so that an operator or other persons can
feel comfortable in the course of work.
[0011] To achieve the above object, in a rain hat which is mounted
on an exhaust tube of heavy construction equipment, there is
provided a rain hat for heavy construction equipment which
comprises a plate which corresponds to a shape of an outlet of the
exhaust tube; a connection part which is formed at one end of the
plate and is extended in a downward direction; and an elastic plate
of which one end is connected with the connection part, and the
other end is engaged with the exhaust tube, the elastic plate
having a certain length, whereby the outlet of the exhaust tube,
which is closed by means of the plate, opens as a discharge
pressure overcomes an elastic force of the elastic plate when
exhaust gas is discharged from the exhaust tube.
[0012] For an easier engagement, the rain hat of the heavy
construction equipment is formed larger than the outlet depending
on the shape of the outlet of the exhaust tube. Since too larger
size rain hat does not look nice, the plate slightly larger than
the size of the outlet of the exhaust is preferably used. A
rectangular protrusion is formed at an end of the rain hat plate.
The protrusion allows the connection part to be formed at a lower
surface of the plate and to be connected with the elastic plate.
So, the whole shape of the rain hat is a spoon shape.
[0013] The connection part is welded at a lower surface of the
protrusion of the rain hat plate. The welded connection part is
engaged with one end of the elastic plate in the longitudinal
direction using an engaging member by forming a bolt hole or a
rivet hole for an engagement using an engaging member such as a
bolt, etc. A bolt hole or a rivet hole is formed at the portion
connected with the connection part of the elastic plate like the
connection part.
[0014] Here, the elastic plate has a certain length. When it is too
short, since the elastic coefficient of the elastic member is not
large, greater pressure is needed for moving the rain hat. So, the
length of the elastic plate is preferably determined depending on
the discharge pressure of the exhaust tube. The other end of the
elastic plate is connected with the exhaust tube. Namely, it is
connected with a fixing terminal, which is formed at an outer side
of the exhaust tube, by using an engaging member such as a bolt,
etc. The fixing terminal may be directly connected with the exhaust
tube based on a welding method, etc.
[0015] According to the operation principle of the present
invention which uses the elastic plate, when the discharge pressure
of exhaust gas is applied to the rain hat, a force for pushing the
rain hat is generated. Moment is generated at the lower side of the
elastic plate fixed at the exhaust tube depending on the force
which pushes the rain hat upward. The elastic plate has a
rotational force owing to the moment, so that the rain hat opens.
In case that the pressure decreases, it returns to its original
state owing to the elastic force of the plate.
[0016] To achieve the above object, in a rain hat which is mounted
on an exhaust tube of heavy construction equipment, there is
provided a rain hat for heavy construction equipment which
comprises a plate which corresponds to a shape of an outlet of the
exhaust tube; a connection part which is formed at one end of the
plate and is extended in a downward direction; a pair of coil
springs of which ends are connected with both lower sides of the
connection part; and a bracket which is mounted on the exhaust tube
in which the other end of each coil spring is horizontally
connected, whereby the outlet of the exhaust tube, which is closed
by means of the plate, opens as a discharge pressure overcomes an
elastic force of the coil spring when exhaust gas is discharged
from the exhaust tube.
[0017] Like the above construction, a rain hat plate shaped
depending on the shape of an outlet of the exhaust tube, and a
rectangular protrusion integrally formed at one end of the plate
are provided, which form a spoon shaped rain hat plate. A
connection part is welded at a lower surface of the protrusion of
the plate. Two holes are formed at both lower ends of the
connection part for connecting the coil spring. A spring having a
ring shaped end is engaged at the holes. The ring shaped other end
of the spring is fixed at the bracket mounted on both sides of the
exhaust tube. Two ends are vertically protruded from both sides of
the channel shaped bracket. A fixing hole is formed at an upper
side of the vertically formed plate.
[0018] According to the operation principle, when the discharge
pressure of exhaust gas is applied to the rain hat, the rain hat is
forced to lift up. When the rain hat is lifted up, rotational force
is applied to the coil spring. The present invention does not use a
pin as compared to the conventional art, even when pressure is
continuously applied thereto, rattling noises do not occur. When
pressure decreases, the rotational force of the spring allows the
rain hat to be pushed and closed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] The present invention will become better understood with
reference to the accompanying drawings which are given only by way
of illustration and thus are not limitative of the present
invention, wherein;
[0020] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an excavator of a conventional
art;
[0021] FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating an engine and
an exhaust device of a conventional art;
[0022] FIG. 3 is a side and plane view illustrating a conventional
rain hat;
[0023] FIG. 4 is a plane, side and rear view illustrating a rain
hat according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0024] FIG. 5 is a view for describing an operation of a rain hat
according to an embodiment of the present invention;
[0025] FIG. 6 is a view for describing an operation force of a rain
hat according to an embodiment of the present invention; 5 FIG. 7
is an operation graph of a rain hat according to the present
invention; and
[0026] FIG. 8 is a plane, side and rear view illustrating a rain
hat according to another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0027] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0028] FIG. 1 is a view illustrating an excavator. The above
excavator comprises an upper swing structure 101, a lower driving
structure 102 and a work unit 103. The upper swing structure 101 is
equipped with various instruments such as an engine room 104 for
driving the work unit 103 and a driver's seat 105.
[0029] FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an engine and an exhaust
apparatus mounted. As shown therein, there are provided an engine
1, an exhaust manifold 2 for exhausting gas from the engine, a
supercharger 3 which compresses air with the help of exhaust gas,
an exhaust tube path 4 which is connected from the supercharger to
a muffler, a muffler 5, and a rain hat 7.
[0030] FIG. 3 is a view for describing a conventional rain hat.
Here, the rain hat is designed to prevent rain from falling into
the exhaust tube. When the engine stops, the rain hat closes the
outlet of the exhaust tube for thereby preventing rain from falling
to the exhaust tube. When the engine works, the rain hat is forced
to open by means of the pressure of exhaust gas for thereby forming
a discharge path of exhaust gas. In the drawing, reference numeral
7 represents a body of a rain hat, and 8 is a bracket fixed at the
exhaust The rain hat 7 is connected with the bracket 8 by means of
a pin 9 and is freely rotatable about the pin. Since the above
connection portion directly contacts with exhaust gas, carbon is
attached. So, an enough space is obtained during the engagement of
the pin 9 so that the rain hat 7 can freely rotate. In the
conventional, rattling noises occur in the conventional rain hat
structure.
[0031] FIG. 4 is a plane, side and rear view illustrating a rain
hat according to an embodiment of the present invention. The rain
hat according to the present invention comprises a spoon shaped
rain hat plate 11, a connection part 12 mounted on a lower surface
of a protrusion of the rain hat plate, an elastic plate 14 of which
one longitudinal end is connected with the connection part with an
engaging member 13 such as a bolt, etc., and the other end is
connected with an exhaust tube 6 with an engaging member such as a
bolt, etc., and a fixing terminal 16 which is engaged at the
exhaust tube with a welding method.
[0032] FIG. 5 is a view of an operation of FIG. 4. The rain hat 11
is supported by means of a plate spring 14 which is formed of an
elastic plate. When the engine stops, the rain hat 11 covers the
upper end of the exhaust tube 6 for thereby preventing rain from
falling into the exhaust tube. When the engine 1 operates and
discharges exhaust gas, the rain hat 11 is forced to open by means
of the exhaust gas. Here, since the rain hat 11 is supported by
means of the plate spring 14, the rain hat 11 is forced to open as
the plate spring 14 is elastically transformed. The exhaust gas
allows the rain hat 11 to open and is discharged. When the engine 1
stops and does not discharge exhaust gas, the rain hat 14 returns
its original position by means of the elastic force of the plate
spring 14. So, when the engine does not work, the rain hat covers
the upper end of the exhaust tube 6 for thereby preventing rain
from falling into the exhaust tube 6. When the discharge force of
the exhaust gas is weak, the rain hat keeps opening with a slight
open.
[0033] In the present invention, since the pin is not used, it is
possible to prevent the occurrence of rattling noises which may
cause uneasy to an operator or other persons.
[0034] The elastic plate 14 of the rain hat 11 may be formed of a
certain elastic material which has elastic force. Since the elastic
plate 14 contacts with high temperature, it should be preferably
made of a heat resistance material.
[0035] FIG. 6 is a view illustrating force and moment with respect
to an operation principle that the elastic plate moves according to
the present invention. As shown in the left side of FIG. 6, a
discharge pressure of exhaust gas is applied to the rain hat 11.
Since discharge pressure is applied to the rain hat, the force may
be expressed as F.sub.y. The rain hat 11 is forced to open by means
of the force F.sub.y. Since the elastic plate 14 is attached to the
rain hat 11, the rain hat 11 does not open limitlessly. Moment M
occurs by means of the arm length R and the force F.sub.y
instead.
M=R.cndot.F.sub.y
[0036] The above moment value may be neglected since the weight of
the rain hat is not heavy. So, it is possible to simplify like the
right side of FIG. 6. The force F.sub.x is applied to the elastic
plate 14. In this case, since the moment M has the same value,
R.cndot.F.sub.y=L.cndot.F.sub.x
.thrfore.F.sub.x=F.sub.y.cndot.R/L
[0037] Therefore, when discharge pressure is applied to the rain
hat 11, the elastic plate 14 opens. Since the force larger than the
unit elastic coefficient of the elastic plate is needed so that the
elastic plate moves, the elastic plate 14 opens slightly at first.
When the pressure exceeds a certain level, it can easily open. FIG.
7 shoes the above-described operation. FIG. 7 shows a state that
the rain hat 11 smoothly moves by means of the elastic plate 14
mounted on the rain hat 11.
[0038] FIG. 8 is a view illustrating another structure of the
present invention. As shown therein, a rain hat plate 21 is
provided. A first connection part 22 is formed at a lower protruded
portion of the rain hat 21. A ring formed at one end of each coil
spring 24a, 24b is engaged at a corresponding hole 23a, 23b formed
at both lower sides of the first connection part. A bracket 26 is
vertically formed at both ends of a channel shaped bracket 26. The
ring of other end of the coil spring is horizontally connected with
the fixing terminal 25a, 25b. The fixing terminal 25a, 25b of the
coil spring 24a, 24b is connected with the bracket 26 fixed at the
exhaust tube 6. When exhaust gas tries to allow the rain hat 21 to
open, the coil spring 24a, 24b is curved, so that the rain hat 21
opens for allowing the exhaust gas to discharge.
[0039] As shown in FIG. 8, when discharge pressure of the exhaust
gas is applied to the rain hat 21, the rain hat 21 is lifted up.
Here, since a pin is not used for lifting up the rain hat 21 as
compared to the conventional art, rattling noises do not occur.
When pressure becomes weaker, the rain hat 21 moves down. When no
pressure is applied, the rain hat 21 is closed for thereby
preventing rain from falling into the exhaust tube.
[0040] As described above, in the present invention, it is possible
to prevent rattling noises which occur owing to the movement of a
support pin of a rain hat. So, an operator or other persons do not
feel uneasy.
[0041] In addition, an operator's convenience facility is improved.
The work efficiency increases by preventing uneasy noises.
[0042] As the present invention may be embodied in several forms
without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics
thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described
examples are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing
description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be
construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the
appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that
fall within the meets and bounds of the claims, or equivalences of
such meets and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the
appended claims.
* * * * *