Snubber apparatus for earth-working bucket

An apparatus comprising:

• a casing defining an inner cavity delimited at least by a circumferential surface portion between a pair of lateral surface portions;
• a shaft passing through the inner cavity of the casing and rotatably supported to rotate about its longitudinal axis, the shaft having at least one end laterally projecting out of the casing, the at least one end of the shaft adapted to be connected to a moving part to oppose a force to given motions of the moving part;
• a wiper arm on the shaft so as to rotate with the shaft, the wiper arm having a free end in close proximity to the surface portions of the inner cavity of the casing, the free end of the wiper arm having a contour complementarily corresponding to a profile of the circumferential surface portion of the inner cavity, the wiper arm having the tubular portion mounted to the shaft, and a wiper portion projecting from the tubular portion and forming part of the free end, the wiper portion being releasably connected to the tubular portion;
• and
• a dam extending from the circumferential surface portion in a radial inward direction toward a center of the inner cavity of the casing in close proximity to one of the shaft and wiper arm, to divide the inner cavity in chambers adapted to accommodate a fluid, with movements of the wiper arm changing the volume of the chambers, whereby the apparatus is configured to allow the fluid to flow between the chambers to oppose the force to the given motions;
• wherein the free end of the wiper arm has planar surfaces tapering radially outwardly relative to a plane in which the longitudinal axis lies, the plane passing through the wiper arm, the planar surfaces being within concavities disrupting a cylindrical surface portion of a tubular portion of the wiper arm, and
• wherein the dam lies in the plane when the wiper arm divides the inner cavity into the chambers having equal volumes.