Tooth assembly for implements

A tooth assembly for a ground engaging implement, comprising:

• an adapter carried upon said implement and having predetermined vertical design load capacity sufficient to withstand a predetermined large vertical load without failing, said adapter including a forwardly extending tip mounting nose portion and an ear receiving pocket on each of a pair of opposite sides of said adapter, each ear receiving pocket having a side surface therein;
• and
• a replaceable tip having a rearward end portion and a forward ground penetrating end portion, said rearward portion having a rearwardly opening socket cavity adapted to receive said mounting nose portion of the adapter and said forward ground penetrating end portion having a leading cutting edge at its distal end, said forward ground penetrating end portion transitioning from said rearward end portion to said leading edge in a manner so as to provide a necked down portion adjacent said socket cavity of said rearward end portion, said necked down portion having a reduced cross-section sufficient to cause the tip to fail at said necked down portion when said tip is subjected to a sufficiently large vertical load, such sufficiently large vertical load being smaller than the predetermined vertical design load capacity of the adapter so that the tip will break before the adapter, and said rearward end portion having a pair of side ears extending rearwardly from said socket cavity, each ear being adapted for receipt within a respective one of said ear receiving pockets for transferring vertical loads from the ears into the adapter and each ear having a distal end and an inner surface disposed alongside said side surface of its respective pocket and extending from said socket cavity to said distal end, each of said side surfaces being disposed at a slight angle relative to the mating side surface of adapter ear pocket so as to diverge away from said side surface of the ear pocket to alleviate lateral loads from being exerted on the distal ends of the ears through lateral contact with the adapter.

A replaceable tip adapted for mounting on an adapter of a ground engaging implement, comprising:

• an elongated body disposed along a longitudinally extending axis and having a rearward mounting end portion and a forward ground penetrating end portion, said rearward portion having a rearwardly opening socket cavity adapted to receive said adapter and a pair of side ears extending rearwardly from said socket cavity, each ear having an inner side surface, a distal end, an upper edge and a lower edge, said edges being adapted for transferring vertical loads from the ears into the adapter, and each of said inner side surfaces being disposed at a slight angle relative to said longitudinally extending axis so as to diverge away therefrom to alleviate lateral loads from being exerted on the distal ends of the ears, said forward ground penetrating end portion having a distal end and a leading cutting edge at its distal end and transitioning from said rearward end portion to said leading edge in a manner so as to provide a necked down portion adjacent said socket cavity of said rearward end portion, said necked down portion having a reduced cross-section sufficient to cause the tip to fail at said necked down portion when said tip is subjected to a sufficiently large vertical load, said elongated body being constructed such that the cross-sectional area of the elongated body does not substantially increase between said leading cutting edge and said rearward end portion so as to maintain tip sharpness as the tip wears.