Support rail and swing gear assembly for a mining vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9506219-B2
Application number	US-201414325973-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 8, 2014
Priority date	Jul 8, 2014
Publication date	Nov 29, 2016
Grant date	Nov 29, 2016

Abstract

A support rail for a swing gear assembly having a thrust rail coupled to a swing gear includes a substantially horizontal first surface configured to be coupled to the swing gear such that the first surface engages a substantially horizontal top face of the swing gear, and a substantially vertical second surface intersecting the substantially horizontal first surface such that the second surface is substantially perpendicular to the first surface. The second surface is configured to engage a substantially vertical face of the thrust rail when the first surface is coupled to the swing gear. The first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear by engaging the top face of the swing gear and the vertical face of the thrust rail simultaneously.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A support rail for a swing gear assembly having a thrust rail coupled to a swing gear, the support rail comprising:
a substantially horizontal first surface configured to be coupled to the swing gear such that the first surface engages a substantially horizontal top face of the swing gear; and
a substantially vertical second surface intersecting the substantially horizontal first surface such that the second surface is substantially perpendicular to the first surface, wherein the second surface is configured to engage a substantially vertical face of the thrust rail when the first surface is coupled to the swing gear, and wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear by engaging the top face of the swing gear and the vertical face of the thrust rail simultaneously;
wherein the thrust rail is coupled to the swing gear via fasteners;
wherein the support rail is positioned adjacent and substantially outside of the thrust rail relative to a central axis of the swing gear assembly.

2. The support rail of claim 1 , wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail about the top face of the swing gear when the support rail is coupled to the swing gear, such that a bending moment applied to the swing gear is inhibited.

3. The support rail of claim 1 , wherein the second surface is configured to receive a thrust load from the thrust rail, and wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to substantially inhibit the rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear in response to receiving the thrust load.

4. The support rail of claim 3 , wherein the second surface is configured to transfer the thrust load from the thrust rail to the swing gear via the first surface when the support rail is coupled to the swing gear.

5. The support rail of claim 1 , wherein the first surface includes a plurality of slots for receiving the fasteners to couple the first surface to the swing gear.

6. The support rail of claim 5 , wherein the first surface includes a plurality of locating slots for receiving locating pins to locate the first surface relative to the swing gear.

7. A swing gear assembly, comprising:
a swing gear having a substantially horizontal top face and a substantially vertical inner surface;
a thrust rail having a substantially vertical face, wherein the thrust rail is coupled via fasteners to the swing gear such that the vertical face of the thrust rail engages a portion of the vertical inner surface of the swing gear;
a support rail coupled to the swing gear, the support rail comprising:
a substantially horizontal first surface engaging the top face of the swing gear; and
a substantially vertical second surface engaging a top portion of the vertical face and intersecting the substantially horizontal first surface such that the second surface is substantially perpendicular to the first surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear by engaging the top face of the swing gear and the vertical face of the thrust rail simultaneously;

wherein the support rail is positioned adjacent and substantially outside of the thrust rail relative to a central axis of the swing gear assembly.

8. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , further comprising:
a set of rollers interfacing with the thrust rail and configured to deliver a thrust load to the thrust rail;
wherein the first surface and the second surface of the support rail are configured to substantially inhibit the rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear in response to receiving the thrust load.

9. The swing gear assembly of claim 8 , wherein the second surface is configured to transfer the thrust load from the thrust rail to the swing gear via the first surface.

10. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail about the top face of the swing gear such that a bending moment applied to the swing gear by the thrust rail is inhibited.

11. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , wherein the first surface includes a first plurality of slots and the swing gear includes a second plurality of slots aligned with the first plurality of slots, and wherein the support rail is coupled to the swing gear via the fasteners routed through the first plurality of slots and the second plurality of slots.

12. The swing gear assembly of claim 11 , wherein the first surface includes a plurality of locating slots for receiving locating pins to locate the first surface relative to the swing gear.

13. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , wherein the swing gear includes a channel, and wherein the thrust rail is received within the channel such that the vertical face interfaces with both the inner surface of the swing gear and the second surface of the support rail.

14. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , wherein the inner surface of the swing gear includes a machined portion, and wherein the thrust rail is configured to engage with the machined portion in order to inhibit the rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear.

15. The swing gear assembly of claim 7 , wherein the top face and the inner surface connect to form a first angle, wherein the first surface and the vertical face connect to form a second angle, and wherein the second angle is substantially similar to the first angle.

16. A method of enhancing support for a swing gear assembly, the method comprising:
coupling a thrust rail to the swing gear via fasteners;
boring a plurality of slots in a substantially horizontal top face of a swing gear;
placing a support rail proximate to the thrust rail and the plurality of slots, wherein the support rail is positioned adjacent and substantially outside of the thrust rail relative to a central axis of the swing gear assembly wherein the thrust rail includes a substantially vertical face; and
using the plurality of slots, coupling the support rail to the swing gear such that a substantially horizontal first surface of the support rail engages the top face of the swing gear and a substantially vertical second surface of the swing gear engages the vertical face of the thrust rail, and wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail relative to the swing gear by engaging the top face and the vertical face simultaneously.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first surface and the second surface are configured to inhibit a rotation of the thrust rail about the top face of the swing gear, such that a bending moment applied to the swing gear is inhibited.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the support rail is placed such that the second surface is configured to receive a thrust load from the thrust rail, and wherein the second surface is configured to transfer the thrust load from the thrust rail to the swing gear via the first surface.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
boring a second plurality of slots in the swing gear;
locating the support rail relative to the swing gear by routing pins through the support rail and the swing gear via the second plurality of slots, wherein the pins are configured to receive at least a portion of the thrust load.

20. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
inhibiting movement of the support rail

Assignees

• Caterpillar Global Mining Llc

Inventors

• Bienfang David T
• Bumraw Gurbachan S
• Gilmore Carl D
• Strydom Philip R
• Wanasek Christopher R
• Yaunke Jeanne

Classifications

• F16C2300/14

  Large applications, e.g. bearings having an inner diameter exceeding 500 mm · CPC title

• F16C33/581

  integral with other parts, e.g. with housings or machine elements such as shafts or gear wheels · CPC title

• F16C2350/26

  Excavators · CPC title

• E02F3/46 Primary

  with reciprocating digging or scraping elements moved by cables or hoisting ropes {; Drives or control devices therefor (E02F3/205, E02F3/905 take precedence)} · CPC title

• E02F9/12

  Slewing or traversing gears (roller and ball bearings F16C) · CPC title