Abstrict The invention relates to a jaw crusher wherein shims behind a toggle
beam define various positions of its fore-and-aft adjustment along
way slots in which its end portions are guided, and wherein the
toggle beam is shifted forwardly away from the shims and rearwardly
towards them by a pair of hydraulic rams, each connected between
the housing and an end of the toggle beam. At each end the toggle
beam has a forwardly-downwardly inclined surface slidingly overlain
by a wedging member that cooperates with the upper surface of the
adjacent way slot to wedgingly prevent forward shifting of the toggle
beam and confine it against the lower surfaces of the way slots.
Each ram has link connections with the toggle beam and with a wedging
member whereby the latter is pulled forward out of wedging relationship
before the toggle beam is shifted forward and is pushed back to
wedging condition after the toggle beam engages the shims.
Claims What is claimed as the invention is:
1. A jaw crusher comprising a housing that supports a stationary
jaw and has a pair of opposed upright walls between which a movable
jaw is suspended and each of which defines a way slot that is elongated
in directions toward and from the stationary jaw, a toggle beam
extending across the housing and having opposite end portions received
in said way slots and substantially confined by them to slidable
shifting in said directions, a toggle plate between said toggle
beam and the movable jaw for supporting the latter, a hydraulic
ram having a reaction connection with the housing and a motion transmitting
connection with the toggle beam for shifting the toggle beam in
said directions, abutment means supported by the housing and engageable
by the toggle beam for defining an adjustably variable limit of
shifting thereof in one of said directions and thus providing a
plurality of alternatively selectable positions of adjustment of
the toggle beam, and locking means for releasably confining the
toggle beam against motion in the other of said directions out of
any selected one of said positions of adjustment, said jaw crusher
being characterized by:
A. said toggle beam having a wedging surface thereon which
(1) extends at an inclination relative to said directions and
(2) faces obliquely in said other direction;
B. said locking means comprising a wedging member having substantially
opposite force exerting surfaces
(1) which converge towards one another in said one direction,
(2) one of which opposingly engages a reaction surface on the housing
that extends substantially in said directions, and
(3) the other of which opposingly engages said wedging surface
on the toggle beam so that said wedging member can cooperate with
the housing to wedgingly confine the toggle beam against shifting
in said other direction without substantially restraining its shifting
in said one direction; and
C. said motion transmitting connection comprising a link member
having
(1) a pivot connection with the hydraulic ram,
(2) a second pivot connection with the toggle beam and
(3) a third pivot connection with the wedging member,
each said pivot connection providing for relative swinging of the
link member about an axis which extends transversely to said directions
and which is spaced from and parallel to the axis of each of the
other two pivot connections.
2. The jaw crusher of claim 1 wherein said way slots are elongated
in substantially horizontal directions and wherein said wedging
surface on the toggle beam and said other force exerting surface
on the wedging member face in opposite vertically oblique directions
so that the wedging member, in its cooperation with the housing,
can wedgingly confine the toggle beam against shifting vertically
as well as against shifting in said other direction.
3. The jaw crusher of claim 1 further characterized by:
D. a pair of retainer blocks which are aligned with one another
substantially in said directions,
(1) one of said retainer blocks being fixed on the housing and
(2) the other being fixed on said wedging member; and
E. a screw received in said retainer blocks and cooperating with
them to releasably confine the wedging member against shifting in
said other direction.
4. The jaw crusher of claim 1 further characterized by:
D. retainer means fixed on said toggle beam and on said wedging
member defining aligned screw-receiving apertures; and
E. a screw received in said apertures and cooperating with said
retainer means to releasably confine the wedging member against
shifting in said other direction relative to the toggle beam.
5. A jaw crusher comprising a housing that supports a stationary
jaw member at a front thereof and has opposed upright side walls
each of which defines a way slot having opposed substantially horizontally
extending upper and lower surfaces, a movable jaw member suspended
between said walls rearwardly adjacent to the stationary jaw member,
a toggle beam extending laterally across the housing behind the
movable jaw member and having opposite end portions received in
said way slots to be guided by their said surfaces for substantially
forward and rearward slidable shifting, a toggle plate confined
between said toggle beam and the movable jaw member for supporting
the latter, a pair of hydraulic rams for shifting the toggle beam
forward and rearward, one for each end portion of the toggle beam,
each having at a rear end thereof a motion transmitting connection
with its end portion of the toggle beam and having at its front
end a pivotal reaction connection with the housing that defines
a laterally extending axis about which the ram is swingable up and
down, forwardly facing abutment means supported by the housing and
engageable by the toggle beam for defining an adjustably variable
limit of its rearward shifting and thus providing a plurality of
alternatively selectable positions of its adjustment, and locking
means for releasably confining the toggle beam against forward shifting
out of engagement with said abutment means, said jaw crusher being
characterized by:
A. said toggle beam having
(1) bottom surface portions which at all times slidably flatwise
engage said lower surfaces of the way slots and
(2) a pair of inclined top surface portions, one for each way slot,
each of which opposes and is spaced beneath the upper surface of
its way slot and diverges forwardly therefrom;
B. said locking means comprising a pair of wedging members, one
for each way slot, each having
(1) a top surface flatwise slidably engageable with said upper
surface of its way slot and
(2) an opposite bottom surface which is forwardly divergent relative
to its said top surface and is flatwise slidably engaged with one
of said inclined top surface portions on the toggle beam
so that each wedging member can cooperate with the upper surface
of its way slot for wedgingly confining the toggle beam against
forward shifting;
C. each said motion transmitting connection comprising a link member
having
(1) a first pivotal connection with the rear end of one of said
hydraulic rams and
(2) a second pivotal connection with an end portion of the toggle
beam, said second pivotal connection being in rearwardly and downwardly
spaced relation to said first pivotal connection and
(3) the axes of said first and second pivotal connections being
parallel to said laterally extending axis; and
D. each said link member having a third pivotal connection with
its adjacent wedging member that
(1) is spaced above and to the rear of its first pivotal connection,
(2) is in forwardly offset relation to its second pivotal connection
and
(3) defines an axis parallel to said axes.
6. The jaw crusher of claim 5 further characterized by:
E. means on the bottom of each said link member defining a downwardly
facing slidable abutment surface transiently engageable with the
lower surface of its adjacent way slot to confine the link member
against swinging beyond positions in which said first pivotal connection
is between a line that connects said third pivotal connection with
the reaction connection and a line that connects said second pivotal
connection with the reaction connection.
7. The jaw crusher of claim 5 further characaterized by:
E. a pair of retainer screws, one for each wedging member, each
said retainer screw having
(1) one end portion received in an aperture in its wedging member
and
(2) an opposite end portion received in an aligned aperture in
the toggle beam,
for releasably confining each wedging member against forward shifting
out of wedging relationship with the toggle beam.
8. The jaw crusher of claim 5 further characterized by:
E. at least one pair of retainer blocks for each wedging member,
of which
(1) one is fixed on the wedging member and projects laterally in
one direction therefrom and
(2) the other is fixed on the housing, behind the toggle beam,
and projects laterally in said direction from the housing; and
F. a screw received in the two wedging blocks of each pair and
cooperating with them to releasably confine their wedging member
against forward shifting.
9. The jaw crusher of claim 8 wherein said abutment means comprises
a plurality of shims for each way slot, each said shim being edgewise
laterally insertable into and removable from its way slot and having
a hole through which said screw extends to releasably confine the
shim against edgewise shifting out of its way slot.
Description FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to jaw crushers wherein a movable
jaw that cooperates with a stationary jaw is rockably fulcrumed
on a toggle plate which is in turn fulcrumed on a toggle beam that
is adjustable in opposite directions towards and from the stationary
jaw; and the invention is more particularly concerned with improved
means in such a crusher for adjustingly shifting the toggle beam
in said directions and for releasably locking it against shifting
and rocking in any selected position of such adjustment.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A jaw crusher of the general type to which this invention relates
is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3166259 to Archer et al, issued
in 1965 and assigned to the assignee of this application. Such a
crusher has a housing comprising upright side walls to which an
upright stationary jaw is fixed at the front of the housing and
between which a movable jaw is swingable towards and from the stationary
jaw. The movable jaw is suspended at its upper end from a power
driven eccentric shaft, while its lower end is rockably pivoted
against a front edge of a toggle plate that has an opposite rear
edge pivoted against a shiftable but normally fixed toggle beam.
Biasing means react between the toggle beam and the lower portion
of the movable jaw to urge them strongly towards one another and
thus confine the toggle plate between them.
For adjustment of the movable jaw that varies the fineness of the
product, each of the housing side walls has a way slot that is elongated
in more or less horizontal forward and rearward directions, towards
and from the stationary jaw; and the toggle beam, which extends
across the housing, has opposite end portions slidably received
in these way slots. At each side of the housing a hydraulic ram
is connected between the housing and an end portion of the toggle
beam for shifting the toggle beam along the way slots. Selected
positions of the toggle beam are defined by shims which are inserted
in the way slots behind the toggle beam and which transfer to the
housing the rearward forces imposed upon the toggle beam. The toggle
beam tends to remain engaged against the shims because the movable
jaw is disposed at a downward and forward inclination such that
its mass tends to swing it rearwardly about the eccentric shaft
from which it is suspended. However, the toggle beam should be releasably
locked against shifting forwardly away from the shims under the
driving forces that the eccentric shaft imposes upon it through
the movable jaw. It is also important that the toggle beam be releasably
locked against vertical movement because, to provide clearance for
its sliding, its heightwise thickness is somewhat less than the
distance between the upper and lower surfaces of each way slot.
As disclosed by Archer et al, the toggle beam is releasably confined
against shifting forwardly away from the shims by means of bolts
which extend forwardly through a rear part of the housing and are
threaded into the toggle beam. Other bolts extend downwardly through
fore-and-aft elongated slots in the housing and are threaded into
the toggle beam to releasably clamp it against the upper edges of
the way slots.
While commercially successful, the arrangement disclosed by Archer
et al had the important disadvantage that the weight of the toggle
beam subjected the downwardly extending bolts to high tension forces
which tended to elongate them, and they therefore had to be tightened
from time to time to maintain the toggle beam firmly clamped to
the housing and thus confined against rocking.
U.S. Pat. No. 3473744 to DeDiemar et al, issued in 1969 and
also assigned to the assignee of this application, points out that
substantial manual work is required for loosening and retightening
the several clamping bolts for every readjustment of the position
of the toggle beam. In addition to the horizontally extending hydraulic
rams which effect shifting of the toggle beam, DeDiemar et al disclose
a pair of upright hydraulic rams that are employed to release the
toggle beam for shifting by the horizontal rams. The upright hydraulic
rams cooperate with downwardly extending clamping bolts that are
threaded into the toggle beam and are biased upwardly to their clamped
conditions by means of a stack of Belleville washers surrounding
each bolt and reacting between its head and the housing. Extension
of the upright rams forces the clamping bolts downward against the
biasing force of the Belleville washers, thus freeing the toggle
beam from its clamped engagement against the upper edges of the
way slots. While the arrangement disclosed by DeDiemar et al eliminated
the need for laborious manipulation of the several upright clamping
bolts, it achieved this advantage at the cost of two additional
hydraulic rams and their control valves and the like. More important,
the arrangement was found to be unsatisfactory in many applications
because the Belleville washers could not exert a high enough clamping
force upon the toggle beam to confine it against rocking under all
conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4165044 to Batch, issue in 1979 and assigned to
the assignee of this application, discloses an arrangement particularly
intended for a large crusher having a large and heavy toggle beam
which is difficult to lift and to move and hard to secure in place
once shifted to a desired position of adjustment. In this case the
toggle beam is configured to cooperate with wedges which are inserted
from opposite sides of the crusher housing, between the toggle beam
and the upper edge of each way slot, and which clamp the toggle
beam against the lower edges of the way slots. Belleville washers
and hydraulic rams are arranged to cooperate in driving the wedges
to and from their clamped relationship with the toggle beam and
the housing. With this arrangement the toggle beam is securely confined
against rocking, but the hydraulic rams employed for adjustable
shifting of the toggle beam must again be supplemented by at least
two further hydraulic rams and their related apparatus.
The industry concerned with jaw crushers is an actively competitive
one. Nevertheless, the above discussed patents represent what has
heretofore been the most advanced state of the art. Thus it has
clearly not been obvious how to provide a simple, inexpensive and
efficient arrangement whereby the toggle beam of a large jaw crusher
can be releasably locked in any desired position of its adjustment
and thereby confined against both shifting and rocking without the
need for difficult and time-consuming manual labor and also without
involving the cost and complexity of hydraulic rams additional to
those employed for the actual shifting of the toggle beam along
the way slots.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The general object of this invention is to provide a jaw crusher
wherein the toggle beam is firmly and positively but releasably
locked against both shifting and rocking in every position of its
adjustment along the way slots, and wherein the same hydraulic ram
means that adjustingly shifts the toggle beam along the way slots
also provides for both its locking and its release, thus eliminating
the need for laborious manual tightening and loosening of clamping
bolts without entailing the cost of additional hydraulic rams or
the like.
Another and more specific object of the invention is to provide
a jaw crusher which achieves the above stated object and wherein
the means for releasably locking the toggle beam against shifting
and rocking comprises a wedging member which firmly clamps the toggle
beam against the lower surfaces of the way slots and which is actuated
to and from its wedging relationship with the toggle beam by means
of the same power means that effects toggle beam shifting, the apparatus
being arranged for automatic sequencing whereby the wedging member
is moved out of its clamping relationship before shifting force
is applied to the toggle beam and is moved back to that relationship
after the toggle beam has been re-engaged with the shims.
It is also a specific object of the invention to provide toggle
beam shifting and locking means which is so arranged that the toggle
beam need not be lifted for either shifting or locking, so that
the invention is in this respect very well suited for a very large
crusher having a heavy toggle beam as well as being highly satisfactory
for smaller crushers.
Thus an ultimate object of the invention is to effect significant
improvements in both small and large jaw crushers whereby the cost
and complexity of such machines is reduced while nevertheless allowing
the movable jaw of the machine to be adjusted for varying the fineness
of the crushed product with very little of the manual labor and
down time heretofore required for that purpose, and whereby the
toggle beam, when locked, is securely confined against rocking without
the need for periodic attention to the tightening of clamping bolts
or the like.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate what is now regarded
as a preferred embodiment of the invention:
FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation, with portions shown broken
away, of a jaw crusher embodying the principles of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a detail view on an enlarged scale, mainly in side elevation
but with portions broken away, illustrating the toggle beam shifting
and locking mechanism of this invention in its locked condition;
FIG. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken on the place of the
line 3--3 in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a disassembled perspective view of an end portion of
the toggle beam, its associated wedging member and link member and
one of the shims that cooperates with it;
FIG. 5 is a view generally similar to FIG. 2 but showing conditions
in an initial stage of a forward shift of the toggle beam and the
final stage of a rearward shift of it; and
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but showing conditions during
the final stage of a forward shift of the toggle beam and the initial
stage of a rearward shift of it.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
The jaw crusher shown in the accompanying drawings comprises, in
general, a main frame 5 that provides a housing having opposite
upright side walls 6 and to the front of which there is fixed an
upright stationary jaw member 7 that extends laterally between the
side walls. Also extending between the side walls is a movable jaw
member 8 which is rearwardly adjacent to the stationary jaw member
7 and cooperates with it in crushing material that is fed downwardly
between the jaw members. The movable jaw member 8 is suspended at
its upper end portion from an eccentric shaft 9 that is rotatably
driven in a well known manner by a grooved sheave 10 connected with
a suitable drive motor (not shown).
Adjacent to its lower end the movable jaw member 8 is rockably
fulcrumed upon the front edge of a toggle plate 11 which extends
laterally across its rear; and the toggle plate, in turn, is fulcrumed
at its rear edge upon a toggle beam 12 that is normally fixed in
the housing but is adjustably shiftable forward and rearward, towards
and from the stationary jaw member 7. The toggle beam 12 has a length
greater than the width of the housing and has its opposite end portions
received in aligned way slots 14 one in each side wall 6. Each
of the way slots 14 is elongated generally horizontally, and it
receives the toggle beam 12 with a freely slidable fit to guide
it for its adjusting motion. To each side wall 6 of the housing,
at the outer side of it, there is fixed a U-shaped flange 15 that
surrounds the way slot 14 and cooperates with the side wall proper
in defining it.
To maintain the rockable fulcrum connections between the movable
jaw member 8 and the toggle plate 11 and between the latter and
the toggle beam 12 a biasing assembly 17 is connected between the
toggle beam and the lower portion of the movable jaw member and
reacts between them to urge them towards one another and thus maintain
them in clamping relation to the toggle plate. This biasing assembly
comprises a generally horizontally extending tension rod 18 the
front end of which has a pivotal connection 19 to the movable jaw
member, beneath the fulcrum connection between that jaw member and
the toggle plate. A medial portion of the tension rod extends lengthwise
slidably through a sturdy bracket 20 that is fixed to the toggle
beam 12 and projects downward from it. The rear end portion of the
tension rod 18 which projects a substantial distance beyond the
bracket 20 is surrounded by a coiled expansion spring 21 that reacts
between the bracket 20 and a lock nut 22 threaded onto the rear
end of the tension rod. Washers 23 at the opposite ends of the spring
21 transfer its forces to the bracket 20 and the lock nut 22 respectively.
The lock nut 22 provides for adjustment of the biasing force exerted
by the spring 21 whereby the tension rod 18 and with it the lower
portion of the movable jaw member, are urged relatively towards
the toggle beam 12. Since the biasing assembly 17 is carried entirely
by the toggle beam 12 and the movable jaw member 8 it moves with
them during shifting adjustment of the toggle beam along the way
slots 14 and maintains a constant biasing force in all positions
of such adjustment.
The position of adjustment of the toggle beam 12 along the way
slots 14--and hence the adjustment of the movable jaw member 8 relative
to the stationary jaw member 7--is defined by generally conventional
shims 25 which are removably inserted into each way slot 14 between
the rear end of the way slot and the toggle beam, and which thus
constitute adjustable forwardly facing abutments against which the
end portions of the toggle beam engage. The movable jaw member 8
through its connection with the toggle beam 12 constantly imposes
upon the latter a strong rearward force that tends to maintain the
toggle beam engaged with the shims 25. This force exists because
the movable jaw member extends at a downward and forward inclination
from its connection with the eccentric shaft 9 to its fulcrum connection
with the toggle plate 11 so that the movable jaw member has its
center of gravity some distance forward of a vertical plane that
contains the axis of the eccentric shaft and it therefore tends
to swing rearward about that shaft.
A pair of substantially horizontally extending hydraulic rams 27
one at each side of the housing, provide for shifting the toggle
beam 12 forwardly out of engagement with the shims 25 so that the
shims can be changed, and also serve to assist gravitational force
in bringing the toggle beam back into engagement with the shims.
The two hydraulic rams are so connected with one another and also
with a suitable control device (not shown) in a well known manner
that they always operate in unison. Each of the hydraulic rams 27
has at its front end a pivotal reaction connection 28 with the housing
or main frame 5 and has at its rear end a motion transmitting connection
29 with an end portion of the toggle beam 12. For the reaction connection,
an upright strut 30 is fixed to the housing, bridging across the
U-shaped flange 15 that surrounds each way slot 14 in forwardly
spaced relation to the front end of the way slot, and this strut
30 supports a laterally extending pin 31 with which the hydraulic
ram has a pivotal connection that comprises a clevis 32 fixed on
the front end of the ram cylinder. The reaction connection 28 thus
allows the rear end of each ram 27 to swing up and down between
the upper and lower surfaces of its adjacent flange 15.
In any of the positions of adjustment at which the toggle beam
12 can be established by means of the shims 25 a pair of wedging
members 33 one for each end portion of the toggle beam, releasably
lock the toggle beam against forward shifting out of engagement
with the shims and also firmly but releasably clamp the toggle beam
against the lower surfaces of the way slots to thus confine it against
rocking. As explained hereinafter, each of these wedging members
33 also has a connection 34 with the hydraulic ram 27 at its side
of the housing whereby that ram moves the wedging member out of
its locking relationship to the toggle beam immediately before it
shifts the toggle beam forward and whereby it drives the wedging
member back into such locking relationship immediately after the
toggle beam has returned to engagement with the shims. Since the
apparatus at each side of the housing that comprises the shims 25
the wedging member 33 and the hydraulic ram 27 and its connections
28 29 and 34 is identical to that at the opposite side of the housing,
the drawings show only one end portion of the toggle beam and its
associated shifting and locking apparatus.
Each wedging member 33 has a top surface 35 that flatwise slidably
opposes the upper surface of its way slot, which thus constitutes
a reaction surface. The opposite bottom surface 36 of the wedging
member flatwise slidably opposes an upper wedging surface 37 on
its adjacent end portion of the toggle beam. The wedging member
tapers rearwardly as seen from the side, since its surfaces 35 and
36 are rearwardly convergent; and thus its bottom surface 36 faces
obliquely downwardly and towards the rear of the way slot. Each
end portion of the toggle beam has a bottom surface 38 which flatwise
slidably opposes the lower surface 60 of the way slot, and its wedging
surface 37 converges forwardly towards its bottom surface. Each
wedging surface 37 on the toggle beam constitutes the bottom surface
of a tapering groove or slot in the top of the toggle beam, and
the side surfaces of that slot guidingly confine a wedging member
to forward and rearward movement relative to the toggle beam. Each
wedging member 33 has a pair of flanges 39 which project above its
top surface and which respectively engage the inner and outer surfaces
of the side wall to confine the wedging member to forward and rearward
movement relative to the housing.
The motion transmitting connections 29 and 34 of each hydraulic
ram, to the toggle beam and to its wedging member respectively,
comprise a plate-like toggle link 40 in which there are three laterally
extending pins 42 43 44 that are located at the apexes of an imaginary
triangle. To the pin 42 which is at the front of the toggle link,
the piston rod 45 of the hydraulic ram has a pivotal connection
provided by a clevis 46 fixed on its rear end. A clevis 47 fixed
on the front of the wedging member 33 has a similar connection to
the pin 43 which is above and behind the pin 42. In like manner
a clevis 48 fixed on the front of the toggle beam connects it with
the pin 44 which is spaced to the rear of the other two pins 42
43 and below both of them.
From FIG. 5 it can be seen that as the piston rod 45 of the hydraulic
ram is retracted to draw the toggle link 40 forward, the toggle
link swings about the pin 44 that connects it with the toggle beam
12 and thus imposes the force of the ram upon the wedging member
33 to draw it forward and thus free the toggle beam. As the pins
42 and 44 come more nearly into alignment with the stationary pin
28 (FIG. 6) the force of the ram is applied to the toggle beam,
and it is drawn forward away from engagement with the shims 25
which can then be removed or replaced to define a new position of
adjustment of the toggle beam. As the ram piston extends to reestablish
the toggle beam in engagement with the shims, the toggle beam is
moved rearward mainly by the above described gravitational force,
but with some assistance from the ram, and the toggle link 40 maintains
its orientation in which the pins 42 and 44 are nearly aligned with
the pin 28 but with the pin 42 slightly above a line connecting
the pins 44 and 28. Hence, when the toggle beam 12 engages the shims
25 continued extension of the ram swings the toggle link upward
about the pin 44 so that the extension force of the ram is applied
to driving the wedging member 33 rearward into wedging relationship
with the toggle beam.
To prevent the toggle link 40 from swinging too far down around
the pin 44 that connects it with the toggle beam, it has a shoe
49 on its bottom that engages the lower surface 60 of the way slot
and slides along that surface during forward and rearward movement
of the toggle link. It will be apparent that the pin 42 that connects
the hydraulic ram with the toggle link must be kept above the line
through the pins 44 and 28 in order for the toggle link to be capable
of returning the wedging member to its wedging condition.
As best seen in FIG. 3 a pair of substantially horizontally extending
retainer bolts 50 50', overlying opposite surfaces of each housing
side wall 6 lock each wedging member 33 in its wedging condition.
The retainer bolt 50 for each side wall is received in a laterally
outwardly projecting retainer block 51 that is fixed on the side
wall rearwardly adjacent to the rear end of its way slot, and is
also received in a laterally outwardly projecting retainer block
52 fixed on the wedging member 33. This bolt 50 also extends through
a hole 53 in each shim 25 in a portion of the shim that projects
outwardly from the way slot, to confine the shim against displacement
out of the way slot. The other retainer bolt 50' at each side wall
extends through an upwardly projecting retainer block 54 that is
fixed on the toggle beam, behind the wedging member, and a laterally
inwardly projecting retainer block 52' on the wedging member. Heads
54 on the front ends of the retainer bolts 50 50' engage the front
retainer blocks 52 52' and cooperate with nuts 55 on their rear
ends that engage the respective retainer blocks 51 54.
Since no substantially high forces are exerted on the retainer
bolts 50 they can be quickly and easily removed and replaced for
shifting adjustment of the toggle beam.
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that this invention
provides a jaw crusher having means for firmly and positively but
releasably locking the toggle beam against both shifting and rocking
in every position of its adjustment along the way slots, and wherein
the same hydraulic ram means that adjustingly shifts the toggle
beam along the way slots serves both for locking it in any selected
position of its adjustment and for releasing it so that it can be
shifted to another such position. |