Described is an earth scraper including multiple buckets to receive earth scraped by a scraper blade. A lifter mechanism is provided to move one of the buckets between elevated and lowered positions.
1 . A scraper comprising a container assembly, a lifter, a blade, and a ground engaging component configured to facilitate movement of the scraper over the ground, the container assembly having a lower compartment having a floor and an upper compartment having a floor, wherein the upper compartment is arranged to lay within the lower compartment, and wherein the scraper is formed such that:
the blade is arranged to scrape earth from the ground so the earth moves into the container assembly and into the upper compartment; and
wherein the lifter comprises a parallelogram linkage configured to move the upper compartment upwardly and rearwardly to create a space between the floor of the upper compartment and the floor of the lower compartment, such that further earth scraped by the scraper enters that space and is retained in the lower compartment; and
wherein the upward and rearward movement of the upper compartment positions at least a portion of the upper compartment above the at least one ground engaging component, and wherein the respective floors of the upper compartment and the lower compartment remain substantially parallel to each other during the upward and rearward movement of the upper compartment.
2 . The scraper according to claim 1 , comprising a series of struts arranged to swing the upper compartment upwardly and rearwardly to create the space between the floor of the upper compartment and the floor of the lower compartment.
3 . The scraper as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a drive shaft adapted to be coupled to and given rotational motion by a towing vehicle to drive the ground engaging component and, as a consequence the scraper, over the ground while the blade scrapes the earth into the container assembly.
4 . The scraper according to claim 3 , wherein the ground engaging component comprises at least a pair of ground engaging wheels or tracks that enable the scraper to be towed.
5 . The scraper according to claim 3 , wherein the upper compartment and lower compartment comprises subdivisions or separated pans.
6 . The scraper according to claim 5 , wherein the drive shaft extends along a space between the pans.
7 . The scraper according to claim 3 , wherein the drive shaft is coupled to a differential, which is in turn connected to an axle, the axle in turn being connected to the ground engaging component for facilitating towing of the scraper.
8 . The scraper according to claim 7 , wherein the axle comprises two sub axles, one either side of the differential.
9 . The scraper according to claim 3 , wherein the blade comprises separate sub-blades.
10 . The scraper according to claim 1 , comprising a structural frame supporting the container assembly.
11 . The scraper according to claim 10 , wherein the structural frame comprises detachable sub-frames.
12 . The scraper according to claim 11 , comprising a draw bar adapted to swing about a pivot connection so that a distal end of the draw bar can be aligned with the centre of the combination of the sub-frames when the sub-frames are attached to one another, and subsequently aligned with the centre of one of the sub frames that it swings about when the sub-frames are detached from one another.
13 . The scraper according to claim 1 , comprising an accumulator that stores energy from a tractor unit and uses that energy to at least assist in raising the upper compartment when laden with scraped earth.
14 . The scraper according to claim 13 , wherein the accumulator is built into a structural frame that supports the container assembly or a pan thereof.
15 . The scraper according to claim 13 , wherein the accumulator comprises a gas filled bladder adapted to be compressed by hydraulic fluid for storing energy, and subsequently decompressed to release energy.
16 . The scraper according to claim 15 , wherein the accumulator has an internal compartment housing the bladder, hydraulic fluid and an outlet for the fluid when under pressure, the bladder being separated from the outlet by a permeable barrier.
17 . The scraper according to claim 3 wherein the drive shaft extends within a raised section of the lower compartment and is higher than the lowermost interior surface of that compartment.
18 . The scraper according to claim 1 , wherein the lifter comprises a support frame and at least one ground engaging component.
19 . The scraper according to claim 18 , wherein the parallelogram linkage mounts the upper compartment to floor to a/the support frame.
20 . The scraper according to claim 19 , wherein the lifter further comprises an actuator configured to provide a driving force to move the upper compartment between an elevated position and a lowered position.
21 . The scraper according to claim 20 , wherein the actuator comprises at least one hydraulic cylinder and ram.