Patent ID: 7818902

Claim:
In combination with an earth working bucket operable to excavate materials in rock hard surface conditions, a reversible one-piece digging tooth having a shank portion and a working portion extending from and arranged in axially aligned relation relative to said shank portion, with said shank portion defining a blind socket which opens to a rear end of the tooth for receiving and accommodating a lengthwise portion of a nose portion of an adapter extending forward from a leading edge of said bucket whereby allowing said tooth to be affixed to said bucket, and with the working portion of said digging tooth having more than two longitudinally disposed tines, with each tine having a lateral width and vertical height such that they withstand, without significant bending, high loads applied thereto when said tines penetrate the rock hard surface conditions in advance of the leading bucket edge and serve to excavate rocks and related ground materials into the bucket, and wherein said tines are arranged in monoplanar relation relative to each other such that they combine with each other to excavate material therebetween during a digging operation and inhibit creation of ground material crests between adjacent tines, and with said tines being symmetrically arranged relative to each other such that said tooth can be reversed about said central axis while maintaining the tines in substantially corresponding relation relative to the bucket, said tines including a longitudinally elongated and centrally disposed tine with another longitudinally elongated and outwardly cantilevered tine disposed to opposite lateral sides of and extending generally parallel to said centrally disposed tine, and with the cross-sectional width and cross-sectional height of all the tines constantly increasing as said tines longitudinally extend toward the shank portion and from a front of said tooth, and with the cross-sectional width and cross-sectional height of the centrally disposed tine being greater than the corresponding cross-sectional width and cross-sectional height of the tines disposed to opposed sides of said centrally disposed tine, and wherein opposed side surfaces on each tine angle toward but are separated from each other by a longitudinally elongated cleft which opens to a front of the tooth and terminates rearwardly from the front of the tooth in a generally U-shaped relief, when viewed in plan, so as to provide said tooth with at least two laterally narrowing guides for directing excavated materials toward the bucket and promote filling the bucket with excavated materials, worked free by the tines at the working portion of the tooth, and such that some of the materials worked free by the tines become entrapped in each U-shaped relief whereby adding wear protection to those portions of the tooth disposed rearward from the U-shaped relief.