Abstract:
A mounting pin assembly having a retaining member which includes a locating surface and a boss extending from the locating surface. The mounting pin assembly also has a locating member slidably mountable upon the locating surface of the retaining member. The locating member also has an enlarged portion defined by an outwardly divergent face. The mounting pin assembly also has a tensioning member extending between and coupling the boss of said retaining member and the locating member. The tensioning member is configured to cause relative contraction of the mounting pin assembly such that the locating member is drawn upon the locating surface of the retaining member towards the boss when a tensile force is applied to the tensioning member.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a National Stage entry from PCT Patent Application No. PCT/AU2008/000269 filed on 29 Feb. 2008, which claims priority to Australian Application 2007901765 filed on 3 Apr. 2007 the contents of each one incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a mounting pin assembly for an excavator wear member. In particular, although not exclusively, the invention relates to a mounting pin for mounting a wear member on a nose structure located on a lip of an excavator bucket. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Excavator tooth assemblies mounted to the digging edge of excavator buckets and the like generally comprise a replaceable digging point, an adaptor body and an adaptor nose which is secured by welding or the like to the digging edge of a bucket or the like. The adaptor has a socket-like recess at its rear end to receivably locate a front spigot portion of the adaptor nose and a removable locking pin extends through aligned apertures in the adaptor and nose to retain the adaptor in position. 
     In use, excavator teeth are subjected to extensive load forces along a longitudinal axis of a tooth as well as in vertical and transverse directions. A snug fit is required between the digging point and the front portion of the adaptor and also between the adaptor socket and the nose spigot portion and their respective mounting pins to avoid premature wear between the components. As the various components wear, the locking pins can loosen thereby increasing the risk of loss of a digging point or an entire adaptor/tooth combination. This necessitates considerable downtime to replace the lost wear members and where items such as locking pins are not recovered, these can cause damage and/or further downtime in downstream operations such as ore crushing and the like. 
     The greatest loads experienced by excavator tooth assemblies are vertical loads which tend to generate large moment forces capable of rotating a tooth off the front of an adaptor and/or rotating the adaptor off the adaptor nose. In addition, twisting or “yaw” loads are frequently imposed on such tooth assemblies. 
     Despite many prior art attempts to improve the mounting of an adaptor to a nose, most of these proposals suffer from one or more deficiencies. As described hereinafter, many of the prior art references relate to direct mounting of a tooth onto an adaptor without an intermediate adaptor but in those assemblies, the mounting systems for securing teeth directly onto excavator noses is considered analogous to the mounting of an adaptor onto a nose. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,058 describes an excavator tooth having a rearwardly divergent tapering socket to receive a nose having a complementary-shaped front spigot portion. Resistance to rotational moment forces is borne by a resilient steel cotter pin extending through aligned vertical apertures in the socket and spigot portions. 
     U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,774,324, 4,338,736, 4,481,728, 4,903,420, 5,469,648, 7,100,315 and 6,735,890 all describe nose and tooth combinations wherein the nose has a generally convergently tapering spigot portion with a forward tip having a box-like configuration with at least the upper and lower surfaces thereof having faces parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the nose portion. With the exception of U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,736, which describes a transverse locking pin, each of the tooth mounting arrangements is heavily reliant on a large vertical locking pin to resist rotational moment forces tending to rotate the teeth off respective noses. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,173 describes a tapered adaptor nose having a box-like free end, which engages in a mating box-like socket cavity to resist rotational moments. Opposed pairs of rearwardly extending tongues engage in corresponding recesses in the outer surfaces of the adaptor nose to resist rotational movements. Because the tongues themselves are unsupported, they possess a limited capacity to resist rotational moment forces. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,824 describes a structure similar to that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,173 except that the side tongues are of more robust dimensions and the upper and lower tongues are formed as box-like members with apertures to receive a vertical mounting pin passing through aligned apertures in the tooth and adaptor nose. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,760 provides flat rail surfaces on the adaptor nose to engage with mating grooves in the socket aperture of a corresponding tooth wherein the mating rail and groove surfaces are generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tooth. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,138 describes a generally tapered nose having a box-like front end with upper and lower transverse surfaces generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of a tooth which located directly thereon. The parallel upper and lower transverse surfaces are contiguous with upper and lower rail surfaces on each side of the nose and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tooth. A pair of rearwardly extending side tongues locate in recesses formed in the outer side faces of the nose, ostensibly to resist rotational moment forces in the tooth. Because the side tongues are recessed to accommodate the side rail portions, the robustness of the side tongues is somewhat compromised. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,761 describes a fairly stubby tapered nose having a box-like front portion with upper and lower surfaces generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of an excavator tooth, an intermediate rearwardly diverging tapered portion and a rear portion having upper and lower surfaces extending generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tooth. Formed on the upper and lower surfaces of the front, intermediate and rear portions of the nose are spaced parallel reinforcing ribs which are located in mating grooves in the excavator tooth. A large vertical locking pin extends through aligned apertures in the tooth and nose between the reinforcing ribs. This structure is heavily reliant on the locking pin to resist rotational moment forces however it is considered that this configuration may be prone to failure in the rear portion of the adaptor. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,709,043 describes a nose/adaptor combination wherein the adaptor socket tapers convergently towards a box-like front portion having upper and lower bearing surfaces generally parallel to a longitudinal axis of the tooth, a front transverse upright bearing surface and rearwardly divergent bearing surfaces formed at obtuse angles between the converging upper and lower walls and the side walls of the socket, ostensibly to avoid areas of stress concentration. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,018,896 describes a pin/retainer system for locking an excavation tooth onto an adaptor wherein the retainer is inserted in the adaptor and a wedge-shaped pin is driven into aligned apertures in the tooth and adaptor to resiliently engage with the retainer. 
     United States Publication No US 2002/0000053A1 describes a mechanism for releasably retaining an adaptor into the nose of a bucket lip or the like wherein a tapered threaded socket is non-rotatably located on the inside of an aperture in the side wall of the adaptor. A threaded retaining pin extends through the threaded socket and locates in an aligned aperture in the bucket nose. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,495 describes a tooth assembly with a two-piece telescopically engageable adaptor secured to a nose with a tapered wedge pin assembly. A similar mounting system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,172,501 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,927. Other retention systems for digging points on adaptors or adaptors on noses are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,119,378, 6,467,204, and 6,467,203. 
     Other devices for removably securing replaceable wear elements on earth working equipment such as a retaining pin, a bolt, a pin lock and locking blocks engageable in a top aperture in a wear member are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,839,805, 3,982,339, 4,587,751, 5,088,214 and 5,653,048 respectively. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,550 describes a lock assembly for releasably securing an adaptor to a nose of an excavator support structure. The lock assembly comprises a body and a base coupled together and adapted for insertion, while coupled together, in a hole in the nose of the support structure. The length of the lock assembly is extended to secure the adaptor and is retracted to release the adaptor. While adequate for securing an adaptor to a nose of an excavator support structure, the lock described in this patent is relatively complex in design and operation leading to high costs and labour intensive extraction procedures in the field. 
     Canadian Patent Application No 2,161,505 describes a system for removably retaining an excavation point on an adaptor with at least one flanged sleeve having a screw-threaded aperture therein, the flanged sleeve being non-rotatably locatable in a transverse bore in the adaptor before fitment of the point onto the adaptor. A screw-threaded pin is inserted into the sleeve via an aperture in the point whereby portion of the head of the pin retains the point on the adaptor. 
     Australian Patent Application No 2003264586 describes a locking pin assembly comprising a body member having a non-circular cross-sectional shape locatable in a bore of complementary shape extending laterally between opposite sides of an excavator lip mounting nose. After locating the body member in the nose aperture, an adaptor can be engaged over the nose with apertures in opposite side walls aligned with the body member. Threaded bolts engage in threaded apertures in opposite ends of the body member, the bolts each having a tapered shank portion with an enlarged boss at a free end thereof, the boss being locatable in a respective aperture in a side wall of said adaptor to prevent the adaptor from disengaging with the nose. 
     Furthermore, it is also known in the art to use spool and wedge locking assemblies for attaching replaceable earth working implements to a nose of an excavator bucket. Typically, these types of assemblies include a spool and a wedge, each having complimentary ramped surfaces that cause lateral expansion of the assembly as the spool and wedge assembly is contracted, usually by relative axial movement of the wedge with respect to the spool. Whilst generally satisfactory, these types of locking assemblies include a bearing face between the wedge and spool that is orientated at an acute angle to a longitudinal axis of the nose. Due to the large forces experienced by the locking assembly in use, this arrangement is undesirable. 
     While generally satisfactory for their intended purpose, the abovementioned prior art nose/adaptor (or nose/tooth equivalent) combinations all suffer from one or more shortcomings or disadvantages in terms of inadequate resistance to rotation of an adaptor off a nose under the influence of vertical loads applying a rotational moment to the adaptor, a predisposition to premature wear, difficulties in retention of the adaptors on noses, inadequate locking systems and unduly complicated configurations giving rise to increased fabrication and tooling costs. 
     OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the invention to overcome or at least alleviate one or more of the above problems and/or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice. 
     In one form, although it need not be the only or indeed the broadest form, the invention resides in a mounting pin assembly for an excavator wear assembly, said mounting pin assembly comprising: 
     a retaining member configured to be non-rotatably located within a transversely extending mounting aperture of a mounting nose of an excavator, said retaining member having a locating surface and a boss extending from said locating surface; 
     a locating member, in use, slidably mountable upon said locating surface of said retaining member via a wall aperture of a wear member mounted upon said mounting nose, said wall aperture of said wear member at least partially aligned with said mounting aperture, said locating member having an enlarged portion defined by an outwardly divergent face abutting a wall of said wall aperture of said wear member; and 
     a tensioning member extending between and coupling said boss of said retaining member and said locating member whereby, in use, tension applied to said tensioning member causes relative contraction of said mounting pin assembly such that said locating member is drawn upon said locating surface towards said boss to force said outwardly divergent face to wedgingly engage with said wall of said wall aperture of said wear member to force said wear member into engagement with said mounting nose. 
     In a further form, the invention resides in a method of removably securing a wear member on to a projecting mounting nose of a digging edge of an excavator, said method comprising the steps of: 
     non-rotatably mounting a retaining member in a mounting aperture of said mounting nose; 
     locating on said mounting nose, a wear member having opposed wall apertures partially alignable with said mounting aperture to thereby captively retain said retaining member within said mounting aperture; 
     slidably mounting on a locating surface of said retaining member through one said opposed wall aperture a locating member having an enlarged portion defined by an outwardly divergent face extending outwardly from said mounting aperture when said locating member is at least partially located therein; 
     inserting through an opposite wall aperture into said mounting aperture a tensioning member to thereby couple said retaining member and said locating member to form a mounting pin assembly; and 
     tensioning said tensioning member to relatively contact said longitudinal length of said mounting pin assembly, said tensioning member bearing on a boss of said retaining member to draw said locating member towards said boss urging said outwardly divergent face into a wedging contact with a wall of one of said opposed wall apertures of said wear member to thereby draw said wear member on said mounting nose. 
     In yet a further form, the invention resides in a mounting pin assembly comprising: 
     a retaining member having a locating surface and a boss extending from said locating surface; 
     a locating member slidably mountable upon said locating surface of said retaining member and having an enlarged portion defined by an outwardly divergent face; and 
     a tensioning member extending between and coupling said boss of said retaining member and said locating member; 
     wherein, said tensioning member is configured to cause relative contraction of said mounting pin assembly such that said locating member is drawn upon said locating surface of said retaining member towards said boss when a tensile force is applied to said tensioning member. 
     Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       To assist in understanding the invention and to enable a person skilled in the art to put the invention into practical effect preferred embodiments of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of an excavator wear assembly having a mounting pin assembly according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the mounting pin assembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  shows a horizontal sectional view of the excavator wear assembly and the mounting pin assembly of  FIG. 1  in an assembled position; 
         FIG. 4  shows an exploded perspective view of an excavator wear assembly having a mounting pin assembly according to a further embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  shows an exploded view of the mounting pin assembly shown in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  shows a top sectional view of the excavator wear assembly and the mounting pin assembly of  FIG. 4  in an assembled position. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of an excavator wear assembly  1000  having a mounting pin assembly  100  according to an embodiment of the invention. Excavator wear assembly  1000  further comprises a mounting nose  200  and a wear member in the form of an adaptor  300 . 
     Mounting nose  200  is located upon a lip (not shown) of an excavator bucket. The mounting nose  200  is preferably integrally formed with the lip of the excavator bucket. Optionally, the mounting nose  200  may be formed separately from the lip of the bucket and secured thereto. 
     In the embodiment, mounting nose  200  has a pair of opposed side walls  210  and a front portion  220 . A mounting aperture  230  extends through mounting nose  200  between opposed side walls  210 . Suitably, mounting aperture  230  has an oval cross sectional shape. Mounting aperture  230  has an inwardly convergent opening  231  located at either end thereof on respective opposed side walls  210 . 
     Wear member in the form of adaptor  300  has opposed side walls  350  and a mounting portion  320  for reception of digging teeth or the like thereon. A socket cavity  310  is located in the rear portion of adaptor  300 . Socket cavity  310  has an internal shape generally complementary to the front portion  220  of mounting nose  200 . A hoist loop  330  is located on a top side of adaptor  300  to enable ease of handling by a hoist during attachment and detachment operations. 
     Side wall apertures  340  extend through respective side walls and each side wall aperture  340  has an inwardly convergent opening  341 . Suitably, the cross sectional area of an inner end of each side wall aperture  340  is less than the cross sectional area of mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200  as will be discussed in greater detail below. 
     Alternatively, each side wall aperture  340  may have an inwardly convergent wall extending the entire length thereof. 
     Excavator wear assembly  1000  further comprises a retaining pin assembly indicated generally by  100  in  FIG. 1 . 
       FIG. 2  shows an exploded perspective view of retaining pin assembly  100  comprising a retaining member  110 , a tensioning member in the form of a bolt  120 , a locating member  130  and a washer  140 . 
     Retaining member  110  has a crescent shaped base  111  having a locating surface  112 . A boss  113  extends from locating surface  112  such that the cross sectional dimensions of retaining member  110  at the location where boss  113  extends from locating surface  112  is substantially the same as the cross sectional dimensions of mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200  as will be discussed in greater detail below. 
     A guide aperture  114  extends through boss  113  as shown. An annular groove  115  is located upon a face of boss  113  about guide aperture  114 . 
     Tensioning member in the form of bolt  120  has a head portion  121  and a shank  122  extending from head portion  121 . A threaded shank  122 A extends from shank  122 . Shank  122  has a relatively larger outer diameter than the outer diameter of threaded shank  122 A with shank  122  having an angled taper to engage washer  140  when in use. 
     Furthermore, a hexagonally shaped female tensioning recess  121 A is located on head portion  121  for engagement with a tensioning tool (not shown) or the like. 
     Locating member  130  has a body portion  131  and an enlarged portion  132  formed by an outwardly divergent face  133 . A blind bore  134  extends longitudinally within locating member  130  within a recess  135  located at an end of locating member  130 . Blind bore has a first bore portion  134 A (shown in part in  FIG. 2 ) and a threaded bore portion  134 B (not shown in  FIG. 2 ). Washer  140  is receivable within recess  135  and is suitably formed from nylon or the like. 
     Locating member  130  is slidably mountable upon locating surface  112  of retaining member  110  such that blind bore  134  corresponds with guide aperture  114  of retaining member  110  and outwardly divergent face  133  opposes a face of locating member  130  slidably mountable upon locating surface  112 . Bolt  120  is receivable through guide aperture  114  and blind bore  134  such that threaded shank  122 A is threadably engageable with threaded portion  134 B of blind bore  134  as will be discussed in greater detail below. 
       FIG. 3  shows a horizontal sectional view of the excavator wear assembly  1000  in an assembled position. In use, retaining member  110  is non-rotatably located within mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200 . This non-rotatable location is provided by the cross-sectional dimensions and area of mounting aperture  230  being substantially the same as the cross-sectional dimensions and area of retaining member  110  in the region of boss  113 . A person skilled in the art will appreciate that other arrangements will facilitate the non-rotatable location of the retaining member  110  within mounting aperture  230 . 
     The adaptor  300  is then slidably mounted upon mounting nose  200  such that front portion  220  of mounting nose  200  is located within socket cavity  310  of adaptor  300  and each of side wall apertures  340  at least partially align with mounting aperture  230 . 
     As previously discussed, side wall apertures  340  of adaptor  300  have a cross sectional area relatively less than mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200 . As such, when adaptor  300  is slidably mounted upon mounting nose  200 , retaining member  110  is captively retained within mounting aperture  230 . 
     Tensioning member in the form of bolt  120  is then located through at least partially aligned side wall aperture  340  of adaptor  300  and into mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200  to penetrate guide aperture  114  of retaining member  110 . 
     Washer  140  is secured within recess  135  of locating member  130  by way of an interference fit and locating member  130  is then inserted through side wall aperture  340  of adaptor  300  opposing side wall aperture  340  through which bolt  120  is located such that locating member  130  is slidably mounted upon locating surface  112  of retaining member  110 . In this position, body portion  131  of locating member  130  is generally located wholly within mounting aperture  230  and outwardly divergent face  133  abuts against inwardly convergent opening  341  of side wall aperture  340 . 
     Bolt  120  is then fully inserted through guide aperture  114  of retaining member  110  such that a face of head portion  121  abuts a face of boss  113  within annular groove  115 . In this position, a toe of threaded shank  122 A is located within blind bore  134  at the transition between first bore portion  134 A and threaded bore portion  134 B. 
     A drive member (not shown) of a drive tool (also not shown) is then engaged with hexagonally shaped female tensioning recess  121 A of bolt  120  to thereby threadably engage threaded shank  122 A of bolt  120  with complimentary threaded bore portion  134 B of locating member  130 . 
     As retaining member  110  is captively retained within mounting aperture  230  a face of retaining member  110  bears against an inner face of side wall  350  of adaptor  300  and head portion  121  of bolt  120  bears against a face of boss  113  within annular groove  115  as shank  122 A of bolt  120  is threadably engaged with complimentary threaded bore portion  134 B of locating member  130 . 
     As such, bolt  120  is placed in tension and mounting pin assembly  100  is relatively contracted in longitudinal length. Furthermore, location member  130  is driven into further slidable engagement with retaining member  110  in a direction of boss  113 . As this movement occurs, outwardly divergent face  133  wedgingly engages with inwardly convergent opening  341  of adaptor  300  to thereby urge adaptor  300  into tight engagement with mounting nose  200  as shown in  FIG. 3  and thus move the mounting pin assembly  100  to the assembled position. 
     Furthermore, in the assembled position, shank  122  of bolt  120  is held in blind bore  134  by way of an interference fit by washer  140  to thereby provide resistance to any rotational movement of the bolt  120  that may occur during use. 
     Furthermore, washer  140  prevents ingress of dirt and fines into blind bore  134  that may cause cementation within blind bore  134 . 
     Furthermore, the plane of contact of the face of locating member  130  on locating surface  112  of retaining member  110  is substantially perpendicular with a longitudinal axis of adaptor  300  and mounting nose  200 . This arrangement ensures that this plane of contact is not orientated at an acute angle to the dominant forces applied to the wear assembly  1000 . 
     In order to remove adaptor  300  from mounting nose  200 , drive member (not shown) of drive tool (also not shown) is again engaged with hexagonally shaped female tensioning recess  121 A of bolt  120  to thereby threadably disengage threaded shank  122 A of bolt  120  with complimentary threaded bore portion  134 B of locating member  130 . 
     As retaining member  110  is captively retained within mounting aperture  230 , the disengagement of threaded shank  122 A of bolt  120  from complimentary threaded bore portion  134 B of locating member  130  thereby urges locating member  130  out of mounting aperture  230 . 
     Bolt  120  is then removed from guide aperture  114  and adaptor  300  is free to be slidably dismounted from mounting nose  200 . Although not prone to wear, retaining member  110  is readily removable from mounting aperture  230  in the event that replacement or maintenance is necessitated. 
       FIG. 4  shows an exploded perspective view of an excavator wear assembly  1000  having a mounting pin assembly, indicated generally by  100 , according to a further embodiment of the invention. 
     As before, the excavator wear assembly  1000  comprises a mounting nose  200  and a wear member in the form of adaptor  300 . Adaptor  300  has side wall apertures  340  each having an inwardly convergent opening  341 . 
     Mounting pin assembly  100  comprises a retaining member  110 , a tensioning member in the form of bolt  120  and a locating member  130 , This embodiment of mounting pin assembly  100  further comprises a jacking member  150 . 
       FIG. 5  shows an exploded perspective view of the mounting pin assembly  100  shown in  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 6  shows a horizontal sectional view of the excavator wear assembly  1000  in an assembled position. 
     Boss  113  is located at an end of retaining member  110  and has a guide aperture  114  as before. Furthermore, boss  113  has a series of screw threaded apertures  116  as will be discussed in greater detail below. 
     Jacking member  150  is releasably mountable on a face of boss  113  and has a bolt aperture  151  having a retaining shoulder  154 . Furthermore, jacking member  150  has a screw  153  extending through each of spaced mounting apertures  152  extending through bolt retaining member  150 . 
     In use, bolt is located through guide aperture  114  of boss  113  or retaining member  110 . Jacking member  150  is then releasably mounted upon a face of boss  113  by way of screws  153  extending through mounting apertures  152  of jacking member  150  and terminating within corresponding screw threaded apertures  116  of boss  113 . In this way, retaining shoulder  154  abuts a face of head portion  121  of bolt  120  to thereby captively retain an opposing face of head portion  121  in abutment with a face of boss  113 . 
     The retaining member  110  is then non-rotatably located within mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200  as before and adaptor  300  is slidably mounted upon mounting nose  200  to thereby captively retain retaining member  110  within mounting aperture  230  of mounting nose  200 . 
     An outer face of jacking member  150  bears against an inner face of side wall  350  of adaptor  300 . 
     Locating member  130  is then located within mounting aperture  230  as before and bolt  120  is tensioned to relatively contract the length of mounting pin assembly  100  and outwardly divergent face  133  wedgingly engages with inwardly convergent opening  341  of adaptor  300  to thereby urge adaptor  300  into tight engagement with mounting nose  200  as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
     It will be apparent to a person skilled in the art that the drive member (not shown) of drive tool (also not shown) is engageable with hexagonally shaped female tensioning recess  121 A of bolt  120  through bolt aperture  151 . 
     In order to remove adaptor  300  from mounting nose, drive member (not shown) of drive tool (also not shown) is again engaged with hexagonally shaped female tensioning recess  121 A of bolt  120  to thereby threadably disengage threaded shank  122 A of bolt  120  with complimentary threaded bore portion  134 B of locating member  130 . 
     As a retaining shoulder  154  bears against a face of head portion  121  and an opposing face of head portion  121  is retained in abutment with a face of boss  113  the locating member  130  is driven from within mounting aperture  230  as any opposing force resisting relative longitudinal expansion of mounting pin assembly  100  is borne by inner face of adaptor side wall  350  through abutment with a face of jacking member  150  as previously discussed. 
     Once locating member  130  is ejected from mounting aperture  230 , adaptor  300  is able to be slidably dismounted from mounting nose  200  as before. 
     Use of jacking member  150  is particularly advantageous in environments where it is likely that locating member  130  may be difficult to extract from mounting aperture  230  due to the ingress and cementation of fines and the like within mounting aperture  230 . 
     It will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art that the excavator wear assembly, the mounting pin assembly and methods of use thereof in accordance with the invention offer substantial advantages over prior art systems and methods. After a period of time in the field, some degree of wear between the wear member and the nose is inevitable. This wear usually occurs on upper and lower bearing faces of a nose and the front of a nose and the corresponding contact surfaces in the socket cavity of the wear member. When such wear occurs, any slack between the nose and wear adaptor is readily taken up by re-tensioning the bolt of the mounting pin assembly. 
     Furthermore, any relative movement between the nose and the adaptor generally causes wearing of the nose as the adaptor is generally relatively harder than the nose. As such, by re-tensioning the bolt during use, this relative movement is minimized and hence provides for a longer working life for the wear member and the nose. 
     Additionally, when casting the nose and the wear member in the form of the adaptor, there will always be manufacturing tolerances such that the manufactured member is not exactly to specification. The mounting pin assembly of the invention accommodates for these tolerances due to the wedging engagement of the pin assembly on the opening of the adaptor to engage the adaptor on the mounting nose. As such, this minimises relative movement, and hence wear, between the adaptor and the nose due to these manufacturing tolerances. 
     The bolt is readily accessible and the inwardly convergent opening of the adaptor side wall aperture and the outwardly divergent face of the locating member allows for a considerable degree of movement between the nose and wear member along a longitudinal axis with only a relatively small degree of rotation of the bolt of the mounting pin assembly. 
     The various embodiments of the invention are quick and simple to install and uninstall with readily available tools and do not require severe impacts with a sledge hammer or the like which is a slow and dangerous procedure. 
     Throughout the specification the aim has been to describe the invention without limiting the invention to any one embodiment or specific collection of features. Persons skilled in the relevant art may realise variations from the specific embodiments that will nonetheless fall within the scope of the invention. 
     Whilst the invention has been described with reference to the mounting of adaptor  300  to mounting nose  200 , it is equally applicable to the mounting of points or digging teeth to adaptors. Generally, teeth have wall apertures extending through opposed top and bottom walls and adaptors have a corresponding mounting aperture. A skilled addressee will appreciate that the mounting pin assembly  100  of the invention may be employed to releasably secure a point or digging tooth to an adaptor. 
     It will be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.