AU2022200994A1 - Rigging components - Google Patents

Abstract

An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an excavator component, the end connector including a first component having a housing at least in part defining a cavity or recess, a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity or recess of said first component, said body having an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel rope at least partially therein through the outward opening of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of said body, said elongate recess having an inner face laterally spaced from a plane extending along the length of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance which increases in length away from the bottom of said recess to define a portion of an ellipse. ~-qTA q ') VF½nIIF '-+--,-+ FL q- ,' ) A Nll -3 11Z \4s LL. LL.

Description

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LL. LL. RIGGING COMPONENTS

This invention relates to rigging components for mining

equipment. The invention has application to rigging

components for connecting steel ropes (or cables as they

are often referred to) to other components, for example,

components for connecting drag ropes, hoist ropes, and dump

ropes to various components of drag line buckets or other

excavator components such as the bucket arch, drag chains,

spreader bars etcetera which will be referred to herein

generally as excavator components.

In this specification such rigging components will be

referred to generally as "end connectors" but as the

invention has particular application to end connectors

known generally as wedge and socket assemblies, that term

will sometimes be used to exemplify use of the invention

with that particular type of rigging component.

Wedge and socket type end connectors generally have two

main components, a first component including a housing at

least in part defining a socket or cavity and a second

?0 component at least in part defining a complementary wedge

or wedge portion adapted to engage in the housing socket

so as to jam the rope between the wedge and the housing to

secure the rope to the end connector. Typically the two

components are arranged so that tension on the rope forces

?5 the wedge portion into the socket or cavity thereby keeping

the two components locked together.

The first component of such end connectors typically

includes some sort of connection means extending from the

housing for connecting the end connector to a bucket arch, drag chains, trunnions, equaliser bars or the like and the housing typically includes an elongate recess extending from the socket or cavity into the housing, the recess being generally semi-circular in lateral cross section or forming at least a geometric segment of a circle in cross section. Typically, the recess has a constant radius over its full width and has the same diameter as the rope with which it is intended to be used.

The second component typically has a recess extending

along a peripheral portion of the wedge portion in which

the steel rope lies so as to wrap about a portion of the

wedge through a wrap angle of about 180 degrees or more.

In such end connectors, the recess in the wedge portion

generally corresponds in cross sectional shape to the

recess in the housing of the first component and is thus

semi-circular in lateral cross section or forms at least

a geometric segment of a circle in cross section. That is

to say the recess has a constant radius over its full

?0 width) and has the same diameter as the rope with which

it is intended to be used.

The presently available wedge and socket type end

connectors have been found to cause damage to the steel

ropes with which they are used. In that respect, it is

?5 common over time for a substantial number of the wire

strands in various rigging ropes to break at the rope recess

which weakens the rope. Eventually, too many strands break

and the rope must be removed from the end connector and a

significant end portion of the rope must be cut off thereby

shortening the rope and replacing the end connector.

~- ')T\Amql n I --- -+-)--IF q-, ' )'

Eventually, the whole rope in some cases must be replaced

because it has become too short.

The present invention is aimed at ameliorating the

aforementioned problem and is based on a realisation that

as the load comes onto a rope, for example, when the bucket

starts being dragged by a drag rope, or is hoisted from the

ground, or is dumped, the relevant rope tightens and to

some extent the rope crushes, possibly due to wires in the

rope unwinding or the rope lengthening causing the cross

sectional shape of the rope to change from circular to

something approximating an ellipse or an oval.

With the foregoing in view, the invention resides broadly

in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part defining

a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity or recess of said first component, said body having

an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a

?0 peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

rope at least partially therein through the outward opening

of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of

said body, said elongate recess having an inner face

laterally spaced from a plane extending along the length

?5 of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance which

increases in length away from the bottom of said recess.

Preferably, said plane is generally orthogonal to the

bottom of said elongate recess or cavity and extends

~- ')T\Amq1 n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )' centrally along said recess or cavity. It is also preferred that said lateral spacing increases away from the bottom of the recess in opposite directions and in such form it is preferred that the spacing increases away from the bottom of the recess at the same rate in both directions over at least a portion of the recess. In such form, the recess is preferred to be symmetrical about a centre plane extending along the recess.

It will be appreciated that if one were to compare the

cross section of an elongate recess of circular or

semicircular cross section with the elongate recess of the

present invention, it would seem that the "radius" of the

inner face would be increasing away from the bottom of the

recess. With that in mind, in some cases, the term "radius"

may be used herein to refer to the distance of the inner

face of the elongate recess from a particular point like a

centre point even though such term may not be geometrically

correct, for example where such distance is increasing or

decreasing rather than being constant.

?0 In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in an end

connector for connecting a steel rope to an excavator

component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part defining

a cavity or recess;

?5 a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity or recess of said first component, said body having

an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a

peripheral portion of the body and adapted to receive a

steel rope at least partially therein through the outward

~- ')T\Amq1 n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )' opening of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of said body, wherein said elongate recess has an inner face with a lateral radius which increases towards the outward opening of said recess.

Preferably, the lateral radius of the inner face increases

at the same rate in opposite directions from the centre of

the bottom of said recess but increases in rate towards the

outward opening.

In yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly in an

end connector for connecting a steel rope to an excavator

component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part defining

a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity or recess of said first component, said body having

an outwardly opening recess extending along a peripheral

portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel rope at

least partially therein through the outward opening of said

recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of said body

?0 wherein said recess has a curved inner face in which the

angle of curvature increases towards the outward opening

of said recess.

In one form of the invention, the cross-sectional shape of

the recess is substantially elliptical. In such form, the

?5 cross sectional shape of the recess is substantially

symmetrical about a centreline extending through the recess

from the bottom of the recess through the centre of the

outward opening. However, in other forms of the invention,

~-qTAq ') VF½nII --)-+ q--IF q-, ' ) the cross sectional shape of the recess is generally oval shaped but not elliptical. In that respect, the lateral radius of a substantial part of the inner face away from the bottom of the recess is substantially constant over a substantial portion of the cross section but is greater over the portion of cross section adjacent the outward opening.

In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part defining

a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity or recess of said first component, said body having

an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a

peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

rope at least partially therein through the outward opening

of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of

said body,

?0 said elongate recess having a lateral cross section which

is generally a segment of a circle of predetermined

diameter, said diameter being determined by reference to

the diameter of the steel rope to which the end connector

is to be connected (the intended rope)and being in the

?5 range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter of the rope

with which the end connector is intended to be used, and

the depth of the segment being less than half the diameter

of the intended rope.

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Preferably, the depth of the segment is in the range of 25%

to 35% of the intended rope diameter and more preferably

in the range of 26% to 32% of intended rope diameter but

most preferably about 31% of intended rope diameter.

In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity and

an elongate recess opening from said cavity and extending

into said wall, said elongate recess being adapted to

receive a rope at least partially therein along its length

from said cavity, said elongate recess having an inner face

laterally spaced from a plane extending along the length

of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance which

increases in length away from the bottom of said recess,

and

a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said

elongate recess.

?0 In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity and

an elongate recess opening from said cavity and extending

?5 into said wall, said elongate recess being adapted to

receive a rope at least partially therein along its length

from said cavity, said elongate recess having an inner face with a lateral radius which increases towards said cavity; and a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said elongate recess.

In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity and

an elongate recess opening from said cavity and extending

into said wall, said elongate recess being adapted to

receive a rope at least partially therein along its length

from said cavity, said recess having a curved inner face

in which the angle of curvature increases towards said

cavity; and

a second component having a body adapted to engage in said

cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said

elongate recess.

In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

?0 in an end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity and

an elongate recess opening from said cavity and extending

into said wall, said elongate recess being adapted to

?5 receive a rope at least partially therein along its length

from said cavity, said elongate recess having a lateral

cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of

predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by

~- ')T\Amql n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )' reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the end connector is to be connected (the intended rope)and being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter of the rope with which the end connector is intended to be used, and the depth of the segment being less than half the diameter of the intended rope; and a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said elongate recess.

In yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly in an

end connector including a first component as previously

described and a second component as previously described.

In one particularly preferred combination of first and

second components, the end connector includes:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity and

an elongate recess opening from said cavity and extending

into said wall, said elongate recess being adapted to

receive a rope at least partially therein along its length

?0 from said cavity, said elongate recess having a lateral

cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of

predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by

reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the

end connector is to be connected (the intended rope)and

?5 being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter

of the rope with which the end connector is intended to be

used, and the depth of the segment being less than half the

diameter of the intended rope; and

~- ')T\Amql n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )' a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity of said first component, said body having an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel rope at least partially therein through the outward opening of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of said body, said outwardly opening elongate recess having a lateral cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the end connector is to be connected (the intended rope)and being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter of the rope with which the end connector is intended to be used, and the depth of the segment being less than half the diameter of the intended rope.

Preferably, the depth of the segment for both the first

component and the second component is in the range of 25%

to 35% of the intended rope diameter and more preferably

?0 in the range of 26% to 32% of intended rope diameter but

most preferably about 31% of the intended rope diameter.

In still yet another aspect, the invention resides broadly

in any one of the first components previously described or

defined herein and/or any one of the second components

?5 previously described or defined herein.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a method

of selecting or designing an end connector for connecting

a steel rope to an excavator component, the method

including:

~- ')T\Am ~ n IF -- -L selecting a rope of a desired diameter; and forming a wedge and socket assembly having a wedge component and a socket component, the wedge component having a groove therein adapted to receive therein a portion of the selected rope and the socket component having a complementary groove therein adapted to align substantially with the groove in the wedge component, the wedge and socket assembly being arranged to engage with a portion of the selected rope located therebetween, wherein the grooves are formed so that the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the two grooves is less than about 80% of the cross sectional area of the selected rope and wherein the width of at least one of the grooves is greater than about 110% of the selected rope diameter and the depth of the groove is less than about 35% of the selected rope diameter.

In another aspect, the invention resides broadly in a

method of determining dimensional parameters of the wedge

groove and the socket groove in a wedge and socket type

?0 end connector to suit a specified wire rope diameter for

improved performance with respect to improved gripping of

the rope between the wedge component and the socket

component to reduce the incidence of wire strand breakage

in the wire rope.

?5 In order that the invention may be more easily understood

and put into practical effect, reference will now be made

to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a pictorial representation of a dragline bucket

with various rigging components attached thereto;

Fig. 2 omitted;

Fig. 3a is an enlarged pictorial representation of one of

the wedge and socket type rope end connectors used in the

rigging of the dragline bucket illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3b is an enlarged pictorial representation of the wedge

and socket type rope end connector of Fig. 3a in line for

assembly;

Fig. 3c is a side elevation of the socket component of the

wedge and socket assembly of Fig. 3a;

Fig. 3d is a sectional end elevation of the socket component

of the wedge and socket end connector of Fig. 3a along line

3d-3d;

Fig. 3e is a side elevation of the wedge component of the

wedge and socket assembly of Fig. 3a;

Fig. 3f is a sectional end elevation of the wedge component

of the wedge and socket end connector of Fig. 3a along line

3f-3f;

Fig. 4 is a sectional side elevation of the wedge and socket

end connector illustrated in Fig. 3 along line 4-4;

?0 Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the wedge and socket end

connector of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 omitted;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the wedge and socket assembly

of Fig. 3 with the wedge in the unlocked position and the

?5 rope in the uncrushed or precrushed disposition;

Fig. 8 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge and socket assembly of Fig. 7 long line 8 - 8 showing the

rope in the uncrushed disposition with the socket component

according to the prior art and the wedge component according

to the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the wedge and socket assembly

of Fig. 7 with the wedge component in the locked position

and the rope crushed;

Fig. 10 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge

and socket assembly of Fig. 9 along line 10 - 10 showing

the rope in the crushed disposition with the socket

component according to the prior art and the wedge component

according to the present invention;

Fig. 11 is a side elevation of the wedge and socket assembly

of Fig. 7 with the wedge component in the unlocked position

and the rope removed for clarity;

Fig. 12 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge

and socket assembly of Fig. 11 along line 12 - 12 with the

rope removed for clarity showing the wedge component in the

?0 unlocked position;

Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the wedge and socket assembly

of Fig. 7 with the wedge component in the locked position

and the rope removed for clarity;

Fig. 14 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge

?5 and socket assembly of Fig. 13 along line 14 - 14 with the

rope removed for clarity showing the wedge component in the

locked position;

Fig. 15 omitted

Fig. 16 is a side elevation of an alternative wedge and socket assembly according to the invention with the wedge

component according to the prior art and the socket

component according to the invention shown with the wedge

component in the locked position;

Fig. 17 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge

and socket assembly of Fig. 16 along line 17 - 17 with the

rope shown in the crushed disposition;

Fig. 18 is a side elevation of another alternative wedge

and socket assembly according to the invention with both

wedge component and socket component according to the

invention shown with the wedge component in the locked

position and the rope in the crushed disposition; and

Fig. 19 is a sectional end elevation of part of the wedge

and socket assembly of Fig. 16 along line 19 - 19 with the

rope shown in the crushed disposition.

The dragline bucket and rigging assembly illustrated in

Fig. 1 includes a bucket 12 having a base 12a, a rear wall

12b extending upwards from the base and two spaced apart

?0 opposing side walls 12c and 12d extending upwards from the

base and forward from the rear wall to define a front

opening 12e extending between the two side walls. A digging

edge 12f is provided at the front end of the base in known

manner and an arch 12g extends across the front opening

?5 also in known manner.

Trunnions 12h and 12j extend outwards from the side walls

12c and 12d respectively and lower hoist chains 12k and 121

hang down from spreader bar 12m and connect to the

~- ')T\Amq1 n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )' respective trunnions while upper hoist chains 12n and 1 2p hang from the Y-link 12q which in turn hangs from the hoist ropes 12r and 12s and are connected thereto by respective wedge and socket type end connectors 12t.

Two spaced apart drag ropes 12u and 12v are connected to

forward ends of the side walls 12c and 12d respectively and

extend forward therefrom where they are connected to spaced

apart drag ropes 12w and 12x by respective wedge and socket

type end connectors 12t similar to those connecting the

hoist ropes to the Y-link 12g although they may be of a

different size depending on the diameter of the steel ropes

being used.

A dump rope 12y extends from arch 12g through dump block

13 and is connected to the drag ropes via an equaliser

block 14 and chains 15 with the dump rope being connected

to the arch and the equaliser block by end connectors 12z

of different form from end connectors 12t.

The present invention relates to the end connectors

referenced as end connectors 12t as will now be described.

?0 However, they could be used instead of end connectors

refenced as end connectors 12z and they could be used in

many other applications.

The wedge and socket type end connector 12t shown in Figs

3a and 3b includes a first component 20 having a side wall

?5 22 defining a cavity or recess 23 of generally rectangular

cross-sectional shape, the cavity expanding from a first

opening 24 at one end to a second larger opening 26 towards

the opposite end at a generally constant rate.

~- ')T\Amq1 n I --- -+-)--IF q-, ' )'

Beyond the second opening the wall 22 splits into two arms 27 and 28 defining a space 29 therebetween and further

beyond the second opening the arms join to form a boss 30

with a passage 31 therethrough for connecting the housing

to a component such as the bucket arch or the drag chains.

However, in other forms the arms may terminate with a space

therebetween for mounting to a bar therebetween.

As can be seen in Fig. 3b and Fig. 3c, an elongate recess

41 opens from cavity 23 and extends into the wall 22, there

being two separated parts of the recess, one at the top and

one at the bottom as seen in the drawings, the bottom part

being numbered 41a and the top part being numbered 41b and

the elongate recess being sized and shaped to allow a steel

rope to rest therein along the length of both parts of the

recess. Suitably, the elongate recess 41 has an inner face

42 laterally spaced from a plane 43 extending along the

length of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance 45

which increases in length away from the bottom 44 of the

recess 41.

?0 The end connector 12t also includes a second component 60

as can be seen more clearly in Fig. 3b which constitutes

the "wedge" component of the end connector. As can be seen

in Fig. 3b and also in Fig. 3d, the second component 60 has

a body 61 which is suitably wedge shaped and sized to engage

?5 in cavity 23 of the first component, the body 61 having a

generally semi-circular portion 62 at one end contiguous

with a triangular portion 63 tapering towards the other end

terminating in a blunt end 65. An outwardly opening elongate

recess 66 extends around the semi-circular end portion and

along the opposite edges of the triangular portion of the

~- ')T\Amq1 n I --- -+-)--IF q-, ' )' body and is adapted to receive a steel rope at least partially therein so as to wrap fully about the body except the blunt end.

It will be appreciated from Fig.3a that the wedge and socket

arrangement is such that a steel rope R, whether it be a

hoist rope, a drag rope, a dump rope or another rope is captured between the first component and the second

component and due to the taper of the wedge and the socket,

the wedge locks in the socket and is held there by the

tension in the rope.

As can be more clearly seen in Fig, 8, prior to tension

being applied to the rope R, the recess 66 in the second

component(the wedge component) has a bigger radius than the

radius of the rope R and the recess 41 in the second

component (the socket component) has the same radius as the

rope R. looking now to Figs 9 and 10 where the rope has

been tensioned under load, it can be seen that the wedge

component has engaged further with the socket component

thereby crushing the rope to some extent between the two

?0 components so that it becomes somewhat oval shaped. In this

particular arrangement, the radius of the recess in the

wedge component is 113.5% of the rope diameter and the

depth of the recess in the wedge component along the centre

plane 43 is 31% of the rope diameter. It will be appreciated

?5 that the cross sectional centrepoint of the recess is on

centre plane 43 and the recess in both the wedge component

and the socket component is symmetrical about the centre

plane.

~- ')T\Amql n I IF A --

The wedge and socket assembly illustrated in Figs 16 and 17 is much the same as that previously described, but in

this case, the recess 41 in the socket component 20 has the

increased radius rather than the recess in the wedge

component. In this embodiment, the same changes apply

mutatis mutandis in that the radius of the recess in the

socket component is 113.5% of the rope diameter and the

depth of the recess in the socket component along the centre

plane 43 is 31% of the rope diameter.

The wedge and socket assembly illustrated in Figs 16 and

17 is much the same as those previously described, but in

this case, the recess 41 in the socket component 20 together

with the recess 66 in the wedge component have increased

radii. In this version, the radius of the recess in the

socket component and the radius in the wedge component is

113.5% of the rope diameter and the depth of the recess in

both components is 31% of the rope diameter.

While the foregoing description has been given by way of

illustrative example of the invention, it will be

?0 understood that the invention may be embodied in many other

forms and all such forms are deemed to fall within the

broad scope and ambit of the invention as hereinbefore

described or claimed in the appended claims.

~- ')T\Amql n I ---- -)- -- q-,, ' )'

Claims (28)

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part

defining a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity or recess of said first component, said body

having an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along

a peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

rope at least partially therein through the outward opening

of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of

said body, said elongate recess having an inner face

laterally spaced from a plane extending along the length

of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance which

increases in length away from the bottom of said recess to

define a portion of an ellipse.

2. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein said plane is generally orthogonal to the

bottom of said elongate recess or cavity and extends

centrally along said recess or cavity.

3. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the lateral spacing increases away from the

bottom of the recess in opposite directions.

4. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the lateral spacing increases away from the

bottom of the recess at the same rate in both directions

over at least a portion of the recess.

~- ')T\Amql n -~ -IFL-- ),,,- ) )'

5. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part

defining a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity or recess of said first component, said body

having an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along

a peripheral portion of the body and adapted to receive a

steel rope at least partially therein through the outward

opening of said recess so as to wrap about at least a

portion of said body, wherein said elongate recess has an

inner face with a lateral radius which increases towards

the outward opening of said recess.

6. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the lateral radius of the inner face

increases at the same rate in opposite directions from the

centre of the bottom of said recess but increases in rate towards the outward opening.

7. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part

defining a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity or recess of said first component, said body

having an outwardly opening recess extending along a

peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

rope at least partially therein through the outward opening

of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of

~- ')T\Amq1 n -~ -IFL-- ),,,- ) )' said body wherein said recess has a curved inner face in which the angle of curvature increases towards the outward opening of said recess.

8. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the cross sectional shape of the recess is

substantially symmetrical about a centreline extending

through the recess from the bottom of the recess through

the centre of the outward opening.

9. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the cross sectional shape of the recess is

generally oval shaped.

10. An end connector according to according to any one of

the preceding claims wherein the cross-sectional shape of

the recess is substantially elliptical.

11. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims wherein the lateral radius of a substantial part of

the inner face away from the bottom of the recess is

substantially constant over a substantial portion of the

cross section but is greater over the portion of cross

section adjacent the outward opening.

12. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component having a housing at least in part

defining a cavity or recess;

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity or recess of said first component, said body

having an outwardly opening elongate recess extending along

a peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

~- ')T\Amq1 n -~ -- IF ) ,,-, )n ) rope at least partially therein through the outward opening of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of said body, said elongate recess having a lateral cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the end connector is to be connected (the intended rope)and being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter of the rope with which the end connector is intended to be used, and the depth of the segment being less than half the diameter of the intended rope.

13. An end connector according to Claim 12 wherein the

depth of the segment is in the range of 25% to 35% of the

intended rope diameter.

14. An end connector according to claim 12 wherein the

depth of the segment is in the range of 26% to 32% of the

intended rope diameter.

15. An end connector according to claim 12 wherein the

depth of the segment is about 31% of the intended rope

diameter.

16. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity

and an elongate recess opening from said cavity and

extending into said wall, said elongate recess being

adapted to receive a rope at least partially therein along

its length from said cavity, said elongate recess having

~- ')T\Amq1 n - , -- IFL - ½) n ) an inner face laterally spaced from a plane extending along the length of said elongate recess or cavity by a distance which increases in length away from the bottom of said recess, and a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said elongate recess.

17. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity

and an elongate recess opening from said cavity and

extending into said wall, said elongate recess being

adapted to receive a rope at least partially therein along

its length from said cavity, said elongate recess having

an inner face with a lateral radius which increases towards

said cavity; and

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope

in said elongate recess.

18. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity

and an elongate recess opening from said cavity and

extending into said wall, said elongate recess being

adapted to receive a rope at least partially therein along

its length from said cavity, said recess having a curved

inner face in which the angle of curvature increases towards

said cavity; and

~- ')T\Amq1 n -~ -IFL-- ),,,- ) )' a second component having a body adapted to engage in said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope in said elongate recess.

19. An end connector for connecting a steel rope to an

excavator component, the end connector including:

a first component including a wall defining a cavity

and an elongate recess opening from said cavity and

extending into said wall, said elongate recess being

adapted to receive a rope at least partially therein along

its length from said cavity, said elongate recess having a

lateral cross section which is generally a segment of a

circle of predetermined diameter, said diameter being

determined by reference to the diameter of the steel rope

to which the end connector is to be connected (the intended

rope)and being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the

diameter of the rope with which the end connector is

intended to be used, and the depth of the segment being

less than half the diameter of the intended rope; and

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity of said first component so as to hold a rope

in said elongate recess.

20. An end connector including a first component as recited

in any one of the preceding claims and a second component

as recited in any one of the preceding claims.

21. An end connector including a first component including

a wall defining a cavity and an elongate recess opening

from said cavity and extending into said wall, said elongate

recess being adapted to receive a rope at least partially

~- ')T\Amq1 n -~ -IFL-- ),,,- ) )' therein along its length from said cavity, said elongate recess having a lateral cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the end connector is to be connected

(the intended rope)and being in the range of about 110% to

118% of the diameter of the rope with which the end

connector is intended to be used, and the depth of the

segment being less than half the diameter of the intended

rope; and

a second component having a body adapted to engage in

said cavity of said first component, said body having an

outwardly opening elongate recess extending along a

peripheral portion thereof and adapted to receive a steel

rope at least partially therein through the outward opening

of said recess so as to wrap about at least a portion of

said body,

said outwardly opening elongate recess having a lateral

cross section which is generally a segment of a circle of

predetermined diameter, said diameter being determined by

reference to the diameter of the steel rope to which the

end connector is to be connected (the intended rope)and

being in the range of about 110% to 118% of the diameter

of the rope with which the end connector is intended to be

used, and the depth of the segment being less than half the

diameter of the intended rope.

22. An end connector according to claim 20 wherein the

depth of the segment for each of the first component and

~- ')T\Amq1 n - , -- IFL - ½) n ) the second component is in the range of 25% to 35% of the intended rope diameter.

23. An end connector according to claim 22 wherein the

depth of the segment for each of the first component and

the second component is in the range of 26% to 32% of the

intended rope diameter.

24. An end connector according to claim 22 wherein the

depth of the segment for each of the first component and

the second component is about 31% of the intended rope

diameter.

25. A first component and/or a second component for an end

connector as defined in any one of the preceding claims.

26. An end connector according to any one of the preceding

claims as described with reference to the accompanying

drawings.

27. An end connector or a component for an end component

as hereinbefore described with reference to the

accompanying drawings.

28. A method of selecting or designing an end connector

for connecting a steel rope to an excavator component, the

method including:

selecting a rope of a desired diameter; and

forming a wedge and socket assembly having a wedge

component and a socket component, the wedge component

having a groove therein adapted to receive therein a

portion of the selected rope and the socket component

having a complementary groove therein adapted to align

~-qTA q ')V1 ) -~ --IF -- ) q-,, ,' ) ) substantially with the groove in the wedge component, the wedge and socket assembly being arranged to engage with a portion of the selected rope located therebetween, wherein the grooves are formed so that the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the two grooves is less than about 80% of the cross sectional area of the selected rope and wherein the width of at least one of the grooves is greater than about 110% of the selected rope diameter and the depth of the groove is less than about 35% of the selected rope diameter.

~- ')T\Amq1 n -~ -- IF ) ,,-, )n )