Bucket attachment for a backhoe

Claim 1

In combination with a backhoe including a dipper stick and a pivotally mounted bucket on the outer end of said dipper stick movable by a fluid motor between a substantially vertical loaded position and a forwardly and upwardly pivoted unloading position, an auxiliary bucket, mounting means mounting said auxiliary bucket on said dipper stick immediately rearward of said movable bucket, said mounting means rigidly although releasably affixing said auxiliary bucket to said dipper stick, said buckets opening toward each other and being of generally the same height and width, a substantial portion of the periphery of said movable bucket about the opening therein being positionable in engagement with the corresponding portion of the periphery of the auxiliary bucket upon a movement of the movable bucket to its generally vertical position, said mounting means including a mounting pin, a pair of laterally spaced upwardly projecting ears rigid with said top panel adjacent a forward edge thereof, said ears including pin receiving openings therethrough for the reception of the mounting pin, two pairs of links, one pair pivotally connected to a piston rod of said fluid motor and to the mounting pin, while the other pair is pivotally connected to the piston rod and the movable bucket, and said mounting means further including a mounting saddle, said mounting saddle comprising a transverse rigid plate overlying said top panel adjacent and generally parallel to the rear edge thereof, and a pair of depending bolts rigid with said plate and depending therefrom through a pair of apertures defined through said top panel, and fastener nut means engaged with the lower ends of said bolts below said top panel, and upstanding parallel plates mounted on the top panel and arranged in general alignment with the ears and extending toward the apertures for engagement with the opposite sides of said dipper stick.