Dump truck

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020282919-A1
Application number	US-201816645086-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 12, 2018
Priority date	Nov 10, 2017
Publication date	Sep 10, 2020
Grant date	—

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 (32) 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 (40) that is capable of moving the obstacle detector (32) 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

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 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 from a dump-side end of the tires, and to a second position at an inner side with respect 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 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 movable along the first rail, the second rail being provided with the obstacle detector; and an actuator for moving the second rail along the first rail.

4 . The dump truck according to claim 3 , wherein
the shifter comprises: a gap retainer that holds the second rail while retaining 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
at the first position, the obstacle detector is capable of detecting the obstacle located in a 90-degree range from the dumping direction to the vehicle-width direction in a plan view.

6 . The dump truck according to claim 1 , wherein
the shifter is 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 that acquires current-position information of the dump truck, wherein the movement controller commands 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 movement controller commands the drive of the shifter when it is determined that the dump truck is located at a dump site.

9 . The dump truck according to claim 6 , wherein
the movement controller commands a drive of the shifter when the obstacle detector detects a car stop.

Assignees

• Komatsu Mfg Co Ltd

Inventors

• YABE Yousuke
• Yui Daichi

Classifications

• G05D1/02

  Control of position or course in two dimensions · CPC title

• G01S7/027 Primary

  Constructional details of housings, e.g. form, type, material or ruggedness · CPC title

• G01S17/87

  Combinations of systems using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves · CPC title

• G01S13/865

  Combination of radar systems with lidar systems · CPC title

• G01S2013/93271

  in the front of the vehicles · CPC title