Method for Conversion of Earth-Working Bucket and Attachment Therefor

Abstract

An attachment for an earth-working bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of forwardly extending teeth. The attachment has a pair of working plates and a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom. The pair of working plates converge together to a straight scraping edge and have inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity. A method includes placing the attachment with the straight scraping edge forward of the teeth such that the teeth are in the teeth-receiving cavity, positioning each side plate against a surface of the respective sidewall of the bucket and securing each side plate to the respective sidewall of the bucket.

1 . An attachment for an earth-working bucket, the bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of teeth extending forwardly therefrom, the attachment comprising:
 a pair of working plates converging together to a straight scraping edge and having inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity; and   a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom for positioning against a surface of a respective sidewall of the bucket for securement thereto.   
     
     
         2 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth. 
     
     
         3 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned such that the intersection of the inside surfaces of the working plates is beyond the distal ends of the teeth. 
     
     
         4 . The bucket attachment of  claim 3  wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth. 
     
     
         5 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein the straight scraping edge comprises an earth-engaging reinforcement member secured to the converging working plates. 
     
     
         6 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein the side plates have proximal portions spaced apart by a smaller distance than the length of the straight scraping edge. 
     
     
         7 . The bucket attachment of  claim 6  wherein each side plate has a bent portion between the proximal portion and a distal portion which is joined with the working plates, the proximal and distal portions being offset and substantially parallel. 
     
     
         8 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein each side plate is welded to each of the working plates which are welded together along the straight scraping edge. 
     
     
         9 . The bucket attachment of  claim 8  wherein the straight scraping edge comprises an earth-engaging reinforcement member secured to the converging working plates. 
     
     
         10 . The bucket attachment of  claim 1  wherein each side plate defines a through hole positioned for alignment with a hole through the respective bucket sidewall for passing a fastener through the aligned holes to secure the attachment to the bucket. 
     
     
         11 . The bucket attachment of  claim 10  wherein the fastener is a bolt with a shank extending from a bolt head through the aligned holes to a thread for engagement by a complementary nut to secure the side plates to the bucket sidewalls. 
     
     
         12 . The bucket attachment of  claim 11  wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned for frictional engagement of the working plates with the teeth. 
     
     
         13 . The bucket attachment of  claim 11  wherein, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, one of the bolt head and the nut is flush with a side-plate surface and the other of the bolt head and the nut is within a recess formed by the respective bucket sidewall about the hole therethrough. 
     
     
         14 . The bucket attachment of  claim 13  wherein:
 the side plates have proximal portions spaced apart by a smaller distance than the length of the straight scraping edge; and 
 each side plate has a bent portion between the proximal portion and a distal portion which is joined with the working plates, the proximal and distal portions being offset and substantially parallel. 
 
     
     
         15 . The bucket attachment of  claim 14  wherein, when the attachment is secured to the bucket, the bolt head is flush with the side-plate surface and the nut is at the inner surface of the respective bucket sidewall. 
     
     
         16 . A method for conversion of an earth-working bucket from having a toothed digging edge to having a straight scraping edge, the bucket having a pair of sidewalls and a digging edge with a plurality of teeth extending forwardly therefrom, the method comprising:
 providing an attachment including:
 a pair of working plates converging together to a straight scraping edge and having inside surfaces together defining a teeth-receiving cavity; and 
 a pair of side plates each joined with both working plates and extending rearwardly therefrom; 
   placing the attachment with the straight scraping edge forward of the teeth such that the teeth are in the teeth-receiving cavity;   positioning each side plate against a surface of the respective sidewall of the bucket; and   securing each side plate to the respective sidewall of the bucket.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the teeth-receiving cavity is configured and dimensioned such that the working plates are frictionally engaged with the teeth. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein each side plate defines a through hole and the securing step includes steps of:
 aligning the side-plate through hole with a hole through a respective sidewall of the bucket; and 
 passing a fastener through the aligned holes. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  wherein the fastener is a bolt with a nut engaging a threaded bolt shank which extends from a bolt head through the aligned holes, one of the bolt head and the nut being flush with a side-plate surface and the other of the bolt head and the nut being at a surface of the bucket sidewall. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein:
 the bucket sidewall defines a recess about the hole; and 
 one of the bolt head and the nut is within the inner recess.