Excavator Wear Member Locking Structure for Stable Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wear assemblies for excavating equipment face challenges in stability, strength, durability, penetration, safety, and ease of replacement, particularly under harsh conditions and heavy loading, leading to frequent wear and tear and the need for frequent replacement.
Innovation Solution
The wear assembly features a nose and socket with offset upper and lower stabilizing surfaces, faceted shapes, and a lock system that is integrally secured for shipping and storage, allowing for easier installation and reduced risk of loss, with inclined surfaces to resist both vertical and side loads, enhancing stability and penetration while minimizing wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional wear members are used with simple mounting structures, then ease of replacement is improved, but stability and strength deteriorate under heavy loading
Solution Approach 1:
The wear member is divided into multiple segments that can be independently replaced, with each segment secured by its own lock mechanism. This allows partial replacement without replacing the entire wear member, improving ease of replacement while maintaining overall strength through the segmented structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock is received within a cavity in the nose, creating a nested structure where the locking mechanism is housed inside the main body. This nested design consolidates components, improving stability and strength while maintaining ease of replacement through the integrated lock mechanism.
2Reliability
If wear members are designed for high strength and stability, then durability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lock and wear member are designed as a single integral component for shipping and storage, merging two components into one. This reduces device complexity during handling and logistics while maintaining durability through the integrated locking mechanism that prevents loss and simplifies installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The nose structure serves multiple functions: it provides the mounting surface for the wear member, contains the cavity for receiving the lock, and provides the locking mechanism itself. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, lowering device complexity while maintaining durability.
3Ease of operation
If lock is separately shipped with wear member, then ease of assembly is improved, but risk of loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The lock and wear member are combined into a single integral component that is shipped together as one unit. This eliminates the risk of the lock being lost separately while maintaining ease of assembly, as the integrated design ensures the lock is always present with the wear member during installation.
Solution Approach 2:
The lock is pre-attached to the wear member during manufacturing, creating a pre-assembled unit. This preliminary action ensures the lock is never separated from the wear member during shipping and storage, eliminating the risk of loss while keeping the final assembly simple since the lock is already in place.
4Manufacturing precision
If nose and socket have simple shapes, then manufacturing precision is improved, but penetration and stability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The nose and socket are designed with asymmetric faceted shapes that provide optimized penetration characteristics and stability. The asymmetric geometry allows each facet to serve specific functional purposes while maintaining manufacturability, achieving both good penetration and stability without requiring excessive manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The nose and socket incorporate curved and faceted surfaces that transition between different geometries. These curved surfaces improve penetration by distributing loads more effectively while maintaining manufacturability through standard forming processes, achieving good penetration without requiring extremely high manufacturing precision.
Data Source
Figure 1
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Figure 4~5
AI summary
A wear member (12) for attachment to excavating equipment comprises a front end (44), a rear end (46), a socket (16) that opens in the rear end to receive a nose (14) fixed to the excavating equipment, a through-hole (81) in communication with the socket (16). A lock (17) is integrally connected in the through-hole (81) for movement between a hold position where the lock (17) can secure the wear member to the nose and a release position where the wear member can be released from the nose. The lock (17) and the through-hole (81) are cooperatively structured to releasably retain the lock (17) in each of said hold and release positions irrespective of the receipt of the nose in the socket (16). The lock includes a latch formation to hold the lock in the hold and release positions.