Thumb for earth moving equipment
AssigneeD&D Excavating & Drainage, Ltd.
InventorSerge Desrochers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A control device for earth moving equipment comprising a bucket pivotal about a bucket pivot between a closed position and an open position, a thumb pivotal about a thumb pivot between a first position and a second position, wherein the thumb pivot is separate from the bucket pivot, and an extension plate fixedly attached to the bucket and attached to the thumb pivot, wherein rotation of the bucket urges the thumb pivot to rotate around the bucket pivot and urges the thumb to move. A retrofitting kit for retrofitting earth moving equipment so that the thumb is movable in response to movement of the bucket.
Claims16
A control device for earth moving equipment comprising, in combination:
- a bucket pivotal about a bucket pivot between a closed position and an open position;
- a thumb pivotal about a thumb pivot between a first position and a second position, wherein the thumb pivot is separate from the bucket pivot;
- and
- an extension plate fixedly attached to the bucket at the bucket pivot and attached to the thumb pivot;
- wherein rotation of the bucket from the closed position to the open position urges the thumb pivot to rotate around the bucket pivot and urges the thumb to move from the first position to the second position.
A control device for an earth moving device comprising, in combination:
- a bucket pivotal about a bucket pivot between a closed position and an open position;
- a thumb pivotal about a thumb pivot between a first position and a second position, wherein the thumb pivot is separate from the bucket pivot;
- and
- a link having a first end and a second end, pivotably connected to the thumb at the second end, and a distance between the first end and the bucket pivot remains essentially constant;
- wherein rotation of the bucket from the closed position to the open position urges the thumb pivot to rotate around the bucket pivot and urges the thumb to move from the first position to the second position, and
- a first line defined by the bucket pivot and a hydraulic attachment, and a second ling defined by the bucket pivot and the thumb pivot when the thumb is in the closed position, wherein an angle formed between the first line and the second line is about twenty five to thirty five degrees.
A retrofitting kit for an excavator having a dipper stick and a bucket attached to the dipper stick and rotatable about a bucket pivot, and a thumb attached to the excavator by a link and rotatable about a thumb pivot independent of the bucket pivot, the kit being used to make the thumb pivotable in response to rotation of the bucket, comprising, in combination:
- a first extension plate and a second extension plate, each extension plate adapted to be fixedly attached to the bucket at the bucket pivot so as to pivot about the bucket pivot in response to rotation of the bucket;
- wherein the extension plates are adapted to have the thumb pivotably mounted thereon, so that rotation of the bucket urges the thumb pivot to rotate around the bucket pivot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.