Male and female parts for a wear assembly of an earth-moving machine's bucket

Abstract

A wear assembly of an earth-moving machine's bucket comprises a male part and a female part both of which comprises a nose (male part) or cavity (female part) with an upper contact surface and a lower contact surface. The upper contact surface comprises an upper front contact portion that extends backward from the tip of the nose or the bottom of the cavity and the lower contact surface comprises a lower front contact portion that extends likewise, one of the upper and lower front contact portions being concave and the other being convex. Analogously, the upper contact surface comprises an upper back contact portion that extends forward from the base of the nose or the mouth of the cavity, and the lower contact surface comprises a lower back contact portion that extends likewise, one of the upper and lower back contact portions being concave and the other being convex.

Claims

1. A female part for a wear assembly of an earth-moving machine's bucket, said bucket and said female part having a length, a width and a height, identified with the orthogonal directions X, Y and Z, respectively, the female part comprising a cavity provided with an upper contact surface and a lower contact surface, wherein said upper contact surface comprises an upper front contact portion that extends backward from the bottom of the cavity and said lower contact surface comprises a lower front contact portion that extends backward from the bottom of the cavity, one of said upper and lower front contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion are symmetrical with respect to a central XZ plane, wherein the upper contact surface comprises an upper back contact portion that extends forward from a mouth of the cavity and the lower contact surface comprises a lower back contact portion that extends forward from the mouth of the cavity, one of said upper and lower back contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein the upper back contact portion is concave and the upper front contact portion is convex, or vice versa, and wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane.

2. The female part according to claim 1, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion comprise a right front face and a left front face that are substantially flat.

3. The female part according to claim 1, wherein said cavity tapers toward its bottom in an intermediate portion between said upper front contact portion and said upper back contact portion and between said lower front contact portion and said lower back contact portion.

4. The female part according to claim 1, wherein both the upper back contact portion and the lower back contact portion are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane.

5. The female part according to claim 1, wherein both the upper back contact portion and the lower back contact portion comprise a right back face and a left back face that are substantially flat.

6. The female part according to claim 1, wherein the cavity is provided with two side concave surfaces that are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane, each of said side surfaces comprising an upper side face and a lower side face that are flat.

7. The female part according to claim 1, comprising a lower outer longitudinal recess.

8. The female part according to claim 7, wherein said recess is substantially parallel to at least a portion of the lower contact surface of the cavity.

9. The female part according to claim 1, wherein the upper front contact portion is parallel to the lower front contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane.

10. The female part according to claim 1, wherein the upper front contact portion is parallel to the lower front contact portion considering entire portions.

11. The female part according to claim 1, wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion considering entire portions.

12. The female part according to claim 1, wherein said upper front contact portion and said lower front contact portion comprise each a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane.

13. The female part according to claim 1, wherein said upper back contact portion and said lower back contact portion comprise each a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane.

14. A male part for a wear assembly of an earth-moving machine's bucket, said bucket and said male part having a length, a width and a height, identified with the orthogonal directions X, Y and Z, respectively, the male part comprising a nose provided with an upper contact surface and a lower contact surface, wherein said upper contact surface comprises an upper front contact portion that extends backward from a tip of the nose and said lower contact surface comprises a lower front contact portion that extends backward from the tip of the nose, one of said upper and lower front contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion are symmetrical with respect to a central XZ plane, wherein the upper contact surface comprises an upper back contact portion that extends forward from a base of the nose and the lower contact surface comprises a lower back contact portion that extends forward from the base of the nose, one of said upper and lower back contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein the upper back contact portion is concave and the upper front contact portion is convex, or vice versa, and wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane.

15. The male part according to claim 14, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion comprise a right front face and a left front face that are substantially flat.

16. The male part according to claim 14, wherein said nose tapers toward its front end in an intermediate portion between said upper front contact portion and said upper back contact portion and between said lower front contact portion and said lower back contact portion.

17. The male part according to claim 14, wherein both the upper back contact portion and the lower back contact portion are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane.

18. The male part according to claim 14, wherein both the upper back contact portion and the lower back contact portion comprise a right back face and a left back face that are substantially flat.

19. The male part according to claim 14, wherein the nose is provided with two side convex surfaces that are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane, each of said side surfaces comprising an upper side face and a lower side face that are flat.

20. The male part according to claim 14, wherein the upper front contact portion is parallel to the lower front contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane.

21. The male part according to claim 14, wherein the upper front contact portion is parallel to the lower front contact portion considering entire portions.

22. The male part according to claim 14, wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion considering entire portions.

23. The male part according to claim 14, wherein said upper front contact portion and said lower front contact portion comprise each a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane.

24. The male part according to claim 14, wherein said upper back contact portion and said lower back contact portion comprise each a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane.

25. A wear assembly comprising a wear element that is a female part, said female part having a length, a width and a height, identified with the orthogonal directions X, Y and Z, respectively, the female part comprising a cavity provided with an upper contact surface and a lower contact surface, wherein said upper contact surface comprises an upper front contact portion that extends backward from the bottom of the cavity and said lower contact surface comprises a lower front contact portion that extends backward from the bottom of the cavity, one of said upper and lower front contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion are symmetrical with respect to a central XZ plane, wherein the upper contact surface comprises an upper back contact portion that extends forward from a mouth of the cavity and the lower contact surface comprises a lower back contact portion that extends forward from the mouth of the cavity, one of said upper and lower back contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein the upper back contact portion is concave and the upper front contact portion is convex, or vice versa, and wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, and a male part, said male part having a length, a width and a height, identified with the orthogonal directions X, Y and Z, respectively, the male part comprising a nose provided with an upper contact surface and a lower contact surface, wherein said upper contact surface comprises an upper front contact portion that extends backward from a tip of the nose and said lower contact surface comprises a lower front contact portion that extends backward from the tip of the nose, one of said upper and lower front contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein both the upper front contact portion and the lower front contact portion are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane, wherein the upper contact surface comprises an upper back contact portion that extends forward from the base of the nose and the lower contact surface comprises a lower back contact portion that extends forward from the base of the nose, one of said upper and lower back contact portions being concave and the other being convex, wherein the upper back contact portion is concave and the upper front contact portion is convex, or vice versa, and wherein the upper back contact portion is parallel to the lower back contact portion on any cross-section parallel to the YZ plane, wherein the male part's nose is fitted in the female part's cavity, defining a fitting with a longitudinal axis, and wherein the upper contact surface of the female is complementary of the upper contact surface of the male part and the lower contact surface of the female part is complementary of the lower contact surface of the male part.

26. The wear assembly of claim 25, wherein the center of mass of the wear element is below the longitudinal axis of said fitting.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Some particular embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following, only by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a two-part wear assembly;

(3) FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a three-part wear assembly;

(4) FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of a female part;

(5) FIG. 4 is a side view of the female part of FIG. 3;

(6) FIG. 5 is a rear view of the female part of FIG. 3;

(7) FIG. 6 is like FIG. 5 but enlarged;

(8) FIG. 7 is a longitudinal cross-section of the female part of FIG. 3 fitted to a tip element;

(9) FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the female part of FIG. 3;

(10) FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a male part;

(11) FIG. 10 is a top view of the male part of FIG. 9;

(12) FIG. 11 is a side view of the male part of FIG. 9;

(13) FIG. 12 is a front view of the male part of FIG. 9;

(14) FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a male part; and

(15) FIG. 14 is a bottom perspective view of the male part of FIG. 13.

DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

(16) Some embodiments are described below with reference to the aforementioned figures for the purpose of a better understanding of the wear assembly.

(17) The elements or parts that are comprised in the wear assembly for a bucket may be different depending on the intended use. FIG. 1 shows a two-part wear assembly provided with a male part 1 and a female part 2; in this case, the female part is a tooth 3 and the male part is an adapter 4. FIG. 2 shows a three-part wear assembly provided with a point 5, an intermediate element 6 and a weld-on (or cast or otherwise attached) nose 7. FIG. 1 also shows three orthogonal axes X, Y, Z; X is the longitudinal axis, Y is the horizontal axis and Z is the vertical axis (said axes can also be viewed with reference to the bucket: X, Y and Z extend in the direction of the length, width and height, respectively, of the bucket).

(18) A female part as an intermediate element in a three-part assembly is shown with more detail in FIGS. 3-8. Said female part 2 comprises a cavity 20 which extends from an aperture 21 (mouth of the cavity) to a front inner surface 22 (bottom of the cavity), an upper front contact portion 24, a lower front contact portion 23, an upper back contact portion 26 and a lower back contact portion 25. Neither the front nor the back contact portions are symmetrical with respect to any plane parallel to the XY plane (a “horizontal” plane), but they are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane (the vertical longitudinal plane).

(19) Each of said four contact portions, 23, 24, 25 and 26, comprises a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane, which means that they are not parallel to the Y axis; as hinted, said inclined surfaces are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane. The inclination may be downwards or upwards, i.e., the contact areas formed by said portions may be convex or concave, or, in other words, said contact areas may present a V shape or a shape.

(20) As can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, between the upper front contact portion 24 and the upper back contact portion 26, and between the lower front contact portion and the lower back contact portion 25, there is an intermediate portion 29 in which the cavity of the female part 2 taper toward its bottom

(21) As can be seen in FIG. 6, the lower front contact portion 23 is provided with a right lower front surface 231 and a left lower front surface 232 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane; the upper front contact portion 24 is provided with a right upper front surface 241 and a left upper front surface 242 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane; the lower back contact portion 25 is provided with a right lower back surface 251 and a left lower back surface 252 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane; and the upper back contact portion 26 is provided with a right upper back surface 261 and a left upper back surface 262 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane.

(22) In the figures, the shape of the front contact surfaces 23 and 24 and the back contact surfaces 25 and 26 are inverted, that is, the front contact surfaces present a V shape and the back contact surfaces present a shape, and there is a flat transition surface therebetween, but other embodiments are possible (e.g., the front and back shapes may be more or less the same).

(23) As can be seen in FIG. 5, the female part comprises two side outer surfaces 37 and 38 which are inclined and symmetrical with respect to both the XZ plane and the XY plane. Said side surfaces are convex, which improves penetration at the point region because the cross-section of the wear element thereat is reduced by having done away with the corners.

(24) The cavity also comprises two side inner concave surfaces 27 and 28 that are inclined and symmetrical with respect to both the XZ plane and the XY plane.

(25) A male part as an intermediate element in a three-part assembly is shown with more detail in FIGS. 9-12. Said male part 1 comprises a nose or projection 10 which extends from a shoulder 11 to a front outer surface 12, an upper front contact portion 14, a lower front contact portion 13, an upper back contact portion 16 and a lower back contact portion 15. The front contact portions 13 and 14 are almost parallel to each other, in the sense that, when intersected by a plane parallel to the YZ plane (a transversal plane), the upper and lower intersecting curves are parallel; they may also be parallel in the direction X, in which case they are substantially parallel. Analogously, the back contact portions 15 and 16 are almost parallel to each other, in the sense that, when intersected by a plane parallel to the YZ plane, the upper and lower intersecting curves are parallel; they may also be parallel in the direction X, in which case they are substantially parallel. Neither the front nor the back portions are symmetrical with respect to any plane parallel to the XY plane (a “horizontal” plane), but they are symmetrical with respect to the central XZ plane (the longitudinal plane).

(26) Each of said four portions, 13, 14, 15 and 16, comprises a pair of surfaces inclined with respect to the XZ plane, which means that they are not parallel to the Y axis; as hinted, said inclined surfaces are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane. The inclination may be downwards or upwards, i.e., the contact areas formed by said portions may be concave or convex, or, in other words, said contact areas may present a V shape or a shape.

(27) As can be seen in FIGS. 4 and 7, between the upper front contact portion 14 and the upper back contact portion 16, and between the lower front contact portion 13 and the lower back contact portion 15, there is an intermediate portion 39 in which the nose of the male part 1 taper toward its front end.

(28) The lower front contact portion 13 is provided with a right lower front surface 131 and a left lower front surface 132 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane (“right” and “left” are defined looking to the tip to keep a numbering analogous to that of the female part for corresponding elements); the upper front contact portion 14 is provided with a right upper front surface 141 and a left upper front surface 142 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane; the lower back contact portion 15 is provided with a right lower back surface 151 and a left lower back surface 152 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane; and the upper back contact portion 16 is provided with a right upper back surface 161 and a left upper back surface 162 which are symmetrical with respect to the XZ plane.

(29) In the figures, the shape of the front contact surfaces 13 and 14 and the back contact surfaces 15 and 16 are inverted, that is, the front surfaces present a V shape and the back surfaces present a shape, and there is a flat transition surface therebetween that is easily accessible to facilitate repairs on the male part surfaces (the relatively big size of the flat contact surfaces facilitates repairs on the nose too). But, just the same, both the front and back shapes may be concave or convex.

(30) The nose also comprises two side surfaces 17 and 18 which are inclined and symmetrical with respect to both the XZ plane and the XY plane. Said side surfaces are convex and fit the corresponding side concave surfaces 27 and 28 of the female's part cavity.

(31) The front and back contact surfaces may be curved, e.g. a sector of a sphere centred on the Z axis (and it may be analogous for the female part's surfaces). In this case, the behaviour of the wear assembly is similar to the previous case.

(32) In another embodiment (FIGS. 13 and 14), the front and back contact surfaces are flat but they are separated by stretch 31 or 33 that is horizontal and parallel to the X axis. In this embodiment, the symmetrical surfaces of the male part can protrude, creating a series of steps 32 or 34 on the nose that serve as a visual indicator of deformation and wear.

(33) In the above embodiments, the three-part wear assembly has the same coupling between the point 5 and the intermediate element 6 than between the latter and the nose 7, but these two couplings might also be different. For example, the V and arrangement can be inverted from one coupling to the other, or the surfaces' inclinations could be different.

(34) Last but not least, the point 5 and the intermediate element 6 of the wear assembly are provided with a lower external recess 8 (FIGS. 5 to 8) that is substantially parallel to the lower back and front contact surfaces, 23 and 25, of the female part 2 to improve the section for penetration.

(35) Although only particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in the present specification, the skilled man will be able to introduce modifications and substitute any technical features thereof with others that are technically equivalent, depending on the particular requirements of each case, without departing from the scope of protection defined by the appended claims.