Excavating – Combined or convertible – Combined with subsoiler
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-11
2001-11-06
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Combined or convertible
Combined with subsoiler
C037S454000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311417
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to an excavator bucket assembly and more particularly a bucket assembly which may be utilize in a conventional manner to scoop comparatively loose soils and in a modified manner to loosen and scoop, hard, compacted or rocky soils.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In digging most soils with a conventional excavating bucket, teeth formed on the bottom cutting blade of the bucket usually are sufficient to penetrate and loosen most soils for easy scooping. In digging harder, compacted or rocky soils, the use of such teeth for penetrating and loosening the soil often may not be feasible because of the inability of such teeth to penetrate a hard soil surface, undue wear on the teeth or excessive time and energy required in a digging cycle, decreasing productivity and correspondingly increasing cost. To overcome such deficiencies in conventional excavating buckets, it has been the practice to loosen such hard soil with the use of one or more ripper teeth either mounted separately on the handle of a machine or mounted on and working in conjunction with a conventional excavating bucket. Having such ripper teeth mounted on an excavating bucket results in greater productivity. However, such bucket mounted ripper teeth in the prior art have not been found to be most advantageously designed so as to provide a compact and efficient assembly for operating such buckets either in the conventional manner or in a modified manner in which the soil is first ripped to loosen it and then scooped by the bucket. It thus is the principal object of the present invention to provide an assembly including an excavator bucket and at least one ripper tooth mounted on the bucket, in which such assembly may be used selectively in a conventional manner to penetrate and scoop loose soil and in a modified manner to penetrate, loosened and scoop hard soil.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes a number of the shortcomings of bucket assemblies in the prior art intended to penetrate, loosen and scoop hard surface soils by providing a bucket assembly mountable on the handle of an excavating machine and the like, generally consisting of a pair of transversally spaced side walls and an upper wall; a rear wall merging with a lower wall, cooperating with the upper and side walls to define a bucket provided with a material receiving opening; means mounted on the upper wall for pivotally connecting the bucket to the handle of the machines; at least, one ripper tooth connected to at least one of the walls of the bucket for pivotal movement about an axis disposed substantially parallel to the axis of the pivotal connection of the bucket to the handle; means mounted on at least one of the walls of the bucket for restricting the angular displacement of the ripper tooth between a storage position and an operative position; and means for retaining the ripper tooth in at least one of such positions, operable upon causing a portion of the ripper tooth to engage a stationery object such as the ground, and the bucket to pivot in a selected direction relative to the handle, to release the ripper tooth from it storage position and allow it to swing freely to its operative position. Preferably, a pair of such ripper teeth is provided and each such ripper teeth have a configuration and mounting on the bucket so that when the ripper teeth are disposed in their storage positions, they will be confined to a sufficient extent within the envelope of the bucket so that they will not interfere with the conventional use of the bucket, and when such ripper teeth are in their operative positions, they will project beyond the envelope of the bucket to freely engage, penetrate and loosen hard, compacted or rocky soil by manipulation of the handle and the bucket of the machine by the machine operator. Such ripper teeth further are provided with pointed protrusions engageable with a stationery object such as the ground when the ripper teeth are in their stored positions so that when the handle and the bucket of the machine are suitably manipulated, the engagement of such protrusion with such stationery object will cause the ripper teeth to become released from their retaining means and freely swing to their operative positions where they will again be retained to permit their use in penetrating and loosening hard soil materials.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3596996 (1971-08-01), Carter
patent: 3702712 (1972-11-01), Cairns, III
patent: 3778111 (1973-12-01), Ciofani
patent: 4041624 (1977-08-01), Fryrear
patent: 4204348 (1980-05-01), Lydie
patent: 5197212 (1993-03-01), Vail
patent: 5456028 (1995-10-01), Larson
patent: 6023863 (2000-02-01), Mahin
Lalos & Keegan
Pezzuto Robert E.
Rockland Inc.
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