Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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WEAR PART, wooer AND tanntop
BACKGROUND
The invention relates to a wear part for a bucket of a
bucket machine.
The invention further relates to a bucket for a bucket ma-
chine.
The invention still further relates to a method for at-
taching 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
the most prone area to wear. Ground engaging tool (GET) is
a wear part, e.g. a wear part tooth for protecting 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.
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 hard-
er on the bucket thus shortening the lifetime of the buck-
et and increasing downtime of the bucket machine. Some-
times, during the loading operation, single GET pieces may
fall off and thus reduce productivity and increase down-
time.
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 operator's loading techniques.
There are different kind of wear part profiles designed
for different kind of materials to be handled by the buck-
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et, for example wear part teeth with heavy-duty, penetra-
tion, and abrasive profiles.
Patent publication US 2015/101218 Al discloses a bucket
with an edge protection system. A problem with known tech-
nology of wear parts and buckets is that the wear parts
may easily get broken.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Viewed from a first aspect, there can be provided a wear
part for a bucket of a bucket machine, the wear part com-
prising: 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
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 ad-
jacent wear part and for completing a tongue-and-groove
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
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 by side leaving no
empty spaces in between, there is no need for any addi-
tional edge protection arrangements either.
Viewed from a further aspect, a bucket for a bucket ma-
chine, comprising plurality of wear parts described above.
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Thereby a durable, yet light structure of bucket may be
achieved.
Viewed from a further aspect, there can be a method for
attaching the wear part to a bucket, the method compris-
ing: fitting the engagement portion of the wear part to an
engagement edge of the bucket, sliding the wear part side-
ways towards another wear part arranged in the bucket, un-
til the first tongue-and-groove fixing element and the
second tongue-and-groove fixing element completes 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
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
other claims. Inventive embodiments are also disclosed in
the specification 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 sever-
al separate inventions, especially if the invention is ex-
amined in the light of expressed or implicit sub-tasks or
in view of obtained benefits or benefit groups. Some of
the definitions 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 ap-
plied to other embodiments.
In one embodiment, the first tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
ment is a female tongue-and-groove fixing element that is
a hole extending from the side into the wear part. An ad-
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vantage is that that a good support of the wear parts
against stresses being directed upwards, downwards, to-
wards the engagement edge and/or towards forward edge may
be provided.
In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing el-
ement 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 el-
ement has a polygonal cross-section, such as a rectangle.
An advantage is that the fixing element may provide excep-
tionally good support against torsional stresses.
In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing el-
ement is a groove that is open to the bottom face or to
the upper face. An advantage is that the male fixing ele-
ment can be arranged from below or from above, respective-
ly, in said female fixing element.
In one embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing el-
ement being open to the bottom or upper face has an arc-
like 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 tongue-
and-groove fixing element has a polygonal shape, such as
rectangle. An advantage is that the fixing element may
provide exceptionally good support against torsional
stresses.
In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
ment has a round cross-section. An advantage is that the
fixing element may allow some variations in positions be-
tween neighbouring wear parts.
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In one embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
ment is an integral 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 ele-
ment 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 ele-
ment 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 tongue-
and-groove fixing element the shape of which is selected
to complete 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
be simplified.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES
Some embodiments illustrating the present 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,
Figure 3 is a schematic view of another embodiments of
wear parts,
Figure 4 is a schematic view of third embodiments of wear
parts, and
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Figure 5 illustrates 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 schematic view of a bucket comprising wear
parts attached therein.
Buckets 2 comprises typically plurality 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 arranged side by side so that a continuous lip or
shroud of wear parts is constituted.
All the wear parts 1 of a bucket 2 may have 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
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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
the second side 7 comprises a first tongue-and-groove fix-
ing element 10. The first tongue-and-groove fixing element
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 be-
tween said two wear parts 1.
In an embodiment, the first tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
ment 10 is a female tongue-and-groove fixing element. In
figure 2, said first fixing element 10 is a hole that ex-
tends from the first side 6 into the wear part 1.
In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
ment 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-and-
groove fixing element, and the tongue-and-groove joint
lies between the two wear parts 1.
The shape of the second tongue-and-groove fixing element
11 is selected to complete a tongue-and-groove joint with
a tongue-and-groove fixing element similar to the first
tongue-and-groove fixing element 10 arranged on the first
side 6. In an embodiment, the male tongue-and-groove fix-
ing element has a polygonal cross-section, such as a rec-
tangle.
In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the male fixing ele-
ment fills the female element essentially completely. How-
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ever, this is not always necessary. For instance in some
other embodiments, the male fixing element may be substan-
tially shorter than the female fixing element, or the dis-
tal end of the female fixing element may be differently
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 ele-
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 cross-
section of the receiving channel 13 is at least essential-
ly identical with a female tongue-and-groove fixing ele-
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
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 integral part of the wear part 1.
Figure 3 is a schematic view of another embodiments of
wear parts. In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove
fixing element, shown in Figure 3 as the first tongue-and-
groove fixing element 10, has a round cross-section, as
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 integral part of the wear part 1,
or a separate body 12 as described above.
In the embodiments shown in Figures, the wear part 1 com-
prises just one fixing element 10, 11 per side 6, 7. In
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another embodiment, there are two or even more fixing ele-
ments 10, 11 on same side of the wear part 1. The fixing
elements arranged on the same side may be of similar type,
for example there may be two male fixing elements on the
same side 6, 7. It is also possible that the fixing ele-
ments arranged on the same side are of different type,
i.e. both female and male elements.
Figure 4 is a schematic view of third embodiments of wear
parts. In an embodiment, the female tongue-and-groove fix-
ing 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 have a polygonal shape, such as rectangle, or an arc-
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
cross-section of the female fixing element may have a po-
lygonal shape, such as rectangle, or an arc-like shape, or
any combinations thereof.
Figure 5 illustrates a method for attaching a wear part.
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
along the engagement edge 5 towards another wear part 1
arranged in the bucket 2. Then, the first tongue-and-
groove fixing element 10 and the second tongue-and-groove
fixing element 11 is used for completing 503 a tongue-and-
groove 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
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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
that the design of the engagement portion 4 and the en-
gagement 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 re-
placed is/are removed from the bucket.
The invention is not limited solely to the embodiments de-
scribed above, but instead many variations are possible
within the scope of the inventive concept defined by the
claims 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 de-
fined in the following claims.
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REFERENCE SYMBOLS
1 wear part
2 bucket
3 forward edge
4 engagement portion
engagement edge
6 first side
7 second side
8 bottom face
9 upper face
first tongue-and-groove fixing element
11 second tongue-and-groove fixing element
12 separate body
13 receiving channel
501-504 method steps
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