HEAVY VEHICLE LIFTING DEVICE AND METHOD

摘要

A universal lifting device (10) for elevating heavy off-the-road vehicles, e.g. mechanical shovels used in mining operations, is proposed to raise the upper revolving section (F) of the shovel and allow for its lower wheeled base (C) to be removed with a view to attending to the maintenance, for instance, of the rotation mechanism of the shovel. The lifting device comprises front and rear lifting beams (16, 18) to which various type of brackets (118, 220) can be removably mounted to ensure a proper positioning of the front and rear lifting beams (16, 18) with respect to the revolving frame (I) of different models of mechanical shovels. Front and rear lifting points (12, 14) are provided to control the vertical displacement of the front and the rear lifting beams (16, 18), respectively. Typically, each such lifting point (12, 14) includes a pair of cylinders (20) mounted in parallel fashion, an absolute lifting elevation detector (254) and a piston stroke length detector (262) which are connected to an automaton adapted to control the lifting operation of the revolving frame (7) of the mechanical shovel.