Wheel substitutes for land vehicles – Inflatable means
Patent
1985-04-17
1987-12-29
Scherbel, David A.
Wheel substitutes for land vehicles
Inflatable means
305 35EB, B62D 5526
Patent
active
047156686
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention applies to a pneumatic mattress track system used as a construction element of a vehicle. In the following PMT is used as shortname of such a system. The name "mattress track" is used in this description to denote a soft mattress which rolls out automatically and serves as running surface and a means of applying propulsion force. The term "vehicle" as used herein includes movable or towable machines such as tractors and the like. One vehicle can have several PMTs as construction elements thereof.
For use in difficult terrain there are previously known several band track and mattress track systems, of which as examples may be mentioned the patents SU No. 850482, CA No. 972782 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,764 and furthermore the "SATC" system published by W. R. Bertelsen. (Paper for the Seventeenth Canadian Symposium on Air Cushion Technology, Canadian Air Cushion Technology Society, Oct. 4-6, 1983, Ottawa, Ontario: "The Segmented Air Track Amphibious All-purpose All-terrain Vehicle" by William R. Bertelsen, Director of Research, Chairman, Bertelsen, Inc.). With these one has tried to eliminate drawbacks of conventional track systems, amongst which the most serious are damage to the earth surface, sinking down in mud conditions, rolling and pitching when overcoming obstacles and mechanical complexity. For these previously known systems we shall use henceforward the shortnames SU, CA, US and SATC respectively.
In SU the band of a conventional band track system is equipped on the outside with a soft mattress in the form of air-filled bags. CA has a conventional stiff band, but between this and the hull of the vehicle an air cushion is provided. In US there is, instead of the conventional track band, a hollow air filled hose, which functions as mattress, and here also the hull of the vehicle rests on the mattress with the intermediary of an air cushion. To the SATC we shall return in detail later.
According to the present invention there is used an airfilled mattress track instead of the conventional track band and the hull of the vehicle rests thereupon through the intermediary of an air cushion. In this case the mattress is not a tight mattress to be filled once for all, but there are openings in that part of the mattress wall that faces the hull, and through these openings the mattress is automatically filled with air from the air cushion. Because the aforementioned hull-facing wall of the mattress has in this description and the patent claims a central and repeated importance, it has been considered best to use the special name "band" for it, although it does not in all cases in every respect correspond to the conventional definition of a band.
A mattress filled with air according to the present invention adjusts itself better to the terrain than the stiff band of CA and also better than the once for all filled tight mattress of SU and US. This statement is true because the pressure does not rise inside where the mattress gives way for an obstacle. This leads to reduced rolling and pitching when overcoming obstacles.
Because of the good selfadjusting and the even pressure distribution, the risk of earth damage is less than with CA, SU and US. This is a highly important quality in many marshlike terrain conditions.
It should be observed that the advantages of the invention in comparison with SU and US are obtained without marked increase of air consumption and component cost, because the air cushion in itself is the main air consumer.
In comparison to SU and US, also harm from possible mattress leakage is eliminated by the invention. Therefore the mattresses can be made of thin material, avoiding deformation problems at the wheels and in addition weight and material savings are achieved. It is possible to build large systems which equal the biggest air cushion vessels in size. Joints between mattress parts can be made by simple riveting methods and absolute air tightness is not necessary.
When the track mattress is divided into separate bags, then the obstacle-overcoming capability can be taken as e
REFERENCES:
patent: 2923578 (1960-02-01), Marsh, Jr.
patent: 3082044 (1963-03-01), Klemm et al.
patent: 3244458 (1966-04-01), Frost
patent: 3427078 (1969-02-01), Parsons
patent: 3495883 (1970-02-01), Fischbach
patent: 4530545 (1985-07-01), Bertelsen
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