Dump truck

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11485293-B2
Application number	US-201816645086-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 12, 2018
Priority date	Nov 10, 2017
Publication date	Nov 1, 2022
Grant date	Nov 1, 2022

Abstract

A dump truck, which travels in travel directions and dumps loads in a dumping direction collinear to one of the travel directions, includes: a chassis provided with tires at front and rear parts in the travel direction; an obstacle detector provided at a dump-side end of the chassis, the obstacle detector detecting an obstacle in the dumping direction of the chassis; and a shifter that is capable of moving the obstacle detector to a first position at which the obstacle detector protrudes beyond dump-side ends of the tires and to a second position at which the obstacle detector is located inner than the dump-side ends of the tires.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A dump truck that is configured to travel in travel directions and dump loads in a dumping direction collinear to one of the travel directions, the dump truck comprising:
a chassis comprising tires provided at front and rear parts of the chassis in the travel directions;
an obstacle detector provided at a dump-side of the chassis, the obstacle detector being configured to sense an obstacle in the dumping direction of the chassis; and
a shifter that is configured to move the obstacle detector (i) to a first position protruding in the dumping direction relative to a dump-side end of the tires and (ii) to a second position retracted in a direction opposite to the dumping direction relative to the dump-side end of the tires.

2. The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein the shifter comprises shifters each provided to corresponding one of vehicle-width ends of the chassis, the shifters being configured to be synchronously driven.

3. The dump truck according to claim 2 , wherein the shifters each comprise:
a first rail provided to the one of the vehicle-width ends of the chassis, the first rail extending in the travel directions;
a second rail configured to move along the first rail, the second rail being provided with the obstacle detector; and
an actuator configured to move the second rail along the first rail.

4. The dump truck according to claim 3 , wherein each of the shifters comprises:
a gap retainer that holds the second rail and defines a predetermined gap between the second rail and the first rail; and
a biasing unit that biases the second rail in a direction away from the first rail.

5. The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein the obstacle detector is configured to, based on being disposed at the first position, sense the obstacle located in a 90-degree range from the dumping direction to a vehicle-width direction.

6. The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein the shifter is configured to be driven in response to a command from an external movement controller.

7. The dump truck according to claim 6 , further comprising:
a position-information retriever configured to acquire current-position information of the dump truck,
wherein the external movement controller is configured to command a drive of the shifter based on the current-position information of the dump truck acquired by the position-information retriever.

8. The dump truck according to claim 7 , wherein the external movement controller is configured to command the drive of the shifter based on determining that the dump truck is located at a dump site.

9. The dump truck according to claim 6 , wherein the external movement controller is configured to command a drive of the shifter based on the obstacle detector detecting a car stop.

10. The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein the shifter comprises a rail configured to guide movement of the obstacle detector between the first position and the second position.

11. The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein the obstacle detector comprises a pair of obstacle detectors disposed at vehicle-width ends of the chassis, respectively, and spaced apart from each other in a vehicle-width direction, and
wherein the shifter comprises a pair of shifters disposed at the vehicle-width ends of the chassis and configured to guide movement of the pair of obstacle detectors, respectively.

12. The dump truck according to claim 11 , further comprising a cross bar that extends in the vehicle-width direction and connects the pair of shifters to each other.

13. The dump truck according to claim 12 , wherein each of the pair of shifters comprises an arm connected to one of ends of the cross bar.

14. The dump truck according to claim 11 , wherein the pair of shifters are configured to simultaneously move the pair of obstacle detectors between the first position and the second position.

Assignees

• Komatsu Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• YABE Yousuke
• Yui Daichi

Classifications

• G01S2013/93272

  in the back of the vehicles · CPC title

• G01S2013/9327

  Sensor installation details · CPC title

• B60P1/04

  with a tipping movement of load-transporting element (dredgers or soil-shifting machines E02F3/00) · CPC title

• G01S13/931

  of land vehicles · CPC title

• G01S2013/9317

  Driving backwards · CPC title