RU2251509C1 - Detachable track unit - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to devices used for converting wheeled vehicles into track vehicles. According to proposed method, track unit is mounted on rear suspension of scooter or motorcycle including frame, rear suspension with rigid fasteners of base members, and rocking axle with means of its fastening to rear suspension. Frame is hinge coupled with rear suspension by means of rocking axle. Track unit contains track made in form of endless belt and laid over hub being installed instead of rear wheel of vehicle to pass torque from engine to track, and track rollers arranged in lower part of track and installed on axles in two plates. Plates are made for mounting on rear suspension of both sides of hub using rigid fasteners of rear suspension base members and means of fastening of rocking axle to rear suspension providing articulated coupling of track unit with frame of vehicle.

EFFECT: simple design of track unit, possibility of easy conversion of motorcycle or scooter into track vehicle.

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Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to devices for converting wheeled vehicles, more particularly motorcycles and scooters, from wheeled to tracked travel.

State of the art

There are a large number of land vehicles adapted for movement in snowy areas, the so-called snowmobiles, which have been recognized especially in the Nordic countries both in terms of overcoming difficult terrain and as a means for outdoor activities. However, the widespread availability of snowmobiles on the market is hindered, firstly, by the unjustifiably high cost and maintenance costs, given the use of time only in winter, and, secondly, the sufficiently large mass and dimensions of snowmobiles, which make, in fact, impossible maintenance in city apartments. In addition, for the delivery of snowmobiles to their place of operation, that is, to snow-covered areas, in most cases a separate wheeled vehicle with a trailer is required.

To solve this problem, numerous attempts were made to transform, first of all, motorcycles and scooters for movement in the snow, however, to date, no constructively simple, reliable and affordable devices for the corresponding modification of the suspension of wheeled ground means have been proposed.

Other requirements for such devices are to enable the conversion of motorcycles and scooters directly to their owners, who often have limited knowledge in the field of technology, with minimal use of additional funds and minimal time. In patent documents US 6431301 and CA 2356126 describes sets of parts intended for a qualitative change in the chassis of two-wheeled vehicles in order to ensure the possibility of movement in the snow. However, the structural complexity of these solutions implies the presence of a highly skilled user or carrying out the corresponding adjustment work in specialized workshops.

The closest analogue of the present invention is a caterpillar block for mounting on the rear suspension of a scooter or motorcycle, containing a caterpillar in the form of an endless belt covering the wheel hub, transmitting torque to said belt, and track rollers held rotatably by two spatially separated plates (Yaroshevich M Model-Designer, 1988, No. 9). Along with the obvious advantages associated with simplifying the design, this well-known solution has a disadvantage in that there is no connection between the track unit and the frame of the vehicle. Therefore, with a sufficiently small diameter of the hub of the rear wheel, any irregularities in the roadway can lead to unpredictable crawling, since no technical means are provided for changing the tilt of the caterpillar in accordance with the changing tilt of the rolling plane of the front wheel. It should be noted that a similar design of the caterpillar block, based on two parallel, spaced apart plates, is known from the prior art. One of the similar solutions related to the track conversion device is described in US Pat. No. 4,448,273. Despite a fairly large number of technological improvements compared to the closest prior art, the problem of accounting for the changing profile of the roadway has not been solved either.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to the creation of a caterpillar block mounted on the rear suspension, which is pivotally connected to the frame of a two-wheeled vehicle (motorcycle or scooter) by means of a swing axis. Such scooters include the so-called scooters, information about which is given, for example, in the book "Honda, scooters, Dio, Tact", ed. "Legion-Avtodata", Moscow, 2002.

The main objective of the first aspect of the invention is to eliminate the above-described problem while providing the simplest construction of the track unit, which allows even an inexperienced user to easily and quickly transform the scooter into a tracked vehicle suitable for moving around in snowy areas.

The problem is solved by a caterpillar block mounted on the rear suspension of a scooter or motorcycle, including a frame, a rear suspension with means for rigidly fixing its structural elements and a swing axis with means for fastening it to the rear suspension, the frame being pivotally connected to the rear suspension via a swing axis. The track unit contains a track made in the form of an endless belt and an envelope hub installed instead of the rear wheel of a scooter or motorcycle, which transmits torque from the engine to the track, and track rollers located in the lower part of the track and mounted on the axles in two plates. The plates are designed to be mounted on the rear suspension on both sides of the hub using the means of rigid fastening of the structural elements of the rear suspension and the fastening means to the rear suspension of the swing axis, providing articulation of the track unit with the frame of the motorcycle or scooter.

The connection of the caterpillar unit with the swing axis of the rear suspension provides, when the motorcycle or scooter moves on uneven surfaces, a change in the angle of inclination of the horizontal part of the endless belt relative to the rolling plane of the front wheel, repeating the relief of the snow sheet. As a result, the caterpillar is prevented from coming off the wheel hub.

In a preferred embodiment, the caterpillar unit comprises a track carriage attached to the lower parts of said plates. In this carriage, the rollers are mounted on the axles. This carriage with track rollers, made in the form of a separate structural element, allows you to operate the scooter without removing the plates. Due to this, the time spent on installation and dismantling of the unit as a whole is reduced, which is especially important if it is necessary to move around the area with snowy areas requiring a caterpillar track and areas not covered with snow.

In a further preferred embodiment, if there is a variator and a muffler in the rear suspension, the left-hand plate is mounted using a variator housing mount, and the other plate is mounted using a muffler mount, supported by the rear wheel axle. In other words, for mounting the plates, the existing sets of fasteners for the variator and silencer are used, thereby minimizing the number of components of the proposed track unit. In another embodiment, the inner side of the left plate is equipped with a stop, which is adjacent to the case of the variator in the fixed position of this plate. This emphasis prevents the wringing of the variator fastening means, for example bolts, during peak loads.

In a second aspect, the invention relates to a motorcycle or scooter, the frame of which is pivotally connected to the rear suspension via a swing axis.

A distinctive feature of the proposed motorcycle or scooter are the qualitatively changed properties of the rear suspension, providing movement on the track, due to the installation of the track unit according to the first aspect of the present invention.

List of drawings

Figure 1 shows the left side in the direction of movement of the caterpillar block.

Figure 2 shows the right side view in the direction of movement of the caterpillar block.

Figure 3 shows a vertical section aa of the caterpillar block of figure 1

Figure 4 shows a horizontal section BB of the caterpillar block of figure 1.

Figure 5 shows a scooter with an installed track unit.

Information confirming the possibility of carrying out the invention

Hereinafter, with reference to FIGS. 1-4, a preferred embodiment of a removable caterpillar block according to the present invention is applied to a motor scooter (scooter), the frame of which is pivotally connected to the rear suspension via a swing axis, and the engine, variator, muffler and rear axle are combined in one single point rear suspension unit. The left plate 1 of the caterpillar block is rigidly fixed to the case of the variator of the scooter with the help of three rear bolts 4 of the variator housing, and the right plate 2 is provided with two bolts 6 of the silencer. For mounting both plates on the rear suspension, mounts of the 7th swing axis are also used, due to which the articulated connection of the caterpillar unit with the frame of the scooter is realized. The right plate 2 is mounted with support on the axis of the rear wheel mounted in the bearing 8. The bolts and the swing axis are passed through holes in the plates, the location and geometry of which are determined by the location and geometry of the said fastening means. For the manufacture of plates can be used any material with a sufficient degree of strength, for example steel 45.

In the lower part of the plates, holes are made for attaching a rolling carriage of a track consisting of two strips 10 having two parallel rows of holes. The upper row of holes 11 is designed to secure the carriage on the left and right plates. The lower row of holes 12 serves to set the axes of the driven support rollers 13. These rollers can have the same diameter, but it is preferable to make extreme rollers with a diameter larger than the diameter of the central rollers.

The hub 14, which is installed instead of the rear wheel, is configured to transmit torque from the engine to the track 15 and reduce the likelihood of the track slipping due to the presence of side stops 16 that are welded to the hub around the circumference. The shape of the hub 14 depends on the type of track used. For example, teeth can be installed on the periphery of the hub in increments corresponding to the pitch of the holes on the track tape, and the tape itself can be equipped with lugs to improve traction with the icy surface. On the inside of the left plate, a stop 18 is welded or otherwise suitably attached, which is adjacent to the lower part of the variator housing and is designed to prevent the bolts 4 from breaking during peak loads.

Figure 5 shows a scooter 9 with a mounted caterpillar block 17. The swing axis 3, which is perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, pivots the rear suspension to the frame 19 of the scooter. In the simplest version, the swing axis is a long bolt mounted in a sleeve (not shown), which is mounted on the frame of the scooter. The right-hand plate 2 is mounted on the rear suspension using two bolts 6 of the silencer 5. The swing axis 3 passes through the hole in the plate 2, which is mounted on the swing axis, for example, using a screw nut, which is simultaneously used to fix the axis on the rear suspension.

Claims (5)

1. A caterpillar block mounted on the rear suspension of a scooter or motorcycle, including a frame, a rear suspension with means for rigidly fixing its structural elements and a swing axis with means for attaching it to the rear suspension, the frame being pivotally connected to the rear suspension via a swing axis, containing a track made in the form of an endless tape and an envelope hub installed instead of the rear wheel of a scooter or motorcycle, which transmits torque from the engine to the track, and track rollers located in the bottom of the track and mounted on the axles in two plates, the plates being mounted on the rear suspension on both sides of the hub using means of rigid mounting of structural elements of the rear suspension and means of mounting to the rear suspension of the swing axis, providing articulation between the track unit and the frame motorcycle or scooter. 2. The track unit according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a track carriage, which is attached to the lower parts of the said plates and in which the support rollers are mounted on the axles. 3. The caterpillar block according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that if there is a variator and a muffler in the rear suspension, the left-hand plate is mounted using a variator housing mount, and the other plate is mounted using a muffler mount with support on the rear wheel axle. 4. The caterpillar block according to claim 3, characterized in that the inner side of the left plate is equipped with a stop adjacent to the case of the variator. 5. A motorcycle or scooter, the frame of which is pivotally connected to the rear suspension via a swing axis, characterized in that a caterpillar block, as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, is mounted on said rear suspension.

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