Piling attachment for hydraulic vibratory compactor

Abstract

The invention of a hydraulic clamp which attaches to an excavator mounted vibratory compactor for installing and removing piling. The invention is composed of a clamp which attaches to the bottom of the vibratory compactor, a valve body for maintaining the grip and center mount adapters which fasten to the top of the vibratory compactor.

The present invention is to provide an attachment to existing excavator mounted hydraulic vibratory compactors. This attachment will create a solid connection between the vibratory place of the excavator mounted hydraulic vibratory compactor and the driven element. there are 2 claims for this patent application:  
     
         1 . A modification of the attachment section of the existing hydraulic compactors from a two pin attaching method to a single pin attaching method.  
     
     
         2 . The clamp plate which is bolted to the bottom of the hydraulic compactor which fastens to the driven element  
     
     
         3 . The pilot activated full flow check valves which are introduced between the excavator and the hydraulic cylinder on the clamp plate as the prime method for holding pressure on the hydraulic cylinder of the clamp.  
     
     
         4 . The addition of the accumulator to compensate for pressure loss as vibration is induced into the driven element. 
 1. Center Mount for Hydraulic Compactor: 
 The center mounts placed on the excavator mounted hydraulic compactor corrects several problems in using excavator mounted hydraulic compactors for driving sheet piling: 
 a: The center mounting allows the vibratory compactor to remain in alignment to the driven elements at all times by virtue of the single point pivot and thru the connection created by the clamp. This over comes many of the drawbacks of using excavators who's movements are in arc's.  
 b. The use of the center point pivot frees up the use of the bucket cylinder circuit on the hydraulic excavator for use in applying the hydraulic pressure required for the actuation of the hydraulic clamp.  
 
     2 . The Clamp Plate: 
 The clamp plate which bolts to the base plate on the bottom of the hydraulic vibratory compactor is the actual work piece of the invention. This is the point which engages the element to be driven and acts as the conduit to transfer effectively the vibration into the driven element. 
 a. The solid connection created by the hydraulic clamp allows the vibratory compactor to impart it's full energy into the driven element for both driving and extracting.  
 b. The solid connection minimizes distortion into the top of the element being driven or extracted.  
 c. The solid connection created by the hydraulic clamp creates a much safer method in that personnel are not required to attach or remove welds or manually installed fasteners for attaching the driven element to the vibratory compactor for either driving or extracting piling elements.  
       3 . The pilot activated check valves: 
 The pilot operated check valves in the hydraulic circuit create a positive stop for any pressure loss which may arise from leakage thru the spool valve in the bucket circuit in the hydraulic excavator on which the excavator mounted hydraulic vibratory compactor is mounted on. During the driving process, the priority flow of the system is directed towards the vibratory compactor. The use of the pilot activated check valves act as a further safety element in holding pressure in the event of any failures in the hydraulic system of the hydraulic excavator.        4 . The Accumulator 
 The introduction of the accumulator into the piling attachment for the hydraulic vibratory compactor serves several purposes and needs: 
 a. As the vibratory force is applied to the driven element, in addition to the forces applied by the ram in the clamp itself, the driven element will deform to fit the contour of the clamp ram for the introduction of the vibratory forces after the clamp is actuated onto the driven element. The accumulator will compensate for any loss in pressure to the cylinder in the clamp assembly from any deformation induced by the vibration. As the priority flow of the hydraulic excavator will be directed towards energizing the vibratory compactor, the operator will not be able to maintain pressure on the clamp. This dictates the need for the accumulator.  
 b. The accumulator further acts as another safety feature in that it will maintain positive force on the ram in the clamp plate until a definite action on the part of the excavator operator to release the pressure on the clamp.