Pinless shrouds for earth moving machines

Abstract

A pinless shroud for a front edge of a lip of an earth moving machine, comprising a body adapted to couple with the front edge; the body comprising two opposite C-shaped members adapted for sliding each member along one nose of the lip to make the body contact the front edge. Also, a pinless shroud for a lateral edge of a lip of an earth moving machine, comprising a body adapted to couple with the lateral edge; the body being C-shaped, the body comprising at least one recess on one of the two side portions, the at least one recess being adapted for sliding the body along a protruding guide of the lip, and an opening of the C-shaped body that gets larger in cross-section as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that the cross-section of the opening is taken.

1 . A pinless shroud for a front edge of a lip of an earth moving machine, comprising:
 a body adapted to couple with the front edge;   the body comprising two opposite C-shaped members adapted for sliding each said C-shaped member along one nose of the lip to make the body contact the front edge.   
     
     
         2 . The pinless shroud of  claim 1 , wherein the body further comprises two opposite straps for covering both a portion of a first surface of the lip and a portion of a second surface of the lip, the first surface being opposite the second surface. 
     
     
         3 . The pinless shroud of  claim 1 , wherein a distance between a ground-engaging edge of the pinless shroud and a portion of each said C-shaped member measured along a sliding direction is less than 30% of a length of the pinless shroud measured along the sliding direction, the portion of each said C-shaped member being either a portion closest to the ground-engaging edge or a portion adapted to contact a surface of the nose when the pinless shroud is coupled with the lip. 
     
     
         4 . A pinless shroud for a lateral edge of a lip of an earth moving machine, comprising:
 a body adapted to couple with the lateral edge;   the body being C-shaped, and the body comprising:
 two side portions; 
 at least one recess on one of the two side portions, the at least one recess being adapted for sliding the body along a protruding guide of the lip along a sliding direction, and an opening of the C-shaped body that gets larger in a cross-section of the opening as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that the cross-section of the opening is taken; and 
 a protruding member on a central portion of the C-shaped body that protrudes in a same direction as the two side portions, the protruding member being adapted to slide along a recessed portion of the lip. 
   
     
     
         5 . The pinless shroud of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one recess comprises first and second recesses, the first recess being on a first said side portion of the body and the second recess being on a second said side portion of the body. 
     
     
         6 . The pinless shroud of  claim 4 , wherein an opening of each said at least one recess gets larger in cross-section as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that the cross-section of the opening is taken. 
     
     
         7 . The pinless shroud of  claim 4 , wherein each recess has a variable depth, from the opening of the C-shaped body, and the depth decreases until the depth is nil, at a point close to another opening of the C-shaped body. 
     
     
         8 . The pinless shroud of  claim 4 , wherein ends of the C-shaped body further comprise at least one projection. 
     
     
         9 . An assembly comprising:
 a lip for an earth moving machine, the lip comprising a plurality of noses; and   one or both of the following:
 one or more pinless shrouds wherein: 
   each of the one or more pinless shrouds is detachably couplable with a front edge of the lip between two neighboring noses of the plurality of noses; and
 each of the one or more pinless shrouds comprises a body comprising two opposite C-shaped members adapted for sliding each said C-shaped member along one said nose of the lip to make the body contact the front edge of the lip; 
 one or two pinless shrouds wherein: 
 each of the one or two pinless shrouds being detachably coupled with a lateral edge of the lip; 
 each of the one or two pinless shrouds comprises a C-shaped body, and the C-shaped body comprising:
 at least one recess on one of two side portions of the C-shaped body, the at least one recess being adapted for sliding the C-shaped body along a protruding guide of the lip along a sliding direction, and 
 an opening of the C-shaped body that gets larger in cross-section as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that a cross-section of the opening is taken; and 
 a protruding member on a central portion of the C-shaped body that protrudes in a same direction as the two side portions, the protruding member being adapted to slide along a recessed portion of the lip. 
 
   
     
     
         10 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the assembly at least comprises one or two of said pinless shrouds, and wherein the lip comprises:
 one protruding guide on portions of the lip adjacent to one or both corner noses of the plurality of noses, or two protruding guides on opposite surfaces on portions of the lip adjacent to one or both of said corner noses of the plurality of noses.   
     
     
         11 . The assembly of  claim 10 , wherein each protruding guide of the one protruding guide or the two protruding guides gets larger in cross-section as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that a cross-section of the one protruding guide or the two protruding guides is taken. 
     
     
         12 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the assembly at least comprises one or two of said pinless shrouds, and wherein the lip comprises a recessed portion on a respective said lateral edge of the lip. 
     
     
         13 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein ends of the C-shaped body of one or two of said pinless shrouds further comprise projections. 
     
     
         14 . The assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the assembly comprises two of the one or more pinless shrouds. 
     
     
         15 - 17 . (canceled) 
     
     
         18 . The assembly of  claim 14 , wherein the lip comprises:
 one protruding guide on portions of the lip adjacent to one or both of said corner noses of the plurality of noses, or two protruding guides on opposite surfaces on the portions of the lip adjacent to one or both of said corner noses of the plurality of noses; and   a recessed portion on a respective said lateral edge of the lip.   
     
     
         19 . The assembly of  claim 18 , wherein each protruding guide of the one protruding guide or two protruding guides gets larger in cross-section as more inwards in the lip, along the sliding direction, that the cross-section is taken. 
     
     
         20 . The assembly of  claim 18 , wherein ends of the C-shaped body of the one or two pinless shrouds further comprise projections. 
     
     
         21 . The pinless shroud of  claim 2 , wherein a portion of the body from which the two opposite straps protrude or are joined thereto has a thickness, including endpoints, ranging between 20% and 35% of a height of an opening formed by the two opposite straps, the opening being adapted to receive the lip. 
     
     
         22 . The pinless shroud of  claim 1 , wherein the pinless shroud is symmetrical with respect to one or both of the following:
 a plane intersecting the pinless shroud as if the plane were a plane of the lip when the shroud is coupled therewith; and   a plane intersecting the pinless shroud such that the plane has for its normal vector a segment, with the segment being defined by a first point in one C-shaped member of the two opposite C-shaped members and a second point in the other C-shaped member of the two opposite C-shaped members.   
     
     
         23 . The pinless shroud of  claim 4 , wherein the pinless shroud is symmetrical with respect to a plane intersecting the shroud as if the plane were a plane of the lip when the shroud is coupled therewith.