Wear protector

Abstract

Work tools, such as buckets of earthmoving machines, have a high wear rate from moving material or other activities. It is advantageous to provide replaceable wear protectors that are sacrificed to reduce or eliminate the need to repair or rebuild the work tools themselves. It is also important to provide a wear protector that is readily installed at the job site and can be securely, but simply retained in place. And the wear protector should not overly affect the operation of the work tool, such as through excess weight, resistance to material penetration or the like. Provided is a wear protector utilizing a connector element fastened to the work tool and a protector slidably engageable with the connector element. A simplified retainer assembly holds the protector in place on the connector element. The wear protector accommodates a compact design to address the problems described.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A work tool, comprising: 
 a working portion having a side having an elongated surface;    a protector having a mounting element and a working element, the working element having an outer surface;    a connector element being fastened along the surface of the working portion and slidably engaged with the mounting element of the protector in a manner sufficient to hold the protector from movement in a direction away from the side; and    a retainer assembly having a retainer removably positioned in an upright orientation to the surface of the working portion through the outer surface and holding the protector from sliding relative to the connector element in a direction along the surface.    
     
     
         2 . The work tool, as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the mounting element of the protector has an inner surface defining a “T” shaped opening; and    the connector element is “T” shaped and of a size sufficient to mate with the “T” shaped opening of the mounting element.    
     
     
         3 . The work tool, as set forth in  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the connector element has first and second end portions and a center portion;    the mounting element has two end portions, each end portion associated with one of the ends of the connector element and representing a portion of the “T” shaped opening of the mounting element; and    the retainer is positioned between the first and second end portions in the center portion.    
     
     
         4 . The work tool of  claim 3 , wherein: 
 each of the “T” shaped parts of the end portions of the mounting element is of substantially equal length; and    the center portion of the connector element is at least as long as the “T” shaped parts of the end portions of the mounting element.    
     
     
         5 . The work tool of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the surface of the working portion has a width; and    the protector has a width substantially equal to the width of the surface of the working portion.    
     
     
         6 . The work tool of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the retainer assembly further includes a barrel engaged with the retainer and positioned beneath the opening in the outer surface of the protector.    
     
     
         7 . The work tool of  claim 6 , wherein: 
 the retainer has a head portion and a threaded bottom portion;    the barrel is substantially constrained from movement relative to the connector element and the protector and has a threaded portion;    the threaded barrel portion is engaged with the threaded bottom portion of the retainer; and    the head portion of the retainer interferes with the sliding movement of the protector.    
     
     
         8 . A protector for a work tool, comprising: 
 a working element having an outer surface, the outer surface having an opening there through; and    a mounting element having first and second end portions and a center portion, each of said end portions having a length substantially equal to one another and a lengthwise “T” shaped opening, the “T” shaped opening defining a length, the center portion being free of a “T” shaped opening, having a length at least as great as the length of the “T” shaped openings in the end portions and defining a cavity into which the opening in the outer surface opens, the cavity defining, in cross-section, a profile larger than the “T” shaped openings.    
     
     
         9 . The protector of  claim 8  wherein the cavity of the center portion is defined by a surface, the surface further including a step adjacent the opening through the outer surface of the working element.  
     
     
         10 . A side protector for a side of a work tool, the side having a surface and a width, the surface having a connector element extending outwardly from the surface, the connector element having an opening, comprising: 
 a working element having a width and an outer surface, the width being substantially equal to the width of the surface of the side;    a mounting element slidably engageable with the connector element; and    a retaining element having an opening alignable with the opening of the connector element when the mounting element is slidably engaged with the connector element.    
     
     
         11 . The side protector of  claim 10 , wherein: 
 the mounting element has first and second end portions, each of the portions having a “T” shape; and    the retaining element is positioned between the first and second end portions of the mounting element.