Soil slicing spade bit and machine using same
AssigneeCaterpillar Inc.
InventorThomas Congdon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Soil is captured into a bowl attached to a frame of a scraper machine by maneuvering the machine while a cutting bit attached to the bowl slices through the underlying soil. The bowl is supported on the frame, and the soil cutting is accomplished via a spade bit attached to the bowl at a cut opening. The spade bit has a cutting edge with a forward protrusion flanked by swept back segments. A top surface of the spade bit may be contoured with a central ridge flanked by a twist contour surface to urge soil towards opposite sides of the bowl.
Claims11
A machine comprising:
- a frame;
- a bowl supported on the frame and defining a cut opening;
- a spade bit attached to the bowl at the cut opening, and the spade bit having a cutting edge;
- a cut depth actuator attached to the frame and being operable to change a cut depth of the spade bit;
- wherein the spade bit includes a top surface with a central ridge that terminates at the central protrusion, and a pair of top flanking surfaces bound by the cutting edge, the central ridge and a pair of lateral edges;
- and
- the cutting edge having the central protrusion flanked by swept back segments;
- the spade bit having a maximum thickness at the central ridge that tapers downward toward the lateral edges, and a twist angle between the top surface and the lateral edge decreases in magnitude from the central ridge toward the lateral edges.
A method of capturing soil into a bowl attached to a frame of a machine, comprising the steps of:
- maneuvering the machine over soil;
- adjusting a position of a spade bit attached to the bowl with respect to a soil level to engage the soil at a cut depth;
- and
- slicing through the soil with swept back segments of the spade bit that flank opposite sides of a forward protrusion;
- and
- urging soil toward opposite sides of the bowl via a top surface contour of the spade bit that is defined by a thickness that tapers downward from a central ridge toward a pair of lateral edges and a twist angle between the top surface and the lateral edge decreases in magnitude from the central ridge toward the lateral edges.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.