In the field of quick couplers and attachments for the construction industry, particular emphasis is placed on safety, wear resistance, and efficiency. Because of the significant safety hazards involved in changing excavator attachments, our customer was looking for a reliable and durable safety system for their line of quick couplers. The solution involved avoiding sensitive electronics and integrating a mechanical-hydraulic system to minimize potential sources of error.<\/p>\n\n
<\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Greater safety on the construction site \u2013 with the innovative valve solution from Bott<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our customer, a construction equipment manufacturer, prioritizes maximum durability, safety, and operational efficiency when designing their products. As part of the development of a new quick coupler series, they designed an additional safety system, which has since been patented. A robust and pragmatic hydraulic control system was required for its implementation. This is where the experts at Bott stepped in. We developed a valve unit that enables this new generation of quick couplers to lock attachments automatically, reliably, and with complete safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyday working conditions on construction sites are demanding and distractions or lapses in attention cannot always be avoided. Despite high safety standards, accidents continue to occur in connection with excavators, and in particular when changing attachments. With this in mind, the goal of development from the outset was to place higher demands on the company’s own products than the standard specifies. That is why they were designed to be safe, reliable, robust, and suitable for everyday use. Devices that protect both people and machines need to be able to withstand the harsh conditions on construction sites. For this reason, sensitive electronics and sensors were deliberately avoided. This also applies to Bott’s hydraulic valve unit, which serves as the central component of the safety system in the quick couplers. This virtually eliminates errors when locking attachments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Falling attachments pose a considerable risk of accidents, which is why there are correspondingly high safety requirements for quick coupler systems according to DIN. Within these standards, however, manufacturers still have some leeway for their specific system. This often involves requiring machine operators to operate multiple levers simultaneously when changing attachments. If a coupler is unlocked, the control system puts the excavator into emergency mode and activates an audible alarm. Although this is necessary for safety, it can disrupt workflow because the excavator can only be operated at a reduced speed. Some machine controls automatically lock the quick coupler as soon as the excavator arm is moved. If this is not the case, the machine is often locked by operators themselves, which in turn switches off the audible alarm and returns the excavator to normal operating mode. However, this can cause the claw lock and the locking pins to engage, making the attachment change process more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Changing an attachment therefore requires a precise sequence of several steps, including positioning, hooking, locking, lowering, and tilting. This introduces the potential for errors and tampering. One solution to this problem is an automatic safety system that works without additional intervention and does not disrupt the workflow. This is exactly what the Bott hydraulic unit was designed for. It is based on a mechanically-hydraulically actuated 2\/2-way poppet valve that is housed in a compact cartridge and combined with a pilot-operated check valve. This small but essential component increases safety and simplifies the attachment change process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From the outside, the attachment change process with the new quick couplers is very similar to that of conventional systems. The old attachment part is detached and removed according to the standard procedure. However, there are functional differences: As soon as the hydraulic system reaches operating pressure, the claw lock of the quick coupler automatically extends and locks the attachment. The locking pins initially remain slightly engaged so that the driver can position the new attachment without having to unlock it again. The machine operator positions and lowers the claws as usual over the new attachment and engages them. The two pins of the claw lock are pressed inwards and engage automatically as soon as the claws are correctly positioned. This locks the attachment in the claws and keeps it in place even during rapid swivel maneuvers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The claw lock operates independently of the second locking stage, where the Bott valves come into play. The machine operator lowers the quick coupler onto the rear mounting point, where a spring-loaded contact pin is pressed through the mounting shaft on the attachment, activating the poppet valve. As a result, the locking pins extend automatically and lock the attachment. The red indicator pin does not retract until the locking pins have reached a safety minimum, signaling to the operator that the interlock is fully engaged. The Bott valve solution prevents incorrect locking because the pins will not extend until the attachment is in the correct position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The specially developed 2\/2-way poppet valve in this innovative locking system is operated mechanically and hydraulically and is housed in a compact cartridge. This is only 60 mm long and fits into an M20 x 1.5 hole. This means that the quick coupler does not require an electrical attachment kit and is compatible with any DIN control system. Bott’s valve solution makes optimum use of physical principles without making the design unnecessarily complicated. The developers deliberately opted for a practical, robust, and durable solution that can withstand the tough conditions present on most construction sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Picture credits: Cseri)<\/p>\n<\/details>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the field of quick couplers and attachments for the construction industry, particular emphasis is placed on safety, wear resistance, and efficiency. Because of the significant safety hazards involved in changing excavator attachments, our customer was looking for a reliable and durable safety system for their line of quick couplers. The solution involved avoiding sensitive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-references"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3044,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3041\/revisions\/3044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bott-hydraulik.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Complete article<\/summary>\n