You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 44.197.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪Blablubbs‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider or colocation provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts and colocation providers may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host or colocation provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a colocation provider's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a colocation web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host or colocation provider (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host or colocation provider.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and requests should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 10:52, 20 August 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪AntiCompositeNumber‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: Visit the FAQ if you are affected .
- Start of block: 13:55, 18 August 2022
- Expiry of block: 13:55, 18 November 2024
Your current IP address is 44.197.119.13. The blocked range is 44.197.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((ref improve|date=January 2013))
[[File:Excavator Quickhitch extended.jpg|thumb|Automatic Quickhitch in the closed position.  Note the large spring on the ram, this helps to prevent accidental release of the attachment.  Additional safety is available by way of a large pin manually inserted through the hole on the bottom left preventing any movement by the hitch.]]
[[File:Excavator Quickhitch retracted.jpg|thumb|Automatic Quickhitch in the open position, allowing the required attachment to be picked up or released.]]
'''Quick couplers''' (also called '''quick hitches''') are used with [[construction machines]] to allow the rapid change of working tools or buckets and attachments on the machine. They remove the need to use [[Hammer|hammers]] to manually drive out and insert the mounting pins for attachments. They also bring with them additional [[safety]] risks that must be overcome by careful design and manufacture, and proper use.

== Description ==

Quick couplers are devices installed at the outer end of the work equipment of various types of construction and [[Earth-moving machinery|earth-moving machines]]. They facilitate the rapid exchange of working tools or buckets. Quick couplers are most common on hydraulic [[excavators]] and [[compact excavator]]s and on the backhoe equipment of [[backhoe loader]]s, but are also installed on [[telescopic handlers]], [[wheel loaders]] (loading shovels), [[skid-steer loader]]s and the loader equipment of backhoe-loaders. They are also occasionally installed on attachments installed on [[agricultural tractor]]s.
Quick couplers do not normally have a specific function themselves in that they do not carry out handling or digging operations, but when installed on a machine they become a part of the overall system. They are usually mounted on the machine by means of the pins that would otherwise be the mountings for the bucket or attachment.
This article concentrates on quick couplers installed on excavators and similar equipment.

== Types ==
There are many variations in the design of quick couplers.  The initial divergence is between those that can pick up any of a range of buckets and attachments by clamping onto the mounting pins for the attachment (known as "pin grabbers" or "pin couplers") and those that work only with buckets and attachments designed to suit that quick coupler (known as "dedicated").  The claimed advantage of pin-grabbers is flexibility in use in that a machine owner can use a variety of buckets and attachments without changing the quick coupler or buying an adaptor.  The claimed advantages of dedicated couplers depend on their individual design but often include better performance and smaller size.

== Operation ==

The method of operation (the picking up and releasing of buckets and attachments) causes the next divergence in design.  The types can be described as manual, semi-automatic, and automatic.

;Manual: The operation of this type is done, usually by the use of tools, at the coupler itself.  The operator needs to leave the operator's station (usually the cab) to go to the end of the work equipment in order to effect the release of a bucket or attachment, and to do the same in order to attach the next bucket or attachment to be used.

;Semi-automatic: With this type the hydraulic system of the machine is used to operate the main attachment mechanism but the manual operation of a safety device is necessary at the coupler itself to ensure that the bucket or attachment is safely locked onto the coupler.  The safety device is intended to prevent the release of the bucket or attachment in the event of the failure of the hydraulic system, or other major failure of the attachment mechanism.  The safety device is most commonly a pin that must be inserted to prevent one of the components in the quick coupler moving to release the bucket or attachment but some designs require the manual operation of a lever on the quick coupler.

;Automatic: This type use the hydraulic system of the machine to operate the main attachment mechanism and have an internal safety device.  As with semi-automatic systems the safety device is designed to prevent the release of the bucket or attachment in the event of a failure of the hydraulic system.

Within the above three categories there are many further divergences in operating principles and detail designs.  There are many competing claims relating to the safety and performance benefits and demerits of each design.

== Safety issues ==
Fatalities have occurred due to buckets being accidentally released from work equipment during operation.  Released buckets have hit bystanders causing fatal injuries.  These have been reported in most detail in the UK, but there are reports of fatalities in Australia,<ref>((Cite news |date=2012-03-22 |title=Teenager killed by falling excavator bucket |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-22/teenager-killed-by-falling-excavator-bucket/3906916 |access-date=2022-10-10))</ref> the Republic of Ireland and the USA.((Citation needed|date=October 2022))
The causes of the fatal accidents are not always the same and the views of safety authorities in different countries differ on how to reduce risk.  In the UK the [[Health and Safety Executive]] (HSE) analysed the accident data and concluded that all of the known fatalities were caused by the operator not inserting the safety pin in semi-automatic couplers.  Even without the safety pin inserted the buckets would not have been released unless there had been a failure of some part of the mechanism, or some error in operation by the operator.  The HSE concluded that the most effective way to reduce the risk of further accidents was for semi-automatic couplers to be withdrawn from sale.  The suppliers of these couplers agreed to this voluntarily so semi-automatic couplers were [https://web.archive.org/web/20091125140320/http://www.hse.gov.uk/construction/safehitch.htm withdrawn from sale] in the UK by around October 2008.
Safety authorities in other countries have taken a different approach.  In Australia the authorities took the view that the problems were caused by designs of quick couplers that did not incorporate a safety pin.  That is, they believe that semi-automatics are fundamentally safe.  The Australian standard for quick couplers published by [[Standards Australia]], [https://archive.today/20130201233908/http://infostore.saiglobal.com/store2/Details.aspx?ProductID=996671 AS 4774 - 2008] therefore does not exclude this design option.  It is therefore obvious that the views of the safety authorities of the UK and Australia on what constitutes a safe design are very divergent.
In the UK some major construction contractors have written their own specifications for quick couplers allowed on sites under their control.  That is, they have pursued site safety via a procurement policy.  An alternative approach has been put forward by the [http://www.cpa.uk.net/p/Plant-Safety-Group/ Strategic Forum Plant Safety Group].  A working party under this group has drawn up a [http://cpa.uk.net/data/uploads/public/Guidance%20on%20the%20Safe%20Use%20of%20Quickhitches%20-%20Published%20Document%20Rev1.pdf best practice guide] that has been endorsed, inter alia, by the HSE.  This provides an alternative route to site safety: adhering to best practice in the use of quick couplers.

== Market ==
The market for quick couplers is mainly supplied by a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises.  Many of the manufacturers of quick couplers are small, flexible and innovative, leading to the wide variation in design concepts.  Many Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of construction equipment market a range of quick couplers.  Some of these are designed and manufactured by the OEM but more often they are the products of one of the quick coupler manufacturers branded by the OEM and sold through the OEM's distribution chain or installed by the OEM in their factory.
In addition to the supply route from the OEMs many distributors of construction machinery will install quick couplers onto machines before delivery at the request of a customer.  Quick coupler manufacturers will also sell direct to end-users and usually complete the installation as part of the sale.

== Development of international safety standards ==
A European standard in place since 1996 gives some guidance on the safety of quick couplers (EN474-1).  However, this standard is unclear in many aspects leading to uncertainty as to whether semi-automatic couplers comply with it or not.  Because of this the UK government launched a "safeguard action" under the [http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:1998:207:0001:0046:EN:PDF Machinery Safety Directive (98/37/EC)] challenging the validity of the standard and demanding that it be improved.  The [[European Committee for Standardization]] (CEN) have therefore undertaken to revise the relevant section of the standard.
Because of the divergence in design concepts and in opinions on how to manage the associated risks the [[International Organization for Standardization]] (ISO) has undertaken to draft an International Standard on the safety of quick couplers.  This project is being undertaken by [http://www.iso.org/iso/about/about/iso_members/iso_technical_committee.html?commid=52172 Technical Committee 127 (ISO TC/127)].  A Working Group was set up to draft the standard, which will be reviewed internationally through normal ISO procedures and will be published as [http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=52419 ISO 13031]. This work will probably be completed in 2013.  The intention in Europe is that, subject to the standard being suitable, the ISO standard would then be adopted as the standard for Europe.

==References==
((Reflist))

[[Category:Construction equipment]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Quick coupler (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite news (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Ref improve (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Quick coupler.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quick_coupler"