The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 04, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 04, 1998
Charles J Chappell, Joliet, IL (US);
William H Godfrey, Yorkville, IL (US);
John E Puchosic, Jr, Naperville, IL (US);
Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, IL (US);
Abstract
In the operation of machines such as landfill compactors it is common to provide a shear assembly that is mounted between the axle assembly and a wheel that is rotatably mounted thereon to sever material that would otherwise become entrained about the axle assembly. Material of relatively large gauge may become lodged within the shear assembly and create large loading forces between the wheel and the axle components that have been known to damage various drive train components. The present invention provides a cutting apparatus that has a first (34) and second shear blade (40) mounted to the axle assembly (10) and wheel (12) respectively. The second shear blade (40) is bolted (66,68,70) to the wheel (12) in a manner wherein selected ones of the mounting bolts (66,68,70) are sized in a manner in which forces of a preselected magnitude will shear the bolts (68,70) thus limiting the amount of force transmitted to the drive train components.