US3654713A

US3654713A - Ditch digging machine disk auger attachment

Info

Publication number: US3654713A
Application number: US30465A
Authority: US
Inventors: Elmer C Craddick; Eleanor M Craddick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-04-21
Filing date: 1970-04-21
Publication date: 1972-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 1989-04-11

Abstract

A disk auger attachment for ditch digging machines pivotally mounted on the boom of the ditch digger for engaging the ground adjacent the sides of the ditch to move loose earth adjacent the ditch away from the ditch and to remove earth from the edges of the ditch for preventing caveins thereof. A pair of disks are mounted on arms pivotally secured to the ditch digger boom with the axes of the disks converging and extending at an acute angle to the ditch. A bracket on the boom is arranged to lift the disks simultaneously with the raising of the boom.

Description

United States Patent Craddick et al.

[ 1 3,654,713 [451 Apr. 11, 1972 [54] DITCH DIGGING MACHINE DISK AUGER ATTACHMENT [72] Inventors: Elmer C. Craddick; Eleanor M. Craddick, both of 6236 West 2nd ST., Rio Linda,

Seward Blaine ..37/142.5 UX

2,582,538 1/1952 Flynn ..37/80 R 1,185,834 6/1916 Scalzitti ..37/80 A 1,335,605 3/1920 Ruehle ..37/86 Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Att0rneyAlexander B. Blair [5 7] ABSTRACT A disk auger attachment for ditch digging machines pivotally mounted on the boom of the ditch digger for engaging the ground adjacent the sides of the ditch to move loose earth adjacent the ditch away from the ditch and to remove earth from the edges of the ditch for preventing caveins thereof. A pair of disks are mounted on arms pivotally secured to the ditch digger boom with the axes of the disks converging and extending at an acute angle to the ditch. A bracket on the boom is arranged to lift the disks simultaneously with the raising of the boom.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures DITCH DIGGING MACHINE DISK AUGER ATTACHMENT This invention relates to attachments for a trenching or ditch digging machine for alleviating the problems of spilled dirt and cave-ins along the top uppermost edges of the trenches being dug which have plagued construction workers despite presentday advances in equipment and machinery.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is the provision of an implement on each side of a ditch for pushing loose dirt adjacent to the edges of the ditch back from the ditch and for cutting a portion of the ground adjacent the top edge of the ditch.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an implement which moves along with the ditch digger and automatically adjusts to a uniform depth within the ground adjacent to the ditch being dug.

A further object of this invention is the provision of an implement which automatically raises from the ground adjacent from the trench being dug upon the lifting of the boom and cutting chain from the trench.

The above and other objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of this invention taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 55 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 66 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. I; and

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the disk.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, there is shown in FIG. 1 the dotted outline of a boom 20 for digging a trench. Mounted on the top and bottom of boom 20 are

brackets

22 and 24 which are secured to the sides of boom 20 by means of angle iron 26.

Brackets

22 and 24 are also secured to each other by means of bolts 28 as shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 7. There are several different methods in which bolts 28 preferably fit in

brackets

22 and 24. A pipe 30 extending down from the bottom surface of bracket 22 and either threaded or welded thereto may be threaded on the inside thereof in order to receive bolt 28. Rather than being threaded, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, pipe 30 may have a nut 32 welded to the inside thereof and adapted to threadedly receive bolt 28.

Shaft bushings 34 secured to the upper surface of bracket 22 on diagonally opposite ends thereof are adapted to pivotally receive shaft 36 therethrough which are locked into place by

shaft lock collars

38 and 40. A grease inlet 42 is located at the top of each shaft bushing 34.

On the other end of each shaft 36 is a bent portion 50 whose axis, on the machine side of the intersecting point of the axes of portion 50 and the longitudinal axis of boom 20, forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of boom 20. Mounted on each bent portion 50 is a convex disk blade 52 facing boom 20 and secured between an inner hub 54 and an outer hub 56 by means of bolts 58.

Hubs

54 and 56 being secured in place on portion 50 between thrust washers 60 welded to portion 50. On opposite sides of thrust washer 60 are expansion pins 62 diametrically inserted through portion 50. A grease insert 64 is located at the top of inner hubs 54. FIG. 9 shows in detail the hub and disk blade structure, disk blade 52 being mounted at its center on portion 50. It should be noted that the center portion 66 of disk blade 52 is flat where joined to

hubs

54 and 56.

When boom 20 and its associated cutting chain is in the below ground position, disk blades 52 remain on the ground adjacent the trench pushing dirt at the top edge of the ditch back from the ditch as the ditch digging machine moves along. Due to independent pivotal connections, each disk blade 52 pivots within its associated bushing 34 without re ard to the other CllSk blade for independently moving up and own when encountering rocks, uneven ground, etc. adjacent the ditch. When boom 20 is raised out of the ditch and above the ground,

horizontal extensions

70 and 72 make contact with corresponding shafts 36 and lift them off the ground together with boom 20.

While the preferred embodiments of this invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim The claim A ditch digging machine having a boom and a disk auger attachment attached thereto for removing dirt from the top edges of the ditch as it is being dug to prevent cave-ins and for moving loose dirt on the surface away from the ditch, said attachment comprising a mount attached to the boom of the ditch digging machine, a shaft on each side of the boom pivotally connected on one end thereof to the upper surface of said mount, a blade joumalled on the other end of each said shaft, the axis of each said blade being parallel with the ground and each making an acute angle with the sides of the ditch with the vertex of each angle pointing away from the ditch digging machine, each said blade being positioned in a manner so that as the ditch digging machine moves forward, each said blade is adjacent to one of the top edges of the ditch and simultaneously cuts off part of the top edge of the ditch and pushes loose dirt near the top edge thereof back away from the ditch, each said blade moving up and down on the ground near the top edge of the ditch independent of each other, and a horizontal extension secured to each side of said mount which is parallel to the sides of the boom, a said extension being positioned below a portion of each said shaft in proximity to the pivotal connection thereof for automatically lifting each said blade from the ground as the boom is raised from the ditch, said shaft being slidably mounted to the upper surface of said mount to move in a direction transverse with the longitudinal axis of the boom for adjustment to various width ditches, said blade being in the shape of a convex disk facing the ditch for pushing loose dirt away from the ditch, said mount including opposing brackets secured to the upper and lower sides of the boom, a pluralityof vertical cylindrical elements extending below the upper bracket, a nut secured within each said element, and a plurality of bolts inserted through said bottom bracket and each threadedly secured to one of said nuts.