OA20757A - Wear part, bucket and method. - Google Patents

Abstract

A wear part (1), a bucket (2) and a method. The wear part (1) comprises a forward edge (3) for intruding in a material to be handled by the bucket (2), an engagement portion (4) for engaging with an engagementedge (5) of the bucket (2) , a first side (6) and a second side (7) connecting the forward edge (3) to the engagement portion (4), a bottom face (8), and an upper face (9). At least one of said first side (6) and second side (7) comprises a first tongue-and-groove fixing element (10) for contacting a second tongue-andgroove fixing element (11) arranged in an adjacent wear part and for completing a tongueand-groove joint between said two wear parts (1).

Description

WEAR PART, BUCKET AND METHOD

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to a wear part for a bucket of a 5 bucket machine.

The invention further relates to a bucket for a bucket machine .

The invention still further relates to a method for attaching the wear part to a bucket.

A bucket of a bucket machine is prone to wear in harsh mining environment. Especially, the lip of the bucket is 15 the most prone area to wear. Ground engaging tool (GET) is a wear part, e.g. a wear part tooth for protect ing the bucket lip from wear. In addition to protecting the bucket edge, GETs improve the ability of the bucket to intrude in a material to be handled by the bucket machine. 20

Worn GETs reduce the productivity of the bucket machine as the bucket is not intruding in the material efficiently anymore. Thus, the machine has to work harder for loading and it also needs more fuel. Without GETs, impact is hard25 er on the bucket thus shortening the lifetime of the bucket and increasing downtime of the bucket machine. Sometimes, during the loading operation, single GET pièces may fall off and thus reduce productivity and increase downtime. 30

Several different factors affect the wear of a GET, for example the material that is loaded, the material of the GET itself, and the machine opérator's loading techniques. There are different kind of wear part profiles designed 35 for different kind of materials to be handled by the buck et, for example wear part teeth with heavy-duty, pénétration, and abrasive profiles.

Patent publication US 2015/101218 Al discloses a bucket 5 with an edge protection System. A problem with known technology of wear parts and bucket s is that the wear parts may easily get broken.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Viewed from a first aspect, there can be provided a wear 10 part for a bucket of a bucket machine, the wear part cornprising: a forward edge for intruding in a material to be handled by the bucket, an engagement portion for engaging with an engagement edge of the bucket, a first side and a second side connecting the forward edge to the engagement 15 portion, a bottom face, and an upper face, wherein at least one of said first side and second side comprises a first tongue-and-groove fixing element for contacting a second tongue-and-groove fixing element arranged in an adjacent wear part and for completing a tongue-and-groove 20 joint between said two wear parts, whereby a continuous lip of wear parts (1) is constituted.

Thereby a durable, yet light and easily handled structure of wear part may be achieved. A continuous lip of wear 25 parts provides for a larger area of wear parts compared to separate wear part lips arranged on the bucket edge at a distance from each other and therefore wears off slower. As the wear parts are arranged side b y side leaving no empty spaces in between, there is no need for any addi30 tional edge protection arrangements either.

Viewed from a further aspect, a bucket for a bucket machine , comprising plurality of wear parts described above.

Thereby a durable, yet light structure of bucket may be achieved.

Viewed from a further aspect, there can be a method for 5 attaching the wear part to a bucket, the method comprising: fitting the engagement portion of the wear part to an engagement edge of the bucket, siiding the wear part sideways towards another wear part arranged in the bucket, until the first tongue-and-groove fixing element and the 10 second tongue-and-groove fixing element complétés a tongue-and-groove joint between said two wear parts, and fastening the wear part to the bucket.

Thereby a method providing a durable and light structure 15 of the bucket may be achieved.

The wear part, the bucket and the method are characterised by what is stated in the independent claims. Some other embodiments are characterised by what is stated in the 20 other claims. Inventive embodiments are also disclosed in the spécification and drawings of this patent application. The inventive content of the patent application may also be defined in other ways than defined in the following claims. The inventive content may also be formed of sever25 al séparate inventions, especially if the invention is examined in the light of expresse! or implicit sub-tasks or in view of obtained benefits or benefit groups. Some of the définitions contained in the following claims may then be unnecessary in view of the separate inventive ideas.

Features of the different embodiments of the invention may, within the scope of the basic inventive idea, be appiied to other embodiments.

In one embodiment, the first tongue-and-groove fixing ele35 ment is a female tongue-and-groove fixing element that is a hole extending from the side into the wear part. An ad20757

van t âge is that that a good support of the wear parts against stresses being directed upwards, downwards, towards the engagement edge and/or towards forward edge may be provided.

In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element has a round cross-section. An advantage is that the fixing element is easy to manufacture, by e.g. drilling.

In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element has a polygonal cross-section, such as a rectangle. An advantage is that the fixing element may provide exceptionally good support against torsional stresses.

In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element is a groove that is open to the bottom face or to the upper face. An advantage is that the male fixing element can be arranged from below or from above, respectively, in said female fixing element.

In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element being open to the bottom or upper face has an arclike shape. An advantage is that the shape may allow some variations in positions between neighbouring wear parts.

In one embodiment, the cross-section of the female tongueand-groove fixing element has a polygonal shape, such as rectangle. An advantage is that the fixing element may provide exceptionally good support against torsional 30 stresses.

In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing element has a round cross-section. An advantage is that the fixing element may allow some variations in positions be35 tween neighbouring wear parts.

In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing élément is an intégral part of the wear part. An advantage is that the structure of the wear part is simple.

In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing element is realized by a separate body, and the wear part comprises a receiving channel, wherein said separate body is arrangeable to said receiving channel. An advantage is that the manufacturing of the wear part may be simple.

In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing element is realized by a separate body, and the wear part comprises a receiving channel, the cross-section of which is at least essentially identical with a female tongue15 and-groove fixing element the shape of which is selected to complété a tongue-and-groove joint with the separate body. An advantage is that grooves similar to the female fixing element may be manufactured on both sides of the wear part, and thus the manufacturing of the wear part may 20 be simplified.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

Some embodiments illustrating the présent disclosure are described in more detail in the attached drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a schematic view of a bucket comprising wear parts attached therein,

Figure 2 is a schematic view of embodiments of wear parts, 30

Figure 3 is a schematic view of another embodiments of wear parts,

Figure 4 is a schematic view of third embodiments of wear 35 parts, and

Figure 5 illustrâtes a method for attaching a wear part.

In the figures, some embodiments are shown simplified for the sake of clarity. Similar parts are marked with the same reference numbers in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 is a schéma tic view of a bucket comprising wear parts attached therein.

Buckets 2 comprises typically piuraiity of wear parts 1. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, there are six wear parts 1 attached to the bucket 2. The wear part attaches to an engagement edge 5 of the bucket by an engagement portion 4 (shown in following Figures). It is to be noted that the engagement portion 4 as well as the engagement edge 5 may be shaped many ways. As shown, the wear parts 1 may be arrange! side b y si de so that a continuous lip or shroud of wear parts is constituted.

Ail the wear parts 1 of a bucket 2 may hâve same shape and dimensions. Alternatively, there are differently shaped and/or dimensioned wear parts 1.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, forward edges 3 of the wear parts constitutes a V-shaped design (seen from above). Alternatively, the shape may be straight, curved or any combinations of said shapes.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of embodiments of wear parts, showing two wear parts.

The wear part 1 comprises a forward edge 3 in purpose for intruding in a material to be handled by the bucket 2, and an engagement portion 4 for engaging with the engagement edge 5 (shown in Figure 1) of the bucket 2. The wear part 1 further comprises a first side 6 and a second side 7

connecting the forward edge 3 to the engagement portion 4, and a bottom face 8 and an upper face 9.

In the wear part 1, at least one of the first side 6 and 5 the second side 7 comprises a first tongue-and-groove fixing element 10. The first tongue-and-groove fixing element 10 is adapted for contacting a second tongue-and-groove fixing element 11 that is arranged in an adjacent wear part 1 and for completing a tongue-and-groove joint be10 tween said two wear parts 1.

In an embodiment, the first tongue-and-groove fixing element 10 is a female tongue-and-groove fixing element. In figure 2, said first fixing element 10 is a hole that ex15 tends from the first side 6 into the wear part 1.

In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element has a polygonal cross-section. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the cross-section is a rectangle.

In an embodiment, the second side 7 of the wear part 1 comprises a second tongue-and-groove fixing element 11. In Figure 2, the second element 11 is a male tongue-andgroove fixing element, and the tongue-and-groove joint 25 lies between the two wear parts 1.

The shape of the second tongue-and-groove fixing element 11 is selected to complété a tongue-and-groove joint with a tongue-and-groove fixing element similar to the first 30 tongue-and-groove fixing element 10 arranged on the first side 6. In an embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing element has a polygonal cross-section, such as a rectangle .

In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the male fixing element fi Ils the female element essentially completely. How20757

ever, this is not always necessary. For instance in some other embodîments, the male fixing element may be substantially shorter than the female fixing element, or the distal end of the female fixing element may be differently 5 shaped compared to the end of the male fixing element, etc., provided that desired tongue-and-groove joint may be formed.

In an embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing ele10 ment is realized by a separate body 12. The wear part 1 comprises a receiving channel 13, in which the separate body 12 may be arranged. In an embodiment, the crosssection of the receiving channel 13 is at least essentially identical with a female tongue-and-groove fixing ele15 ment used in the tongue-and-groove joint, but this is not always necessary.

In an embodiment, the separate body 12 is attached to the receiving channel 13 using e.g. welding or heat treatment 20 methods, but in another embodiment, the separate body 12 is just pushed in the receiving channel 13.

In another embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing element is an intégral part of the wear part 1.

Figure 3 is a schematic view of another embodîments of wear parts. In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element, shown in Figure 3 as the first tongue-andgroove fixing element 10, has a round cross-section, as 30 well as the male tongue-and-groove fixing element has a round cross-section. This kind of male tongue-and-groove fixing element may be an intégral part of the wear part 1, or a separate body 12 as described above.

In the embodîments shown in Figures, the wear part 1 comprises just one fixing element 10, 11 per side 6, 7, In

another embodiment, there are two or even more fixing éléments 10, 11 on same side of the wear part 1. The fixing éléments arranged on the same side may be of similar type, for example there may be two male fixing éléments on the 5 same side 6, 7· It is also possible that the fixing éléments arranged on the same side are of different type, i.e. both female and male éléments.

Figure 4 is a schématic view of third embodiments of wear 10 parts. In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element is a groove that is open to the bottom face 8. The male fixing element is arranged respectively. In this embodiment, the cross-section of the female fixing element may hâve a polygonal shape, such as rectangle, or an arc15 like shape, or any combinations thereof.

In another embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing element is a groove that is open to the upper face 9, and the male fixing element is arranged respectively. The 20 cross-section of the female fixing element may hâve a polygonal shape, such as rectangle, or an arc-like shape, or any combinations thereof.

Figure 5 illustrâtes a method for attaching a wear part. 25 In the method it is fit 501 the engagement portion 4 of the wear part 1 to an engagement edge 5 of the bucket 2. Then, said wear part 1 is slid 502 sideways, optionally a long the engagement edge 5 towards another wear part 1 arranged in the bucket 2. Then, the first tongue-and30 groove fixing element 10 and the second tongue-and-groove fixing element 11 is used for completing 503 a tongue-andgroove joint between said two wear parts 1, and the wear part 1 is fastened 504 to the bucket 2.

In embodiments where the female tongue-and-groove fixing element is a groove that is open to the bottom or upper face 8, 9, it is possible to arrange the side 6, 7 of the wear part 1 in contact with the next wear part, or at least vicinity thereof. Then said wear part 1 is rotated on its right place in the engagement edge 5 - providing 5 that the design of the engagement portion 4 and the engagement edge 5 allow such a procedure.

It is to be noted that the method described above may be preceded by steps where at least one wear part to be re10 placed is/are removed from the bucket.

The invention is not limited solely to the embodiments described above, but instead many variations are possible within the scope of the inventive concept defined by the 15 daims below. Within the scope of the inventive concept the attributes of different embodiments and applications can be used in conjunction with or replace the attributes of another embodiment or application.

The drawings and the related description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the Invention. The invention may vary in detail within the scope of the inventive idea defined in the following daims.

REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1	wear part
2	bucket
3	forward edge
4	engagement portion
5	engagement edge
6	first side
7	second side
8	bottom face
9	upper face
10	first tongue-and-groove fixing eiement
11	second tongue-and-groove fixing eiement
12	separate body
13	receiving channel
501-504	method steps

Claims (6)

1. A wear part (1) for a bucket (2) of a bucket machine, the wear part (1) comprising

- a forward edge ( 3 ) for intruding in a material to be 5 handled by the bucket (2),

- an engagement portion (4) for engaging with an engagement edge (5) of the bucket (2),

- a first side (6) and a second side (7) connecting the forward edge (3) to the engagement portion (4),

10 - a bottom face (8), and

- an upper face (9), characterized in that

- at least one of said first side (6) and second side (7) comprises a male tongue-and-groove fixing element (10) for contacting a female tongue-and-groove fixing element ( 11) 15 arranged in an adjacent wear part and for completing a tongue-and-groove joint between said two adjacent wear parts (1), wherein

- each male tongue-and-groove fixing element (10) is realized by a separate body between two adjacent wear parts 20 ( 1 ) , and

- the female tongue-and-groove fixing element (11) comprises a receiving channel, wherein said separate body is arrangeable to said receiving channel, whereby a continuous lip of wear parts (1) is constituted.

2. The wear part as claimed in claim 1, wherein the male tongue-and-groove fixing element has a round crosssection, or a polygonal cross-section, such as a rectangle .

3. The wear part as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the cross-section of the receiving channel (13) is at least essentially identical with a female tongue-and-groove fixing element the shape of which is selected to complété a 35 tongue-and-groove joint with the separate body (12).

4. The wear part as claimed in any of claims 1-3, wherein the second side ( 7 ) comprises a second tongue-andgroove fixing element (11), the shape of which is selected to complété a tongue-and-groove joint with a tongue-and5 groove fixing element similar to the first tongue-andgroove fixing element (10) arranged on the first side (6).

5. A bucket (2) for a bucket machine, comprising a plurality of wear parts (1) claimed in any of the preceding 10 claims, wherein the plurality of wear parts (1) are arranged side by side so that a continuous lip of wear parts is constituted.

6. A method for attaching the wear part (1) as claimed in 15 any of claims 1 - 4 to a bucket (2), the method comprising - fitting the engagement portion (4) of the wear part (1) to an engagement edge (5) of the bucket (2),

- sliding the wear part (1) sideways towards another wear part (1) arranged in the bucket (2), until

20 - the male tongue-and-groove fixing element (10) of the wear part (1) and the female tongue-and-groove fixing element (11) of an adjacent wear part (1) complétés a tongueand-groove joint between said two wear parts (1) whereby a continuous lip of wear parts ( 1) is constituted, and

25 - fastening the wear part (1) to the bucket (2).