Patent Application
20220389690
The present disclosure relates to work implement assemblies such as bucket assemblies used by earth moving, mining, construction equipment and the like. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to such assemblies that employ corner guards that are used in various mining applications
Machines such as wheel loaders, excavators, and the like employ work implement assemblies including bucket assemblies, rakes, shears, etc. that have teeth or tips attached to them to help perform work on a material such as dirt, rock, sand, etc. For example, teeth or tips may be attached to a bucket assembly to help the bucket assembly to penetrate the ground, facilitating the scooping of the dirt into a bucket. Adapters are often attached to the work edges (e.g. the base edge, the side edge, etc.) of the bucket or other work implement so that different styles of teeth or tips may be attached to the work implement. In addition to or in lieu of these tips, various guards may be employed that protect the base edge of a bucket assembly or the like in order to prolong the useful life of the base edge.
More specifically, in some applications a wheel loader may be employed that uses a bucket assembly to remove material. While the right hand corner guard may be visible to the operator, the left hand corner guard may not be as visible. As a result, the operator may more easily remove material on the right side of the bucket assembly without repeatedly grinding the corner guard on a wall, as compared to the left side. Over time, the repeated inadvertent grinding of the left hand corner guard against a wall may require that the left hand corner guard be replaced more often than the right hand corner guard. Thus, the left hand corner guard may set the maximum amount of time a bucket assembly may be used before maintenance is required.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,593,470 B2 discloses a corner guard that has a first portion, a second portion, and an intermediate portion between the first and the second portions, all in different planes to one another. A boss or lug is provided on the leading edge of the intermediate portion. The intermediate portion is angled relative to both the first and the second portions, which alleviates the load stresses otherwise created in a traditional 90 degree corner. The first portion has a wall with a taper or bevel towards a forward edge. The second portion has a wall with a leading flared wall portion that widens the corner at the front. The intermediate portion is preferably at an included angle of around 120 degrees to 170 degrees with respect to the respective walls of the first and the second portions.
The '470 patent fails to address the wear issues as described herein, instead focusing on stresses exerted on the corner of the bucket assembly as it is used. So, there is a need for a corner guard that is more resistant to wear than previously designed.
A corner guard for protecting a base edge according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise a rear attachment portion defining a first fastener receiving void, a vertical direction of assembly, a lateral direction that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly, and a direction of material flow that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly and the lateral direction. The corner guard may also include a rear edge that is disposed along the direction of material flow, and a forward ramp portion that extends forwardly from the rear attachment portion along the direction of material flow, and vertically downwardly forming a front wear edge. The corner guard may also comprise an outer lateral side, and an inner lateral side. The outer lateral side may be flared laterally, defining a lateral side extremity that is disposed along the direction of material flow adjacent to the front wear edge.
A corner guard for protecting a base edge according to another embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise a rear attachment portion defining a first fastener receiving void, a vertical direction of assembly, a lateral direction that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly, and a direction of material flow that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly and the lateral direction. The corner guard may also include a rear edge that is disposed along the direction of material flow, a forward ramp portion that extends forwardly from the rear attachment portion along the direction of material flow, and vertically downwardly forming a front wear edge, an outer lateral side, and an inner lateral side. The outer lateral side may be flared laterally, and enlarged vertically from the rear edge toward the front wear edge, forming a front flared portion disposed proximate to the front wear edge, and a defining a flat bottom surface and a flat top surface disposed proximate to a front corner of the corner guard.
A corner guard for protecting a base edge according to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure may comprise a rear attachment portion defining a first fastener receiving void, a vertical direction of assembly, a lateral direction that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly, and a direction of material flow that is perpendicular to the vertical direction of assembly and the lateral direction. The corner guard may include a rear edge disposed along the direction of material flow, a forward ramp portion that extends forwardly from the rear attachment portion along the direction of material flow, and vertically downwardly forming a front wear edge, and an outer lateral side as well as an inner lateral side. The front wear edge may extend laterally, and may further comprise a flat bottom surface that extends from the outer lateral side toward the inner lateral side, and a bottom sloping surface that extends from adjacent the flat bottom surface laterally toward the inner lateral side.
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. In some cases, a reference number will be indicated in this specification and the drawings will show the reference number followed by a letter for example, 100a, 100b or a prime indicator such as 100′, 100″ etc. It is to be understood that the use of letters or primes immediately after a reference number indicates that these features are similarly shaped and have similar function such as is often the case when geometry is mirrored about a plane of symmetry. For ease of explanation in this specification, letters or primes will often not be included herein but may be shown in the drawings to indicate duplications of features discussed within this written specification.
A corner guard that may last longer despite inadvertent scraping in underground mining applications will be discussed momentarily herein with regard to a specific application. In particular, the corner guard may take the form of a left corner guard for reasons set forth above herein. However, it is to be understood that the corner guard could also be a right corner guard (e.g., may be symmetrically configured to the left corner guard). Also, it is to be understood that the corner guard may be used on various work implement assemblies in other applications such as above ground mining, excavation, earth moving, and construction, etc.
Starting with
A front edge assembly 200 may be attached to the bucket assembly. This front edge assembly may include a base edge 202 (may also be referred to as a front lip), a plurality of center guards 204, a left corner guard 300, and a right corner guard 300a. The guards may be attached to the base edge 202 via a plurality of nuts 206, and bolts 208.
In
Again, it is to be understood the work implement assembly may take other forms other than a bucket assembly including rake assemblies, shear assemblies, etc. Also, any of the embodiments of the cutting edge tips may be used in any of these other forms of work implement assemblies including other differently configured bucket assemblies. Other machines may use the corner guard(s) including skid steers, bulldozers, excavators, mining shovels, etc.
Before focusing on the left corner guard, the Applicant points out that
In
Looking at
The corner guard may include a rear edge 312 that is disposed along the direction of material flow 310, as well as a forward ramp portion 314 (may also be referred to as a forward wear portion) that extends forwardly from the rear attachment portion 302 along the direction of material flow 310, and vertically downwardly forming a front wear edge 316.
Similarly, an outer lateral side 318 (so called since it faces laterally away from the interior of the bucket), and an inner lateral side 320 (so called since it faces laterally toward the interior of the bucket) may be disposed in an opposing manner along the lateral direction 308. The outer lateral side 318 may be flared laterally, defining an outer lateral side extremity 322 that is disposed along the direction of material flow 310 adjacent to the front wear edge 316. This arrangement forms a flared portion 324.
On the other hand, the inner lateral side 320 may include a first planar surface 326 that is oblique to the lateral direction 308. This may not be the case in other embodiments of the present disclosure.
As best seen in
Referring now to
In
The corner guard 300 may also define a maximum length 344 measured along the direction of material flow 310. The flared portion 324 includes a sloped surface 346 including a rear intersection 348 with the lateral sidewall 338, and that extends adjacent to the outer lateral side extremity 322. A flare length 350 may be measured along the direction of material flow 310 from the rear intersection 348 of the sloped surface 346 to the outer lateral side extremity 322.
Likewise in
In some embodiments, a ratio of the maximum length to the flare length ranges from 1.5 to 2.5, and a ratio of the maximum width 349 to the flare width 352 may range from 8.0 to 10.0.
Also as best seen in
Referring once more to
The pads 355 help to mate the corner guard to the base edge, while recess 356 is provided to core out material to help avoid voids and porosity during the casting process. A similar recess 356a is provided on the bottom (see
Other features include a side guard resting pad 362 (see also
Looking at
Focusing on
In
Referring back to
Put another way while looking at
As seen in
In
A ratio of the first predetermined vertical distance 388 to the second predetermined vertical distance 390 may range from 1.25 to 1.4 in some embodiments of the present disclosure. In such a case, the first predetermined vertical distance ranges from 95.0 mm to 105.0 mm (e.g., 100.0 mm), and the second predetermined vertical distance ranges from 70.0 mm to 80.0 mm (e.g., 75.0 mm).
Again, it should be noted that any of the dimensions, angles, surface areas and/or configurations of various features may be varied as desired or needed including those not specifically mentioned herein. Although not specifically discussed, blends such as fillets are shown to connect the various surfaces. These may be omitted in other embodiments and it is to be understood that their presence may be ignored sometimes when reading the present specification unless specifically mentioned.
In practice, a machine, a work implement assembly, a front edge assembly, a corner guard, or any component thereof may be manufactured, bought, or sold to retrofit a machine or a work implement assembly in the field in an aftermarket context, or alternatively, may be manufactured, bought, sold or otherwise obtained in an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) context.
Any of the aforementioned components may be made from any suitable material including iron, grey-cast iron, steel, etc.
Various features of the corner guard may have the following performances. First, as seen in
It should also be noted that the lateral thickness of the lateral sidewall has been minimized (e.g., half of previous lateral sidewalls) while the flare portion has been increased to maximize material where wear most often occurs. This has been verified through testing and wear simulations, etc.
To that end, a larger convex arcuate surface has been provided than previously possible to maximize and even out the wear in the front outer corner of the corner guard.
The corner guard may increase its useful life by 25% to 50%, or more than previous designs.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description provides examples of the disclosed assembly and technique. However, it is contemplated that other implementations of the disclosure may differ in detail from the foregoing examples. All references to the disclosure or examples thereof are intended to reference the particular example being discussed at that point and are not intended to imply any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure more generally. All language of distinction and disparagement with respect to certain features is intended to indicate a lack of preference for those features, but not to exclude such from the scope of the disclosure entirely unless otherwise indicated.
Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.
As used herein, the articles “a” and “an” are intended to include one or more items, and may be used interchangeably with “one or more.” Where only one item is intended, the term “one” or similar language is used. Also, as used herein, the terms “has”, “have”, “having”, “with” or the like are intended to be open-ended terms. Further, the phrase “based on” is intended to mean “based, at least in part, on” unless explicitly stated otherwise.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments of the apparatus and methods of assembly as discussed herein without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention(s). Other embodiments of this disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the various embodiments disclosed herein. For example, some of the equipment may be constructed and function differently than what has been described herein and certain steps of any method may be omitted, performed in an order that is different than what has been specifically mentioned or in some cases performed simultaneously or in sub-steps. Furthermore, variations or modifications to certain aspects or features of various embodiments may be made to create further embodiments and features and aspects of various embodiments may be added to or substituted for other features or aspects of other embodiments in order to provide still further embodiments.
Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.
