NZ552295A

NZ552295A - A tooth bar mounting

Info

Publication number: NZ552295A
Application number: NZ552295A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Matthew James Calvert; Aaron Tempelaere
Original assignee: Wedgelock Equipment Ltd
Priority date: 2006-12-22
Filing date: 2006-12-22
Publication date: 2009-07-31
Also published as: US20100058622A1; CN101636541A; AU2007338958B2; EP2099974A1; MX2009006763A; CA2701082C; WO2008079033A1; CA2701082A1; AU2007338958A1; RU2009128214A

Abstract

Apparatus for mounting a tooth bar (11) on a thumb sub-assembly (10), for use with material handling equipment such as excavators and backhoes, is disclosed. The thumb sub-assembly includes a thumb sub-assembly mounting plate (12) having a mounting surface (12a) and the tooth bar includes a tooth bar mounting plate (13) having a bevelled upper edge (34). The tooth bar mount further includes a number of flanges (36), each having a finger portion which extends over the mounting surface of the thumb sub-assembly mounting plate. Each finger portion includes an edge surface which faces towards the mounting surface and is configured such that the distance between the edge surface and the mounting surface decreases inwardly from the distal ends of the finger portion resulting in a narrowing slot into which the bevelled edge of the tooth bar mounting plate can be wedgingly engaged. The tooth bar mounting plate is fixed to the mounting surface with bolts (14) following engagement. The modular nature of the apparatus allows the use of a standard thumb sub-assembly, on which is attached a pre-manufactured tooth bar suitable for the end user's requirements.

Description

<div class="application article clearfix" id="description"> 552295 Our Ref: WED009NZ Patents Form No. 5 PATENTS ACT 1953 Complete After Provisional No. 552295 Provisional Filed: 22 December 2006 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION A TOOTH BAR MOUNTING We, Wedgelock Equipment Limited, a New Zealand company of 72 Montgomery Crescent, Upper Hutt, New Zealand, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: Intellectual ProDertv Office of N.Z. 2 V DEC 2007 RECEIVED 552295 2 FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to material handling equipment such as excavators, backhoes, and clamping and grappling equipment, and the like. More particularly it relates to a mounting for a tooth bar on a thumb assembly for use 5 with such equipment BACKGROUND The use of a thumb, with attached tooth bar, on excavator machinery is well known. Typically the thumb is used in conjunction with the excavator bucket so 10 as to make the bucket more effective in picking up material. For example in demolition sites a thumb is a particularly useful means of grabbing material which would otherwise be difficult to be picked up solely by a bucket. The thumb is typically pivotally mounted to the excavator arm and is controllable 15 by an hydraulic ram. The thumb has a tooth bar attached to its distal outer end, this tooth bar generally being configured to suit the particular type of bucket with which it is to be used. For example, the tooth bar may have four or six teeth depending on the number of teeth mounted to the edge of the bucket. 20 Because of the differing end user requirements it is often the case that the manufacturer of the thumb will manufacturer thumb assemblies particularly suited for the end application. Consequently there is always a lead time between an end user ordering a thumb and it actually being delivered from the manufacturer. 25 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. I h DEC 2008 RECEIVED 552295 3 Accordingly there is a need for a more modular system whereby the manufacturer can have a standard thumb sub-assembly and attach to this a suitable pre-manufactured tooth bar depending on the end users requirements. 5 Typically the tooth bar may be welded to the thumb, but with a more modular system it is more practical to have bolt on tooth bars. Bolt on tooth bars are already known, however those that are known generally suffer from draw backs - the main one being that they tend to work loose as a consequence of the forces, and sometimes extreme treatment, which the thumb experiences during 10 normal use. It is consequently an object of the present invention to provide a mounting for a tooth bar on a thumb which at least goes some way to overcoming the problem of loosening of the tooth bar during operation of the thumb, alternatively it is an 15 object to at least provide the public with a useful choice. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly according to one aspect of the invention there is provided a tooth bar mount for mounting a tooth bar to a thumb sub-assembly, wherein the thumb 20 sub-assembly includes a thumb assembly mounting plate having a mounting surface and wherein the tooth bar includes a tooth bar mounting plate having a bevelled upper edge, the mount further including a plurality of flanges, each having a finger portion which extends over the mounting surface of the thumb sub-assembly mounting plate wherein each finger portion includes an edge 25 surface which faces towards the mounting surface and is configured such that <! 4 DEC 2808 RECEIVED 552295 4 the distance between the edge surface and the mounting surface decreases inwardly from the distal ends of the finger portion resulting in a narrowing slot into which the bevelled edge of the tooth bar mounting plate can be wedgingly engaged, there being fixing means for fixing the tooth bar mounting plate to the 5 mounting surface following engagement of the tooth bar mounting plate. BRIEF DSCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following more detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:- 10 Figure 1 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the components of a thumb sub-assembly and associated tooth bar which is mountable to the subassembly by the mounting according to the present invention, 15 Figure 2 illustrates a perspective view of the thumb showing the tooth bar mounted to the thumb subassembly, Figure 3 illustrates a side elevation view of the thumb when mounted to an excavator arm, and 20 Figure 4 illustrates a perspective view of the arrangement shown in Figure 3 but with the thumb inter-engaging with the bucket as shown in dotted detail in Figure 3. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 25 In the drawings Figures 1 and 2 show a tooth bar of a "universal" type. By way of further illustration, however, Figures 3 and 4 show a tooth bar having four INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 1 k DEC 2008 RECEIVED teeth configured to inter-engage with the five teeth on the cutting edge of the excavator bucket. Other configurations of tooth bar can be mounted to the thumb assembly using the mounting of the present invention. Figure 1 shows the component parts of the thumb. This includes a thumb subassembly 10 and tooth bar 11. The subassembly 10 has a mounting plate 12 which forms a mounting surface 12a against which a plate 13 of the tooth bar 11 can engage and be bolted thereto by a series of bolts and associated nuts 14. The subassembly 10 includes a pair of side plates 15 which, in accordance with conventional construction, include along one edge thereof serrations or teeth 16. At the ends of the side plates 15 opposite to mounting plate 12 are a pair of aligned openings 17. Bushes 18 are provided for the openings 17. Through the bushes 18 is engaged a pin 19 by which, together with selected spacers 20, the subassembly 10 can be typically attached to the excavator arm E. To one end of the pin 19 is attached a radial extending plate 21 to which a retainer bar 22 is fitted. Between the side plates 15 is a mounting plate 23 which, as more clearly shown in Figures 1 and 4, carries flanges 24 having openings therein which align with openings in the side plates 15 and through which a thumb pin 25 can be engaged. This provides a mounting for the bush 26 of the piston rod of hydraulic ram 27. The body of the hydraulic ram 27 has a bush 28 which is engaged in bracket 29 via pin 30. Attached to the mounting plate 13 of the tooth bar 11 is the teeth assembly 31. This can include a plurality of teeth 32 (see Figure 4) or in the more universal fitting of Figures 1 and 2 a toothed or serrated plate 33. The upper edge of the mounting plate 13 is preferably bevelled as indicated by numeral 34. The mounting plate 13 further includes a series of openings which align with elongate openings 35 in the mounting plate 12 of the subassembly INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 2 k DEC 2008 RECEIVED 552295 6 10, The bolts 14 pass through these aligned openings and with the associated nuts bolt the mounting plates 12 and 13 together. The mounting according to the present invention includes a plurality of flanges 5 36 which, in the illustrated form, are a pair of parallel spaced apart flanges mounted to the mounting plate 23. These flanges 36 are, in the illustrated form of the construction, located either side of an opening 37 formed in the mounting plate 23. 10 Each of the mounting flanges 36 have a finger portion 37 which extends over the mounting surface of the mounting plate 12. These fingers 37 include an edge surface 38 which faces towards the mounting surface 12a and is configured such that the distance between the edge 38 and the mounting surface 12a decreases inwardly from the distal ends of finger 37. The result is 15 a narrowing slot into which the bevelled edge 34 can be engaged when the mounting plate 13 is brought into engagement with mounting plate 12. There is thus a wedging action between the edge 38/mounting surface 12a and the mounting plate 13 of the tooth bar 11. 20 Accordingly when the tooth bar 11 is mounted to the subassembly 10 the edge 34 is introduced between the edge surfaces 38 of the fingers 37 and the mounting surface 12a. The tooth bar 11 is then driven into hard engagement with the fingers 37 so that the edge 34 is firmly wedged into position. This is shown in more detail in the enlarged part view in Figure 3. The bolts 14 are 25 then introduced through the aligned openings 35 and the openings in the mounting plate 13 and the tooth bar thereby bolted onto the subassembly 10. The elongate nature of the openings 35 ensure that the mounting plates 12 and 13 can be bolted together irrespective of the final position of the edge 34 between the fingers 37 and mounting plate 12. 30 If, during use, the tooth bar 11 loosens it is simply a matter of loosening off the nuts/bolts 14 followed by a driving force applied to the tooth bar 11 so as to force the edge 34 further into wedging engagement between the mounting surface 12a and the edge surfaces 38 and retightening the nuts on the bolts. INTELLECTUAL PROPER# OFFICE OF N.2. # 2*, DEC 2008 RFr.FlVFD 552295 7 The present invention thus provides a mounting arrangement for a tooth bar such that the tooth bar 11 can be readily fitted onto the subassembly 10 and held firmly in place. The invention therefore lessens the likelihood of the tooth bar 11 working loose. Even though the forces to which the tooth bar will be subjected during normal use may still cause the tooth bar to loosen, the likelihood is less than with conventional mounting arrangements. If loosening does occur it is a matter of retightening in a simple and straightforward manner. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure applies to an hydraulically controllable thumb. The invention is also applicable to a fixed/rigid thumb (i.e. one which is not hydraulically operable) where the clamping action with the fixed/rigid thumb is achieved by the crowd action of the bucket. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.Z. 14 DEC 2008 RECEIVED 552295 8 </div>

Claims

<div class="application article clearfix printTableText" id="claims"> CLAIMS:

1. A tooth bar mount for mounting a tooth bar to a thumb sub-assembly, wherein the thumb sub-assembly includes a thumb assembly mounting plate having a mounting surface and wherein the tooth bar includes a tooth bar mounting plate having a bevelled upper edge, the mount further including a plurality of flanges, each having a finger portion which extends over the mounting surface of the thumb sub-assembly mounting plate wherein each finger portion includes an edge surface which faces towards the mounting surface and is configured such that the distance between the edge surface and the mounting surface decreases inwardly from the distal ends of the finger portion resulting in a narrowing slot into which the bevelled edge of the tooth bar mounting plate can be wedgingly engaged, there being fixing means for fixing the tooth bar mounting plate to the mounting surface following engagement of the tooth bar mounting plate.

2. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the tooth bar is of a "universal" type.

3. A mounting according to claim 1 wherein the tooth bar has four teeth configured to inter-engage with five teeth on a cutting edge of an excavator bucket.

4. A mounting according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the subassembly includes a pair of side plates which, in accordance with conventional construction, include along one edge thereof serrations or teeth.

5. A mounting according to claim 4 wherein at the ends of the side plates, opposite to the mounting plate, are a pair of aligned openings whereby the sub-assembly can be attached to an excavator arm.

6. A mounting according to claim 4 wherein the tooth assembly includes a toothed or serrated plate. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFICE OF N.2. 2 H DEC 2008 RECEIVED 552295 9

7. A mounting according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the tooth bar mounting plate further includes a series of openings which align with elongate openings in the mounting plate of the subassembly through which, when aligned, bolts pass and whereby, with associated nuts, bolt 5 the plates together.

8. A mounting according to any one of the preceding claims for use with a hydraulically controllable thumb. 10

9. A mounting according to claim 1 for use with a fixed/rigid thumb where the clamping action with the fixed/rigid thumb is achieved by the crowd action of the bucket.

10. A mounting according to claim 1 substantially as herein described or 15 exemplified with reference to the drawings. Wedgelock Equipment Limited By Their Attorneys DON HOPKINS & ASSOCIATES 20 Per: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OFFfCe OP N.Z. 21| DEC 2008 RECEIVE*) </div>