Back hoe ripper-trencher converter

Claim 1

In combination, a ripper of a back-hoe machine and a converter for converting the ripper to a ripper-trencher for digging a trench of predetermined width, said ripper having an upper edge with a sharp bend therein forming an obtuse angle, an inner end, and a horn-shaped outer end, the inner end of said ripper having a hole therein and a reentrant cavity adjacent the upper edge; said converter comprising an elongate, flat rectangular upper plate having an inner end and terminating at an outer end in a sharp-edged digger, said upper plate having a sharp bend therein forming an obtuse angle substantially equal to the obtuse angle of said upper edge, the width of said upper plate and the digger being of the same width and substantially equal to the width of the trench to be dug, a separate lower plate attached to the lower surface of said upper plate and being narrower and shorter than said upper plate, said lower plate alsohaving a sharp bend therein forming an obtuse angle substantially equal to the obtuse angle of said upper plate, said lower plate extending a short distance beyond the inner end of the upper plate to form a ledge, said ledge being received in said reentrant cavity of said ripper, a pair of vertical, parallel side walls attached to said lower plate and spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the thickness of said ripper to provide an elongate cavity to receive the upper edge of said ripper, said side walls also being bent to conform with the contour of the upper edge of said ripper, an additional plate positioned at an angle with respect to an outer end portion of said upper plate, and additional side walls attached to said additional plate, spaced outwardly from said side walls, and extending beyond the forward ends of said side walls, said additional plate and said additional side walls forming a hollow, wedge-shaped pocket with said upper plate at the underside of said upper plate just behind said sharp-edged digger to receive and contain therein the horn-shaped end of said ripper, said side walls of said converter having holes therein positioned to be aligned with said ripper hole when said horn-shaped end of said ripper is received in said wedge-shaped pocket.