In cranes, cargo-handling machinery or construction machinery, such as excavators for example, hydraulic quick couplings are widely used for the purpose of coupling structural components which have to be separated or reset for a specific use of for transport.
The structural components are in most cases connected mechanically by quick-change systems, the coupling of the power transmission lines, especially those with large cross sections, being associated with considerable expenditure in terms of energy and in terms of time.
One object of the present application is to make available a hydraulic quick coupling which on the one hand reduces the expenditure of energy and time and on the other hand avoids contamination of the hydraulic fluid by using individual couplings free from leakage oil.
According to the one embodiment, the object is achieved by a hydraulic quick coupling. The coupling includes two interacting quick-coupling parts which are arranged respectively on the structural components that are to be connected or separated. One quick-coupling part has at least one guide bolt which can engage in a centering bore of the quick-coupling part lying opposite it, each quick-coupling part being provided with coupling plugs or coupling sleeves for the connection of the hydraulic lines, and at least one quick-coupling part being arranged movably on one structural component in order to connect or separate the two quick-coupling parts.
Preferred embodiments are set out in the dependent claims following on from the main claim. Accordingly, one quick-coupling part can preferably be arranged fixedly on one structural component, while the other quick-coupling part is arranged movably on the second structural component.
Particularly advantageously, at least one of the quick-coupling parts is spring-mounted in a support frame. In this way, the coupling can be kept free from forces acting on the structural components. The quick-coupling part spring-mounted in the support frame can, together with said support frame, be mounted movably on the structural component.
At least one lock can be provided via which the quick-coupling parts can be locked to one another in the coupled state. The lock can secure the at least one guide bolt driven into the corresponding at least one centering bore.
The movable quick-coupling part can sit displaceably on a linear guide. As has already been mentioned, the support frame in which the quick-coupling part is spring-mounted can also be guided on this linear guide. The movable quick-coupling part is advantageously displaceable via a piston/cylinder arrangement. To lock the quick-coupling parts in the coupled state, it is also possible for the coupled position to be fixed, for example, by a permanent pressure load of the piston/cylinder arrangement or by suitable shut-off valves.
Advantageously, the movable quick-coupling part spring-mounted in the support frame can be fixed in its opened position by a guide. The guide can comprise a guide means, for example, a guide bolt which engages in the coupling sleeve in the opened position of the quick-coupling part. In this position, the guide means, that is to say for example a guide bolt, permits guiding of the spring-mounted quick-coupling part in such a way that the forces acting on the latter can be taken up. When attaching the quick-coupling part, that is to say when moving it into the closed position, the quick-coupling part moves with its centering bore onto the guide bolt of the other quick-coupling part lying opposite it. In the coupled position, the guide means, that is to say for example the guide bolt, frees the corresponding coupling sleeve. The securing of the quick-coupling part is taken over by the guide bolt of the opposite quick-coupling part.
To provide a possibility of also being able to couple structural components which are angled about their bolted point, at least one of the two quick-coupling parts is arranged on a pivotable support bracket. The support bracket can be pivoted by its own piston/cylinder arrangement. The quick-coupling part arranged on the support bracket can in addition be driven along the support bracket and moved to and fro along the lengthwise guide with another piston/cylinder arrangement. In this way, the quick-coupling parts can also be coupled in an angled position.