UNDERCARRIAGE FOR A TRACKED VEHICLE
In a first aspect, the invention is directed to an undercarriage for a tracked vehicle. The undercarriage includes a main frame including a frame body and an equalizer bar extending laterally on either side of a pivot connection with the frame body, a first track frame and a second track frame. A first front spherical bearing connects a first end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the first track frame. A second front spherical bearing connects a second end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the second track frame. A first rear spherical bearing connects the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the first track frame. A second rear spherical bearing connects the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the second track frame. The spherical bearings between the rear end of the main frame and the rear ends of the track frames permit the rear ends of the track frames to accommodate the arcuate movement of the front ends of the track frames as the equalizer bar pivots about its pivot connection when the vehicle travels over uneven terrain. The spherical bearings further on both the front and the rear of the vehicle also permit the tracks of the vehicle to more fully contact the ground when the ground is not perfectly flat. An example of such a situation may be when the vehicle travels on a road which is crowned.
The present invention relates to tracked vehicles and more particularly to tracked vehicles that have an undercarriage that incorporates an equalizer bar.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTracked vehicles are in widespread use in several industries, such as construction and farming to name but a few. These vehicles are typically used on terrain that is uneven. These vehicles often include an undercarriage that permits the left and right track assemblies to accommodate the unevenness of the terrain. For example, the main frame of the undercarriage may include a laterally extending equalizer bar at the front which pivots relative to the rest of the undercarriage and which is connected at its ends to the fronts of the track frames. The equalizer bar permits the fronts of the left and right track frames to rise and drop relative to the main frame. Typically, there is no equalizer bar at the rear of the main frame, however and so the rears of the track frames are connected to the main frame via a pin joint. The pin joints permit the rears of the track frames to pivot as necessary while the fronts of the track frames to rise and drop. It has been found, however, that the pin joints are prone to seizing and to inhibit this, they are typically manufactured with a lot of play in them. This play, however, can contribute to premature wear in the rear joints, and so the rear joints can in some cases require frequent and expensive maintenance.
It would be advantageous to provide an undercarriage for a tracked vehicle that at least partially overcame the aforementioned problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn a first aspect, the invention is directed to an undercarriage for a tracked vehicle. The undercarriage includes a main frame including a frame body and an equalizer bar extending laterally on either side of a pivot connection with the frame body, a first track frame and a second track frame. A first front spherical bearing connects a first end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the first track frame. A second front spherical bearing connects a second end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the second track frame. A first rear spherical bearing connects the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the first track frame. A second rear spherical bearing connects the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the second track, frame. The spherical bearings between the rear end of the main frame and the rear ends of the track frames permit the rear ends of the track frames to accommodate the arcuate movement of the front ends of the track frames as the equalizer bar pivots about its pivot connection when the vehicle travels over uneven terrain. The spherical bearings further on both the front and the rear of the vehicle also permit the tracks of the vehicle to more fully contact the ground when the ground is not perfectly flat. An example of such a situation may be when the vehicle travels on a road which is crowned.
In a preferred embodiment, the equalizer bar is a front equalizer bar and the main frame further includes a rear equalizer bar, which extends laterally on either side of another pivot connection with the main frame. The rear spherical bearings connect between the rear equalizer bar and the track frames.
In a preferred embodiment (with or without the rear equalizer bar), the spherical bearings are made from cast steel ball trunnions which extend laterally from the main frame, and cast steel ball trunnion support members which extend vertical and which support the cast steel ball trunnions. Such an arrangement is particularly advantageous in that it has been found that they do not require externally provided lubrication (eg. grease or oil) in order to operate. During use, they can pivot as necessary for operation of the tracked vehicle without such lubrication, which eliminates a maintenance task in respect of keeping the tracked vehicle in good operating condition.
The present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Reference is made to
The undercarriage 10 permits the tracked vehicle to drive over uneven terrain, while being configured to require relatively less maintenance than some undercarriages of the prior art. Furthermore, the undercarriage 10 is also configured to permit the tracks of the vehicle 12 (which are shown at 14) to more fully contact the ground in some instances, as compared to the contact provided by certain prior art vehicles.
Referring to
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At the front end 36 a first front pillow block 40 is provided, which holds a first front spherical bearing 42 (
The spherical bearing 42 has a pass-through aperture 44, through which a laterally extending mounting shaft 46 passes. The mounting shaft 46 is provided at the first end 29 of the equalizer bar 18. A retainer plate 48 may be mounted to the outer end of the mounting shaft 46 to capture the spherical bearing 42 on the shaft 46. It will be noted that the outer race of the spherical bearing 42 is shown to be canted at an angle relative to the vertical in
Referring to
The spherical bearing 52 has a pass-through aperture 54, through which a laterally extending mounting shaft 56 passes. The mounting shaft 56 is provided at the rear end 25 (
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The spherical bearing 74 has a pass-through aperture 76, through which a laterally extending mounting shaft 78 passes. The mounting shaft 78 is provided at the rear end 25 (
By providing horizontally extending mounting shafts the assembly of the main frame 16, equalizer bar 18 and track frames 20 and 22 can be carried out relatively simply. The mounting shafts 46 and 56 may be connected to the equalizer bar 18 and the equalizer bar 18 may be connected to the main frame 16. The mounting shafts 68 and 78 may be connected to the rear end 25 of the frame body 17. The spherical bearings 42, 52, 64 and 74 may be mounted to the mounting shafts 46, 56, 68 and 78 respectively. The pillow blocks 40, 50, 62 and 72 may be mounted over the spherical bearings 42, 52, 64 and 74 respectively. The assembly including the main frame 16, the equalizer bar 18, the mounting shafts 46, 56, 68 and 78, the spherical bearings 42, 52, 64 and 74 and the pillow blocks 40, 50, 62 and 72 may be lowered onto the first and second track frames 20 and 22. The positions of the pillow blocks may be adjusted so that mounting apertures in the pillow blocks may be brought into alignment with mounting apertures in the track frames 20 and 22, at which point fasteners, such as bolts (shown for example at 105 in
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For each spherical bearing 42, 52, 64 or 74, there may be first and second limit members 118 and 120 provided to limit the amount of rotation that is permitted by the track frames 20 and 22 about the axes of rotation 110 and 111. Limiting the ranges of rotation of the track frames 20 and 22 inherently imposes limitations on the topography of the terrain on which the vehicle 12 can drive while keeping its tracks 14 flat to the ground. By selecting the positions of the limit members 118 and 120 one can inhibit the vehicle 12 from being driven over terrain that would impose a risk of tipping the vehicle 12 over. It will be understood that the selected positions of the limit members 118 and 120 will be based at least in part on the position of the center of mass of the vehicle 12. It will be noted that, while a limit member 118 and a limit member 120 may be provided in association with each spherical bearing 42, 52, 64 and 74, the limitations on the range of rotation can be achieved using only one limit member 118 and one limit member 120 for each track frame 20 and 22.
The limit member 118 and the limit member 120 may simply be resilient (eg. rubber) members mounted to the main frame 16 that are positioned relatively close to selected portions of the track frames 20 and 22, as shown in
The range of movement that is provided about the axes of rotation 110 and 111 may be any suitable range, such as, for example, about 15 degrees.
During operation of the vehicle 12, as the vehicle 12 over uneven terrain, one of the track frames 20 or 22 may encounter a patch of ground that is at a different elevation than the patch of ground encountered by the other track frame 20 or 22, thereby prompting the equalizer bar 18 to pivot so that the front ends of the track frames 20 and 22 can accommodate the difference in their elevations. During pivoting of the equalizer bar 18, the front ends 36 of the track frames 20 and 22 rise and drop relative to the main frame 16, however, their movement is not strictly vertical; they instead move in an arc about the pivot axis 35. As a result, the front ends 36 are laterally offset from the rear ends 38 by some amount at any given position of the equalizer bar 18 that is off of horizontal.
By providing spherical bearings at both the front and rear ends 36 and 38, the track frames 20 and 22 can pivot as necessary to accommodate the lateral offset. Furthermore, even when the track frames 20 and 22 are level the provision of spherical bearings at both the front and rear ends 36 and 38 of the track frames 20 and 22 is advantageous in that it permits the vehicle 12 (
While it has been shown to orient the spherical bearings 42, 52, 64 and 74 such that their pass-through apertures extend horizontally, it is alternatively possible to configure the spherical bearings so that their pass-through apertures extend vertically. An example of such a structure is shown in
While it has been shown to provide the undercarriage 10 with an equalizer bar 16, it is optionally possible to provide the undercarriage 10 without an equalizer bar 16. In such a case, the spherical bearings 42 and 52 connect the fronts of the track frames 20 and 22 to the main frame, which would be a fixed weldment.
Reference is made to
By providing the front and rear equalizer bars 206 and 208 for the main frame 202, the main frame 202 has significantly increased flexibility in terms of the types of terrain that can be handled. As an example, the main frame 202 can hold the cab (shown at 214 in
Another modification to the undercarriage 200 relative to the undercarriage 10 (
In a preferred embodiment, the ball trunnion 226 is a cast steel member, and the ball trunnion support member 228 is also a cast steel member. As a result, it was found that surprisingly, the spherical bearings 218, 220, 222 and 224 do not require any lubrication. The bearings 218, 220, 222 and 214 are able to pivot as necessary during operation of the tracked vehicle 12 without the need for grease or oil to be present between the sliding surfaces shown at 230 and 232 of the ball trunnion 226 and the ball trunnion support member 228 respectively. By eliminating the need to lubricate the surfaces 230 and 232, a maintenance task on the vehicle 12 is eliminated, thereby saving time and cost.
The ball trunnion support members 228 may be in the form of pillow blocks as shown in
While the above description constitutes a plurality of embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated that the present invention is susceptible to further modification and change without departing from the fair meaning of the accompanying claims.
Claims
1. An undercarriage for a tracked vehicle, comprising:
- a main frame having a front end and a rear end and defining a longitudinal axis and including a frame body having a front end and a rear end, and an equalizer bar extending laterally and having a first end and a second end, wherein the equalizer bar is mounted proximate the front of the frame body for rotation about a longitudinally extending equalizer bar pivot axis that is approximately centered laterally between the first and second ends of the equalizer bar;
- a first track frame and a second track frame each having a front end and a rear end;
- a first front spherical bearing connecting the first end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the first track frame;
- a second front spherical bearing connecting the second end of the equalizer bar and the front end of the second track frame;
- a first rear spherical bearing connecting the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the first track frame; and
- a second rear spherical bearing connecting the rear end of the main frame to the rear end of the second track frame.
2. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each track frame has a center of mass, and wherein each spherical bearing has a center of rotation, wherein an axis of rotation for each track frame extends between the centers of rotation of the front spherical bearing and rear spherical bearing associated with each track frame,
- wherein the center of mass of each track frame has approximately the same lateral position as the axis of rotation for each track frame.
3. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 2, wherein the center of mass of each track frame has approximately the same vertical position as the axis of rotation for each track frame.
4. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one first limit member and at least one second limit member associated with each track frame, wherein the at least one first and the at least one second limit members are positioned to limit the range of angular rotation available to the track frame.
5. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 4, wherein the positions of the at least one first limit member and the at least one second limit member are selected based at least in part on the position of the center of gravity of the tracked vehicle.
6. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each spherical bearing has a bearing pass-through aperture that extends laterally, and wherein one of the spherical bearings is supported at the front and rear ends of each track frame and wherein a front bearing mounting shaft extends laterally from each end of the equalizer bar and passes through the bearing pass-through aperture of each of the front spherical bearings, and wherein a rear bearing mounting shaft extends laterally from each side of the rear end of the main frame and passes through the bearing pass-through aperture of each of the rear spherical bearings.
7. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 6, wherein each spherical bearing is held in a pillow block which is mounted to one of the track frames.
8. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 6, wherein each spherical bearing is held in a pillow block which is removably fastened to one of the track frames.
9. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each front spherical bearing has a bearing pass-through aperture that extends vertically, and wherein a front bearing mounting shaft extends upwards from the front end of each track frame and passes through the bearing pass-through aperture on one of the front spherical bearings.
10. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein the equalizer bar is a front equalizer bar and wherein the undercarriage further comprises a rear equalizer bar extending laterally and having a first end and a second end, wherein the equalizer is mounted to the rear of the frame body for rotation about a longitudinally extending rear equalizer bar pivot axis that is approximately centered laterally between the first and second ends of the rear equalizer bar.
11. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each spherical bearing is made up of a cast ball trunnion and a cast ball trunnion support member.
12. An undercarriage as claimed in claim 1, wherein each spherical bearing is made up of a cast steel ball trunnion extending laterally from the main frame or from the equalizer bar and a cast steel ball trunnion support member mounted one of the track frames, wherein the cast steel ball trunnion is supported on the cast steel ball trunnion support member and in use is movable relative to the cast steel ball trunnion support member without an externally supplied lubricant.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 9, 2010
Publication Date: Dec 15, 2011
Inventor: Ronald Hall (Woodstock)
Application Number: 12/796,910
International Classification: B62D 55/00 (20060101);