Wheel substitutes for land vehicles – Tracks or treads – With resiliently biased ground engaging portion
Patent
1981-03-04
1982-11-16
Scherbel, David A.
Wheel substitutes for land vehicles
Tracks or treads
With resiliently biased ground engaging portion
305 51, B62D 5528
Patent
active
043592481
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to roadable grousers for track shoes and, more particularly, to such grousers having a rubber grouser bar with a mounting plate bonded thereto to facilitate the replacement of the grouser on the track shoe.
2. Background Art
Roadable track shoe grousers are used on track-type vehicles, such as tracked farm tractors and the like, to permit such tractors to cross or travel upon paved roads without damaging the finished surfaces of such roads.
Roadable grousers which provide the tractive effort normally provided by steel grousers are appreciably softer than their steel grouser counterparts and, thus, wear out much more rapidly. Accordingly, to make the use of roadable grousers economically practical, it is necessary that they be readily and inexpensively replaceable.
One method of making such grousers replaceable is by bonding a suitable mounting plate to the underside of the grouser to facilitate the detachable securing thereof to the track shoe by means of conventional threaded fasteners or the like. The use of such a mounting plate, however, is made more difficult on track shoes which are, themselves, retained by bolts to the links of the track chain. This is because track stability and proper ride characteristics dictate where the grouser is located upon the track shoe. Unfortunately, this location encompasses an area in which the track shoe retaining bolts are likewise located.
Thus, in mounting the grouser to the track shoe, one must contend with the problem associated with the head of the track retaining bolts protruding from the outer ground engaging surface of the track shoe. This problem assumes greater importance in connection with another problem which is one of providing the bond between the rubber grouser bar and the mounting plate with sufficient strength to withstand the high stresses it encounters during operation. Such bond failure will result in waste and the premature loss of the rubber grouser bar, causing a loss of traction and possible damage to any finished road surface.
Providing adequate bond strength is difficult to achieve in the first place because of the limited amount of surface area which is available between the grouser bar and the mounting plate. This is because the grouser bar preferably extends substantially the entire length of the track shoe for traction purposes, while being sufficiently narrow to provide the tip pressure necessary to obtain full penetration of the grouser into the soil so as to realize the maximum tractive potential of the grouser. In addition, it is desirable that the mounting plate be as thin as possible in order to maximize the amount of the wearable rubber of the grouser. More rubber height also has the effect of reducing the magnitude of the shear stresses experienced at the bond interface between the rubber and the mounting plate.
Minimizing the thickness of the mounting plate, however, can result in its thickness being less than the height of the head of the track shoe retaining bolt. Thus, the head can protrude into and interfere with the bond interface by requiring that an opening be provided through the plate. Such opening reduces the bond surface area. This opening also introduces additional bond edges. These edges are undesirable because bond separation or failure normally initiates from such edges.
Thus from the foregoing, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide a solution to the above problems.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a roadable grouser having a rubber grouser bar with a bonded mounting plate is provided for replaceably detaching the grouser to a track shoe of an endless track chain. The shoe is attached to the links of the track chain by mounting bolts, the heads of which protrude from the ground engaging surface of the track shoe. The mounting plate has apertures therein to receive the bolt heads. The grouser includes means for closing the apertures to provide a continuous, uninterrupted bond int
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patent: 1635596 (1927-07-01), White
patent: 2345763 (1944-04-01), Mayne
patent: 2686697 (1954-08-01), Baker
patent: 2731304 (1956-01-01), Kubaugh
patent: 2869932 (1959-01-01), Eichweber
patent: 3058783 (1962-10-01), Wadsworth et al.
patent: 3441321 (1969-04-01), Darland
patent: 3475060 (1969-10-01), Kaifesh
patent: 3666327 (1972-05-01), Padilla
patent: 4185877 (1980-01-01), Tanoue et al.
Caterpillar Tractor Co.
Pence O. Gordon
Scherbel David A.
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