Excavator bucket

Abstract

The disclosure relates to an excavator bucket, which can be used both as a front loader bucket and as a backhoe bucket. The excavator bucket comprises a shell delimiting a bucket volume and a retaining device connected to the shell, via which the excavator bucket can be detachably connected to a quick coupling device of an implement. The retaining device comprises a first bolt for establishing a first connection to the quick coupling device and bolt receptacles arranged in a collinear manner to each other for establishing a second connection to the quick coupling device. According to the disclosure, the retaining device further comprises a second bolt, by means of which the first connection to the quick coupling device can be established as an alternative to the first bolt, wherein the second bolt is arranged on a side of the bolt receptacles opposite to the first bolt when viewed from above the retaining device. The bolts are arranged such that the second connection can be established via the same bolt receptacles, both when using the first bolt and when using the second bolt. The disclosure further relates to a method for converting the excavator bucket according to the disclosure between a backhoe bucket operation and a front loader bucket operation.

1 . Excavator bucket, which can be used both as a front loader bucket and as a backhoe bucket, comprising a shell delimiting a bucket volume, and a retaining device connected to the shell, via which the excavator bucket can be detachably connected to a quick coupling device of an implement, wherein the retaining device comprises a first bolt for establishing a first connection to the quick coupling device and bolt receptacles arranged in a collinear manner to each other for establishing a second connection to the quick coupling device,
 wherein   the retaining device comprises a second bolt, by means of which the first connection to the quick coupling device can be established as an alternative to the first bolt, wherein the second bolt is arranged on a side of the bolt receptacles opposite to the first bolt when viewed from above the retaining device, wherein the bolts are arranged such that the second connection can be established via the same bolt receptacles, both when using the first bolt and when using the second bolt.   
     
     
         2 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 1 , wherein the first bolt has the same distance from an imaginary connecting line extending centrally through the bolt receptacles as the second bolt. 
     
     
         3 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 2 , wherein the retaining device does not have any further connecting elements besides the two bolts and the bolt receptacles for connection to a quick coupling device. 
     
     
         4 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 3 , wherein the retaining device comprises two fastening flanges projecting from the shell and extending parallel to each other, in which flanges the bolt receptacles are formed and the two bolts are fastened, wherein the fastening flanges are formed by sheets projecting vertically from the shell. 
     
     
         5 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 4 , wherein the fastening flanges comprise a first portion, which is arranged in the region of an opening of the excavator bucket defined by a front edge of the shell and comprise a second portion, which is arranged in the region of a rounded rear wall of the shell, wherein the first bolt is arranged on the first portions and the second bolt is arranged on the second portions of the fastening flanges. 
     
     
         6 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 5 , wherein the fastening flanges in the first portion run substantially parallel to the shell and/or the fastening flanges in the second portion extend in a direction away from the shell and taper. 
     
     
         7 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 3 , wherein the longitudinal axes of the two bolts and an imaginary connecting line extending centrally through the bolt receptacles do not lie in a common plane. 
     
     
         8 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 5 , wherein the longitudinal of the first bolt and the imaginary connecting line span a first plane and wherein the longitudinal axis of the second bolt and the imaginary connecting line span a second plane, wherein the part of the second plane lying between the imaginary connecting line and the second bolt encloses an acute angle (α) with the part of the first plane that is separated from the first bolt by the imaginary connecting line and runs between the second bolt and the shell, wherein the angle (α) is between 10° and 60°, particularly preferably between 20° and 40°. 
     
     
         9 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 3 , wherein the two bolts run parallel to each other, wherein the second bolt has a greater distance from the shell than the first bolt. 
     
     
         10 . Excavator bucket according to  claim 5 , wherein two protective devices for mechanical protection of an energy circuit coupling half of the quick coupling device are arranged on the retaining device or on the shell in the region of the retaining device, wherein the protective devices have a flat protective side facing away from the shell and the protective sides of the two protective devices assume an angle to one another. 
     
     
         11 . Implement, in particular a hydraulic excavator, having an excavator bucket according to  claim 1 , wherein the implement comprises a boom, on the end of which a quick coupling device is arranged for mounting the excavator bucket. 
     
     
         12 . Implement according to  claim 5 , wherein the quick coupling device comprises first connecting elements for establishing a first connection optionally to the first or the second bolts of the excavator bucket and further comprises second connecting elements for establishing a second connection to the bolt receptacles of the excavator bucket, wherein the first connecting elements comprise open bolt receptacles and/or the second connecting elements comprise one or more bolts that can be inserted into the collinear bolt receptacles of the excavator bucket. 
     
     
         13 . Method for converting the excavator bucket of an implement according to  claim 12  between a backhoe bucket operation and a front loader bucket operation, the method comprising the following steps:
 releasing the second connection between the second connecting elements of the quick coupling device and the bolt receptacles of the retaining device; 
 releasing the first connection between the first connecting elements of the quick coupling device and the first bolt or the second bolt of the retaining device; 
 rotating the excavator bucket relative to the quick coupling device and/or the quick coupling device relative to the excavator bucket so that subsequently, as viewed from the quick coupling device, the first and second bolts are interchanged; 
 establishing the first connection between the first connecting elements of the quick coupling device and the second bolt or the first bolt of the retaining device; 
 establishing the second connection between the second connecting elements of the quick coupling device and the bolt receptacles of the retaining device. 
 
     
     
         14 . Method according to  claim 5 , wherein the change between backhoe bucket operation and front loader bucket operation is performed without disconnecting or reconnecting the first or second bolt and using the same bolt receptacles.