JPH08169370A - Elastic crawler and tire drive type crawler running device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent a crawler main body from generating partial abrasion in the width direction by forming at least the grounding part of lug so that hardness is different in the width direction of the crawler main body. CONSTITUTION: In a plurality of lugs 11 projectingly provided on the outer circumferential face of a crawler main body 10, the outside in the width direction of the crawler main body 10 is formed out of elastic material 15 of standard hardness, and the inside in the width direction from the boundary part 11A to the standard elastic material 15 is formed out of harder elastic material 16. The harder elastic material 16 occupies up to the outside position in the width direction over the center P of surface pressure applied to the inner circumferential face of the crawler main body 10 by a rear wheel 4 or idling rollers. For the standard elastic material 15, rubber corresponding to JIS-A hardness 55 deg.-67 deg. is used, and for the harder elastic material 16, rubber corresponding to JIS-A hardness 60 deg.-90 deg. is used. In this way, in the lug 11, the part containing the surface pressure center P in particular is occupied with the harder elastic material 16, and abrasion resistance at the part pressed by high surface pressure due to the rear wheel 4 or the idling rollers is improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an elastic crawler and a tire-driven crawler traveling device used in a tracked vehicle for civil engineering, construction, agriculture or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An elastic crawler is composed of an endless belt-shaped crawler body made of an elastic material such as rubber, and a plurality of lugs protruding from the outer peripheral surface of the crawler body. It is designed to be circulated by transmission.

[0003]

When a rolling wheel or the like passes through the endless inner side of the grounded crawler body, the surface pressure acting on the crawler body is high immediately below the passage portion of the rolling wheel or the like. It is low inside and outside in the width direction. Therefore, in the widthwise direction of the crawler body, the degree of wear of the lug is deviated (the central portion in the widthwise direction is reduced well), which hastened the replacement of the elastic crawler.

Conventionally, as a tire drive type crawler traveling device, there is one described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-246177. This is provided with idle wheels (both equipped with pneumatic tires) between the rear and front wheels of the vehicle,
An endless belt-shaped crawler body made of an elastic material is hung over the idler wheel and the rear wheel. This type of crawler traveling device often travels on a paved road relatively often, and accordingly, it is becoming possible to increase the speed, so that sudden start, sudden stop, slip at the time of turning, etc. Uneven wear on the lugs as described above is becoming more prominent.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and prevents uneven wear in the width direction of the crawler body in the lug, and can prolong the life of the elastic crawler as a whole. It is an object of the present invention to provide an elastic crawler and a tire-driven crawler traveling device as described above.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, according to the present invention, in an elastic crawler in which a plurality of lugs are projectingly provided on the outer peripheral surface of a crawler main body made of an elastic material formed in an endless belt shape, at least the grounding portion of the lug is in the width direction of the crawler main body. It is characterized by different hardness.

The difference in hardness provided in the lug is that the low surface pressure acting portion of the crawler body has a standard hardness.
It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the high acting portion of the surface pressure is made hard. The difference in hardness provided on the lugs may be configured such that the widthwise inner side of the crawler body is harder than the widthwise outer side thereof. The difference in hardness provided in the lug is
It can be caused by the presence or absence of the abrasion resistant material mixed in the forming material or by the increase or decrease of the mixed amount.

The difference in hardness provided in the lug can be produced by changing the content of the forming material. The difference in hardness provided in the lug can be caused by changing the forming material. The elastic crawler according to the present invention described above can be used in a tire drive type crawler traveling device.

[0009]

At least the ground contact portion of the lug has different hardness depending on the width of the crawler body, and the portion where uneven wear is likely to occur is harder than the other portions. Various configurations can be adopted as the positioning for making the hardness different in the lug and the method for making the hardness different.

When the elastic crawler according to the present invention is used in a tire drive type crawler traveling device, it is particularly effective for increasing the traveling speed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a light truck type semi-crawler type vehicle. In this vehicle 1, left and right front wheels 2 are steered wheels, and tire driven crawler devices 3 are provided on the left and right sides of the rear part of the vehicle body. ing. The crawler device 3 is mounted on the rear wheel 4 serving as a driving wheel, the idle wheel 5 provided between the rear wheel 4 and the front wheel 2, and the rear wheel 4 and the idle wheel 5. An elastic crawler 6 is provided. Not only the front wheels 2, but also the rear wheels 4 and the idler wheels 5 are equipped with pneumatic tires 7.

This elastic crawler 6 is of the first embodiment according to the present invention, and as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, it has a crawler main body 10 formed of an elastic material such as rubber in an endless belt shape. However, a plurality of lugs 11 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the crawler body 10 so as to project therefrom. This lug 11 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the crawler body 10 has a block-shaped pattern with a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction and the width direction, or FIG.
As shown in (b), the crawler main body 10 is crossed in the width direction and has a rib-like pattern with a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction,
Alternatively, it is provided so as to exhibit a composite pattern (not shown) or the like in which these are mixed.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the crawler main body 10 is located on both sides of the rear wheel 4 and the idler wheel 5 in the axial direction (left-right direction) to prevent the crawler body 10 from coming off. A pair of left and right guide protrusions 12 and 13 are provided in a protruding manner, and a plurality of these guide protrusions 12 and 13 are provided at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the crawler body 10. Although not shown, a tensile body made of steel cord or the like is embedded inside the crawler body 10 along the circumferential direction thereof.
Further, a lateral reinforcing member made of metal or resin may be embedded at a predetermined distance from the inner peripheral side of the tensile member.

As shown in FIG. 1, the lug 11 is made of an elastic material (hereinafter
An elastic material (hereinafter referred to as “standard elastic material”) 15 that is harder in the width direction than the standard elastic material 15 (hereinafter, referred to as “standard elastic material”).
It is formed of "hard elastic material" 16 and the reference numeral 11A is its boundary. The hard elastic material 16 occupies the inner peripheral surface of the crawler body 10 beyond the surface pressure center P applied by the rear wheel 4 and the idler wheel 5 to the outer side position in the width direction.

If the lug 11 has a block-shaped pattern as shown in FIG. 2A, the corresponding block row (for example, the rightmost one row in the figure) is the standard elastic material 15, The other block row may be the hard elastic material 16. When the lug 11 has a rib-shaped pattern as shown in FIG. 2B, a clear seam (boundary portion 11) is formed in the middle of the lug 11 in the longitudinal direction (horizontal direction).
It is preferable that both elastic members 15 and 16 are connected and integrated so that A) does not appear.

In the first embodiment, the standard elastic material 15 is made of rubber corresponding to JIS-A hardness of 55 ° to 67 °, and the hard elastic material 16 is JIS-A hardness of 60 ° to 90 °.
A rubber corresponding to ° was used (however, the hard elastic material 16 is harder than the standard elastic material 15). The hard elastic material 16 is made by mixing an abrasion resistant material into the material forming the standard elastic material 15. These both elastic materials 15 and 16 are combined by a method of fusing each other at the time of vulcanization molding, a method of connecting at the time of attaching the band-shaped material, or the like.
It may be fixed and integrated with each other.

As described above, the lug 11 is formed by the crawler body 10
Has a different hardness in the width direction, and in particular, since the hard elastic material 16 occupies the portion including the center P of the surface pressure, the portion where the rear wheel 4 and the idler wheel 5 exert a high surface pressure. Wear resistance is improved. Further, the portion occupied by the standard elastic material 15 corresponds to a portion where the surface pressure is low, and generally wear is small. Therefore, the lug 11 wears substantially uniformly over the entire width direction of the crawler body 10.

Since the lug 11 of the portion corresponding to the widthwise outer end of the crawler main body 10 is formed of the standard elastic material 15, the vibration absorbing property is lowered when riding on a stone or a step. There is also the advantage of not having.
The standard elastic material 15 and the hard elastic material 16 may be provided at least in the ground contact portion of the lug 11, but needless to say, the longer the occupation amount in the thickness direction, the longer the life of the elastic crawler 6 can be achieved. In addition, it is preferable to cover the entire thickness of the lug 11. The standard elastic material 15 and the hard elastic material 16 may cover part or all of the crawler body 10.

FIG. 5 shows a second part of the elastic crawler 6 according to the present invention.
The second embodiment is the most different from the above-mentioned first embodiment in that the content of the composition is such that the performance on ice and snow is emphasized as the forming material of the standard elastic material 15, and that the hard elastic material 16 is The point is that the material for forming the standard elastic material 15 is further mixed with an abrasion resistant material. In the second embodiment, the standard elastic material 15 is adjusted so that the JIS-A hardness at −10 ° C. is equivalent to 55 ° to 67 °, and the hard elastic material 16 is more than the standard elastic material 15. It was adjusted to be higher by about 5 ° to 10 °.

The lug 11 is shown as a block-shaped pattern (see FIG. 2 (a)).
The boundaries 11A of the grooves 5 and 16 are located at the bottom of the groove 18 slightly closer to the surface pressure center P than in the case of the first embodiment.
The boundary portion 11A between the elastic members 15 and 16 may be vertically joined to the groove portion 18 between the lugs 11 at the center thereof as shown in FIG. 5, but as shown in FIG. A diagonal joint is also possible. This is advantageous in that delamination is less likely to occur. Further, when the degree of wear progresses, the ground contact ratio occupied by the standard elastic material 15 gradually increases, so that it is possible to suppress the problem that the vibration absorbing property deteriorates at once.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the elastic crawler 6 according to the present invention.
An example is shown, and in this third example, the boundary portion 11A between the standard elastic material 15 and the hard elastic material 16 is located near the center P of the surface pressure in the same manner as in the second example. Although it is positioned, the pattern of the lug 11 is taken into consideration so that the groove portion 18 is not provided near the surface pressure center P including the boundary portion. As a result, stress concentration is less likely to occur between the elastic members 15 and 16.

In the third embodiment, the difference in hardness between the two elastic members 15 and 16 is adjusted by the content of the forming materials, and the standard elastic member 15 is JIS-A.
The hardness is 55 ° to 65 °, and the hard elastic material 16 is J
The IS-A hardness is made to correspond to 62 ° to 80 ° (however, the hard elastic material 16 is harder than the standard elastic material 15).

FIG. 8 shows a fourth elastic crawler 6 according to the present invention.
An example is shown, and in the fourth example, in addition to the standard elastic material 15 and the hard elastic material 16, the crawler body 10 is further provided.
Auxiliary hard elastic material 20 (JIS-A hardness 62
(Corresponding to 80 ° to 80 °). Standard elastic material 1
5 and the hard elastic material 16 are the same as those in the second embodiment (see FIG. 5).
(See) and the same quality.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, standard elastic material 15 and hard elastic material 1
The hardness of 6 is not limited to the above numerical values.
Moreover, the standard elastic material 15 can be made softer than the general hardness as an elastic crawler, and in this case, the hard elastic material 16 can be made the general hardness.

It is also possible to make the hardness of the lug 11 different in three or more ways in the width direction of the crawler body 10. The lugs 11 may have different hardnesses by using different types of forming materials (combinations of different rubber materials or combinations of rubber and resin).

Further, the position where the rear wheel 4 and the idler wheel 5 pass in the crawler body 10 may be on the outer side in the width direction than the above-mentioned embodiments, and in this case, the center P of the surface pressure is naturally also. The elastic members 15 and 16 are moved outward in the width direction, so that the positions of the boundaries of the elastic members 15 and 16 are also moved outward.
In some cases, the inner side in the width direction of the crawler body 10 may be formed of the standard elastic material 15, and the outer side in the width direction thereof may be formed of the hard elastic material 16.

In the present invention, the detailed structure of the elastic crawler 7 is not limited at all, and the crawler body 10 is not limited thereto.
The embedding of the lateral reinforcement member, the selection of the lug pattern, the shapes of the guide protrusions 12 and 13 and the presence thereof can be appropriately changed. The present invention is not limited to being carried out on the tire drive type crawler device 3 described above, but is circulated by the gear transmission by the sprocket or the friction transmission by the drum wheel (for civil engineering and construction). , Or for railroad cars for agriculture, etc.) of course.

[0028]

The present invention has the above-mentioned structure, and at least the ground contact portion of the lug has different hardness in the width direction of the crawler body, if necessary. This lug is less prone to uneven wear. Therefore, it is possible to extend the life of the elastic crawler as a whole.

When the elastic crawler according to the present invention is used in a tire drive type crawler traveling device, it is particularly effective for increasing the traveling speed. Of course, when it is used for a tracked vehicle, it is an important help for increasing the speed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view (corresponding to an enlarged sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 4) showing a first embodiment of an elastic crawler according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a lug pattern of an elastic crawler.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a vehicle equipped with a tire-driven crawler device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the tire drive type crawler device in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing a second embodiment of the elastic crawler according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of an essential part showing another aspect in a boundary portion between a standard elastic material and a hard elastic material.

FIG. 7 is a front sectional view showing a third embodiment of the elastic crawler according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the elastic crawler according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Tire Drive Type Crawler Device 6 Elastic Crawler 10 Crawler Main Body 11 Lug 15 Standard Elastic Material 16 Hard Elastic Material

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An elastic crawler in which a plurality of lugs (11) are provided on an outer peripheral surface of a crawler main body (10) made of an elastic material and formed in an endless belt shape, and at least the lugs (11) are provided. The ground part is the crawler body (1
0) An elastic crawler characterized by having different hardness in the width direction. 2. The difference in hardness provided in the lug (11) is that a low surface pressure acting portion of the crawler body (10) is a standard hardness and a high surface pressure acting portion is hard. The elastic crawler according to claim 1, which is characterized in that. 3. The elastic crawler according to claim 1, wherein the difference in hardness provided in the lugs (11) is such that the widthwise inner side of the crawler body (10) is harder than the widthwise outer side thereof. . 4. The difference in hardness provided in the lugs (11) is caused by the presence or absence of inclusion of an abrasion resistant material in the forming material or an increase or decrease in the amount of inclusion. 3. The elastic crawler according to any one of 3 above. 5. The difference in hardness provided in the lug (11) is caused by changing the content of the material to be formed, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Elastic crawler. 6. The elastic crawler according to claim 1, wherein the difference in hardness provided on the lug (11) is caused by different forming materials. . 7. A tire drive type crawler traveling device comprising the elastic crawler according to claim 1 mounted thereon.