Tool mounting assembly

An assembly for mounting an earth working tool to a shank having a substantially vertical track on the rear end of the shank, a tool holder having a C-shaped opening at its forward end and adapted to fit over the shank track, and a wedge member adapted for wedging between the shank track and the tool holder to secure the holder to the shank at a selected position with the track forward facing surfaces engaging the flange rear surfaces. The track includes a rearward V-shaped surface and a pair of forward facing surfaces and the holder opening includes a flanges adapted to engage the forward facing surfaces when forced together by the wedge member. Depressions and protrusions are provided on the flanges and forward facing surfaces to secure against vertical movement of the mounted holder relative to the shank. The V-shaped surface has an included angle of substantially ninety degrees. The wedge member includes a striker plate having a first surface which may be struck from the top to secure the holder to the shank track and a second surface which may be struck from the bottom to disengage the holder from the shank track.

TECHNICAL FIELD 
The present invention relates to a tool mounting assembly for the 
attachment of earth working tools to shanks (or tynes). 
BACKGROUND ART 
It is a common procedure to mount various types of working tools to the 
body of a shank. 
It is desirable that the vertical heights of the attaching tool be capable 
of simple adjustment. Such adjustment should be as convenient to operate 
as possible. It is also desirable to have the mounting system held firmly 
in place when operating the shank and coupled tool in the ground. 
Various types of tools can be attached to shanks and in many cases the 
attached tools can have considerable span to either side of the shank. 
Under these conditions, high twisting loads can be applied to the tool 
mounting assembly. 
Often the shank itself may have a minimal width to reduce power 
requirements and to reduce soil disturbance. It is therefore desirable to 
minimize the width of tool and mounting systems in conformity with the 
width of the shank. 
A common system for attaching various tools is to form, in the shank 
itself, a series of holes to which tools can be attached by bolts. The 
vertical adjustment is time consuming. Further, the formation of such 
holes generally reduces the strength of the shank. 
Serrated tracks are sometimes formed in the rear of the shank to which 
tools are mounted by clamping two cheek plates to the track. These cheek 
plates are difficult to keep tight when subject to inevitable asymmetrical 
side loads. 
It is the object of the present invention to overcome and substantially 
ameliorate the above-described disadvantages and to enhance the usefulness 
of such systems in the field. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to one aspect of the present invention, an assembly for mounting 
an earth working tool to a shank is provided, having a substantially 
vertical track on the rear end of the shank, a tool holder having a 
C-shaped opening at its forward end and adapted to fit over the shank 
track, and a wedge member adapted for wedging between the shank track and 
the tool holder to secure the holder to the shank at a selected position 
with the track forward facing surfaces engaging the flange rear surfaces. 
The track includes a rearward V-shaped surface and a pair of forward 
facing surfaces and the holder opening includes a flanges adapted to 
engage the forward facing surfaces when forced together by the wedge 
member. Depressions and protrusions are provided on the flanges and 
forward facing surfaces to secure against vertical movement of the mounted 
holder relative to the shank. 
In another aspect of the present invention, the V-shaped surface has an 
included angle of substantially ninety degrees. 
In still another aspect of the present invention, the wedge member includes 
a striker plate having a first surface which may be struck from the top to 
secure the holder to the shank track and a second surface which may be 
struck from the bottom to disengage the holder from the shank track. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly which will 
allow for the quick and easy connection of different tools at different 
heights to a shank, as well as the quick and easy disconnection of such 
tools from the shank. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an assembly which 
will provide a secure mounting of the tool which will suitably withstand 
large side loads which are incurred by the mounted tool. 
Still other object, aspects, and advantages of the present invention can be 
obtained by a study of the drawings, the specification, and the appended 
claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIG. 1, the assembly comprises a holder 10 to which is attached 
a suitable shaped plate 12 through which holes 13, 14 and slot 15 have 
been formed. These holes 13, 14 and slot 15 permit the attachment of a 
wide variety of ground working tools and equipment common in earth moving 
and agricultural use to the holder 10. 
Another hole 16 is formed in the plate 12 through which any suitable tie 
(not shown) may pass to prevent accidental loss of the wedge 18. 
The holder 10 further includes, at its forward end (to the left in FIG. 1), 
a vertical C-shaped opening or groove 20. 
The rearward inside surface 22 of the opening 20 slopes slightly forward 
from the top to the bottom. A four degree angle from vertical has been 
found to be a suitable slope for this surface 22. The side surfaces 24 of 
the opening 20 are substantially vertical and parallel to one another. The 
flanges 26 at the forward end of the C-shaped opening 20 have an uneven 
contour such as spaced depressions 30 along their height to provide for 
secure mounting as will become apparent. 
One shank 32, which may be suitably secured at its upper end to, for 
example, an earthworking or agricultural device, is shown in FIGS. 2 and 
3. The shank 32 includes at its rearward end (to the right in FIGS. 2 and 
3) a track 34 substantially in the shape of an arrowhead viewed in plan 
(best seen in FIG. 3), with the rear surfaces 35 having an included angle 
of approximately ninety degrees. Although the track 34 as shown is 
integrally formed with the shank 32, it could also be separately 
manufactured and then suitably attached to existing shanks. 
The forward facing surface portion 37 of the track 34 also has an uneven 
contour, such as the spaced protrusions 36 shown in FIG. 3, which are 
adapted to mate with the depressions 30 on the holder 10 as will become 
apparent. 
The side surfaces 38 of the track 34 are formed narrower than the side 
surfaces 24 of the holder opening 20 to permit full vertical movement of 
the holder on the track 34. The rear surfaces 35 of the track 34 are 
formed with substantial clearance to the rear surfaces 22 of the opening 
20 so that, when the holder opening 20 is dropped over the track 34, a gap 
is provided to permit the insertion of the wedge 18. 
The wedge 18 (FIG. 1) is preferably formed with a striker plate 40 on its 
top and has an included angle which is also substantially a right angle to 
cooperate with the rear surfaces 22, 35 of the holder 10 and shank 32 as 
will become apparent. The wedge 18 may also be provided with indentations 
42, 44 to which any suitable tie through hole 16 may be secured. 
The tool holder 10, wedge 18 and track 34 can be made of any suitable 
material and by any suitable method known to those skilled in the art. 
Use of the present invention is thus as follows. The C-shaped opening 20 of 
the holder 10, which has an attached tool (not shown), is slid over the 
shank track 34 until the holder 10 is at the desired height for the tool. 
The flange depressions 30 mate with the track protrusions 36 at a 
plurality of secured heights for the holder 10. 
(While the selected tool could be mounted to a holder after mounting the 
holder 10 to the shank 32, it should be appreciated that the invention can 
be most efficiently be used by providing "permanent" holders 10 for each 
tool such that each tool changing requires only connecting the holder 10 
and connected tool to the shank 32. Such "permanent" holders could be 
provided by integrally manufacturing the holder and the tool.) 
The wedge 18 is then inserted between the track rear surfaces 38 and the 
holder rear surfaces 22 and secured by a hammer plow to the striker plate 
40. The assembly is thus accurately located one with another and securely 
fixed one with another. Further, the cooperating V-shaped portions of the 
track 34, the holder 10, and the wedge 18 provide excellent load bearing 
for not only the rearward and forward stresses which are incurred, but 
also for the large side loads which are incurred by the tools. Various 
common methods may be used to prevent the accidental disengagement of the 
wedge 18. 
Removal of the holder 10 may similarly be easily accomplished by a hammer 
blow under the striker plate 40, which will free the wedge 18 which is 
then removed. The tool holder 10 can then be moved forward slightly to 
permit the disengagement of the protrusions 36 from the depressions 30, 
thereby freeing the holder 10 from the shank 32 to allow either complete 
removal or vertical adjustment of the holder 10. 
It will be appreciated that the present invention will allow for the quick 
and easy connection of different tools at different heights to a shank, as 
well as the quick and easy disconnection of such tools from the shank.