Patent ID: 9249558
Filing Date: 2016-02-02
CPC Classification: E02F,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. Apparatus for immovably securing a replaceable digging tooth to a front end of an excavating container of excavating equipment, the front end defining upwardly and downwardly facing surfaces which converge in a forward direction, the tooth having an upper leg and a lower leg located proximate to and facing the respective upper and lower surfaces of the of the front end, the apparatus comprising: a first opening at the front end and second openings through the legs of the tooth, wherein the second openings overlap the first opening and define engagement sections of the tooth that traverse the first opening and that are forward of an aft end of the first opening, a pressure applying unit in the first opening and the second openings engaging the engagement sections and configured to generate and release a generally horizontally acting force which draws the tooth and the front end towards each other, a stress member operatively coupled to the pressure applying unit, wherein the stress member is configured to resiliently deform relative to a relaxed shape of the stress member when the stress member is subjected to the horizontally acting force, and a spacer configured to be inserted between the pressure applying unit, the first opening, and the second openings while the horizontally acting force resiliently deforms the stress member, the spacer being further shaped so that upon a reduction or cessation of the horizontally acting force, the spacer continues to maintain the stress member in a residual, resiliently deformed state in which the stress member draws the front end and the tooth towards each other.