An excavator wear assembly

Abstract

An excavator wear member is disclosed. The excavator wear member has a socket cavity opening at a rear end of the wear member. The socket cavity is at least partially defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed side walls and a front bearing face. The excavator wear member has tertiary fit faces extending laterally between each opposed side wall and one of the top wall or the bottom wall. Each of the tertiary fit faces also extends rearwardly substantially in a plane within the socket cavity from the front bearing face to a rear end of the socket cavity.

1 . An excavator wear member, the excavator wear member comprising:
 a socket cavity opening at a rear end of the wear member, the socket cavity at least partially defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed side walls and a front bearing face; and   tertiary fit faces extending laterally at an angle between each opposed side wall and one of the top wall or the bottom wall;   wherein each tertiary fit face also extends rearwardly substantially in a plane within the socket cavity from the front bearing face to a rear end of the socket cavity.   
     
     
         2 . The excavator wear member of  claim 1 , wherein the tertiary fit faces extend at an angle between each opposed side wall and each of the top wall and the bottom wall. 
     
     
         3 . The excavator wear member according to  claim 1 or 2 , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces also extend rearwardly from the front bearing face towards a rear end of the socket cavity. 
     
     
         4 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claim , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces is substantially planar. 
     
     
         5 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claim , wherein a rear portion of each tertiary fit face has a relatively greater lateral extent than an intermediate portion of each tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         6 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claim , wherein a forward portion of each tertiary fit face has a relatively greater lateral extent than an intermediate portion of each tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         7 . The excavator wear assembly of  claim 2 , wherein each tertiary fit face lies in a plane that is rearwardly divergent to a plane of an opposing tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         8 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claim , wherein the top wall has a rear bearing surface and forward bearing surface separated by an intermediate bearing surface. 
     
     
         9 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claim , wherein the bottom wall has a rear bearing surface and forward bearing surface separated by an intermediate bearing surface. 
     
     
         10 . The excavator wear assembly of  claims 8 and 9 , wherein the intermediate bearing surface of the top wall and the bottom wall are rearwardly divergent. 
     
     
         11 . The excavator assembly of  claims 8 and 9 , wherein the rear bearing surface and the forward bearing surface of the top wall and the rear bearing surface and the forward bearing surface of the bottom wall all lie in planes that are generally parallel. 
     
     
         12 . The excavator wear assembly of  any preceding claims , wherein each side wall has an intermediate bearing surface, the intermediate bearing surfaces diverge rearwardly with respect to each other. 
     
     
         13 . The excavator wear assembly according to  any preceding claim , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces are adapted to engage with a corresponding tertiary fit face on an excavator mounting nose only after wear has occurred on other faces of the wear member and/or mounting nose. 
     
     
         14 . An excavator mounting nose, the mounting nose comprising:
 a top surface, a bottom surface, two opposed side walls and a front bearing face; and   tertiary fit faces extending laterally at an angle between each opposed side walls and one of the top surface or the bottom surface;   wherein each tertiary fit face also extends rearwardly substantially in a plane from the front bearing face to a rear end of the mounting nose.   
     
     
         15 . The excavator mounting nose of  claim 14 , wherein the tertiary fit faces extend at an angle between each opposed side wall and each of the top surface and the bottom surface. 
     
     
         16 . The excavator mounting nose of  claim 14 or 15 , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces also extend rearwardly from the front bearing face towards a rear end of the mounting nose. 
     
     
         17 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-16 , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces is substantially planar. 
     
     
         18 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-17 , wherein a rear portion of each tertiary fit face has a relatively greater lateral extent than an intermediate portion of each tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         19 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-18 , wherein a forward portion of each tertiary fit face has a relatively greater lateral extent than an intermediate portion of each tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         20 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-19 , wherein each tertiary fit face lies in a plane that is rearwardly divergent to a plane of an opposing tertiary fit face. 
     
     
         21 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-20 , wherein the top surface has a rear bearing surface and forward bearing surface separated by an intermediate bearing surface. 
     
     
         22 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-21 , wherein the bottom surface has a rear bearing surface and forward bearing surface separated by an intermediate bearing surface. 
     
     
         23 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-22 , wherein the intermediate bearing surface of the top surface and bottom surface are rearwardly divergent. 
     
     
         24 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 21 and 22 , wherein the rear bearing surface and the forward bearing surface of the top surface and the rear bearing surface and the forward bearing surface of the bottom surface all lie in planes that are generally parallel. 
     
     
         25 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-24 , wherein each side wall has an intermediate bearing surface, the intermediate bearing surfaces diverge rearwardly with respect to each other. 
     
     
         26 . The excavator mounting nose of any of  claims 14-25 , wherein each of the tertiary fit faces are adapted to engage with a corresponding tertiary fit face on an excavator wear member only after wear has occurred on other faces of the wear member and/or mounting nose. 
     
     
         27 . A lock assembly to releasably secure an excavator wear member to a mounting nose, the lock assembly having:
 a body member adapted to be located within a locking aperture of a wear member;   a latch member pivotally located within a cavity of the body member;   a biasing member located within the cavity of the body member, the biasing member adapted to apply a force to the latch member that tends to urge the latch member to protrude at least partially outside of the cavity of the body member; and   wherein the lock assembly is moveable between a locked position, where the latch member extends at least partially outside of the cavity under the force of the biasing member to thereby secure the wear member on the mounting nose and a release position whereby the latch member is located within the cavity of the body member and the wear member is able to be removed from the nose.   
     
     
         28 . The lock assembly of  claim 27  wherein the lock assembly is additionally moveable to an intermediate position wherein the lock assembly is located within the locking aperture of the wear member for shipping and/or transport of the wear member. 
     
     
         29 . An excavator wear assembly, the excavator wear assembly comprising:
 an excavator mounting nose according to  claim 14 ;   a wear member according to  claim 1 , the wear member adapted to receive at least a part of the excavator mounting nose in a socket cavity thereof; and   at least one lock assembly, the lock assembly adapted to releasably secure the wear member on the excavator mounting nose.   
     
     
         30 . An excavator wear member, the excavator wear member comprising:
 a socket cavity opening at a rear end of the wear member, the socket cavity at least partially defined by a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed side walls and a front bearing face;   a lock aperture extending through at least one of the side walls from an outer face thereof to the socket cavity; and   a lock assembly securely retained within the lock aperture;   wherein the lock assembly is moveable between a lock position to secure the wear member on an excavator mounting nose, a release position whereby the wear member is able to be moved from the excavator mounting nose and an intermediate position for shipping and transport of the wear member, whereby the lock assembly continues to be securely retained within the lock aperture in the intermediate position.