Compact articulated backhoe loader with 270 degree excavation advantage

Abstract

A backhoe loader comprises a front chassis, a rear chassis, a rotatable operator workstation, and a chassis lock mechanism. The front chassis comprises the loading assembly and the rear chassis is connected to the front chassis along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly. The rotatable operator workstation is positioned in the rear chassis, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in clockwise and counter-clockwise directions. The operator workstation enables maneuvering of the front chassis with respect to the rear chassis using the pin lock assembly. The chassis lock mechanism is achieved using two single acting hydraulic cylinders that are mounted horizontally on rear chassis. These hydraulic cylinders are actuated during the excavation operation which in turns locks the oscillation of vehicle and front and rear chassis acts rigidly like a single body. This rigidity of the vehicle provides the required stability during excavation.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A backhoe loader comprising:
 a front chassis comprising a loading assembly;   a rear chassis pivotally connected to the front chassis along a vertical axis joint by a pin lock assembly, which is steerable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions; and   a rotatable operator workstation positioned in the rear chassis, which is positioned inside a bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions up to a predefined angle, wherein the operator workstation enables a user to control relative maneuvering of the front chassis with respect to the rear chassis using the pin lock assembly, and control of the loading assembly.   
     
     
         2 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the rear chassis pivotally is steerable up to 40 degrees in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions. 
     
     
         3 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the bearing mounted cabin which is slewable in both the clockwise and the counterclockwise directions up to the predefined angle of 270 degrees. 
     
     
         4 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the loading assembly positioned in the front chassis comprises:
 a loader arm;   a lift cylinder attached hydraulically with the loader arm to lift the loader arm;   a shovel attached to a distal end of the loader arm to manage shoveling operations;   one or more shovel links to control movement of the shovel;   a tilt cylinder attached to the shovel links and one or more inter-lever links that are connected to the loader arm, wherein the tilt cylinder and the inter-lever links facilitate tilting of the loader arm and the shovel.   
     
     
         5 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the rear chassis comprises:
 a cabin to provide seating for the user and a side console to provide controls of the rear chassis and the loading assembly positioned on the front chassis;   an excavation arm comprising:
 a boom arm that is hingedly connected to a rear end of the operator workstation; 
 a bucket arm that is hingedly connected to the boom arm; 
 a boom cylinder, a dipper cylinder, a dipper, and a bucket cylinder that are hydraulically linked to each other along the boom arm and the bucket arm to control motion of the excavation arm; and 
 an excavator bucket attached distally to the bucket arm, wherein the excavation arm works along with the excavator to generate a swing of up to 60 degrees in left and right directions. 
   
     
     
         6 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the pin lock assembly comprising:
 a steering cylinder which maneuvers the vehicle in longitudinal axis up to 40 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction; and   an oscillation cylinder which maneuvers the vehicle in transverse axis up to 8 degrees in clockwise and counterclockwise direction and also integrates the front and rear chassis as a single body during excavation.   
     
     
         7 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising 4 wheels mounted below the front and rear chassis, wherein each wheel comprising sizes of one of 15- and 16-inch wheels. 
     
     
         8 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1  has 80 degrees of the total articulation, which is a total of 40 degrees of the articulation on either side of a longitudinal axis of the aligned front and rear chassis by using a pair of double acting hydraulic rams that are actuated by the action of a steering unit which is connected to a steering wheel. 
     
     
         9 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising two single acting hydraulic rams that are mounted on left and right side on the front of rear chassis at an equal distance from central vertical axis, wherein oscillation of the backhoe loader is controlled using the two single acting hydraulic rams, and wherein the actuation of the two single acting hydraulic rams provide stability on unevenness of terrain up to 8 degrees. 
     
     
         10 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1  is powered by an internal combustion engine that drives a hydraulic pump that delivers a high-pressure hydraulic fluid to a hydrostatic drive system and to the rest of hydraulic circuit for the operation of Backhoe Loader and the excavator bucket. 
     
     
         11 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the rear chassis comprises a slew bearing that is mounted above the rear chassis, wherein the slew bearing is bolted to a welded frame which houses a counterweight, a rotary coupling and a slew motor, wherein the cabin is mounted on the welded frame and consists of the rotatable workstation that is rotatable from forward to backward direction of the Backhoe Loader in 180 degree turning circle for loading and excavation operations respectively depending upon the user's need. 
     
     
         12 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the cabin is configured to be slewed 270 degrees and 135 degrees in both clockwise and counterclockwise direction. 
     
     
         13 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the excavator bucket is attached to the cabin through a kingpost that rotates with the cabin, wherein the kingpost is configured to further swing 60 degrees horizontally clockwise and counterclockwise using a double acting hydraulic cylinder to provide additional accuracy for excavation process. 
     
     
         14 . The backhoe loader as claimed in  claim 13 , further comprising stabilizers that are mounted on either side of the rear chassis to provide stability and counter effort to the Backhoe Loader during the excavation process using the excavator bucket.