Single engine excavator with remote control

Abstract

A material handling vehicle is provided which includes a lower truck chassis and an upper material handling structure pivotally supported by the lower chassis, all functions of which vehicle are driven by a single engine. The material handling vehicle is controllable from a main truck cab on the truck chassis or from an upper operator's cab mounted on the upper structure. The single engine provides highway travel power and power to all excavator functions, while the vehicle, including remote travel and implement manipulation capabilities, may be controlled from the upper operator cab. The main engine, when used for over the highway travel, powers the driven wheels through a power shift transmission in a conventional manner. When at an excavating site and controlled from the upper cab, the main engine, through a power takeoff on the top of the torque converter connected to the engine, drives a hydraulic pump which supplies hydraulic fluid to a flow divider to power the implement hydraulics and to drive a hydraulic drive motor in response to controls from the upper operator cab. The hydraulic drive motor drives into a secondary power input on a lower portion of the transmission to provide power through the transmission to the driven wheels.