Cold planer cutting chamber ventilation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10633807-B2
Application number	US-201816009934-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 15, 2018
Priority date	Jun 15, 2018
Publication date	Apr 28, 2020
Grant date	Apr 28, 2020

Abstract

A cold planer and method for ventilating the cold planer. The cold planer comprises a frame, a hood, a milling drum and a ventilation system. The hood is disposed under the frame and defines a cutting chamber. A milling drum is disposed inside the cutting chamber under the hood. The ventilation system comprises a cutting chamber port, a boost fan, a settling box and a main fan. The cutting chamber port extends through the hood. The boost fan is configured to generate a siphon that draws airflow from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port. The settling box is configured to cause particles to drop out of airflow. The settling box is in fluid communication with the cutting chamber port. The main fan is configured to draw airflow from the settling box and a region in front of the hood and vent it away from the cold planer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A cold planer comprising:
a frame;
a hood disposed under the frame, the hood defining a cutting chamber;
a milling drum disposed inside the cutting chamber under the hood, the milling drum rotatable about an axis; and
a ventilation system that comprises:
a cutting chamber port extending through the hood;
a boost fan configured to generate a siphon that draws airflow from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port;
a settling box in fluid communication with the cutting chamber port to receive the airflow drawn from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port, wherein the settling box is configured to cause particles having a particle size greater than a predetermined size to drop out of airflow; and
a main fan configured to draw airflow from the settling box and a region of the hood in front of the milling drum in the direction of travel of the cold planer and vent the airflow away from the cold planer.

2. The cold planer of claim 1 , in which the settling box has a top and a bottom and defines a cavity, the settling box including a cover disposed at the top of the settling box and a first sidewall disposed below the cover, the first sidewall extending from the cover in a downward direction.

3. The cold planer of claim 2 , in which the settling box further includes a boost fan inlet disposed in the first sidewall of the settling box, the boost fan inlet in fluid communication with the boost fan and the cutting chamber port to transmit the airflow drawn from inside the cutting chamber to the settling box.

4. The cold planer of claim 3 , in which the settling box further includes an outlet disposed above the boost fan inlet, the outlet placing the settling box in fluid communication with the main fan for the main fan to draw the airflow from the settling box and the region of the hood in front of the milling drum.

5. The cold planer of claim 4 , in which the settling box further includes a bottom inlet having a first cross-sectional area, the bottom inlet is disposed proximal to the bottom of the settling box and opposite from the cover, the settling box in fluid communication with the region of the hood in front of the milling drum through the bottom inlet.

6. The cold planer of claim 5 , wherein the outlet has a second cross-sectional area that is less than the first cross-sectional area of the bottom inlet.

7. The cold planer of claim 1 , wherein the cutting chamber port is disposed above the milling drum.

8. A method of ventilating a cold planer, the cold planer including a hood defining a cutting chamber, a milling drum disposed inside the cutting chamber, and a ventilation system, the ventilation system including a cutting chamber port extending through the hood, a boost fan configured to generate a siphon that draws airflow from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port, a settling box in fluid communication with the cutting chamber port to receive the airflow drawn from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port, wherein the settling box is configured to cause particles having a particle size greater than a predetermined size to drop out of airflow, and a main fan in fluid communication with the settling box and a region of the hood in front of the milling drum in the direction of travel of the cold planer, the method comprising:
generating, with the boost fan, a siphon that draws airflow from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port to the settling box;
drawing, with the main fan, airflow from the settling box and from the region of the hood in front of the milling drum in the direction of travel of the cold planer toward the main fan; and
venting, away from the cold planer, the airflow drawn toward the main fan.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising milling a road surface.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising receiving, by the settling box, airflow from the boost fan and from the cutting chamber through a boost fan inlet disposed in a sidewall of the settling box.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein airflow drawn from the settling box toward the main fan exits the settling box through an outlet disposed in a cover of the settling box.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the outlet is disposed above the boost fan inlet.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the cutting chamber port is free of a screen, filter, vane, or grate.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the settling box is free of a screen, filter, vane, or grate.

15. A cold planer comprising:
a frame;
a hood disposed under the frame, the hood defining a cutting chamber, the hood partially enclosing a milling drum;
the milling drum disposed inside the cutting chamber under the hood, the milling drum rotatable about an axis; and
a ventilation system that comprises:
a cutting chamber port extending through the hood, the cutting chamber port disposed above the milling drum;
a boost fan configured to generate a siphon that draws airflow from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port;
a settling box having a top and a bottom and defining a cavity, the settling box including a cover disposed at the top of the settling box, and a first sidewall connected to the cover and extending in a downward direction from the cover, the settling box including a boost fan inlet disposed in the first sidewall and placing the settling box in fluid communication with the cutting chamber port to receive the airflow drawn from inside the cutting chamber through the cutting chamber port, wherein the settling box is configured to cause particles having a particle size greater than a predetermined size to drop out of airflow, the settling box including a bottom inlet disposed at bottom of the settling box, and an outlet disposed in the cover, and the settling box in fluid communication with a region of the hood in front of the milling drum in the direction of travel of the cold planer through the bottom inlet; and
the main fan in fluid communication with the settling box through the outlet and configured to draw airflow from the settling box and the region of the hood in front of the milling drum through the outlet and vent the airflow away from an operator area of the cold planer.

16. The cold planer of claim 15 , wherein the cutting chamber port is disposed behind the region of the hood that is in front of the milling drum in the direction opposite the direction of travel of the cold planer.

17. The cold planer of claim 15 , wherein airflow from the boost fan and airflow from the cutting chamber are received in the settling box through the boost fan inlet.

18. The cold planer of claim 17 , wherein the cutting chamber port is free of a screen, filter, vane, or grate.

19. The cold planer of claim 15 , wherein the bottom inlet has a first cross-sectional area, the outlet has a second cross-sectional area that is less than the first cross-sectional area of the bottom inlet, and the boost fan inlet has a third cross-sectional area that is less than the first cross-sectional area of the bottom inlet.

20. The cold planer of claim 15 , wherein the settling box is configured to cause particles to drop out of airflow received from the cutting chamber and airflow received from the bottom inlet.

Assignees

• Caterpillar Paving Products Inc

Inventors

• Hirman Colton John

Classifications

• E01C2301/50

  Methods or devices for preventing dust by spraying or sucking · CPC title

• E01C23/127

  rotary, e.g. rotary hammers · CPC title

• E01C23/122

  with power-driven tools, e.g. oscillated hammer apparatus (hand-held breakers: percussion tools B25D) · CPC title

• E01C23/12

  for taking-up, tearing-up, or {full-depth} breaking-up paving, {e.g. sett extractor}(adapted to both placing and removing {preformed} paving {elements} E01C19/52) · CPC title

• E01C23/088 Primary

  Rotary tools, e.g. milling drums {(for forming recesses to receive marking materials E01C23/0946)} · CPC title