The present invention relates generally to ground engaging apparatus and, in a representative embodiment thereof, more particularly provides specially designed apparatus for (1) inhibiting undesirable side-to-side movement of a wear member support structure, such as an adapter, relative to a front bucket lip edge on which the adapter is mounted, and (2) shielding the bucket lip edge from operational wear at the wear member mounting location thereon.
In ground engaging arts such as excavation and mining it is common practice to secure a support structure, such as an adapter to which a wear member (such as a replaceable tooth point) may in turn be mounted, to a front edge portion of an excavating bucket lip. Typically, the adapter has rear top and bottom leg portions which straddle the front bucket lip edge and are secured to the bucket lip rearwardly of its front edge to hold the installed adapter in place on the bucket lip. It is considered desirable to inhibit side-to-side movement of the installed adapter relative to the bucket lip, and to additionally shield the front bucket lip edge from operational wear at the adapter installation location thereon.
Previous attempts to meet these two design criteria have often proven to be less than entirely satisfactory due to undesirably high expense and/or complexity. It would accordingly be desirable to provide improved apparatus for stabilizing a lip-mounted ground engaging support structure that was substantially less costly and complex. It is to this goal that the present invention is primarily directed.
Turning now to the drawings, a bottom metal excavating bucket lip 10 has top and bottom sides 12 and 14, a front edge 16, and a series of forwardly extending stabilizing projections 18 (only one of which is visible) spaced apart along the length of the front lip edge 16. Spaced rearwardly apart from the front lip edge 16 are a series of connector openings 20 (only one of which is visible) extending downwardly through the lip 10 and aligned with its stabilizing projections 18.
A wear member, representatively in the form of an adapter 22, is removably securable to the front lip edge 16 to form therewith an earth engaging assembly as shown in
To inhibit undesirable side-to-side movement of the installed adapter 22 (i.e., parallel to the front lip edge 16) relative to lip 10, the present invention provides a specially designed stabilization structure 36 that includes two movable stabilizing block members 38 which are secured to the front lip edge 16 prior to the installation of the adapter 22 on the lip 10. Representatively, the blocks 38 are magnetically secured to the metal lip 10 (for example, by using suitable schematically depicted magnet structures 39) prior to the installation of the adapter 22 on the lip 10 in a manner permitting the blocks 38 to be slidingly moved relative to the front lip edge 16 along the length thereof. Other suitable structures and techniques may be alternatively utilized to movably support the stabilizing blocks 38 on the front lip edge 16 prior to installation of the adapter 22 thereon.
The installed stabilizing blocks 38 have (1) sloping front surfaces 40 which are slidingly engageable by complementarily sloped interior surfaces 42 positioned within the adapter 22 adjacent the juncture of the adapter legs 24 and 26, (2) curved rear side surfaces 43, (3) relatively narrow outer ends 45 and wider inner ends 47, and (4) facing pocket areas 44 disposed at the junctions of the ends 45,47 and configured to permit entry into the pocket areas 44 of the illustrated lip stabilizing projection 18.
As the adapter 22 is rearwardly moved onto the lip 22, sliding engagement between the sloped adapter surfaces 42 with the complementarily sloped block surfaces 40 causes the blocks 38 to move toward one another along the front lip edge, as indicated by the arrows 46 in
As can be seen, the use of the stabilizing blocks 38 provides a simple, effective and inexpensive technique for achieving the dual functions of shielding the front lip projection 18 from operational abrasion wear and inhibiting undesirable side to side movement of the installed adapter 22 relative to the bucket lip 10. Additionally, these desirable results are achieved without the use of separate fasteners to mount the stabilizing blocks 38 in place. Further, the installed stabilizing blocks 38 automatically shift toward one another along the length of the front bucket lip edge 16 in response to rearward movement of the adapter 22 relative to the lip 10, either during initial installation of the adapter 22 or during subsequent rearward tightening of the adapter 22 on the lip to adjust for operational wear.
The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as being given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the present invention being limited solely by the appended claims.
The present application claims the benefit of the filing date of provisional U.S. patent application No. 61/613,719 filed Mar. 21, 2012. The entire disclosure of the provisional application is hereby incorporated herein by this reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61613719 | Mar 2012 | US |