GROUND ENGAGING TOOL WITH REPLACEABLE WEAR RESISTANT COVER
A ground engaging tool (GET) assembly is provided. The ground engaging tool assembly includes at least one tooth, and at least one cover assembly. The at least one cover assembly is adapted to completely cover and attach to the at least one tooth. The at least one cover assembly including an outer member having a plurality of insert holders configured to hold a plurality of inserts. The plurality of inserts being coated with a wear resistant material, and having a predefined shape. A liner member being coupled to an inner surface of the outer member. The plurality of inserts is coupled to the outer member, and the predefined shape of the plurality of inserts being adapted to cover an entire surface of the outer member.
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The present disclosure relates to a ground engaging tool assembly, and more specifically, to the ground engaging tool assembly having a protective cover with replaceable wear resistant inserts.
BACKGROUNDHeavy machines, such as excavators, loaders, dozers etc. employ various kinds of ground engaging tools. The ground engaging tools are utilized to perform various operations of the heavy machines, such as digging, mining etc. During the operations, the ground engaging tools get damaged due to frequent wear and tear of surfaces with earth, rocks etc.
In order to minimize wear and tear of surfaces, various techniques such as hardfacing coating and engineered coatings are employed which enhance the life of the ground engaging tools. However, such techniques fail to efficiently protect the ground engaging tools due to large size. For example, hardfacing coating on an entire tooth results in insufficient protection of teeth, and thus makes the teeth vulnerable to abrasion during the operations of the heavy machines. Also, at times, if the hardfacing coating gets damaged, then the entire coating needs to be replaced that increases the cost and is labor intensive. Therefore, there is a need for a technique which is cost effective, and easily replaceable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,513 discloses a rotary stone-cutting head. The rotary stone-cutting head has a body which carries four part-spiral rows of identical cutting-tooth holders carrying respective cutter teeth. Each tooth has a flat face, and a regular array of cylindrical holes is bored in a tooth after it is hardened. The array of cylindrical holes receives stems or shanks of hardened-metal breaking elements having heads formed with points directed perpendicular to the flat face. The upper surfaces of the elements are shown to be conical to form the points, they can be pyramidal, with flat generally triangular facets. The reference further discloses that when the elements are badly worn, they are simply punched out from the back and new ones can easily be mounted on the teeth. However, this technique fails to coat an entire surface of the teeth. Therefore, there is a need for inserts employed within the ground engaging tools, which are cost effective, and easily replaceable.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIn one aspect of the present disclosure, a ground engaging tool (GET) assembly is provided. The ground engaging tool (GET) assembly includes at least one tooth. At least one cover assembly is adapted to completely cover and attach to the at least one tooth. The at least one cover assembly including an outer member having a plurality of insert holders configured to hold a plurality of inserts. The plurality of inserts being coated with a wear resistant material, and having a predefined shape. A liner member being coupled to an inner surface of the outer member. The plurality of inserts is coupled to the outer member, and the predefined shape of the plurality of inserts being adapted to cover an entire surface of the outer member.
Other features and aspects of this disclosure will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The curved heel section 18 is attached with the top assembly 16, the first side 20, and the second side 22, to form the excavator bucket 10. The top assembly 16 is also referred as a hinge assembly. Further, the top assembly 16 includes the hinge plates 24 having the bores 26. The bores 26 are axially aligned, and support a stick pin (not shown) that passes through a stick (not shown) of an excavator (not shown). Further, the base edge 28 is adapted to mount several adapters, tips, and base edge protectors, which are referred as ground engaging tools. The ground engaging tools are utilized for various operations, such as digging, mining etc. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the various operations mentioned above have been provided only for illustration purposes.
Referring to
Further, the outer member 38 of the cover assembly 32 is provided with a number of insert holders 40. The insert holders 40 have an annular opening extending from the outer surface 58 to the inner surface 60 of the outer member 38. The insert holders 40 include a first cylindrical portion 66 and a second cylindrical portion 68. The first cylindrical portion 66 is smaller than the second cylindrical portion 68, and both the first cylindrical portion 66 and the second cylindrical portion 68 are coaxially aligned with each other. The first cylindrical portion 66 is connected to the second cylindrical portion 68 forming a shoulder portion 70 to accommodate seating of the inserts 34. Further, the insert holders 40 are adapted to hold the inserts 34 of the predefined shape. The inserts 34 are coupled to the outer member 38 of the cover assembly 32 by means of a snap-fit design 51, such that the predefined shape of the inserts 34 are adapted to cover an entire surface of the outer member 38. The predefined shape of the inserts 34 is an isosceles triangle. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the predefined shape of the inserts 34 mentioned above has been provided only for illustration purposes. The predefined shape of the inserts 34 may be a trapezoidal shape or any other shape that can completely cover the entire surface of the outer member 38, without departing from the scope of the disclosure. It should be noted that an isosceles triangle covers the entire outside geometry of the outer member 38 with singular insert 34 geometry. This makes subsequent insert 34 replacements particularly easy since there are not multiple variations on insert 34 size which may cause confusion.
Referring to
Referring to
The cover assembly 32 requires a mechanical attachment mechanism to the tooth 30. The cover assembly 32 may include a region (not shown) that is substantially free of inserts 34 that is configured for a mechanical attachment to the tooth 30, The means of the mechanical attachment may include pins, rotating members that capture the tooth 30 features, or other means known in the art.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITYThe present disclosure provides the ground engaging tool (GET) assembly 12, The ground engaging tool (GET) assembly 12 discloses the cover assembly 32 which is attached to the tooth 30, and completely covers the tooth 30. The cover assembly 32 includes the outer member 38 having the insert holders 40 which are adapted to hold the inserts 34. The inserts 34 are coated with the wear resistant material, and having the predefined shape. The predefined shape of the inserts 34 is adapted to cover the entire surface of the outer member 38. Such type of the ground engaging tool (GET) assembly 12 protects the tooth 30 during operations of heavy machines. Further, each insert 34 has the snap-fit design 51 that is held in place with the set screw, and thus provides sufficient strength to the ground engaging tool (GET) assembly 12. Further, the cover assembly 32 having the liner member 56 which is attached to the inner surface 60 of the outer member 38 in order to keep dirt from packing in behind the cover assembly 32. Also, at times, if an insert 34 gets damaged during operations, then the insert 34 is easily replaced with another insert 34 (i.e., a new insert 34) without replacing entire coating of the tooth 30. Thus, such type of the inserts 34 is cost effective, and easily replaceable.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed machines, systems and methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
Claims
1. A ground engaging tool (GET) assembly comprising:
- at least one tooth;
- at least one cover assembly adapted to completely cover and attach to the at least one tooth, the at least one cover assembly including: an outer member having a plurality of insert holders adapted to hold a plurality of inserts, the plurality of inserts being coated with a wear resistant material, and having a predefined shape; and a liner member being coupled to an inner surface of the outer member;
- wherein the plurality of inserts is coupled to the outer member, and the predefined shape of the plurality of inserts being adapted to cover an entire surface of the outer member.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 4, 2016
Publication Date: Jun 2, 2016
Applicant: Caterpillar Inc. (Peoria, IL)
Inventor: Aaron K. Amstutz (Peoria, IL)
Application Number: 15/015,152