Chain – staple – and horseshoe making – Chain making – Sprocket chain
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-27
2003-09-02
Larson, Lowell A. (Department: 3725)
Chain, staple, and horseshoe making
Chain making
Sprocket chain
C474S213000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06612103
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to a type of link plate for a silent chain and having a pair of teeth, a type of silent chain containing the link plates, and a method for assembling the silent chain.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As shown in the side view of
FIG. 9
, a silent chain usually has plural link plates
20
stacked in the thickness direction and in the longitudinal direction. They are connected by connecting pins
30
in pivoting manner, and guide links
40
are arranged on the outside of the outermost link plates
20
.
As shown in the enlarged view of
FIG. 8
, each of link plates
20
that form silent chain
1
has a pair of pin holes
21
for inserting the connecting pins, and a pair of teeth
22
extending downward. Tooth
22
is composed of nearly arcuate inside flank surface
22
a
, nearly straight outside flank surface
22
b
, and tooth tip part
22
c
that connects them, and adjacent inside flank surfaces
22
a
are connected by crotch
23
. Also, link plate
20
has nearly straight back side part
24
, and back side part
24
and outside flank surface
22
b
are connected to each other by nearly arcuate shoulder part
25
.
In silent chains developed recently, link plates with different plate thicknesses are used in the same silent chain. Also, there is demand for the use of link plates having different materials, heat treatments, or hardnesses within the same silent chain.
In this case, when the link plates having different plate thicknesses, materials, heat treatments, or hardnesses are assembled, it is necessary to differentiate the various types of link plates from each other in order to set them at their respective appropriate positions. However, all of the link plates have the same outer shape in the conventional silent chain, so that in the assembly operation it is hard to differentiate the link plates having different materials, heat treatments, or hardnesses from each other by their appearances. Also, for link plates having different plate thicknesses, because the difference in plate thickness is only a fraction of a millimeter, it is not easy to identify link plates having different plate thicknesses.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention provides a solution to the aforementioned problems of the conventional methods by providing a type of link plate that can be identified by its appearance, a type of silent chain having different types of link plates mixed together, and a method for assembling such a silent chain. The invention also provides a checking method to determine whether two types of link plates in the silent chain are placed at their respective designated positions.
According to a first aspect of the invention a type of link plate for a silent chain may be provided having a pair of teeth, each of which is composed of an inside flank surface, an outside flank surface and a tooth tip part that connects them. The tooth tip part can have a shape formed by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface.
According to a second aspect of the invention a type of link plate for a silent chain may be provided having a pair of teeth, each of which is composed of an inside flank surface and an outer side surface. The outside flank surface and the back side part can be connected by a shoulder part having a bump portion that projects outward.
According to a third aspect of the a type of link plate for a silent chain may be provided having a pair of teeth, each of which is composed of an inside flank surface and an outside flank surface and a tooth tip part that connects them. The outside flank surface and the back side part can be connected by a shoulder part. The tooth tip part may have a shape formed by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface and the shoulder part may have a bump portion that projects outward.
Thus, the link plate pertaining to the first aspect of the invention may be formed with a portion of the tooth tip part cut off on the side toward the outside flank surface. In the second aspect of the invention, a bump portion projecting outward may be formed on the shoulder part of the link plate. In the third aspect of the invention, the link plate may be formed with a portion of the tooth tip part of the link plate cut off on the side toward the outside flank surface, and with a bump portion projecting outward formed on the shoulder part of the link plate. In this way, according to the aspects of the invention, the link plates can be differentiated easily from each other and from conventional link plates.
Also, the portion pertaining to the difference in appearance of the link plate is preferably not the portion pertaining to engagement with the sprocket, and it is preferably irrelevant to the strength of the link plate. From this viewpoint, the portion of the tooth tip part on the side toward the outside flank surface and the shoulder part may be selected for this purpose.
According to another aspect of the invention a type of silent chain may be provided having a plurality of link plates, each of which may have a pair of pin holes for inserting connecting pins and a pair of teeth each composed of an inside flank surface, an outside flank surface and a tooth tip part that connects them. The plural link plates can be connected to each other by the connecting pins in a pivotable manner. The link plates may include both a first type of link plates, which may have the tooth tip part shaped by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface, and a second type of link plates, which may have the tooth tip part not shaped by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface, and the two types of link plates may be mixed together.
According to another aspect of the invention a type of silent chain may be provided having a plurality of link plates, each of which has a pair of pin holes for inserting connecting pins and a pair of teeth each composed of an inside flank surface and an outside flank surface, with the outside flank surface and the back side part connected to each other with a shoulder part. The plurality of link plates may be connected to each other by the connecting pins in a pivotable manner. The link plates may include a first type of link plates each having a bump portion projecting outward from the shoulder part, and a second type of link plates without a bump portion projecting outward from the shoulder part, and the two types of link plates may be mixed together.
According to yet another aspect of the invention a type of silent chain may be provided having a plurality of link plates, each of which has a pair of pin holes for inserting connecting pins and a pair of teeth each composed of an inside flank surface, an outside flank surface and a tooth tip part that connects them, with the outside flank surface and the back side part connected to each other by a shoulder part. The plurality of link plates can be connected to each other by the connecting pins in a pivotable manner. The link plates may include a first type of link plates, which have the tooth tip part shaped by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface and which have a bump portion projecting outward from the shoulder part, and a second type of link plates, which have the tooth tip part not shaped by cutting off a portion on the side toward the outside flank surface and which have no bump portion projecting outward from the shoulder part, and the two types of link plates may be mixed together.
For the silent chain pertaining to one of the above-described aspects of the invention, a first type of link plate having a shape with a portion of the tooth tip part cut off on the side toward the outside flank surface and a second type of link plate having no such portion of the tooth tip part cut off on the side toward the outside flank surface may be mixed together. For the silent chain pertaining to another above-described aspect of the invention, a first type of link plate having a bump portion projecting outward from the shoulder part and a second type of
Matsuda Akio
Matsuura Kenichi
Yoshitomo Tsujii
BorgWarner Morse TEC Japan K.K.
Dziegielewski Greg
Fitch Even Tabin and Flannery
Larson Lowell A.
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