Wheel substitutes for land vehicles – With interposed friction drive belt
Patent
1991-01-07
1992-07-21
Stormer, Russell D.
Wheel substitutes for land vehicles
With interposed friction drive belt
305 39, B62D 5524
Patent
active
051317281
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a crawler assembly, and more particularly to a rubber crawler assembly for use in earth moving machines or vehicles having endless rubber belts with core bars embedded therein.
BACKGROUND ART OF THE INVENTION
As the undercarriage of earth moving machines or vehicles, an iron crawler track 1 has mainly been used, and as means for running and turning such a track, center-flanged bogie wheels 2 as shown in FIG. lA and outer-flanged bogie wheels 3 as shown in FIG. lB are used.
In recent years, endless rubber belts 4 have come to be used partially. In combination with such rubber belts, center-flanged bogie wheels 2 as shown in FIG. 2A and outer-flanged bogie wheels 5 as shown in FIG. 2B are used. The center-flanged bogie wheels 2 as shown in FIG. 2A can be used for both iron crawler tracks and rubber belts, and therefore a large merit in terms of production cost reduction is obtained.
However, outer wheels 5a, 5a of the outer-flanged bogie wheels 5 as shown in FIG. 2B are not suitable for use with iron crawler tracks, and therefore combined use of them cannot be made. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, reference numeral 6 denotes a core bar, and 7 steel cords embedded in the rubber belt 4 so as to extend in the peripheral direction.
Hereupon, in case the rubber belts 4 are used in an earth moving vehicle, since the center-flanged bogie wheel (FIG. 2A) is kept in rolling contact with the top surfaces m of the central projections, vibration occurs on and along discontinuous surface between the adjoining bogie wheels, or when the rubber belt climbs over obstacles such as stone or the like such a phenomenon as inward bending of the belt occurs, and at that time the spacing between the central projections of adjoining core bars is widened thus causing a dropping of the bogie wheels therein, and when the bogie wheels come out again, the central projections are kicked hard by the bogie wheels thereby detaching the core bars themselves from the rubber belts 4, and hence impairing the durability thereof.
To prevent the occurrence of such a phenomenon, it is contemplated to form the central projections of the core bars in "T" shape and increase the length f of the central projections as shown in FIG. 12A. However, if the length f is increased, then since the inner peripheral surface of the crawler at places where it is wound around a sprocket 8, the adjoining central projections strike against each other as shown by "g". Therefore, the length f of the central projection cannot be increased beyond a certain limit so that there is a limit in measures for reducing vibration and preventing the rubber belts from bending inwardly.
In contrast thereto, the outer-flanged bogie wheels (FIG. 2B) are kept in rolling contact on the inner peripheral surfaces of the rubber belts, and so the rolling contact surfaces of the bogie wheels are continuous. Therefore, the aforementioned problem does not occur, and vibration of the rubber belts can be reduced considerably. However, the bogie wheels of this type cannot be used for iron crawler tracks, and also since the bogie wheels are kept in direct contact with the surfaces of the rubber belts, "pitting phenomenon" (like water-eczema) will occur on the surfaces of the rubber belts kept in contact with the bogie wheels, thereby impairing the durability of the rubber belts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances in the prior art and has for its object to provide a rubber crawler assembly having core bars embedded therein which are capable of preventing bogie wheels from detaching from the endless track, stabilizing the rolling of the bogie wheels, reducing vibration of the endless track, and also improving the durability of the endless rubber belts themselves.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a crawler assembly which can be used for both rubber crawlers using endless rubber belts and endless iron crawler tracks.
A still further object of the present inven
REFERENCES:
patent: 4904030 (1990-02-01), Ono
patent: 4948201 (1990-08-01), Furuta
Katoh Yusaku
Uchiyama Tsuyoshi
Fukuyama Gomu Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho
Kananen Ronald P.
Stormer Russell D.
LandOfFree
Crawler assembly does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Crawler assembly, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Crawler assembly will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-839478