Abstract: A wear member for attachment along the digging edge of excavating equipment that includes ridges formed along its front working end. As the front end wears away, the tips of the ridges along the front of the wear member project forward to define a serrated penetrating edge. A serrated front edge is able to more easily cut into and through the ground. The ridges may be arranged in a generally axial direction along the front working end to present a reduced surface area to contact the ground for easier penetration. The ridges provide the front working end with sufficient rigidity and strength without unduly enlarging the surface area of the penetrating edge that initiates contact with the ground.

Abstract: A wear assembly includes an adapter with a nose, a wear member with a socket to receive the nose, and a lock to secure the wear member to the adapter. The nose and socket include complementary rails and grooves that vertically diverge as they extend from the front of the nose. The lock can have a tapered construction.

Abstract: In a wear assembly for securing wear members to excavating equipment, a spool is used with a wedge to hold the wear member in place. The spool is formed with at least one laterally extending arm at its upper end in lieu of an axial arm such as used in a conventional C-shaped spool. In this way, the spool can be easily supported in the assembly as the wedge is installed. The spool does not fall through the opening and no special care is needed to prevent it from falling. The spool also holds itself in place when the wedge is driven into the passage. As a result, installation of the wear assembly is easier and less hazardous. In addition, the lateral support reduces the risk that the spool will suffer spreading.

Abstract: An assembly for mounting an excavating tooth particularly suited for a dredge cutterhead includes a base, an adapter, and a lock. The base includes a convex, curved bearing surface that abuts a concave, curved bearing surface on the adapter. The curved bearing surfaces are able to maintain substantially full contact with each other under transverse loading. The undersurface of the base is formed with a groove to improve the strength and durability of the weld.

Abstract: A wear assembly for securing a wear member to excavating equipment that includes a base having a nose and a wear member having a socket. The nose and socket are each provided with one or more complementary stabilizing surfaces in central portions thereof.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a releasable locking assembly for attaching a wear member to a support structure. It may be used with excavating equipment for attaching ground-engaging teeth to adaptors, lip shrouds to bucket lips, or other analogous uses. The wear member includes at least one pin-retainer-receiving opening in one side. The opening is tapered, being narrower at its outer surface and wider at its inner surface. The support structure includes at least one pin-receiving recess which generally aligns with the opening in the wear member when the wear member and the support structure are operatively coupled. The pin retainer is a frustoconically shaped cylinder which is threaded internally. It is inserted into the opening in the wear member. The wear member is slidably mounted onto the support structure. The pin is an elongate body which is externally threaded. It is screwed into the pin retainer by the application of torque force from a standard ratchet tool.

Abstract: A coupling arrangement for securing two separable components in an excavating operation includes a wear component, a base component and a lock. The lock has a body having a configuration adapted to be received in a hole in the base component, and a rotatable locking member. The locking member includes a flange that is movable between a locking position wherein the flange holds the lock in the assembly and a release position wherein the flange permits the lock to be removed from the assembly. In the release position, the flange sets within the axial extension of the outline of the body. In the locking position, at least part of the flange sets outside the axial extension of the outline of the body. In one construction, the rotation of the locking member to the locking position tightens the fit of the wear component on the base component.

Abstract: A socket and wedge assembly that securely holds wire rope and is easy to release includes a collapsible wedge. The wedge collapses at the front, narrowed end to utilize the high pressures at the front end of the wedge in effecting the collapse and releasing the rope. The wedge includes a movable element that pivots and/or translates to facilitate a quick and reliable collapse of the wedge and release of the wire rope. The wedge includes a cavity to at least partially exhaust the fumes created from cutting the support with a torch for release of the wire rope.

Abstract: A wear assembly for excavating equipment includes a base fixed to the excavating equipment, a wear member fit over the base, and a lock to releasably hold the wear member to the base. The wear member includes side relief to reduce drag on the system. The wear member and the base each includes a hemispherical front end and a generally trapezoidal rear portion. The base includes a nose and a stop projecting from the nose to cooperate with the lock without an opening being needed to receive the lock into the nose. The lock is an elongate lock positioned generally in an axial direction and which holds the wear member to the base under compressive loads.

Abstract: A wear assembly to protect the front edge of an excavating bucket, which is secure, stable, easy to use, readily manufactured, and provides increased safety, and which eliminates any need for holes to be formed in the lip. The wear assembly includes a wear member that has a pair of legs to straddle the front edge of the bucket. One of the legs defines an axial slot, which has opposing grooves for receiving rails of a boss fixed to the bucket. The grooves narrow in a forward direction to permit easier installation and removal of the wear member, to permit use of side wings without interference from adjacent wear parts, and to enable enhanced resistance under some loads.

Abstract: A lock for securing a wear part to earth-working equipment that is foldable between a retaining position to hold the wear part to the equipment and a release position that permits removal of the lock and release of the wear part from the equipment. The lock includes a retainer for releasably holding the lock in the retaining position. The retainer may comprise a threaded wedge received into a complementary threaded passage.

Abstract: A wear assembly for excavating equipment that includes a base, a wear part and an improved locking arrangement that provides improved stability, strength, durability, safety and ease of use. The locking arrangement includes a hammerless lock that is pivotally moved between hold and release positions, wherein the fulcrum is set forward of the bearing surface engaging the wear part. The lock can be manipulated by a threaded member or pry tool. The lock further includes bearing surfaces that enhance stability and reduce wear.

Abstract: A dragline bucket includes a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and a rear wall that collectively define a cavity. The sidewalls each have a large downward taper of at least about 7 degrees in at least its forward area. In an alternative embodiment, the sidewalls each have an upward taper in its rearward area which alleviates the need for a spreader bar. The dragline bucket collects earthen material with minimal disruption of the material.

Abstract: A tip for use on an earth working roll for mining, construction and public works machines such as crushers, surface miners, milling machines and the like includes a working end provided with side relief to reduce drag and wearing, require less power to drive the rolls, and lengthen the usable life of the tip. The working end can also have a generally flat front surface to improve the yield in a crushing or other similar operation. The tip includes a base and a wear cap releasably secured together by a retainer.

Abstract: Improved connection systems for pinned connections are disclosed Although the connection systems may be utilized in dragline excavating systems, the connection systems may also be utilized for pinned connections in a variety of other types of mining, dredging, forestry, and construction equipment. An insert utilized in the connections systems has a frustroconical shape that joins with an aperture in an element being joined by the connection system.

Abstract: A lock for securing a wear part to earth-working equipment that is foldable between a retaining position to hold the wear part to the equipment and a release position that permits removal of the lock and release of the wear part from the equipment. The lock includes a retainer for releasably holding the lock in the retaining position. The retainer may comprise a threaded wedge received into a complementary threaded passage.

Abstract: A wear assembly for protecting the digging edge of a bucket which includes a wear member having a lock-receiving hole in one leg and an upstanding rib along the other leg. The rib extends axially along the leg to be received into a slot in a base fixed to the lip of the bucket. The rib has a rear end that engages the base to hold the rear end of the rib between the base and the lip. The wear member further includes an interior surface that has a front portion formed with a curve to wrap around the digging edge and a plurality of stabilizing surfaces. The lock has a latch and a threaded wedge received into the passage to move the latch to its holding position to maintain the lock in the assembly during use.

Abstract: A wear assembly that includes a wear member and a boss to define an opening for receiving a lock forward of the front edge face of the lip which can mount the wear member in a stable and balanced manner without a through-hole in the lip. The wear member includes an aperture and a rib to define bearing faces on opposite sides of a central plane of the lip. The boss includes rails to hold the wear member in place, and a brace at the rear end, which supports the rails on the boss, abuts the rear of the wear member to reduce the loading on the lip, and deflects earthen material away from the wear member under reverse loading.

Abstract: A locking assembly for retaining a wear member to excavating equipment has a locking element that is received into an opening in the assembly and is movable about a pivot axis in the opening between a hold position and a release position. The locking element has an outer edge that is generally opposite the pivot axis that opposes a base surface of the opening when the locking element is in the hold position. The outer edge is configured to pull away from the base surface when the locking element is rotated from the hold position toward the release position.

Abstract: A wear assembly provided with a tapered opening and a complementary tapered lock wherein the lock can be pried into and from the opening to thereby eliminate the need for hammering. The lock is formed with a body and a latch that is movable between a hold position where the latch is engageable with a stop in the opening to releaseably retain the lock in the opening and a release position where the latch disengages the stop.