PILE DRIVER
A pile driver including an apparatus for allowing relative movement between a hammer and a boom of an excavator. The apparatus includes a mounting plate mounted to the boom that interfits with and is slidable with respect to a frame rail mounted to the hammer. In operation, the hammer is placed on top of a pile and, as the pile is driven downwardly, the hammer follows the pile. Owing to the relative movement between the boom of the excavator and the hammer, the hammer follows the pile without requiring continuous downward readjustment of the boom. In one embodiment, the mounting plate assembly does not extend substantially above the hammer frame. In another embodiment, the hammer can rotate with respect to the boom. In one embodiment, the hammer includes a ram, a cylinder for lifting the ram, and rotation-resistant cable connecting the ram and the cylinder.
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This application is a Division of patent application Ser. No. 11/369,462, filed Mar. 7, 2006, which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/659,711, entitled PILE DRIVER, filed on Mar. 8, 2005 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/661,104, entitled PILE DRIVER, filed on Mar. 11, 2005, the entire disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pile drivers, particularly with regard to reciprocating pile drivers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pile drivers are used to drive piles, such as beams, columns or supports, e.g., into the ground. Reciprocating pile drivers include a hammer that is placed onto the head, or top, of the pile by a hoist or a boom of, e.g., an excavator. The hammer typically includes a frame and a large ram, or weight, that is raised within the frame and then dropped onto the pile head. This process is repeated until the pile is driven into the ground to a desired depth. Commonly, a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder is mounted to the frame to raise and then release the ram. However, in existing hammers, as the ram strikes the pile, significant forces are transmitted into the cylinder through a cylinder rod attached to the ram. As a result, these cylinders frequently break resulting in significant downtime and cost to replace the cylinder. Some existing hammers include a nylon or rubber mount at the connection between the ram and cylinder rod to dampen these forces, however, these mounts can deteriorate quickly.
As the pile is driven downwardly, the hammer frame is typically positioned on top of the pile or a drive cap positioned on top of the pile. If the frame does not rest on top of the pile or drive cap, the ram may strike the frame instead of the pile thereby transmitting the force of the falling ram into the frame. This force may be transferred from the frame into the boom of an excavator, e.g., causing damage to the excavator and possibly causing the excavator to tip over. Some previous hammers had to be lowered after each strike of the ram to keep the hammer frame in contact with the pile head. Other hammers were lowered within a large, elongate outer frame to keep the hammer frame in contact with the pile head. However, these outer frames required significant overhead room to position the hammer, thus, pile drivers utilizing these outer frames were mostly limited to outdoor applications.
What is needed is an improvement over the foregoing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne aspect of the invention includes a mounting apparatus for connecting a ram lifting mechanism to a ram of a hammer. In one embodiment, the mounting apparatus includes a connector member that is connected to the ram and a cable extending between the connector member and a cylinder rod extending from a cylinder. In operation, the cable is drawn taut as the cylinder raises the ram, however, the cable is permitted to flex or deform when the ram strikes the pile. Thus, very little of the force created by the ram impacting the pile is transmitted into the cylinder. In one embodiment, the connector member includes a flange that is captured between the ram and a retaining cap that is fastened to the ram.
Another form of the invention includes an apparatus for allowing relative movement between the hammer and, e.g., the boom of an excavator. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes at least one frame rail mounted to the hammer frame and a mounting plate assembly that interfits with and is slidable with respect to the frame rail mounted to the boom of an excavator. In one embodiment, the mounting plate assembly includes a recess that envelops the frame rail. In an alternative embodiment, the mounting plate assembly is enveloped by the frame rail. In the present embodiment, the mounting plate assembly interfits with the frame rail in such a way that the mounting plate assembly can slide along an axis defined by the rail. The mounting plate assembly can be further constructed to prevent substantial relative movement between the hammer and the mounting plate assembly transverse to the rail axis. In a further embodiment, the apparatus can permit relative rotational movement between the hammer and the boom of an excavator. This embodiment may be helpful when the excavator is sitting on an inclined surface.
In operation, in one form of the invention, the hammer is placed on top of the pile and, as the pile is driven downwardly, the hammer follows the pile owing to the relative movement between the excavator boom and the hammer. Advantageously, the hammer can follow the pile without requiring continuous downward readjustment of the boom. However, the boom is adjusted periodically when the mounting plate reaches an end of the hammer frame rail. As a result, the possibility of operator error is reduced as fewer adjustments of the boom are required. Further, pile drivers incorporating this apparatus are an improvement over existing pile drivers as the possibility of the ram striking the frame is also reduced. In one embodiment, the mounting plate assembly does not extend substantially above the hammer frame. This embodiment provides an added advantage of allowing the hammer to be used inside buildings, etc, having very little overhead room.
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention itself will be better understood by reference to the following descriptions of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the drawings represent embodiments of the present invention, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated in order to better illustrate and explain the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONAs illustrated in
As illustrated in
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As illustrated in
Ram 32 further includes aperture 60 extending between top surface 52 and striking surface 56. Aperture 60 is sized to accommodate connector assembly 62. Connector assembly 62 connects cylinder rod 38 to ram 32. As illustrated in
Cable 66 extends upward through aperture 60 of ram 32. Adapter 68 includes an elongate body having threaded end 74 and cable connection aperture 76 in the other end. Threaded end 74 is threaded into threaded aperture 78 (
As illustrated in
In operation, as discussed above, ram 32 is raised by the piston within cylinder assembly 34. More particularly, cylinder rod 38, which is mounted to the piston, pulls upwardly on adapter 68 of connector assembly 62. As a result, cable 66 is drawn taut and subsequently pulls upward on mounting shaft 64. Once cable 66 is taut, ram 32 may be lifted within frame 30, raised to a pre-determined height and then released. In some embodiments, as discussed above, in addition to gravitational acceleration, ram 32 can be accelerated downwardly by reversing the flow of fluid in cylinder assembly 34. Upon impact, a substantial driving force from ram 32 is imparted to anvil 35, the drive cap, and/or pile 22. This force acts to drive pile 22 downwardly and is dissipated or absorbed, mostly, by the ground. However, in previous devices, a substantial resultant force would act upwardly through a rigid connection between the ram and the cylinder rod. This resultant force was created, in part, by the sudden deceleration of the piston and the cylinder rod rigidly connected to the top of the ram. The resultant force counteracted and decelerated the weight of the piston and the cylinder rod. In these previous designs, the resultant force often deteriorated and/or broke the rigid connection between the cylinder rod and the ram. Other designs have included a ram having a rubber or nylon pocket for housing the cylinder rod to absorb and dissipate this force, however, the rubber and nylon linings also deteriorated quickly. Additionally, in these previous designs, the resultant force was transmitted into the cylinder through the cylinder rod. More particularly, this force was transmitted from the cylinder rod to the piston attached thereto and then to the cylinder wall through the piston seals therebetween. As a result, the piston seals often quickly deteriorated causing leaks and other dysfunction of the cylinder.
In the present embodiment, ram 32 and cylinder rod 38 are not rigidly connected to each other. As a result, a smaller resultant force is transmitted to cylinder assembly 34 than in previous designs. More specifically, cable 66 is flexible and can deflect when acted upon by opposing compressive forces, such as the falling weight of the piston and cylinder rod 38 and the resultant force, at its ends. As discussed above, one end of cable 66 is attached to mounting shaft 64 which is mounted to ram 32, and the other end of cable 66 is attached to adapter 68 which is connected to cylinder rod 38. When ram 32 strikes the pile, the weight of cylinder rod 38 and the cylinder piston are not transmitted directly to ram 32. On the contrary, their weight acts through cable 66 to mounting shaft 64. However, as cable 66 is flexible, the ends of cable 66 are displaced toward each other when the axially compressive loads are applied. Cable 66 can deflect or deform in several different ways when it is compressed to absorb some of the force. In one embodiment, the individual strands comprising the cable can move relative to each other causing the sides of the cable to bulge outwardly. In another embodiment, the center portion of the cable, intermediate the two ends of the cable, can displace radially or outwardly with respect to an axis defined by the two ends of the cable. Furthermore, the cable may coil within aperture 60 of ram 32. However, in some embodiments, a cable substantially resistant to large deflections may be preferred. In effect, cable 66 can act as a shock absorber allowing the piston and cylinder rod 38 to be gradually decelerated by cable 66. Due to the gradual deceleration of the piston and cylinder rod 38, as opposed to sudden deceleration that occurs with a rigid connection, a lesser resultant force is created. Thus, typically, cable 66 does not transmit a substantial resultant force through the piston seals, thereby improving the longevity of cylinder assembly 34 and reducing the downtime and cost to replace the cylinder assembly. Additionally, in some embodiments, cable 66 may be designed to break upon extraordinary or excessive loading. In effect, cable 66 can be selected as a failure point, or failsafe, to prevent excessive loading from reaching cylinder assembly 34. This feature may be particularly advantageous when connector assembly 62 is less expensive to produce and easier to replace than cylinder assembly 34.
In one exemplary embodiment, referring to
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
In another exemplary embodiment (not shown), mounting rails 112, and the openings of the C-channels may face toward each other defining a recess or gap therebetween. In this embodiment, the mounting plate apparatus includes a T-shaped member extending from plate 117. The T-shaped member includes an elongate member attached to and extending from plate 117 and two projections extending from the opposite end of the elongate member. The elongate member extends through the gap between mounting rails 112 where each projection fits, and is captured, between a joining rail 110 and a mounting rail 112.
To assemble mounting plate assembly 116 to frame rail assembly 92, channels 122 of assembly 116 are aligned with mounting flanges 120 of rail assembly 92 at either top end 136 of frame rails 98 or bottom end 138. Subsequently, plate assembly 116 is slid along rails 98 to engage plate assembly 116 with rail assembly 92. Travel stops 100 and 102 are joined to frame rails 98 to capture plate assembly 116 therebetween. As a result, plate assembly 116 is free to slide up and down along rails 98 but cannot be readily disassembled from hammer 20 due to stops 100 and 102. For the purposes of the present application, the terms “sliding” and “slidable” encompass not only direct sliding of one surface on another but also the use of fixed or rolling bearings, for example, between frame rail assembly 92 and mounting plate assembly 116.
As hammer 20 is lifted by excavator, or pile driver, 24, hammer 20 will slide downwardly with respect to mounting plate assembly 116 until upper stop 102 abuts top portion 140 of mounting plate assembly 116. When hammer 20 is positioned over the top of a pile, such as pile 22, frame 30 is rested on the pile or a drive cap placed on top of the pile, as discussed above. Subsequently, boom 26 is lowered downwardly with respect to hammer 20 until bottom portion 142 of mounting plate assembly 116 is proximate stop 100, as illustrated in
In another embodiment, the top of the mounting plate assembly 116 does not extend above cylinder assembly 34 giving hammer 20 a substantially low vertical profile. Due to the low vertical profile, the hammer of this embodiment may be used indoors or in other applications with relatively little overhead space. In another embodiment, the top of mounting plate 116 does not extend above top plate 46 and the bottom of mounting plate 116 does not extend below bottom plate 48. In fact, in other embodiments, it may be preferable to minimize the size of the mounting plate 116 as much as possible laterally and vertically.
In another contemplated embodiment, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Hammer 20″ may be rotated relative to the boom of the excavator manually or by cylinder assembly 164. Cylinder assembly 164 includes cylinder 166, a piston (not illustrated) positioned within cylinder 166, and cylinder rod 168 mounted to the piston. In the present embodiment, cylinder 166 is mounted to base plate 117″ and the distal end of cylinder rod 168 is mounted to boom plate 123″. In other embodiments, cylinder 166 is mounted to boom plate 123″ and the distal end of cylinder rod 168 is mounted to base plate 117″. To create relative rotational motion between hammer 20″ and the boom, cylinder rod 168 is extended or retracted relative to cylinder 166. Notably, cylinder rod 168, in this embodiment, moves along a linear path, however, this linear motion is converted to relative rotational motion between plates 117″ and 123″ about pivot pin 158. To accommodate the conversion of the linear motion of cylinder rod 168 to the arcuate relative motion between plates 117″ and 123″, cylinder 166 is mounted to plate 117″ via pin 169. As a result, cylinder assembly 164 can rotate about pin 169. Similar to the cylinder assembly described above, pressurized fluid enters and exits the opposite sides of the piston to move the piston within cylinder 166 and thereby move cylinder rod 168 attached thereto. Cylinder assembly 164 may be pneumatic, hydraulic, or any other suitable type of cylinder capable of performing the above functions.
Once positioned, hammer 20″ can be locked into place relative to the boom. To this end, in this embodiment, base plate 117″ includes aperture 170 (
While this invention has been described as having exemplary designs, the present invention may be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.
Claims
1. A pile driver hammer, comprising:
- a frame;
- a ram disposed on said frame and movable with respect to said frame; and
- a ram lifting mechanism supported by said frame and connected to said ram, wherein said ram lifting mechanism includes a cable having a plurality of layers of strands, wherein at least one layer of strands is wound in one direction and at least one layer of strands is wound in another direction.
2. The pile driver hammer of claim 1, wherein said cable includes a central core of strands and an outer layer of strands substantially surrounding said central core, wherein said central core of strands is wound in one of a clockwise direction and a counter-clockwise direction, and wherein said outer layer of strands is wound in the other of said clockwise direction and said counter-clockwise direction.
3. The pile driver hammer of claim 1, wherein said ram includes a passage extending from the top of said ram to the bottom of said ram, wherein said ram further includes a shoulder in a bottom portion of said ram, and wherein said pile driver member further includes a connector member, wherein said connector member is connected to said cable and engages said shoulder of said ram.
4. The pile driver hammer of claim 3, wherein at least a portion of said connector member extends upwardly at least partly through said passage.
5. The pile driver hammer of claim 3, wherein said ram further includes a mounting recess surrounding said shoulder, said mounting recess receiving at least a portion of said connector member.
6. A pile driver hammer, comprising:
- a frame;
- a ram disposed on said frame and movable with respect to said frame, wherein said ram includes a passage extending from the top of said ram to the bottom of said ram, and wherein said ram further includes a shoulder in a bottom portion of said ram;
- a ram lifting mechanism supported by said frame and connected to said ram, wherein said ram lifting mechanism includes a cable; and
- a connector member, wherein said connector member is connected to said cable and engages said shoulder of said ram, and wherein at least a portion of said connector extends upwardly at least partly through said passage.
7. The pile driver hammer of claim 6, wherein at least a portion of said cable extends through said passage.
8. The pile driver hammer of claim 6, wherein said ram further includes a mounting recess surrounding said shoulder, said mounting recess receiving at least a portion of said connector member.
9. The pile driver hammer of claim 6, wherein said cable includes a plurality of layers of strands, wherein at least one layer of strands is wound in one direction and at least one layer of strands is wound in another direction.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 16, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 8, 2009
Applicant: INNOVATIVE PILE DRIVING PRODUCTS, LLC (Fort Wayne, IN)
Inventors: John Jinnings (Leo, IN), Mark Gustin (Harlan, IN)
Application Number: 12/139,698
International Classification: E02D 7/06 (20060101);