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: 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.

Abstract: A dragline apparatus has an independently controlled front hoist line and rear hoist line. The front hoist line is connected to the forward end of the bucket, and the rear hoist line is connected to the rearward end.

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.

Abstract: A dredge cutterhead has a plurality of helical arms interconnecting a hub and a ring. Each of the arms has a front leading edge for attachment of cutting teeth. In one aspect, each of the arms has a trough portion, and the arm is shaped such that dredged material is directed toward the ring along the center of the trough portion. In another aspect, the ring of the cutterhead defines an annular channel for receiving loosened material.

Abstract: A dragline apparatus has an independently controlled front hoist line and rear hoist line. The front hoist line is connected to the forward end of the bucket, and the rear hoist line is connected to the rearward end.

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 releasably retain the lock in the opening and a release position where the latch disengages the stop.

Abstract: A dragline apparatus has an independently controlled front hoist line and rear hoist line. The front hoist line is connected to the forward end of the bucket, and the rear hoist line is connected to the rearward end.

Abstract: An improved locking pin for locking together two pieces of equipment through aligned locking apertures. The pin comprises a steel casing, a steel insert and an elastomer member. The two steel parts assemble together in a particular sequence and are adjusted so that when completely assembled, the insert is locked into the casing with the body of the casing and the insert being parallel and spaced from one another. The elastomer member is interposed in the space defined between the casing and insert, and fills the space between the steel parts. The assembled steel parts are firmly locked together by introduction of the elastomer member into that space. There is no adhesive joining the steel and elastomer members which makes the pin more amenable for use in corrosive environments and also eases manufacture of the pin components. A tightly constructed locking pin also avoids the problems of the components becoming loose or lost.

Abstract: A hoisting assembly for use with a dragline bucket that includes a compensator for generally stabilizing the attitude of the bucket. The compensator is operably coupled to the lift, hoist and dump lines. The connector for the lift line(s) defines a fulcrum about which the compensator turns during use. As the tension in the dump line increases relative to the tension of the hoist lines, the compensator turns about the fulcrum to lift the hoist lines and shift the sheave supporting the dump line forward. As the tension in the dump line decreases relative to the tension of the hoist lines, the compensator turns about the fulcrum in the opposite direction to lower the lift lines and shift the sheave supporting the dump line rearward.

Abstract: An integral dump block for use in a dragline bucket that comprises a sheave to movably support a dump line, a central pin rotatably supporting the sheave, and a housing to couple the pin to lift lines. Bearings are disposed within the sheave and each side of the housing for receiving the pin for free rotation. Hoist lines for supporting a dragline bucket are connected to each end of the pin. In this way, moment forces in the hoisting assembly can be substantially eliminated. Further, a number of parts can be eliminated to provide a reduction in weight and height of the hoisting linkage assembly.

Abstract: An extensible lock for securing a wear member to a support structure of an excavator. The lock includes a base and a body which are extensible and retractable to hold and release the wear member, respectively. The body includes an inclined bearing face which engages a complimentary bearing face on the wear member to pull the wear member onto the support structure and prevent its inadvertent release.

Abstract: A spring unit for installation in a pivot pin assembly. The spring unit including a pair of disc springs each with an axially centered aperture and each with, when in an uncompressed condition, a concave side and a convex side. A retaining element, such as an adhesive, retains the disc springs to a returning member such that the spring unit can be easily installed in the pin assembly as a unit. The spring unit further includes a centering structure whereby the disc springs can be centered about the pin assembly when fully compressed.

Abstract: An excavating tooth for attachment to the digging edge of excavating equipment includes a wear member provided with bearing faces in a socket which extend substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tooth. The bearing faces are formed to widen significantly as they extend rearward to provide broad bearing surfaces at the rear ends of the wear member. The bearing faces are placed between the converging walls and the side walls of the socket at obtuse angles thereto to avoid areas of stress concentration. The bearing faces are further formed in a plurality of tiers to provide enhanced resistance to vertically applied loads at the front end of the member. The wear members are further secured to the adapter by locks which ease installation and removal of the wear members.

Abstract: A wear cap for protecting the wearable surface of a structural member includes an outer wear surface and an inner mounting surface. The inner mounting surface is provided with a plurality of tabs and a lock which cooperate to securely attach the wear cap to the wearable surface. The tabs are inclined in a uniform direction at an acute angle to the mounting surface to minimize the amount of travel needed to install and remove the wear cap. The lock has a rigid hub and a shaft. The hub includes a pair of bearing faces which interact with the wear cap and the wearable surface to effectively prevent loss of the wear cap during use.

Abstract: A wear assembly for attaching to a digging edge of an excavator includes a boss, a wear member and a lock. The boss is fixed to the excavator and defines a T-shaped coupling structure. The adapter includes a rearwardly extending mounting leg and a forwardly extending working end. The leg includes a T-shaped slot adapted to be received over the T-shaped structure of the boss. The adapter leg further includes an opening for receiving a lock. The lock includes an adjustment assembly for eliminating any looseness which may exist between the adapter and the boss.

Abstract: An excavating tooth for use on a wide variety of excavating equipment is comprised of a point, an adapter and a sandwich lock pin. The pin includes a rigid casing and a plurality of independently depressible protrusions. One of the protrusions resiliently engages a face defined on the nose of the adapter to tighten the connection of the point on the nose. One other of the protrusions extends into an opening defined by the point to secure the lock pin to the point. With respect to an external locking tooth, the opening defined in the point includes a pair of bosses which define a reduced portion of the opening. The reduced portion matingly receives and holds the ends of the rigid casing of the pin. The independent locking of the pin and the mating receipt of the casing in the point opening reduces the likelihood of pin loss due to overloading of the elastomeric material, wearing of the components or jacking forces.

Abstract: A quick coupling device adapted for mounting a tool to a boom of a carrier includes a coupling structure defining at least one notch and a cam assembly. The cam assembly includes a channel having an open end and a seating wall. The cam assembly is rotatable between an open position and a closed position to facilitate installation, locking and release of the tool from the boom. To lock the tool to the boom, the cam assembly is rotated until the seating wall engages a tool mounting pin received in the channel to effect a firm gripping of the pins.

Abstract: An attachment, adapted to mount to the front edge of an excavating bucket, includes a working structure and a base. The front edge of the bucket defines an inner surface, an outer surface, and a beveled surface oriented at an inclination to the inner and outer surfaces. The base of the attachment includes a single leg or pair of legs having opposed engagement surfaces. The engagement surfaces on the two legged attachments diverge from one another to define a gap therebetween for receiving the lip of the bucket. One of the engagement surfaces defines a convex surface which enables the attachment to be mounted to a variety of different buckets irrespective of the inclination of the beveled surface of the front edge.

Abstract: A chain for use primarily in conveyor systems includes a plurality of male and female links pivotally coupled together. The female link includes a generally I-shaped body segment and a pair of bifurcated arms at each end. The arms are asymmetrically formed so that one arm defines a stop for preventing turning of the pivot pin and the other arm defines an enlarged boss. The provision of the flanges along the body segment and the boss at the ends function to increase the bearing surface at points of greatest wear to thereby increase the useful life of the links. The provision of the boss further obviates the need for spacers heretofore required in such chains of the prior art.