Field of the Invention
This invention relates to digging and levelling apparatus such as draglines, backhoes, front-end loaders and like equipment and more particularly, to a tooth assembly for mounting on tooth horns of dragline buckets, backhoe shovels and front-end loader excavation or levelling equipment and engaging the material to be excavated or levelled. In a preferred embodiment, each tooth assembly is characterized by a wedge-shaped adapter which mounts directly on the tooth horn of the bucket, shovel or alternative digging or scraping mechanism of the operation equipment. A wedge-shaped tooth point is transversely seated on and bolted to the extending end of the adapter for engaging the material to be excavated or levelled and a pair of wear caps transversely encapsulate and are bolted to that portion of the adapter which projects between the tooth point and the tooth horn, for extending the life of the tooth assembly during the excavating or levelling operation.
One of the problems which is inherent in excavation and levelling operations using heavy equipment such as draglines, backhoes, front-end loaders and similar equipment is that of rapidly wearing the equipment teeth during the excavation or levelling operation. This problem is exacerbated under circumstances where the material to be excavated contains rocks, sand, concrete or other hard or abrasive particles which rapidly wear the bucket or shovel teeth and require expensive periodic retrofits or replacement of the bucket or shovel. Accordingly, it is customary in the industry to provide removable excavating teeth which mount on adapters positioned on shaped, spaced tooth horns provided in the bucket, shovel or other material-moving apparatus, which teeth are typically attached to the tooth adapter using pins or other techniques for removal due to wear. A problem associated with removing these teeth due to periodic wear is the difficulty of driving retaining pins or the like from registering apertures in the teeth and tooth adapters to remove and replace the teeth. Typically, this operation is effected using a large hammer, wherein the pins are manually driven from the teeth and tooth adapter, a procedure which requires considerable effort and is costly due to the labor involved.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a tooth assembly for mounting on buckets, shovels or other digging mechanisms in excavating or levelling apparatus, which tooth assembly is characterized by an adapter for removably mounting on each tooth horn of the excavating apparatus bucket, shovel or alternative excavating implement, a tooth point bolted to the tapered front end of the adapter and a pair of wear caps bolted to opposite sides of the adapter between the tooth point and the tooth horn.
Another object of this invention is to provide a tooth assembly for mounting on each of the teeth of an excavating or levelling apparatus bucket, shovel or alternative digging implement, which tooth assembly includes a wedge-shaped, transversely-slotted adapter for mounting on the tooth horn of the excavating apparatus, a wedge-shaped tooth point fitted with facing tooth point flanges for transversely engaging the corresponding transverse slots located in the adapter and removably fitting the tooth point to the adapter and top and bottom wear caps, each fitted with transverse ribs adapted for engaging corresponding additional grooves or slots provided in the adapter, for transversely mounting the wear caps on opposite sides of the adapter rearwardly of the tooth point to facilitate extended wear of the tooth assembly during excavating or levelling operations.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a tooth assembly for mounting on the conventional tooth horn of individual teeth in the bucket or shovel of various excavating apparatus, which tooth assembly includes a transversely slotted, wedge-shaped adapter having a lock opening in the top for securing the adapter to the tooth horn, a pair of L-shaped wear caps, each fitted with parallel ribs for engaging the corresponding transversely-oriented slots in the adapter and a pair of bolts for securing the wear caps to the adapter and further including a tooth point, also optionally fitted with a bolt opening and having spaced, facing tooth point flanges for engaging additional corresponding transverse grooves located in the adapter and a bolt or lock plate for securing the tooth point to the adapter forward of the wear caps.