Excavating – Digging edge – Tooth or adaptor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-01
2001-10-16
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Digging edge
Tooth or adaptor
C037S455000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06301810
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates generally to a tooth adapter for an implement and more particularly to a hammerless mechanical attachment system for attaching an adapter to the base edge of the implement.
BACKGROUND ART
Tooth adapters are commonly used to detachably mount a digging tooth or tip to a bucket or similar implement. Such tooth adapters are carried on the base edge of the bucket. In the past, tooth adapters were simply welded to the base edge of the bucket. While the use of welding as an attachment mechanism was effective, such welding made the replacement of the adapter difficult and time consuming. More recently, various ways of mechanically attaching such adapters have been employed in order to reduce the time and costs of replacing tooth adapters when they either break or become worn out. One of such ways is where the adapter is bolted to the base edge of a bucket. However, it is frequently difficult to remove the bolts after normal use because of the wearing away of the bolt head. Additionally, as the components increase in size, it is more difficult to get bolts large enough and/or to apply sufficient torque to properly tighten the bolts. Furthermore, the bottom of the bucket is subject to high wear. As a consequence, the nut and bolt-end are prematurely worn away, allowing the adapter to come loose and fall off.
In other type of attachment system, a C-shaped clamp member is vertically inserted through slots in upper and lower straps of an adapter and through a similar slot in the base edge. Such C-clamp is held in place by hammering a wedge in-between the C-clamp and edge of the slot in the base edge. In view of the size of the components used on very large buckets, a large amount of effort must be expended in hammering the wedge. Also, the wedges may become loose prematurely, resulting in the adapter falling off the bucket, or the wedge may become very difficult to remove due to corrosion or dirt impacting around the components, requiring the adapter to cut off with an oxy-acetylene torch.
To eliminate the need for hammering one wedge against another wedge, others have employed a bolt as a tensioning device in a wedge type retainer to draw and secure the wedges together. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,826 issued May 2, 1995 to Darryl R. Immel et. al. Another such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,496 issued Feb. 28, 1984 to Larren F. Jones et. al. that employs an arcuate camming wedge. In both such attempts however, the tensioning bolt is coupled between the two wedge members. Because of the lateral shifting of the wedges as they are drawn together, a bending force is exerted on the bolt or the bolt head is caused to be tightened against a surface that is cocked relative to the head. Such conditions may result in the loosening of the bolt during use and the subsequent loss of the retaining device and the adapter.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In one aspect of the present invention, a hammerless mechanical attachment system is provided for attaching a tooth adapter to a base cutting edge of an implement. Such attachment system includes a C-clamp member, a first wedge member, a second wedge member and a threaded tensioning device. The C-clamp member has a generally C-shaped body with a forwardly facing abutment surface and a forwardly extending flange having a threaded aperture therein. The first wedge member has a forward side having a first wedge surface thereon, an opposite rearward side having a second abutment surface thereon positionable against the first abutment surface of the C-clamp member, and a through bolt hole disposed along a longitudinal axis parallel to the second abutment surface. The bolt hole is disposed in alignment with the threaded aperture in the flange when the second abutment surface is placed in abutment with the first abutment surface of the C-clamp.
The second wedge member has a rearwardly facing side having a second wedge surface thereon and a forwardly facing side having a third abutment surface thereon. The second wedge surface is positionable in abutting relationship with the first wedge surface of the first wedge member.
The threaded tensioning device is disposed through the bolt hole in the first wedge member and threadably engaged with the threaded aperture in the flange of the C-clamp member, whereby the second wedge member is caused to move in a forward direction upon tightening of the threaded tensioning device for securing the adapter to the base edge.
The present invention provides a hammerless mechanical attachment system that eliminates bending forces on the tensioning bolt or the misalignment between the mounting holes for such tensioning bolt due to relative lateral movement between the wedge members of prior devices as the tensioning bolt is tighten to secure the adapter to the cutting edge.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2547789 (1951-04-01), Skeel
patent: 3812608 (1974-05-01), Ratkowski
patent: 3831297 (1974-08-01), Lanz et al.
patent: 4057294 (1977-11-01), Krekeler
patent: 4357765 (1982-11-01), Seykora
patent: 4433496 (1984-02-01), Jones et al.
patent: 5410826 (1995-05-01), Immel et al.
patent: 5438774 (1995-08-01), Fletcher et al.
patent: 5452529 (1995-09-01), Neuenfeldt et al.
patent: 5564206 (1996-10-01), Ruvang
patent: 5638621 (1997-06-01), Keech et al.
patent: 5718070 (1998-02-01), Ruvang
patent: 5784813 (1998-07-01), Balassa et al.
patent: 5868518 (1999-02-01), Chesterfield et al.
patent: 6448396 (1997-03-01), None
Caterpillar Inc.
Markovich Kristine M
Pence O. Gordon
Pezzuto Robert E.
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