Protective Sleeve

Technical Field

This invention relates generally to hose assemblies and more particularly to a protective ap¬ paratus for ^" preventing damaging contact between hose assemblies and associated equipment.

Background Art

In earthmoving equipment, for example, dozers, bucket loaders, and the like, hydraulic systems are employed to activate fluid operated devices such as lift arm cylinders and tilt cylinders during earthmoving operations. In the past, relatively long flexible hoses have been used to conduct pressurized fluid from the source, normally mounted on the vehicle frame, to the cylinders to accommodate the substantial variable positioning therebetween. It has been found that, at times, these flexible hoses are pinched between the relative moving portions of the vehicle rupturing the hoses and causing expensive downtime and repeated and expensive maintenance.

The above problem has been addressed by U.S. Patent No. 4,022,339 issued to Harold F. Bieringer, May 10, 1977 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Bieringer discloses a hose assembly in¬ cluding pairs of relatively stiff, high-pressure hose coupled to rigid, perpendicular stems extending cop- lanarly intermediate the vehicle and the lift arms. While this arrangement substantially eliminates the pinching problem, it has been found that the high- pressure hydraulic hose couplings, such as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,325,194 issued to C.E. Grawev ,

June 13, 1967 and also assigned to the assignee of the present invention, because of their close proximity to the hood of the vehicle, scrape against it during raising and lowering of the lift arms causing damage. The foregoing illustrates limitations of the known prior art. In view of the above, it would be advantageous to provide an alternative to the prior art in the form of a protective apparatus for preventing damaging contact between the hose assembly and adjacent portions of the vehicle during operation thereof.

Disclosure of the Invention

In one aspect of the present invention, this is accomplished by providing a protective sleeve in¬ cluding means for encasing the coupling and resilient means disposed peripherally about the encasing means for cushioning it.

The foregoing and other aspects of the instant invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be expressly under¬ stood, however, that the drawings are not intended as a definition of the invention but are for the purpose of illustration only.

Brief Description of the Drawings In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an earthmoving vehicle embodying the present invention having portions removed to better illustrate the ele¬ ments thereof; Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the earthmoving vehicle shown in Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a vertical- sectional view taken generally along the line III-III in Figure 1.

Best Mode For Carrying Out the Invention

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, a portion of an earthmoving vehicle embodying the. present invention is illustrated generally by the numeral 10. The vehicle 5. includes a frame 12, an engine enclosure or hood 14 , a lift arm 16 for carrying an earthmoving implement (not shown) pivotally connected to the frame at 18. A tilt cylinder 20 for selectively positioning the implement on the lift arm is pivotally connected at one end 22 to a 0 tilt crank 24 and has a telescoping rod 26 extending therefrom for transmitting the tilting force to the implement.

Hose assemblies generally designated 28 conduct pressurized hydraulic fluid between a fluid source 30 5 mounted on the vehicle 10 and the tilt cylinder 20 for extending and retracting the rod 26. Each hose assembly is adapted to accommodate a substantial degree of rela¬ tive movement between the tilt cylinder and the fluid source and includes a first hose 32 secured to the -fluid 0 source, a second hose 34 secured to the tilt cylinder, and a substantially rigid, right-angle elbow or stem 36 secured at each end intermediate the hoses by a coupling assembly 38.

Referring now to Fig. 3, a coupling assembly 5 38 for coupling the hose 32,34 to the elbows 36 is illustrated in greater detail. As shown in the drawing, the elbow 36 includes a grooved stem portion 40 disposed in the end of the hose. A grooved collet 42 is fitted over the end of the hose and the stem and is secured 0 thereto by a sleeve 44 which is in a press fit relation¬ ship therewith.

To prevent damaging contact between the coupling sleeve 44 and the adjacent portions of the vehicle 10, in particular the hood 14, the sleeve is enclosed in a 5 protective encasement or sleeve 46. The protective

encasement is rotatably positioned on the coupling and is generally cylindrically shaped having inner and outer surfaces 48,50, and symmetric, frustoconically shaped open end portions 52 each including an inwardly ex- tending flange 54. By way of example, the body may be formed from an impact resistent material such as plastic or the like and may be split longitudinally into separate portions 56,58 to facilitate installation on the coupling. In the embodiment shown, the protective encasement 46 further includes offset portions shown generally by the ^' numeral 60 forming annular recesses or grooves 62 in the outer body surface and annular lands 64 in the inner surface. An annular elasto eric member, for example, a rubber O-ring 66, is disposed in each of the grooves for holding the separate body portions together and for providing additional protection and cushioning between the coupling assembly and the vehicle.

Industrial Applicability

With the parts assembled as set forth above, the protective sleeve of the present invention has application wherever it is desirous to prevent damaging contact between movable members and elements suspended therebetween. One such application is to prevent a hose coupling assembly 38 located intermediate portions of an earthmoving vehicle 10 and a lift arm 16 from inflicting damage thereto as the lift arm is raised or lowered. A split protective encasement or sleeve 46 having at least two split body portions 56,58 is placed over the hose coupling sleeve 44 and rotatably secured thereto by the elastomeric O-ring 66 positioned in the grooves 62. The 0-rings further assist the body portions in providing a cushion between the coupling sleeve and the vehicle and also provide frictional contact there¬ between to impart rotation to the encasement as it

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contacts and moves across portions of the vehicle, for example, the hood 14. The flanges 54 located at each end 52 of the encasement axially interlock it in posi¬ tion on the coupling sleeve where it effectively pre- vents the coupling from scraping and otherwise damaging the vehicle.

While the present invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted - for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the invention not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but that the invention will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.