Dumping system for a dragline bucket

Abstract

A draglined bucket having first and second contoured dumping rails respectively supported on first and second spaced apart opposite sidewalls and a rear wall. Each dumping rail extends from above the sidewall on which it is supported to the rear wall on which it is also supported. Rollers are connected to a hoist rope and support the bucket in a suspended manner. The rollers engage the first and second dumping rails and are movable along the dumping rails from a forward position in which an open end of the bucket faces substantially horizontally, to a rearward position in which the open end of the bucket faces downwardly to dump material in it. The dumping rails adjacent to the rear wall of the bucket are preferably spaced from the rear wall of the bucket. The rollers include first and second rollers which respectively engage the undersides of the first and second dumping rails. Each dumping rail may be angled relative to the sidewall on which it is supported in an upward direction toward the opposite sidewall. The first and second rollers are separately connected to first and second hoist chains which extend from above the bucket at an angle toward the dumping rails and the first and second rollers each have an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the lengths of the respective first and second hoist chains. Each of the dumping rails is spaced from the rear of the bucket.