Rear Ejector Roller and Guide for Scraper

This invention pertains to the art of mobile earth moving machines and particularly to tractor scrapers having a movable ejector for expelling earth material from the bowl.

1. Field of the Invention

Scrapers will have an ejector that is movable into the bowl for discharging the load. When uneven loads occur, the ejector will tend to bind and not move forward in parallelism with the sidewalls of the scraper unless guided in some manner. The ejector is guided in its forward and rearward travel by a trailing frame having guide rollers which travel on a track mounted on the stinger or pusher frame of the scraper.

2. Description of the Prior Art

One type of ejector guide is to use a track having a rectangular cross section and a quadrilateral arrangement of rollers traveling along the track. In certain cases, however, additional guidance has been needed such as where the continued usage in rugged terrain is to be expected.

The present invention provides an ejector roller and guide arrangement employing a pair of beveled rollers traveling with the ejector frame which are guided in a fore and aft manner on upper and lower tracks mounted on the pusher frame. The tracks have inwardly inclined surfaces that the beveled edges of the rollers ride on. In addition to the beveled rollers at the rear, a pair of rollers on each side of the ejector have their axes of rotation angled inwardly. A second track is mounted on each scraper side wall and provides upper and lower outwardly inclined surfaces for these rollers.

To provide individual adjustment, each roller may be mounted on an eccentric shaft so that the rollers may be adjusted alone, or in tandem, as required to maintain parallelism of the ejector frame and tracks.

One advantage of the ejector guide arrangement is that the beveled rollers at the rear act with the angled rollers spaced forwardly to absorb side thrust as well as up and down forces acting on the ejector at longitudinally spaced locations of the track structure distributing the loading and providing a stronger and more rigid guide arrangement.

Another advantage is that the present arrangement permits either the beveled rollers or the angled rollers to be individually adjusted by means of eccentric mountings so that any misalignment which is developed can be relieved by the adjustments.

These and other features will become apparent by referring to the following description of the invention which proceeds with the description of the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tractor scraper with the ejector retracted showing the beveled rollers and tracks at the rear and with the scraper wall partially broken away showing the angled rollers and track at the front;

FIG. 2 is a partial view taken in cross section through the pusher frame at the rear of the scraper showing the beveled roller and track arrangement;

FIG. 3 is a view showing the angled rollers and track at the front, and;

FIG. 4 is a view of one of the roller assemblies showing the eccentric mounting.

Referring now to FIG. 1, 10 designates an earth moving tractor scraper having a scraper 11 towed by tractor 12. The scraper is supported at the front on a pair of hydraulic cylinders 14 pivoted to a yoke 15. The cylinders may be extended to drop the front of the scraper bowl. A blade 17 is fixed on the front edge of the bowl and will be lowered into a digging engagement with the ground when filling the bowl. A stinger or pusher frame 17 is mounted on the rear of the bowl and supports an axle 18 having ground engaging wheels 19. The bowl is closed at the rear by an ejector 20 which pushes dirt from the bowl when moved by an hydraulic actuator carried on the pusher frame. The ejector encounters uneven loads, wet or sticky material, large boulders and other loading conditions which produce side thrusts and lifting forces such that it is essential to provide a guide structure to obtain relatively smooth operation.

In the present arrangement, the ejector has a rigid trailing frame 30 mounted on the rear which extends back into the pusher frame 17. The ejector frame 30 carries at its rear a pair of beveled rollers 32, one on each side, having beveled edges 33. The pusher frame carries upper and lower tracks 35 on each side, each having a horizontally extending inwardly inclined surface 37 angled such that the beveled edges 33 of the rollers run against it. In the preferred embodiment, the tracks are formed from parallel angles secured to the sides of the pusher frame to form double "V" trackways as depicted in FIG. 2 where the inwardly facing surfaces 31 are at about 45 degrees as are the beveled edges 33 of the rollers. With this arrangement, the beveled rollers 32 are trapped between the tracks 35 keeping the trailing end of the ejector frame in close lateral and vertical alignment as it moves into and out of the bowl. Spaced forwardly of the beveled rollers are pairs of rollers 40, one pair on each side, arranged with their rotational axes angled inwardly so as to roll on the upper and lower outwardly inclined surfaces 42 of a separate track 45 secured on each side wall of the bowl. The tracks 45 are formed by right angle pieces making a 45 degree surface with the side wall on which the right angled rollers will travel.

The beveled rollers 32 at the rear cooperate with the pairs of rollers spaced forwardly to better distribute the side thrust and off-center forces acting on the ejector wall so that it moves into and out of the bowl in a relatively smooth manner.

Should an adjustment be required due to wear or other factors, the beveled rollers 32, and if desired the rollers 40 as well, are mounted on an eccentric bushing 46 allowing each roller to be individually adjusted or in tandem, so as to correct any misalignment problem relative to the rollers and tracks.

While one preferred embodiment of my invention has been disclosed it will be understood that the description is for purposes of illustration only and that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the nature of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.