A DREDGING TOOL WITH THE TOOTH

The present invention relates to a tooth for a dredger according to the preamble of claim 1 . The invention furthermore relates to a tooth body as a wear part of the tooth as described in claim 7 and to a dredger with the tooth according to the invention as described in claim 8 .

Such a tooth is known in the art . Teeth are regularly replaced due to high wear under operating conditions during dredging . At present this is often done by a connection method in which a wearing part , also referred to as a tooth body, is placed on an insert body and held in place with a wedge or the like to be applied with great force . Installing and removing the wedge requires so much force that removing the wedge in particular is an uncontrolled operation, which can cause both accidents and material loss . Also because the work takes place on open water , the chances of parts being lost and industrial accidents occurring are very high .

Such a tooth, in particular the attachment of the tooth body as a wear part to the insertion body, therefore needs improvement .

No solution is available in the art for simply, quickly and reliably replacing a wearing part of a dredging machine or the like .

The invention aims to provide an improved tooth for a dredger and the like . The invention is not limited to the application to a dredger , other excavators can benefit from the tooth according to the invention . The invention also relates to the attachment of a wearing part , referred to as a tooth body, to the dredging or excavating tool .

In particular , the obj ect of the invention is to provide a solution with which a tooth body, i . e . the wearing part of a dredging tooth of a dredger, can be quickly and easily detached and placed .

The invention also aims to provide a safer solution for re- It is also an obj ect of the invention to provide a dredger or dredging machine which offers a solution to the existing problems in replacing the wearing parts of the teeth of the dredger .

In order to obtain at least one of the above-mentioned advantages , the invention according to a first embodiment provides a tooth comprising the features of claim 1 . This tooth has the advantage that placing and removing the tooth body can be carried out quickly and easily, without having to exert much force .

In addition, the invention has the advantage that only a single clamping part , hereinafter also referred to as clamping body, is necessary . Owing to the inherent flexibility of the clamping part according to the invention, the clamp can easily be applied by hand without the use of tools , in particular without the use of a hammer . The invention reduces the ris k of inj ury to the user or bystanders . It has also been found that the invention can be manufactured inexpensively . Such a synergistic combination of effects is absolutely a great advantage .

The invention therefore relates to a tooth for a dredger, comprising :

- a tooth body with a length defined between two ends and a width defined perpendicular to the length, which tooth body has an external surface and an internal cavity with an access opening to the cavity at a first end in the external surface , and

- a coupling body for attachment to the dredger with an external surface and an insertion body formed by part of the external surface , wherein the insert body and the internal cavity have an assembleable shape for receiving the insert body in the cavity through the access opening , characterized in that the tooth body comprises between the two ends a recess in the external surface with a depth greater than the wall thickness of the tooth body, which recess provides at least partial access to the cavity, with shoulders at two ends of the recess shaped for snap-fit of a clamp, wherein the insert body includes a slot aligned with the re- wherein in assembled condition a clamp with a clamp body and hook elements can be inserted from the circumferential side of the tooth body with the clamp body into the recess and the slot and can be snapped around the shoulders with the hook elements . This tooth offers the advantage that the clamp is placed from the outside only on the circumferential side of the tooth, i . e . externally, on the outside , and clicks around two shoulders of the tooth body, so that the clamp is firmly coupled to the tooth body . Because the clamp is also placed in the slot of the insertion body, the tooth body cannot be slid off the insertion body . In particular, it is preferred that the fit of the external surface of the insertion body and the internal surface of the cavity of the tooth body be such that substantially no play is present when both are inserted or j oined together in an intended manner . It is also preferred that the clip has substantially no play with the slot of the insertion body when fitted . Likewise , it is preferred that the clamp has substantially no play with the recess of the tooth body when inserted into the recess .

The coupling body can be attached to the dredger in various ways . This can be by means of a detachable fastening, such as a bolt possibly with a lock nut , or by means of a welded fastening, which can be regarded as a non-detachable or continuous connection .

According to a preferred embodiment of the tooth according to the invention, the clamp comprises a clamping body of a resilient material . This ensures that the clamp has a substantially identical shape prior to installation and after removal after being placed in clamping position . The resilient property moreover ensures that a force is required to change the shape of the clamp as required to obtain the snap connection . A force acting from the outside is furthermore required to remove the clamp from the snap connection from the clamping position . The clamp will therefore not be able to leave the clamping position itself , as a result of which a secure coupling of tooth body and insertion body is obtained .

A suitable clamping can be obtained when the clamping body combination thereof . A person skilled in the art is easily able to determine the clamping force and to adj ust or select the material accordingly . For example , the thickness , nature and type of material can be chosen to obtain an optimum or suitable clamping . The material must also be suitable for the conditions in which it is used, such as salty sea water .

In order to obtain with further increased certainty that unintentional release of the clamp is prevented, it is preferred that the clamping body comprises a resilient material and the hook elements are a rigid material .

For example , the clamp body may comprise a combination of a rigid material and a resilient material and the hook elements may be integrally formed with the rigid material of the clamp body . Such a clamp could take the form of a central body of a resilient material with a rigid part at both ends which has a shape suitable for forming a clamping connection with the shoulder on the tooth body . The clamping body is therefore not limited to the part that is resilient .

In order to obtain a suitable operation of the tooth, it is preferred that the coupling body comprises a material suitable for a welded attachment to a part of a dredging machine . The coupling body is preferably manufactured from metal , such as a metal or steel suitable for the operating conditions .

According to a further preferred embodiment , the invention relates to a tooth body for use as a wear part in the tooth according to the invention and as described above and shown in the drawing .

The invention also relates to a dredging tool with a tooth according to the invention and as described above and shown in the drawing .

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to a drawing . The drawing shows in : fig . 1 a view of parts of the tooth according to the invention in a separated state , fig . 2 a view of parts of the tooth according to the inven fig . 3 a view of parts of the tooth according to the invention in a fully coupled position, fig . 4 a view of the disengagement of parts of the tooth according to the invention from a fully engaged position, and fig . 5 a sectional view of the tooth according to the invention in a fully coupled position .

In the figures , the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals . However , not all parts necessary for a practical implementation of the invention are shown for simplicity of presentation .

Fig . 1 shows parts of a tooth 1 suitable for use in a dredger . The tooth 1 comprises a tooth body 2 with a length defined between two ends and a width defined perpendicular to the length, which tooth body 2 has an external surface 3 and an internal cavity 4 ( not visible in Fig . 1 ) with an access opening 5 to the cavity 4 at a first end 6 in the external surface 3 .

Fig . 1 also shows a coupling body 7 for fixed attachment to a part 8 of a dredger . The coupling body 7 comprises an external surface 9 and an insertion body 10 formed by part of the external surface . The insertion body 10 and the internal cavity 4 have an assembleable shape for receiving the insertion body 10 in the cavity 4 through the access opening 5 .

Between the two ends , the tooth body 2 comprises a recess 11 in the external surface 3 with a depth greater than the wall thickness of the tooth body 2 , which recess 11 provides at least partial access to the cavity 4 , wherein at two ends having 12 , 13 of the recess 11 , shoulders 14 are formed for snap-fastening of a clip 15 . The insertion body 10 comprises a slot 16 aligned with the recess 11 when assembled .

In fact , the recess 11 can be formed by removing part of an upper wall of the tooth body 2 , the tooth body 2 also comprising two side walls and a bottom body, all of which can extend between the two ends of the tooth body 2 . Because , as mentioned above , the depth of the recess 11 is greater than the wall thickness of the tooth body 2 , not only a part of the top wall of the tooth body 2 will be removed, but also a part of both side walls . The shoulders slot 16 formed in the insert body 10 is aligned with the recess 11 .

In the assembled state , the clamp 15 with a clamp body 20 and hook elements 17 , 18 is inserted from the circumferential side of the tooth body 2 with the clamp body 20 into the recess 11 and the slot 16 and is snap fitted with the hook elements 17 , 18 around the shoulders 14 . As a result , the clamp 15 is coupled in a clamping manner to the tooth body 2 , from which it can only be removed by unclipping the hook elements 17 , 18 from the shoulders 14 . Furthermore , the body 20 of the clamp 15 is placed in the slot 16 , preventing the insertion body 10 from being removed from the cavity 4 .

An optimum coupling is obtained when the clamp 15 is located in the width direction of the tooth body during the clamping coupling, i . e . when a line through the two hook elements 17 , 18 is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tooth body 2 .

Fig . 2 shows the state where the insertion body 10 is inserted into the cavity 4 of the tooth body 2 and the slot 16 is aligned with the recess 11 . The clip 15 is shown as a separate part in FIG . 2 .

In FIG . 3 the state is shown in which all parts of the tooth are coupled and a ready for operation situation has been obtained .

Finally, Fig . 4 shows a situation in which the clamp 15 is released by means of a screwdriver , which only serves as an example of a simple tool suitable for any technical environment , by removing a hook element 17 from behind the shoulder 14 . The shape change can be achieved by the resilient material part 19 in the clamp 15 .

FIG . 5 shows a cross-section of the situation in which all parts of the tooth have been coupled and a ready for operation situation has been obtained . In FIG . 5 it is clearly visible that in this embodiment the clamp 15 , more in particular the material part 19 of the clamp 15 , has been inserted into the slot 16 of the coupling body 7 , so that the coupling body 7 and the tooth body 2 cannot be separated from each other .

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described the appended claims .

The invention also extends to any combination of features described above independently of each other .