US1668166A - One-piece drag-line bucket - Google Patents

Description

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UNITED s'ra'rlaisy 1,668,166 PATENT .OFFICE.

WALTER S. MGKEE AND WESLEY G. NICHOLS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE vASSIGNMENTS, OF ONE-HALF T0 AMERICAN MANGANESE STEEL COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE, ANI) ONE.

HALF TO SAID WALTER S. MUKEE.

omi-Pinon DRAG-LINE Bucxn'r.

Application led January 11, 1922. Serial No. 528,498.

This invention relates to drag line buckets for excavating purposes, which are so constructed thatI when dragged in contact with material to be excavated` the bowl of the bucket will become filled and the bucket. may then be lifted, conveyed away to a point of discharge, and its position accurately controlled to prevent waste of its contained' material while it is in transit.

Heretofore buckets of this kind have been built up of steel parts riveted together, and had applied thereto cuttingl lips, glide rails, wearing strips, etc., which have also been secured in place by riveting. But this method 0f constructing such buckets has met with the objections, among others, that the built up' construction does not develop t-he extreme strength required in buckets of this kind; that angles and corners within the bucket prevent it from shedding its load as quickly as is desired; and that the rivets which secure the parts together soon become worn away to such an extent as to destroy the integrity of the bucket and permit 'its various attachments to drop off.

It has been proposed to produce as single manganese steel castings the bodies of excavating flippers which are essentially of tubular construction, and the walls'of which become mutually self sustaining in withstanding the stresses incurred in cooling and in use of the dipper, also excavating buckets forming parts of the endless chains which are approximately sectors of spheres and also have their constituent walls standing in mutually sustaining relation: but it has never been regarded as practicable to produce, as ay single casting. a drag line bucket, and particularly drag line buckets of very large dimensions, for instance, those of several tons capacityyand particularly have these diiiiculties been regarded as insurmountable in the casting of a bucket of this type from manganese steel. which alone has suicient resistance to erosion in use to justify production of an implement that must be discarded as a whole when worn out in any of its important parts, and must be of such design `as to admit of thorough heat' treatment. A drag line bucket is essentially an elongated bowl comprising a bottom and but three confining walls upstanding therefrom, mainly at the two sides and rear end, thereby leaving the top and forward end open and defined by free and unsustained e ges of the walls; moreover, the bottom must function as a digging instrumentality, and the entire force of driving the implement into the mass to be excavated and dragging and lifting the several tons of accumulated load must all be transmitted to the bowl through the upper forward portions of lts two sides. It has been proposed to brace the forward ends of dredge buckets of small d1mens1ons, fabricated from sheets or plates, by arranglng` a separately formed U-shaped metal plate across the top of the open end and securing the same to the side walls of the bucket; but the suggest-ion of this element affords no help in solving the problem of supplying such a member as an integral element of a cast metal drag bucket, and particularly one of large dimensions.

The present invent-ion successfully solves the problem of making in a single piece casting a drag line bucket of large capacity, and the invention consists primarily in casting the bottom, side walls, and the rear end wall of an open front drag line bucket in one single piece with a controlling yoke connecting the forward ends of its slde walls, and arching the open end of the bucket; the arching yoke being so trussed and of such substantial design that, lindert-he stresses incident to cooling and transmissionv of loads in use, it not only sustains itself but imparts substantial strength to the body or bowl of the bucket. The trussing or strengtheningl elements are in the form of ribs substantially perpendicular to the portions which they strengthen, extending in intersecting directions and merging from the sides of the arch or yoke into the sides of the bowl so as to distribute the stresses from one portion to the other. as stated, and at the same time rendering the reinforced portion of the structure throughout of proper dimensions for successful application of the heat treatment required for manganese steel. Collateral features of the invention consist in( providingr the bowl of the bucket with strengthening ribs traversing the bottom and one or more of the vertical sides; said ribs preferably extending continuously from the open front, longitudinally along the bottom and then up the rear end wall; also providing side extensions forward of the open front end and uniting'these side extensions by an upper arch; the side extensions and arch being provided with external ribs preferably extending longitudinally of the bucket as well as vertically of the sides and transversely of the bucket across the arch in order to lend necessary strength to these members while'still leaving them in proper form to receive heat treatment necessary to reduce brittleness of the casting and facilitate the attachment of connections by which the bucket is to be controlled. The ribs are so distributed t-hat they will take care of all strains to which the bucket is subjected, at the same time consume a minimum amount of metal, and avoid lending excessive weight to the bucket while maintaining its greatest possible strength-a result which is accomplished to better advantage with a one-piece cast metal bucket than with the built up type of bucket.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a bucket embodying the several features of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a. plan view of the bucket with a ortion thereof in section on the line 2"-2" o Figure 1.

1 represents the bowl provided with open end 2, bottom 3, side walls 4, and rear end 5. The side walls 4 are constructed with extensions 6 lying longitudinally forward of the open front end 2. Forward extensions 6 are connected by an arch 7 which serves as a yoke through which to connect said side extensions with one of the controlling connections which will be attached by rivets entering the holes 8. The bowl is provided with external strengthening ribs 9 which extend from points on the bottom near the front end, longitudinally rearward, and thence upward to a point near the top of the rear wall 5, thus traversing continuously both these portions of the bowl. These ribs may be of any desired number. Four of them are shown` and the metal of the bowl is preferably grooved as shown at 9a along corresponding lines of the inner surface of the bowl so as to develop an effect similar to corrugation. and thereby restrict the mass of metal required to form the bowl, as well as to leave the metal more uniformly responsive to heat treatment necessary to develop the proper tensile strength and resistance to shocks that might otherwise fracture the metal. The outermost ribs 9 are preferably formed with integral fins 10 that steady the bucket against tipping, and also against deflection in its course of travel under impact against large solid masses of material: and these ribs'are connected transversely at an intermediate horizontal line of the back wall 45 by means of a bracing rib 11. The upper edge of the bowl merges into a bead or flange 12 that strengthens the side and rear walls against torsional strains,

and the extension 6 and arch 7 are formed with external short ribs 13 and 14 extendin in the direction of the longitudinal axis o the scraper at spaced intervals throughout the sides and arch, which ribs are intersected by integral bracing ribs 15 extending vertically up the sides and across the scraperl with the arch. Not only do the ribs 13, 14 and 15 lend tensile strength to the members on which they are formed, with a minimum amount of metal, but they permit proper heat treatment of the metal; moreover, they form pockets, such as 16, to admit plates and rivets, through means of which to attach the holding connection that prevents the bucket from tifplping during conveyance .from the point o oading to the point of discharge.

Formed integrally with the side walls 4 are seats 17 for the trunnion bearings 18 of the hanging rail, while extension 6 will be formed with openings 19, preferably bushed to receive the drag line connections. The sides 4 will also be recessed, as shown at 20, to receive the cutting lip 21, that will be attached through means of rivets 22 in the usual way. Teeth 23 will also be applied to the bucket in use in any suitable` known manner.

The bottom ribs 9 take the place of glide rails or wearing strips which have generally been riveted in place upon a bucket of this kind, and being, in the present instance, formed integrally with the bowl, can never become loose by the wearing away of securing rivets, which is a not infrequent occurrence in built up buckets.

It will be observed that by casting the bucket in one piece, as described, a very advantageous form can be imparted to it. For instance, the curved connecting webs 6 can be introduced between the arch and the sides of the bucket in a manner to greatly strengthen both these members, and the lines which join the bottom with the sides and with the rear wall can be made in the form of curves instead of angular, as in built up buckets.

We claim:

1. A drag line bucket, comprising, in an integral steel casting, a digging bottom, confining walls upstanding from the sides and rear end of said bottom, leaving an open front end and top, and a yoke integrally united with the upper front portions of the side walls, constructed with reinforcing ribs extending across the yoke as well as 1n the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bucket and merging into the side walls.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a onepiece metal drag line bucket formed with an open front end, sides extending forwardly beyond said front end, and an arch joining the upper portions of said sides and providing a holding yoke for the bucket; said bucket being constructed with ribs continuing up the extended ortions of the sides and across the arch, an with intersecting ribs integral with the continuing ribs, and some of which extend rearwardly along the sides of the bucket.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a one piece metal drag line bucket formed with an open front end, sides extending forwardly beyond said front end, and an arch joining the upper portions of said sides and roviding a holding yoke for the bucket; sald sides and arch being constructed with integral loggitudinal and transverse strengthening r1 s.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a one piece metal drag line bucket formed with formin ockets which permit heat treatmerlilt o t c metal of the side extensions and arc constructed with Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 29th day i of December, 1921.

WALTER S. MCKEE. WESLEY G. NICHOLS.

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