Wear Protection Assembly
A wear protection assembly for earth working machinery includes a number of corner shrouds, each corner shroud being adapted to be joined to an external edge of the earth working machinery, and fasteners for separately and releasably securing each of the corner shrouds to the earth working machinery. Also disclosed is a wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, including a first set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery, a second set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery, and fasteners for separately and releasably securing each of the wear strips to the earth working machinery. Also disclosed is a wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, including one or more external wear plates being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery, one or more internal wear plates being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery, and fasteners for separately and releasably securing each of the internal and external wear plates to the earth working machinery.
The present invention relates to a wear protection assembly.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a wear protection assembly for an earth working tool, such as an excavator bucket.
BACKGROUND ARTExcavators are widely used in the construction and mining industries to move around ground and rocks. In many of these applications, the excavators use buckets with which to pick up the earth and rocks and either load it onto trucks or move it to a different location. This use exposes the buckets to extreme friction wearing. Conventional buckets are thus made of strong materials, such as high performance steel, and are also made relatively large so that the steel does not quickly wear through.
If a bucket becomes damaged, it normally needs to be replaced and returned to a workshop for repair—during such time, the excavator cannot be used and thus stands idle, which leads to further wasted costs. Accordingly, many manufacturers have resorted to providing additional strengthening and abrasion resistance, by welding wear plates onto their buckets. For example, the CAT Excavator Heavy Duty Bucket is provided with side wear plates and horizontal bottom wear plates, which are welded onto the bucket. Although such wear plates do strengthen the bucket and reduce the likelihood of damage, they still have a disadvantage in the wear plates cannot easily be repaired onsite and thus the bucket must still be returned to a workshop for repair. Also, the repair can be time consuming as welding is required to remove the damaged plate and to affix the new replacement plate.
It is an object of the invention to suggest a wear protection assembly, which will assist in at least partially overcoming these problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccording to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
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- a plurality of corner shrouds being adapted to be joined to an external edge of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the corner shrouds to the earth working machinery.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
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- a first set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery;
- a second set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the wear strips to the earth working machinery.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
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- one or more wear plates being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery;
- one or more wear plates being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the wear plates to the earth working machinery.
The earth working machinery may be an excavator bucket having a floor leading to a heel and having opposed side panels, wherein the wear protection assembly is adapted to be secured to an external corner between the floor and the side panels and/or an external corner between the heel and the side panels.
The corner shrouds may be substantially L shaped having two divergent legs that extend from a mutual vertex to separate terminal ends, wherein the legs are tapered having a thicker cross-section at the vertex than at the terminal ends.
The attachment means may extend substantially from the external surface of the earth working machinery to the internal surface of the earth working machinery.
The corner shrouds may have countersunk passages for receiving the attachment means.
The attachment means may include threaded bolts and nuts.
The attachment means may be plough bolts.
The, or each, plough bolt may extend substantially from the external surface of the earth working machinery through to the internal surface of the earth working machinery.
The wear protection assembly may include a plurality of gusset plates being associated with the plurality of corner shrouds, wherein the gusset plates are adapted to be located on a side of the earth working machinery being opposed to the corner shrouds, so that the earth working machinery is sandwiched between the corner shrouds and the gusset plates.
The gusset plates may include one or more braces located operatively forward of the attachment means, whereby the braces are arranged to protect the attachment means during use.
The braces may further be are arranged to increase the rigidity of the gusset plates for providing structural support to a corner edge of the earth working machinery abutting the gusset plates.
The gusset plates may include one or more side walls, whereby the walls are arranged to increase the rigidity of the gusset plates for providing structural support to a corner edge of the earth working machinery abutting the gusset plates.
The wear strips may be in the form of an elongated rod having a substantially rectangular cross-section.
The wear strips may have countersunk passages for receiving the attachment means.
Yet further according to the invention, there is provided an excavator bucket provided with a wear protection assembly, wherein the wear protection assembly comprises:
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- a plurality of corner shrouds secured to an external corner of the excavator bucket;
- a first set of wear strips secured to an external surface of the excavator bucket;
- a second set of wear strips secured to an internal surface of the excavator bucket; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the corner shrouds and the wear strips to the excavator bucket.
The wear strips may be adapted to be attached to the earth working machinery so that they are spaced apart from each other and orientated substantially parallel to each other.
The wear strips in the first and second sets of wear strips may be arranged in a staggered formation being offset from each other.
The respective attachment means attaching the first set of wear strips to the bucket may be interposed between the wear strips of the second set of wear strips and, vice versa, the respective attachment means attaching the second set of wear strips to the bucket may be interposed between the wear strips of the first set of wear strips.
The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Referring to
As shown in
A hinge assembly 126 is provided on the top panel 108 to permit the bucket 102 to be joined to an excavator.
The first embodiment of the wear protection assembly 100 is particularly directed towards protecting rear joint edges 128, 130 of the bucket 102 where the side plates 122, 124 join to the heel 106. Accordingly, the wear protection assembly 100 comprises a plurality of corner shrouds 132 that are held in position by being attached to an associated plurality of gusset plates 134 by bolts 136 and bolt nuts 137 extending through the bucket 102. The corner shrouds 132 are discretely spaced apart along the outside of the joint edges 128, 130, whereas the gusset plates 134 are located internally of the joint edges 128, 130 and preferably being in close abutting contact with each other.
As is more clearly illustrated in
Referring now to
It is envisaged that the bolts 136 will be of the plough bolt type and be applied from outside the bucket 102 so that the bolt heads can be fully received within the countersunk passages 148, thereby providing a degree of protection to the bolt heads so that they do not encounter excessive friction in use. As can be seen in
A further advantage of such plough bolts 136 is that, as best shown in
Although it is known to provide side wear plates on conventional excavator buckets, these plates are welded into place onto the side plates 122, 124. Accordingly, in use, it tends to be difficult to replace the side wear plates if they become too worn or damaged during such use, therefore requiring the bucket 102 to be dispatched to a workshop for repair. Also, if only a small section of such side wear plates become worn through, it may be necessary to replace the entire side wear plate, resulting in increased material wastage and costs.
Contrary to the above problems, the present invention is directed to an easily replaceable wear protection assembly 100, wherein the individual corner shrouds 132 and gusset plates 134 can be manually removed onsite by an operator of the excavator. This is achieved by simply unscrewing the bolts 136 and nuts 137 to remove and substitute the damaged or worn corner shroud 132 with a new part.
As is shown in
Referring now to
This second embodiment of the wear protection assembly 170 is particularly directed towards protecting both the inside and outside of the floor 104 and heel 106 of the bucket 102. Accordingly, the wear protection assembly 170 comprises a first set of spaced apart internal wear strips 172 being located within the bucket 102 and a second set of spaced apart external wear strips 174 being located external to the bucket 102.
The internal and external wear strips 172, 174 are in the form of elongated rectangular rods, having a number of countersunk bolt passages 176 discretely spaced apart along the length thereof for receiving bolts 178 to be threaded onto nuts 180. Similarly as described above, the bolts 178 will preferably be of the plough bolt type, whereby their bolt heads can be recessed within the passages 176.
The internal wear strips 172 and external wear strips 174 are arranged to extend across the width of the floor 104 between the side panels 114, 116. Alternatively, if the bucket 102 is simultaneously fitted with the first wear protection assembly 100, the wear strips 172 and 174 will extend between the gusset plates 134. The respective internal wear strips 172 are arranged to be substantially parallel to each other. Similarly, the external wear strips 174 are arranged to be substantially parallel to each other.
Further, the respective wear strips 172 and 174 are arranged in a staggered formation being offset from each other along the floor 104 and heel 106 so that none of the wear strips 172 and 174 are directly opposed to each other on opposite sides of the bucket 102. The staggering provides an advantage in that the nuts 180 that secure the external wear strips 174 are thereby located between the internal wear strips 172. Conversely, the nuts 180 that secure the internal wear strips 172 are located between the external wear strips 174. Thus, in use, any ground being scooped up by the bucket 102 will not impart a great friction force directly onto the nuts 180, but such friction force will be borne by the wear strips 172 and 174.
As shown in
Referring now to
Like the second embodiment of the wear protection assembly 170, this third embodiment 182 is, similarly, directed towards protecting both the inside and outside of the floor 104 and heel 106 of the bucket 102. Accordingly, the wear protection assembly 182 comprises a first set of internal wear plates 184 being located within the bucket 102 and a second set of external wear plates 186 being located external to the bucket 102.
The internal and external wear plates 184, 186 are in the form of rectangular planar surfaces, each having a number of countersunk bolt passages 188 discretely spaced apart along the surface thereof for receiving bolts 190 to be threaded onto nuts 192. Similarly as described above, the bolts 190 will preferably be of the plough bolt type, whereby their bolt heads can be recessed within the passages 188.
The wear plates comprised in both the internal and external sets of wear plates 184,186 are each arranged in a tiled configuration and substantially extend across the width of the floor 104 between the side panels 114, 116. Alternatively, if the bucket 102 is simultaneously fitted with the first wear protection assembly 100, the wear plates will extend between the gusset plates 134. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
Referring now to
Instead of the triangular braces 156 which are comprised in the first form of gusset plate 134, the alternate gusset plate 204 comprises first and second side walls 212,214 each arranged substantially perpendicular to the legs 206, 208. In use, the side walls 212,214 increase the rigidity of the gusset plate 204 for providing structural support to a corner of the bucket 102 abutting the gusset plate 204.
The first and second form of gusset plates 134,204 used in accordance with the first embodiment of the wear protection assembly 100 each comprise a material having significant structural rigidity and resilience, such as a metallic material. The material used may, in addition, have a degree of pliability enabling the gusset plates 134,204 to be deformed partially during installation so that they are flush with the corner of the bucket 102 abutting the gusset plate 134,204.
By providing one of, or a combination of, the wear protection assemblies herein disclosed 100, 170, 182, it is possible to reduce the requisite inherent strength of the bucket 102, i.e. by making it with thinner wall thicknesses for the floor 104 and heel 106. This reduces both the material costs and manufacturing time when making the bucket 102.
Although the invention has been described herein with reference to an excavator bucket, it is envisaged that the invention can be applied to any other earth working machinery, such as bulldozers, graders, backhoe loaders, face shovels, front-end loaders or underground load and haul machinery.
Modifications and variations as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
- a plurality of corner shrouds, each corner shroud being adapted to be joined to an external edge of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the corner shrouds to the earth working machinery.
2. The wear protection assembly according to claim 1, wherein each corner shroud has one or more countersunk passages for receiving the attachment means.
3. The wear protection assembly according to claim 1, wherein each corner shroud is substantially L shaped and has two divergent legs extending from a mutual vertex to separate terminal ends.
4. The wear protection assembly according to claim 3, wherein the legs are tapered having a thicker cross-section at the vertex than at their terminal ends.
5. The wear protection assembly according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of gusset plates being associated with the plurality of corner shrouds, wherein the gusset plates are adapted to be located on a side of the earth working machinery being opposed to the corner shrouds, so that the earth working machinery is sandwiched between the corner shrouds and the gusset plates.
6. The wear protection assembly according to claim 5, wherein each gusset plate has one or more passages for receiving the attachment means.
7. The wear protection assembly according to claim 5, wherein each gusset plate includes one or more braces affixed thereto located operatively forward of the attachment means, whereby the braces are arranged to protect the attachment means during use.
8. The wear protection assembly according to claim 7, wherein each brace also provides structural support to a corner edge of the earth working machinery abutting the gusset plate that the brace is affixed to.
9. The wear protection assembly according to claim 5, wherein each gusset plate includes one or more side walls, wherein each side wall is arranged to increase the rigidity of the gusset plate for providing structural support to a corner edge of the earth working machinery abutting the gusset plate.
10. A wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
- a first set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery;
- a second set of wear strips being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the wear strips to the earth working machinery.
11. The wear protection assembly according to claim 10, wherein each wear strip is in the form of an elongated rod having a substantially rectangular cross-section.
12. The wear protection assembly according to claim 10, wherein the wear strips have countersunk passages for receiving the attachment means.
13. The wear protection assembly according to claim 10, wherein the wear strips are adapted to be attached to the earth working machinery so that they are spaced apart from each other and orientated substantially parallel to each other.
14. The wear protection assembly according to claim 13, wherein the wear strips in the first and second sets of wear strips are arranged in a staggered formation being offset from each other.
15. A wear protection assembly for earth working machinery, comprising:
- one or more external wear plates being adapted to be joined to an external surface of the earth working machinery;
- one or more internal wear plates being adapted to be joined to an internal surface of the earth working machinery; and
- attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the internal and external wear plates to the earth working machinery.
16. The wear protection assembly according to claim 15, wherein the internal and external wear plates have countersunk passages for receiving the attachment means.
17. The wear protection assembly according to claim 15, comprising:
- a plurality of external wear plates being adapted to be joined to the external surface of the earth working machinery; and
- a plurality of internal wear plates being adapted to be joined to the internal surface of the earth working machinery,
- and wherein the internal and external wear plates are arranged in a tiled configuration.
18. The wear protection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the attachment means comprises threaded bolts and nuts.
19. The wear protection assembly according to claim 18, wherein the threaded bolts are plough bolts.
20. The wear protection assembly according to claim 1, wherein the earth working machinery is an excavator bucket.
21. An excavator bucket provided with a wear protection assembly, wherein the wear protection assembly comprises:
- a plurality of corner shrouds secured to an external edge of the excavator bucket;
- a first set of wear strips secured to an external surface of the excavator bucket;
- a second set of wear strips secured to an internal surface of the excavator bucket;
- and attachment means for separately and releasably securing each of the corner shrouds and the wear strips to the excavator bucket.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 20, 2015
Publication Date: Nov 2, 2017
Inventor: Dale Arthur John Long
Application Number: 15/531,493